It feels so different, to get on Delilah. I sit there, relaxed, the reins in good grasp, but in the waiting to go: nothing. Not nothing, exactly, but the absence of doubt; perturbation; anxiety. I know as well as anyone that what you bring to the horse is communicated to the horse. It was the …
Eight in Row!
The yard was dead. Very unusual for a Saturday. One of the Livery Lasses was lingering in front of the barn, and told me that the polocrossers were off in South Africa, at some tournament or other. Ah. Only one class was going on, 'summer' hours in place, the intermediate ladies on a ride out, …
Back In The
There is nothing for jet lag like an hour on horseback. And there's nothing like a week off to get the lungs seizing up again. Not five minutes into open order and I was sweating buckets and going all short of breath. My legs are just about broken, and I couldn't be happier. I slept …
Tango: Two
I'll never learn. I don't know if it's me creating the actuality from the thought, or just being aware of the logic of the allocation of the horses, but I woke up on Wednesday and knew. Three days in row as I'm off on holiday- today in fact, right this minute just about, blogging from …
Spirits Officially Lifted
I must admit I was dragging my feet to the yard today. Just general malaise, a poor awakening, a rush out the door, a day spent indoors, changeable weather, and a feeling that none of my friends are up there, anymore. I mooched around Delilah's box, her bum firmly presented to the world at large. …
Taking Stock
1. It takes me two lessons to get back to scratch after a ride out. My private lesson was not great on Thursday, I had Delilah, and I'm not used to her anymore. Bouncy as jeep over rough road, my right leg was flapping all over the place, and the jumping was dire. I didn't …
Cure for the Common Cold?
Got a return visit from a virus or whatever it was that I had felt impinging on my wellbeing the week of the shoot. Didn't want it then, and didn't want it now. I decided to take the best cure I know — other than hot whiskey — and head out to my lesson anyway. …
Onwards and Upwards and Overwards
I got up on Ruby, and the sensation of hovering, only somewhat anchored, in mid-air, have disappeared. Waiting for the rest of the ride to mount, I felt something I've never felt on a horse before— her sides were positively heaving, my legs moving with the bellowing of her breathing. I called across the arena …
Mercury in Retrograde
THE PLANET, NOT THE HORSE I was looking forward to my lesson today. After a ride out, I always feel a bit sloppy, and was keen to get back up on Reb — whom [who?] I hadn't ridden since last Thursday, the Big Day. I had a bag full of beauty products for Ruth, to …
Buckets of Sunshine
...and I know we're riding out and I just go blehhhhh. Still not one hundred per cent on the ride out thing... I got Delilah, but she seemed full of beans and I wasn't feeling the same. Trotting down the lane, something felt funny, something felt insecure, and when we stopped at one stage, Nikki …
MANY BRAVE FOOLS 