Woke up with a sore bum and sore throat. I know which one worries me most. I used to take the common cold for granted, muscling through work days, skipping the doctor, dosing myself with over-the-counter remedies, letting it run its course. Now, I don't mess around, and if it hadn't been a Sunday on …
Be Careful What You Wish For
I reached my arm around the edge of the door of the indoor arena. The goal: to sneak a peek at the list for the ride. Emma would probably scold me if she saw me at it, but she was busy with the noobs, and I had a feeling.... I had a feeling. I edged …
Twice is Not Enough
When I started riding thirteen months and three weeks ago, the sheer indulgence I felt going horseriding once a week was eminently satisfactory. Less to do with cash flow than fitness, it was just right, just the right amount of time in between, and frankly, for someone with magpie tendencies, exactly the right amount of …
85cms High and Rising
'Well done!' calls Sharon, as Rebel and I canter back to join the ride. We'd just taken a straight, looked like it was about 60cms [1.9 feet]. Funny. I'd just been thinking that I didn't have a notion what I was doing. By that I mean, I can't describe it in words. Someone in another …
Leggin’ It
Having just 'sat' an exam, as they say over here, I'm thinking about learning. I love learning new things. As I explained in item number one here, I'm a bit of a chancer when it comes to studying. In this case, as always, I managed to study the right things, enough to know, once I …
Space Cowgirl
MORE OHMMMMMM [ALSO: IS IT BULLSHIT? PART 2] Yeah, spacing out. 'Dissociating' as it is known in psychological parlance. It's been kind of a hobby of mine for years. A coping skill, I suppose, that I've mostly been aware of, often calling it by the harmless name of daydreaming. It is not a terrible defect …
Ohmmmmmmm
I didn't realise something was going on until we started jumping. It had all the hallmarks of being a really good hour: only three of us in the ride, I had Rebel, personally bridled by me, the going was a teeny bit slippy in the indoor, but we were going and going, at least twenty …
This is What Happens On Saturdays
OCTOBER 2006 I get up. I leave the flat in good time, to do some errands in town, maybe meet a friend for a cuppa, and eat [usually, unspeakably, to my abject horror, as if it’s beyond my control, at McDonalds] and in my morbid fear of missing the number 63 bus at 13.00, I …
The Shittiest Hour Yet
28 OCTOBER, 2006 It was the shittiest hour yet. There was, of course, no way of knowing how shitty it was going to be. It’s my eighth week of lessons, Argo and I an indissoluble team. I’m feeling pretty good, considering that all I did was walk for my entire first lesson, two short months …
Fallen Soldier
TUESDAY, 2 OCTOBER, 2007 Not me, my whip. I am dead bummed. Particularly so soon after recounting its miraculous appearance on the road last year. Lest anyone think I broke it on the back of a horse, let me tell you that I broke it on myself. We were jumping, Rebel and I, and Emma …
MANY BRAVE FOOLS 