It's only 43 inches of flexible plastic covered in a polyester weave, but let me tell you something, sistuhs, this long stick has effected an utter transformation. I think I now understand that Rebel doesn't recognise a rider without one of these babies. Everything that happened when I had the AMSW is now consistently happening— …
I Give Up
OH, DON'T BE SILLY I really tried. I did, I really did. But the dressage whip is the only thing Rebel respects, and it now seems pointless for me to ride without it. Which means I gotta figure out how to get it from point A to point B. I looked at backpacks, the kind …
Mama Needs a Brand New Bag
THE SAGA CONTINUES My buzzer rang unexpectedly this morning. The speaker phone revealed a man holding a long, skinny, handful of bubble wrap— It was my new whips. 100cms long. 43 inches. Children are 43 inches long. Shite. The crops are lovely, though, long, thin, with a squiggly little bit of something at the end. …
UN £@*!? BELIEVABLE
I LOST THE AMAZING AND MAGICAL STICK OF WONDER I lost it. It's gone. Gone. I know exactly why I lost it. I was all over the place, mentally, and I mean all. over. the. place. Anxious about a business trip [which I am now on, dateline: Toulouse], anxious about how I was going to …
Stick of Wonder: Also Amazingly Awkward
I had kind of suspected as much. The Amazing and Magical Stick of Wonder [AMSW] is almost as long as my leg. I tried to carry it in my bag, sticking out by about a foot, and every time I turned around, I could hear it scraping against something: a wall, a door, the side …
The Amazing and Magical Stick of Wonder
MINDS OUT THE GUTTER, PEOPLE We were walking the horses round and round prior to starting Tuesday's hour. Reb had been chowing down before the lesson, the first of his day, and I reckoned it could go either way: grumpy from having been taken away from his hay, or fizzy from the infusion of energy. …
Learning Curve
WITH RESPECT TO CHIEF BRODY, RIP I'm going to need a longer whip. Rebel and I are an item. There's no getting around it. He's got things to teach me, but they're not, what with retrospect and all, the gentle lessons of Delilah and Argo. The mists of time obscure the rough rides I had …
Pipped by the Post
Ach. On the back of my musings about shopping for tack online, comes the order I placed to the UK about a month ago. A month? Hang on... Okay, three weeks since I broke my beloved whip. A postal strike in England prevented the appearance of the new one I had ordered, as well as …
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 …
Failure to Communicate
OCTOBER 18, 2006 I am reminded of the last time I was in London. I went over for the day. It was kind of silly, I had an exam to study for, I certainly didn’t need to knacker myself spending a day roaming round London, but I bought a cheap flight, figured that if I …
MANY BRAVE FOOLS 