I should have just taken the fall. I had already taken one, you see, and was raging that it was going to happen all over again, within ten minutes — if that — of the first toss. And it was a toss, a drop-the-head, shake-the-enormous-chestnut-arse kind of chucking off, complete with squeal. Coming around to …
And Flights of Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest…
... which is not entirely inappropriate, as our Mercury was a famous TV star, playing Henry VIII's primary mount in The Tudors. The shrieks that ensued the first time I saw him on the telly! [Mercury, not Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.] The sad news was shared in the yard today: Merc, who was probably around a thousand …
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Acting As If: Lady Of Livery
I knew something was up, that something was out of joint: I have been out of 'real' time for the last while, between bereavement and jet lag — a lethal combo, do try to avoid it as best you can, is my advice to you — so I knew I was in trouble the moment …
The Will to Power < 2012 Style
I've written about this before, but things have changed. I wrote this, specifically, five-ish years ago: Where does it cross the line, though, into irreparability? Is there room for compromise, for example? 'It' = getting the horse doing what he's meant to do. Is there room for compromise? How do I adjust, allowing for the …
The Best Hour in Ages
I know that weather is only weather, but holy wow, the weather. It is horrible. As of this writing, the sun is breaking the stones, but that's just for now. Who knows what it will do later? It could — because it has — turn into November in July in the snap of a finger. …
Surprise! In Which I ask For William and Get Him
Something unexpected happened on Saturday. On Saturday, I was still feeling a little 'boo hoo hoo' because my weekend away in the South of France was now in the past; a little sleepy — this 'living closer to the yard' thing is great, honestly, but I see now that I really used the second bus …
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Like It’s the First Time
Driving around the South of France: it's a pleasure no matter what, in fairness, but when you are gazing out the window of the car, and see a horse? Bliss times a million. Every single time I see a horse, even if it's not in the South of France, it's like my whole body 'gasps': …
Into the Home Stretch…
I have one more chapter to go in my horsey-divorcey book, and I — I don't even know how to get my head around that. The last chapter to go is the penultimate chapter, which is weird, but not. It's kind of the 'biggest' one of them all, and the actual last chapter was really …
Sunshine, and the F Corner: A Weekend of Two Halves
I have been many places in the sunshine, and there is really no better place on earth than Ireland when the sky is clear, blue, and cloud-free. And there is no better thing to be doing than racketing around the fields, up in the hills, on horseback. If you're not me. I have had an …
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No Pictures, No Ribbons, No Nothing — But a Really Good Round
We didn't jump on Tuesday, and we didn't jump on Saturday, and I woke up on Sunday wondering, Do I remember how to jump? I ride often, but I haven't been riding for very long, and so stuff like that gets into my head. In the beginning, even up until my second year, time taken …
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MANY BRAVE FOOLS 