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. …
It’s a Wrap
So, the production team asked if I would be willing to have two lessons in a row on the day of the shoot. And if I'd take Rinaldo for the second one. That'll teach me to blog in good time... As I mentioned here, it wasn't my best hour. First up, though, the Rebel yell. …
Might As Well
GO AHEAD AND The summer jumping league starts this Friday. Given my new challenges with my jumping position, I wonder if I should... I'm thrilled by the notion, and equally as edgy. Oh, I so want to do it! I've heard that it's catch-as-catch-can with the mounts, and given the thinning of the ranks, I …
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 …
Summer Glovin’
The astonishingly perfect gloves I bought in Harrod's last November have got holes in them. This bums me out, as these gloves are perfect: light, breathable, with a secure velcro closure and stylish to boot. My first pair were something along the lines of gardening gloves, I don't where I thought I was — Siberia? …
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 …
Ready for My Close-up… Or Am I?
I got a call from a friend of mine who's a film and television producer. It was great to hear from her, as we haven't met in a while, and we chatted away, and then Breda got down to business. She's producing a series entitled Consuming Passions — and I could already see where this …
Ignominy
I thought it would be a good idea to try Rinaldo in a private lesson. Less pressure to keep up with the ride if I couldn't make him go, with the added benefit [or greater pressure, depending on your point of view] of undivided attention from the instructor. I went to mount, just about got …
MANY BRAVE FOOLS 