I don't want to put you off, but...

don't go too near horses that you don't know well, even if you are an experienced horse person...the horse might bite! This is what happened to me on Sunday night-You can see the outline of the teeth/jaw where this horse picked me up and shook me like in a cartoon. 

It hurts a lot.

Happy Tuesdays

Hunting has started again, as of 1st September, but each area has one day per week when the hunters have to stay at home (thank goodness as they really go for it on the other days around here). At Les Matelles and The Reganel (my club) no hunting day is Tuesday. Buffy (my dog) is terrified of the shots and although May is cool, I have no confidence whatsoever that the murderous hunters won't shoot one of us by mistake if we are out in the valley at the same time as them. I have read some real horror stories about riders and walkers being seriously injured by stray hunters' bullets and I have seen our local hunters gathering in the mornings and they look very capable of shooting a horse instead of a boar.

Consequently we now have to concentrate our ballades on Tuesdays and this evening was no exception. After a hideous bout of 'gastro', no doubt courtesy of the rentrée, today was my first day up. Despite feeling rather weak and pathetic I decided that we couldn't afford to waste a Tuesday evening, especially since the storms that had been forecast had not appeared, so the three of us took off at about six this evening for a gentle wander through the valley. 

May is still so happy to be able to grip now without her back shoes that her idea of a gentle ballade is a lot quicker than mine, but it was so great to be outside after three days of incarceration that I didn't mind. We had a great, and tranquil, ride along the side of the valley and a couple of lovely canters, all the while beneath a stunning red sunset. 

You just can't beat it. 

Hoof Boots part 1

I am up to my neck in hoof boots, as we need them for six hooves - all four of Gump's hooves and probably two of May's (back). I took her back shoes off to stop her kicking Gump but also because she was slipping all the time, on the roads as well as the chemins and both of us felt very uncomfortable. We did a road test yesterday and it was amazing, May was striding out really confidently and was easily keeping up with the bigger horses, and we didn't slip at all. She was very happy even on the stones and rocks and she was sound today so we might get away with no boots, at least for slow ballades. Just as well perhaps as her hooves are extra long and narrow and I still haven't found a brand that will fit.

Gump's hooves change size every time he is trimmed by the equine podologue so I have already had to do two hoof boot orders and then send them back because they won't fit his new size. I am tearing my hair out. Each model of boot fits different shaped hooves, some come in pairs and others singly and each has a different sizing system so finding a set of four that will fit each hoof is killing me, the maths is too hard as well.

I am about to send the last lot back - it is just too expensive to make a mistake. You could nearly buy a small house in the Charente for the price of four hoof boots.

At the same time I am dying to buy the Tekna headcollar that is half price at the moment - synthetic so just washing under the tap instead of greasing the leather one. See earlier posts for my feelings on that. There are also lovely Tekna reins on special. I am sitting on my hands so I don't buy anything.