Winter Ponderings and Shoulder In

Hi all

All is well with the world again - despite the nights being dark and the weather having taken a distinct turn for the chilly, my beautiful Jay is back home with me!

It had been alright to start with - the wedding and the honeymoon (both of which were perfect) kept me occupied, but in the last few weeks I realised quite how much I missed her. Out of sight out of mind wasn't really cutting it. It's amazing to have her home again.

It has however been a complete shock to the system. I've spent the last couple of weeks preparing for her return - the feed stocks were in, I had my first hay and straw delivery of the season, the rugs were cleaned and ready, but in reality there was very little to actually DO. The ponies are living out 24/7, and although I have a couple of potters about in the school on Tangle they've really been very low maintenance. Jay however has been in at nights at the college and so it was straight on into that "winter routine" as soon as she got home. I do like early mornings as a rule, but it had escaped me just how DARK they are now!!

I do love that quiet time you get as part and parcel of winter though. I love the enforced extra time I end up spending with the girls - changing their rugs, weighing their hay and mixing their feeds, dare I say it I even quite enjoy mucking out (remind me that in February...) and Jay loves to be treated like the royal highness that she is - her food slave (yes that would be me) pandering to her every whim. I have missed her polite and delicate ways.

Most of all I have missed the riding. I love Tangle dearly, but you have to admit, it's not quit the same thing - a fat muddy round Welsh thing, compared to my graceful, floaty arab!

We had out first dressage lesson in five months on Sunday. Yet again my trainer couldn't believe the change in her; she has really mellowed and matured this year. We spent the lesson focussing on shoulder-in, something Jay and I are learning together. We touched on it back in the spring, but it's not something I was particularly confident I was riding correctly, so I had been loathed to practice it alone. I live in hope that one day I will get the hang of this DQ (dressage queen) lark, and shoulder in seems to be fundamental to a lot of the fancier moves! Fortunately, our attempts on Sunday were quite passable - maybe there is hope for us yet!

Chesca x