As expected, I was not put on Murphy today. I had hoped for a chance to try out the new horse, Nelson, but someone else in the group got him while I was assigned Sammy. More than fine by me, since he’s so rarely used for our group and I really do like to ride him. It was kind of funny, too, as before the class I had chatted with another girl about the fact that with Malupin gone, we have very few small horses left and that of those left, Sammy and Fleur probably won’t be with us for too much longer. He’s 19 (12 years at the riding school), although he has always been very fit, and she’s getting on in years too. For those of us who like to ride smaller horses, this is definitely a problem, as all the new ones they buy seem to be either ponies or very large horses (several around 17 hands). I know they want horses that can carry a lot of weight, but to me it seems it would be more reasonable to go for smaller, sturdier horses, as they tend to be hardier anyway. The prejudice seems to be that heavier horses won’t perform well enough at dressage and jumping to be useful for the students beyond the lowest levels, but that’s certainly never been my experience of heavier horses. For one thing, both Sammy and Murphy have a fair bit of bone to them, being Irish mixes of some sort, and they do just fine.
This week I came the stables to find out we had lost one horse and (possibly) gained another. Sadly, the one lost was Malupin, a very charming little horse I’ve ridden quite a bit. Since he came to the riding school some years ago, he’s spent half or more of his time there injured, usually due to some accident caused by him acting like a bit of a clown. He never really seemed to grow up, and was constantly coming up with new antics to pass his time. I am not sure what happened this time around, but if I were to guess I’d suspect it was related to the serious injury to one of his hindlegs (a fracture even, I think) that kept him out of commission for over a year a while back. He’ll be missed, and he was very popular even though the riding school had been hoping to sell him since he was too small to carry most adults and too lively for most children.
The new arrival, still just there for a trial period, was Nelson, a sturdy fellow an inch or two shorter than Murphy. So, he’s just on the right side of the pony-horse limit. He’s also the whitest horse I’ve ever seen in person. Pretty much not a coloured hair on him, and lots of pink around his nose and his eyes. I am hoping he’ll turn out well so that they keep him and so that he’s interesting to ride, as he would almost certainly take my weight. As I noted last week I could really use another horse that I can ride.
Today, our instructor fortunately had her voice back, and so the planned jumping lesson went ahead. We’ll also be jumping next week, to make up for the one we missed last week. I expect I’ll be riding Murphy then too, as I had him today and it sounded like she wanted us to ride the same horses for both these lessons, as we’ll be doing related exercises. After that lesson however, she noted that I really need to ride some other horses for a change. I should have known that thinking about maybe needing to try someone else would lead to something like this. ;P On one hand, I guess I do feel that a change of pace would be good (even if I love riding Murphy), as I feel my riding so far this semester has failed to show any progress at all. On the other hand, I am not sure what other horses I could ride. Malupin is injured again, Fleur may be too or if not she’s just never available for our class, and the latter is true for Sammy and Gamir as well. I did suggest today that I could give Nikita a try—she’s pretty big and fairly strong, but she’s not a big mover and she seems quite bomb-proof and reliable—so I suspect I may be reporting back on that in a couple of weeks.
Have I mentioned I don’t like surprises? ;P Especially not of the kind where I thought I was set to have a fun jumping lesson, only to find out that since our regular instructor was ill, we were set to ride out instead. Not only do I always get a little nervous riding out (even on Murphy, I can’t get used to the sound of hooves on a road), but its pretty darn dull to do it at the riding school seeing as we have virtually nowhere to ride any longer. In short, not a great ‘lesson’ to help with the depression that has hit me hard since I got back home.
My body is still convinced its in the US as far as sleeping and eating goes, so I can’t say I was all that awake today when it was time for my riding lesson. I had to crawl out of bed and sternly remind myself that I really missed Murphy and that riding would certainly perk me up. Even so, I was feeling pretty tired and gloomy until I got into the stall with Murphy and started getting him ready. He had some hay left, and of course he had to glare at me once with his ears pinned back, to make sure I wasn’t going to try to steal his food, but other than that he seemed pretty pleased to see me.
Given that my nerves are currently in an uproar about our flight to the US tomorrow, it would have been really nice with a riding lesson today, to tire me out and calm me down a bit. But no, today’s lesson was of course set aside for one of just two theory lessons this semester. We do tend to have one at the start of each semester, but still, rotten timing. Next week’s lesson, that I am missing anyway, would have been a much better slot for it.
Suitably enough, the subject of the lesson was a nervous horse, picked to exemplify a difficult behaviour in a horse. The ‘victim’ was Amadeus (one of the much too large horses in the stables, at around 17 hands) since he’s a very flighty horse who has a hard time trusting people as much as he trusts the rest of the herd. So, we spent the lesson down in the arena with him, observing and discussing his reactions.
Although it was interesting enough to distract me while it was going on, my jittery nerves came back almost immediately afterwards. The visit to the stables also served to remind me that the trip means I’ll miss all of the World Equestrian Games. Unless, that is, I can get the streaming feed off the official website to work, and even then I doubt I can manage to catch much due to the time difference.
After this, I am staying in Europe for the next two decades, at the very least.
After about a month and a half of no riding, the time had finally come today for the first lesson of the autumn semester. Naturally, I looked forward to it a lot, but I was also (as always) concerned about the weigh-in, given how tight they are with the limits on the smaller horses (including Murphy). Fortunately, I had managed to shed that extra kilo or two added earlier during the summer, so I’m fine for another semester. Hopefully the training I’ve started doing (I am trying out some Pilates, as I’ve seen that recommended for riders before) will help me keep them off even over Christmas.
There had been a few changes in the stables over the summer, as one horse had had to be put down (Aina), one had been sold (Roxette, a small pony who didn’t quite like being at a riding school) and one had been returned as unsuitable (Ikaros, who turned out to have some loose bone fragments in one leg), but the rest were fine. For once, Murphy seems to have gone through the summer without any injuries, and I was very happy to get assigned to him. Even though he did turn out to be extremely dirty.
The indoor arena (despite the nice weather, we rode indoors since a) they were preparing for the weekend’s competitions outside and b) Spitfire really lives up to his name outdoors) is anything but ideal for photography, but a few came out decently and have been added to the gallery.
After a day’s break, just enough to get various sore muscles to start thinking they’d survived, it was time for the last day of the jumping class. Summer finally returned today, though we still had to jump indoors since they were preparing for tomorrow’s competitions in the outdoor paddock. Too bad, as Murphy could have used the extra space. His mind was definitely already on the month-long break from all work that the horses now get starting this weekend.
Day two of the jumping class, and boy could I feel it in my legs. ;P They objected even before I got into the saddle, and then they really started filing complaints. I think Murphy must already have put on some weight from grazing, because the insides of my thighs felt painfully stretched out. That’s enough whining, though. The weather was better today, still grey but no rain until the end when we let the horses out, and Murphy was fairly eager for another round of jumping.
Today was the first lesson of the three-day jumping class I signed up for a few months ago. Before going, I was mostly feeling like staying at home, partly because I feel stressed this week (since I am trying to decide whether or not we’re going to Sundsvall for 2+ weeks on Saturday) and partly because the weather took a turn for the worse today. However, since I was supposed to get Murphy (barring any of those accidents he loves to have as soon as the summer holidays start ;P), I dragged myself off to the stables. Fortunately, all was well with Murphy, and I had indeed been put on him for the lesson.
Yesterday’s lesson was, as can be deduced from the fact that I didn’t make this post last evening, quite a tiring exercise. The decision had been made a few months ago to put two of our jumping classes in a row, allowing us to ride 1.5 hour instead of 45 minutes, and this had been scheduled to the last lesson for the semester. Yesterday, that is. What we hadn’t counted on was the heatwave that struck a few days ago, and even though we started riding at 19.30 in the evening it was still warm enough to make both riders and horses a bit uncomfortable. Some, more than others.
I hadn’t expected to get Murphy (but of course I was thrilled to be assigned to him again), since I thought our instructor might put the girl who hadn’t jumped for several years on him again (she got Fleur instead, and did very well on her too), but unfortunately I think Murphy would have been much happier to have been left in the stables. His mood was actually quite relaxed and pleasant, but the heat had also made him quite subdued. Add to that a rider who was feeling much the same from the heat, and you have a recipe for a pretty lazy ride.
Since someone thought it would be a good idea to make June 6th, aka the ‘Day of the Swedish Flag’ or the ‘Swedish National Day’, into a holiday starting this year and since said date falls on a Tuesday this year, there’s no regular riding lesson on the schedule this week. So, what’s an addict like me supposed to do? Why, book another private lesson, of course. And that’s just what I did, for 14.00 today. As I am writing this, I am still feeling mildly euphoric in the way I only do after a really good riding lesson. Sorry, Elio. ;)
The weather these last days has been changeable, to say the least, with sunshine and showers alternating with alarming frequency. Today, it felt like we’d get thunder at any moment, though it never showed up. What did show up, however, was quite a headache that kept me from doing much of anything at all until it was time to head off to the riding. As usual, I was feeling pretty okay once we got to the stables, and the last of my headache cleared up when I got Murphy once again. There’s no way I’ll ever tire of riding him, though I suppose he might get tired of me. Hopefully not any time soon, though, as I also signed up for another private lesson on Murphy for next Monday (since Tuesday is a holiday and thus our regular lesson is cancelled) plus I’m signed up for him for the three-day jumping course in a couple of weeks.
Tacking him up went quite well today, except for when I had just picked one of his hoofs and put it down, following which he suddenly moved backwards sharply, as far as his halter would allow him. I think he was a bit sleepy, and got surprised by something, but it was pretty strange behaviour even so. He also seemed to move just a little stiffly when I led him down to the arena, so naturally I got nervous that he had hurt himself somehow. However, it seems to have been some stiffness from standing around for a while, because I couldn’t feel anything odd when I got on him and started walking him, and my instructor couldn’t see anything wrong either.
A whole heap of pictures from the last lesson can now be found in the photo gallery. I don’t think I am quite masochistic enough to post the video that Elio filmed of the dressage test itself, so these photos from the warm-up will have to be enough. For now, anyway.