I was quite tired today (on account of some indecently late nights in front of the computer these last two weeks), but since I knew we’d have our regular instructor back, I wasn’t too reluctant to drag myself to the stable. Even though it threatened to get pretty cold as well. Once there, I did my usual round of saying a brief hello to my favourites (Murphy, of course, although he had just had his feed and didn’t want to let me in, and Malupin, Fleur, Sammy, Gamir and a few of the ponies a swell). Its always a little sad these days to say hello to Sammy, because he’s 18 now and you never know when he’ll be gone. So far, though, he’s doing great, although he’s almost never in our group anymore since he’s such a great horse for the lower groups. Same, alas, goes for Murphy. Seems I am not likely to get him for anything but jumping lessons, but fortunately I did manage to get signed up for yet another extra lesson over Christmas, so I do hope he stays healthy this year. He’s had an extraordinary ability to get injured around Christmas. ;P
I’ve had a few pretty rough days trying to balance (and not succeeding very well) work with the task of setting up the new forum, so I was really looking forward to today’s riding lesson as a good way to relax. But of course I got unlucky, and ended up having one of the worst lessons so far this semester.
Malupin, that is. Which I expected, since it was a regular dressage lesson today (well, yesterday by now, its past midnight here), but that doesn’t mean I was still hoping for Murphy. Especially since it turned out our regular instructor was off today, and that always makes me a bit more nervous than usual. Fortunately the weather is still mostly just wet, and not very cold, so at least I didn’t have to worry about Malupin being extrasensitive as they sometimes get when its chilly outside.
Today was the second of the pair of jumping lessons, and as I had hoped (and expected) I was put on Murphy once again. He, on the other hand, was less thrilled with this, as the class before ours had been delayed. This meant that he hadn’t had a chance to finish his evening hay yet, which resulted in him greeting me with his ears pinned back (in case I was thinking of stealing his hay).
The last week has been quite chilly (but I’ll take that over our usual October rains any day), so made sure to wear my thick stable jacket. I did, however, forget to switch from my jodhpurs to my boots and a pair of thicker socks. Still, not too bad, and with a jumping lesson to look forward to, freezing a little didn’t bother me so much. Especially not once I was assigned to Murphy.
Since my cold assaulted me with a vengeance after we returned from Levade on Saturday, I have not yet managed to get all the pictures we took readied for the gallery as I had hoped. Perhaps later in the week. I did, however, feel well enough today to go to my riding lesson. Then again, I’ve dragged myself there while on medication too, so it would actually take a lot more than a nasty cold to stop me from going riding.
Today (well, technically yesterday now, since its past midnight here) we went to see the Levade Noble Horse Gala for the second year in a row. This year, the focus was on French rather than Spanish acts, although they still had plenty ofbeautiful Andalusians along, and like last year it was a very enjoyable experience. I almost forgot entirely about the nasty cold that snuck up on me a day or two ago, although once I got back home it hit me at full strength again.
Since last week was a theory lesson, the riding lesson today was greatly anticipated. I need my weekly dose of riding to keep my mood up, especially in autumn, and even though I was pretty certain I wouldn’t get Murphy I was looking forward to the lesson.
Today was, unfortunately, a theory lesson. Not that I don’t enjoy theory, because I do, but its always frustrating not to get my weekly dose of riding. Still, we had made some pretty interesting plans for this lesson last week.
Since today was a dressage lesson, I wasn’t too hopeful about being put on Murphy. However, luckily enough the group before (where he’s often ridden when he isn’t in our group) mine had a theory lesson. So, Murphy it was for me again. Or, “the spotted one”, as my instructor occasionally refers to him. Or maybe “splotchy” is a better translation in this case, as he doesn’t have the pretties of patterns. But I love him still.
Today’s lesson was to be a jumping lesson, and I hoped that this would ensure that I would be put on Murphy, as he is usually used for jumping lessons (a few of the other horses, such as Malupin and Sammy, aren’t used due to old injuries). Much to my delight, I was right.
No Murphy for me today, instead I was put on the other small horse in the stables, Malupin. He’s a nice-looking crossbreed who grew just a centimeter or two too tall to be a pricey competition pony, and so ended up at a riding school instead. Which, given some of his physical problems turns out to have been just as well.
Not too much to say about today’s lesson, since it turned out to be the once-per-semester obligatory trail ride. Not what I had hoped for.
In the course of debating how much a horse can carry over at the A Song of Ice and Fire board, Elio came across the webpage of the Equine Studies Institute, and pointed me to a fascinating article called Best Built to Ride.
Today was the first lesson of the autumn semester, and as always we started the sign-up with the dreaded weigh-in. Fortunately, my trip to WorldCon two weeks ago and all the walking Elio and I did there, and my relatively restrained diet since then, had done the trick. I was low enough to be allowed to ride Murphy, even though I think he had been dropped down a weight group. In fact, I believe the instructor said I was the only one there who was allowed to ride him, which would be very good news indeed. I have nothing at all against being ‘stuck’ on him for the next few months. ;)