Ok, so having two horses isn't as easy as I thought. The maintenance work isn't the problem, it's my feelings of wanting to make sure they both get the work and attention they deserve. It's tricky especially with daylight savings over. At the moment it gets light at just before 7 and is dark by 6. On the days that I work, it means not much except for feeding and mucking out and a quick groom or massage. That's ok, I'm sure they don't mind that. But I'm loving riding and I love riding them both. So I think I'm going to have to work out some kind of schedule that I feel happy with. And also rope friends into coming for rides with me.
I've been riding pretty regularly for about two weeks now and bareback is feeling pretty good now. I'm not scared anymore which is a huge relief, I like having that old confidence back! Smurf is a whole lot easier to ride bareback, his back is nice and flat with no bony bits. He's also a lot closer to the ground so even if I do fall off its more of just a slide and land on your feet. Hee hee, I did that on my first ride. So embarrassing, I tried a wee trot and totally wasn't prepared for the different way Smurf moves and just slid right off. Luckily he is nice and easy to get back on to.
I tried my saddle on Smurf and oh joy it fits! Much better than it fits Fox actually. So still wanting a bareback pad as I don't want to use that saddle on Fox anymore.
I've had three rides on Smurf so far, two just quick bareback rides but yesterday I went with one of the other grazers on a sweet two hour ride. The day was absolutely stunning and Smurf was looking at everything in a really curious way but he was perfect. He also has an amazing ground covering trot that took a while to get used to. I'm going to try and do a CTR very soon possibly even this months one.
I've also ridden Fox a few times. He is feeling really good. Even though his legs still look funny, you can't feel anything different about his gait when you are riding him. And at the moment he's just stoked to be getting out and about again. Well now that he has actual grass in his paddock.
The other thing I've noticed is how different their personalities are. Fox has always been a very aloof horse. He's not too bothered if he doesn't get hugs or pats as long as he's getting his food and getting out and about. Smurf on the other hand is constantly watching, constantly interacting. He's also a very cheeky wee monkey. He'll ping the fence with his nose while waiting for dinner and figured out how to get under the middle tape in a bout two seconds.
So feeling really good right now!
Good for you! My hat is off again for riding bareback! I do most of my bareback pratice in winter, because Dandy is not loosing any hair and there is no sweat and dirt since the ground is covered in snow!
ReplyDeleteI understand about the horses. I have 4 horses now, since the new arrival. The two rescues don't get much work because they are getting up there age wise and they ride pretty well, at least for Peg, for the amount of work asked of them.
But right now, I am trying to break Misty and I feel like I am letting Dandy down. We are just scratching the surface with Misty so our sessions don't last very long (about 15 minutes). So I should work out a schedule to be able to ride Dandy one day and train the rest of the time. I think this could work!
Yes, I feel your pain. I tried to juggle two horses last year, and one of them always seemed to miss out. And the day I tried to ride both, I fell off both of them!
ReplyDeleteBut it can be done, you just have to be very organised. And it is so much easier once daylight savings starts again. Hold on for that!
Work + Work = Twice the work.
ReplyDeleteTwice the fun, of course!