November Blog
As with most event riders, November is a bit of a quiet
month. Herbie had a really busy season combining his eventing duties with his
dancing (dressage) duties so was ready for a proper rest.
We started off turning him out in the paddock but he refused
to settle and it didn’t seem as though he was getting the chill out time he
needed so in the end we took the plunge to turn him out in the big dales with
the foal and her companion. Having spent the last 7 months mesmerised by the
foal over the fence we were worried his obsession would take a dramatic turn
and one or other of them would end up hurt but given he was in danger of
hurting himself on his own anyway we decided to bite the bullet!
We boxed him up and drove him down there, led him out, let
him go and closed our eyes. He cantered over to the foal, had a good old sniff
and put his head down to eat and this is exactly what he has done for the past
month! This has taught me a valuable lesson, horses are herd animals and are
happy as Larry in a bigger group with plenty of space just doing their own
thing.
Now that he has had some proper chill out time we are starting
to think about next year’s campaign. He is having his ballet shoes put on next
week and will then start the fittening work which is required to get him up and
running ready for the dressage regional finals next February. I like starting
the year off with dressage as it gets the horse supple and strong before you
introduce the jumping, it also reminds them of a bit of discipline which is
never a bad thing after two months in the field! No doubt Herbie will be full of beans to be back out and
about but frankly…so will I!
Until then, enjoy the lead up to Christmas….it’s without
doubt my favourite time of the year!
Lucie
