Elf On A Shelf
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It's just over a year since I posted my first - A Day In The Life Of...! How time flies!
This episode is naughty ponies, new gadgets and more duct tape...
Over at yard 1 this morning I had wee Pins . He is a total DUDE of a pony! Yup! Pony! He is about 15hh and very finely built which is surprising given his pedigree! Tacking him up is a bit of an issue as he is such a fidget and I has just oiled my tack! Could I do my girth up? Could I heck! Even with a towel wrapped round the girth straps I still struggled! So we went out with it a wee bitty loose. Trit trot round the fields we go. Then pop into a nice wee lob, up the hill... "Pins you horrible little toad!!! Get your ******* head up!!!!" Was all that echoed round the farm as we went broncing down the other side of the hill! We still had 2 more hills to negotiate with a slightly wobbly saddle ... 'just wrap your legs on and you will be fine' was my mantra for the next 5 mins! But we survived! He did have another wee broncing session on the next hill but he managed to contain himself for the 3rd - Thank God!
Next up was Frank who was just going for a trot leg stretch round the farm after he won the other day.
Onto yard 2.
First was Big Bad Boris and I was excited to try my new gadget on him! I bought a Seaver Girth sleeve! But more on that later... so I go to pick up my tack, pick it up wonky and then my thumb becomes incredibly painful. I has managed to stub my thumb on the front of the saddle and bend my nail back half way down and it tore. I toddled off to the office to find a plaster as it was now pouring with blood (ok a wee bit but that doesn't sound as dramatic!) The plasters at the yard don't stick very well on my so I wrapped the nail in one and then duct taped it in place. Duct tape fixes everything! I had to duct tape up my middle finger the other week...
So onto the gadgetry! I got it all set up on Boris and off we went to do 3 up at half speed on the gallops. Boris was his usual awesome self! Enthusiastic but a lovely horse to ride! I cut the exercise short on the app once hi heart rate would have long returned to normal as I was keen to see the stats! So Seaver Girth sleeve are supposed to give you loads and loads of information and I have always been sceptical but lo and behold! All the info was there at my finger tips! His average heart rate, his highest hr, his strides per minute, his speed, how straight he was, how many calories he had burned etc! It's AWESOME!!!! I am in love!
Boris inspecting his string the other day when the weather wasn't quite so minging!
Next lot was my wee Pocket rocket who has been absolutely septic to ride recently as he is just back in cantering work and it's all too exciting and he has to be relentlessly overly keen! So he got the gadget on as well - of course! Fair play to my wee dude today he actually settled into his work finally! And was, well I wouldn't call a horse than pulls your arms out pleasant, but he was as nice to ride as he ever has been! And again I played with the stats on the way home! (Yes I know! In was using my phone on the road but it was the quiet single lane road and the phone always gets put back in the pocket when cars approach.) Sky's stats weren't massively different to Boris's which surprised me given that Sky is only half fit and a hand smaller! Boris is fully race fit and a much larger horse all round. Both did the same work today. Tomorrow they do different so we shall see what those results are when they are in!
The rest of my day was taken up by clipping. 2 really good horses and one of the newbies. I ran the clippers over the newbies whilst switched on so I had an idea of what he would be like. He stood like a rock. Great! I thought, this will be easy! As soon as I took a strip of hair off of his shoulder he went ballistic! To the point where nothing but sedation is going to get the job done! So he is just going to have to race on Monday a bit hairy with a patch missing from his shoulder 😂😂 not a lot i can do about that!
A complimentary picture of Midnight just because!
This episode is naughty ponies, new gadgets and more duct tape...
Over at yard 1 this morning I had wee Pins . He is a total DUDE of a pony! Yup! Pony! He is about 15hh and very finely built which is surprising given his pedigree! Tacking him up is a bit of an issue as he is such a fidget and I has just oiled my tack! Could I do my girth up? Could I heck! Even with a towel wrapped round the girth straps I still struggled! So we went out with it a wee bitty loose. Trit trot round the fields we go. Then pop into a nice wee lob, up the hill... "Pins you horrible little toad!!! Get your ******* head up!!!!" Was all that echoed round the farm as we went broncing down the other side of the hill! We still had 2 more hills to negotiate with a slightly wobbly saddle ... 'just wrap your legs on and you will be fine' was my mantra for the next 5 mins! But we survived! He did have another wee broncing session on the next hill but he managed to contain himself for the 3rd - Thank God!
Next up was Frank who was just going for a trot leg stretch round the farm after he won the other day.
Onto yard 2.
First was Big Bad Boris and I was excited to try my new gadget on him! I bought a Seaver Girth sleeve! But more on that later... so I go to pick up my tack, pick it up wonky and then my thumb becomes incredibly painful. I has managed to stub my thumb on the front of the saddle and bend my nail back half way down and it tore. I toddled off to the office to find a plaster as it was now pouring with blood (ok a wee bit but that doesn't sound as dramatic!) The plasters at the yard don't stick very well on my so I wrapped the nail in one and then duct taped it in place. Duct tape fixes everything! I had to duct tape up my middle finger the other week...
So onto the gadgetry! I got it all set up on Boris and off we went to do 3 up at half speed on the gallops. Boris was his usual awesome self! Enthusiastic but a lovely horse to ride! I cut the exercise short on the app once hi heart rate would have long returned to normal as I was keen to see the stats! So Seaver Girth sleeve are supposed to give you loads and loads of information and I have always been sceptical but lo and behold! All the info was there at my finger tips! His average heart rate, his highest hr, his strides per minute, his speed, how straight he was, how many calories he had burned etc! It's AWESOME!!!! I am in love!
Boris inspecting his string the other day when the weather wasn't quite so minging!
Next lot was my wee Pocket rocket who has been absolutely septic to ride recently as he is just back in cantering work and it's all too exciting and he has to be relentlessly overly keen! So he got the gadget on as well - of course! Fair play to my wee dude today he actually settled into his work finally! And was, well I wouldn't call a horse than pulls your arms out pleasant, but he was as nice to ride as he ever has been! And again I played with the stats on the way home! (Yes I know! In was using my phone on the road but it was the quiet single lane road and the phone always gets put back in the pocket when cars approach.) Sky's stats weren't massively different to Boris's which surprised me given that Sky is only half fit and a hand smaller! Boris is fully race fit and a much larger horse all round. Both did the same work today. Tomorrow they do different so we shall see what those results are when they are in!
The rest of my day was taken up by clipping. 2 really good horses and one of the newbies. I ran the clippers over the newbies whilst switched on so I had an idea of what he would be like. He stood like a rock. Great! I thought, this will be easy! As soon as I took a strip of hair off of his shoulder he went ballistic! To the point where nothing but sedation is going to get the job done! So he is just going to have to race on Monday a bit hairy with a patch missing from his shoulder 😂😂 not a lot i can do about that!
A complimentary picture of Midnight just because!
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