Elf On A Shelf
...
I haven't done one of these for a while so I thought I would do a wee catch up with some pictures and a link to a video!
We will start with the good bits! Back in September I went on holiday for 2 weeks and left Big Bad Boris in Stephen's charge. He gets called Big Bad Boris because he does his best work when he is angry. Boris is a horse who I randomly adopt every so often to put into boot camp and kick up the butt. He is a total dude to ride which is why he get's all the newbies etc on him. So he just canters from A to B and B to A and never gets that final edge of fitness. Hence he comes into my boot camp. When I went away I knew he needed one more good bit of work before heading to Perth for his first run on the season. Stephen rides him in his races and I was glad to see it was him on Boris for his last bit of work. Boris has a tendency to fall at the last. He gets tired and just doesnt put his landing gear out properly. The jumping is not my department! I got back the day before he ran so I am handing ALL credit over to Stephen for this. Under a totally genius ride Stephen nicked 4 or 5 lengths off the home bend and the pair of them ended up fighting tooth and nail from the last home! ONe more stride and he was beaten! I was screaming at my phone! Firstly - Stay On Your Feet You Stupid Lummox! Followed up by - Good Boy! Now Pick Your Sodding Feet Up! Good Boy! One More! Ready, Steady, Hup! Now Put Your Damned Feet Back Down! Good Boy! Keep Going! Go ON! GET UP! KEEP GOING! AAAAHHHH!!!! GO AWAY DICKIE!!!!!! GO ON BORIS! GET UP! AAAAHHHHH!!!!! I have no idea who won... I think Boris won ... Photo finish ... "The Result Of The Photo Finish Is As Follows - 1st - Number 2 OrionInverness! BORIS WON!!!!!!! He won by the shortest of short heads! What a total Leg-end of a horse! I knew he would run well and do himself justice, wasn't expecting a win but I would have been disapointed if he wasn't there or there abouts. The majority of his owners live in and around Perth and there was a very hefty bar bill after that ...
Boris ladies and gentlemen!
One of the owners does great videos:
Big Midnight is getting ready to go chasing in the next few weeks. I can not even begin to describe how this horse feels underneath you on the gallops! I have sat on some amount of horses in my time and only 1 has ever come close to him. But more on that horse later. He has stripped down much better than last year now he knows what his job is and hopefully he will be as good, if not better over fences than he was over hurdles. He has a lot of live up to! His big (1/2) brother won the Irish Gold Cup ... Midnight is a lovely big horse. Now if he would only stop ploughing off with me at the bottom of the gallops when pulling up ...! He lobs down ever so beautifully (unless you have to stop at Scu then he is just a complete tosser all the way down!) But pulling up sometimes takes a bit of effort! He comes back to a very steady canter or trot but he snakes his head down and right out and you just can't stop! He will always stop when the horse in front stops but if you have a gap you ain't stopping til you get up with the one directly in front of you! Then he tootles home up front with his ears pricked very happy with himself! Toad! Lol! Going up the gallops he is absolutely divine! Picks up a nice hold on the bit in a lovely shape and, well I was going to say floats but he doesn't float, he is workmanlike but by heck there is an engine between your legs!
Midnight last week - a couple more bits to do with him but you can see ribs! Just ... He isn't a tub of lard like he was this time last year!
The formalities - Scu has just released his new book - From Oxo To Arthur - perfect xmas pressie for anyone who is into racing ...
The not so good bits. I managed to properly stab myself with the clippers on Wednesday! Big Bad Boris! I was clipping his bum, he is good to clip from the shoulder back, neck upwards he gets twitched. He isn't bad enough to warrent sedation. I'm still not quite sure how he managed it but as I was going up his bum he kicked out, caught the cable so snagged the clippers back a little but my momentum was going forwards so the clippers then shot forwards and straight into the joint on one of my fingers. In true horse girl style I kept my finger straight, finished clipping the bit I was doing before heading to the office to get a plaster. As I went to run my finger under the tap one of the lads asked what I had done - so I bent my finger for the first time
Spurt spurt spurt! Yup! I knew there was a reason I had kept it straight up until that point And as is the norm a plaster wouldn't stick! I had too much clipper oil on my hands so it was into the vet room to find some swobs and duct tape If it moves and it shouldn't use duct tape, if it doesn't move and it should use WD40! Patched up I went back and finished clipping the beast and then did Midnight after. A glutton for punishment! Actually Midnight stands like an absolute sweetheart and if all horses stood like him to be clipped my life would be o much easier! Riding out yesterday morning was quite interesting. My finger was that swollen I couldn't bend it. so I was riding with my left hand and the thumb of my right ... It's a good job I can switch 'my' horses off into donkey mode! And of course there was only one finger that you can actually injure ...
The last not so good bit. Bucket Heid has gone He has gone to Nicky Henderson's so if anyone wants to follow his career they will need to look out for him there. Some owners just suck! But he is well loved down there as I knew he would be, he is too much of a dude not to be! I miss the daft big bugger and he is the only other horse I have sat on that could rival, if not better Midnight for the feel he gave you on the gallops.
Sorry ... That waffled on a bit ...
We will start with the good bits! Back in September I went on holiday for 2 weeks and left Big Bad Boris in Stephen's charge. He gets called Big Bad Boris because he does his best work when he is angry. Boris is a horse who I randomly adopt every so often to put into boot camp and kick up the butt. He is a total dude to ride which is why he get's all the newbies etc on him. So he just canters from A to B and B to A and never gets that final edge of fitness. Hence he comes into my boot camp. When I went away I knew he needed one more good bit of work before heading to Perth for his first run on the season. Stephen rides him in his races and I was glad to see it was him on Boris for his last bit of work. Boris has a tendency to fall at the last. He gets tired and just doesnt put his landing gear out properly. The jumping is not my department! I got back the day before he ran so I am handing ALL credit over to Stephen for this. Under a totally genius ride Stephen nicked 4 or 5 lengths off the home bend and the pair of them ended up fighting tooth and nail from the last home! ONe more stride and he was beaten! I was screaming at my phone! Firstly - Stay On Your Feet You Stupid Lummox! Followed up by - Good Boy! Now Pick Your Sodding Feet Up! Good Boy! One More! Ready, Steady, Hup! Now Put Your Damned Feet Back Down! Good Boy! Keep Going! Go ON! GET UP! KEEP GOING! AAAAHHHH!!!! GO AWAY DICKIE!!!!!! GO ON BORIS! GET UP! AAAAHHHHH!!!!! I have no idea who won... I think Boris won ... Photo finish ... "The Result Of The Photo Finish Is As Follows - 1st - Number 2 OrionInverness! BORIS WON!!!!!!! He won by the shortest of short heads! What a total Leg-end of a horse! I knew he would run well and do himself justice, wasn't expecting a win but I would have been disapointed if he wasn't there or there abouts. The majority of his owners live in and around Perth and there was a very hefty bar bill after that ...
Boris ladies and gentlemen!
One of the owners does great videos:
Big Midnight is getting ready to go chasing in the next few weeks. I can not even begin to describe how this horse feels underneath you on the gallops! I have sat on some amount of horses in my time and only 1 has ever come close to him. But more on that horse later. He has stripped down much better than last year now he knows what his job is and hopefully he will be as good, if not better over fences than he was over hurdles. He has a lot of live up to! His big (1/2) brother won the Irish Gold Cup ... Midnight is a lovely big horse. Now if he would only stop ploughing off with me at the bottom of the gallops when pulling up ...! He lobs down ever so beautifully (unless you have to stop at Scu then he is just a complete tosser all the way down!) But pulling up sometimes takes a bit of effort! He comes back to a very steady canter or trot but he snakes his head down and right out and you just can't stop! He will always stop when the horse in front stops but if you have a gap you ain't stopping til you get up with the one directly in front of you! Then he tootles home up front with his ears pricked very happy with himself! Toad! Lol! Going up the gallops he is absolutely divine! Picks up a nice hold on the bit in a lovely shape and, well I was going to say floats but he doesn't float, he is workmanlike but by heck there is an engine between your legs!
Midnight last week - a couple more bits to do with him but you can see ribs! Just ... He isn't a tub of lard like he was this time last year!
The formalities - Scu has just released his new book - From Oxo To Arthur - perfect xmas pressie for anyone who is into racing ...
The not so good bits. I managed to properly stab myself with the clippers on Wednesday! Big Bad Boris! I was clipping his bum, he is good to clip from the shoulder back, neck upwards he gets twitched. He isn't bad enough to warrent sedation. I'm still not quite sure how he managed it but as I was going up his bum he kicked out, caught the cable so snagged the clippers back a little but my momentum was going forwards so the clippers then shot forwards and straight into the joint on one of my fingers. In true horse girl style I kept my finger straight, finished clipping the bit I was doing before heading to the office to get a plaster. As I went to run my finger under the tap one of the lads asked what I had done - so I bent my finger for the first time
Spurt spurt spurt! Yup! I knew there was a reason I had kept it straight up until that point And as is the norm a plaster wouldn't stick! I had too much clipper oil on my hands so it was into the vet room to find some swobs and duct tape If it moves and it shouldn't use duct tape, if it doesn't move and it should use WD40! Patched up I went back and finished clipping the beast and then did Midnight after. A glutton for punishment! Actually Midnight stands like an absolute sweetheart and if all horses stood like him to be clipped my life would be o much easier! Riding out yesterday morning was quite interesting. My finger was that swollen I couldn't bend it. so I was riding with my left hand and the thumb of my right ... It's a good job I can switch 'my' horses off into donkey mode! And of course there was only one finger that you can actually injure ...
The last not so good bit. Bucket Heid has gone
He has gone to Nicky Henderson's so if anyone wants to follow his career they will need to look out for him there. Some owners just suck! But he is well loved down there as I knew he would be, he is too much of a dude not to be! I miss the daft big bugger and he is the only other horse I have sat on that could rival, if not better Midnight for the feel he gave you on the gallops.Sorry ... That waffled on a bit ...
