Elf On A Shelf
...
You know when you wake up and things don't go to plan right from the word go? Yeah well today was one of those days!
First up - the Chicken! I have a slightly unwell chicken. She isn't sick she has just been bullied off of the food too much so needs some time on her own to eat by herself. So what I have been doing is putting her in Gray's stable when I kick him out in the mornings. We have been doing this all week. It's dark when I let everyone out and so the chook is normally still sleepy and dull. Not this morning! We get halfway from the chicken coop to the stable and she makes a flap for it! I get a wing in my face and she gets loose... in the pitch black dark... with just a head torch for light ... luckily for me she just flutters to the ground and waits to be scooped up again and be plonked in the stable.
Chicken and horses sorted I head to work. My first lot is a young horse I have only sat on a few times and then only in a straight line. This morning was 66&1L so 6 times each way round the circle gallop then once up the straight. My god this horse is so backwards! I like horses that take you forward but this lad has no co-ordination nor balance on a circle and thus he just leans on you. So I actually had to ride him properly to try to teach him how to put one foot in front of the other whilst carrying his own head instead of dumping it in my hands. By the end of this I was absolutely knackered! Honestly I haven't had to work so hard on a horse in a long time!
My next lot was wee Gem. Gem ran on Friday and was 2nd yet again ... her 9th or 10th 2nd place and she has yet to actually get her head in front. So you would think she would still be a little tired ... eh naw! So her work was 44 and trot 1. Let me set the scene - the fog is thick all around us, snow still lay upon the grass, not a sound can be heard.
We set off trotting down to the circle at a bounce. I'm not going to lie the lass in front of me ended up riding 2 horses. All I could do in canter was hold on tight and pray we didn't clip her heels! 'F***!!!!!!!! That hurt!!!!!' 2nd circuit in I get a snow/woodchip ball straight in my right eye! Nothing I could do about it as I needed both hands holding on tightly to my reins! 'Bollox bollox bollox' I am cursing as I am trying to blink the crap out of my eye whilst trying to gauge distance with one eye open. We get to the end of 4 circuits and my arms are killing me, my back is killing me and whilst I could open my eye and see out of it I knew I still had bits of woodchip in there somewhere. As we are all turning ans trying to sort our positions out one lass has already set off and has nearly got all the way around again before we even got going. So that set everyone off hollering "just turn and go!" 'There's no point in us going in front as we are trotting up' "just get going" f*** sake ... so we set off again and poor Tara ends up riding 2 horses again as once again I have pretty much no control of the wee mare! We swing round 4x, off onto the straight and go to pull up to trot whilst some of the others are trying to canter past us. So Tara ends up cantering up the grass on one side, I am trying to get Gem off the gallop but she is having none of it! I finally get her on the grass and she is bouncing sideways. 1, 2, 3, 4 horses go by and I am struggling to keep her in check. Horse 5 goes by and she loses the plot and shoots off onto the gallop and proceeds to absolutely, totally and utterly bugger off with me! I had NO control! None! Nil! Nada! Nein! So we went absolutely FLAT OUT up the gallop up the straight. I stood bolt upright breaking jaw and she only went faster. Half way up I gave up and dropped paw. I wasn't stopping any time soon so I may as well conserve my energy to pull up at the top. To be fair to her she pulled up at the top no bother as 99% of our horses know where the end of the gallop is and stop. I haven't been tanked with in years and I haven't been that fast in a long long long time! I could do nothing but laugh in the end! Gem was so full of herself and so happy with herself! So much for trotting up the gallop ????
Once I got over that experience it was 9am so I checked to see if Wetherby was going to be on tomorrow. Inspection - failed, track frozen in places and unraceable at present. Re-inspect at 8am on the day of racing. Ffs! Just make your bloody minds up! If it defrosts then it will be hefty full of water. They are due 15ml of rain tonight, the track can't even take 5ml as it would make it standing water and unracable! At least I don't need to leave til inspection time tomorrow.
Over at yard 2 my first lot was big Midnight who, after the 2 at the first yard, was an absolute pleasure and delight! He feels very well for himself and needs a run!
Big Midnight's beautiful head:
Next lot was Big Bad Boris who was his usual delightful, grumpy self ???
I didn't have a last lot so clipping Kat is was. I love clipping fat horses! He is just back from his holidays so he is very well covered just now!
Yesterday we had a day of schooling and I have put up over 200 pics on here if you want to flick through them. Theel very dodgy ones will never see the light of day off of my phone!!!
https://www.facebook.com/Lucky-Shot-Photography-109592017447657/
First up - the Chicken! I have a slightly unwell chicken. She isn't sick she has just been bullied off of the food too much so needs some time on her own to eat by herself. So what I have been doing is putting her in Gray's stable when I kick him out in the mornings. We have been doing this all week. It's dark when I let everyone out and so the chook is normally still sleepy and dull. Not this morning! We get halfway from the chicken coop to the stable and she makes a flap for it! I get a wing in my face and she gets loose... in the pitch black dark... with just a head torch for light ... luckily for me she just flutters to the ground and waits to be scooped up again and be plonked in the stable.
Chicken and horses sorted I head to work. My first lot is a young horse I have only sat on a few times and then only in a straight line. This morning was 66&1L so 6 times each way round the circle gallop then once up the straight. My god this horse is so backwards! I like horses that take you forward but this lad has no co-ordination nor balance on a circle and thus he just leans on you. So I actually had to ride him properly to try to teach him how to put one foot in front of the other whilst carrying his own head instead of dumping it in my hands. By the end of this I was absolutely knackered! Honestly I haven't had to work so hard on a horse in a long time!
My next lot was wee Gem. Gem ran on Friday and was 2nd yet again ... her 9th or 10th 2nd place and she has yet to actually get her head in front. So you would think she would still be a little tired ... eh naw! So her work was 44 and trot 1. Let me set the scene - the fog is thick all around us, snow still lay upon the grass, not a sound can be heard.
We set off trotting down to the circle at a bounce. I'm not going to lie the lass in front of me ended up riding 2 horses. All I could do in canter was hold on tight and pray we didn't clip her heels! 'F***!!!!!!!! That hurt!!!!!' 2nd circuit in I get a snow/woodchip ball straight in my right eye! Nothing I could do about it as I needed both hands holding on tightly to my reins! 'Bollox bollox bollox' I am cursing as I am trying to blink the crap out of my eye whilst trying to gauge distance with one eye open. We get to the end of 4 circuits and my arms are killing me, my back is killing me and whilst I could open my eye and see out of it I knew I still had bits of woodchip in there somewhere. As we are all turning ans trying to sort our positions out one lass has already set off and has nearly got all the way around again before we even got going. So that set everyone off hollering "just turn and go!" 'There's no point in us going in front as we are trotting up' "just get going" f*** sake ... so we set off again and poor Tara ends up riding 2 horses again as once again I have pretty much no control of the wee mare! We swing round 4x, off onto the straight and go to pull up to trot whilst some of the others are trying to canter past us. So Tara ends up cantering up the grass on one side, I am trying to get Gem off the gallop but she is having none of it! I finally get her on the grass and she is bouncing sideways. 1, 2, 3, 4 horses go by and I am struggling to keep her in check. Horse 5 goes by and she loses the plot and shoots off onto the gallop and proceeds to absolutely, totally and utterly bugger off with me! I had NO control! None! Nil! Nada! Nein! So we went absolutely FLAT OUT up the gallop up the straight. I stood bolt upright breaking jaw and she only went faster. Half way up I gave up and dropped paw. I wasn't stopping any time soon so I may as well conserve my energy to pull up at the top. To be fair to her she pulled up at the top no bother as 99% of our horses know where the end of the gallop is and stop. I haven't been tanked with in years and I haven't been that fast in a long long long time! I could do nothing but laugh in the end! Gem was so full of herself and so happy with herself! So much for trotting up the gallop ????
Once I got over that experience it was 9am so I checked to see if Wetherby was going to be on tomorrow. Inspection - failed, track frozen in places and unraceable at present. Re-inspect at 8am on the day of racing. Ffs! Just make your bloody minds up! If it defrosts then it will be hefty full of water. They are due 15ml of rain tonight, the track can't even take 5ml as it would make it standing water and unracable! At least I don't need to leave til inspection time tomorrow.
Over at yard 2 my first lot was big Midnight who, after the 2 at the first yard, was an absolute pleasure and delight! He feels very well for himself and needs a run!
Big Midnight's beautiful head:
Next lot was Big Bad Boris who was his usual delightful, grumpy self ???
I didn't have a last lot so clipping Kat is was. I love clipping fat horses! He is just back from his holidays so he is very well covered just now!
Yesterday we had a day of schooling and I have put up over 200 pics on here if you want to flick through them. Theel very dodgy ones will never see the light of day off of my phone!!!
https://www.facebook.com/Lucky-Shot-Photography-109592017447657/
