Back to Work (well kind of)

Oops! Just sat down with my laptop and looked at my blog - a whole month since I was last here. I have meant to blog, but with one thing and another it just hasn't happened, and to be perfectly honest there has been nothing very interesting to write about. We have had days out, days in and one trip to the hospital (knowing my son, likely to be the first of many)

But, half term is over and real life will be restarting tomorrow. This means the horses (one very fat one) will have a bit of a rude awakening. We have another ride planned for 1st July, 20 miles this time, so a bit of work is needed, not just for the horses.....

Both horses lunged today, and I will be hacking out tomorrow evening, hopefully a bit more to blog about soon.

Our first outing!!!

Finally! We took our horses out for an outing in our own trailer, and it was a success <little happy dance> The occasion? A 15mile Charity Ride.

As with everything, the 'relaxed' trip out required a lot of planning and organisation..... So, on Saturday we had horses to exercise and scrub (the gelding is naturally.a filthy beast) tack to clean, numnahs to wash, trailers to check, and an enormous amount of stuff to pack up - hats, boots, gloves, body protectors, water container, buckets, first aid kit and Polos to name a few.

Of course, having small children, the organisation did not stop there. We had to double check we had childcare, make sure there was something yummy for the babysitter for lunch and to leave the house in a decent(ish) state.

On Sunday morning we were 'lucky' enough to be woken by our son at 5.45am - no chance of oversleeping! We left the house at 9am armed with sandwiches, cans of coke and clean numnahs. The sun was shining!

The horses had been left in so they (well, the gelding) didn't get muddy. This turned out to be a mistake as both were very wound up. They had some mild sedation for travelling and we loaded up.

Both travelled amazingly well. When we unloaded, the mare looked very pleased to be out somewhere and the gelding was a bit of a knob to be perfectly honest! We managed to tack up and could get straight going, which was lucky as I don't imagine either of them would have taken too kindly to hanging around.

It was FABULOUS! Lots of long grassy tracks for some fun gallops canters, some wooded tracks and a little stream to cross (ok, so it was little more than a puddle) The horses were very well behaved for most of the ride, but half way round the mare got a bit cross and stressy. This meant snatching and jig-jogging, though to be fair to her, we were on a track with horses in front going quite slowly and some behind messing around - who wouldn't get wound up? We covered just over 15miles, the last 5 were the best in terms of good tracks and less horses but the worst in terms of aching muscles. We completed in just under 3 hours.

The horses were very sweaty, but still full of life at the end. They must have been tired though, as they actually stood tied to the trailer sharing, actually sharing a haynet.!

Travelling home went very well, and with no sedation (Yay!!!)

The mare and gelding spent the rest of the day out in a grassy field, before coming in to a good brush, a clean bed, plenty of hay and a well deserved feed. We had to rush home to relieve the babysitter, and get our daughter to a birthday party. Burger King for dinner followed by a hot bath, painkillers and wine. The most impressive part? We can still walk today just

A trailer based breakthrough, and a little bit of stupidity

My Darling Husband and I have been planning on doing some fun rides with a view to doing some endurance (his idea, not really my thing) but as yet, nothing much has actually happened. We are very good at talking about things, about planning and even going as far as to write the dates on the calender. But that is it. When it comes down to actually doing stuff we are woefully bad.

To be fair, the horses are not always particularly helpful. You may remember http://christie-unstable.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/trailer-travelling-problems.html our travelling problems. But here, we have had a breakthrough! We have been putting the mare in the trailer and feeding her copious amounts of polos and it seems to have paid off, for on Saturday, we travelled her round the village in the trailer with very little nonsense from her. Admittedly, she had been given the horse equivalent of a double gin and tonic and more polos, but Hurray! So, on Sunday we tried the same, but with the gelding in there too. There was the odd little bit of stupidity (from us, we loaded them in, then realised we hadn't undone the trailer door, so had to unload one horse so we could get back out idiots) but again it went really smoothly.

This means, that next weekend we are finally going on a charity fun ride!!! 15miles of new tracks and possibly the odd jump or two. And the best bit? You can enter on the day, so no concerns with us forgetting to post the entries.

There is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing

Apparently! Actually I do kind of agree with this, well mostly, of course some weather conditions are impossible to be properly dressed for, unless you count being wrapped up warm inside the house!

Windy weather for example. You cannot stop the wind finding any bare bit of skin, however small, especially if it is icy cold. Also torrential rain is not much fun.

But the one that I struggle with is April showers. Bright sunshine one minute, chucking it down the next. This is doubly difficult if you are going out on a ride, if you wear full waterproofs you are going to sweat like a pig, but will stay dry if it rains (which it won't - Sods Law) but if you go out in just normal clothes with perhaps a fleece to stop the slight chill, you can guarantee it will hose it down and you will be weighed down by a sopping wet fleece.

Today I got soaked. The sort of soaked where water is running down your face despite looking like a right eejit with a hood up and all the cords pulled tight. My muckers are soggy on the inside, my jodphurs were shrinkwrapped to my legs and my gloves were sopping. I got very wet yesterday too, and the day before and I am very likely to get wet tomorrow. We are in a drought you see, so of course it is raining - a lot. It is that Sods Law again.

Easter Holidays, unpredictable British weather and getting back into the swing of things

We have just had the Easter Hols. My daughter is only 4yrs old, so only at pre-school but who knew what a difference 3hrs a day makes! She is very good really, but this last week has been getting bored and restless, this seems to be catching and so her brother (20months) is also bored and restless. This would be ok, except for the manic energy that seems to accompany bored and restless. The Easter chocolate probably doesn't help - well, it helps me  (but sadly not my waistline)

In true British style the weather has been unpredictable at best, downright miserable at worst. We have tried to get some days out, which have mostly been ok. The kids have had fun and I have been able to collect some smug good mummy points.

I haven't been able to do much with the horses over the holidays. I seem to spend so much energy trying to keep the kids happy and occupied that I have nothing left for anything other than the bare essentials.

So, it is now Monday morning. School and playgroups don't start back up til tomorrow, which gives me a day of trying to get organised. My post-Easter low carb diet starts today, the washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher and possibly cooker are going to be on almost non-stop and I will somehow have to convince these kids that a bath and hairwash followed by an early night is a good idea. Hmmmm.....

If Ikea did Horses....

You would have to choose a basic frame first. Any colour other than white would cost extra. Markings would be extra. Manes and tails would be extra (but available in all sorts of wacky designs) and even the bloody feet would be an optional extra.

Thankfully, Ikea do not do horses!

They do however do childrens beds. A lovely, small bed for a lovely small child, complete with a guard rail to stop the little darling falling out. But apparently, the base is considered an optional extra. I am actually fine with that, I am not fine with not realising that the base is not included until I get home. Grrrrrrrrrrr.......

Clutter

As I look around my house, every single surface, every single corner, every single gap is full of stuff. There are random things wedged alongside books on the shelves, there are precarious piles of magazines stacked up on the coffee table (and underneath it) there is a huge pile of post on one stair, another of CD's, pens and other things without a home on the next stair. In the kitchen, out of three worktops, only one has enough room to make a cup of tea on, even the fridge has stuff stacked on top of it. I don't know which room is worse, our bedroom or the dining room, where you have to squeeze around odd, full to the brim boxes and bags of more bloody stuff.

I actually really hate mess, but sadly I am a messy person. My children are average, messy children, and my husband seems to be getting worse!

Sadly, I think my house represents the state of myself at the moment - cluttered. I feel I have so much stuff going around my head, and I am really struggling to get it into order.

I know I need to get sorting. Clearing some surfaces off, making the house feel more spacious, and hopefully my head will follow......?