Ride to Bournemouth 20th Dec

We've done our first long distance ride in England! I call them that to distinguish between long rides and endurance rides which are actual competitions ;)
It was awesome and refreshed my memory on how much I love long rides! Especially when you have an aim and you're going somewhere new.
We didn't finish it this time, though, and I learned the importance of equipment. On Saturday I lost a boot to wear and tear (new wires and a blog are one their way) so I had no other choice than trying to use a pair of old boots I had lying around. They have been too small but his feet are a lot smaller so they appeared to fit yesterday. Turned out they didn't so I had to take them off and put the renegades on his fronts leaving his backs bare. This completely ruined my plan of trotting whenever I could and we ended up going at a speed of 3-5kms/h rather than 10.
Also, I haven't got proper saddle bags yet and as I had to take more stuff than I could squeeze in there I had to have a huge back pack pushing me slightly forwards. For next long ride I'll have saddle bags and boots sorted - first priority! =p

Luckily Anna has that van of hers so she sent her husband to our rescue when it got too dark to ride safely on those small Postman Pat roads. We were picked up at a pub and Juniblest didn't really want to be loaded - I'll take that as a sign he'd rather keep going! ;)

Picture time!

Early morning in Southampton - no one's awake yet

Sun's coming up over the fields

'Let me out!!'

Someone's used his poo as a pillow...

Good to go!

The old railway track

We were lost for a while but we found the right way in the end!

Muddy bridleway =)

One of the reasons good walking shoes are really important on long rides! Sometimes you have to climb over and crawl under fallen trees, swim through mud or just stretch your legs.

We encountered 'devil clay' again but this time the boots stayed on!

Juniblest got a bit dirty, though.. 

Crossing an A road was interesting.... 

Do make sure you socialise your horse to anything! Articulated lorries on narrow roads for instance.

Looks as if he's going very fast but the driver did slow down a lot.

We're not exactly speeding....

Merry Christmas to you from us!

A little fella who decided to join us for lunch

P.I.G.s - lots of them! 

...?

Final destination - almost. The Fisherman's Horn (pub)

Safely in the field with Rosie and Cassie!

Notice his shoulder sticking out from the rug =) It used to be invisible covered by a lump of fat in front of it...

Happy Holidays, Juniblest! 

Riding to Bournemouth!

I'm 'shipping' Juniblest off to a friend for Christmas so I'm riding to Bournemouth today!

You can see where we are here (after 10am ish) It says Boris, but it's me ;)

If nothing happens I've forgotten how to use the tracker device.. 

A short update

The weather's been rather unpredictable lately so I haven't dared to take my camera out with me for about a month - hence no blogs. What we have done is discovering a few training routes that work well even when it's raining and everything is turned into a massive bog, and although I haven't been able to train him five times every week I believe he's still losing weight.
We have had a few frosty mornings and since I'm afraid of him not getting enough water and colicking on me again, I've left him without the muzzle for two nights two times. Both times he got swollen glands, a grass belly, sore feet and loose droppings - clearly the grass is still way too sweet for him!

I'm planning a ride down to Bournemouth where he'll stay for Christmas, and no matter how bad the weather may decide to be I'll take a camera with me!

I'll write soon!

A long weekend!

We've had Scarpa visiting all weekend and the poor sod had to experience Juniblest's increasingly hard life.. My barefoot trimmer Lucy Priory told me that to get Juniblest's body to use the sugar he's getting through the grass rather than storing it he needs to get his pulse up above 80bpm for 30 mins at least 5 days every week! I'm not exactly sure when this happens but I've taken his heart rate once after some 'power trot' and it was just above 80 - which means he should canter or trot very fast for at least 30 mins at least 5 days every week. 30 mins of canter equals 5miles ish - I've hacked out with the GPS again you see ;) 

So poor Scarpa had to run for about 6 miles Friday, 3 miles ish Saturday and 6 miles + again on Sunday. He didn't seem to mind too much except when he got a lesson from one of the forest ponies he tried to encourage to play with him. He hurt his pride quite a lot and left the ponies alone for the rest of his holiday/boot camp.. 

But hey! This is Juniblest's diary! 

Not much to say, though, apart from him being a star with the dog. I'm working on teaching Scarpa to jump up with his front legs to make it easier for me to clip the lead on and off from horseback and Juniblest doesn't even look to see what's going on. I honestly believe that pony is genuinly fond of dogs and when I'm getting my own in the future it's partly because I know it would make a dream come true for him as well.. =)

And clipping him again payed off as he can now work harder for longer without getting too hot. I did mess up his face, but he'll need a clip again in about two weeks anyway so I can get it right then. Maybe I'll try some 'clip art'? Like stars and hearts and stuff.. 

This is why he needs a clip quite often - this is one month of growth!  

Scarpa is doing all he can to get Juniblest to move, but Juniblest is having lunch - thank you very much!

Harmony...

...but only until Juniblest wants to take a look at the furry fella and Scarpa lives up to his name. 

'Oh sh*t! Scarpa!'

New haircut! And a tired Juniblest - babysitting is hard work for ponies..

Juniblest is taking his new job seriously. I can leave them like this with the stable door open while I go and get bridle, helmet, boots etc =)

Training him to stand has made my life so much easier! We have a gate even I won't ride through and getting him to wait for me as I close it saves me some hassle ;)

We have a cartoon super hero in Norway named the Phantom. Now I know what the world looks like when you're him ;) (He's got a white horse and a wolf)

Life is hard, but not always.

Canter!

Sunset on the forest =)

Thank you for reading! I'll write more soon =)