Its Christmas!

As you would all know, Christmas time hampers much time for relaxation. The constant tire of cleaning, preparation for the day - late night shopping, cooking and so forth. It is tiresome but definitely worth it all. It also doesn't leave much time for maintaining a blog..

As of yesterday the sun shone for the first time in about 2 weeks; a sight to bask in the Vitamin D of.
The days preceding that were slow and wet, hampered by the inglorious summer rain.


Mark hasn't been out in the past few days as he has been busy but we are planning a lesson together today. I managed to get one lunge and one gallop in on Rion in the past four days before he was attacked by paper wasps. It scared me half to death, I had no idea what could have brought so many hives out from his nose to his tail, simply covered. I called the vet out to find that it was paper wasps that had gotten to him and caused a severe reaction - which would only be worse if they bit him again. Understandably Rion gave himself a small stress colic where he was sweating and wanting to roll but I kept him walking until the vet got there.I couldn't for the life of me think why it had happened.  An injection of cortisone, a stress reliever and antihistamine of sorts later and he was much happier.

I have been working Dart by myself when Mark is caught up and can't make it and he never ceases to amaze me. I have such an inquisitive young man on my hands - almost to my detriment. While he was being agisted the 300 acres he was in had one or more dams, the only dam we have the horses don't have access to. Meanwhile Dart believes it is perfectly fine to put his hoof in the various troughs and pull them off their stands. Watching the hundreds of litres just rush down the hill. Perhaps a kiddy pool would do the trick..

Being the inquisitive young man that he is he is easily bored. In order to amuse for an afternoon mum and I thought it would be nice to give him some respite and forfeit our exercise ball for his amusement. It was a hit. Kicking, nuzzling, biting; we began to fear for the life of the ball if this kind of maltreatment went on. I have a 'Jolly Ball' - intended for horses - on his Christmas list. Last night we put him in the big paddock with Rion. He has a new found interest in life again, allowed to be a silly young man with his silly older brother - Rion.

Dart is now on hiatus until late February/early March when Mark and I will start breaking him. An entirely painful experience having to wait but in the meantime I can still play with him a little bit on the lunge. In our last session we made real progress. He is now able to stay on the circle, carrying himself in balance, tracking up well in the walk and trot. At the trot it is clear to see; as in traditional warmblood form, needs a constant reminder to keep moving, keep in-front of the whip - in-front of the leg. Within a week and a half we have gone from fresh out fo the paddock to cantering on the circle. At the canter he still needs more work - as expected, but slowly and surely he is learning to hold himself. Watching Mark work his magic I can see that the balance at the canter and holding the impulsion without making him run is the cause of his disuniting and breaking to the trot. Less and less so as the lesson wore on however.

Since his run in with the wasps I have lunged Rion twice and taken him out for a run on the track again. There is no doubt in where Rion's heart lays - his legs. As they pound the ground, snorting out each breath -- It puts him in a good frame of mind to finish with some flat work in the arena. Its good fitness for the both of us. Hopefully after Christmas Day I can get back into action with him. I have a craving to do some jumping!



Here is a  quick video of Dart with Mark on the lunge:

Merry Christmas all! 

Jess|x