Sunny hacks with friends

Some pics from recent hacks. Taken back at the yard.

With Anna and Piglet

Sarah and Sampson

Sampson coming over for treats from me.

View from the cockpit

Worries just fade away...

... When I sit in the saddle. I hope Rainbow knows what a lovely creature she is and how much joy she brings me. 'Very stressed' doesn't begin to describe it this week - my life is in a bit of a transition and Rainbow is the anchor keeping me sane. 

I didn't really feel like riding today, 'too tired, too stressed...', I was saying to myself... 'Have to get back home to work...', I added to my own burden. But as soon as we were swaying towards the school, I could feel myself being instantly happier. The gentle swaying movement of Rainbow's walk...

Today I schooled her by myself. It wasn't perfect but got some little glimpses of loveliness  and some decent outline. If I try and relax, which is not easy at the moment, everything becomes a lot easier and R accepts the bit.


In other news, I have decided to head back to Finland this summer. With Rainbow and my two cats :)

Sunny disposition

Finally, it's spring! Today car showed outside temp 19 degrees in the sun. 

We had a lovely hack yesterday in the sun with our new-ish friends Lesley and Ellie. Both horses were very well-behaved and we did some good stretches of trotting. Didn't attempt cantering, as wasn't quite sure how Ellie and Rainbow would be together, so kept it to a civilised and pleasant hack around the churn.

Afterwards the lovely girls got out in the paddock. Turned them out without rugs, so this morning I was greeted by a happy mare caked in mud, all over her back and neck. Just perfect for the dressage clinic we partook this morning! I was absolutely covered in horse hair and dried mud by the time I had finished with her. But I didn't mind really, I could tell she had had a good time and given that she's not been able to go out, due to the flooded paddocks, for many weeks, it was all OK.

Dressage clinic went well too – Rainbow didn't try to test my nerves by spooking at silly things in the arena. Despite it's about 5 months since we last went inside those white boards! Though, the nature of the clinic meant that I could walk around the arena with her in peace before commencing the test. I showed the boards to her and she played ball.

I get very nervous when riding a test and even though this was a practice test, it didn't make any difference to my nerves. I noticed, already in the warm up, that I completely stop riding R, to the point my legs are not even properly applied to her sides! I had to have stern words with myself when I noticed this, 'For goodness sake woman, ride the horse like you always ride. It's no excuse to not keep the leg on!' But overall I was pleased and we got a mark of just over 62%, in W&T intro B. So I will keep doing the clinics, as it's a good simulation of a competition situation with the added bonus of immediate feedback from our judge/instructor and a chance to practise some of the bits we struggled with – e.g. using the corners and noting what it means to ride accurately to the markers, for example, when crossing the diagonal, and how to do half circles and circles correctly...

Finland on my mind...

I have had a lot to think about lately. I don't much talk about my personal life here and tend to stick to horses. I will now, too... However, I have recently started pondering moving back to Finland. I recently awoke to the realisation that not much is keeping me in England. 


My work is transferable, I run my own media business, and – perhaps rather smugly and I might be wrong – I think I would have a lot to offer in the Finnish media and publishing landscape, so I would take that with me... The scary thing is that I have lived in the UK for 12 years – all my adult life (I came to uni here) – so I am quite anglicised now. I am worried that after the initial excitement of moving back to 'new' country, I would be hankering after the English way of life and getting frustrated. 


But then again, if I measure it rationally, I have already lived outside the 'exciting' London scene (one of the main reasons for moving to UK at 19 years of age...) for the past 7 years, when I moved to Oxfordshire. The change has become more pronounced, as I now live in the country and have a horse. Living in the outskirts of a bigger Finnish town, e.g. Tampere, wouldn't make a big 'cultural' difference to my lifestyle. 

You are probably thinking, what about Rainbow? Well, I would take her with me. The cost of transporting a horse, having checked one quote so far, isn't as huge as I thought it might be. My cats would travel with me. The chickens might have to be rehomed. 

Finding a good value but quality stables for Rainbow in Finland would be my priority, as is finding work for myself, to fund it all. So, I am asking you, dear reader, especially the Finnish contingent, please send me some info. I will open up the comments box so that others than registered blog readers can get in touch. Or send a private email through the blog profile section.

What do I expect horsiness in Finland to look like? I imagine it to look like these pics below (blatantly ripped from the internet by the way). Am I correct? :)