1/2 a training session

Well this morning I was up early to help Mum practice her balance and to teach her how to ride bareback.  It was a training sessions of 1/2's.  Only 1/2 the floodlights were working in the back garden so it meant we could only use 1/2 the school and Mum only put on 1/2 my tack - just my bridle no saddle.  The session lasted 1/2 hour.

I suppose I could tell you only 1/2 the story too!  We spent the morning in walk, I thought it best to break Mum in slowly she normally only rides me bareback for 5 minutes down the road and back each morning and evening so 1/2 an hour was going to be a big ask.

We concentrated on bending and once we had adjusted to using just 1/2 the school we started with 20 m circles before finally ending up walking 10m circles making sure Mum turned her shoulders in the direction we were heading and concentrated hard on keeping an steady pace and not falling in or out of my shoulders (my favourite trick to see if Mum is paying attention).

Then to end the session we tried to work on free walk on the long rein.  This is something Sarah was teaching my at our last lesson.  It's quite hard as I like to snatch the bit away from Mum but we came to an understanding and we did a reasonable job.  By then it had started to drizzle, so as we had done 1/2 hour, Mum popped my rug on and rode me down to the field leading Zippy and Benji.

Now out in the field tucking into some yummy grass, munch, munch!

May have to change my blog name!

Hmmmm, I haven't been doing very well at keeping my blog up to date recently.  I could give a whole long list of excuses but on current performance I think I should change the name of my blog from Daily Dales Diary to Monthly Dales Diary!

I got told off by my dales friends Dave and Vince, because they rely on reading my blog to keep up to date with my exploits.  Sorry boys will try harder to keep you updated.  So what have I been up to the last couple of months?  Well since the dentist (last blog) I have moved into my bedroom for sleeps, however you can see how special I am to my Mum, as I am obviously her pot of gold under the rainbow!

As you can see from below I have also been attacked by the dreaded clippers and now have even bigger go faster stripes.  To be honest I don't mind at all, its quite relaxing and certainly keeps me cooler, I was getting very hot and sweaty - yuck!  Fur is growing back very quickly though, not sure Mum is so impressed with this!

I've been to visit Katy at her home in Cookham.  This meant me travelling on my own for 1.5hrs, which in my spacious trailer is great fun and I am very happy travelling on my own now.  Katy was given matching go faster stripes by Mum while we visited, she was just as good as me and she had never been clipped before either.  She then took us around her farm and we had a good canter/gallop which was good fun.  Katy hadn't taken Sarah that fast before, so we all enjoyed speeding around the farm.  Katy is doing very well but like me has a bad habit of rubbing her mane (opps) unlike me she now has nothing at all - bad Katy, but I am working hard to catch up - we like the short cropped look, much to the horror of our Mum's.

I have also been a diva, having attended a major photo shoot - still waiting to see the photographs Mr camera man - Mum is not impressed, so no doubt won't be spending much money with him when he does finally decide to show us my handsome pictures.  Mum knew I was upset about this as I was looking forward to posting my pictures all over the internet so made me a lovely present and drew a picture of me.  I had to pose for hours (well in a photo) i think it is quite a good likeness of me.

Well that's a very brief synopsis of what I have been doing recently - other than my recent holiday which I will blog about separately.  I'm off to read all my friends blogs now and catch up with what Zoe and the Mules have been up to.  Promise to blog again very very soon x

Go arrrrrrrrrrrrgh

Well I can't believe nearly a year has passed since I arrived.  On such an anniversary it was felt that this should be celebrated by a visit from the dentist - really is this how humans celebrate??????

Fortunately I have a lovely dentist, Stuart Philpott www.thehorsedentist.co.uk.  As usual he turned up with his very cool three legged dog, who loves Benji, so they disappeared off chasing each other around the paddock - bye guys happy running!

I was not going to be able to enjoy such pleasures, I had to go into my stable and have the metal bridle put on, so I could go arghhhhh when Stuart wanted me to!

It was hard to focus on posing well for Mum while I has being rasped, pummelled and goodness knows what to keep my beautiful teeth in dapper condition, hence the crazy look, I was trying to look at Mum while Stuart wanted me to concentrate on keeping still!

Evidently square is good!  Because us Dales ponies have wonderful solid square heads we are much less prone to ulcers then those fancy pointed headed Welsh and Arabs - yet another benefit most pony owners don't consider, in fact I'm hard to find a downside to owning one of our fantastic breed.

Stuart reported I still have teeth to come through but all was in order.  I made him work for his money and made sure he had a quick dance around the stable with me - well I do get ants in my pants and moving my feet is how I think.

Zippy was much more obedient and Stuart had a glamorous assistant Victoria, who lovingly filed Zippy's old pair of knashers into order.  They were very impressed with her teeth considering she is 27 years old.  We reckon that's because Stuart takes great care of them and does just enough to keep them smooth and comfortable.

Well that's it for now, must remind Mum to book me in for another dental check up in 9 months as I'm growing quickly and need regular check up's.  Smile and say cheese!

Go away sheep

Now I don't personally have anything against sheep, but having not been able to get up on the hill for most of the spring because of the sheep fencing, I was not best pleased when we planned a lovely autumn afternoon hack last Sunday to see...... Yes you guessed it more sheep fencing.

Really how is a pony supposed to safely traverse the fencing? I know sheep are thick but really I thought better of humans but maybe this human is as thick as the sheep.  Doesn't he know (it's bound to be a man!) that it is illegal to block a Bridleway. Look at the photo Mr Sheep Man, yes it is a Bridleway gate you have blocked.

I can't publish the planned actions beyond complaining to the council but I can promise you Mum is not going to stand for her Autumn hill hacking to be ruined like her Spring hacking was, action will be taken!

All suggestions very welcomed to create a quick resolution to this problem....just message me x

Practicing for Halloween

I think I may be out of sync with the seasons.  Mum has brought me an early Halloween present because I have spent the last two weeks scratching my mane and tail on whatever I can find that makes a good rubbing post.  From what I can understand most of the ponies have been wearing these most of the summer. So I am not too sure whether I'm late to follow this trend or just early for Haloween.

I totally freaked Zippy out, my ghostly outfit certainly worked on her, she kept spooking at me (get it spooking, lol) I'm not sure she liked my new look.  I'm not sure I do too as my mane and tail got covered in gunk before I got my ghost rug out on.

Well Happy Halloween followers, have a safe Halloween and make sure you are wearing your ghostly rugs to keep the spooks at bay.

Left hand canter lead........what???????

Where does the time go, I have been very busy trying to achieve left leg canter lead (I still have no idea what Mum is on about - but I'm doing my best to understand!)

So in an effort to get Mum to be a little clearer about what she wants I persuaded her to take me for a lesson with Sarah, see her website, she's a great trainer  http://www.newhostables.co.uk.

Now this meant being loaded up into the spy can on wheels and having a half hour journey on my own, easy peasy! Mum was most impressed that when she opened up the can at Sarah's I was standing there all cool and relaxed and not the steaming pony I had been last time.  In fact I kept trying to jump back on the front door so I could be as tall as all the posh dressage horses that hang out at the yard.

Off we went for our lesson, I was hoping Sarah could explain to Mum how to ask me clearly for this 'left leg canter lead' it's all very confusing.  I'm happy to canter but I'm not too sure why Mum wants to worry about which leg I'm on, surely as long as I don't fall over that's ok?  We started out ok and I managed a couple of times to do what was required but it was still all a bit confusing and both Mum and I got out of breath so we changed to free walk on a long rein - hey listen to me knowing all these fancy dressage terms.

Now I started to get this, I've got to walk holding the bit nicely in my mouth and not poking my head forward or tucking it into my chest.  If I tuck it into my chest Mum puts her hands together and this is a signal to lift my head up a bit - ok got that!

Then she wants me to take drop my head down to the floor, marching forward but not snatching at the bit.  This was a bit more tricky, I get a bit impatient, but we did some work in a circle and Sarah explained to Mum what to do, so I would put my head down more slowly taking the bit with me, rather than snatching out of her hands.  I think if Mum keeps practising this we will get better marks in our next test.

Hmmmm then Sarah had another go at getting Mum to work on my canter. Listen ladies, I'm only young and only 4yrs old and there is only so much information a pony can teach her one legged Mum in a lesson.  Personally I think Mum having a weak left leg and ankle from her operation has much more to do with the problem then me!

Several tactics were tried; from creating good left hand bend (well that's a matter of opinion on the quality of the bend), then they changed their mind and decided to go for right hand bend to make me fall on my left leg - ladies please make up your mind, you are confusing me!

When this failed the old faithful pole was brought out, enough is enough, I'm now tired and grumpy, which meant I'd had enough. It's hard to tell humans this, so I had to resort to bucking and cow kicks - they got the message and we compromised, I managed a step of whatever this left hand canter lead is and we agreed to call it a day - hurrah.  By now I am one hot sweaty pony!

But at least it was time to go home.  Thank you Sarah, I think I'll give Mum a chance to practice and then hopefully when we come back she will be a bit better and you can help her refine her technique - well here's hoping!

Please queue in an orderly fashion for autographs...

It's official I am now a diva model.  Due to being fabulous at the Brinkworth show earlier in the year and winning the In Hand Mountain and Moorland Class (at least they recognise great talent) I won a fashion and equine photo shoot as part of my first prize.  Mum said I had to be generous and share my prize with Zippy - humph!  Very reluctantly I agreed, well she is old and she will never win her own photo shoot.

As you can see I was all brushed and ready for action, alert for anything, which actually meant having a HUGE flash light flashing at me a lot, but being a diva and doing my best to represent our lovely breed I took it all in my stride.

AS you can see Zippy was not quite so excited about the prospect of being centre of attention and having her photo taken, I think at 27 she thinks she's been there and seen it all.

Ohhh maybe a little more interest.

I have never has such fun, we did lots of cuddling posing shots to start with all over the farm, walking down the road, along the tow path, it was great fun, obviously I demanded a lot of grass snacks - one has to keep their energy levels up darling - this work is exhausting!

I was having sooo much fun I was not happy when they let Zippy have a turn, I demanded attention jumping around the yard, didn't they realise I was the star, I was only being nice agreeing to let Zippy have a go, she wasn't supposed to take me up on my offer!  Well off she went posing in the big field, she even had Mum on her back in a skirt and high heels, bareback - I mean really if she can do that, then I wanted to too.

Well I got my chance, Mum put me in my show bridle - up until then I had been in my very posh travel halter.  Then Mum jumped aboard too in her skirt and high heels, bareback and rode me into the big green field that stretches for miles.  Now obviously there was the option to have some 'fun' here, but as a serious model one knows when one has to behave darling, so I was brillant, tossed my mane a little to look a little more stallion like and let Mum do silly poses on top of me, while I stood still.  Not bad for a little four year old.

Now the pictures will not be published for about a month as my lovely photographer Alec has to check every single one, I have given him a detailed list of what needs airbrushing, so I appear at my very best.  Once they are available I will obviously let all my fans know and for a small charge I can send signed copies on request.

If you want to have a sneak preview of the kind of work Alec does have a look at his website www.centaurphotographic.co.uk, obviously I'll have to charge him when he uses my pictures up there.  It was a great day, Alec was lovely and ensured Mum had a great time too, looking forward to seeing the pictures, he is a very talented man!

PS. Mum took these pictures, she has no idea at all how amazing us ponies can look when we are in front of the lens of a professional!!!!!!!