Never a Dull Moment

Today I finally managed to start work with Spyke. As always it was not without 'interest'.

My gate has been fixed (YAY!!) Until yesterday the bottom hinge was stuffed which meant that I had to lift the gate open. Now that it is fixed it swings beautifully BUT what that means is Tai can now push it open. I had just caught Spyke (who did a 'u-turn' when he saw the halter in my hand - an auspicious start LOL) and had taken him through the gate to tie him up about three metres from the gate. I turned around to see Tai pushing the gate open and heading off up the drive to introduce himself properly to the horses on the other side. Spyke went to pull back and run off but stopped when I put my hand on the rope (bless him). I popped him back in the paddock and went to catch Tai. Spyke in the paddock did 'much bucking and galloping'. Once I caught Tai and brought him back down to the tie up Spyke happily allowed himself to be caught again. After a quick check I found a cut on each of Spyke's back legs so cleaned them up and wound powdered them.

The lungeing went well. Spyke was in a very gentle mood today. He had a few bucks but then he always does on the lunge. :-) Overall though he lunged beautifully, although it wasn't easy for him as the ground still isn't great. I am really looking forward to getting him going this season. I wrote today too at the WHS dressage and that has motivated me to really get his 'snossage' going.

After writing I popped up to see Tina's horses. Biscuit and Tilly The Hun Bags Not (the two 'foals') are looking FABULOUS (although I'm not allowed to take pics while they are in their 'scruffy' winter coats). Biscuit will be two in November and is about 15.1hh. She is a dun with a big white blaze and four white socks. TTHBN is 8 months and about 15hh!!!! She is currently black but is very grey underneath. I can't wait to see her summer coat. She has also got the most fabulous butt!!!! LOL They are both very, very sweet foals (I have my eye on young Biscuit. He he)

Yesterday I took the dogs for a walk in the forest. Poor Brina had a lousy time as the electric fence was up for the cattle and she got a huge belt off it within the first few minutes of the walk. There was much yelping and she ran back to me for a cuddle. She spent the rest of the walk almost attached to my knee. (First pikkie taken by sticking the camera out in front of me and pointing it back at her. This is her worried face) She did get very brave up by the bridge and sneaked 5 metres away for a quick dip in the stream but came straight back to the safety of my knee. LOL. Poor girl, she was NOT a happy camper and sulked for several hours.

I will upload a couple of pics of the pooches tomorrow. I have sorted the technical issues with my camera but now the laptop won't talk to the camera. I also bought a little digital camera off Trademe that can live in my bag so that I have a camera on me and when I went to pick the little camera up the guy gave me ANOTHER camera so I know have THREE!! And yet I didn't have a single one on me today up at the paddock.

I am currently sitting with two bernese at my feet, have a Malibu and coke right next to me, have a VERY full puku after a feed of homemade pasta and profiteroles (back on the diet tomorrow :-) and am watching the Atlanta Olympics on vid.....life is good.

Loot!!!!

Yay for Spyke. His trophies arrived in the mail today and he won the WRC Prelim Dressage Cup and was runner up in the Hi Points Section 1 which (I think) is overall on the flat (ie non-jumping events). I am so proud of that horse and can't wait to get started for the upcoming season. If only it would stop raining!!!!!

So....I'm thinking......maybe.....

I need a new hose!!!!

PS It was sunny and warm ALL DAY!!!!

Feeding CAN be an Adventure

Dear Weather Gods, Thank you so much for sending drought relief. I can now report that we are very, VERY relieved and you can return to normal programming as soon as you like.

Another day, another flood. Tai and Spyke were VERY anxious this evening as there was a lake between them and their dinner. They tried to cross the lake but lost their bottle when it was up to their bellies. In actual fact they were probably at the deepest point and would have been fine to cross but I am very happy that they stayed on the hill side of the flood. Fortunately for them I could walk up the road and get their dinner to them (they were MOST relieved :-).

On a good note, when I pluck up the courage to go eventing I know for a fact that Spyke has no problem with water and if he tries to tell me otherwise he will get no sympathy from me. And Sammie (who is in season and under house and paddock arrest) got to have a swim. Roll on summer!!!

Exciting News!!!!

Apparently Spyke has won a trophy from the WRC. Am waiting with anticipation to find out what it is. I think he may have won the Summer Prelim Dressage Series but I'm not sure. *Whispers* It would be kind of nice if someone had told us so we could have gone to the prize giving. Oh well. :-)

A Brief Break in the Rain

Today it stopped raining long enough for me to take the boy's rugs off and give them a bit of a brush and a check over. Tai is fat and well and starting to drop his coat. He has VERY muddy legs but is generally holding up well. Spyke I was a bit worried about before taking his rug off as he dropped a lot of weight in the drought over summer but I was really pleased to see that he is holding on to his weight this winter. Both their rugs are holding up well and they are dry and warm (and if any winter was going to test their rugs this one would be The One!!) The pic is of Spyke (once again taken with my phone). I also gave Spyke's very long mane a 'trim'. Fortunately on the side away from the camera. I hope it grows back quickly LOL.

Rain Rain Rain

I really don't have much to write about at the moment. It is just wet, wet, wet so I have completely given up on trying to ride. Last weekend Andrew and Maree were up from the Hawkes Bay and we all went to the Vintners Brunch. It is a charity event for the North Shore Hospice and involves 10 top Auckland restaurants providing a gourmet course that is matched with a wine. It is a VERY pleasant way to spend a Sunday (although I couldn't move for HOURS afterwards.)

On Wednesday Tracy and I had some people over to share in the Coca Cloa Meals of the World prize from a competition run by Classic Hits. It was a really nice evening with good company, some nice food and yummy cocktails.

Today I managed to get Brina up to the forest for a walk. Sammie couldn't come as she is under house arrest since she came into season last week. (Little troll was booked in to be spayed on Monday but that is now on hold.) Brina was not allowed to swim today as the stream was in flood. I have never seen it so high. The pics aren't great as they were taken on my phone (still having technical issues with the camera) but you can see that the water was only an inch from the top of the bridge. Usually there is about a metres clearance there. We had a nice walk but Brina was missing her mum and spent the whole walk sticking very close to me (or was it all the treats that I had in my pocket. :-)

Tai Was a Toad

Well tonight was fun!!! It started with Brina heading off into the middle distance to steal Lily's dinner. Tai was tacked up quick smart so I could head off after 'madam'. Tai (bless him) jig jogged all the way up the drive and then Steph kindly brought Brina back. As I was riding back down Minke and Sharkaya had a really good bounce in the paddock next to the drive. Since I haven't ridden Tai for about 2 weeks and since he was feeling about 30hh I leapt off until we got past the 'yahoo-ers'. Once in the paddock Spyke offered to 'help' by running up behind Tai and bucking and yahooing all around him. Fortunately, Tai is a sensible ol' bugger and took no notice. Once I had Spyke sorted (big thanks to Tracy, my flatmate) I rode Tai around a bit but I have to say the ground was just awful. It was puggy and slippery and really not much chop. I took Tai over into the corner nearest the road and did a bit of trot. As we were trotting on the right rein (not his best rein) I was just asking him to bend around my leg a little and when I put my outside leg on the little bugger put in a buck!!!!!! Our first ever buck under saddle LOL!!! I think he was as surprised as I was as he was very apologetic after that. It was soooo funny. I think I'm going to lay off riding until the ground gets a bit better. I also think (know!!!) that the spring grass in coming through having seen everyone's behaviour tonight. BTW the pikkies were taken on Tai's first ride after four years off. I am having 'technical difficulties' with my camera at the moment. :-) I am also having slight 'technical difficulties' with Tai's bridle. He no longer has the nice (expensive) cavesson as seen in the pics as someone ATE IT!!! I have yet to figure out whether it was equine or canine mandibles that dealt to it but I suspect I will be going shopping (oh what a shame LOL).

Carting

Today I was given an opportunity by my friends Richard and Heather to try some carting with Sammie and Brina. Sammie has carted twice before and Brina has done it once. Sammie is a bit of a natural in a cart but Brina was REALLY not keen last time. She kept freezing and refusing to move. Although by the end of the day she was OK about it. I really wasn't sure how she would be today but as Richard is building me my own cart (yay) I was keen to give it a whirl.

Sammie went first today. We put the harness on her and gave her a few minutes to get used to it then we put her in the shafts and hooked her up. She was brilliant and was instantly at home in the shafts. She even had the cornering sorted straight away. (Please excuse my glamorous outfit but I had been cleaning out my shed and wading through mud all morning).



Next it was Brina's turn. We took it a bit slower with Brina. First we harnessed her and walked her around for a while next to the cart so that she could get used to the noise. Next we put the shafts on her and Richard held them while I led her around, once again this was to let her get comfortable with the shafts. She was doing really well and seemed very happy so we hooked her up to the cart and away we went!!! She was FANTASTIC!! She had her tail up, she managed all the corners and even started to learn how to do 'slow'. I was thrilled with her!!! I can't wait to have my own cart and get the girls out and about.

Intro to the 'Family'

This blog is an opportunity for me to keep a record of my animals and what they have been up to. I was inspired to start this today as I was invited to go carting with my dogs. Let me start my blog by introducing my 'family'.

My Dogs
Sammie.

Sammie (right) was born 06/02/02 and is a Champion Bernese Mountain Dog. She also has the distinction of winning Best of Breed at the National Dog Show in 2004. She has a had a total of 10 puppies from two litters and she is the most loyal dog in the world.
Brina.
Brina (left) is Sammie's daughter from her first litter. She was born 21/03/05. She is not a show dog as she was spayed due to an arthritic elbow. However she is the most amazingly loving dog and I wouldn't part with her for anything.

My Horses
Tai
Tai (right at 27yrs) was born in 1981. He is a NZ thoroughbred but has never raced. He started life as a showjumper at Isola and eventually made his way to Angie Learmonth who took him through the ranks to Advanced Dressage. I acquired him at a the grand old age of 19 and had a BALL with him. We went to the forest, the beach and did tiny eventing and dressage days. Tai taught me to really ride and I owe him everything. I retired him on Waitangi Day in 2004 as his joints wouldn't lock and he nearly went down on the road. He is too precious to risk so he was retired. However, recently he has been looking so well that I have started gently riding him again and we are both loving it.
Spyke
Spyke (left) was born in 1999 in the UK and then raced in Hong Kong. Once he reached NZ he became an eventer and then Amelia (his then owner) was offered the job of a lifetime in Italy and I was lucky enough to buy him. He is a WONDERFUL horse and I feel very lucky to own him. We have been doing some dressage and I even did my very first registered day with him (with a win in the amateur class :-). I also did my first ever Show Hunter with Spyke (having done almost NO jumping with him at all). He was FANTASTIC and I am completely hooked on the sport. Spyke is currently turned out for the winter and I am 'playing' with Tai a bit. Right now though the weather is so bad that I am doing almost no riding at all.