Spring has Sprung

Blue skies have returned and the sun has snuck out - but for how long is anyone's guess - still i shall not complain and will soak up the VitD while I can.

The geese have been flying overhead in their droves - this is the surest sign in my book that spring is indeed here and that means that summer won't be far behind - so really I must get the finger out and get cracking on these driving lessons if I hope to move the two girlies off-site for their summer turn out to save me some pennies!

Quick google search gave me this - no copyrights claimed by me!

Other positive signs that spring & summer are not far away...I turned Kika out in her lightest rug today as it is a balmy 12C with the sun out - glorious day. i was hard pushed to treck back across town to go back to work after letting them out on my lunch break - but I am a good girl and did!

I also managed to have my first hack in the woods of the year on Sunday, Kika & I, L & her  horse O and her two dogs all set off on a merry jaunt Sunday morning. Paths were mostly clear of snow and ice although there were some bits of forest which musn't get as much sun as the others as they were still quite slippy, I actually had to get down at one stage to lead Bambi on Ice (Kika) over a patch of path as she has no regard for how she walks on ice and i didn't fancy landing under her if she lost her footing - silly sod!

Another google steal - no copyrights claimed

Next weekend I hope to get Nancy out into the woods to see what she makes of this hacking lark, here's hoping she takes it all in her stride as she has done with everything so far - the only thing she has thus far shown a particular dislike to is the walker - but we have only tried her in that twice ... so I haven't exactly been consistent with that training - but so long as she can be turned out ever second day (alternating with Kika) and is good under saddle, I honestly can't see the point in putting either of them on the walker unless i absolutely have no time to move them - which fingers crossed won't happen!
However Nancy's woods outing will very much depend on whether the Jumping saddle another yard friend is selling will fit her. Sat the saddle on her back on Sunday but didn't ride her in it - seemed an ok fit from behind but it might be a little tight in front when rider weight is added to the equation - don't know if a riser would work as a stop gap for now if saddle fit alright other than that. Shall see what another pair of eyes on the ground thinks when hopefully L and I have a look at it this evening. We had hoped to try it last night, but a meeting I was at ran long and I shamefully didn't make it to see my girls at all last night!
My own saddle fitter also sold this saddle to my friend and said he will come back in a week or two to check my GP fit on Kika so he could also have a look at this new one and see what he thinks. The friend is being very good, offering me a good price and unlimited use until it does sell if it fits - so we shall see what happens there. Obviously my horse's welfare will come first and I wouldn't dream of using a badly fitting saddle after the drama when I was sold an ill-fitting saddle for Kika!
I hope to never face that again! :(

Other than that I had a wonderful weekend, got 2 lovely spins on both girls on Friday evening. It was my first time on Kika's back since the previous Sunday when she had felt off under saddle - she was still a bit iffy at first but worked out of it. My "baby" sister was there and snapped a few pics - unfortunately only 1 came out not blurry - but she hasn't sent it to me yet. I will share it when I get it! :D
Kika rode like a dream, I actually got too caught up in how well she was working that I lost track of time and was almost very late for my friends birthday dinner - instead i managed to be only 10 minutes late!

I rode Kika again on Saturday evening, but I really should have just left her alone as I was exhausted and it wasn't warm that evening - I also decided to see what she would be like to ride if i didn't use the martingale...lets just say it wasn't a great night for us - but no bad behaviour or spooking or anything - more so just lack of concentration and definition from me. I really was too tired and should have left well enough alone - we more than made up for things with our nice hack Sunday morning.

I also rode Nancy for nearly an hour on Sunday afternoon - again kind of lost track of time, but not in the good way that I did with Kika on Friday. Nancy has decided she can't walk under saddle (or on the lunge for that matter) but every couple of strides she tries to break into trot - I haven't had eyes on the ground for a few weeks and am not sure if it is something I am doing wrong or if it is Nancy's own doing. The plan was again for L to have a look at us last night, but as i didn't make it to the yard last night I hope we can tackle things tonight. :D

Apologies for yet another picture-less update, I have heard no news about my phone and will in fact head into the shop after work this evening to see if they can tell me anything! Fingers crossed - I miss being able to take & share photos with you guys!