Tardy Tidings

Where does the time be going?!
I have been back from my amazing Canada trip for 2 weeks and have been a very busy bee at work so sadly I have barely seen my girls. Although I have gotten a couple of hacks in, but really nowhere near how much I would like.

I did my first solo hack with both girls and they were angels. I ride Nancy & lead Kika, because despite being 5 years younger than Kika; Nancy is the more reliable ride in the great outdoors. She is such a steady eddie, a wonderfully calm counterpart to silly sod Kika. Plus K dozes when walking on the lead alongside another horse so she freaks out at things less (read hardly ever vs almost always when i ride her - gotta love her silly antics)
N was very cute and uncertain about tree trunks that had been cut and would slow down to gawk at them but when i closed my calves she'd bravely walk by while giving them a googly eye & a bit of a swerve.

Hacking with my two girls

My mother came for a spin on Nancy while i rode Kika on Monday (yay for bank holidays), it was roasting here this weekend and i sadly hadn't managed to ride either girl Sat or Sunday although i did have a sneaky sit up on Nancy bareback on Friday evening under my mother's watchful eye. It was my first time clambering up on N without tack - she wasn't sure what i was doing up there but dealt with it with her usual stoic'ness. We went for a 2-hour stroll in the woods to try and cool the girls down as the shade & water are not near each other in the field and the horses wisely stay near the water on hot days - but this means no shade...so we strolled in the shade of the trees for 2 hours passing through streams for fresh cool water - although neither girl would drink.
Funny bunnies!

As always N was a superstar for my mama, even giving Kika a lead past who knows what she saw on a path she has been on so many times there really wasn't anything to fear. But K stopped stock still & couldn't possibly take another step forward despite my legs, voice and schooling whip...on the upside she didn't put on the super reverse or threaten to rear, so major improvements on her "spooking".

K playing nice with my friend's dog

It may sound like i'm complaining about K, but i really am super proud of her and both of them in fact as they have had so little work the last two months the fact i can clamber up and go for a hack alone with the two of them or with someone who rides rarely (my mama) is a testament to their wonderful characters & level-headedness.

I am hoping to move them back to a field on the yard at the end of this month as that is 10mins walk from home vs 10mins drive. Considering the late hours i've been putting in at work (I have over 29hours overtime since coming back from Canada), i sadly don't have the motivation to haul myself out in the woods every evening.
I shall still take them both hacking at the weekends when we get back to the barn, but i will also have the option of doing arena work in the evenings - weirdly perhaps this is much more appealing to me after a long days work...yep, i think there is something wrong with me!

Also - in case you don't follow me on instagram - here is a LINK to see all the photos from my fab trip to Canada!
PS: my apologies to those who have already seen the photos in this post on instagram!
PPS: I must also apologise for my poor blogging & following, I really do hope to get caught up! I have to go back to April for some of your wonderful blogs *blush*