Totally & Utterly Exhilarated!

Grandad has been in my thoughts so much this last week or so & as tomorrow would be/is (?) his birthday there’s a very heavy feeling in my heart.

Trying to shake my low mood I decided to take Eastar for a ride this evening & blow a few cobwebs from between my ears. It was a total impulse thing & the original plan was to give him a good groom, but once done I found myself tacking him up :)

Off we headed down the drive but the darn gate bleeper wouldn’t work meaning we were locked in, so turned around & went up the hill instead. At the time I was really quite miffed that the stupid gates wouldn’t open, yet in the end going up to those fab views on horse back was out of this world & has left me feeling totally & utterly exhilarated!

The only down point was Eastars blatant lack of manners at every lot of gates! He simply wouldn’t stand still long enough for me to get back on... I’d get my foot in the stirrup & after 1 or 2 bounces off he’d go, so we’d stop & start over again. He catches on quick mind & decided now he’d wait until I was half on, then very rudely off he’d go leaving me scrambling to find my seat & other stirrup. Mounting a 16.2hh from ground level isn’t the easiest thing for a short arse like me so this really wasn’t at all welcome, especially since it’s a new habit he’s developed for me! Eastar also dictated when he’d had enough & wanted to come back down, but I let him as I was worried about his feet…Eastar is barefoot & although I truly want to keep him that way, I do worry about his feet as he seems to stumble an awful lot (IMO) & I get the distinct feeling that the stony bumpy track hurts more than the concrete drive, meaning our rides are never as long as I’d like at the moment.

How to get a humans attention

The end of my weeks holiday is in sight (boo) & I haven’t even ridden once (double boo). Ok so I did sit oh his bareback but that doesn’t really count. I’ve just felt too weak /generally crap to be able to ride & it seems this cold still hasn’t ran its bloody course yet despite it now being at least 10 days.

That aside I have spent time with my big bay boy just milling & chilling. Yesterday I thought I’d take my book to his field & simply sit & read. Eastar seemed happy to see me & after some serious scratches he followed me around until I found a place to sit. I sat on the lovely soft tuft of grass (bit damp but heyho) with my book & fag while Eastar just looked at me as if to say “what you doing down there”? I told him I wanted to just sit & read for awhile, but I guess that wasn’t his plan! After a little forage around in my hair & a sniff here & there he decided that the book was his next target to get me moving. A nibble of a page, a wipe of a grubby nose followed by a nudge of my arm & hey presto the book was tossed aside for Eastar time. We played a little & of course had more scratches (what else is life for huh) before I said my goodbyes & off I went leaving a rather sad looking horse behind.

When I brought him in I hung around in his stable for awhile as it was funny watching him not know whether to eat or come over to me, bless. Mart came to find me & decided to try & close the stable window for me as I’d been asking for a couple of days (wow just days & not weeks). A bad habit I know but I’d left his stable door open & Martin had also left the outer door open (eeks) a little bang as Martin worked on the window & Eastar got scared :( I was around the other side so Eastars path out was clear & he took it in the blink of an eye! Off he went straight for the door leaving me calling & chasing after him, thankfully as soon as he was out he stopped turned & followed me back in :D Phew I’m glad he feels safer with me than off running the estate again! That said he did have freshly picked parsnip leaves & baby carrots in his manger + some hay hanging around, so maybe that helped too.

Eastars new pad

Eastar was turned out yesterday in his temporary field while we finally finished his permanent one. He was happy enough as the “tennis court” field has lush grazing but he seems to become fretful quicker there. Sure enough within a few hours he was on the pace to come in & as I can’t afford to have the temp field churned up, he got his way. Thankfully Martin was just finishing pulling up some old fence wire that was half buried in the grass, so Eastar was soon taken to his new pad :D

He spent a good 5 minutes patrolling the parameters & checking out every inch /seeing what was about before settling to the important business of grazing. He’s rather intrigued by the chickens & although used to two or three clucking around his stable or field, a flock of 20 is quite a new thing to observe it seems. Either way he was more than happy for another 6+hrs & then was in no real rush to come in. Today he spent the whole day out & was still grazing/content at 6.30pm when I brought him in.

The bosses eccentric (step) son has come to stay with his wife who's completely fallen in love with Eastar. Back off Mrs.... You maybe famous, you may have dated Huge Grant (ummm would I go there? Yer maybe) but this dumpling is mine so keep ya hands off. That's two of the bosses daughters in-law who have fallen for my sexy beast & both ride very well, so I know it won't be long before I get asked "can I ride him". I wouldn't mind really (I guess) although when one brought a crop on her last visit I really panicked & even practised how many ways I could say no without using the words "cheeky cow, crop or take that near him & I'll slap you so fecking stupid"! Thankfully she didn't ask.

What a fecking day!

Don’t know why the day has been so shit but truly it has! I’m off work, I’ve managed a lie-in & an afternoon nap, yet still the day was covered by that same flipping grey cloud (more like jet black).

After a very low day (worst part detailed below to my shame) I took Eastar for his evening stroll & couldn’t resist jumping on when we were almost home & I had someone to give me a leg-up. I had no bridal or saddle (just head collar & lead rope) & when I spotted Martin I asked for a leg-up (much to his horror.. on concrete with no hat too). I simply sat on Eastars bareback (ok & occasionally lolled around his neck) until he found his stable, which was sadly all too quick.

Another memorable point to the day (for less pleasant reason) was me finally blowing at Ellice! Geeez boy did I blow too, saying that it has been coming for sometime. I don’t smack & although I shout for not only Scotland but the rest of the British Isles too, rarely does anyone take any notice in this house. That was until today! Ohhh it’s been some years since I let rip like that & in truth I hope it’s many more years before my temper raises its ugly head again. I can honestly say I’m totally ashamed of myself for the way I went at her.

It all started with me moaning about 12 eggs not being cleaned or dated (they only lay 3 or 4 a day) which is such an old argument & her screaming back at me which was not the best move towards a woman on the edge. She screamed & ranted then finished with the “I hate you” statement as she stalked off to her room slamming doors (foolish route when it’s such a shit hole & another age old argument) of course like any “dog with a bone” I followed with not only steam, but great fucking flames streaming from every oraphis!

It ended with her room completely pulled out (bed etc all on landing) only leaving a massive pile of crap to sort in the middle of the floor (which filled the whole room may I add) & her sobbing like a brat after its first real reprimand! I went down & sobbed like a baby too before going off to chill with Eastar who totally settled my mood within seconds.

As ashamed as I am, I have to say that maybe it was needed! Ellice’s room is now cleaner than ever & Jamie has never moved so quick to simply clean/clear anything in sight to avoid my wrath being turned his way. I’m not proud of making my children scared of me (even if only for 5 mins) but maybe sometimes it’s needed? After all my parents could simply look & I would step into line! Why? Because I knew what was next if not (cane, slipper or simply a darn good wallop), yet mine seem to push & push because there is nothing after the shout…  

Hoof trim day & seedy-toe… No!

We had our Equine Podiatrist out today (Deane, she is lovely) sadly she didn’t think there had been any movement on Eastars heels (10+ mins a day of walking / trotting on hard surface to try & spread his heels/frogs) which was a bit of a let down after all that jogging up & down the drive! That said my weight loss over the last few weeks is very pleasing & as I can ride now that will help save my feet while working on his, so it’s not all bad :)

Also Deane told me Eastar has the slightest starting of “White Line Disease” & that it’s nothing to worry about as long as we’re keeping his hooves clean, so I just need to keep an eye on it for now. Of course that wasn’t good enough for “worry-wart” me (she said disease eekks) so I immediately did some research… It seems WLD is also known as “Seedy Toe” (ewww nasty name) & is an infection & nothing more (phew panic over). Its fungus/bacteria in the white line area of the hoof & could be caused by many factors it seems. I know his stable is super clean as I pull ½ to ¾ of it out everyday & wash down with jey 3 times a week, his feet are done daily & often washed off too especially if muddy, so could it be simply wet ole mud & maybe a bit of sheep poo too? One of the (supposed) possible links did make me chuckle; Feeding carrots and apples daily - While feeding occasionally as a treat is fine, they should not be part of the horse’s staple diet. He’s had 6+ carrots a day for years at his old home & never had an issue, if anything I give him less so I think we can rule that out too (if only he knew he’d love that comment).