Grace

Today, the world is one fine horse less. The loss is significant and overwhelming to those of us who knew him.

Yesterday, Sammie lost his last battle. He fought to stay, calmly and with courage, and when the time came to declare surrender, he tried to prepare those of us who loved him. He knew before we did.

Today, the world is smaller and less beautiful.

We'll never forget you, Sammie, and all you taught us. God bless, orange monkey.

Intention

I had a change of plan today. I was going to ride in the school but as it was a nice day I decided today was the day we'd see if Sammie fancied venturing out alone. What was interesting is that my intention was most definitely there. I planned to get on and up my energy big time. So I started to build the energy while I was tacking him up.

Bearing in mind Sammie really does not like going out on his own at all and can plant for England when the mood takes him and the fact that his field mates were in the barn (which is normally enough for him to decide it's not such a good idea), I was setting myself quite a challenge.

I refuse to beat and kick him like some people do when the horse won't budge. People might think me soft and him stubborn, but whilst I'll give him a wee tap I positvely refuse to get into a beating match that I've seen so often. We haven't been out on our own for ages. I won't go to the Common on my own (it would take some time to be found if you came off) and this has meant that we haven't had to go out on our own.

So I got on and really whizzed up the energy in my body and voice, poor Sammie didn't have time to think he just shot off. I had no rein contact at all. He went trotting off away from the barn, down between the scary houses, past the scary geese in a very forward frame of mind with me praising him to the hilt. My aim was to get to the pond field and ride him there. We made it. I halted and gave him a big treat before setting to work.

Then I had one of my "I wonder?" thoughts. After riding for about 20 minutes I contemplated going back out of the gate and turning left away from the yard instead of straight over. I built up the energy again, we trotted out and kept trotting. YM was coming up the lane on another horse (normally a planting moment for Sammie if he sees a horse he knows), I said I couldn't stop and just kept going. I hadn't thought where to go when we got to the end of the lane, but quickly decided to go up round the fields behind the showjumpers' place.

And Sammie just kept on trotting. We had a bit of a walk then another trot followed by a small canter up a hill. Then we strolled home and Sammie had a snack of Hawthorn on the way which seems to be particularly tasty at this time of year.

Now I don't know if all this was because we hadn't done it for a while and he was in shock (although he didn't seem particularly stressed) or whether it was my intention and energy or of course a mixture of the two. I think it also helped that nobody else was around to 'help'.

No doubt we'll have our planting days again and I would never push him and get him into a state. I'm certainly not going to whip and boot him either. We'll just have to see how it goes.

I really did try and banish all doubt from my mind as well so maybe that helped. Maybe it was just that Sammie was having a good day; I don't know. All I do know is that he was a very brave boy today and he got heaps of praise (and an apple!).

Woop, woop!

Here comes a gush! (There hasn't been one for some time so you can forgive me!)

Sammie was like a bullfighting horse today in our lesson - RI really does make lessons so much fun. And my goodness, I never imagined Sammie could move like that in canter with me on his back.

We started off working on rein back to trot. Not easy for me to get Sammie to understand what I was after (my fault not his of course) but he got the hang of it eventually. Then we did some shoulder in on a circle. When RI asked me to do it I thought, "Uh oh, I'm not even sure I can remember, let alone do it." But we did it pretty successfully with RI saying there was not a lot wrong with it at all.

Then we tried something completely different. I guess it's a form of seat and body training really, but it was great fun and the results were pretty impressive. She tied up my snaffle rein (very loosely) so I just had the curb rein which I had to hold in my left hand keeping it looped (no pressure at all). Then with my right hand I had to hold a stick right out pointing to the imaginary centre of a circle. We tried it in trot first - bit dodgy on the old steering front but it really makes you think of what you're doing with your body if you want to keep your horse pretty collected at the same time as you don't have the reins at all apart from moving them from side to side - not back, not up, not tight at all. We had to do that on both reins but you always hold the reins in the left hand when you're riding with one hand (never knew that) so on the left rein I had to bring the stick across my body.

Typically, once we'd got a pretty good hang of that on a very small circle, RI wanted it done in canter - gulp!! And it has to be a slow collected canter to stand a chance of staying on a small circle. But we did it and it was the most fantastic feeling! Better on the left rein than the right, but brilliant all the same. Sammie's canter was practically on the spot, so careful, so slow and so powerful.

It really was like those bullfighting horses (not that I like that so called 'sport' at all) but I was thinking more of the way the horses move their bodies with so much collection and control. Ok, we're no where near that, but I never ever thought we'd be able to do something like that and in canter! Sammie was so light in the hand and my body had to work so hard. I never had to push him on at all, he just stayed in this canter once I'd popped him into it.

RI trains like this all the while with a much longer pole. She said it's fun (which it is) but it makes you use your seat and your body as that's all you've got really. If the pace quickens and you want to slow you just do a gentle tweak with your index finger. I felt like a Queen sitting up there and I was so, so proud of Sammie. He really gave it a go and put up with all my messing up.

What a horse! RI thought he was brilliant and gave him a chocolate rice crispie treat. We haven't had a lesson for months, but he gave it his all and he looks so good when he does it. He also had some liquorice when we got back to the yard.

I asked her what she thought about his weight. She said she was expecting a lot worse. She said he's carrying a wee bit, but now he's getting his regular exercise she thought he'd be fine. I mentioned that he never used to have this problem, but she said that for one he's happier (no stressing weight off), two he's a big lad anyway and three his body has adjusted to regular exercise so when he doesn't get that, some extra weight will be the result.

When I put him out again I let him off the headcollar at the bottom gate and he took off in canter up to his field and waited for me to let him in. He makes me feel so proud - not in an arrogant way, but just that he's managed to come through all the horrible stuff with such a great attitude. He's got such a big heart, I just wish I'd had him from a foal. I know it's not a lot by some people's standards but as RI said just the fact that he comes into the school ready and willing to give things a go is fantastic.

Sammie shiny

I had a lovely day pootling around in the mild weather and sunshine. It was Sammie spring clean day - tail and mane wash and a good old rubbing down. Cleaned his hooves with Borax and filed his hinds down a bit more too. He wasn't too impressed but was happy enough to chew on a haynet during the proceedings. Then we went into the school to do some ridden stuff.

He offered up a bit of Spanish Stamp Trot; only a couple of strides but it definitely happened. His head went lower and lower ('cos he has to look what at what he's doing down there!) and then he produced a couple. Makes me laugh every time. I only have to say "Good Boy" and he comes to an abrupt halt expecting a treat.

I've also been talking to a company that make bespoke equine supplements for a whole variety of conditions. I'd heard good reports of them from a variety of sources and I'd been meaning to phone for ages about something for Sammie's fear/lack of confidence etc. The man I spoke to described Sammie to a T - hates being on his own, will react dramatically if pushed too far, nervous, lacking confidence etc.

He said there's no magic solution and what he suggests might not work, but he recommended putting him on a very basic supplement as part of a diagnostic process. It contains Valerian and Mag Chloride and something else that I can't remember. He's just sending a litre to start with and wants me to report back in 14 days after 2 x 25mil shots a day. Sammie's reaction or non-reaction to it will be useful as part of trying to work something out for him. No promises, but you could tell he had an awful lot of knowledge and was very honest about what was achievable. We agreed that some things are so hard wired into a horse's memory that nothing will shift it, but it's worth a try.

Might not work and I know Sammie is a hard nut to crack, but even if it helped him a little bit it would be worth it. He's so much better now, but I often worry about how he must feel sometimes. I know he's happy in his own way but he does fret and worry over things that others don't give a second thought.

Starry, starry night...

Sammie was giving the Spanish Stomp Trot a really good go today. He tries so hard. I can virtually see his brain ticking over thinking, "I'll give it a go. I'll give it a go. Ooh ooh here I go!"

He really is getting the hang of it and doing more and more steps, and if I catch him when he is starting to lose it, I can push him out of it into a normal trot rather than grinding to a halt. This really is Sammie's thing and who am I to stop him?

It was just getting dark as we were finishing and as nobody else around I took all his kit off and let him have a roam and a roll. Then we just stood by the fence together gazing out into the distance, watching the stars and listening to the start of the nighttime noises.

He was such a good boy when I worked on his hind hooves afterwards. Very relaxed and paid attention when I let out the odd growl when he was being silly. They're still looking ok to me and I noticed that he's getting that calloused bit around the edge of the sole (before the sole starts dipping a bit. I'm thinking more and more about getting those fronts off - maybe around March/April time.

He's finally started to lose some of his furry coat as well that means we're going to be keeping the birds very happy soon with lots of soft stuff for their nests.

Wild pony alert!

Sammie was shocked to a standstill today when we came pretty close to the wild ponies out on our hack. Tiny little things - Exmoors I think, but to Sammie they were just plain odd. We were out with Sammie's friend, the youngster, and they both stood studying the scene before them intently without an inch between them - very up close and personal, bundled together like sardines in a tin.

There was much flaring of nostrils, sniffing out the scent and they'd occasionally turn their heads to each other to check out what they were making of this situation. Then one of the wild ones moved off - high heads for youngster and Sammie as they both took one step back together and jammed themselves even more firmly against a convenient war monument that had hitherto been scary, but was now nothing compared to these strange creatures before them.

Eventually they both reluctantly agreed to move on, but then Sammie became transfixed by a dalmatian running about on a slope to his left. We took a few steps, stopped, stared intently, moved on when gently encouraged and then went through the whole thing again until the dalmatian was out of sight. Normally he doesn't bother about dogs but maybe he'd never seen a dalmatian before.

Fox trot

I rode Sammie in the school today. It was the first time in over a week so I wasn't expecting much from either of us (especially me!) Wrong attitude I know, but you have to be realistic every now and again!

We were doing ok(ish) until a rather bold fox decided to pay us a visit. He entered the school at A and proceeded to wander around without a care in the world. Sammie was a little startled and did his snaky neck thing. When we went into canter the fox made a sharp exit only to reappear when we went back to trot and then hung around for the rest of our session dodging in and out. Not helpful!

The most noticeable improvement was the Spanish Stamp under saddle. Sammie has developed it somewhat and we went forward for more steps than we had before. He still does it with the low head and determined attitude, of course. He is a funny boy and I just love the sound of those hooves hitting the deck with a big old plonk!

We kept it short and sweet and then it was back to the yard for supper, hay and sleep.