Naming horses (and other animals)

Solitaire Mare from A Good Horse wrote a great post about naming horses and what those names mean to the owner.

I have always loved naming animals, especially horses. Luckily my best friend's family breeds a number of horses and I've had a couple of opportunities to name some of their horses.


My first horse, Red, came with his very unoriginal name. Since he was 14 already, I decided to keep his paddock name. We looked up his racing records and found out his racing name was Tin Solider (and that he also had not won any races). Again, I wasn't impressed. If I was going to compete him, I wanted him to have a name that meant something to me. I thought about it for ages. I considered putting Red somewhere in name... Red Sunrise, Red Sensation, Red Robin. The Red Robin got me thinking and I remembered Christopher Robin from the Winnie the Pooh books. I used to love the books and movies as a child and my it also was special because my mum used to always call my cousin (with whom I grew up with) Christopher Robin (his name was Christopher) and used to quote "Christopher Robin is saying his prayers" to Chris often. And so Red's competition name was Christopher Robin.

When I got Jack, I also kept his paddock name. It suited him and I didn't think it needed to be changed. His racing name had been "Jack's Back" which I thought was pretty lame. Again, I thought about it long and hard. Jack is impressive to look at and commands attention. I wanted a strong name. Sometimes I looked at him and thought he looked like a battle horse, and he has a couple of scars on his leg that made me think of battle scars. So I started playing around with names with 'Battle' in it. I came up with 'Battle Cry' which suited him amazingly. He is very vocal and it fit well. I haven't registered him with the New Zealand Equestrian Federation yet and it may be that that name is already taken, if that is so I am going to put my second and third choices down as War Cry and Battle Master.

My cats also have names that mean something to me. Chucky, our first cat, came with his name. He was ginger and was named after 'Chucky' from the rugrats.

Muffin was named by my brother (i'm not sure why). It has been my experience that if you name cats after food, they get fat. It might night be scientific, but its what I have seen. Muffin is fat, and so was my cousin's cat Donut. My friends cat, Chrunchie, was also a fat cat.

Next, Ellie came into our lives. Her real name is Al Queda (if that offends you in any way I am sorry). She used to terrorise the other two cats and also us, when she was a kitten. The name was given to her as a joke and we call her Ellie at home.

I got Forrest last year, and had named her before I thought I was going to get her. She looked like a cat from the Forrest, and I also love Forest Gump. It really suits her, so it stuck.

How did your horses and pets get their names? I'd love to hear.

Goodbye.

Well a lot has been happening in the past few weeks and its led me to make a very difficult decision. I've decided to move back to Auckland... this coming Tuesday in fact. Its been on the cards for awhile mostly due to financial problems but a recent health scare pushed me to make the final decision. Unfortunately I won't be bringing Toby to Auckland with me as he is needed here for camps in the Summer and it would mean bringing him back from Mid-December to Early February. This cuts into the eventing season which I dont want to do and so he stays here. Since Red is retired (and thats where I think he should stay) I won't be riding when I go back to Auckland. I'm neither in the right financial place or state of mind to look after a horse at this stage.

I didn't make this decision lightly but I believe its the right thing to do for a lot of reasons. And so with the end of my time as an equestrian, so comes the end of this blog. I may raise it from the dead one day if (and I hope I do) I get another horse.

Thank you to all those out there who have supported me throughout this endeavour by reading my blog. I really appreciate it. I enjoyed the time I spent getting to know you and your gorgeous mounts through your own blogs.

May God bless you all.

Happy Riding and Happy Trails.

Love from Katie, Red and Toby

Checking in

Its been pretty quiet around here. I haven’t posted recently because frankly I wanted a break from everyday life. Our office closed down the week after Easter so I took the opportunity to go to Auckland to visit family and friends and get my winter shopping done.

I did compete at one Easter show on Saturday and only entered one class… it didn’t go well. We got eliminated. I’d rather not talk about it at this time. I’m still trying to think it all through, process it a bit.

While I was up in Auckland I got the chance to visit my gorgeous man Red. He’s doing really well and being looked after superbly. I’m not ashamed to say I cried a few tears when I saw him, I’ve missed him a lot! His age is starting to show on his HUGE potbelly, he no longer holds his weight on his ribs… its all slid back a few centimeters and is hanging out just in front of his legs.

He’s soon being moved to his new retirement village way out west of Auckland. Auntie Sue has found a place to graze which will be perfect for him. He’ll have a companion of another retired chestnut gelding called RED! What a co-incidence huh? Since the other Red is bigger then our Red it looks like they will be known as Big Red and Little Red. Red was previously known as Little Red at his old home so it won’t be a huge change. The lady whose house he’s going to live at sounds like she is one of those perfect horse owners that dotes on her horses in everyway possible. And she’s happy to feed Red (our Red) and groom him daily. Since the place is so far away, Auntie Sue will have limited visits of only a few times a week but it looks like Red will be in good hands. The new place is quite small which is a good thing because the horses can be seen from the house at all times. He’s also slowly going through the process of being barefoot since he won’t be competiting and won’t be road riding. Since thoroughbreds are known for their bad feet, no chances are being taken. He had his back shoes taken off last week and was only a bit ouchy when he was led over the rocks to the arena but otherwise was great, so I’m pleased.

That’s about the gist of it. Until next time.

Back to Work

Well its back into training again now that Reds better. Since I’ve been away at camp, last night was the first time I had been on in him in a couple of weeks. I didn’t want to do anything too hard so we started off doing some baby cross country jumps in the tractor paddock. I concentrated keeping him rounded and balanced over and between each jump. We progressed to some of the slightly bigger jumps as he was going really well, and we then did a tiny course of the jumps in that one paddock. He was fighting to go the whole time I was riding him through the course which I took as a good sign, you know… that he wanted to get back into work.

I then took him into the arena for a little bit of dressage. Well I tell you, he was great! His collected work on the left rein was stunning. He was balanced, elevated and soft. I decided that I couldn’t put it off any longer and made the decision to work on his right canter. The first transition was bad, I hadn’t kept him balanced as I cued for the canter and he cantered on his left leg. I bought him back, balanced him again and then asked for the canter. AND HE DID IT! The second time I asked he cantered on his right lead! I couldn’t believe it at first, I had to keep looking down to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. I kept him going around the arena a few times, praising him non stop and then bought him back to a loose walk. Deciding to finish on a good note, I cooled him down. Now please excuse me for this next part, but I need to brag. Pony Club camp is on at the moment and a lot of people were watching us as we worked. When I came out of the arena I stopped to talk with Elmir, my old instructors mum. She complimented us over and over which was great, since she knew what we were like when we first came to Pony Club. One of the instructors from another pony club complimented Red too, saying that he was a gorgeous thoroughbred with muscle in all the right places and that I must be training him right. They also said we were looking amazing in the arena, and to keep up the good work. I was on a high for sure.

So now I’m hoping beyond hope that I manage to get him going exactly the same way in the competition next weekend. I remember exactly how I warmed him up so I’m going to do the exact same thing in the comp. Here’s hoping.

Hoof Update #2

Well I went away soon after Reds hoof problem but txts from my AuntieSue kept my updated. Unfortunately I had no access to the internet hence this late post.

Anyway I got up early on Saturday morning after 4 hours of sleep thanks to a night of salsa dancing. I trudged out to Reds paddock and gave him another injection and then went off to camp. Another injection was due that night but my auntie REALLY did not want to do it. So she called the vet. I can't remember if she said the vet came out (I think she did) or if they just talk on the phone but she said that Red could be taken off the painkillers and antibiotics on Sunday. My auntie managed to convince one of the PC mothers to give Red his last injections.

The farrier was then called out to give Red new shoes. Reds feet were getting very overgrown because of the massive amount of grass growth here at the moment. The farrier shod him and declared him sound for riding again. Auntie Sue can correct me if I'm wrong, but the vet said he would be fine to ride if he was re-shod.

So she took him out for a ride and he was completely sound! He then spent a fun 1/2 an hour galloping around his paddock trying to protect one of 'his' mares from another horse so I think hes totally fine. Thank goodness, it means I can compete at the ODE on the 3rd of Feb.

Anyway I've got a few stories from camp I'll share with you in the next few days. So keep a lookout for those.

Henderson Valley One Day Event

Well its finally here. My highlights from the Henderson Valley ODE. I spent a long time on this so I hope you enjoy!

PS. After watching this video over and over again I've realised I REALLY need to work on releasing over the jumps better lol

Hoof Update

Reds foot has been dug into to get the nail out and to leave a hole for drainage. We're hoping an abcess doesn't appear otherwise things are going to get even more complicated. His hoof is bandaged and hes wearing a boot.

Well we rushed up to the Saddlery Warehouse this morning to pick up a boot and some flyspray for Red. The flies were annoying the heck out of him so something had to be done. On they way up Auntie Sue called to ask that we bring bandages too because Reds one was starting to come off. Unfortunately they didn't have flyspray, only fly repellent wipes. We rushed to the pony club with our bag of goodies and started working on Red.

We soon realised that the boot was far too small to fit over his hoof with the large bandage on. So while I waited over an hour with Red my mum and Auntie went back to the saddlery shop and got the next three sizes up. When they finally arrived back I wrestled with Red to get the shoe on and then went through the complicated process of tightening it.

Then it was time for the injection. The vets had shown my aunt how to give the injection but she wasn't too keen on actually sticking the needle into him. She told me how to do it and one of the other pony club mothers stood with me for moral support. I held the needle next to his skin for a couple of seconds trying to compose myself while she gently encouraged me along. I took the plunge (haha) and then pulled the syringe back to make sure I hadn't hit a large blood vessell (I didn't) and then injected the penicillan in. It took awhile as the liquid was quite thick. Thankfully Red barely battered an eyelid.

Hes on twice daily injections, with twice daily feed laced with pain killer. The vet will be coming to see him on Monday, and thats when the injections can stop. Since the rest of my family won't inject him it will be up to me. I'm supposed to be going away on Saturday and I've offered to stay home and do it, but the general consesus is they want me to go and they'll pay someone else to do it.

Breaking News!

Big dramas today Auntie Sue went up for a ride this morning only to find Red had a twisted shoe. He was incredibly lame and we spent ages trying to get hold of a farrier to come pull it off. Unfortunately none of the local farriers could be contacted we called the vet. Two vets came down and pulled the shoe. A nail had entered the sole of his hoof and they had to do a bit of digging to get it out. Red didn't like that.

Red was given a tetanus shot and he's on a course of antibiotics. I'm leaving in 10mins to buy him a boot to protect his hoof. Poor boy, its been one thing after the other lately. I'll keep you updated on his condition.

The New Year

Wow! Can you believe it? Its 2008! Happy New Year to you all. Riding has taken a bit of a back burner recently because of a camp I went to over New Years but its back on now. Somehow in the week that I didn't see Red he put on a ton of weight. Its all sitting on his neck and at the back of his belly effectively giving him a pot belly. Its really quite unattractive.

I went for a great ride yesterday, the first in ages. Red was spooking at anything and everything. Luckily I've mastered his spooks so I never feel like I'm going to bite dust when he does them. The funny thing was I had been talking to a family friend and had mentioned that I could not ride Red for awhile and then get back on him and he would be sweet as. Obviously I overestimated him. Once I got him into the arena and concentrating he settled down and was fine.

My friend Sarah brought her miniature pony Snipety over for a visit. Red stood with eyes on stalks as Snipety approached. Once he got over his initial shock he put on his 'stallion' act. Snorting, huffing and arching his neck. Snipety is a gelding too so I don't know what he was hoping to get from this. Snipety then decided to lie down and roll and he happened to be near the side of the arena when he did. Unfortunately he breached himself on the wall. He struggled a bit then lay quietly as Sarah and I laughed. We managed to pull him out from the wall and he got up easily by himself.

I'm just about to go for another ride soon. Hopefully I'll get some of the extra fat off from around Reds body. If he gets any fatter I'm going to have to yard him.

Something new on A Girl and Her Horse

Recently I've been trying to make this blog a little more user friendly. Before it was all over the place and everything was a bit helter skelter, especially with the tags. And so I've tidied everything up a bit. You can now access all the stories in my 'A Story for Another Day' series straight from the sidebar and some of my better posts are easily avaliable under the 'Recommended Posts'. But probably what I'm most excited about is the new 'Resources' section. Right now there is only one resource avaliable to you, which is my 'Horse Information Template' that I talked about in my post Horse Records. The template will work best if you copy and paste it into Microsoft word. The boxes will need to be deleted and appropriate pictures added. More resources are on the way.

Just to finish off I would like to announce that Red is no longer lame!! I'm so pleased. We have a theroy about his lameness that I'll share about in the future, but we have to wait to see if the theroy will prove itself first.

Oh also here are some pictures of me and Red at rally. I don't know how he does it but Peter, the photographer, always takes pictures of me with funny faces! Oh well, its hard to be vain when you are a horse rider! The first one (the picture with Melissa on Gilbert) is especially bad. And the one of Red and I jumping was taken before Red started refusing every show jump I put him in front of. And yes I agree, I do need to release more when I'm jumping.

A Tribute to Red

My Chestnut boy

You are the best.

I love you more

Then all the rest.

You lift me up

When I am down.

With you right here

There is no frown

You give me wings

When I can not fly.

You give your all

When I ask you to try.

You dance around

the dressage ring.

You make me so proud

I want to sing.

Our ribbons might

not be blue.

But darling boy

I'll always choose you.

Even when we

make mistakes.

You, big Red,

take the cake.

We've galloped along

a sandy beach.

And through the forest

with great big leaps.

We've had some fun,

you and I.

Our memories are something

I cannot buy.

You big man

have stolen my heart.

You took it then,

right at the start.

When your old

and need a rest.

Of my care

you'll have the best.

I'll rug you up

against the cold.

To anyone else

you'll never be sold.

Thanks, Red

for all you are.

Your the best,

you are my star.

Still Lame

Reds still slightly lame. Nothing to really worry about but every 12th stride or so he does a little hop. It looks like his hooves have grown extra fast and the shoes are starting to slip. The shoe on his left hoof has slipped quite a bit and is pressing on his corn which could have been the reason for his lameness all along. Its only been 4 weeks since he was last shod. Usually he needs work done every 6 weeks. But the grass has been growing really fast lately and apparently when the grass grows so does the hooves.

I was supposed to have a lesson with Jacqui on Saturday but she was the one who saw the hop in his trot. She said he could be lightly hacked but not to do any work until he was re-shod so our lesson didn't happen. So this week hes getting re-shod and hopefully he'll be fine for the ODE on Sunday.

In other news it seems like the electric fence in the paddock where the Hacks are grazing went a bit crazy. Somehow electricity was being put into the ground underneath the gate and was giving the horses an almighty shock as they walked in and out of the paddock. The water was also alive so the horses weren't able to drink. Only the horses were affected because of their shoes. My Auntie Sue said when she was bringing Red out he suddenly bolted through. She didn't know what had made him do it. Someone must have figured out what was wrong when the other horses reacted too. The electricity has been turned off now. The poor horses! Its must have been a powerful shock to make them react like that. Imagine if a human had been been shocked. It could have caused someone a lot of damage. Thankfully everyone is alright.

Lameness Update #2

Red and I didn't ride in the Pony Club rally last night due to his sore leg but I went up anyway to check on him and watch my group ride. I'm please to annouce that hes much better. His limp has all but gone and his swelling hasn't got any worse. Hes short stepping slightly with the sore leg but otherwise hes great. I'm very pleased. Auntie Sue will check on him tomorrow morning but it looks like we won't need a vet.

It looks like it will be all good to enter into the Henderson ODE. If his swelling and limp is gone by Friday evening I'll possibly have the lesson with Jacqui on Saturday but I'm going to talk to Sue about it.

It looks like the injury would have come from him fighting with the new gelding at the pony club. A few people have seen them have impressive all out fights complete with rearing battles and nashing of teeth. I was wondering why Reds neck was continually covered in bite marks. Hopefully that will settle down and they'll sort themselves out soon so Red doesn't get any more injuries.

Lameness Update #1

Red had some slight swelling in his knee last night when I checked on him. Its very minor and he doesn't seem to be sore in or around his knee in anyway. Two of the more knowlegable people at PC poked and prodded all around with no reaction.

The conclusion is that something is sore in his hoof area and hes over compensating with his knee so he can keep the pain to a minimum which is resulting in the swelling.

We're going to wait a couple of days to see what happens with it. I'll check on him tonight and my auntie will check on him tomorrow night and then we can make the decision about whether to call the vet. I was supposed to be having a lesson with Jacqui Williams on Saturday but at this point it looks like that won't be happening.

Hopefully he'll get better soon and won't be in pain. Wish us luck.

The saddle on my horse's back: Part I

I need a new saddle. Its a simple as that. My current one was $200. Yes... one of those saddles. Made of cheap and smelly leather that had the black rubbing off it within a month. Its hard, its uncomfortable and its just plain not nice. It hinders my efforts to stay in the correct position. It also pinches my poor thighs terribly, especially when I'm jumping. Its guaranteed that some pretty purple bruises will appear soon after a hard jumping lesson.

Now don't get me wrong. My saddle has served its purpose. It hasn't hurt Reds back and its only let me down three times, when a stirrup dropped off (this happened twice last weekend). But frankly the saddle has to go. It will be retired into my tack room (which is still in the making) and my new one will replace it.

Now to find a new one. I'm sure anyone who has bought a saddle before will agree with me that it can be a difficult business. Every horse is different, as is every person and finding a saddle that fits both can be hard.

Personally I'm looking a for a close contact saddle, aka a jumping saddle. I really am more keen on jumping then dressage, but thats probably because my dressage has always been the weakest of all my phases. I also have a dressage saddle so that won't be a problem. I want a saddle that has a easy change gullet system so I can adjust the saddle as Red adjusts his muscles. So far these two are my favourites:

The Collegiate Graduate Close Contact Saddle

or

The Bates Caprilli Close Contact Saddle

I'm leaning towards the Collegiate at the moment. Simply because in the Tack Reviews I've read on the Bates saddle it seems that the leather is incredibly soft and marks easily. But if the Bates fits Red and I better then the Collegiate, then I'll go with that.

In The saddle on my horse's back: Part II - We get the Saddle fitter out to fit these two, and possibly even some other saddles on Red. Keep your eyes open for the next instalment.

Happy Birthday to Red!

In the midst of all the rush of getting ready for the ODE Red turned a grand 18 years old. His birthday was on the 9th of November. No, we didn't forget it. In fact I made a special effort to include carrots in his feed which I usually do forget. I was going to make him a carrot cake but I ran out of time, but I gave him extra pats and scratches to make up for it.

Happy Birthday to you my darling Red. I can't wait for whats still to come!

PS. My 18th birthday is tomorrow :) And tonight Red and I are doing a extra hard dressage test that I just found out about today argh! Wish us luck.

The Chiropracter comes a-visiting.

The Chiropracter came to see and treat Red on Friday morning. Apparently the chiropracter is one of the best in this part of New Zealand. Hes worked all over the world treating horses and everyone I talk to about him say hes incredible. He actually lives in the Bay of Islands but comes down to Auckland and the Waikato to treat horses during the week.

I wasn't able to go to the appointment because it was 8am in the morning and I start work at 8.30 so my lovely dad went out for me. I asked if he would take a couple of pictures and he kindly oblidged. As he brought Red down to the washbay the chiropracter said "He is out on his right side". My dad was impressed. Red has always had a problem with his right side, when I bought him his right leg and the right side of his rump was wasting away and he had a big limp because of it. The chiropracter set to work and immediatley found problems. The lower part of his neck was out, and when he pressed on it Red shot back with his head in the air. WHAM! He punched Reds neck. And then moved onto his back. "Does that really work?" asked my dad, "Well look at this" said the chiropracter, pressing in the same place as before. Red didn't bat an eyelid.

Heres a couple of photos of Red getting adjusted, isn't he an angry old man?




Reds back was out in about 5 places. Something was out in the middle of his back, so a few adjustments were done there. One of the most interesting problems was in his lumbar region. The chiropracter thought that the problems with Reds right side was was caused by this particular outage. He also pointed out the difference in Reds muscles of his hind quaters, his right side is very undeveloped whereas his left side is big, and well developed. Heres a picture pointing out the difference:





The chiropracter said I will be able to start building up the right muscle now, and also that Red will probably be able to canter on his right lead much easier. Which I'm glad about since my ODE is coming up this weekend.

Once all the adjustments were made the chiropracter told dad to seperate Red from the rest of the herd so he would have time to heal correctly. This posed a little problem since it was Guy Fawkes during the weekend and we were worried how Red would react. We always have herd watchers during the night at Guy Fawkes so we asked them to give us a call if he was reacting badly. And at 9pm on Saturday night we got the call, Red was running back and forth by the fence side. So I went out and hung with Red in the paddock for a couple of hours till the worst of it was over. He was pretty calm once I got there. The next night we put him back with the herd and he was fine.

So that was Reds chiropracter visit. We're going to get him out every year to get any adjustments that might be needed done. Hopefully Red will be much happier with his back put back in the right place.

This weekend is the Massey ODE so keep a look out for my story and pictures! It should be good.

Lessons with Sue # 2

I had my weekly lesson with Sue today and I'm pleased to say that we did a aprox. 90cm grid! I was so proud of Red. Once he settled into it he was the man! We had lots of fun doing it, although there was one scarey moment during the lesson. We had come out of the grid and I took Red up a little hill in the paddock, he tried to break into a gallop so I was pulling him up and he slipped. I heard Sue gasp as we started going down but he managed to recover himself at the last moment which I was very happy about. My heart was going a million miles an hour.

He also did these silly little things that weren't bucks but looked like them (pictured above). He would just put his head done when I was collecting him to tell him we were about to jump. It got quite annoying.

Sue also taught me how to pull a mane and plait! So i can cross 'Learn how to pull a mane' off my goals list! The perfecting of plaiting is still a long way off though :)

My dad was taking pictures so there are few in my 'Lessons with Sue' folder, the light was bad and our camera is bad so they are not the best quality. The pick of the crop are in the folder, and for some reason they are all photos of when the grid was lower! But thats all good.

Well my friends, happy riding :)

Horse Records

I'm a big advocate of keeping up to date records of your horse. I consider it an important part of horse ownership. I keep records about Red. Not just medical records but records on what he eats, his dental work, his farrier work and a lot of other information. As well as showing me when things like his next dentist visit must be it also can provide important information to my vet if he suddenly falls ill.

Almost everything about Red is kept in this file. And its readily accesible to anyone in my family. I keep one copy in my personal records, one in the telephone box at our house and one A5 size record in the car. My auntie also has a A4 size copy and a A5 copy for her car. I update it anytime new information comes in and I print it off once a month.

I also include pictures of Red in the file. Pictures of his markings, his brandings, a side on shot and also a head shot. I also ensure someone from my family is standing in one or two of the pictures so that if he gets stolen we can prove he is ours. These photos are updated every 3 months.

I encourage everyone to create a file for their horse(s) if they haven't already done so.

Blogger doesn't support PDF files so I'm unable to post a link to my records here but if you want to see how I do it, you can email me at katieandred@yahoo.co.nz and I'll email you my file and also a template of my file so you can work off that.

Here are also so good links that I found helpful when doing my file:

• For the Record: Keeping Medical Files for Your Horse This site gives you an idea of what you need in your records
  


• Know your horse's vital signs This site shows you how to take vital stats of your horse
  


• Preventing Horse Theft And this one gives you some good ideas about keeping those theifs away. Its a PDF file.

There are also a few programs that you can purchase off the internet that are desgined especially to help horse owners. I can't reccomend any of these as I prefer to make my own but if you have a huge stable full of horses it might be worth looking into.

So good luck to you and your horses! It really is a good idea to keep up to date records.

Happy Riding.

Its getting closer!

The season is almost here! I can feel it coming! I can even smell in the air. No, honestly I can. I went to Reds paddock this morning and all these Summer smells hit me and sent my mind straigh back to riding in the hot summer sun! Ahhh bliss! The PC grounds are even starting to open up! I am soooooooo happy! The plum tree paddock and the Reserve have opened for 'light riding' so I guess it means no galloping around wildly lol.

Anyway theres been a change on A Girl and Her Horse. If you take a look on the left you'll see that I've added a new feature to the site! You can now click on the links and go to pics of Red and I. Throughout the season I'll add pics of the ODEs and ribbon days so you now have easy access to my photos. Also a new blog has been added to my horse blog list... A Moment in Time. My friend Michelle is the author and its all about her gorgeous horse Gizmo! Check it out sometime!

In Red news... we had a lesson yesterday with Sophie. Sophie is an awesome eventer herself and she regularly gives lessons at PC. Red and I did a bit of dressage with her and some jumping. We worked on getting Red to lead with his right leg for ages! He got it about 4 times out of 30 which is a start! Sophies given me lots of raised trotting pole homework and she wants me to me vigilent about trotting on the right diagonal. Up till now I haven't paid much attention to it but as a result Red has more muscle on his left side. Yes its my fault. But I plan to get it sorted ASAP!

We did some jumping too! It was great fun. Red was awesome, Sophie said he was "Full of beans." He jumped really well and I kept out of his way :) Peter was there so he got some nice photos of us which you can check out on the link marked 'Lesson with Sophie - 02/08/07" at the side. Not all the photos are there at the moment because my email is down so check back. The picture at the top of this post is my favourite! I love it! I'm thinking of getting it blown up to poster size for my room!

Oh also when I went to get Red from his paddock this morning there was a dog that was chasing and attacking two of the horses! When he saw me he ran off, although I didn't see where. The horses he was going after were fine, I checked them over but they were upset. They both wanted lots of pats to be reassured. I called the grazing manager and she told me to call Animal Control because theres been other reports of a dog chasing the horses around and tormenting them. Hopefully it will get resolved soon! I don't like the idea of Red being chased around by a mean dog. Also the dog is putting itself at risk, a horse could easily double barrel it!