Dickens Diary - May 2008

Deekie and I didn't get off to a great start to the month, as he spent the first eight days on box rest with limited grazing in hand. This was a result of Deekie and Moose - (his best buddy) deciding to play rough and tumble over the fence in the field. Moose ended up inviting himself into Deekies field where they continued to play. Deekie came off worse needing a few stitches in one leg and a staple in the other - boys will be boys! Moose was mortified that his buddy was injured so, went off to town the next day and brought him a get well soon card, Deekie hung it up outside his stable and instantly forgave Moose.

The middle of the month was then spent quietly hacking around the village, walking on the horse walker and general light work. Merry also popped in to see Deekie, treat him and offer him her sympathy!!

The tail end of the month saw Deekie upping his work load, with a show jumping session in the school with Mum - this was a very useful session as there were three other horses in the arena at the same time, one of them being a young excitable horse, this then became very exciting for Deekie. Kerry came and watched Deekie work and commented on how much stronger he looked. About one month ago I changed his feed slightly by introducing Equilibra and this has had all round amazing results.

I also decided to school Deekie in the cross country field one day for a change of scenery, this worked really well, he was light in the hand, the transitions were fluid and correct and the canter was a "true" balanced, rhythmical three beat canter.

Watch out for next months instalment as we are holding two training days in June at New Barn Equine, one being a Dressage Clinic and one a Show jumping and Cross country clinic. Both clinics are already booked up but we will be aiming to hold one Clinic a month so if you are interested please watch the web site for future dates or you can contact Kelly for further information.