PONY CLUB CAMP - Day 2

We were bused back down to Manakau at 8am, ready to ride out at 8.30am. Or so the plan went. In reality, it was more like 9.30. Willow was good to catch, and during the night had met up with her former next door neighbour, Roxy, who was violently defending Willow from every other horse in the paddock, regardless of whether that horse had any actual interest in Willow. Poor Brownie had been driven firmly away, but was already hovering around Roly, possibly remembering him from their time together at F---.

We tacked up, Willow so relaxed she practically fell asleep, and mounted. Brownie was already jibbing and being a bit silly, and I'd told Caitlin that if he was real naughty, we could swap ponies as Willow was sweet as. Not actually knowing what Willow would be like, but sure that she'd be better than Brownie, as bucking and rearing aren't in her vocabulary. Sure enough, 5 minutes into the ride Brownie was playing up, so we swapped ponies at the first gate stop and I rode Brownie for the next 4 hours.

Willow was a perfect little angel. Even when other horses trotted off in front of her (or cantered) she stayed at a walk if asked. She was very steady and quiet on the roads, and didn't put a foot wrong all morning. I was so pleased with her. Brownie, for his part, settled down by lunchtime, so after lunch we swapped back and I rode Willow for the next 2.5 hours.

She was such a good girl. Occasionally she would jog a little to keep up, but all 3 of the horses she was riding with were bigger than her and had longer strides. She's quite a short striding mare. We rode all the way to Ohourangi Farm, at the end of Moutere Rd, Levin. We tied up the ponies and had a snack ourselves, then released them in the paddock. There was WAY more grass here than in Manakau, and I started to worry. I gave pony her feed with Founderguard in, and crossed my fingers. Luckily, I had tied her up on the most dry, coarse patch of grass, and when I let her go, she and Brownie stayed in that spot and ate. And ate. And ate. I could only hope that she would not move around too much in the search for greener grass, but would fill her tummy with crappy dry kikuyu. We waved goodbye and headed back to the Racecourse.