DAY ELEVEN - Bareback and a Bath

Blasted feet warmed up again slightly overnight, but this morning they were okay. We are at the point now where there is nothing else to do, really. Spoke with her owners and they are going to get her a grazing muzzle for camp, which will be good and help keep the grass intake minimal. She has lost weight since she arrived, I noticed this when photographing her today and comparing it to the Day 1 pics. (See photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=68746&l=b5cf5&id=549994304).

I decided to see if she was good to ride bareback, so jumped on and she didn't seem at all fussed. She's only 14.1hh but I can still only vault on if she is standing on a slope. Pathetic but true. I rode her through the paddocks and did all the gates mounted, which I haven't tried before. She was very good. We went along the track and there was a man spraying weeds in the willow grove next to the river, this was very scary until I called out to the man and he said hello back. Pony then realised that it was a person, not a scary monster, and settled quickly. We went into the river and splashed around a bit, then almost got caught in a bit of a current. Willow wasn't too impressed with me for getting her into a wee predicament and then complained by splashing the water with her front leg instead of standing still as requested. A couple of sharp words soon put a stop to that however. She settled and stood patiently in the water for a bit, then got a glimpse of the spraying man through the trees. Now he was all scary again and she was up on her tippy toes, dancing across the stones and being generally foolish. I told her to behave herself as I was bareback and didn't fancy landing on the rocks, and she managed to control her madness and resume sanity.

We wandered happily back to the yard where a lovely bath awaited. Hehehe. Pony was none too impressed with the idea of a bath, especially taking a dislike to having her mane washed, and was a bit finicky with her back legs as usual. But she settled eventually and I washed everything except her face and forelock. Pics on Facebook.

Tomorrow Roly is having his shoes done, so I will ask Heather's farrier to have a look at Willow's feet and see what he thinks, before I increase her workload again. There was very little heat in them today, happily.

DAY TEN - Off for a walk

All four feet were cool this morning! Hurray! I took her for a walk down our driveway and back (about 20 minutes) and she was very good, calmer than usual, although that may be because she's getting used to not gallivanting madly around on every ride :)

I gave her a slab of soaked hay and let Roly into the longer grass for an hour or so. Her hind feet heated ever so slightly after the ride, just around the coronet band, but only lukewarm and was really only noticable because I was looking for it. So if her feet stay cool overnight and she's good tomorrow, we can start some trot work again. Looking forward to it :)

It's still a bit rainy and cold today, so it will be tomorrow or Tuesday before I give her the full body wash and complete makeover.

DAY NINE - Rain rain go away

So it rained today, and Megan and I didn't end up getting to the beach. Which was a shame, but it's not exactly pleasant in freezing wind/driving rain - I know that from experience!

Willow's feet were a bit better this morning, three were lukewarm, near fore was fine. There's been so much rain that the river is high and brown, not as conducive to standing in as usual where it is about six inches deep at the maximum and crystal clear. But Willow was surprisingly good about standing quietly in a little side inlet and cooling her feet for the required 10 minutes. Then I took her for a walk down to the Otaihanga Domain, about a 20 min walk. This was very exciting as we hadn't been this way before, so she was pleased to see new sights and insisted on smelling every bit of horse manure we passed. She is now getting better about stepping in puddles and although she still avoids them if possible, she is no longer flinging herself madly over.

Fed her and Roly a slab of soaked hay, which is the exact same colour as the grass at the moment, and mucked out the paddock in the evening.

Will dose her with Selenium tomorrow, and start feeding Dolomite (in chaff) to help her regain her brain!

DAY EIGHT - Extreme Makeover: Pony Edition

The makeover got into full force today with an epic mane pulling effort. Willow's mane is now lovely and short and she looks great. We also got some more tack - martingale and flash noseband to get the little tyke under control a bit more :) She's manageable without the gear, but it will hopefully help her be a bit more manageable with them.

I had her yarded until after the mane pulling at 1pm and then on Anna's advice, turned her back out into the paddock as the grass is very short (cheers Roly) and there is barely any green growth. I took her for a walk down to the river and stood her in it for ten minutes, she had a bit of an argument for the first 2 minutes but then gave in. I checked her feet tonight when rugging her and they're still a bit warm, but I don't want to leave her standing still all night so I don't think there's much more I can do. I will see how she is in the morning, and if it rains (as it's supposed to) I will yard her with some hay for a bit. Will start feeding her Founderguard which will hopefully help and then keep fingers and toes crossed. She hasn't been lame or sore at all, just slight heat (inflammation) in the hooves around the coronet, but it's not hot, just warm. Am hoping it's just her adjusting to the richer grass. Meanwhile I will just keep giving her light exercise.

It's meant to pour with rain tomorrow, so the beach ride may be off. We will see...

DAY SEVEN - Of Hot Feet and Haynets

Today was not a good day. The pony had too much grass overnight and her feet were hot this morning. Not severely, flamingly hot, and she wasn't sore at all, but that is not a Good Sign so I taped the grass off again, then following advice from very helpful boardies online (thank you!) I hosed her feet to cool them (which she loathed) and put her into a yard. Which is very small and was also not a popular move of mine. I soaked a haynet for her and gave her that, then rode Roly. He was a good boy, except for stumbling in the canter and just about falling on his face! However his shoes were a bit clinky so when I got back I checked them and his clenches have popped, especially on his front feet. One of the nails is really lose. So there will be no more riding for him until Tuesday when the farrier comes. Dammit! Now I have no horses to ride all weekend and Megan is coming to stay tomorrow night, we had planned a beach ride on Saturday.

However Anna has come through like the champ that she is and has offered to take us to the beach on her horses on Saturday afternoon. So all is well. And I will get to ride Z, who I adore, so that is excellent news. Willow can have a few days of slower work while she gets back into it, Roly can have his shoes fixed up and then we will be away laughing.

I took Willow down to the river twice to stand in it as an "easier" way of cooling her feet. The first time she argued for the full ten minutes, and although I persevered, she was insistent that standing still in cold water for that long was a stupid idea and kept trying to convince me to let her get out. However the second time we went down, she gave up arguing after the first 5 minutes and stood nice and still for the remainder of the time. I have to sit on her to get her in the water, but I just led her down and back, and she is not showing any signs of lameness, which is good. She has very slight heat in her coronet on her off fore and off hind, but her other feet are good now, so she is going to be on a strict diet from now until camp. And I'm just hoping I'll be able to yard her at camp.

In other good news, my finger is almost all better and I can type like a normal person again!

DAY SIX - At last we have company

Today we made friends! I took Willow down to the river reserve and met Heather and Chelsea. We took the horses upriver and onto the rollercoaster :) which was interesting, especially with JT, Chelsea's enormous 4yo Clydie-cross. But all was reasonably sane except for one bucking moment. Miss Willow was a good girl in front, middle and back so I'm really looking forward to the camp treks on her.

When we got back to our place, Roly and JT were freaking out at the alpacas, and Heathcliff didn't help any by charging at JT and scaring him! Eventually we got the horses up to the yards and put Willow and Roly out in the field. JT had to go back past the scary alpacas all by himself, but he managed to do it without killing anyone, and they headed home.

I opened up the paddock so that Roly and Willow had some space, seeing as they didn't know each other yet. Bad idea...

DAY FIVE - Rollercoaster ride

I rode in the evening. Took Willow down the river track, upstream as usual. We walked for the first 10 minutes and then trotted along to the Rollercoaster, as I will now call the track between the river and the quarry. It is a loop that goes around with two steep downhill-uphill parts. Willow was very excited to get onto this track and bounced happily up the hills. We took the track out the back to Lancelot Rd, and then trotted along the grass verges in Camelot (the name of the subdivision. Daft name, yes. We stuck to King Arthur Drive, which is a nice road with big verges, although it does have a train track alongside which could have been a bit hairy if a train had come along! Fortunately, in the years I've been riding through there, I haven't yet met one, and that luck held. We walked across a road bridge without hesitation, and then came alongside a paddock with some sheep and 3 alpacas. One of them was black with a white face, and ran towards Willow, and she freaked out. I don't know if it was its behaviour, running at the fence (although it was saying Hello, not I'm going to kill you) or the strange colouring or what, but she was not impressed and we had to cross the road to regain some sanity. We trotted on and started up the slope next to the miniature pony paddock. There were 3 ponies in there and it occured to me belatedly that they might be stallions, because one of them came rushing over. He was stunning, flaxen chestnut with a mane literally down to his knees. He popped his little nose up on the fence rail and was very keen to meet Willow. Who was flipping out, apparently a tiny pony with an immense mane is a thing to fear! I think she might not have realised quite what it was, because when another one whinnied, she calmed down slightly. Danced all the way back down the slope though. Whether because she is feeling fitter, because she had yesterday off, or because she has decided that I can cope with whatever she throws at me and so doesn't feel obliged to behave all the time :) or a combination of all three, every time I ride her she's a bit more of a handful! She is safe though, despite her occasional propping and spooking, she hasn't bucked or reared at all.

We came back at a trot, past the scary alpaca, and all the way back to the rollercoaster. We looped right around it this time, down the steep slope carefully, then racing to the top...leaping over a bush as we rounded the corner...arguing with me (shaking her head) about having to slow down for the next descent... wigglingdown it impatiently...holding her back for a moment at the bottom before letting her go...shooting off like a rocket up the other side :) About 2 strides up a pheasant flew out of the bushes ahead. She chased it up the track until it veered off at the top of the hill and I pulled her in. We went back onto the river track and trotted most of the way home, past 2 very well behaved dogs, who were off their leads but when they saw us coming, moved themselves over to the side of the trail and waited for us to pass. We came back to a walk at the stony part and walked home on a long rein, Willow stealing a few bits of grass whenever she thought I wasn't paying attention.

Hosed her down which she was ok with, played the water gently over her back feet which she didn't like at all, then rubbed her down and turned her out. She rolled in her paddock (pics on my Facebook profile). All in all, an eventful but fun ride, and Willow is now greedy for candy canes :)

DAY THREE - Off for a walk

Because my fingers are still taped together, I thought a quiet stroll would be the best way to go. Also because I wanted to give Willow the chance to stretch her muscles after yesterday's long ride. So I took her down our driveway, which is 1.2km long. She was an absolute lady and didn't put a foot wrong. She was very pleased to see the neighbour's horses although lost interest when she realised they were too far away to make friends with. My niece walked with me and kept up a steady stream of conversation. We returned home and I turned Willow out, then mucked out her field and left her unrugged overnight as it was cloudy and very warm.

Took more pictures and they are the best yet. She looks great. However I had no memory card in my camera, so I saved them onto the camera's internal hard drive (which can store a massive 4 images). Now, however, I can't get them off as I don't have a USB to camera cable. So until I get one or figure out another way of doing it, they are stuck in the camera for only me to admire. Dammit.

DAY TWO - Of Puddles and Trailbikes

Typing is going to be slow today because two of my fingers are taped together. I suspect I may have broken the joint in my ring finger on my left hand. It's very bruised and swollen and I can't bend it at that joint. Hence the taping. How did it happen? I'll explain.

I decided to ride at about 2pm. I spent some time grooming Willow, including brushing her mane and tail right out. She still has far too much mane, but the tail is looking good :) I also trimmed her fetlocks. Tacked up and walked her down to the back gate. I'd just unlocked it and taken her through when I heard very noisy trailbikes heading towards us. I turned her to face them and she was fairly relaxed as they came towards us, then accelerated past. She was a bit worried about that but was fine while I mounted. However when I suggested heading upstream (the same way the bikes had gone) she disagreed, thinking that clearly the other way would be better. After a brief and mild argument, she gave in and we headed upstream, past the scary waratahs next door with barely a blink and then down to the river to cross it. As yesterday she was happy to walk down to the water, but when I asked her to go into it, she was very hesitant. She snuffled at it for a while then tentatively walked through. We edged across the (thankfully very shallow) river and managed to get to the other side and scramble up. On this side of the river is a park that has enough flat space for a good canter around. We went up onto the big flat area by the road and trotted a few circles before heading along the ridge at the back of the park. We trotted all the way along and then back again, practising a few downward transitions, and then went onto the lower part of the park and had a nice canter all the way around. On our second time along the base of the ridge I let her out and she "seriously boogied" (as Alicia would say). For a moment I wondered if I'd be able to pull her up! But she came back to me without too much argument :)

We crossed back over the river and headed on up to see if there was a way to get onto the track I was on yesterday. We passed the track to the quarry and started trotting up a nice straight stretch when I heard the trailbikes coming back. I quickly moved to the other side of the track where there was a wide clearing that we could hide in and not get crashed into. Willow was already getting nervous as I hurried her along the track and then about 3 strides away she noticed a piece of broken white gate lying in the grass in front of her and propped mid-stride. I was thrown onto her neck for a moment but quickly regained my seat and took her into the clearing as the trailbikes roared past. (Idiots. They're not allowed on that track anyway.)

We carried on and went on trotting up the track, and I decided to test the track to the quarry on the way back. We went happily along the track and then I saw a narrow puddle on one side of the track ahead of us. I decided to get her to go through it. She was adamant that she would not. After some negotiation, she took an enormous leap over it, clearing it by probably 2 feet. Laughing, I let her trot on up the track, then have a short canter up to the corner. Years ago when I used to ride this trail every day, the track ended there, but now it's been extended, so we kept going. The track narrowed here and there are thick trees on the right and huge boulders down to the river on the left. I thought as we walked along it that I wouldn't want to meet the trailbikes right there! We got off the narrow part and onto a grassy bit of trail. I let Willow trot on, then I heard the roar of the trailbikes behind me again. I turned in my saddle and let them come, waiting for the guy to see me. He did and slowed down. I trotted on and pulled over into another clearing to let them pass. I waved them down as they passed, asking them to go slowly, and they did, not revving their engines until they'd gone past us. I wasn't sure how much further the trail went, and now seemed like as good a time as any to turn back, so we did.

We walked and trotted along the trail for quite a way until we reached the puddle again. I decided it would be a good idea to ask Willow again to step in it. She disagreed, but with much quiet urging, flung herself over again. I laughed at her and turned again, determined that she should at least put a foot in the water. As we turned, I told her she should stop jumping it as we were now facing a large tree on the other side of the puddle and I didn't want to be jumped into a tree. She paid no attention to my warning and proceeded to do exactly that, jump straight towards the tree. I flew up out the saddle and landed on her withers. Luckily for me, she is very sensible and stopped, allowing me to regain my seat. I had thrown my hands forward to grab at her mane as I became unseated, and as her head came up she hit against my outstretched finger, bashing it hard at the tip and so (possibly) breaking it. That's how I think it happened, anyway.

Clearly anyone with a modicum of common sense would've given up now. But that is not me. I simply approached the puddle from the other side, so we were at least jumping away from the tree :) She still didn't want to put a toe in, and leapt wildly over again, yanking at the reins and jarring my finger. So finally, I gave it up for the day. We trotted back down the track until we reached the point where the track to the quarry comes out. It's a very steep track down and up the other side, and the bottom of the track is usually a narrow creekbed. Fortunately it has been so warm lately that the water had dried up entirely. Despite that, Willow still jumped it :) We cantered on up and had a little hoon around the steep track, bouncing down the steep slopes and then racing up the other side. Lots of fun. We went out the back and up the road to the quarry. Willow was quite excited by now and jogged for a while, but settled when I told her to and we went on up to the quarry. Being Saturday, however, the quarry gates were shut and locked, so much to Willow's consternation, we turned back the way we had come and walked quietly home. The pony was getting tired now, although she'd still have kicked up a quick canter if asked. She is a lovely pony, one of those that you just have to lean forward slightly and click your tongue and she's off like a shot :) Gotta love that! Although the brakes do need some fine tuning, but I think a flash noseband will help, and I might try her in a martingale. She still tosses her head a bit, but it's mostly a "let me go faster" or "I don't want to slow down" behaviour rather than "my teeth hurt" or "my browband is too tight."

We were almost home when I heard the bikes coming again. I was determined to stand my ground, and anyway I had little choice. I was on a narrow part of the track with no room to move over and it was too stony to trot on. So I moved over to the middle so they would see me, and then kept walking. They came up behind me and drove slowly, with much revving of their engines, right behind poor Willow. I was still determined to stick to a walk and make them wait, and Willow was equally determined to get the hell out of there, so our sedate walk (on a long rein, feet dangling from stirrups) of moments ago turned into a head-tossing sideways prance, with much rolling of eyes and tugging at the bit. Just as we were about to get out to the big clearing where we had loads of room to get out of their way, they cut the engines and all was quiet. I took Willow right away from the track and we walked (well, jogged) on. About 100m ahead of us the track narrowed again for about 10m and then widened for another 50m before we would get to our gate. The bikes stayed silent, so I figured that they'd decided to wait for me to get through my gate (which they could see from where they were as the track is very straight right there). However, just as we reached the narrow part of the trail, I heard the trailbikes start up again. In disbelief, I turned to see them again coming straight toward us. Backtracking slightly, I pulled Willow over to the side of the trail where we could get out of the way and they roared past, this time completely ignoring my waving arm trying to slow them down. Willow was quite upset by this point, but to her absolute credit, she didn't put a foot wrong and do anything naughty, just jittered in place. I patted her profusely and we walked up to the gate, where I dismounted and led her through.

Walking her back through the paddocks with stirrups run up, she was very jumpy and took fright at the smallest things, including a bird that flew up from some bushes behind her. Poor pony, her nerves were all a-jangle. I unsaddled her and got the hose out to wash her down. She was sceptical at first, but when I ran the cool water over her and rubbed the dried sweat off her back, she suddenly decided that it actually felt rather nice, and was happy to let me proceed and wash her off :) She especially enjoyed being dried off with a towel. She is a bit funny about having her back feet washed (and dried) although she's fine when picking them out. Given that her back hooves are white and her front hooves are black, I suspect that she's had mud fever on her back legs before, hence her concern about me doing anything to them. She soon decided that it was ok for me to wash and dry them though and relaxed again.

I turned her out and left her to it. She had a good roll :) I put some grain out for the alpacas, which Willow was very interested in, insisting that I give her some, but I told her "not for ponies". I iced my finger, then went out in the evening (I can still drive with my bashed finger, thankfully) so came back at about 9.30pm to put her rug on. She was pleased to see me, despite the fact that it was near dark. I've stopped haltering her in the paddock to rug up, she's very good to just fling the rug on while she's standing there and she's quite patient. I rugged her up, gave her a hug and said goodnight.

DAY ONE - Out of the gate...

Took Willow's rug off at about 9am as its a warm day. The alpacas were up near the yards giving me that look that I've learned means "food would be nice" so I went and got them some pellets and put them in their feeder. Willow was very interested in this and came over to investigate, which meant the alpacas had to run a sort of gauntlet into the yard and then eat with their backs to the mysterious pony creature. Pollyanna, uncharacteristically, was the bravest and charged on in, and Heathcliff followed her. Vanessa and Teena, my greediest of girls, were next in line, but were very cautious of going past the pony. Vanessa decided it was probably time to suck it up and introduce herself, so she went cautiously over and sniffed noses with the pony while Teena ducked around behind her and grabbed some grain while the scary pony was otherwise occupied. Nessa's bravery didn't last too long and she leapt backwards and ran off, Teena at her heels (still chewing undoubtedly). After that no-one else was brave enough to go near until the pony had moved along. Finally Tommy (astonishingly, the little wimp) wandered in when Willow was halfway up the other side of the field, and with the help of Ellie Mae, cleaned up the grain in the feeder.

It rained lightly all morning but because it was predicted to get worse, I rode at about midday so as to avoid the predicted downpour. Willow was good to handle and tack up, absolutely no worries about anything except stamping her near fore down when I was done picking it out. So we picked it up and had her put it down nicely a few times. She can be a bit obstinate but is generally quite quick to give in once she's satisfied that you know what you're doing, are in charge, and mean what you say. :)

My saddle is a reasonable fit on her, I will probably pad it up before our long rides at camp, but my saddle blanket has fleece padding sewn into it along the backbone so that would have made it more comfortable. She has a small girth gall (or the makings of one) on her off side behind her elbow, but where my saddle sits on her, the girth doesn't rub that area. Nonetheless, I will get a fleece girth cover for her to make sure it doesn't get worse.

I led her through the paddocks wearing her tack, much to the astonishment and consternation of the alpacas. I think Heathcliff has developed a bit of a crush on the pony, he's very keen to see more of her. Once through all of the gates, I mounted up and she stood like a rock. We headed up river, and were walking calmly and interestly along for about 100 metres before spying something utterly terrifying through the neighbours' fence. They have a few metal waratahs in the ground which are obviously a danger to horses, so they have put old car tyres on top of the waratahs to stop any wayward horses impaling themselves. Not that terrifying, I'd have thought, but apparently so as Willow proceeded to flip out. Eyes popped out of her head, nostrils were a'snorting, right up on her tippy toes, and despite my assurances and pats, she was convinced there was no way in HELL she was going that way, and spun around. Now she might be half Arab and quick on her feet, but I've ridden my share of part (and full) Arabs and if Anna's purebred 6yo Arab couldn't unseat me yesterday with his spooking every third stride (he even tried the old full stop from a quick canter) then Willow's little fussing wasn't going to bother me, and it didn't. I kept urging her forwards, and she was desperately trying to convince me that I misleading her, but eventually got brave and bounced past on springs.

Once we were past the terrifying tyres suspended in mid-air (as I can only assume they seemed to her, not quite sure why she was so upset by them, although part of it was undoubtedly her trying me out) I let her trot on, and we proceeded the next 100m or so at a pretty quick trot. Walking on down the track she chilled out and started to relax. She still wants to walk on the grass rather than the stones, but she was only shod yesterday and only had back shoes on then too so she might still be a touch footsore behind. We turned down past the horse paddocks towards the quarry and after stopping to sniff some other pony poo, walked calmly between two big concrete blocks without batting an eyelid, up past a huge pile of gravel and up the road to the main part of the quarry. Lots of bits of machinery sitting around, including a giant tractor tyre and some other tyres, barrels and a skip sitting up on blocks, but she didn't care about any of that. We walked through the quarry and about 300m away was a digger filling up a truck with sand, but this didn't faze her either. Brave girl.

We then went on down the road and turned left down Lancelot Rd. Trotted along the verge there quite happily and then between more concrete blocks and onto the back track that I used to use all the time. Now this used to be a loop that you went around and got back to the river track, but it's been years since I rode on it. There was an open area pointing back towards the quarry and this was when Willow first decided it was time to start thinking about heading home. Some quiet persuasion convinced her otherwise and we went on. Had a trot up the track and then walked down most of the way as its quite undulating ground. We reached the point where you used to be able to get out but there is a big lagoon there now and no way through. There was another path that went along the back of the horse paddocks that was still just visible, so I pointed her towards that. "No way," she said and did a quick 180 turn. Quick enough that I didn't stop her, but not so quick that I lost my balance. I turned her back and she turned again, so eventually I tucked my right hand behind my back to stop her pulling me around, and she had no choice but to turn right and go on. Once I'd made it clear to her that she was to do as she was told and that she doesn't get to decide when we go home, she bushwhacked bravely through the grass and blackberries (just a few) and up onto the next part of the ridge. Only the track here disappeared and the grass being well up over her knees, I had no way of telling whether we could go on or if we might fall into a hole. Pony spun around insistently and I made her wait for a moment before allowing her to go on back the way we'd come. She was very pleased that I'd seen sense finally!

Once out of the thicket we trotted on and then looped off to the left along another more well used looking track. This one goes over the undulating ground and then down a very steep hill. We walked (well, bounced) down the hill and then she walked keenly along the bottom and started up the next hill. Very impressive given that my old pony would've gone down the first hill and then scooted off up the next, whether I wanted her to or not! I let Willow canter on up the hill and she sprang up keenly. She has quite a short, bouncy canter stride but covers ground reasonably well. At the top of the hill she stopped, but I pushed her on and we cantered along and then down and up another one. Both quite enjoying ourselves. Another track led off that I had taken before to get back to the main river track, so I tried that one but I have no idea where it came out and it was very steep. Willow was all for going back the way we'd come, but I don't think she realised I was trying to do a loop. Anyway, we erred on the side of caution and did go back the way we'd come, without any further dramas although she got a little bit strong cantering all the way back along that track. However she does respond well to seat and came back to me really nicely. Someone has schooled her properly at some point and she is remembering quite well. Back through the concrete blocks and then walking all the way home on a long rein with absolutely no dramas. We went down to the river to look at the water and test her mettle, she didn't even blink and was all for going straight in, but we'd been out for around 45 min already so I thought it was time to finish for the day. Don't want to wear her out completely! Wasn't as worried about the tyres going home, although gave them a sidelong glance. I'm so used to my old pony stopping as soon as she got to our gate that I was surprised to have to rein Willow in when we got home. Dismounted and led her back through the fields with a loosened girth and lots of pats.

The alpacas bounced around with interest as we went back past them. I untacked her and washed the sweat off her belly and face and dirt off her legs. I pulled a bit out of her mane to see how she'd react, NOT impressed at all. Tensed her neck right up, stepped back to the length of her rope, and rolled her eyes at me. Pulling her mane is going to be a bit of a process, I can tell. But it has to be done! It's so bushy right now, she looks more like a Fraggle than a pony. I suspect bribes might help.

I washed her tail, which was interesting, as she was not really keen on it or sure what I was doing. Not too happy about the whole idea, but again, needs must. I managed to get it reasonably clean, and rinsed it out, despite her lifting her off hind leg (closest to me) off the ground and stamping it down from time to time, but she didn't try to kick at all which is good. She's going to need to get used to being hosed before camp! I cut about 4 inches off her tail, so now it is sitting just below her hocks. Shorter than I usually like it, but I'm sure the showies would approve, and it doesn't look too bad.

By this time, the sun had came out and it's been blazing ever since. Typical. At about 2.30pm I pulled the lupins in her paddock and I cut it in half with more tape, because I'm paranoid about her propensity to founder. The only yards we have are small alpaca sized ones that she could barely turn around in, so hopefully the dry grass she's on won't lead to any problems. It's mostly kikuyu which is pretty coarse. She's tubby and has been overweight for a while, judging by the fat deposits in her rump and her cresty neck, but they will eventually turn to muscle. She's still going to be flabbers when she gets to camp, but that will tone her up pretty well :)

Her training plan for the rest of the days leading up to camp consists of at least a 1 hour ride daily, then two rides daily the second week. She didn't sweat up too much today, despite the hill work, which is good, but we took it really easy today being the first time out. Steady hacking and interval training is going to be the making of her in the next few days. As long as she continues to behave herself, we're going to get along great. :)

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Project Willow. This is a way of tracking progress and giving reports on the pony I am schooling at the moment, Willow. She is a 14.1hh Arab x Welsh mare, 12 years old.

Willow arrived about 7pm and settled right in. Bounced down to the field on her toes, but as soon as I put her through the gate and let her go, her head went straight down to eat grass. That's the Welsh pony coming through! She was a bit wary of the alpacas at first, as they were of her, but they are in separate paddocks with a raceway between them, so they eyed each other for a while then ignored one another for the rest of the day. I put pony's rug on at about 8pm and she was good to handle, no problems at all. Fed her some apples and gave her some cuddles, made sure she'd found her water drinker, then left her to it.