Time just keeps getting away from me recently and before you know it, months have past!
Let me pick up where I last left off....
Wrong Turn Ranch
Working at Angi and Seth's ranch in Santa nez has been going great! I love the variety everyday brings from starting young horses, groundwork, obstacles and riding to veterinary care, fence building, painting, moving cows and more!!!!
One weekend, David and I looked after the ranch oursleves whilst Angi and Seth went on a beach adventure with some of the horses. We drove up to meet them on the sunday and David and I rode with them to the beach! It was awesome!
Arianna
Arianna is progressing slowly, but very well. She's very rarely afraid any more and her more confident, dominant and extrovert true nature is coming out more and more! She has lots of movement and is very athletic. I have started riding her also now. The first time I rode her, just at a walk, I was so overwhelmed with joy I couldn't help but cry tears of happiness after. I just love this little mare so much and we have such an amazing bond already.
 |
| First ride... |
Arianna however, being a thoroughbred, does not have the best feet. They are small and flat and after all the muddy winter weather the ground quickly turned back to rock and she was very sore. Pete the farrier recommended front shoes so after a bit of work to prepare her for shoeing.... she has grown up shoes now! She was so perfectly behaved throughout and I was incredibly proud of her!
Cats!!!!!
We also have laid down more roots here by adopting two cats! Tony (aka Tony Stark) and Pepper (Pepper Potts) are brother and sister from a rescue near Los Feliz. They are such different characters and do the most hilarious things although Tony has a bad habit of ripping up the carpet and Pepper demands cuddles and belly rubs in the middle of the night! Love them so much x
Easter Trip
At Easter I returned back to England to spend time with Joshua. We had a couple of days in Buckinghamshire, before flying on to France. Whilst we were in France I enjoyed having the time to do lots of cooking and we all ate very well.
We also had a trip to Spain for Paella lunch, and Josh and I went to "cite l'espace" which is a big space museum near Toulouse.
Starting Peroni
It was also lovely to spend some time with my baby horse Peroni,although not so baby now as he's meausring 15.1 hands and his 3rd birthday isn't until next month. His Mum was only about 15.1 and his Sire is around 15.2 so it looks like Peroni is going to be bigger than both his parents! We started the beginnings of the backing process with the aim of giving him some positive experiences which will give him confience when we come back to this later in the year.
We practised teaching him to position and stand at the mounting block (very important!) Leaning and lying over his back, and wearing a saddle!
He is so confident about new things, nothing really phased him, but he found it all very interesting ! We also taught him to "ride and lead" or "pony" as they call it here in America, and I taught him the beginnings of spanish walk just for fun!!!
I love my little man so much and I have really high hopes for him in the future!
Also, great to spend time with Taffy, my first pony who's still going strong at 33 years of age and still as fit as ever!
No rest for the wicked!
The time away flew by really fast and before I knew it, we were on our way back to England. I had a few days after Joshua had returned to school to spend with my bestie "Bex" and she took me on an adventure to a farm rescue where she volunteers! There were so many cute animals but as you can imagine, they make a lot of mess so there was a lot of chores and mucking out to do! so much for a vacation!
I also, popped over to BCA to meet up with Minnie Smith, who has taken on Hazel, from Moorwards, as her own for a year now. We had a blast through the fields and a great laugh!
Back in California and it was lovely to see all my clients at Sagebrook farm again and lovely to hear that I'd been missed whilst I was away.
Back issues....
However, over the past months, my old back problems have been causing me more and more grief and I was having to be more careful all the time to ensure I don't aggravate it whilst managing the pain with a cocktail of painkillers. I decided, enough is enough and I need to be proactive so that I can do my job, so after a visit to my GP, I had an MRI scan (the first one I've had since I first started having back issues 17 years ago!!!!!) and I have a few issues to address but I'm off to see a specialist next week so fingers crossed.....
and finally...
As if that wasn't enough, were moving apartments at the end of this month. We've signed a 6 month lease for a lovely, town house apartment in the Marina itself, so I will actually be able to see the sea and all the boats from my bedroom window! I feel very lucky but before I can enjoy it, there's lots and lots of packing to do......
