Great to be back in the saddle..... :)

I hope you have all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed the same sunshine that we all enjoyed at the SG Eventing headquarters on Sunday :) It was perfect hacking weather, so that's exactly what I decided to do!!

After having a very busy week last Monday to Friday with starting my new job as well as masses of holiday washing to do and sorting out to do I decided to wait and ride them at the weekend. Milli was first to go and she was her normal 'chilled' self whilst I gave her a brush and tacked her up on the yard. She did look pleased to see her lovely WOW saddle appear and fidgeted for a bit but was quickly back to resting a hind leg whilst I got my stuff on! I decided after Milli having just over 2 months off I would be best riding her in the school to start with just to be on the safe side!! She remained very chilled and walked around the school nice and quietly, well until I put my leg on and asked her to trot that is! On asking her to trot I got a typical 'excited Milli' squeak and shake of the head, she then went on to snatch the reins out of my hand and shove her head down between her front legs!!! She bronked about on the spot for a bit and down the side of the school but then realised all this excitement malarkey is too much hard work so she just trotted of quietly. I did some walk and trot long and low with her so she had a really good stretch out. It was my first time riding her in my new Micklem bridle and although I didn't do too much with her after her break she felt amazing in it, hopefully this continues as I 'up' her workload :)

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With a very dark cloud coming over I decided Milli had done enough for today as I was desperate to have a sit on Roxie! She's had over 4 months off and after making an incredible recovery I think she had started to think she may never be ridden again so when I brought her out of the stable she looked very intrigued as to what she was going to do. This then turned to pure excitement as I brushed her and started to tack her up. Her ears were as forward as they could physically be and they didn't move from this position at all, not even when I tightened her give, which being a marey-mare is something she hates me doing!! She stood very quietly whilst I got on and then we were off.....she was on her very best behaviour and thankfully remained in walk, all-be-it a very very forward walk, in fact more like a march! She felt great and to think, just a few months ago I was told I may never get to sit behind those ears again, I was thrilled to be back on her and I'm not sure who had a bigger smile, me or her!!

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On returning to the yard with Roxie the heavens opened and the rain was set in for the afternoon / evening so I left them all tucked up in their stables out of the rain, not that they were bothered.......they had food!

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Sunday was a much better day weather wise, as I mentioned earlier perfect hacking weather!! I'm very lucky that one of my friends, Alex, lives just down the road from me and she currently has two horses so we went out together today which was nice! Much to Roxie's disgust it was Milli that got tacked up first as Alex was riding Ted first and he needed a slightly longer hack. Milli was rather excited to be back out and got even more excited when we were joined by Alex and Ted!! Although she was fresh and excited to be out she behaved brilliantly when we met any traffic. She has never been too keen on traffic coming towards her but since riding her in the 'MoJo' bridle attachments she has transformed and is much quieter out on the roads!

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On return with Milli and with a quick tack change I was out on Roxie and she was extremely keen and pleased to be back out. We marched down the road to pick Alex and her other horse, Trench, up and then continued to bounce along, sideways at times, around the block. Roxie really doesn't see the need to just do walk work as she is clearly feeling fighting fit and ready to go!!! She continued to bounce / march around the block, frequently snatching the reins out of my hands as I was clearly holding her back until we got back to the side gate, at which point she looked very disappointed it was the end of her walk! So disappointed in fact that when I turned her out after un-tacking she did her usual roll as soon as she's let go and then got up, jumped all over the place and dashed around the field for a few moment......glad to see her so well and happy with life now, especially after everything she's been through over the last few months! Once her and Milli had finished running around the field and decided they were brave enough to go over to the big scary thing (round hay bale) in the middle of the field they were very pleased to find out it was edible.....Milli more than Roxie!!

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It was so nice to be back in the saddle and although there is plenty of walk and trot work ahead of me to build up their fitness I can't wait to get back out competing on Milli in the near future and hopefully Roxie too.....fingers crossed :)