November Week Two
The farrier came on Monday to fix Lola’s shoe back on, which he did and Lola was well behaved which was nice after all the problems we had with her feet. It was the first time I had actually seen her being shoed.
It was a sad day on Tuesday morning when the family chickens where found murdered in their run, damn that crafty fox. Garden doesn’t quite seem the same without them clucking about, they were friendly old things and had got on well with my Golden Retriever, Oscar.
I had talked to Rachel about going out on my own with Lola which Rachel said would be a good idea. So Saturday morning I was ready for riding on my own or so I thought. It started quite well, got Lola saddled, no problem. Decided I would ride Lola in the field to start with as when you first get on Lola, it’s when she is likely to be naughty.
My first problem came when trying to get onto Lola she just wouldn’t stay still near the fences, gates, anything I could use to get a foot up. So I decided to just try to get my foot in a stirrup and heave myself up. It went horribly wrong when I got my leg in the stirrup, and Lola decided to kick my other leg, this was my first proper kick ouch. I didn’t give up though and eventually with the aid of a bucket I got on Lola. We went for a little ride in the field no problems so decided it was time to leave the safety of the field.
Well to Start with she wouldn’t leave the field because we had just had four big round bales of haylage delivered. Lola found these very scary, so I had get off and walk her up to them to show her they were not big scary monsters just big white things. So in the end we made it out of the field but not very far, Lola was not enjoying being out without Annie or Deano for company or just being naughty it was hard to tell. So in the end we went for about a 200m hack. I was a little disappointed how it had turned out but I think it might have been partly down to not riding Lola for nearly two weeks and as far as we know it was her first time out on her own.
I managed to play football that afternoon, which we lost 2-0 in the cup so no Carrow Rd for Newton Flotman. I went out for a few drinks in Norwich in the evening which was fun.
Sunday I woke up and went round to see Barry and Rachel to see what I should do with Lola today whether to try again or go for a ride with them. Rachel said I should try again so that’s what I did. I had no problems getting on Lola as I went straight for the bucket. We had a little ride in the field Lola seemed to be a lot more responsive today so of we went for our second ride. Lola seemed a lot more confident being out today. We made it round without to many problems at one point Lola didn’t like the look of a handkerchief hanging from a bush and some paint on a road but with a bit of pat and encouragement we got by them in the end. I was a lot happier about how it had all gone today. And hopefully it will give me more opportunity’s to ride Lola more which will do her good and get her ready for the next challenge.
David
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