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CHESHIRE GROUP of ENDURANCE GB | |
DIAMOND DESTINY WRITES ...
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I’m definitely right, I can hear her putting my trailer on the big machine that takes me out to lovely places. Sometimes we trot, sometimes we gallop, there’s always things to look at, new things to smell and other horses there. She’s brushing me now, oh yes, just that spot by my withers, I turn to groom her back, she always laughs when I do this, I try not to use my teeth as she doesn’t seem to like that. She never shouts at me, she just gently pushes me away and says “good girl”. Into the stable on wheels now, I love going in here, there’s hay to eat and I never know where we will be when the ramp opens. Sometimes we just go to see that horrid man who stabs me with a needle and I don’t even get out, but not today. I can tell we are going somewhere exciting as she seems a bit tense. I can feel it when she’s apprehensive. I try to reassure her by nudging her with my nose like my mum used to do to me, sometimes I am bit too rough and she nearly falls over. We arrive, there are lots of other horses, and I recognise some of them. She takes me to have my feet and shoes checked then we have to wait in line. A lady puts that cold thing on me, she leaves it there for a minute and everyone is quiet, I try to stand still but I feel excited and I fidget. She clicks at me, we trot, on a nice loose rope, I can canter too you know – look! Oh that’s not what she wants, we turn round and trot back. Now she feels nervous…oh she is stroking my neck. I must have done the right thing as she says I am a “good girl”. My tack is on and she is on board, we are off! I hate it how we have to walk at first, I pull on my reins to tell her to get a move on. Trotting now, I need to find a nice rhythm on a nice flat surface. We are on a forest track so it’s easy for me here. Horses ahead, I must catch them up – come on! I pull on my reins again to tell her but she pulls back. A half halt she calls it, I don’t know why she has to keep checking me, I thought the whole point was to overtake everyone and be first back? There are lots of trees around us. Wait – what’s that?! I screech to a stop. It’s a 2 headed man, I swerve to avoid it, oh silly me, it’s a man with a child on his shoulders. I’m not usually spooky but that was a bit weird. Hill ahead, she squeezes and we canter up the hill, it makes me a bit out of breath but I soon get it back as we practice this a lot. Oh the ground is not so even now. Ouch! I have stood on a stone, she asks me to walk, it’s OK, I haven’t hurt myself and my shoes are still on. We’ve been out for ages now, there are some parked cars ahead, I stop at the first one and stick my head in the boot to see if there’s any food. It doesn’t smell right here – oops! It’s not my car! Sorry folks! There’s my car up ahead. First I go to the drinks bar. Lots of different buckets, what do I fancy? Water like it tastes at home? The one that tastes like apple with bits floating in it? No I need some of the brown sugary water that she makes for me. I have a good drink then I nibble some grass, I don’t feel like eating much at the moment. She’s tipping water over me now out of bottles, sometimes this makes me jumpy but it’s always cooling and I feel much better after she has done it. We’re off again, lovely open fields now, she asks me to gallop. Then she presses my turbo button. I flatten and lengthen so I can go even faster. She loosens the reins so I can really get a move on. We gallop to the top of the hill. “Good girl” she tells me. There’s a hedge, are we going to jump it? No, she gently helps me to get balanced again and we head for a gate in the corner of the filed. Oh no! It’s closed. I try opening it with my nose but she is asking me to go backwards. Wait a minute, I can do it, if I rub my head on it the catch might come loose. Her hand reaches out over my head and she pulls the latch. The gate is open, she turns me sideways with my front end still like we do when I go to school, that must be why we practice it so often. “Good girl” she says. We’re off again, through a bridleway now, there’s a sharp bend coming up. She helps me by balancing me ready for the turn, it’s more fun when she lets me do my own thing. Oh now what’s she doing? She has crouched down on my neck, the jockeys used to do this to me, she must want me to gallop again. I can’t understand why when the branches are so low here. She feels unbalanced on my back now, maybe I should slow down “good girl” she says. Oh the trees have gone, she has sat up tall again. We pass a lot of other horses, I sniff at some of them as I have met them before. Sometimes, we stay with another horse for a while. They do a lot of talking about us. She talks to me when there are no other horses around. Sometimes she sings which is horrible. I am feeling warm now and quite tired. I can see the horseboxes. She strokes my neck and gets off. More lovely water to drink and lots of water all over me to cool me down. We have a walk around, I try to roll but can’t find anywhere I like. The lady listens to my heart again and we trot up again to the cone and back. Oh what? She wants me to do it again, is it because of that stone I trod on? I am OK you know. Why does she always feel so anxious when we do this? She gives off terrible stress vibes and it makes me worry, that’s why I can’t trot properly, if only she would relax. Another stroke on the neck and she is smiling at me, one of her big grin happy smiles and I know I am a ‘good girl’. By Diamond Destiny
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