Living in Lockdown: A Woody Update
It has been almost four months since I received a phone call to stop my day-job farm visits, and the start of lockdown rules which initially stopped me from riding. When the BHS advised riders to avoid riding in order to reduce pressure (caused by accidents etc) on the NHS, I immediately stowed away my saddle and offered Woody some time off. I'm incredibly clumsy (I have a scar in my eyebrow from walking into a gate), and with Woody not even being four years old at the time, continuing to ride seemed very foolish.
I've had the same farrier for years- a brilliant man- but when I moved Bluey north I had to change, as he did not cover the area. My livery yard uses a woman named Katie, and she is excellent. Her speciality is big, hairy horses, but faced with a three year old thoroughbred, straight out of racing, and losing shoes within days of being shod, she embarked on a huge research mission, roping in the farrier who worked with her as an apprentice, and every bit of information she could find. When BJ announced that the UK was shutting down, Katie turned up to the stables and took the shoes off every horse in her care. She hired me a pair of Scoot boots (forgive me, equestrian style gurus), in case I decided to ride, and I turned Woody into the field.
Woody had almost two months off, during which he turned four, gained a lot of condition, and thoroughly enjoyed his freedom. The hedges heaved with laburnum, and then shed their yellow. Our calved were born, weaned, and turned out. By the middle of May I saw lockdown rules easing, and decided to get back on board.
Although my on-farm work has reduced, I've kept fairly busy with admin and digital meetings, working on our farm (I have been working weekends since the middle of February, and filling in where necessary), writing (my regular work as a content writer for Whickr and contributor to British Farmer and Grower, plus some exciting commissions for Horse and Rider and Farmers Weekly), and measuring grass for two local farmers. Furloughed liveries have had the freedom to hack out every day, but I think my continued work has been helpful as it has stopped me overworking Woody.
With his Scoot boots on (or off for short rides- I have a thoroughbred that can be hacked barefoot!), Woody has thoroughly enjoyed exploring the local routes. He has hacked mostly with another horse, but I am trying to take him out on his own as often as I can too. When Bluey first came to me I had no option but to hack alone, and at college my endurance training rides were a little off-putting to my stablemates. Now group hacks are the norm, and it is only when I hack alone that I remember exactly why I like them so much.
Hacking Woody
- Woody is best when striding out in front of other horses, or a few metres behind. He doesn't like riding upsides other horses
- In front he has his ears pricked, and walks with purpose, carefully appraising his route. Once another horse passes him he visibly relaxes, his ears flop sideways, and he relinquishes responsibility
- There is a building site at the bottom of the stables drive, and he is obsessed with it. Every time we pass he sticks his head in, and if something has changed- bricks have been laid, supplies delivered- he likes to stop and look at what has been done
- He is very stubborn, and will nap and do little rears if he doesn't get his way. We are working on this
- He has the most beautiful canter
- Woody is very brave, and insatiably curious. Barking dogs? Not scary, fascinating!
- After over a decade of owning chestnut horses, I've discovered that flies aren't actually lethal. It is perfectly possible for a horse, when confronted with a fly, to simply swish his tail or scratch his face. It is not imperative to buck, jog, and attempt to lie on the ground and convulse
Woody has also had his saddle re-checked by our amazing saddler Helen Reader, and so far it still fits him. He has grown up and out, and I'm sure is now pushing 16hh (not what I really wanted, but there's not much I can do to stop him). He is wearing all of Bluey and Ribble's gear, but for his fourth birthday Freddie bought him his own leather head collar, with a nameplate bearing his nickname, Woodlouse.
We haven't yet left the stables, but one great excitement has been the commencement of Woody's "schooling journey." Regular readers will know that I don't have much affinity for flatwork, or indeed any form of structured, arena- based riding. This was fully supported by Bluey, who was asked to commit to fortnightly dressage clinics for the sake of his muscoskeletal system, and responded with japes such as "The Hour of Constant Counter Canter" and "That Corner Houses a Demon." With Woody I decided that the earlier the better, so I asked a local ex-racehorse expert to come up and give us some lessons.
Woody has had two sessions so far- next one scheduled for this week- and he loves them. He is thoroughly on board with concepts like "lowering one's head" and "bending", is picking up the foundations of lateral work, and moves very, very nicely. For the entire hour he works hard on circles and spirals and inside bend, and then thoroughly enjoys a good stretch. I'm a little concerned that we'll be compelled to do some sort of RoR dressage competitions, as he enjoys this work so much.
Our next step is longer solo rides, potentially crossing the main road (I used to hack Bluey along a road far busier- how good access to quiet roads spoils you!) to ride to the farm. I'm hoping to introduce Woody to hounds through quiet hound exercise in late summer, and get him out for a few meets this season.
At the next saddle check I'm tempted to see how Bluey's side saddle fits him too.... Just to see...
And at some point he needs to be introduced to jumping...
