Busy week!
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♥Apr. 21st, 2013 // 03:30 pm♥
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Mike's back at work tomorrow, I'm almost relieved....
We went back to see the horse on Wednesday, and he did pretty well in a sand school given his age and experience (he'd been in one for probably the first time that morning, as they wanted to make sure that it didn't freak him out, and when I did a circle on him the dealer said "that's probably the first time he's done that!"). He's a bit wobbly on changes of direction, but only for a couple of steps before he sorts himself out, and it takes him a little while to settle into a trot or canter but it's pretty good once he does.
Mike was back down to Gatwick on Thursday, as there happened to be another horse being vetted that morning and we piggy-backed on the visit: passed with a clean bill of health, so Mike now has a horse of his own! As he's been living in a field all winter, we thought it was worth asking at my yard to see if he could just go in with the field ponies there (they're phasing them out as stables come free but, on current knowledge, the next free stable will be GB's) and got told that he could, so he'll be arriving on Monday week. The field ponies are on the same bit of the field rota as GB, which is good as they'll get to know each other a bit and, if we're really lucky, actually make friends before we move. He'll have a bit of a hectic day, as he'll be going in a box, driving around the M25, arriving at a new home, getting his shoes and saddle done and getting the grooming of his life, but hopefully he'll be ok with it. We might even be able to teach him what a carrot's for!
While Mike was doing that, I was at work, and in the evening it was out office warming party, which featured a band with an average age of about fifteen and lots and lots of PR people and clients who I didn't really know: I was quite glad Mike made it along to keep me company!
On Friday morning, we headed out to the new house and had a bit of a chat to the owner (they're still slightly hopeful about a house they offered for on Scotland, but she was also going to look at three places to rent that afternoon) and then spent some time with a guy from a company that does equestrian work, looking over what needs doing on the horsey bits of the property. He was pleased with the stables, unimpressed with the fence posts and terribly impressed with the sand school, the one thing he didn't really think needed any work. I was a little concerned that the rabbits who've been digging holes in the school has damaged the membrane layer under the sand, which would be a huge job, but he thinks we're safe from that. Being unimpressed with the fencing was almost a blessing: we had thought that we'd re-use the existing fence posts if they were in god condition, but as we're having to replace them any way it means we can change the orientation of the fence dividing the two paddocks, which will make the layout much better. We headed over to Bexley after that, where Mike rode and I told people about the new horse, as I was feeling too knackered to ride especially as I was out that evening.
I went to Gauthier, which I love, with Erik. We had the eight-course tasting menu, which was fabulous but rather long: we sat down at 7pm and, just as I was about to suggest one last glass of wine before we left, suddenly it was 11pm....
Saturday morning I did ride: we went out in the woods, where it was lovely and sunny and hardly muddy at all, which was a welcome change. In the evening, we went to a party at Dr Johnson's house, for a friend's birthday, where there were an array of gorgeous jellies, including some shaped like St Paul's Cathedral. There wasn't actually much other food, though, so we had a quick dinner in Taz before coming home.
Today has been very much a day for sitting on the sofa, doing more bits of new house planning and listening to the marathon go past. I needed a quiet day! |
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