Solo has again had unscheduled time off. I wrote the previous post on Jan 31st and I did get to ride Solo that afternoon. He was a good boy and I walked and trotted in the arena with a helper on the ground. I was excited to have him ‘going’ again. That night I had to leave unexpectedly for the UK for two weeks and Solo was once again, on holiday. The trouble with a young horse like Solo is, that his power and exuberance make him an unsuitable candidate to change riders and handlers mid stream – I just accept the setbacks and wait until I am able to ride him myself.

When I got back home the ice was everywhere. Getting the horses from the barn to the arena was not a job for the faint of heart and it is one that had to be done on foot – the ice is out of control. As I said before, Solo has to go up and down a hill to get to the arena and he tends to have lots to say on the way down – all in all, I didn’t feel very safe and I decided to move him to the other barn which is close to the arena. He and his friend Waldo (I hate to split up turnout buddies) both moved down at the end of last week and have been able to get to the arena and work every day sine. Solo was really intimidating the first few times I got on but yesterday I walked him around in the arena on my own, without a grounds person. This may not seem a momentous occasion on first thought, but its the first time I have considered Solo ‘safe’ enough for me to ride without at least a watcher nearby. I toyed with the idea of doing some trotting on my own, but decided not to push my luck, I am no spring chicken and I find as I get older I get more and more wary of hitting the ground. Anyway…..I was really pleased, after feeling a bit of a wet lettuce leaf astride him when I first got home, I am back to really enjoying myself and looking forward to today’s ride.

The downside of having the horses at the arena barn is the limited turnout. The boys are only out a few hours a day, as there is no shelter, there is no chance of leaving them out longer when the weather is mild. Its a trade off against being able to work them more consistently in an icier than normal winter. So far so good…