Hi,

Well well my holiday has been horses, horses, horses, and even more horses! I have been helping at a stable whilst I have been staying at my Nan’s.

First I went to the dressage competition. I couldn’t compete as there were no horses for me but I still helped out by reading tests and holding horses.

On Tuesday I helped out at a Pony Day. I led a horse called Ranna round the track (a place where you can hack out) with various riders on her. Then we cleaned out stalls and fields before having lunch on a nearby beach.

Me and a few other helpers then arranged an Easter egg hunt where you had to race against other teams in an obstacle course, egg and spoon race and running race. The first team that won got the clue first and then the other teams got theirs as they finished the race/course. The clues would lead them to hidden eggs, which they got to keep.

In return for me helping I had a lesson on a horse called Teddy Bear. We went out to the cross country course. Teddy was a good boy however I fell off at the ditch because I became unbalanced. I got back on and tried again. We then came back and I went into the arena for 15 minutes to practice my jumping position.

On Wednesday I came back to the stables for another pony day. We mucked out stalls and we had a game where the word arena was spelt out in letters around a hack, which I helped to lead some girls on a cute little pony called Hedgehog. We then had some lunch on the beach and whilst the kids drew out pictures in the sand the helpers shared some chips which we shared round with some Pringles and coke-a-cola. We then went back and played chase-me-Charlie on foot (chase-me-Charlie is a game where you jump a jump and its gets higher. When you knock it you are out) and then we finished by watching the farrier.

However it wasn’t over for me as I still had a lesson on a horse called Merlin. He behaved so well! We worked on using my legs and I eventually ended up doing some amazing leg yield’s (leg yielding is where you ask the horse to move over and they cross their front legs over!)

On Friday I had a lesson on my Aunt's horse called Marley. Marley is very cheeky because he is still young. This lesson we worked on getting him listening to me. At the end of the lesson we took my Aunt's other horse called Alfie out for a walk. He can’t be ridden at the moment because he has a bad back, but he will be ridden again soon. So we walked Alfie round the village before putting him back into his field, feeding them their dinner and leaving them for the night.

On Saturday I went back to the stables for another lesson, this time on a horse called Ben. Ben feels amazing to ride – almost like being on a ship! We worked in the arena over the poles in walk and canter before going down to the beach and having a canter – in the rain! I rode back to the stables and un-tacked Ben before leaving.

On Tuesday I rode Merlin in a jump clinic (see photos) He was such a good boy! He is normally really slow but he got so excited he started bucking. I ended up sitting on his neck! I calmed him down and got him listening to me and soon he was jumping nicely again then we worked on keeping my legs forward because I have a tendency to bring my leg back which is really bad for balance!

Speak soon guys xxx

Chloe xxx

Added 25th April