Halen & Pupur.

The weather has been much like yesterday's with bright sunshine and sudden heavy showers.

At least it was a lot cooler and better conditions for riding. We (horses and riders) weren't all dripping with sweat by the end. The horses were a bit antsy because they had only been given hay when they were brought in from the field. Because the grass had been burnt to a crisp they had been getting some hard feed on the days they were going to be ridden and they weren't very pleased when this had suddenly stopped.  

No surprise to find I had Betsi again. The lesson was mostly about getting the horses to bend along their bodies and then some leg yielding. Starting from the inner track and moving towards the centre of the school. Of course by the time we got to the end of the long side Betsi had almost reached the centre line. She's such a star. 

Then there was much chatter when T arrived to watch the lesson. It's been less than three weeks since her hip replacement but you can't keep a horse girl away. She was thrilled to be there and is already talking about coming to practise mounting and dismounting and riding but only at a walk and only for a short while.

 

Of course afterwards we had to go and find the kittens.

Halen (Salt) is the black and white one and Pupur (Pepper) is the tabby trying to catch the tassel at the end of a schooling whip I found lying around.

No sooner had L jokingly told them to catch each other's tails then to our amazement that's exactly what they did.

After lots of cooing at these very cute kittens it was time to head into town. First stop the dump, then Toolstation to pick up the bits for the recycling store, Hahav for a look around before Morrison's and the usual round of shops. 

The traffic in town was horrendous with queues of car into and out of every carpark. I needed to go to Charlie's and B&M which are near Morrison's and hoping that the traffic might clear or at least to avoid two lots of queueing up I walked. A good plan until the heavens opened while I was in Charlie's. I could hear the rain thundering down on the metal roof as I bought myself a pair of light blue (think Wedgewood blue) jodhpurs reduced from £58 to £22 and a pair of riding socks made from some sort of breathable silky fabric which were reduced from £6 to £3.50. I mooched around as long as I could in Charlie's but eventually had to brave the rain and protected only by a light bodywarmer got nicely soaked on the walk back to the car. 

 By the time I had marched around town looking for one thing and another I didn't get home until 5.00 which was pretty late for a Friday and yes I was exhausted.

Can you spot all seven sparrows sitting on the top of our hedge?