Satisfactory
Yesterday was a most satisfactory day. We took the ponies out for a slightly longer than average adventure in the autumn sun and it was absolutely gorgeous.
Small pony takes the lead through some of the marshy bits on the path across the bog. We've got one of the only areas of lowland peat bog in southern britain to ride on which makes for lovely open heath and fascinating wildlife but it can be a tiny bit damp underfoot.
At this point sleepsy_mouse had just spotted a frog. A little later a small black dragonfly landed on the back of my hand and perched there as Zorro paddled thorough another wet bit of ground. I felt like I was taking up hawking on a very small scale.
Surrey: The big sky home county.
Having crossed the marsh and passed the exceptionally scary (in Zorro's opinion) small children playing on a big pile of bark we found ourselves on a broad trail through the pinewoods. I was particularly taken by the greenness of everything and the light on the fern was irresistable to my camera.
We thought this trail along the edge of the woods was perfect for a gentle trot. And also a flat-out canter, the ponies said.
Through some more woods. The sunshine was beautiful, the effect was almost californian in it's intensity. This doesn't often happen in England, certainly not in October.
You'll notice that Small was ahead through all of this. That's a pattern we've fallen into because Zorro prefers it and Small walks faster. Today we decided to let Zorro take the lead a bit more. Zorro did not want. We stopped, we planted, we went sideways then backwards until we were back behind Small. At one point we backed into Small and pushed him down a small bank ( on a narrow path so by the time I knew what was happening it had happened ) which perplexed sleepsy_mouse somewhat. It was... interesting. I think we'll have to work on that a bit.
Also, from today, a couple of portraits I was quite happy with. This is our slightly quirky friend Gem, who I'm sure I have mentioned enough that she is vaguely familliar:
This is Toffee, a lovely young Section D who moved to the yard relatively recently:
Small pony takes the lead through some of the marshy bits on the path across the bog. We've got one of the only areas of lowland peat bog in southern britain to ride on which makes for lovely open heath and fascinating wildlife but it can be a tiny bit damp underfoot.
At this point sleepsy_mouse had just spotted a frog. A little later a small black dragonfly landed on the back of my hand and perched there as Zorro paddled thorough another wet bit of ground. I felt like I was taking up hawking on a very small scale.
Surrey: The big sky home county.
Having crossed the marsh and passed the exceptionally scary (in Zorro's opinion) small children playing on a big pile of bark we found ourselves on a broad trail through the pinewoods. I was particularly taken by the greenness of everything and the light on the fern was irresistable to my camera.
We thought this trail along the edge of the woods was perfect for a gentle trot. And also a flat-out canter, the ponies said.
Through some more woods. The sunshine was beautiful, the effect was almost californian in it's intensity. This doesn't often happen in England, certainly not in October.
You'll notice that Small was ahead through all of this. That's a pattern we've fallen into because Zorro prefers it and Small walks faster. Today we decided to let Zorro take the lead a bit more. Zorro did not want. We stopped, we planted, we went sideways then backwards until we were back behind Small. At one point we backed into Small and pushed him down a small bank ( on a narrow path so by the time I knew what was happening it had happened ) which perplexed sleepsy_mouse somewhat. It was... interesting. I think we'll have to work on that a bit.
Also, from today, a couple of portraits I was quite happy with. This is our slightly quirky friend Gem, who I'm sure I have mentioned enough that she is vaguely familliar:
This is Toffee, a lovely young Section D who moved to the yard relatively recently: