Hope Jean is OK!

I'm guessing from what we've seen on the TV that Jean has no power and her backup batteries are flat. I do hope that she is OK and can reassure us soon.

Radar flung himself with gay abandon around 7 miles of farm ride today. It's only 6 miles long but one of the loops was open at both ends and I went round it twice.  The Liverpool bit on maximum poll pressure was a huge success. He was easy to control but he didn't back off it and he jumped very well. Except at the end when he was headnig for home and throwing himself at things, so I kept him short, sat down, and showjumped him over the last eight fences or so.

I was testing my new Point Two air jacket, which SH wants me to wear hunting this year. It's a good job that I did, because I kept sitting on the attachment - not comfortable! I need to tie it to a D-ring with a bit of cotton and that will do fine.

This evening I rode Ace indoors again because it was throwing it down with rain. He really hates it in there. He tenses up right from the start. It's no wonder he scared me when we were riding in there the first few months I had him, back in January, February, March time. It took 45 minutes of continual alternation of encouragement, holding a contact, and flicking him with the whip whenever he locked his back to get him to do a circuit of relaxed and forward but unhurried walk. He finished on some lovely serpentines with a change of bend through my weight aid, so he can do it when he chooses! I've no idea what makes him so tense - the lack of space maybe? That he can't see out? I'm afraid he is going to have to get used to it, because we have no alternative in the winter.

He has now got an obvious and very marked increase in depth in his hind feet - I think those bones are nearly in the right place.

C