Sharp enough to cut with

Not the wind, Ace.  He has not been ridden for how long? Well over a week I think. And it has been bitterly cold and very windy, to the extent that I have seen Radar shiver for the first time in his life. So when I warmed up Ace under the lights, I felt his back carefully before saddling and I could tell it was not quite as spongy as normal.

On top of that, the pair of us were also as stiff as creaky old gates from all the teetering around on the snow. I slipped up with the sugar beet for the second night in a row when I went out to feed last night :-(

So I fetched my air jacket and I warmed him  up very, very carefully. He still bucked a few times on trot or canter transitions, and I made sure not to sit to the canter until the very end. But he did some respectable leg yield and shoulder in, and it really was lovely to be out in the very strong sunshine under a lovely blue sky.

All I need now is for the digger at the top of the hill to reach me before sundown tonight so that I can get out to hunt, and things will all be back on track.

Hopefully we can sort out Woody straight after Easter. His behaviour is getting quietly more weird. He's usually very late following the others in to eat, and unless I shut the  door straight away he takes a mouthful and then goes back out into the field while he chews it, and he will carry that on until I shut the door. This morning some walkers went down the road chatting and he became quite agitated and then started to foal-mouth. Neither of the other two took their heads from their buckets.  I am suspecting brain tumour now, he's very odd.

Skratch and Snyph are a complete delight!

C.