A week in the country – part 1 More horses
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
With my university life now over, I finally had the chance to go back to Suffolk and see Livi once again!
Needless to say, this visit meant that I spent a lot of time helping Livi with the various horses that she now tends to. Nigel was the same as ever, acting like a big dog as he was led from stable to field and vice versa.
He even followed me around the school with Livi just letting him go where he pleased. It was quite sweet really, as I walked around the outside of the school and then across the middle to change the rein he casually walked just a few paces behind me.
The latest horse that Livi has ‘taken on’ is Titch, his name being one that is rather sarcastic as Titch he most definitely is not! I can’t remember how tall he stands but he is not only tall, but wide too!
It seems that he was mistreated in the past leaving him to be somewhat nervous, especially when being led into his field. But of course, me being me, I wasn’t phased by the big lad and helped Livi to muck him out and gather up his rather large hay net!
After a few days of getting to know him I helped Livi take him out to his field, a task that was somewhat difficult as he had to be led 2 other fields with sliding posts before we could get him to his allocated field.
Livi had opted to put the head collar on the mare in the middle field, hoping to tempt Titch in quietly – it seemed to work! As Livi had hold of the mare, I wandered back over to Titch, who calmly allowed me to get his lead rope back on (albeit looped through, rather than clipped to the head collar – allowing for quick release should he deicde to canter away) and guided him up to the middle field. To my surprise, and Livi’s joy, he seemed to allow me to keep hold of him and lead him to the final field – at which point he casually walked in rather than trotting.
He really does seem to be a gentle giant at heart, it is only his past that leads him to get a little agitated at times.
Livi and I couldn’t help but think that he is very much like Nigel used to be, although for different reasons. It would be great for him to be in a similar frame of mind in a years time, allowing him to show his abilities.
It seems that he is already a brilliant show jumper, a talent that allowed him to jump from one field into another during one of his more agitated moments!
Category : Country Life
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