Grotty Groom is on form - even if Baggy still isn't!

Grotty Groom decided that by hook or by crook, she was going to see her Boys today. Because Furry Mama has had to keep Baggy at home looking after Hinge cat the amputee all week, Grotty had not seen them since last weekend. Calum had gone over on his motorbike to check on them yesterday and asked that they be swapped onto being turned out at night, so today they were turned out this morning and would have been left out until tomorrow night. But Grotty wanted to ride, so they headed over before lunch to bring the Boys back in.

There was no hay anywhere obvious, so Grotty did a couple of small haylage nets for them to munch while they were groomed. To say that they had big grins on their soppy faces would be a bit of an understatement! Pretty much pure sugar - asking for trouble when they've done nothing for over a week again, but, they were soooooo happy. They were even happier when Grotty and Calum groomed a skip full of hair out of them. As Baggy is aching from head to foot and Wesley is head-shaking for GB thanks to the pollen, flies and the brightness of today, Grotty didn't want to go too far. She also made Baggy take Ibuprofen before they set off as a preventative measure. It is very interesting how keen Wesley is after almost eight months off. Clever Bird thinks the break has done him good. Not only does he want to lead the ride (quite rapidly), rather than toddling along behind as he used to do, he is also not spooking at anything.

 

But he is also looking after Baggy all the time. He literally hasn't put a hoof wrong. He clearly knows that Baggy is still not totally fit and is behaving accordingly - Grotty is extremely proud of the lad. They did a little forty-five minute road loop ride, admiring the wildflowers and the gorgeous houses. There was a bit of a moment when they were nearly back at the yard. Despite Wesley's face and nose nets, the flies were driving him doolally and he was tossing his head considerably. As they walked down the slope of the last road back to the yard, the flies, or pollen got too much for him and as only Wesley can, he suddenly whipped his head down to his front hoof, to scratch his nose, pulling Grotty forward out of the saddle as he did so. Now before Baggy's Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst operation this would not have been an issue, Baggy would just have immediately used her stomach muscles to get Grotty back into a safe position in the saddle. Today, for a second, Freda Fretter thought Baggy was going through Wesley's ears! Wesley must have thought the same thing because he instantly (but for once), not too quickly, brought his head and shoulders back up, reseating Grotty in the process. He is clearly very fit at the moment and seems to be loving being ridden again, as much as Grotty is loving riding him. Baggy had the most massive grin on her face when they got back to the yard. Baggy love, love, loves that horse! Interestingly, Grotty is really confident riding him too. She has always trusted Wessles, but he does push her sometimes to do more than she wants to do, but because he's looking after Baggy so well at the moment, even when he does get a little keen, as he did today, he slows as soon as Grotty asks him. Happy Grotty.

 

While the Boys cooled down and munched a bit more haylage, Calum and Grotty reconfigured their paddocks a little so that they would have more grass for their first night out this year. When they realised that a) they were going back out and b) the bit of wired off paddock that they have been looking at for weeks was open, they grinned and galloped..............