The Day After The Best Day Ever…

Well – I guess the day after a really good day is always going to be a let down, and today is no different…

Yesterday was fun… I got to do 2 of my most favourite things in the world, with some of my most favourite people….

I got up at the butt crack of dawn (AKA 6.40am), got dressed, ready to leave, and jumped on the train to Boston….I hopped on the T, and made it to South Station in time to leap onto my next train, to Franklin, MA, where my friend, Andy stables his horse.

In a kind of funny, and usual twist for this particular friend, he was late… however, he was NOT late… he was simply at the wrong train station! haha!

When he got there, we headed to the barn, I brought Zach in, groomed, harnessed and hitched. He’s just got a new carriage, it’s actually pretty cool – it’s got telescopic shafts, so they move with the horse when it’s turning, which makes it easier for tighter turns.  Turns out that his horse, Zach, doesn’t throw as many bones as any other horse I’ve driven – and we pulled out on to the wrong side of the road (I’m BRITISH!) and then Zach presently, halted. And would. not. move. I swear, all the tea in China would not have made that horse move without JUST the right amount of contact… Now, this horse is perfect for Andy, whose job it is to teach people to drive, but yesterday, I could have killed him. But, if I think about my lesson, really I learnt a lot… mainly that I’ve never had to THINK about my contact when I’m driving, as everything I’ve driven to date has either putzed along without a huge contact, or pulled like a steam engine, and pulling my arms out of my sockets… I also learnt that I drive better when I look at the sky…. or just, not the horse! I need to work a lot on feeling the horses mouth, and getting that right balance of contact, to engage the horse… Oh yeh, and I drive from my Biceps, and appear to lose all movement in my wrists the second I pick up the reins….and I drive with my hands WAY too low, and WAY WAY too far apart.  Thank you Trudi. I blame all those years of riding with my hands as low as they could go, set it place either side of your withers, trying to offset the head swinging, bit snatching, taking off, or rearing goodness that is my first love.

After my lesson, I drove with Maggie, his numero uno, star pupil. She’s a hoot, and I always forget how flipping young she is! It was so good to see her, I haven’t seen her in maybe 18 months, and she’s talking about coming to university in Scotland, which would be seriously cool. I think she’d love it there. Her pony is generally a legendary superstar, but yesterday, she was being kind of a pig. Which was kinda nice – I’ve never seen her put a foot wrong, so it was nice to be reassured that she is, after all, a normal pony! Maggie did a bit of “hazard” stuff – tight turns around trees, and that sort of stuff, and I backstepped, to stop the carriage tipping over, and so that Andy could watch from the ground. On the way back to the barn, Andy drove, and when we were leaving the airfield, hit a big old pothole, sending me into the grips that the backstep uses to hold onto, and swing off… well he may have a fancy pants new carriage, but those grips are a pain in the ass… I attempted to impale myself when we hit the pothole – I have a lovely purple bruise to show for it!

After Maggies lesson, we putzed about a bit, we went back to Andy’s house, had some lunch, and then headed to the store where Andy had a couple of things to do… Famous last words… We made it out of the store about 3 hours later, and headed to the mountain to get some skiing in… The roads were awful, and it took FOREVER to get there, but we did, and we skiied.

I was doing ok, I think I want to take some lessons though, I seem to be “stuck” skiing right where I am, and not really improving. Conditions were pretty good, it was a wee bit cut up in places, but whatever… It wasn’t too icey, or too drifty, so it was good. Andy’s sister came along too, so it wasn’t just me in slowtown! I’m getting better though… I’m definitely not as slow as I was last year… We skiied a good few runs, Andy and I skied the black diamond run (read: scary) but I survived to tell the tale…  the last run I took with Liz, to let Andy get some fast runs in, I WIPED OUT…. in an oh so spectacular way… I kinda sprawled on the snow, Liz came down, and sat down. I caught my breath, nursed my sore wrist, and got up and skiied to the lodge… I iced it, it hurt, and I took some painkillers… Its not so bad today, I think it’s just sprained or bruised etc… Just like my ego!

Today, I slept til 9.15, and its now noon, and I’m still in my pjs… my wee cousin will be home soon, so I need to put some lunch on for her, and I might walk up to the park with her, just to relieve my sense of Cabin Fever… It’s funny, I had a great, and busy day yesterday, and now I just want out of the house again today… I want to be with my friends, doing things I love… ah well, it won’t be long till I’m driving again, the skiing is going to be a tad more difficult in N.Ireland though, that’s for sure!

xxx

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