Bonnie Fishburn – Back in the saddle

September has been a month of getting used to juggling a baby with horses and throwing house decorating into the equation just to complicate things. Baby Harriet is getting used to yard life and is getting used to sitting in her carry cot in a stable while I muck out or sitting in her baby carrier on my front while I trek across the fields poo scooping. I think I have quite a good baby because she doesn’t seem to complain too often. At just under 4 weeks old she actually had her first sit on a horse, Frankie was the chosen one. And then the following day we went out and bought her first pony. Mr Pegs is a super cute 8.3hh black and white Shetland. He will also be a pal for my foal Nancy when she is weaned from Florence in a couple of months.

I’m pleased to say that I have been riding plenty all through September and have got 4 back in work. Frankie and Percy had actually only had 2 ½ weeks off while I had Harriet so they picked up where they left off. Elfie and Arrow had been turned away for nearly 4 months but they have both been super to get back on. I was expecting I may not be on Arrow for a couple of months, as I expected she would need a little bit of re-breaking, as she was only broke in in April time. But in fact she has been an angel. In fact within 4 days I was riding her in the arena and cantering around. And two weeks on she has had her first ever jump. What a star.

I have actually managed to get out competing to. I just took Percy for a fun Arena Eventing competition at Tushingham Arena to jump the 1meter class. It was such fun and he was very pleased to be out and flew round the track to take first place. I couldn’t have done it without the help of my friends Hayley, Bob and Susan who took it in turns with the baby.

I’m hoping that I can keep the horses going over winter now and get out for some dressage and showjumping. They usually have a holiday around November and December but they haven’t done much this season so I think we are good to just kick on.