Cake or football?

Spent the day in the kitchen cleaning and baking well it beats watching more bloody football x

Leo

Just a few pics of Leo our beautiful Arab fool.

Sack of Spuds Position

Oh no flat hands!

I'm constantly reminding myself to sit up and engage my core with shoulders back and facing forward, rather than what I tend to do which is to look down.

When I achieve this position my horse moves forward into an energetic walk and when I don't he slows down and I know I'm blocking his forward motion by restricting free movement of his back.

Pilates is a really good discipline to practice to learn about core strength and I read a description of the Alexander Technique's idea of head forward and up which I think is really relevant for riding.

 http://www.imogenragone.com/alexander-technique-directions-what-are-they/

But breaking bad habits is just so hard I can have a really good position when I'm actively thinking about it but as soon as my mind wanders, which is pretty soon when your a daydreamer like me, I collapse through my middle compressing everything down, which is not good for me and not good for Tetley as all my weight drops down through my body instead of my heels.

The good thing about riding though is it gets you to think about your posture and become more body aware, if your not already, and that is as they say 'all gravy' :)

Section D and Me

Section D and Me, a photo by chezabela on Flickr.

Me and Tetley at the show ground yesterday we had a good time and got two 4ths so I was happy for our first equitation classes, especially as I forgot my show half way round the first class but happily the judge was very understanding.

Weekly lesson and Tetley puts his foot down

Here's my boy tacked up ready for his lesson and he doesn't look to keen does he, not that I blame him cause neither was I in fact I was dreading it in this heat.

Anyway we went ahead with it and it wasn't to bad, well it was hot but not quite as bad as last week, and everything was going pretty well until the end when Jane my instructor said we were going to practice an equitation class for our local show this weekend.

Tet's just wasn't having it he was being a shit backing up and trying to go the opposite way to where I wanted him like he was saying 'Forget it Mother there's no way I'll be doing the show don't you know I should be retired at my age'

I think I'll go to the farm early tomorrow morning and take him in the school for a practice before it gets to hot then we can go for a little hack before the hordes of fly's are out to annoy him x

Job searching and filling in application forms just melts my mind

These boots were made for riding x

Can I show you a picture of my Mountain Horse boots which I love that much I've actually polished them x

To Market to market x

I'm very lucky to have two award winning markets on my doorstep. The town where I live (Bolton) the market is a 10 min walk for me and then the next town (Bury) with a brilliant market is just a car ride away.

So this afternoon I had a walk to my local market, I put in my earphones and listened to my current audio book which is called  'Some kind of Fairy Tail' as I marched along happy to be out on a foraging mission.

 I had my supply of sturdy bags with me cause the ones they give you are crappy flimsy things that cut into your fingers and rip open at the slightest suggestion of a  sharp edge or corner.

There's something exciting about market shopping which is lost trudging round a supermarket. Maybe it because I was brought up on it, every Saturday as a child would be spent on Salford market with my sister, Mum and Gran and sometimes one of the Aunties as well and I would always ask for a piece of Lancashire cheese to eat on my way round cause I loved its sharp creamy taste that set your jaw on edge.

 Anyway it always feels like an adventure still or a treasure hunt as you never know what goodies you'll end up with. Today it was Chicken and toffees and Bananas and a plant for the garden and other assorted items. And the best bit was eating Violet Creams on the bus coming home BLISS xxxxxxxxxxx     

A grey rainy day

Another rainy afternoon though unfortunately not quite as pleasant as yesterday as instead of baking and flitting around I'm job searching and filling in application forms (just having a quick break).
I never got to take a pic of the cake as I took it to my friends with me last night but I can assure you it's damp and lemony loveliness was all that I'd desired.


Oh well back to the grindstone, I've put the fire on as I felt a little chilly and it's glow at least brings some cheer into this utilitarian day

Lazy  rainy Sunday