I am told that in preparation for the reopening of the stables next week, the carers are making sure that all the horses will be ready for riders other than their owners, which requires more effort for some than for others – not that I would want to call anyone out (no name, no pack drill, Oliver).
There are those who need to be reminded – gently or otherwise – of what constitutes good behaviour (best practice apparently means doing what you are told at all times – hardly much fun for us horses, I’d have said), while others are already nauseatingly compliant. Personally, I am glad that I am normally ridden by the Old Bird and only occasionally by the carers as it means I can carry on as usual, taking advantage of OB’s leniency to do pretty much whatever I like, only switching to more “desirable” behaviour when ridden by the more exacting carers (or even, God help me, by She Who Must Be Obeyed). You might be interested in a cunning new manoeuvre that I have recently perfected: it involves a sudden sneaky diagonal lurch in front of whichever of my mates happens to be beside me, allowing me access to any irresistibly tasty morsel I spot on the other side of the track. A rather clever trick I think you’ll agree, but the Old Bird has now caught on and is sometimes able to stop me – poor show, I say.
I should report that as lockdown drags on, the Common – including OUR tracks – is still overrun, especially at weekends, by people, kids, buggies and dogs, some well-behaved, others totally out of control (this applies to both dogs and kids, BTW). We WVS horses, of course, are pretty accustomed to all sorts of canine encounters, so unless we meet an obviously aggressive dog, we tend to take them all in our stride. We welcome the support of our riders, however, and if they remain calm and give us the confidence to relax, all is usually well. If, on the other hand, we sense that they are anxious and tense, it just confirms our instinctive sense of self preservation and might encourage us to panic, possibly unnecessarily. You have been warned.
And there are currently also some hazards to be overcome before we even get to the Common. Overnight resurfacing of the High Street (considerate timing, it has to be admitted) apparently requires the associated heavy-duty vehicles to be left at the side of the road during the daytime and they are, I can tell you, rather scary, even if so far they have been silent – not that I completely trust them to stay that way. We also have to contend with an assortment of residential building works, ranging from the erection of new houses to total refurbs, all of which can involve unexpectedly loud bangs, crashes, drilling etc, which any self-respecting horse is bound to react to as we need to alert our sometimes inattentive riders to the presence of potential threats. Being rather sensitive to noise, I have made sure the Old Bird is more than aware of my dislike of such experiences (a sudden leap sideways and spurt across the grass does tend to make the point quite clearly) and now, if we want to go along Parkside, we sensibly head off down Centre Track, turning right after crossing the road, allowing us to bypass the works (same on the way home). That said, I find it is still ok to graze nearby as, obviously, when focused on selecting the best grass on offer, I am oblivious to anything else.
There are many other occasions when our riders can help reassure us by keeping calm and relaxed (I understand deep breaths and smiling are useful tools, as is singing – but please. only if you have a good voice, as tuneless screeching certainly wouldn’t be well received). Jasper, for example, still finds bicycles rather scary following a pretty terrifying experience some time ago (I was there and can testify to it being a very understandable reason for his continuing low-level anxiety). Sometimes, on the other hand, extreme reactions are less excusable: consider Onyx (who tends to expend more energy than certainly I find necessary) taking offence recently when a twig scraped owner Deborah’s helmet and surging forward in a totally unnecessary manner. I am glad I was not there to witness it myself (I overheard talk of it in the yard), as I would have had a thing or two to say to him – behaviour like that can give horses a bad name.
Speaking of inappropriate behaviour, I spent an hour on the Common with Pod this weekend – he is still not being ridden, so was led out by She Who Must Be Obeyed, accompanied by my favourite canine, Crumpet. You’d think (hope) at his advanced age (28 at the end of May), Pod would be content to stroll along in a dignified manner, but that was not at all the case. He almost chased after me when I went off for a collected canter up Centre Track and gave SWMBO a run for her money on a couple of other occasions, which suggests to me that he is feeling in fine fettle and has either recovered from whatever may have been ailing him or was just pretending to be poorly in order to attract attention. Either way, I can’t see that he now deserves any more special treatment than the rest of us, regardless of his years, but nobody takes my opinions seriously.
A final word on an exciting development: on Saturday we welcomed the arrival of a newcomer from Ireland (our first post-Brexit immigrant), who goes by Dexter. Since I flit between Wimbledon and Claygate, I am inclined to be very relaxed about newbies, so long as they remember their place in the herd. I gather he was disgustingly perfectly behaved on his first outing yesterday, but look forward to hearing how he gets on during the week, and will update you all next time.
Rory x