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THE MONTHLY MUSTER
February Newsletter

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Hello, and welcome back to the blog for the February Monthly Muster. The month has not been an overly productive one in respect to riding unfortunately- it’s so hard to get a balance and get quality time with Harry.

Personal Updates

Throughout February, I have been unwell and my work has been pretty full on. I’m teaching full time and I also have added courses I have to do as a requirement for my school. In addition, the 45 minute plus commute is taking so much out of my day that I’m struggling to find both the time and the energy to ride, which is really quite frustrating.

Around a week ago, I received news that a family member had passed away and so I am heading back to Scotland for a couple of weeks to be with family. It has been quite a shock and emotions are very mixed and muddled at the moment. I am looking forward to going home; I’ll get to see friends and family, and of course Bo again which is great, but it is very much clouded by the circumstance.

On a lighter note, however, we did have another appointment at the vet and we did not have to book in another appointment or go back on any medication! Finally, we have reached the point where Harry does not need eye meds. It’s something I will have to keep an ‘eye’ on, but I am so happy that he doesn’t have to go back *fingers crossed* anytime soon!

His weight is also improving now that the grass has been coming through. Overall, I am feeling much better with how Harry is travelling. There is still a ways to go with gaining muscle and top line, and I am acutely aware that consistency is required in order to achieve that. Hopefully, when I return from Scotland, I will be able to get into some kind of flow.

Training updates

As mentioned above, we have not done a whole lot this month in respect to riding, however, we have done a number of groundwork sessions which I thoroughly enjoyed. I lunged Harry a couple of times which went well. This then turned into some spontaneous liberty work where Harry completely took me by surprise. I haven’t really worked with Harry at liberty and so it was a first for us but he caught on so quickly and was completely tuned into me. He’s normally not one to exert much energy but this really helped to up his energy and engagement in the session and we both came out rather pleased with ourselves! We just worked on maintaining a circle around me at liberty and changing the rein/ turning in at different points and either asking him to come all the way in to me or to change direction and continue around me. He was such a good boy. These sessions really highlighted to me how strong our bond is becoming and it’s been lovely to watch it grow. We’ve been through quite a bit since Harry arrived last May and it has given us a really strong foundation, even if our ridden skills are no where near what I’d hoped they would be! Relationship trumps all for me regardless.

Goals for March

When I return from Scotland, I think I will have a bit of a lunging/ walking week or two to slowly bring Harry back again, as he’ll have been off for another 2 weeks by that point. Then, it will be in to April!

Really, my main goal in March for Harry is to get him back into work at least 3x a week, even if it’s just short rides/ lunging sessions and then continue building as we head into the start of April.

Recommendations

Happy Horsing!