Val, every thing that you saw Bliss and Misty do is what they have learnt in the breaking process. When they turn they are being controlled by the reins and the riders legs, by the gentle pulling of the rein to the left or right is the direction they go. Pulling evenly on the reins will make to Horse stop, well you hope it does. The most important part of breaking any Horse is to be gentle with the rein. When Horses are broken you use a very light bit. If you are hard or heavy with the reins the horse will need a stronger bit. Being hard will eventually make a Horse hard mouthed, they can then sometime be a problem to stop. All the time you let the horse know what it is doing with voice commands. Walk, walking, trot, trotting etc. I don’t know who is going to have the bigger problem when they go to France, the Horses or the French people who will be looking after them, as they will be spoken to in French. They have been extremely good being broken, a really enjoyable experience. Some Horses can be right pigs to break. A few can be very dangerous. I cant ride myself. I use to drive a pair of Horses, but I just don’t have the time now. I have got to speak to the French Trainer tonight to make all the arrangement for when Bliss and Misty go. Anything interesting I will let you know.
It has been quite cold and windy at Denbury, today. Fortunately we haven’t had a lot of rain, so we are managing to keep the Horse out, coming in early morning and late afternoon for their feeds. It is much better for the Horses to be out, as long as they are rugged up well to stop them getting wet if it rains and cold on frosty nights. Of course it does save us a lot of work with the mucking out, but we will not leave them out at night if it is cold and wet. That’s one job that I don’t like a lot. We muck out all of our stable every day.