Squeals and Kisses

Another very horsey day. At yard 8 till 4.30pm. It's like having another job (but a good one). I keep trying to reduce the amount of time I'm there but there's always so much to do!

I took lime on a hack first thing with Georgia and her pony Jasper. She lives in our village and moved to our yard last weekend on my recommendation. They had no hacking where they were before and Jasper hadn't settled at the last yard she was at so she was keen to get out and explore with someone so I offered.We had a nice ride round the woods. Lime was a bit stiff and also a bit miffed he couldn't be in front the whole time!

I did some jobs and poo picking then Eva arrived for her lesson with Shona. We're still working on making everything fun for Eva so we tried some simple gymkhana games moving tennis balls from jump wing to jump wing. Jack was fine with the tennis balls but didn't like the plastic jump wings so we need to work on that.

Straight after I had Ruth to teach me how to long rein him. I'm glad I didn't just try this on my own as it quickly became clear he was not happy with anything round his back end. Ruth was really patient. At first he was freaked out but she gave him 'get out' options and he quickly came to trust her and was soon working well. Then I had a go. It was actually easier than it looked, especially changing the rein without getting tangled up, which I was sure I would. But I have to remember that Ruth is like a magician and things work when she's there then it all goes to pot when I try on my own.

Then I had a lesson on Buddy. Working loads on my position as I'm still clinging on a bit with my left leg, which is giving me neck and shoulder ache on my right side. Lots of things I can practice when I'm hacking out.

Very very tired this evening. I didn't sleep at all well last night as I met a nasty busy body on my last dog walk yesterday and I just kept replaying her comments in my head over and over. It seems there is a certain breed of person that just wants to put other people down. I've encountered it a lot with regard to the business. People think it's an amazing easy job walking beautiful doggies in the sunshine that they are jealous and want you to fail. So perhaps when you have a dog that isn't behaving like a model dog citizen (because actually we only have them for 40 mins a day maybe only a few times a week so we're not wholly responsible for all their manners and training and we actually sometimes we have to take on new clients and introduce them to an established pack to survive) they jump on you and criticise and make snide comments. Very occasionally it's a lovely job walking well behaved dogs in the sunshine, but mostly it's bloody hard work that you can never switch off from, a massive responsibility and physically and emotionally exhausting. The human customers are very demanding , rightly so cos we are caring for a member of their family, but it can feel relentless at times. If I didn't have 3 horses to look after I'm not sure I'd carry it on. I love all the dogs but I don't love the constant hassle and anxiety about the next thing going wrong. Because there is something to overcome nearly every week and has been for the last 6 years. Finding something else that pays well to fit with the kids is well near impossible though so I feel stuck with it, and that's a horrible feeling.