Mega update

Apologies in advance, this is gonna be a long one...

We rode over to Petworth on Wednesday where we met Tess, Joe and Jez at the Black Horse in Byworth. By the time Cognac and I got to the pub we were dried out a little so we tied Cognac up outside to relax for a bit and had a pint. Cognac stayed the night in a field just outside Petworth, with plenty of trees and hedges to shelter from the torrential rain that night, horses next door for company and plenty of green grass to fill his belly (which he was in need off as we had barely stopped for him to graze on the way over as the weather was just so bad).

We had a lovely meal cooked by Tess and arranged to meet back at the yard the next morning. We didn't end up leaving the yard until lunchtime on Thursday,  Tess accompanied Cognac and myself for the first 4-5 miles on Dainty, who was very keen and would probably have been happy to do the full days trip with us! I really enjoyed the company and I felt like it perked Cognac up a little too.

We followed a very similar route back home that we had done a few weeks previously, joining up all the commons on the North side of the Downs between Petworth and Midhurst, and It fascinated me how Cognac remembered the route better than I had. At one point I made a wrong turn and he was very reluctant to take the path I had chosen and when I re looked at my map I realised that we were headed in the wrong direction and that he had been right!


On Wednesday morning, I checked the weather report and as it was due to be raining I decided we need as few new supplies. I brought a load of dry bags for inside my saddle bags, that proved invaluable over the couple of days riding, without them  I think my phone and camera would probably been ruined! I also brought some new hiking boots to ride in, which are absolutlely fantastic! After two days riding in nearly continual rain my feet were snug and completely dry! Up until now I have just been riding in leather riding boots with a zip down the front. The hiking boots really helped to support my ankles and were also fantastic for when I got off and walked for sections, whereas in my riding boots my right ankle tends to ache and the outside of my feet somethings go numb and if I get off and walk I tend to slip and slide as the boots have no grip. I also brought a first aid kit for me, a mountain whistle, a waterproof map holder and midge spray- as I've been told I will be riding through Scotland during midge season.


Yesterday Cognac has the physiotherapist out, I felt he was a bit sore behind the saddle after his original saddle pad had rubbed his back (I am now using a wool polo blanket and have had no further problems). Natalie also had a look at the fit of his saddle and said that I was bridging on the left side and advised me to get the fit checked by a saddle fitter. Natalie treated Cognac just under a year ago and remarked that he had put on alot of topline since she last saw him and said he was looking really well, if perhaps a little lean. So Cognac is to have the next two days off to let his muscles settle down after the physio session, two days of long- lining, three days of lunging on the Pessoa and then we can go back to ridden work, at walk for the first few days. I'll book Natalie to treat him again two weeks before we set off. I the mean time I will book a saddler to see him.