Solomon and Kingsley's weekend

Solomon had a busy weekend as Lucie came down to feed him carrots and ride :-)  We took Solomon and Kingsley out together and despite a raw easterly wind the boys were stars. 

Soli is obviously thrilled to have his old job back, and was in a go-faster mood, especially across the fields.   

He still has a way to go before he is capable on all surfaces but he has made great progress and I think Lucie was delighted with how he was feeling - he is such a super little horse :-)

I am also pleased with Kingsley's progress and very interested to hear what Pauline and Wiola think when they come and see him.  Like Solomon, he has a tremendous willingness to give it a go and a terrific work ethic which makes everything easier and more rewarding.  Today he followed Solomon through our mini water jump, which puts many experienced horses off, and strode up hill and down dale with the best will in the world.  

We stayed mostly in walk, as both boys are still at an early stage of their rehab, but it was a day for introducing them to some more challenging terrain and on the whole they relished it.  

Its very important, particularly with horses like Solomon and Kingsley, who are getting used to new feet and a better way of moving, that they start to experience different surfaces, slopes and gradients - as its in this way that they begin to learn how to rebalance themselves and use their bodies more efficiently.  

I took a couple of clips as we were walking home in an attempt to give an idea of how much straighter Kingsley is moving.   I'm afraid I only had the little camera with me, as I was riding, so its not as high res footage as I normally take with the proper camcorder :-(

...and finally, thanks to Lucie's boyfriend Matt, there is a short clip of the boys out and about here on Vimeo - they come into view eventually although Winston gets in the way as well... :-)