Hay Horse & Pony Show. Country pursuits.

Here is my favourite pony at the Hay Horse & Pony Show last Sunday. I had a chat with the young owner before asking if I could take a photo. He was very proud of himself!

It's a quite informal event, lots of people taking part, and not that many spectators. There's show jumping, in hand showing, working hunter, driving classes and dressage.

Some very smart horses, as well as the magnificently round  and hairy ponies.

My view of the day was through my car windscreen. I was writing for the dressage judge. Here is the view of the rectangular dressage arena. I won't go into the detail, but the judge parks at point C, which you can see. Point A is directly opposite, and that's where the riders enter the arena, trotting up the centre line to C. We can see if they are going in a straight line, or if their line wanders!

Here is our schedule, and the sheets that need filling in for each rider's test. Not everyone rode the same test, depending on skill and how advanced they are. Each section on the sheet represents something the horse and rider have to do, and there's a space for a mark out of 10, and a comment.

The writer needs to concentrate, and also write the judges comments very quickly, and I struggled to write both quickly AND legibly. I think I succeeded!

Here are some of the competitors queuing up to enter various classes at the beginning of the day, some no doubt thinking 'I hope the dressage judge likes me and my horse'

At the end of the day, all riders judged, we had ice cream, which I forgot to photograph before gulping it down. And then I went home feeling marvellously refreshed for having had such a different day, and with only one sunburned shoulder!

A herd of mountain ponies

Up on Hay Bluff this morning, the air full of skylark song, and a fresh breeze.

The sky was wonderfully moody, with a massive cloudscape. It really is a huge sky up there.

There was a small herd of  ponies resting, with some foals lying down, and their mothers standing together.

One little foal saw us, and pricked up his ears.

The stallion with them was a handsome chap. He kept an eye on us, but wasn't too concerned. He's on the far left of the picture.

And then, he lowered his head and rounded up the mares, the foals scrambling to their feet, and the herd set off. He walked at the back. They looked marvellous against the cloudy sky.

It was a great way to start the day.

What my voice looks like

Last week I went to the recording studio at Ty Cerdd in the Wales Millennium Centre, to record three collections of poetry. I have been thinking for a while it would be a good idea to have a cd as well as the poetry packets to offer.

I really like the space. There's something about all the textured soundproofing around the walls and ceiling, the stillness it gives, the big screen in front of the glass looking through to the studio, and the seclusion within.

Here is Jim Unwin, who recorded my reading, and was wonderfully tuned in to the way I wanted to read and make it sound. He made the session very smooth and painless and I appreciated his patience!

I lined my poetry packets up on the stand in front of the microphone. Then I stood in the small space, and read aloud.

It was very interesting to listen to the poems. I'm always too busy reading them either on the page or out loud, to actually hear them. And I was fascinated to see what my voice looks like. This is how the three winter haiku appear.

A fascinating indoor, inward looking, focussed world.

Then I drove home,  took Thomas out on the rain washed road, and listened to the sound of his hooves. It was a great contrast!

Poem. War horses. Remembrance.

Thomas and I always mark the Remembrance time, and I think about all the horses that were taken away to War and didn't come back. My beloved horse would have been one of them.

It reminds me of a story of my Grandfather, who fought in the Great War. I never knew him, but the story comes to me from my Mother. Here's my poem, with a photo of my very young Grandfather in his military uniform beneath it.

                                 All Over by Christmas

My Great Grandfather withstood arguments and pleading,

weathered his son’s anger, saying

“You’re not taking him,

He’s mine, not yours,

He’s staying here,

He can go out to grass until you return”

All through cavalry training,

through drill, preparation, anticipation,

My young Grandfather held his annoyance

at the old man’s meanness

until finally,

in action,

he realised his father’s compassion.

 

October woodland - riding through the woods

Thomas and I went up through the woods today. He was rather lively, so I took a quick photo without really looking at it, not wanting to stop and fiddle about with the camera, or he might have unseated me! I quite like the resulting image though.

His hoofbeats on the path of leaves and acorns sounded wonderful.

Here's my poem, started in my head as I rode, and finished just now.

 october woodland

brittle sunlight, shade -

golden path of acorns, leaves,

heartbeat of autumn

Poetry Book Fair. Alison Brackenbury's book 'Then'

I was so delighted to meet Alison Brackenbury at Free Verse: The Poetry Book Fair at the weekend, and be able to tell her how much I love her most recent book Then.

Her poetry looks delicately made, often beautifully rhymed, and is so strong and incisive it goes straight to the reader's heart.

She writes about horses better than anyone.
 

 Horses are poetry.

Horses love carrots, not poetry.

No matter what else is going on, my life with my horse and the life of the yard where he lives remains constant. It's very comforting.

 

When I go to fetch Thomas from the barn where he lives, he always very politely searches my pockets in case there is food for him concealed within, although he knows that the carrot or apple he is going to receive is still in my car.

I took this photo with my phone, our silhouettes against the compacted mud floor of the barn.

He doesn't really rate my ability to write poetry, but he likes my ability to provide carrots.

Found Alphabet, number 7. The letter Z.

Here is the letter Z, formed from a piece of electric fence tape lying on the path to the turnout fields at the stable yard.  

  

You can see how dry the ground is, even after the recent torrential rain. 

The photo, taken with my phone, doesn't do justice to the wonderful colour of the Herefordshire soil.

Electric fencing is a very effective way to make temporary fields for horses to graze. And as I discovered yesterday, the shock delivered from the battery powered fence isn't enough to hurt, but enough to put you off touching it!

 

 

Crop Circle in the Snow

Here is the dressage arena in last week's snow. The sandy surface was not frozen under the snow, so two circles were cleared for exercising the horses. You can see the smaller of the two, and just part of the larger one curving in front. They were linked, and the smaller one became a turning circle!

I am assuming that human hands cleared the rather beautiful geometric shapes, completed by that little circle right in the middle. Or perhaps aliens who hadn't quite grasped the concept of Earth's seasons took the opportunity to practice their circles.

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Handprint horse

I saw my floury handprint on the apron hanging on the kitchen door.

It's a white horse, with a proud neck and long  face, trotting along with a wisp of tail blowing behind him.

In the dim light it looks like an image from a cave.

A Very Wise Horse

Here is Thomas, looking very wise.

He is enjoying living in a barn, kept warm by two thick rugs.

He's looking across to the snow covered Black Mountains.