Ryan's diary
Keep track of Blue Cross horse Ryan in this monthly diary
October 2008
What a fun couple of weeks I have had. After competing against other horses on Interdressage (a website where a video of me performing my best was uploaded), Annalisa thought it might be a good idea to work on my jumping. Not only will it give us both something fun to do, but also improve my control, balance, and how well we work together. I have my jump lessons at a yard down the road with a couple of friends. For my lessons, I have to travel in a trailer, so Annalisa always makes sure that I have lots of equipment on that will keep me safe and warm during the journey. I wear long padded boots that are specially designed for travelling; sometimes they make me walk funny. I also always wear a leather head collar in case I get caught on something, and Annalisa also puts a poll guard on me, which is to protect my head. Sometimes I wear a rug for the journey back, but that depends on the weather and how much work I have done. I do look a bit funny but Annalisa keeps telling me its important and in my best interest. I don’t mind travelling in a Blue Cross trailer, Annalisa is a very good driver and goes nice and slow round the corners. We had great fun on our lesson. I really enjoy jumping the bigger jumps I even did an excited buck, whoopsie!
September 2008
Wow what a busy couple of weeks I’ve had since I last wrote. I have been up to some exciting adventures. Not only did I start the month off with some jumping lessons, some brand new shoes - which get done every four to six weeks - I have also been to visit our other Blue Cross centre in Rolleston. I went with a little friend of mine called Gem. She is only 12.2h so is much smaller than I am. We stayed up there for nearly a week in their cosy isolation block. It was nice and quiet and we looked out onto some lovely views. I visited Rolleston to take part in a very important drill ride to music for The Pony Club Championships to show what nice horses and ponies end up with The Blue Cross. I had such fun; a different groom called Victoria rode me I was a bit nervous at first but she was so nice that I soon grew in confidence. I must have done well as we got very spoiled after with lots of pats and treats like carrots and apples. I’m not sure what I’ll be up to during the next couple of weeks but no doubt it will be good fun and experience for me.
August 2008
Hi, my name is Ryan and I am a seven-year-old 15.3hh liver chestnut gelding. I've been living at The Blue Cross at Burford for about a year now. I came here because my owners couldn't keep me anymore. I was recovering from an injury when I first arrived. My groom, Annalisa, began by riding me slowly to make me stronger and now I am much better.
To help with my training and gain experience as I am still quite young, I have started going to dressage competitions. I went to one last week near Cheltenham. I went with my friend, Evan, in The Blue Cross trailer. It was a really hot day and I was feeling rather sleepy so Annalisa motivated me to knuckle down. I had to listen really carefully to what she told me to do. I think I did rather well as Annalisa was pleased with me when she came back to the trailer with second and third place rosettes.
She gave me a big juicy apple as a reward. This week I am going to start jumping again and I am really looking forward to it. I'll tell you all about that next month.
Download a picture of Ryan to use as the wall paper for your computer.