Zano had his first trip out to see one of my best friends, Fran. She owns Pinto, who I shared for a while before I got Zano. She also owns Doug, a big bay horse, and we thought it would be nice for Zano and Doug to go for a hack together so they could be best friends, too. So, up we got into the trailer and away we went!

Zano behaved beautifully at the yard, hardly blinking at the countless ducks and chickens pecking the ground all around him. Oh, and the three dogs trotting about. He tucked into his haynet without a care in the world, and wasn’t even overly concerned when Doug appeared on the scene. Mind you, Doug’s an experienced horse, and he wasn’t going to fuss over a new horse by the stables, especially not one all dressed in purple!

There’s always a cup of tea on the go at Fran’s,
and she makes them awesomely!

We decided that we should hack up to the local JumpX competition, so that’s where we headed. Zano had never seen so many horses and so much coming and going. He got to watch the other horses jump round the course, too. I tried to whisper in his ear for him to pay attention. After all, I’m hoping that by the end of the season it’ll be us flying round there! He did watch for a little bit, but he was secretly far more interested in sampling the grass...

Hacking to JumpX, with Zano and Dougie
getting on like besties!

Zano and Doug watching the jumping....

Before Zano decided it was time to do
a bit of ‘grass inspecting’....

After this ride was such a success, we took Zano over to see the horse dentist, Leigh. Her stables are near Dunwich, with lots and lots of bridleways through the woods to ride on. Zano wasn’t flustered by the turkeys, the sheep or the many cats and dogs mooching about. The only time he got really upset was when he was left alone on the yard, when his hacking companion Harvey was turned out. But Leigh soon sorted that, and brought one of her mares in. Ruby stood quietly in the next stable to him while he had his teeth done.

Heading into the woods....

Oh, and before I forget, I’ve got to introduce you to the newest addition to our household! His name is Scooby, and he’s the most adorable 5 year old golden Labrador – here he is.... ta-daa! What do you think? Isn’t he sweet??

Scooby’s settled in really, really well.

In fact, it feels like he’s made our home complete.
I adore him, and already I can’t imagine life without him ☺

On a less happy note...

...Zano’s got a sore back again. He suffered from this last summer, and he had some treatment for it then. I always like horses to have their back checked regularly. When you think about it, they have to take a lot with a rider sitting on them, so taking care of their backs is the least we can do in return!

It wasn’t long after Zano had his new dressage saddle fitted that his back started to get sore. I noticed it first when I was tacking him up. He was starting to get agitated when he saw the saddle, which is what he was like when I first had him. Then he got touchy just being groomed over his back. So I stopped using the new saddle, and went back to my trusty synthetic GP saddle instead. It seemed a bit odd though, the saddle was well fitted but, just like the leather one I tried last year, Zano didn’t seem able to tolerate it. He’s been a bit funny to get on ever since I had him, and he always feels a bit explosive when I first get into the saddle. I put that down to his sore back when he first arrived, and the remembered pain from that time. Anyway, Steve the chiropractor came out to see him again, and worked on him for over an hour and a half. He found a sore spot behind his withers. He needed a couple of days off, and I’d have to ask Kay the saddler to come back to check his saddle, but I was hopeful that Zano was fixed once more. I was soon to find out though, that sadly this wasn’t the case...

Zano always stands beautifully when anyone
comes to see him – the farrier, dentist, saddler, back man.
I think he loves the attention!

Zano’s first experience of jumping!

There has been lots going on recently. The BIGGEST thing is that Zano’s had his first experience of jumping! We started off loose schooling him, so that he could have a canter around the school and find his own balance over the fences. It’s much easier for a horse to do this without a rider on his back, to begin with at least. We started off just leading him over a pole on the ground, at walk and trot. We put poles up leading into the ground pole, and away from it. That’s to help Zano keep straight on the approach to the fence, and to stop him ducking out. The last thing I wanted was for Zano to learn any bad habits!

Zano closely inspecting the poles!

Next we put the fence up, and asked him to trot into it.
He was a bit unsure to begin with, as you can see in this piccie...

... but he soon got the knack and pricked his ears!

Then, after we’d loose schooled a couple of times, it was time for me to get on board. This is only a small fence, but he still looks like he’s enjoying himself. It felt like he wasn’t that bothered by the small fences, and he didn’t really put much effort in until the fences got a bit bigger. My hands are a bit high in this pic of him jumping a smaller fence, but the time before he’d clonked a pole and had nose dived a bit, so I was being a bit cautious! Anyway, it was a real thrill to get him jumping, and I think he’d make good jumping horse, being able to turn on a sixpence like he can. I’ve been looking through the fixtures and there are lots of jumping clinics and small shows coming up – oooh, so much to look forward to this summer!