vgrumpybastard is out of work at present, flick has nothing to ride. So I went out in the woods on my own for the first time, on Bess, who I generally ride on Sundays (she's the horse in this photo). She's very sociable, and refuses to go in front if there's another horse to go behind, so I was a bit worried about taking her out on her own, but in fact she was absolutely fine, and I even managed to unlock and open the gates without dismounting (she's really too small for me, but an advantage of that is that I can fairly easily mount from the ground).So we had an entirely successful ride round the woods, with plenty of trotting and cantering, and went round much faster than when we're with GB, who walks very slowly. And then I got back to the stable, where
flick had vgrumpybastard on a lead rope eating some grass. She and Toni (who owns Bess) checked out my trousers for mud stains, to see if I had come off. And then vgrumpybastard lived up to his nickname by having a go at Bess, who shied off to the side, and I came off -- only my second fall ever. So after cantering successfully round Kent on my own, I fell off in the stable yard. Bah. It's lucky she's not very big -- less far to fall. 