Horse Trials - Part 2

Here's a few shots of the action

 An 'arty' one to finish

 

 

Norton Disney

Yesterday afternoon we went to a small local horse trials at Norton Disney near Lincoln.  It was great for all of us - not many people for Murphy and me, lots of horsey stuff going on for Mum and loads of photo opportunities for Dad.  (In fact he went back today and was accosted because they people there thought he was a rogue professional what with all his gear!)

With all those horses abut, I never thought we would have to pose as well.  Murphy did the job as usual

 

while I was kept bury keeping an eye on the horses charging about all over the place.




It's tiring work!

 

Mum says ...

... one done

so just the scruffy oik to do.  Cheek!

Away and home again

We have just got home from our last trip of the year.  We went to one of our newest favourite sites at Bulwick (the best dog walk ever with loads of rabbit holes to investigate) and wasted no time in stamping or mark on it - Murphy refused to let a man and his dog through the gate into the dog walk on Sunday morning .  He stood inside the gate and barked at him until dad came along and dragged him away.  The man was very nice about it, but I did notice that his 'van had gone when we came back from our day out! 

On Sunday Dad went to a model rail exhibition, so Murphy and I went with Mum as she drove around a few of the villages looking at gravestones in churchyards.  She said she has someone in her  family tree from the area (I didn't even know she had a tree of her own) and was looking for signs of them.  Needless to say we found nothing, so went on to Burghley House for a quiet walk. 

It was quiet too until these guys appeared from nowhere and started to follows us.

On Monday we went to Bradgate Park which Aunty Debbie had told us was a great place for a walk ... and she was right!  As it turned out, Dad had spent all day last Friday there with a chap called Paul taking photographs of the deer.  They were everywhere and didn't seem a bit bothered by the people and other dogs.

Our coats provide quite good camouflage in the bracken

Here we are with Dad .....

... and investigating the ruins of Bradgate House

On Tuesday we stayed close to the 'van as it was very windy and rained nearly all day.  Yesterday we went for a walk to Fineshades and then took Dad to Wakeley Woods where they had a picnic lunch (Mum has to get at least one in every trip!) before finishing the day with a stroll around Stamford and dinner at the pub.

We've had a lovely few days and now its back home to what I have been told is a long overdue appointment with the scissors.  I am not looking forward to that.

Thor

I've just seen this little chap on Facebook and had to share.  Thor is a Great Dane puppy (so not so little) who doesn't like to get up early when his hooman goes to work.

Apart from having a great name, I think he's dead right - that bed looks really comfy!

Follow the link   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzIS_0iSJWY&sns=em

Look outs

On Friday we went to stay with Nana so Dad could do some work in her garden before the winter weather arrives.

Murphy and I were very busy on look out duty - there's so much more to see from Nana's front window than ours!

All things horsey

Mum had a day out on her own on Thursday - she was gone all day from as soon as I got up until well after I went to bed.  She said the long day was worth being tired on Friday .. she went to the Horse of the Year Show (or HOYS for those of us who have had to listen to her going on about it for the last couple of weeks). 
(Some photos here, although they aren't that brilliant as Mum wasn't suppose to take them and couldn't use the flash on her phone.)

My hooman cousin Hannah once described showjumping as dog agility for horses, and I reckon she is right.  Although I must say as much as I love agility, I don't fancy any of these jumps.

She also watched some showing classes, which look remarkably like dog showing classes where everyone stand around a lot and then has a few minutes to trot up and down for the judge.



Hunter of the year - the winner is third from the front

Ladies Hunter of the Year - riding side saddle looks a bit dodgy



She said she enjoyed watching the judging of the carriage horses as she used to do some driving with a pony called Dylan.  This is Binkie and Eric and they came second

A highlight is always to watch the Household Cavalry do their stuff ..

 

Meeting friends

Today we met up with our friends for a walk at Thoresby Park.

We don't get to go into the hall, we just have a really nice walk through the park.  Today's walk was really nice but very wet.  It was so wet that no-one wanted to hang around afterwards for a photo, so Mum had to be content with snapping us as we got out of the car at home.

Our lovely fleecy top had dried us off and kept us warm while the hoomans had lunch.

More horse trials

Yesterday Murphy and I took Mum and Pauline to Osberton Horse Trials. 

It was really nice - just a short drive from home and a parking space really close to the action. You could also see lots of jumps from one spot, so for our first walk around of the day we didn't have to go far to see loads of horses ... which was probably a good thing as it as raining buckets!

After a towel down and some lunch, the sun came out so we went for a walk around the whole of the course which was great.  We saw a few famous faces and some quite scary looking jumps like this one in the woods.

(Not sure if the photo isn't a bit out of focus thanks to me moving at the wrong moment.  Still, I think you get the idea.)

We had a great day and had lots to tell Dad when we got home.  I think we will be taking him there next year.  Let's hope for slightly better weather!