BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS My horse was very strong on a hack recently, and while we may have only been walking, it was still necessary to correct the speed. I hadn’t asked for this fast-paced walk, in fact I was looking for a nice amble across the English county-side. The walk she had chosen felt hurried and anxious, and when I applied pressure to my … Continue reading Beware The Strict Regime
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS A carpet of wet leaves were saturating my bare feet while squelching their disapproval as I ran through the dense copse of trees. Sunlight was penetrating the bows of branches that had now shed their autumn presentation. My mouth felt parched from running and the sun appeared overly bright even for an undressed canopy. I raised my arm to shield my … Continue reading The Wrong Knickers
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS The stable had been prepared for the new livery with a thick bed of fresh straw and a hay net hung in the corner. The horse came off the lorry and walked into the barn filled with anxiety, he was head-high with flaring nostrils and eyes as round as dinner plates. Even after a good 45 minutes the horse was still … Continue reading The Equine Mind Map
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS When out hacking through the countryside or along roads my mare will display anxiety when approaching and passing horse paddocks. If these horses are just standing around grazing she will become head-high and attempt to focus on the herd. I can feel her attention has shifted from me and I’ve become a mere passenger. Horses in paddocks tend to do two … Continue reading The Bolt (Part 2)
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS All 3 horses spooked sharply. Conditions for a hack that December day were great, admittedly it was cold, but the sky was blue and the wind was busy ruining someone’s hair in another part of the country. It was quiet and frost still lay unthawed in the shadows of the hedge-line. These are the worst spooks, initiated by things you didn’t see or … Continue reading The Bolt
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS My horse does load and travel quite well. But if we were to stop and pass a trained eye over the entire event from start to finish the process is far from a comfortable experience for my horse. This has not proved overly-problematic in the past as I have always relied on specific tactics in the event my horse decides not … Continue reading Loading Horses
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS Consider a person that has been show-jumping for the last 15 years then one day with a gut-churning realisation they suddenly feel apprehensive about the up-coming show this weekend. As the event draws ever closer the nerves increase and by the Saturday they are a quivering scared mess that would prefer root-canal than to actually be in the ring all of … Continue reading Losing Riding Confidence
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS Meredith and Linda had been meeting up at 10 am every Sunday for the last 6 months in order to hack out together. There was nothing particularly different about this day, they also chose to ride the same usual trail. The two ladies enjoyed each other’s company and would ride side by side chatting about the previous week’s events which involved … Continue reading The Emergency Dismount
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS My mother walked into the living room to find out why her 9 year old daughter was crying. The child was curled up on the sofa clutching her knees to her chest. The cushion with the green velvet cover that was probably bought from Oxfam for 20p was being used to absorb ample amounts of bodily fluids that consisted of tears … Continue reading The Drowned Horse
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS The Terminator Even with 120 hooves splashing with thunderous gusto along the rutted muddy farm track I could still distinguish that 4 of them were gaining on us from behind. This isn’t normally a concern but my ears informed me that this horse was becoming dangerously close to the rear of my horse. I took a swift look behind and saw … Continue reading Confessions of a Hunter Part 4
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS Under normal circumstances when a missing child is found alive there is a feeling of overwhelming relief at the happy outcome for everyone concerned. None of these feelings would surface however when the child first locked eyes with the man, the only person she had seen during the last 8 hours. In this situation there was only a sense of trepidation … Continue reading Muchengeti Mweya
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS The 8 year old child awoke early to the sound of weaver birds that were industriously building natural wonders made out of stiff grass. The house was quiet as her family continued to sleep soundly. The noise of something shifting outside the bedroom window indicated that one particular mammal knew the child was awake, which was her faithful German Shepard. 6 … Continue reading The First Riding Lesson
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS The Rogue River Of the many rivers that snake their way through the English countryside on their journey to the sea, this river was a rogue. A rebel amongst the well behaved picturesque rivers we all love to sit by and have a picnic. This river stuck two fingers up to the likes of Constable and Monet. Dare I say, this … Continue reading Confessions of a Hunter Part 3
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS The gentle horse roams silently in the paddock while softly swishing her tail, two mouthfuls of grass are grazed and a hoof moves forward creating a steady rhythm that is soothing to watch. It’s a beautiful autumn day and a Red Admiral carelessly surfs the soft warm breeze. At least that’s how I like to remember this day, the reality is … Continue reading The Natural Born Killer
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS Hedge Dwelling The earliest records of the now almost extinct sport of Hedge Dwelling can be dated as far back as 1540. It is widely believed the sport coincided with the sport of fox hunting that had been growing in popularity in Norfolk since 1534. Traditionally hunting on horseback mainly focused on tracking deer but due to the decrease in … Continue reading Confessions of a Hunter Part 2
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS The blood curdling screams tore through the air like a hot poker being driven into fresh snow and exceeded the sound level of a glacier calving off the Antarctic Peninsula. If those screams had been heard at 2 a.m on a housing estate in Milton Keynes the police would have been called, an ambulance…heck, it would have warranted an armed response. … Continue reading Confessions of a Hunter
BY DEBORAH JANE NICHOLAS It is widely accepted Homo Sapiens are the dominant species of Modern Human although approximately 150 000 years ago the genus Homo Ferrum evolved and diverged from other hominids in Africa. While not as successfully abundant in numbers as Homo Sapiens they subsequently spread globally. While the two species are similar in appearance and both have 23 pairs of chromosomes, DNA … Continue reading Homo Ferrum
