There is nothing to fear, except fear itself.

"Calum, whenever I say that I want to ride Wessles you seem pretty adamant that I shouldn't, or am I imagining that?"

"I just think it's a really bad time to do it."

"Well, I don't mean now, I meant in a few weeks time."

"Yeah well," muttered number one furry, leaving the room in a seeming huff.

Baggy attempted to stop Hormonal Hannah from overreacting, as she sat on the sofa wondering what to do. Grotty Groom so wants to get back on her horse, after over three years of not riding him. But Clever Bird gets it! Wesley is not an easy horse to ride at the best of times, let alone after having years off, but neither Baggy nor he are getting any younger, and because of her arthritis, and Wesley's kissing spine, it's not clear how many more riding years either of them have left in them. The whole coronavirus situation has made Clever Bird more convinced than ever that it's important to live the life that you wish to live, and her love of her horses is a massive part of her life. A little later, having stewed over Cal's comment, she had to ask!

"So, Cal, do you think that I should never ride Wesley again? Only, I'm really worried that if I don't, then you won't ride Joey either."

"Oh I would!"

Clever Bird decided to let it go. After all, it wasn't just Calum who thought that Baggy had a bit of a death wish wanting to get back on her Boy; so does Wesley's physiotherapist, and pretty much everyone who is aware of his and Grotty's history together. Grotty choked back her disappointment, but as she was fairly sure that Baggy could now get into them once more, she made her put her jodphurs on, in preparation for heading off to the yard. To her surprise, Calum also had put his jodphurs on.

"I'd like to give Wesley a bit of a walk around the indoor school Cal, if you're going to ride Joe."

"Rightho! Why don't you put his saddle on him to do it? At least then you'll be able to see whether he's unhappy about it."

"Okay, good plan."

As Grotty walked down to Wesley's paddock, she wondered whether she was about to bring in a wild mustang or a riding school Shetland pony, as there's no knowing with her horse. On a scale of mustang to Shetland, he was at the wild end, as he hauled Baggy to every bit of long luscious grass that he could manage, bashing her arm badly each time Grotty attempted to stop him. When he got to the stableblock, Baggy was yanked straight into the stable opposite his, which contained made up feeds. Eventually she regained control and got him into his own stable. 

When Calum headed off to the indoor school, Wesley nearly flattened Baggy as he spun around the stable, pooing and calling for his brother. Baggy made Grotty take some deep calming breaths, and tacked him up - eventually. The walk down to the school was more of a flying trot, as Grotty attempted to hang onto him, but as soon as he saw Joey being ridden round the school, he let out a huge breath and relaxed. As did Baggy!

Grotty walked Wesley around the school, smiling as she watched Calum riding his Boy for the first time in years. Wesley wandered along with her, sniffing the sand and snorting.

"Why don't you lie over Wesley's back Pen; see what he makes of it?"

Grotty did just that, while Calum held Wesley's reins. Wesley twitched his ears back to her, but didn't react or move.

"Go on then! Sit on him."

Baggy's heart rate shot up, especially when Clever Bird realised that the bridle she was using had no reins attached to it, but she wasn't going to back out now. Two minutes later, having got on Wesley and been led in a tiny circle by Calum, Grotty hopped off and gave her Boy the biggest hug ever. 

The next day, they went again. The sequence of events from leaving the paddock to getting to the school, was virtually identical to the previous day, except that this time, Grotty was determined to get on Wesley again, so used a bridle with reins attached. Wesley was slightly skittish but didn't put a hoof wrong, as Grotty rode him around the arena, next to Joey and Calum. The following day, Wesley came in from the paddock at the Shetland end of the scale, and didn't spin around his stable as Calum and Joey headed off. This time when Grotty mounted him, Wesley was entirely relaxed, and Grotty had a wonderful five minutes, riding him around the school, once again at Joey and Calum's side.

Today was the fourth consecutive day of the routine, and now Wesley knows what it's all about, he is behaving like a model horse! So chilled indeed were both Wesley and Baggy, that Grotty decided to leave the safety-blanket of Calum and Joey, and do a bit of solo work. It was wonderful, and Wesley's ears flicked back to listen to Grotty's every word, as he happily walked around the wonderful indoor school for ten minutes.

"Take some pictures Cal please." See Baggees - totally chilled!!

Clever Bird cannot explain how wonderful it is for Grotty to be around horses. But truthfully, the moment she is with them, there is literally nothing else in the world - Baggy's entire focus is in the moment - no stress, no coronavirus, no worries, nothing, except "being" with her horses. And look how chilled the horse that many think she shouldn't ride anymore is!

Clever Bird is so pleased with Grotty, and with Calum for letting her get back on her Boy, in spite of his concerns. And she's delighted that Wesley seems not to be suffering any back pain currently. So the plan now is to keep this up, gradually building up his and Joey's work, as their muscles develop once more. It's amazing to Clever Bird, that the very real fear of death felt by Hormonal Hannah when Covid-19 was first identified as being in England, has resulted now in this new attitude that she's going to live her life! Yes, there's a risk riding a horse - there's a larger risk riding a sharp, spooky horse like Wesley - there's a larger risk still, when that horse has occasional severe pain in his back, but, it's a risk that Grotty is prepared to take when it makes her so happy. And it seems to make him happy too.

In a similar vein, Furry Mama is also back in proper action, taking the Pooch to the beach each day. It's so easy to social distance there, that it's more than worth the short journey to  get there.

And while Baggy is at the beach, Calum has been working his socks off. This is today's project: starting to dismantle the wall that is falling apart.

These exceptionally weird times, are proving to be incredibly positive for Baggy, and she's feeling wonderfully positive about the future...

Baggy's current state!

Depression (Black = really bad/Grey = not great/Blue = okay/Yellow = sunny day): Yellow.

Anxiety (From 1 = barely any to 10 = gibbering wreck standard): 2.
Tears: Happy ones.
Overall days: Wonderful.

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!