Today's picture is one I came across while looking through my old photos. This was taken at a stable in the centre of London called Mottingham Farm Riding Centre. It is about 50 acres of Kings land in the middle of the mass of houses where they had 30 odd horses and offered riding 365 days of the year but mainly over the weekends.
It was quite weird because a big six lane dual carriageway (one of the main roads into central London 5 or 6 miles away) ran down the one side of the land and it was completely surrounded by houses and businesses.
I used to go and shoot pictures for them every weekend and sell them to the riders to try to help support myself. This horse's name is Gaylord. In the winter they clip them like this so they dont altogether lose their winter coats which keep them warm.
They ride for an hour each session, 5 sessions Saturday and 5 sessions Sunday and have various fields with different sets of obstacles to jump over (nothing big which made it harder to shoot good photos as they were up and over so quickly) and places to gallop and go through a stream, so the variation was not great but the people who used to go regularly loved it and would ride whatever the weather .
I used to trudge around with my camera. I have a pic a friend took of me with my camera in shorts there in the summer which I will find and post, it should give you a giggle.
So this is a little tidbit from my two years spent in London. You will hear more about that I promise.
We woke up to -2F or thereabouts this morning, a high of 10F and a windchill of -15F so it has been a miserable day on this little Paint Horse farm.
By the time I had fed the horses in shifts because my fingers were freezing within 20 minutes and had to keep coming inside to get the circulation going again, got all the ice out of the water buckets and fed and watered the horses it was nearly lunch time!!
I went over to Muncie to get some horse feed as I will only be able to order my normal supply tomorrow for delivery probably on Tuesday and had nearly run out of feed. It was freezing!! I have struggled to stay warm all day. Thanks to Stan for running me over there and doing all the bag toting, as I get older I find it more and more difficult to lift these heavy bags and bales of hay.
MiKael and Larry have been helping me work on my storefront for offering prints and postcards for sale, I just wish there were more hours in the day, I just never seem to get ahead. I think I have worked out the basic layout, now all I have to do is get the inventory presented nicely and get a shopping cart worked out.
More to come tomorrow. (((Hugs)))
Lori
xx
7 comments:
I would love to hear more about your time in London---I lived in Alnwick, Northumberland for a year, going to school. Had the time of my life. Your photo and story, brought me back.
Nice post today. Enjoyed reading it.
I wondered why there is so much space between the paragraphs at the bottom and not at the top?
Hi Lori, I love your posts from the past couple of days. It is so interesting hearing about your past and now a little about your time in London. Sounds like you are making progress with your web site.
I noticed Abe mentioned the spacing on the paragraphs. I have found I can fix these by going into the html mode and deleting the div's that show up. My problem is usually no space so I have learned I can get rid of these and do the spacing manually and it works fine. I also read that P (see PS below) will create a new paragraph although I have not tried it since my other solution works so well.
I know you have been having some brutish weather. Ours is up one day and down the next as we are always on the western edge of these artic blasts.
Take care my friend, say hi to Larry and Taxes for me.
Mike
PS I couldn't post with the correct html code because it though I was using that code so I deleted the <,> around them. Hopefully that will fix it.
Thanks gentlemen, I dont know why it does this, when I type it there are nice paragraphs there and when I publish it squishes it all up. I have tried to fix them and will try the HTM thing Mike, thanks.
Photogchic, my first husband's father was born in Alnwick!!! That is crazy, such a little place near the Scottish border and to find someone who has been there is really a co-incidence LOL. I will get into that story someday too I suppose.
Lori
Great photo and fun to hear about your time in London! incidentally i love Alnwich and its environs; we have been on holiday there twice!
great post, Lori.
Lovely to hear more about the time you spent in London! The way you describe this area of land is how I see most of London itself, there are some beautiful patches of greenery surrounded by hustle and bustle of the big city but where one can escape from it all even if it's only for a few moments!
So sorry to hear you are having trouble staying warm, I don't think I would last five minutes with the temperatures you are having at the moment!! It's fairly mild here and I am sat with big thick wooly socks and a jumper on and the heating is blasting out! I hope this cold spell passes quickly for you :o) {{{HUGS}}} xx
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