Velvet Dove

Jay is back from university this week so on Friday evening we went to Oxford to pick her up from the bus station. We got in early so that we could have a meal and walk around the city. We walked around the back of Christchurch college through the famous Christchurch meadows . It was really strange walking through a bustling city and then seconds later being in the tranquil meadows. These date back to the 15th Century and have had long-horn cattle grazing there for hundreds of years. Christchurch college itself used to be owned by Henry VIII. It is such a beautiful city and we really should take a couple of days out to explore it properly.
Yesterday Doug and I took Harry (with fish net stockings on his nose) and Dove to the flat gallop. Dove has been in such a good mood lately that we thought we would just see how she behaved. We were also trying a different bit on her so see if it would stop her from sticking her head in the air and going too fast. There was a very slight hesitation when we got on the gallop and to begin with we just trotted around, gradually building up to a lovely slow canter. She was as happy as anything - it is the first time she has ever gone around that gallop without either planting or going ridiculously fast and probably scaring herself in the process. Harry was also as good as gold and didn't pull at all - his net still amazingly seems to be working. We might be getting somewhere....