No racing - again. The course is frozen and is not safe to race on. It was postponed at 9 am this morning. We had already walked it yesterday on the way to Cheltenham and thought it would be highly unlikely to take place. It is very disappointing for us but particularly so for the unpaid organisers and volunteers who had worked really hard to get the meeting going and had already rearranged it once.
We have entered for next week-end now, so fingers crossed the weather will warm up and the ground will thaw.
During the week Ed came to school the horses, they all went well but the one we were most excited about was Frog - bearing in mine she split Ed's chin open last time he tried to get her to jump the tiny fences and she dodged out twice, she has come on in leaps and bounds. First of all he jumped the small fences which she jumped with complete disdain and didn't respect them at all, kicking at them as she went over. Ed decided to try her over the big regulation fences, these are huge and very stiff, if she kicked at those she would be doing a cartwheel, so I was rather worried, but I needn't have been as she jumped them like a stag and thoroughly enjoyed it. She is a really difficult horse to understand - we thought she didn't want to jump the little fences because she was scared, but obviously she just didn't think they were worth the bother!
We have decided now that we will probably point to point her first and then put her under rules. Dove is still hopping lame but at least the wound is clean and not infected, she seems happy enough and spends the day out in the paddock keeping the circulation going.
The youngsters are all looking really well in the barn. Spider had to be taught a lesson in manners this morning as she is becoming quite evil and runs at us with her teeth bared. She is rather full of her own importance and bosses the others around even though she is by far the smallest, so Doug had to do a bit of neck reining, which she hated, but had to give in and allowed us to stroke her in the end.