The first was an early ride on a sandy beach. Before 9am horses are allowed on the beach at Frinton on the Essex coastline. Jimmy had never been to the beach before and I had never taken photos of horses on the beach!
Tammy was very excited to see us at the beach! She spends her weekends there.
Dolly the pony.
Hoofprint in the sand.
Jimmy wasn't sure about the water. He wasn't totally scared. He wanted to go in but just wasn't quite ready to simply walk in like some of the other horses and ponies.
His rider was very patient and very good with him, helping him to trust that the water was safe. But horses have minds of their own!
Some riders and their ponies who have obviously been in the water before. They were kind enough to stick around and help Jimmy in to the water.
Such a handsome and expressive horse!
Curious too.
Wanting to go in.
And deciding he'd rather stay dry!
"Maybe I'll try again"
"Nope!"
It took about 15 or 20 minutes for Jimmy to finally put all 4 hooves into the water.
Fun fact: horses, like dogs, can put their tails between their legs when nervous!
Once he was in, he LOVED it! He was so happy in the water.
One of our other party took a little bit longer to get in.
Silhouettes in the water.
A little bit of an optical illusion on this one. Jimmy has all 4 hooves in the air. The pony has 1 hoof down although it looks like she's floating!
Jimmy enjoyed pawing at the water!
Tammy!
View from the saddle.
View from the ground.
These two don't usually like each other very much. But it seemed they bonded on the beach.
The second adventure was a bit of jumping. Centres that usually host competitions have decided to set up a booking system for riders to practice over their courses.
There will be more adventures over this strange summer, not all will be photographed!
