DAY 30 Mon 12 July

I was supposed to be heading out for a ride with Pal and Laura at 8am, but I woke up at 4am with a slightly upset stomach and couldn't get back to sleep again. So I didn't feel up to going for a long desert ride and texted Pal, and got a little more shut eye. I finally got up when Cris got here, and after she had finished hand walking Nayzak, we headed out for a ride – Cris on Nazeer, me on Lilly and Mohamed on Negmadin. I was feeling a little more awake by this time, and I knew it would just be a quiet walk through the countryside. It was just another countryside ride, but it wasn't just a walk, it was fun, as there was some speed involved. In fact, the horses were so happy at being out and being able to move that they wanted to go – a bit like Dooby and Wadi out in the desert the other day. When Cris was trotting out in front, Lilly kept catching up. She would get two steps ahead of him – realise she was leading and then slow right back down again. It was very amusing. And then when we were able to canter – well, it pretty much became an in hand gallop – Lilly didn't want to stop – especially when she could hear the hoof beats of the others behind her. I had the feeling that if I had lost contact with her mouth for even one millisecond, I would have lost her and had a very very hard time slowing her down. But after that first run, things got better, and we even had some very nice controlled canters. We headed down to the path that is no more, and along the new path was a cute donkey with a leopard spotted fly mask – sexy – lol. As we neared the village we turned right instead of heading back to the farm, and headed out further through the countryside, which made for a nice change of scenery – I've travelled all the local paths many times over, so branching out was good. When we were cantering alongside the canal at one stage, two of the beautiful turquoise birds were flying down the canal level with us We came out almost where I had expected us to – just on the opposite side of the canal to what I was expecting. We then headed back up the opposite side of the canal towards home. On the last nice wide stretch of road before home, Cris urged Nazeer into a canter. Everything was going well until something got up the tails of all three of them – Negmadin started going faster which kicked off Lilly's competitive streak which made Nazeer want to run faster. It all ended with Nazeer putting down his head and bucking poor Cris off (she jinxed herself by saying that seeing as it was her first proper ride for a couple of months, she would go on nice quiet Nazeer). Other than some major rope burn on her fingers from the reins, she was uninjured, and hopped back on for the ride back to the farm. We headed back via Saber's garden, which is always nice – although it is close to the road, most of the time you wouldn't even realise it.
Once we got back, Cris had to head off back home, and I went over to the guest house to relax for a bit. When Sabine turned up, I asked if it would be possible to have a treatment from her. Boy how different did I feel after that was done – my body was holding itself how it should have been for the last 35 years. It was well worth it – I'll have to see how many more treatments I can get in before heading home in under two weeks (where has the time gone??)
Maryanne had clients due at six, for an hour long desert ride. Two of them were actually relatives of hers, with friends who were over from England and wanted a ride in the desert. The young girl was rather terrified up on Bunduq (not helped by the fact that he kept screwing up his face and trying to bite at Dory, who was being ridden by Mohamed). She did end up enjoying herself, though there were some times when Bunduq went a little faster than she would have liked, but seeing as he was on a leadrope, he really wasn't going anywhere. The young boy was up on Sondos and being led by Waleed on Lilly. He was enjoying himself once he got the hang of it. The other girl had ridden before so she was by herself on Gameela, and I pretty much spent my time once we got into the desert, riding up and down the line, acting as tour guide and photographer – Dooby was very good about it, though slowing down to take photos of those who were lagging behind was a little difficult as he really loves to walk out. While the girl on Gameela would really have liked to go for a run, we couldn't allow it because of the two beginners, but hopefully she will come back for that fun experience. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos on my own computer as I was too busy with their camera unfortunately.
Once back at the farm and safely off the horses, they sat down while Maryanne finished her chat, and then once they had gone and Maryanne was settled into bed, I headed back to the guest house to relax for the night, falling asleep on the couch while reading a book. When I woke up, I headed off to bed, and just as my head touched the pillow, the phone rang – it was Sabine wondering if she could stay the night at the guest house (she doesn't like driving home along the roads here at night – can't blame her for that). Ten minutes later she turned up, which was fortunate, because with the new position of the muscles in my body, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. After a strong muscle relaxant, I was able to fall asleep... at least until the power went off. It was at this time that I heard some of the grooms outside the window. Their room is even hotter than the guest house, so it is no wonder they were outside. I was contemplating getting up and opening the windows to let the air circulate, but I was too tired, and eventually the power came back on, allowing me to sleep.

Countryside ride 17:
Distance - 7.43km
Time - 1:06:19
Average speed - 6.7kmph
Max speed - 27.4kmph


Desert ride 5:
Distance - 5.78km
Time - 1:12:32
Average speed - 4.8kmph
Max speed - 9.1kmph