Heels Down, Kick On

#6    Don’t be a dick. Girls can be dicks sometimes. Boys can be too. But I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered anything quite so savage as a mean girl. Sadly, the horsey world seems to contain a fair few of these 'dick' girls. This makes me really sad, because there are so many wonderful, helpful, fun and friendly people within it too.  The dick girls are the kind that gather their cronies together and toy with the feelings of the others in the group - for sport. Or for their own self-esteem. Who knows. The kind who take a really mean-spirited attitude to anything positive experienced by anyone other than themselves. Anyone who has been on the receiving end of verbal or emotional bullying like this, no matter how mild, may remember the feeling that, each week, someone would take their turn at being the flavour of the month where the Chief Mean Girl was concerned. The others would be treated in a fairly indifferent fashion – they weren’t made to feel anything...

#5        It was acceptable in the 80s (and 90s): Part 2   Born in the 80s? Or not too far either side? You might just remember a few more of these… 1.        All the gear and no idea. Or pony. If, like me, you were starved of a pony of your own by your dream-crushing parents (yes, you might have had most other things you wanted, but no way Jos é to the pony), then it might have made you feel a little better having bits of kit you didn’t really need. One of the best Christmas presents I ever received – aside from a set of glorious Fashion Star Fillies – was my own grooming kit. No more ‘own a pony week’ riding holidays spent digging around for a battered body brush that Susan had just filled with enough grey fuzz from Snowy to stuff a couch with, oh no. My very own, very organised, bright red grooming tidy, containing: ·          1 x red hoof pick ·  ...