So the warm weather continues (and the rain and wind today). Xmas day itself was warm and sunny... Yup t-shirt weather. All the ponies had a xmas day feed as a treat. Not sure they knew why though.
So on Boxing Day we decided to move the minis right to the far end of the 4 acre, fence off the whole way along giving them a fairly narrow strip, and move the shorter cross fence back daily to strip graze them. That's the sort of thing horse owners do on Boxing Day, as opposed to getting up late and munch leftovers while watching naff xmas movies! We let them run free while we did this, much to the disgust off the biggies!
After 5 hours of fighting the self tangling fence wire, and the hose pipe connections that refused to connect, we caught them up and went home to enjoy eating leftovers and watching naff xmas movies.
And so to yesterday...the fence needed moving back. Jo does the moving, while Prudence and I fend off the circling sharks (I mean ponies). Scrumpy usually shouts instructions from the other side of the fence. We had a longer strip to defend than normal, but armed with a poo picker, for about 20 minutes I held all the ponies in an obedient row.....Hey I said, Olympia here we come next year. Liberty ponies!! The ponies meanwhile were making plans. First they sent in Jasmine, the smallest and cutest miniature Shetland. My favourite as it happens. And I had a pocketful of polos. While she fleeced me of polos, pretending she didn't understand that I wanted her to lift a hoof and say please, the others watched obediently from distance, lulling me into a false sense of security and dreaming of my Olympia Liberty Ponies. They waited until only the middle strand of fence was left,then Jasmine legged it to the right. Being nearer the fence line, I lunged right, flailing like a beaten goal-keeper, as Sweet Pea and B, made the run for it on the left, clearing the wire (god knows how they even saw it). Polly, who probably couldn't see it stopped, while dear little Jasmin simply ran through it.
Well you have to laugh.....me and a Bulldog, beaten by Shetlands, a mini tb and a welsh pony! Jo and I convinced ourselves that they would stop eating when they were full and the ground wouldn't get so poached. We commented on how the bigger ponies were not as sharp!!! So far Sweet Pea hasn't come up for air.
Today I was at work till 12-ish, and Jo was finishing off the minis field when I arrived. "That bloody Piebald", she greeted me with. Oh no, whats the boy done. Apparently Jo got warm and left her fleece in the trailer, which Charlie is obsessed with. After a while she looked up to see him cavorting around holding something fluorescent. Yup it was her mobile phone, which he had removed from the fleece pocket. Apparently Jo had a bit of a tussle to remove it from Charlies teeth. Needless to say the screen is broken, and Jo can't see who is calling. Oh dear....it wasn't that long ago Scrumpy stood on Jo's bag, squashing an ice cream carton, which caused her bag and the said phone to be filled with cappuccino flavoured goo. I think I owe her a new phone!!!
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| enjoying the sun |
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| xmas lunch |
Then bring it on!!!!! The temperature reading in the car today for outside was 17c !! In December? The Daffs are coming up, and we have Bindweed flowering. On the downside, its very windy. If it wasn't for the wind (which is mildly warm) and the rain showers, all the ponies would be naked. If we hadn't rugged them, they would certainly have been naked, but as we have, it seems a bit cruel to strip them, although they are only in macs.
I have shed my jacket, and today nearly my fleece......Its only my brain keeping the clothes on, that bit telling me its December!
I have managed to rope off a training area....but xmas is getting in the way. So Charlie....watch out for the new year. I actually can't wait to be riding him.
Polly has been roaming the 4 acre while we are there, and today I had a good laugh at myself. I was taking her back to the others on the invisible headcollar, thinking she could have been a dog, as she follows to heel. When we got to the electric gates I told her to stay as I switched off the electric and undid the gate. And for some reason I was surprised when she wandered off back to the grass! Hmm have a word.....
Although we had sunshine on us today, there was a dramatic sky in the distance, which stopped me for a shetland photo shoot.....as they say in suffolk.....It was black over Wills Mothers...........
So on Monday it finally stopped raining, and we moved the ponies. But not after a good hour moving electric fencing and water tubs, while the ponies constantly patrolled up and down the Hill Field trying to see what was going down. We use rolls of self tangling wire rather than the white tape. It carries the current better. Now we very carefully remove the posts, and wind up the wire onto one of those things you roll hosepipe onto. (Top Tip Alert)
So HOW does the wire create such special knots, which are in no knot book i've ever seen, within 5 minutes of it reaching the ground? So after a long time had passed, and a good practise of old English, we finally had a strip of grass fenced off in the 4 acre. Time to move the ponies.
Charlie in one hand, Daisy in the other. And yes it was Daisy who barged through the gate and tried to drag us off to pastures new. Her manners are sometimes rather lacking. Or indeed missing, presumed dead. Anyway, they are now as happy as the proverbial pigs. And the grass must contain a love potion. Charlie in particular is overly affectionate right now. Maybe its due to all of them now being in the 4 acre, albeit in different corners. Poor boy, the only male with 6 mares!!
In the meantime, B is going for the muddiest pony award......
Well this week has rolled by in a haze of rain....... Lovely. Backed up by a cold wind. We have upgraded all the rugs to medium weight. Even Charlie.
He is back to being caught up and taken for a walk every day. Though Jo and I are doing it as a two-man (woman) team. Its time to get tough. I have been thinking of him as a baby and doing it all gently gently. But actually he is a very coltish, bolshy, chunky 3 year old BOY, and needs firm handling.
Next week we will move fields and they will all be in the 4acre. I am going to fence off a very small schooling area, and hopefully work them all in hand as much as poss. Its hard going in the constant rain, wind and mud for some reason!! Could be that part of us that says we want to get home and snuggle in front of the fire with cheese on toast, watching Netflix!!!!
Anyway, here's our xmas selfie.....Hats photo-shopped!!
After being so good for the farrier, Charlie has taken a naughty pill. It was forecast for rain and wind last night, so yesterday we rugged back up. At least Daisy and Lulu were rugged. Charlie wouldn't have any of it. In fact he wouldn't let Jo or I near him. We tried sending him away, but its a bit hard in 2 acres!!!!! A couple of times I got a rope round his neck, but he's a chunky boy, and I just couldn't hang on.
So Jo took the girls away.....much to their delight they were turned loose in the 3 acre field, which has been resting since the summer, and is full of lush grass.
Needless to say, any mothering tendencies went out of the window, and they firmly ignored Charlie's rather hysterical neighs. Someone answered down the road somewhere, but no-one he knew.
I rather thought that without his mummies, he would come to me. Not a chance!! He had gone feral. So I left him to literally sweat it out, while we poo picked the minis.
I don't like using food as bribery, but my main objective at that point was just contact, so I took a bucket of nuts and apples out to him.. At least he came over and ate, and then followed me every time I walked off. As he was, at this point foamed up in a lather, rugging was out of the question anyway. So the mares came back, and we left. I spent the whole night fretting, as it did indeed rain and blow a hoolie. I felt so bad I got him a bag of carrots.
Much to my relief, this morning, the sun was shining, and he was happily having a love in with Daisy, who inexplicably seems to be in season again.
Without much hope, I took his rug and a pocketful of carrots out to the field, to be greeted by happy, curious Charlie, who munched on carrots and calmly stood to be rugged.
Either I have a schizophrenic pony or something had upset him.
The farm had had a large trailer delivered to the next field earlier yesterday morning, and had had a lot of problems which had resulted in the road being closed for quite a while. My only theory is that it reminded him of being removed from his mum with several other colts. Maybe he associates very large trailers with being caught and bad stuff????
I'm just relieved to have the Charlie I know and love back today.
Well after all that rain and wind, would you believe the sun has got his hat on and the temperature is around 12c. So we have stripped the ponies naked. Except Princess Polly, who has been down graded to a lightweight. It is so mild and warm you can almost hear the grass growing! We were kind of debating the de-rugging, but then we saw the blackberry bushes were flowering!!!! In December???? Someone once told me, if you need a coat, then so does your pony. Well I am sweating in a tee-shirt, so I guess that's true.
Today was the Farriers visit. We got the biggies in first. I brought Charlie and Daisy in tandem.....He's very chilled when I have another horse in hand. And he was as good as gold having his feet trimmed. The farrier was very pleased with him. And so was I. I even let him have some of my coffee!
So then I went to get Polly and B. Hmmmmmm. B just would not be caught. I sent Polly down to the barn on her own.. She is so good she obliged. Then I ditched the headcollar and hid the rope. Still couldn't get near the little sod. And she meant it too. Ears back, lashing out. I tried a flower pot full of grass....Nope. Plan b. Let shetlands out into the full 4 acres, hoping she would come over once separated from Sweet Pea. Nope. Okay, steady stalking, looking away, muttering whoa girl, good girl ( I actually meant come here you little witch). At one point I was able to stroke her neck, and got a handful of mane. Which nearly got ripped out when she legged it.
When Jo appeared, as a new opponent, she managed to get a rope round her neck...And the little sod still tried to spin and kick Jo!
Needless to say, she pushed her luck with the farrier, trying to cow kick him. Sadly for B, he hasn't been doing that job for about 30 years, without learning something, and after a quick lesson in whose boss, she stood, without protest.
She has probably had some bad stuff happen to her, I mean how many welsh sec a's are unrideable??? They are normally the greatest kids ponies. But whatever has happened has left a really mean streak in her. Another one to fix!
So the rain has continued......and continued.......and the high winds have continued......and continued.
Last Tuesday it all went Pete Tong!!! Poor Jo phoned to say her mother had been taken to hospital. It was my day of mother visiting too, so we decided I would poo pick and Jo would put the hay out when she was finished at the Hospital. I battled rather quickly through the poo, getting the tractor stuck a few times in the mud. The look of outrage on the horses faces when I left was priceless.
Anyway......Jo was stuck at the hospital all day. Not mentioning any names, but this particular hospital is....errrrr.....crap! So I stopped on the way home to do the hay........in the dark, in the wind, and in the rain.. Fun Fun Fun!!
The tractor doesn't have lights and I didn't have a torch. So by the light of my phone I loaded up wheelbarrows full of hay. I got truely mugged by the bigger ponies....Daisy in particular tried to sit on the wheelbarrow, though to be fair, i think she was pushed by the others. The air was blue! As well as cold and wet.
I
didn't fancy another mugging, so the minis had their hay lobbed over the fence in piles!
Next day they were not happy......As I got Polly out to feed her, the others made there escape and had a fun filled hour running about in 4 acres of grass. We left them to it as we moved their fences back. Safe to say the following day they had left some hay and were still looking rather stuffed.
Friday.....We got the biggies in for a feed and general tidy up. Charlie wouldn't eat his, until Lu tried to share it, but as the little bugger weighs 420kgs, I'm not overly concerned.......There's obviously something in it he doesn't like. He was a bit of an idiot coming in, pulling and spooking, but redeemed himself by allowing me to trim his very thick feathers and chin. Hopefully it will actually stop raining and blowing soon so I can bit him.
Holy hell. Saturday was one of those days when I wondered whatever had possessed me to take up horses again.
40mph winds accompanied by rain. Oh, did I mention the temperature, at its best, was about 3 degrees c.
Poo picking was actual torture in those conditions, and putting out hay nearly impossible. I managed to swallow everything that didn't go in my eyes! Luckily we have feeders in the fields, so once we had wrestled it in, it did at least stay put.
Then it was upgrading rugs, and fighting the tornado to secure neck covers on the actual ponies necks. Charlie is still only in a lightweight rug, as he has never worn them before, and has a very thick coat of his own. Besides which, his flight mode was fully on alert, and there was a lot of snorting and spooking from him. If I had attempted a rug change, I suspect there would have been a naked black and white pony seen charging around all over the County.
We then spent way too long uncoupling all the water pipes and packing the taps with straw. I was almost grateful when it actually snowed at 10pm that night.
Of course they all survived and its warming up again (well up to 6c)
much more peaceful today
No I'm not building a carriage.....But the last two weeks have been real "nuts and bolts" of keeping horses. Rain, followed by more rain (and high winds), have meant its been all work and no play. I for one, am too old now to go out for a fun ride in sideways rain, after 3 hours of poo picking, ragwort clearing and fencing!!
And that is the nuts and bolts of horse owning.....90% care, 10% fun. Although ours live out, it doesn't mean they don't need looking after. There is an awful lot of poo to pick up every day. 7 ponies, 10 poos a day each...yup thats 70 piles a day I reckon. I really must get out more.
Rain aside, it has been mild, so we are taking full advantage of using the grass diet while its still growing a little. This means moving the fences back a little each day. Jo usually does the moving while myself and the dogs guard the gap from marauding shetlands. They are the worst, circling us like sharks!
And with the grass growing the ragwort springs up seemingly overnight. Although the horses eat round it, it really cannot be left.....we do not want yellow fields next summer.
Charlie has been very affectionate, and I am still taking him around the farm for 10 minutes a day. He has been very good, and we have had no more tantrums. He has also got used to me taking his rug off in field for a little airing, only to replace it 10 minutes later when the next squall heads in.
And on Monday he made my day....A super large red crop sprayer came up the track and startled him. He made straight for me, which means he sees me as his source of protection and comfort. Smiley face.
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| Is this my rug mum? |
So, on Monday Charlie and I had a fight. I could see it coming. So far he has accepted rugs, detangler, mane trimming and having his tail dunked in a bucket of water and severely agitated. But he has been pushing the boundaries a little.
This is all to be expected. First he was taken off his mother too young and was bottle fed. Next he ran partially wild in a small herd of colts and was only gelded this year. He is very clever and cheeky though, which will make teaching him fun. I certainly do not want to spoil that cheeky, curious nature. But I need him to see me as his herd leader. Even above Lulu who is the alpha mare. (I swear she has balls hidden somewhere||). Check out the video to see how he and the 14 year old Daisy over reacted when Lu was taken out of the field the other day.
Anyway so in the interests of bonding, I have been taking Charlie out of the field and just getting him to follow me and stop when I say etc. All rewarded with a treat or a face rub when he gets it right. I am using a Parelli halter, as he is strong and the last thing I want is to let go at the moment.
Its been going ok ish, but he is frightened of the gateway (must have had a shock as its all electric fencing), and has been trying to leg it the moment we get back in the field.
It all came to a head Monday, when he stood right up and pulled back. I have a long rope so I pushed him out to the end of it and sent him in circles. For a moment it must have looked like a classic cowboy scenario. Handler planted while horse paddles in the air, leaning back on the rope. I tried again to have him stand while i removed the halter, but up he went again (no patience!!). So I drove him out and kept him moving round in circles until he began to show signs of submission. Lunging should be a doddle now.
Finally he stood still to be let loose. 1 - 0 to me.
Tuesday I let him be as Lulu escaped whilst with were moving the fence back and then looked a little collicky, so Jo took her in for a bit.....hence the vid of him and Daisy having a meltdown. Its the most Daisy has moved this month!!
Yesterday I had a hospital appointment, 90 miles away, yes the joys of the dodgy lungs and dicky ticker!
So today was test day. Had Charlie remembered his lesson? Hell yeah! He greeted me with a little whicker.....i think he must have read the book that tells horses how to communicate with humans. It says a whicker is worth a month of bad behaviour! But he was as good as. Nice walk round the next field, through the gate with only a whisker of hesitation, and stood like a rock for me to remove his halter.
So, history lesson over, and on to the ponies in my life today.
The Shetlands:
This is Sweet Pea, who Jo found at Watton Horse sales. She was starving and covered in lice. She also had pneumonia, and it was touch and go.....But here she is, as cute as a button. Unless you want to bath or muzzle her. Then she becomes the ginger bitch from hell. I've never seen something so small rear so high as this one.
And this is Jasmin. She has had a much better life, spending most of it with Jo. She is the most loving pony ever, and daily comes over for a chin scratch and a kiss.
This beautiful creature is Lulu, a 9 year old Halfinger of very good breeding. And doesn't she know it! She is very much aware that she is the Queen Bee, the number one. She has been with Jo since she was a yearling, and is the most well mannered, yet playful pony ever. Her intelligence is quite scary!
Daisy-May. I adore Daisy. She is sweet and gentle, and so laid back she is almost horizontal. Except for bath time, or fly spray time, or chin trimming time. Then she simply uses her size and leaves the vicinity at high speed.
Jo got her a year ago, mostly because she couldn,t bear to leave her in a home where she lived alone, with a terrified owner.
And god only knows what happened to her before that. We know she has had several foals, and has several fears.
This is Bee, a welsh sec A, (and judging by those knees and her high actioned fast trot, maybe part Hackney!!).
Bee has only been with us about 3 weeks and is owned by Roz. Poor Roz bought her as a non-rideable companion for her Icelandic Pony, but sadly lost him. We are not sure why she is un-ridable. Any brave children out there???? Or extremely small adults?
This is Polly....Princess Polly. She was simply abandoned on the yard, when she became lame. Jo took her on, and nursed her better. She went out on loan and was returned when she became lame again. After months of care, and money and walking around on memory foam pads in her boots, she is sound again and enjoying life.
And finally Charlie....my new boy. He is 3 years old, and was bottle fed as a baby, then turned away in a herd of other colts, to be, well, horses.
He is very funny, very clever and very cheeky. He is also quite coltish still and is pushing the boundaries a little when it comes to being handled.
The mares are fairly sorting him out, the poor little sod is always is trouble with one or the other.
Ok, hello guys. I am hoping this blog may be of some use to somebody. It may just be a journal for me to look back on when I,m older and greyer!
Anyway to give you some background information about myself, a life filled with horses compressed into a few words.
I started riding at the age of 3, and until i reached 44, i owned numerous ponies, worked all my best years with horses, in riding centres, driving yards and spent 12 years managing an RDA centre.
I spent a good deal of time riding for other people, schooling, sorting out problems and competing in showing, dressage, show-jumping, x country, and endurance.
And lets not forget a short dabble with Horseball.
This is Skittles. I owned her for 10 years. She taught me so much about competing. She had been there,done that.
We show-jumped, showed and did dressage. She could be very hormonal but we had a very understanding relationship as long as I did what I was told!
Sadly she was put to sleep after a bout of colic which would just not stop, at the age of 24
This is Harry. Harry came from a stunt yard. He was only 5 when I got him, but had already had a chequered career, and several owners. Apparently he was dangerous, but as you can see here, he was actually a real sweetheart and I loved him to bits.
Eventually I got to the bottom of his bad behaviour, a broken vertebrae in his spine, right under where the saddle (or rider) would sit. No wonder he bucked for England!! After 2 years, he had deteriorated to the point where i felt it was kinder to have him put to sleep at the tender age of 7.
And this is Paddy, the love of my life. I first got him as 4 year old. A wild little thing. A real character!! Full of intelligence and cheekiness. We shared 12 years together. In that time, we attempted showing (but his sense of humour mostly got the better of him). We did better at x-country, show-jumping and endurance though.
Our greatest adventure was driving down to Wiltshire, and riding 120 miles back up the Ridgeway, With my friend Tess and my arab Ryscheyed. Tess and I wore silly ball dresses....just in case people didn't notice us, and raised £2000 for the Rda. But that's another blog. Seriously check out http://ridgewayromp.blogspot.co.uk/
Then I got ill and struggled to look after Paddy. So he went out on loan to a lovely family in Norfolk, and had 2 fantastic years, before he got a twisted gut. The only time in his life he was ever ill!!! And how! He was put to sleep at the age of 18.
Anyway to touch on that illness, without dwelling on it, I have something called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. As I put it .....dodgy lungs and a dicky ticker. At first I was really ill, and thought my life with horses was over. I felt like my right arm was missing. The condition isn't curable, but i am better than I was on a cocktail of drugs.
And then......
I met a lady called Jo who has a glut of rescued ponies, and started helping her. And then.......
4 weeks ago I got Charlie from a rescue centre. Very sensibly I have got a 3 year old !!! As you do at the age of 49 with dodgy lungs and a dicky ticker.
So this blog is about my life with horses Part Two.
Happy reading.....
