What an excellent day we have had. We have found a rider for Polly. A little 7 year old, who fell in love with her, and was more than capable of cantering her round whilst still being able to steer. Result for Polly, who needs to be doing something.
Chanice Who Helps Saturdays had an excellent ride on Daisy. Her leg position is so much better, and she was able to deal with Daisys attempt to tank off.
Meanwhile we had another attempt at long-reining Charlie. This time with Jo at his head, just to reassure him. The boy was awesome, and totally listened to me behind him, without freaking out. A lot more of the same is needed methinks.
As I led him back to the field, very casually, with the lead rope loose and him just following, it struck me how far we have come from the tense days of leading him around with him ready to spook and rear.
Dare I say it......its warmed up. Ok so its still hailing at times. But the sun is generally warm enough to leave the ponies naked. Bee is off tomorrow.....to a forever home hopefully. She has chilled so much, I hope she will settle in quickly. I will miss her cuddles, but I think she'll be fine. She has so much more confidence in humans now.
Today we had Roz and Shona to help, so I suggested we do something with the bigger ponies. Charlie has had enough time off to digest what he has already learnt. While Shona rode Daisy and Jo rode Lu...just around the 'school' and 4 acre, I tried to long-rein Charlie. I may have found the reason he panicked and dumped me. Seems he is only confident while I am at his head. We set off round the 4 Acre behind the others in long reins. While they calmly walked ahead, Charlie freaked, rearing, pulling and spinning. I dropped one rein and brought him on a circle, thinking of the havoc he would cause if I let go. So glad they didn't turn round and see my fight. I quickly ditched the long reins in a corner, and just led him. No stress. As soon as I took up the reins to walk by his saddle...panic. He likes to follow. No problem. I will get Jo to walk by his head while I get him used to me being behind.
Daisy looked sound, which is great. Her and Polly are currently sharing a 'sick pen'. Basically a long strip around the edge of the field with only old grass....just in case!!
Yes It is a weather channel....for those that like to know what the weather has been like, as opposed to what its going to be like. Just in case you want to know....Horrible, in both cases. I am calling this Charlies brief turn away time. Just as we thought winter was over, and very short, it has arrived. We had sleet and hail today in a very cold north wind. Yes the smurf hat is back. In December it was 14c, now its down to 5c. But we still have April showers, leaving us the usual spring rugging dilemma. When the sun is out, it has warmth, so we don't want the ponies over-rugged and sweating. But when the next sleety squall blows in, its like the Arctic. So they have lightweights on.....and we hope they are not too cold at night. To keep them warm, we are supplementing the grass with hay still. And running around (well not actually running in my case....A cold North wind is not brilliant for PH lungs), to get them fed, and poo-picked as quick as so we can get back in the warm. I have more time to play with the photos I take!
Bad Hair Day For Sweet Pea
Sweet Pea and Bee keeping warm
A Quick water-colour of Sweet Pea
This week I got a new groom! My poor mum who has always been scared of horses, popped in to pick me up yesterday. As I was just bringing Charlie in for a tidy up (His vision has been compromised lately by his very thick, long forelock), she found herself keeping him quiet. He is normally groomed by the gate to the field, or in the barn with the others. So this was actually his first time tied up to the post by the tack room alone. Not wanting her to be knocked over if he barged about, I gave her a bucket of carrots to keep him quiet.
Easily bribed lad, stood reasonably quietly for a feather, tail and forelock trim. At least I can now see his feet, and he can see......well everything. As much as I love him looking like Phil Lynott, or indeed Slash from Guns 'n' Roses, its probably better that he has some vision. It was a bit of a hatchet job, practical rather than pretty, but it will take some time to get the tail and feathers thinned nicely. I also managed to cut my finger with the scissors.....being on warfarin, there was copious amounts of blood😊
So poor little (big) Daisy seems to be recovering from her laminitis. In fact from Saturday onwards she has been tanking around as soon as we let her out. Seeing her trotting soundly across the stones, with her new lean look, I was tempted to enter her into the Grand National 😊
We are slightly scared to allow her back out full time though. So she continues to come in at night. And she hates it. She has taken to tossing her haynet over the door. And she has obviously been box walking. While this has contributed to her weight loss, its not nice knowing she is so stressed. Every day the droppings have been trodden in, and mashed up, making it a bit of a job mucking out. Saturday night she managed to knock her water over.....Not a small bucket I hasten to add, but a full size black dustbin! Box walking is not good.....a real sign of stress. At the end of the day horses are outdoors animals, they live in herds, they like to be able to run away. Stabling is not natural. When the rain is lashing down and the wind is howling, you may lie in bed happy that your horse is tucked up in cosy pjs in a nice warm stable. In reality the horse is feeling trapped......its hearing all the noise of the weather, and really wants the comfort of a herd, and the ability to run from danger.....
Worth a thought.....
Anyway here are the before and after pics of saturday night water escapade....
Before....nice cosy stable
And after....Trashed stable in true rock star fashion....................
We had to use the trailer.....And it took 2 trailer loads to empty it. We were seriously weighing up the pros and cons of leaving her out all night, with a grazing muzzle on.
Anyway racing round doing the fields we noticed Polly lying down. She had been down when we arrived....not unusual first thing..Charlie and Lu are usually asleep together when we arrive. But more unusual to get up and then down again. My colic radar buzzed. She didn't look right. We got her up to check her out. She wasn't sweated up but she was grinding her teeth. A sure sign with Polly that something hurts. Then she went down and rolled again. We brought her in for a bran mash, which she wasn't interested in. I walked her while Jo called the vet. Its not worth messing about with colic. Having had a very colic prone horse in the past (Skittles) , who eventually died from a twisted gut, I have always been able to spot colic a mile away. If you are not sure, call the vet. Signs are getting up and down a lot. Rolling. Looking at stomach. Kicking at stomach. Raised heart rate. Pinched lips. Sweating. Groaning. Not interested in grass. These have to be taken together. A horse may not show all these signs. But if you know your horse you should be able to spot discomfort or pain. But if it is simply having a roll, or kicking at a fly, don't panic. I once had someone inform me one of the Rda ponies had colic. Looking out of the window and watching him calmly munching grass, I asked, "What makes you think that?" The reply was, "He kicked at his belly. I read in a book that that means colic" Hmmmm it was summer....he was kicking at the flys. It is always worth spending time with your horse, in the field, just watching. Then you will know when its not right.
Anyway the vet appeared....pulled out a lot of sandy droppings from Polly. We are on very sandy soil. Unfortunately when the grass is short, and it rains, as it had Saturday night, they tend to pull the grass up from its roots, and eat it sand and all. Some horses are fine with it.....some have slightly less efficient guts and they get a build up of sand which gets stuck. After a shot of Buscopan and Bute, the vet tubed her. If you haven't seen this done before, a tube is passed up a nostril and pushed down into the gut. Then about a gallon of liquid paraffin and warm water is poured through a funnel into the gut. Not pleasant, but it usually gets things moving. Polly was a star, and didn't even need sedating. No drama there. Skittles used to fight, and rear and always had to be sedated. Then her nose would bleed and I would end up covered in blood, snot and whatever food came back up.
All this done, it was about time to bring Daisy back in. As the shetlands had just arrived back from their holidays, we were able to stable Polly too. What a difference that made to Daisy. Nice clean stable this morning. Both looking bright and chirpy. They have been turned out on long grass today, and will be in tonight......And then, hopefully they can both go back out full-time.
I hope a few people have watched the video of Charlie (real name Sparky) by now, and have seen what a lovely pony he is. He is sweet, affectionate, cheeky, trusting, nosy, and funny. Not to mention he has fantastic conformation and stunning paces. If if wasn't for http://www.blossomsrescue.co.uk/, he wouldn't even be alive. Please check out the website. This isn't a huge rescue centre like ILPH or Redwings.......but a small concern run by one dynamic lady called Sara Higgins. They also rescue dogs, cats, chickens.....if it is in need of rescue, rest assured Sara will be on it. With a a few voluntary helpers, Sara looks after all the rescue animals herself....on a shoestring. Trust me if I lived closer I would be helping.
So if you can help in anyway please do......If you check out the site, you can donate......or if you live nearby, maybe take on a rescue pony or dog.
Believe me it is way more rewarding to see an animal that has had a bad start in life develop into something special.
Does this look like a rescue pony??????
This week has been all about Daisy. Poor girl has got Laminitis out of no-where. Well obviously the grass has been growing, but not so's you'd notice. Her feet have been growing too and she was ready for the farrier a week ago. Seeing she was a bit footy on Tuesday, we brought her in, with lots of steamed hay and feeds of chaff and bran and bute. We turned her out Wednesday, as she isn't keen on being in, and was walking much better with boots on. Thursday she was laying flat out in the sun. Actually they all were, but bringing her in for the farrier, it was clear she was in pain. He pursed his lips and sort of whistled....like mechanics do just before they tell you your car is worth little more than scrap. He says we need to keep her on the hat-rack side. Can't ever see Daisy looking like a hat-rack, she's more like a large passenger liner. They are all strip grazed, out 24/7, have basic meadow hay and very little hard feed. We only feed natural chopped chaff and bran, mainly to get supplements in. And thats not very often. He even told us to stable her on shavings instead of the 3 year old barley straw. Luckily Jane (who has the 5* Shetland Hotel) had shavings and even delivered them to us.
This is Daisy, awaiting shavings delivery, in a classic text book laminitic stance. Notice the weight all on the back end, front legs pushed forward to relieve pressure on the toes. Luckily we had some padded boots/shoes for her, The type they use for endurance. and rubber mats in the stable.
This morning she was so much brighter, we let her out in a grazing muzzle for a couple of hours, free-range as the grass is older and longer, and therefore not as packed with sugar. She wandered off up to see the others at a pleasing speed. Jo has ordered her a bigger, sheepskin padded muzzle for when her feet are better. Although the one she has is large, it rubs long term.
And Stretchhhhhhh
