An Excellent Day And Mice in Feathers

Today we had the farrier.  They all came in....The Shetlands shared a stable and at one point were both rolling in the straw at the same time....How Cute! Good job they didn't get their legs tangled!  Daisy had the other stable, Lu and Charlie tied up outside, and Polly free-range.  Once Charlie was done we moved him up a bit so i could wash his feathers in Maseleb shampoo.  It kills everything...ticks, lice, mites, fleas......His feathers are so thick, he could have a whole flock of birds nesting in them. But he has been scratching his legs a lot, and I don't want to take the feathers off as they are fab. When the farrier asked what I was using, I told him, a very expensive (£24 a bottle) shampoo which killed mice! Of course I mean to say lice and mites.....but you never know, there may be mice in there along with the flock of birds.  
He was an angel.  I then cut a bridle path, just so the headcollar has a place to sit.  I was also able to trim his beard, thin his feathers, thin his forelock and thoroughly brush out his mane and tail......He was almost nodding off.
Until we moved Lu to the other side of the farriers van so Polly could be done. Lu had a moment of thinking she had been shut out, and barged between the van and barn.......Not really enough space for a thoroughbred, let alone a Haflinger. That woke everyone up.
Daisy, who has been a bit lame, has laminitis again.  As she only seemed a little lame on one leg, we thought she had a slight sprain.....but on the concrete she was clearly doing the laminitis stance. 'She hasn't lost weight' the farrier exclaimed, to which Jo and I replied in stereo......'Oh yes she has'.  It could have turned into a panto at that point.  He suggested we leave her in to stress and box walk the weight off.  We don't want to put her in that situation, so she is out with the shetlands now.  She should be getting the prescribed diet of 9lbs of fresh air and a bucket of water.
Once they were all done, we went in for a coffee. The farrier said he wouldn't need to do Charlie next time unless I did a lot of road-work. I laughed and told him how long it had taken me to get a head-collar on.  I then said I felt a bit pressured by my peers who had 4 year olds that they were hunting and driving. He reassured me that going slowly and building up his trust was the right way forward with his back ground and said, and I quote "There's not a bad bone in that ponies body. Once you have his full trust he will do anything you ask".
Hell YEAH!