So its been pretty cold lately......scooping ice off the water cold. But the sun has been out, somewhat warming us up. Xmas Day we gave everyone a xmas feed. Boxing Day we moved the big ponies into the 4-Acre field....Our Winter grazing. The 3 smaller ponies are grazing off the whole of the Hill Field plus having a lot of Hay.
We wanted to go for a xmas day ride........but Jo and I are The Toxic Twins. Jo has a chest infection and is swigging anti-biotics followed by a Steroid Chaser, and I have my annual Xmas Cold. Full of snot and as weak as a new-born.
So just the basic care is enough at the moment. Normal people would be in bed.
But we are not normal.....we have horses. They need looking after, no matter what. As I always say 'Fresh Air never killed anyone'......except maybe Scott of The Antarctic.....and errr people dying of exposure, hypothermia....Ok pass me a spade!
And so today we had freezing fog. The first time i have felt really cold. Numb fingers an all. Checking the weather app (rather than going by feel), it said -3.
We upgraded Pollys rug, being old and somewhat bad-tempered with the Shetlands. Armed with thicker rugs for the big ponies we found the more sheltered 4-Acre field much warmer. The ponies all felt warm enough in just lightweight macs, so we left them happily munching on the still longish grass and went home to spend the afternoon on our respective sofas, swaddled in blankets and dogs.
Well what an exciting time.....Jo has only gone and bought a lorry. Its well cute. Ford Iveco, 2 horse, side loader. We went and picked him up last Saturday...I had the easier task of following her back in her Subaru. Oh yeah.....Its a boy lorry. Harry the Horsebox. Top tip here though......If driving a car with a seat-belt sensor do not have a loose Jack Russell with you. Or any dog come to that. Or a handbag! At first I was alarmed at the beeping....then I realized it was Scrumpy, my Jack making the beep. Unable to reach the seat-belt and plug it in at 60mph, I turned the radio up.....Which was fine until it starting playing the chart of 1966. No offence to 1966.....its when I was born, but i like slightly newer music. A plus point is Harry the Horsebox almost fits in the barn, thus becoming a really solid Dove-pigeon baffler. My other half came along Sunday to check out Harry......he's a mechanic....Mark the Mechanic. We waited with baited breathe until he pronounced we had a good un.
Over the last 3 days I have been taking pix of the ponies wearing xmas hats...Or trying to. Last year I photo-shopped a hat on Charlie and myself. This year, with the trust between us pretty strong he was happy to wear a hat and pose with me loose in the field for a selfie. Trouble is what with holding the hat on in the wind, and not having gorilla arms, the pix ain't that good. Daisy wore the hat but wouldn't stop eating, and Lu ran off snorting. The Shetlands on the other hand are born models. With smaller ears I was able to secure the hats and they stood and posed.
Meanwhile at the Rda we had our final session before xmas. We played pass the parcel. As the speakers are all packed away for the move I ran around holding my phone aloft as it played xmas songs. Oh did I mention I had an elf tee-shirt and hat on? Tilly wasn't at all sure of me.....I thought it was the music coming from my pocket, but it was the hat. After kneeling down to let her sniff the hat, she then realised it was just me. And guess what was in the parcels? Yes a carrot in all of them. All the riders got a pic of themselves mounted on a card.
So its Merry Xmas from me, The Super Model Shetlands, and Him.
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| The Shetlands |
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| Me and Charlie |
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| Harry the Horsebox |
Those Bloody Dove Pigeons!!! It didn't take long for them to not be scared of the tin foil. To say I was cross is an understatement!!! Jo heard the roar of anger from the fields....... So I found a roll of orange road workers stuff.....And the netting off the hay bales. More wobbling on a hay feeder, and very determined stretching, yards of baler twine and an hour later.....And the buggers can not get in now. Nor can we without un-tying all the baler twine and tying it back. We had the Farrier the other day, and he laughed his head off....he said it felt like entering a Moroccan Hareem Den ??????????? At least the horses were ok with it.
And so we have had the first frosts. Although the water pipes were frozen, and the Water Butts too, it was nice in a way.. At least the sun was out. Bizarrely its now back to grey cloud and double figures....So its rugs off again. Horses are designed to deal with the cold. Their coat hairs move to deflect the rain/cold and keep them warm. So i would rather they were a little cold, than sweating under rugs. We put the first lot of hay out when it got below zero, but they have so much old grass they are not overly interested.
At the RDA I drove Fern last week......first time driving in 8 years. I had forgotten how to hold the reins! Luckily she looked after me, and was so good we practised lowering the wheelchair ramp for the first time. Hopefully my riders and helpers are having fun lessons. Today we went out searching for hidden letters to Santa....and popped them all in the post box. They are all starting to get used to my over-active imagination!!
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| ice from water |
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| new dove pigeon trap |
