Its been quite a week........
Poor little Mini has been missing her friend Sweet Pea badly...as are we. So we have borrowed a Shetland friend for her. Piggy, a little boy who is even smaller than Mini. He is besotted by her. Not sure she feels the same, but it has perked her up anyway. I think she may be feeling irritation rather than sadness at the moment, as he follows her about constantly. Not to mention Dora who has decided Mini was HER bff and is constantly trying to come between them. Polly is ignoring everybody.
And so on Tuesday we had a Pony Day...with 10 girls and errr 1 boy. The boy most definitely did NOT want to be there, but had no choice as his mum Eli was teaching. He spent a fair bit of time in the tack-room on his I-Pod ....Sensible boy!! The temperature naturally was about 28c (Nothing natural about that for England, but after 2 months of hot dry weather it has become the norm).
Elis' daughters (Grace and Georgie) rode their ponies (Twix and Sammie) over to help out. Jo bought the entire glitter supply for Europe, spare crisps and squash, and by 9.30am we were ready for the arrival of clients at 10.30am. We even made a make shift toilet in a stable with tyres and paper!!
Upon arrival, the girls had the safety talk, and learned where to go in the event of a fire. Then it was catch in, groom and tack up time. The girls were split into two groups......Group A having a lesson, while Group B helped with poo picking, including a ride in the trailer, then we swapped.
Lunchtime saw the girls turning out the ponies for a welcome rest, and drink, before we all returned to the relative shade of the tack-room for a picnic lunch and a super-fun session running, cartwheeling and jumping through the sprinkler until everyone was thoroughly wet. When I say cartwheeling...that didn't apply to the adults!!!
Then it was off to get Polly and Mini back in for Glittering. Freddie the only boy, having enjoyed the sprinkler, (and having his character on his game killed off), joined in and found he was actually having fun!! The ponies being suitably decorated were then used for gymkhana games (in walk and trot only as the ground is so hard). We used Sammie and Polly for Gymkhana, while Mini was de-glittered. Sammie and Polly are both old hands and you could see them raring to go as were some of the riders.....but we kept it calm!
Very quickly 3pm came around and parents appeared to pick up children. Those that were left helped me bath and turn out Polly. (I don't mean they were left indefinitely!!) We all had a really fun, if hot, day. There were NO TEARS which has to be good. Only squeals and laughter. We are already planning the next one......Maybe on a cooler day!!
And as the heat wave continues and gets hotter Mark The Mechanic (and part-time horse whisperer) and Jo spent yesterday creating shade for the small ponies with the lorry and some tarpaulin. The bigger ponies had their field extended to include the shady dip. Were they grateful??? Were they ****.
This morning saw them all out of their paddocks, having trashed the minis paddock!! Luckily the paddocks are enclosed in the 3 Acre Field which is surrounded by stock fencing and thick hedges of trees and gated and padlocked. And so Jo and I spent all morning repairing the damage. Thankfully Charlie didn't take the lorry to pieces, which is a miracle as he loves vehicles!!!
It is with great sadness that I must report that Sweet Pea passed over the Rainbow Bridge on Tuesday. It was a complete shock. She hadn't been ill and was only 18. Jo found her dead in the field in the morning. There were no signs that she had been stressed, or in any pain. We can only conclude that her heart gave out. Although she seemed fit and well, we have no idea what damage may have been caused by her early life.
Jo rescued Sweet Pea as a yearling from the back of a truck at Watton Horse Fair. She was shivering inside the truck, with ribs you could stack dinner plates in, covered in lice and had Strangles and Pneumonia. Jo had to borrow a trailer to bring her home in, with another Shetland, suffering from Strangles as well which her friend Jane bought. Jo's vet thought it best to put her to sleep.
Jo thought otherwise.... She fed her with a turkey baster, and gave her daily injections of antibiotics. Slowly both ponies turned around and became fit and well.
Despite such horrific treatment at the hands of humans, Sweet Pea turned into the sweetest pony, teaching many children to ride over the years. She was never bad tempered or difficult, although she had a few hang ups. She was greedy......having once been starved, Sweet Pea would scoff for Britain. We had to strip graze her, as given a whole field of grass she would not stop eating. She didn't like having a grazing muzzle on, preferring to rear up and over backwards than have it on. And injections (or maybe just vets?).......The vet had to be quick!!!
3 years after the rescue, Jo bought Mini (Winter Jasmine) . The two mares were inseparable ever since. Wherever one went, the other was sure to follow. Together they were the most loving rascals. Mini, having never suffered at the hands of humans, is more self assured and opinionated. Whenever we brought a new pony in, Sweet Pea would be the first to make friends, Mini reserved judgement. In all their adventures and break outs i am never sure who instigated it. I think it may have been Mini, but she then pretends she was just following Sweet Pea. However, Sweet Pea was always the first to be caught, and then Mini followed.
Sweet Pea was never needy...She would come for a cuddle, but patiently wait behind Mini ( who demands attention). She was calm in all situations. She just was. Only last year, she piloted Nancy with mum Meg in their first show at the Suffolk Showground, coming first in the class. She could always be trusted to nanny children.
We are sorely missing her. Mini, who was laying by her body, is extremely sad. Dora, who only knew her for a short time, but was her friend is very needy at the moment, as is Lu who grew up with her. And us humans? We are heartbroken.
Run free Sweet Pea......There are a lot of people mourning you...xx
Ok I am being very English again and giving a weather report!!!! Its been HOT!!
For the last 3 weeks its been up in the high 20's with blazing sunshine every day. Being by the coast we have had the odd cooling breeze, but NO RAIN. Being English we like a bit of rain, its what we're used to. Our grazing now consists of standing hay, the ponies leaving behind a dust bowl with no signs of life. We are already starting to think the grass will never come back. Oh yes...Very English....Moan about the weather!!!!! I actually like the heat, I have an awesome tan, But.......Just a bit of rain would be gratefully received.
We have been continuing with the kids lessons.....Polly who was born to teach children is loving it, and positively skipping around. The big girls have had a few gentle hacks, and have been fairly laid back. Charlie is being Mr Superstar. The clicker training is paying off. I have been working at getting him to stand still at the mounting block whilst 'targeting ' a traffic cone. Its working. I can now lay a leg over his back, or lean on him.....when he backs up, I say target and he moves forward to the cone.
As England are doing well in the World Cup (that is if you are reading this before the match against Sweden) , I have been playing with an England flag. Charlie was more than happy to hold it in his mouth and wave it!! Lu was very wary of it. Funny how the baby is just curious, but the herd leader is cautious!!
Today we took Polly and the Shetlands to a local school fete. Yes we crammed all three into a trailer as it was just 2 miles away. We were given a spot next to the Bouncy Castle and I am happy to report that none of them batted an eyelash when it was inflated. We spent a happy couple of hours with the children pouring glitter over the ponies (unicorns) and stenciling them. They were all really good......Until we were packing up.......
Although we had erected electric fencing it wasn't live, or very low! Polly had been freed first as she never wanders off. So we let the Shetlands loose to graze aswell. BIG MISTAKE!! Never, Ever, Ever Trust A Shetland Pony!! After grazing near to us in angelic manners, they suddenly took off at high speed to the opposite side off the fence, ducked under and legged it down the school playing field. I started to run after them, was swiftly overtaken by Ellies Children and Chanice Who Helps On Saturdays, remembered my dodgy lungs and dicky ticker and slowed to a walk. Out on the bridleway at the bottom of the school I could here lots of giggling, and the girls appeared with the somewhat chastised Shetlands in tow. Like I said.....Never Trust a Shetland!
