Hope you all had a Happy Xmas, and Wishing you a Happy New Tier. I mean Year! Yes as we rush headlong into 2021, we here in Suffolk are in virtual Lockdown again, having been placed in Tier 4 on Boxing Day. For anyone reading this outside of Britain, here is a brief explanation!?! To combat the plague our government has put us into a Tier system, depending on how bad the plague is locally. At the moment Tier 4 is the worst place to live!!! Essentially it means pubs, restaurants, non essential shops, gyms, cinemas etc are shut. We must not mix with other households indoors. We must not travel out of Tier 4 into other Tiers. We must not stay away from home. However this does not seem to apply to the 10,000 Londoners who have flocked to The East Coast to spend Xmas in their Holiday Homes! We are sharpening our Pitchforks and preparing flaming torches!!!!!
Somewhat lacking Xmas spirit, I only decided at the last minute to recreate The Nativity Play with our ponies. None of them are trick trained, except Charlie, and he is only beginning his journey into the world of tricks. What could possibly go wrong?? I had a title....The NAGtivity play. And the cast.....Charlie as Joseph, Daisy as the Virgin Mare-ry (although as she is the only one to have had foals, is the least Virgin like), Lulu in her golden magnificence as The Angel (and the Bar Keeper), the 3 Minis as The Wise Ponies (Mini also had a part as the Town Cryer), and of course The Maligator as a lone Dutch Shepherd. Ok so she is a Mali, but had Dutch Shepherd blood. Prudence the Bull-Dog desperately wanted a part, so I made her the Director and The Elf and Safety Officer.
Now to film the scenes with a bunch of ponies not trained to perform certain actions (like standing where they are put, holding things, ringing bells etc). I started with Lulu as she at least ground ties. However I was unsure is she would like being dressed up, especially the Angel wings attached to her ears!!! But she was a superstar!
Charlie and Daisy were a challenge!! Although they live together, they have a strange relationship. They nag each other like an old married couple, but in their field they have Lulu to sort out any squabbles. Without Lu as a referee, I just kept filming and got some good bits!! Daisy decided she must be a film star, and acted like a Diva, with more dressing room Riders than Christina Aguilera!
The mini herd were as good as.....almost!! Mini was a star, ringing the Bell briefly as The Town Cryer. Unfortunately she thought she had done her bit, and as a Wise Pony, ate her gift of Burrs. Lily has never been dressed up before, and was a little wary of her clothing.....and her gift of Frankies Mints! Coco happily accepted the Costume and was happy to hold (and eat) her gift of Golden Hay. The main problem was stopping them wandering off!!
Both dogs played their parts well, and with the use of a voice changer and a LOT of editing THE NAGTIVITY was made........
https://youtu.be/OvTbrPbw1Yk
And so as we free fall into 2021, we are ready for the snow and The Top Barn Challenge. Happy New Year. x
