Top Barn Challenge - Week 2 and 3

 Well our Top Barn Challenge is going great guns (touch wood), (Well touch anything wood like, Formica, plastic that looks like wood, chipboard, that horrible wood chip wall paper!!).

After having 2 weeks of Fence related incidents, we though 'What the Hell, lets start Week 3 with a little bit of Fencing'. We wanted to move the ponies over to the other side of the 4 Acre.  Apart from Lu getting impatient with the slowness of the move, and going under and through the fence midway through the moving, there was no drama.  Does that count as going under something??

In week Two while I was busy getting Charlie to drag a branch whilst in harness (which he had only worn once before), Lu ejected Jo with some force, while freaking out over a swinging Barn Door. Jo hung on to Lu, and cut her finger quite badly in the process. I don't do human blood, but managed to hand her a plaster. Nurse Ratchet at your service!!!!  Not to be put off by such things, Jo was up on Lu the next day.  This is the power of THE CHALLENGE!

Charlie and I practiced Long Reining in tack, Clicker Training with the Clippers and a solo walk out in hand down the lane.  We met a dog . In a Fluorescent Jacket. With a very nice owner. Despite being VERY used to dogs, this one was obviously different. A DIFFERENT dog in a DIFFERENT place. Out of Comfort Zone. Charlie became 15hh and managed Airs Above The Ground. 

In Week 3 we had very high winds (45mph). Storm Christophe or something. Jo went off riding Lu.  This is something she would never have done before Top Barn 2020!! The effect has rolled over into 2021!!  With Lu gone, Charlie was being a dick, so we had some fun in the Wind, in our 'so called School'. I kind of love the wind (even though it takes my breath away, which is not helpful with Dodgy Lungs).  The child in me wants to play, run wild.  The Child in Charlie wants the same thing. So we ran (well he did, I puffed like the Flying Scotsman), we (he) pinged over jumps.  I was trying to get a nice liberty jump over cross poles to tick off a Mini Challenge, but the Patchy Twat kept jumping Wing. Note to self....Make X pole higher!!!! Still we danced in the Wind together and had FUN!!

On Friday, both Jo and I opted for some Pamper Time.  Lulu LOVES being pampered. Charlie HATES it. He also HATES being tied and pulls back. He has broken more string than I have had hot dinners. And I'm 54, so I've had quite a few hot dinners! Anyway I cross-tied him.  It almost worked.  He only broke one piece of string. But I managed to comb out his mane, tail and feathers, and apply the dreaded Mite Powder. He almost looks cared for!!!  While we were in the Barn, I backed him into a stable, and got the clippers on his withers while he was eating. A major achievement as he normally leaves the county as soon as the Clippers are turned on!

Saturday.....I just casually tacked him up....yeah....and casually half mounted.

Yesterday (Sunday) was really cold. I went off for a walk with Charlie.  Got as far as The 3 Acre Field, and decided to try and write some rude words using the Equilab App. Small things etc!!!!!  Twat and Tit went wrong ( I must work on my T's), but my greatest achievement of the week was.....POO.

See You all in a couple of weeks, when our Mid Challenge Challenge will be revealed.

Top Barn Challenge - Week One and Coco's Results

 OK so lets start with little Coco. When her bloods came back from her initial Cushings test her ACTH levels were around 135.  I have no expertise in Vet Blood Tests!  But 135 is high.  Normal ponies have ACTH levels of around 13.  Please don't ask what ACTH is!!!!!  Something to do with Cortisol, Insulin levels! What we do know is that Cushings is similar to diabetes in humans and the ability to process sugar levels in the normal way.  So Coco has been on Pracsend (a Cushings Drug) for 5 weeks.  She has also had homeopathic and herbal treatment (but please don't tell the Vet). In that 5 weeks her improvement has been outstanding.  Her ACTH levels have dropped to around 30.  The Vet was gobsmacked!!  Pracsend doesn't normally work miracles that quickly. She is slowly gaining muscle.....and better still for us.....she has become a cheeky madam!!  We let her graze free range for a couple of hours daily. She is now cantering away when we try to catch her to put her back with the others. That might not be a Win for some people. But for us, it shows her personality coming out, and her energy levels and zest for life!!

And so the long awaited Top Barn Challenge is GO GO GO. We all started Day 1 with great enthusiasm, despite the rain.  Jo chose to tidy Lu up, while I did some Treat Manners with Charlie.  Meg went big with Daisy and took her off to what we call "The School".  A roped off area measuring nothing like a school!!!!  Daisy was having a frilly moment.  Meg took Jo off to see what she was doing. After some time had passed I realised I could hear a commotion. Charlie and Lu were upset (in fact Lu was rearing up against the Barn sides).  So I turned them both out to find Daisy had run through the Stock Fence at the bottom of the "School" and had a foot trapped. Not only was her foot through the Stock Fence, but she had somehow got it UNDER her shoe!!!  A tense hour passed, while we tried every cutting device we had, to no avail. By the time Daisy had consumed every apple and carrot we had, not to mention a hastily filled hay-net (Thank you Nancy - aged 7 - for filling it up quick smart), Jo manged to borrow some heavy duty wire cutters, and we finally freed the idiot!!  Luckily the Farrier was due the next day, as Daisy had managed to get some wire between her shoe and hoof!!!!!

With no harm done, we had a good week. By Saturday Jo and I had pretty much achieved our hours and ended Week one on a high.  We all went for walkies together. Jo riding Lu, and Meg and I long reining Daisy and Charlie.  The sun was out, and despite the fact the temperature never climbed above 3c we were all feeling Spring-like.  Meg then realized Covid had got the better of her and had to quit the Challenge. Meg works as an OT and Nancy her daughter is only 7.  With the whole of the UK in Lockdown, Nancy was home-schooling again. Only this time Home-schooling doesn't mean 5 hours of PE and Nature.  This time round poor Nancy has to actually attend online lessons, so Meg has now become teacher and health care worker!  Never mind, there's always next year.

Jo and I started week 2 with a solid 45mins of training. We bounced into Day 2 fully intending to bag another hour as the sun was out and the temperature up to a tropical 5c.  But we were met with the sight of all the small ponies in with Daisy, and Charlie and Lu in the Minis paddock.  After Minor heart attacks, we discovered that there was not a single scrape on any pony. However the Electric Fencing between the paddocks was trashed!! Electric string broken and tangled up like a ball of wool mangled by a kitten, 4 fence posts shattered into pieces and the Paddock cut up like a Full six Chukkas of Polo had been played.  It took us a precious hour to fix it all up!  Turns out Lily has come into season.  Charlie is in lurve.  But so is Lulu. Lily is a hussy. She has been flashing, squirting and flirting over the fence, then when she gets the attention she wants, from either the Alpha Mare, or The Gelding, neither of which are capable of scratching her itch, she strikes out at the fence.  Tune in next week to find out what fence related incident has thwarted our Challenge!!!!!