Yes we have completed Week 10 of the Top Barn Challenge. We have had our Rollover week, but not a Holiday week, so technically Week 11 is the last to complete the challenge, but I am still expecting snow! Ok so the last week has been mostly sunny.....I can feel the warmth of the sun, and layers have been stripped off.
Charlie has been full of spring grass, even though we cannot actually see it growing yet. It may be all in his belly. It is showing in his springy heels!!!
We have not been totally connected.....Charlie has his mind on fresh grass and the mares (probably in that order), so we have spent the last couple of weeks playing at Liberty and working on a dance routine. However although I haven't actually got on him, we are getting close.
We have also been working on our Stressage Competition. What was I thinking? Back in the day, I hated Stressage, the most boring part of ODE. And that was ridden! In-Hand Stressage? Am I crazy? I have to run! With my Dodgy Lungs!! But anyway we are sort of getting there. Jo filmed a couple of run-throughs today for me. Charlie was fairly good. But I wasn't satisfied. So back I went this evening with Mark The Mechanic and Horse Whisperer for yet another take. Although willing to work, Charlie decided it was too dark to trust me on his blind side. I would say he 99% trusts me, but when he is struggling with what he can see.....At the end of the day (literally) I am not a horse!! Yup Sorry to break that to you! With his feral background he still looks to other horses to keep him safe.
So more filming to come (sorry Jo).
As much as I have loved my 4th Top Barn Challenge, I may have to take a week off to recover at the end. Its all been a bit hard core. I am still looking after my Mum 4 days a week. And the Winter seems to have dragged on (even though its getting warmer). It's the extra work involved in the Winter months that's the killer! Jo and I are on our knees!!! It hasn't helped this year that our Hay Barn is being restored. So our hay is delivered once a fortnight. It lives outside, so we have a daily battle with a gigantic tarpaulin and several hundred bricks and pallets to keep it warm and dry. We should be experts at putting up tents!
Daily we move 4 ponies onto the up-coming grass for 2 hours.(The other 2 stay on the night paddocks as they are Fat Fu****, I mean Good Doers). Then its a round of hanging up hay nets in the field, filling Hay Feeders, Filling Water Tubs, Poo-Picking, emptying Poo trailer, forking up Muck-heap, cleaning trailer, refilling Hay Nets and trailer with hay, bringing back 4 ponies onto night paddocks. At this point we are exhausted and need to stop for a coffee and a biscuit! We have help at the Weekends, but we desperately need weekday help! It's the hay wrangling that's killing us. SO.........
Do you have free mornings? Would you enjoy the fresh air and exercise? Would you like to share a loving Highland Pony in exchange for a bit of hard graft and a small contribution towards her keep? Daisy has so much to give, and although we love her very much, she would love to have her very own human that she doesn't have to share with the other 5. Daisy is a bombproof, but forward going Happy Hacker. She hacks out alone and in company, is very loving and sweet. She is in her 20's and is not going to set the world alight, but may well light up your world!
