Summer Is Here, Agility. Lameness. And Ragwort

 So Summer is definitely here.  Despite NOT being a weather channel I am British, so I will bang on about the weather. Its been HOT.  I mean REALLY HOT. Like 'Broken All Records' Hot. Suffolk recorded 38c last Monday. Tuesday was slightly cooler at 37c.  Since then the temperature has dropped to between 23c and 31c. The ponies have coped surprisingly well, despite being Natives and more used to rain and cool.  They don't seem at all bothered in fact. We have coped as well, getting used to the heat and shivering slightly as the temperatures dropped to 20c. What isn't coping so well is our fields which are standing hay (burnt grass) and dust. Perfect for the ponies!! Unfortunately the Ragwort is taking over. Being on sandy soil and dry it is having a party. Every single day we dig the stuff up even in the Winter.  But this year it's got beyond our control, so its a case of digging it up when we move the fence back. I swear when the world ends and the planet is burning, the Ragwort will survive (as will the flies).  We have barely had a drop of rain for the whole of July (0.6 mm according to the local news) , so please send some asap.

Charlie and I have been ploughing on with our Agility. We have almost completed the Level 2 training. And we entered our first ever competition.  And came 2nd.  I am so pleased with him.  He is loving it, to the point when he sees me altering the course he is leaving his field-mates to the grass and waiting at the gate. A far cry from the pony that once took 2 weeks to catch!!!  We are fired up with the competing and have just entered the Liberty Trophy class.

https://youtu.be/CX6lt5SECIY

Having neglected his riding training, last week I had him in the school with Debbie and Lu.  While they were titivating Lu, I tacked him up. No adverse response. Parked him at the Mounting Block. Cool as Cucumber. Got up on Block. Still cool. Leaned over him.....no response.  Got on him, still laid back as a recliner.  At this point Debbie came to his head,  and we went for a wander around the school including weaving through the cones.  Of course the Pivo decided to go on strike at this point! 

But Charlie needs to step up as my riding pony.  If I can stop doing Agility for a day!!!  Having had Daisy shod last month we managed 2 hacks before she went lame. That was due to the wet June and the green grass (At this point I have forgotten the meaning of wet and grass). So that worked out at £26 a ride! 

Sound and shod again, we managed 2 hacks.  Catching her in for hack number 3, I was excited to bring my costs down.  Alas she trotted in lame. Only on one foreleg and more un-level than lame. I checked her feet for stones, the heat ( or lack of) in her hooves,  any swellings or hot spots in her leg. Nada.  No clue as to what is wrong, so can only put it down to the hard ground, a tweak somewhere. So please send us RAIN.  Our ponies need it!!!

 

Meeting TopBarners and More Agility

 It seems like ages since I last updated all 30 odd of you.  So Sorry. I seem to have been buzzing like a bee. 

Anyways going back to June. I may have mentioned Summer was a late starter.  It rained.... A Lot!  As a result our grass was green.  Inevitably just as I was starting the Top Barn 100 mile Stage of The Summer Challenge (Which involved me clocking up the miles on Daisy while leading Charlie), Daisy went lame. Nothing major, but as she has EMS she has a problem processing sugar. Green Grass = Sugar = Daisy gets a touch of Laminitus!  We immediately cut back the daily allowance of new grass along the track system.  Daisy was booted (and buted) and we had to feed hay to fill up their bellies, instead of grass.  Oh how we moaned and groaned....feeding Hay in June blah blah.

So short of some sort of miracle, where Charlie was happy to be ridden for more than 5 seconds, or my lungs were suddenly restored to that of a 60 year old,  The 100 Mile Challenge was no longer. Still I was happy that we had completed 3 stages of the Challenge, and set about the Agility.

Having passed the Stage One Agility, I joined the Club and enrolled on Stage 2. Where we have been stuck for an Eternity, or so it seems. The Blueprint goes like this.....Walk forward with Horse on a Loose rope, Horse must take first step. Halt on command with a loose rope...yeah yeah no worries.  Move to end of rope and count to 3. Horse must not move!  Well that's just way too far away as far as Charlie is concerned. After some 700 million attempts, he will now just about wait 3 Seconds.  So on to backing up.  A gap in our training has appeared. If I look at Charlie, point a finger and say "Back up" he will. For as long as I want.  BUT.  I have to be beside him and we move back together. After another 700 million tries we have nearly got it.  We are both bored now!

And so we will set this aside, and play with the Obstacle course which is far more fun. And I have neglected the saddling and mounting, so its back to that next week.  Daisy is sound again, so we can continue getting out and about with Charlie in tow. Anyone fancy a hack?  

So with the Top Barn Summer Challenge done as far as I could, and all the other stresses building up (mostly my Nurse Ratchett approach to looking after my Mother), I decided on a road trip.  I have known Amanda before Top Barn.  We 'met' on The Horse Tricks Club site 4 years ago. Both being Brits and both having 'difficult' ponies we clicked. I invited her to join Top Barn a couple of years ago.  Throughout all my stays in hospital Amanda has been my rock, checking in with me daily.  As I live in East Suffolk and Amanda is in Co. Durham it was a bit of a trek.  But as I had a day trip to Papworth Hospital booked in, I decided as it was 1.5 hours nearer, it was the ideal springboard for a visit.

After all the usual prodding and poking, I headed North up the A1.  Having stopped at the familiar Ferrybridge services (near Leeds) I thought I must be nearly there.  I put the Sat Nav on at that point and was gobsmacked when it informed me to stay on the A1M for the next 57 miles!!  Eventually i arrived in Co. Durham and found Amanda and her husband Colin at their small-holding.  I met Shadow (he is Enormous) and some rather scary bullocks! Amanda stayed with me the night at the Small-holding and we did a little Wild Camping. Coffee brewing on the Twig Burner and home cooked treats from Amanda. Bear Gryllls  eat your heart out!!  Next day we went back to Amanda's house and chewed the cud some more.  I really didn't want to leave. But I had to be home that night ready for Nurse Ratchett duties the next day. And so with a brief stop at Seaham for some sea-glass hunting (But that's my other life), I drove and drove.

I staggered back into reality like a Zombie.  By the end of the week, just as I was feeling nearly normal a shout out went out on Top Barn from Paula Gough.  Did anyone live near Lowestoft as she was on holiday. Well Yep we were on her way home, so Paula came to visit the ponies.  I think this should become a thing. Any Top Barner on holiday should shout out where they are and visit another Top Barner.  We could become a group of Top Barnarners!!

BTW If anyone is interested.....I still have a lump on my eyebrow!!