The Challenge Is Over, Will Someone Please Turn Up The Heat! And Goodbye Prudence.

 So the Top Barn 12 Week Challenge 2023 is officially over!  Charlie and I completed the Silver Premium, which equates to 5 hours training every week (except the Holiday Week).  I'm not gonna lie......Its been hard doing this all on the ground, even with The Agility Practice to keep us busy. One of the things I wanted to do was get Charlie used to my noisy clippers.  And clip his great furry feet.  One of the things I have learnt was that he is now not scared of the clippers, but of any form of leg tidying.....or even touching!!!  Its all my fault.  Last year I was using sheep shears to clip his legs. With a very pointy end.  He spooked at something and the pointy end stuck in the bulb of his heel!  No big deal really. Lots of blood but no infection or anything, due to me administering lots of stinging iodine.  But it seems he hasn't forgotten this incident.  Which is odd, because today (after only 2 days off) he has completely forgotten how to cross a tarpaulin with me on his blind side!

The other thing I wanted to work on was building some chest muscle.  This we have achieved with a lot of polework and reverse round pen stuff. This is all with a view to finally riding himself. With this in mind I have been tacking him up a lot and mounting, sitting there and dismounting.  We are both bored with this now!

As we went into March the False Spring vanished and the Snow came.  It didn't amount to much, but it's been bloody cold this month. And wet (which is good), and windy (which is definitely not good). As I write the temperature is dipping to zero again. The Daffodils are out, but The Blackthorn Blossom is still very much out. And so The Blackthorn Winter continues!  Please someone turn up the heat.

Poor Daisy had colic again last week.  Its not looking good in the long term. Yes we are on sandy soil and sand colic is common when the grass is short. The ponies pull up the short grass and ingest the sand with the roots. But twice in a month is not that great.  Daisy is 23 now, and never had colic before this year. In my experience at her age this will happen more frequently now. So we have put them on the Spring Grazing a little early.  It could do with a bit longer to grow, but needs must. Meanwhile Charlie has lost his brain cell in the grass somewhere. Not only has he forgot his Agility Course (and we only have 3 days left to get it right), he managed to rear up with the Farrier tonight, while the Farrier was holding a hind leg up! 

And now its time to get the tissues out. On March 7th, Prudence the dog crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  Prudence was Jo's dog and came everywhere with her, so was at the Yard every day. She was such a character.  Sweet and loving, and funny.  She pulled such funny faces.  She had me wrapped around her dew claw, and conned half my food out of me each day.  She was great friends with my old dog Scrumpy, and patiently put up with my new pup hanging off her wattle. 

Without her the Yard felt very odd and empty. Freya (my dog) is banned from the place due to being big and scary and a committed horse herder. Jo had never been dogless before and asked me how long it took to get used to it.  My honest answer?  Forever, or until you get another dog. Luckily a Bulldog needed a new home, so Jo has a new companion and we have a new yard dog.  Dolly the Bulldog who is about 4 years old and was used for breeding. She is adorable and is healing our broken hearts. 

Run Free Sweet Prudence, and give your old mukker Scrumpy a kiss from me x

Top Barn Challenge Is Nearly Done, A False Spring and The Lurgy

 Wow the Top Barn 2023 Winter Challenge is nearly done!!  How many people are still with us?  We are just beginning Week 10. Charlie and I still have our Rollover Week and our Holiday Week in hand.  We have banked 2 hours and 40 minutes. This means we can do a Rollover Week of 2 hours and 20 minutes.  I'm thinking that may be this week.  Then it will leave 5 hours next week, meaning we will finish a week early. We have managed a Rhi's Random each week (including a couple of Ridden, even though Charlie is not Ridden). Unbelievable to think when this ends we will already be 3 months into the 'New Year'. 

The Weather has been pretty kind.  Top Barn Challenges normally herald the beginning of Storms, Torrential Rain, or Beasts From the East bringing 6 foot snow drifts. As it is February has had a False Spring. NO rain (not good for grass growth) and some lovely days of sunshine and double figure temperatures.  I even rode out with no coat and my sleeves rolled up.  Sadly the temperatures have dropped severely and we are expecting snow by the morning.

That ride out........ Meg rode Lulu, I rode Daisy and ponied Charlie off her.  Daisy being the unflappable nanny pony and all. We went down a bridleway that goes through a campsite.  The Campsite is lovely with lots of fishing lakes.  The owner is the opposite to lovely and hates the fact the Bridleway runs through his land. He was soon monitoring us on his Quad Bike. No drama.  We passed through his land and went to look at the Ford which was pretty empty.  From that point its a very long way back via roads, or a turn around.  We turned around.  Nearly back through the campsite when a swan stood up and flapped its wings.  Daisy the Unflappable, had a malfunction and took off, Charlie having no choice but to come along.  Its hard to pull up 2 Cobs at once!  The Swan kept flapping. By now I had Daisy to a steady plunge/buck and Charlie had chilled out.  Lulu in the meantime, slightly ahead hadn't noticed a thing.

For most of the last month I have had some sort of Lurgy. Snotty, coughing, and absolutely exhausted.  Not Covid. I tested twice (due to looking after my elderly Mother).  The cough is still loud and clear, but today for the first time in weeks I have felt energetic.  I even hoovered the gaps between my floorboards.  Heres hoping thats the end of that!!!!

So I couldn't do a Blog without mentioning Horse Agility.  Charlie and I submitted our February classes mid Feb, so had a long wait for the results.  I am pleased to say we scored a 99/100 for WO Silver Liberty earning us a 1st Place, and 96/100 in the WO OLHA Medium Level which got us 2nd place. 

We have also been following Connection Training, which has shown us both how to relax and chill out, instead of rushing from one behaviour to another.  I have jumped up on him a few times, without moving (Obs I had to move, but he didn't) and he has been very calm about it.  Onwards and Upwards to riding!!

See y'all on The Other Side.