Treasure Hunt Madness And Ragwort

 Well the Treasure hunt madness has truly been underway this month.  We finished the A.E.C hunt earlier in the month, and have been hard at it with Top Barn. The main aim is the miles. Daisy and I have until Friday to compete 7' miles.  We found the required list of 10 Treasure Items early on so as with a lot of Top Barners we are going for the full 50. Which is creating Treasure Hunt Madness Syndrome.  The main symptoms of this are riding up pointless dead end tracks just to get a picture of a Level Crossing for instance, or yelling out random words like MAGPIE, even though you are miles away from your Horse.  

Yesterday was a fine example of this madness!  Having problems getting a plane picture that doesn't look like a dot on screen, I was excited to find my home town was holding an air show complete with Fly By.  Only 5 miles from the Farm surely I would get my shot. Having found out the Fly By was scheduled for 2pm, with military precision I made sure Daisy and I were positioned in the middle of open Farmland with a 360 view of the skies. Not known for my ability to sit still, after 15 minutes I was bored.  We turned for home, me riding like some idiot looking behind or straight up to the sky.  Every distant motorbike sounded like an old plane so I pulled up again (outside my as yet un- spotted Celebrities House) , in the hope of a 2 for 1.  Not a thing. Reluctantly I set off home, only slightly cheered up by finally catching the pesky magpie on the drive.

                    

Having deposited Daisy back on the Track I was in the Tack Room when I heard the unmistakable drone of old planes.  There they were, right over my head. An hour late!  I leapt into my truck, gunned it up the drive like Michael Schumacher, round the Tracks, leaping out to roll under 3 electric fences and got my shot.

When I got home the OH had got this from the Kitchen Window!!

Meanwhile I have also managed to get Agility entries in for both ponies, despite a major fight with the grass in my Playpen.  It will NOT stop growing.  And neither will the Ragwort on the Summer Grazing.  This is the worst field for it and last year Jo and I uprooted thousands of the evil weeds. And still they are back in their thousands like some unstoppable green army.  We are back to lifting around a hundred plants each day. Thank you to the inventor of the Ragfork for making the job easier. I swear when the Earth is dying and has become as barren as Mars, Ragwort will still cover the entire planet!

All that hoping for a nice sunny May hasn't really worked.  Yes it's warmed up a bit and some days have been sunny.......but it's still rained way too much. So please can we hope a bit harder!!  

Will report back in a couple of weeks and let you know if my Celeb stalking paid off x

Treasure Hunts and Cavalry Horses

 So hands up who has had enough Weather? Here on the East Coast, we have been constantly battered by the North Wind bringing daily rain and freezing temperatures. I know the rain is good for the grass, but with a bunch of Natives we just don't want too much of it.  Daisy and Charlie are on an ever expanding Track system, and I expose a tiny amount of new grass daily.  Meanwhile in Enrichment Corner (under a lot of over hanging trees) they have four small holed haynets and a Likit.  The water is by the gate, the furthest point from the new grass.  I timed Daisy the other day and it takes her 3 minutes to amble all the way round.  Charlie goes at a flat out gallop so it's more like 3 seconds for him. Here's hoping May will finally bring us some sunshine 🌞.

We are now well into our Treasure Hunts. The A.E.C Spring Hoofprint Hunt has 2 more weeks to run and I am still looking for a 3 legged dog! As well as the Treasure we have done a couple of Challenges as well. And I'm loving looking at other people's pictures, and the excitement of the unknown Double points days. The Top Barn Treasure Hunt starts today. It's more about the miles than the Treasure, so I am only doing that with Daisy.  Trying to do 25 miles on foot with Charlie last year  damn neared killed me with my Dicky Ticker and Dodgy lungs!

Of course, both ponios are still doing Agility, although last month I only had a couple of days when I could keep my course upright.  And Charlie continues the long slow process of becoming a ridden pony.  So May is looking busy (and hopefully warm).

Now I rarely comment on Facebook posts, but a couple of days ago I saw a post from some Animal Rights activists (The same idiots that caused chaos at The 2023 Grand National).  After the tragic accident with the Cavalry horses in London (which I'm sure you all know about, unless you have been hiding under a rock) they have started a campaign to "free" all the Cavalry Horses so they can live in a Horse Sanctuary. They also claimed the horses live in appalling conditions!!!!! That really made my blood boil.  I've been to the Barracks twice to try out retired horses for the RDA.  They live in luxury. With people and other horses with them all day.  They are all in top condition.  Why don't these people actually go to a Horse Sanctuary to see the condition of the horses that are rescued?  After I had posted my opinion admin childishly looked at my Facebook profile, saw that I had had a win on this year's National and used that as a reason to diss my post.  And they are not even brave enough to allow me to reply or comment again!  

Anyway, some people will always remain ignorant, so let's forget about them and enjoy May.  Speak soon x