The End Of The Top Barn Challenge and Big Changes!

 Wow!  It's the end of Week 11 of The Top Barn Winter Challenge.  How fast has that gone? A lot of us have technically finished already, having not used our Rollover Weeks or our Holidays.  Charlie, having banked a full weeks hours, finished at the end of Week 10, and Daisy had just half an hour to do this week to make it a Rollover week.  They are both on Top Barn Holiday next week.  Although of course both will still be working.  So huge Well Done to everyone who has already finished, or will finish next week.  And Well done to those who tried, but had hitches with lameness etc.  The weather hasn't been a great help this year, with all of us in Britain having had enough rain to fill the Atlantic......not to mention the wind!!!! Oh how I hate the wind.  The Ponies don't mind it, after all they live out in it, but my Dodgy Lungs are even dodgier against a head wind.

But enough doom and gloom about the Weather!! Spring is officially here. We are very nearly at the Equinox. We are getting 12 whole hours of daylight now. The birds are singing, the Daffs are blooming and the trees are blossoming (Ah Choo).  It's actually been warm (13c) and occasionally sunny. The Ponies are shedding like mad.  Every time I groom Daisy, I end up wearing half a Highland Pony.  Charlie being younger isn't so bad. Today Jo and I took the poo rakes to Mini the Shetland and literally removed her top coat!  So only another 3 layers to go.  And as for the dog!!  Every time she moves, she leaves half a dog behind. So its out with Henry The Hoover every 10 minutes.  Top Tip.....Belgian Malinois are massive shedders! 

With the mild temperatures and the rain, our grass is growing like mad. Daisy can't have too much grass in one go having EMS (or whatever they call it now), so I have already started the track in the Spring Field.  They are having 2 or 3 hours out on it every day. Then coming back into the Winter Track which is bare, and has various hay stations. Once the new Spring track is long enough, they can go out on it full time with restricted access to lush grass.  Even this small amount of Green Goodness is causing Spring Fever.  Daisy is particularly prone to behaving like a teenager on Crystal Meth at this time of year.  Despite being 24, she fancied she was running at the Cheltenham Festival yesterday!  And to think I've been taking it easy with her, fearing that I would break her!!

And so we have had a massive change.  Lulu has gone out on loan. Jo is waiting for a new hip, so has been unable to ride Lu for a long time. She's a bright mare, and didn't enjoy being a field ornament. She has only gone up the road, to a Livery Yard run by my old friend Marie (we kept our horses together for years). If I was a horse I would want to live with Marie.  As the Boss mare, we did wonder how the dynamics would alter in our little herd.  Lu has been in charge for ever!!

In the first 45 minutes after Lu left, Charlie happily scoffed his face at the Hay Box, (having not been allowed to before, hence extra hay nets hanging in trees). The Shetlands didn't appear to notice and just carried on as normal.  Daisy, galloped around yelling her head off.  Eventually Charlie got fed up with the noise from Daisy, and went to her.  Nose to nose they seemed to have a conversation. After a few minutes, Charlie sauntered back to the Hay Box, followed by Daisy.  It's been very peaceful ever since.  Not sure who is in charge now.  Probably no-one. The remaining ponies are all very laid back. None of them would care if an alien spaceship landed in their field, as long as they had enough to eat. Lu was always on guard, alerting the others to a scary sheep, or plastic bag. Then she would wind herself up when they dismissed her fears.  Now with no pony bothering to do the Meercat thing, they are all completely laid back.  A bunch of Stoners!  As a Bonus, the electric fencing remains in place, the poo load is reduced, and I can get any pony in, without a major fight at the gate.  Sorry Lu!!

See you all next month.  P.S  I still need to get Charlie out hacking, so if anyone is willing to ride Daisy on some short hacks with me and Charlie in tow, please contact me.

A False Spring, Tricks Galore, and The Top Barn Challenge is Galloping By

 OMG Its February already!!!! Where did that long long month of January go? And whats with the English spelling of these early months (all this uary endings is stressing my spell check)?  So after a nasty January weatherwise, I'm now being lulled by this false spring and thinking of removing some layers.  Its been a calm, mostly sunny few days with the temperatures hitting double figures in the East. The nights are pulling out, the birds are singing and the snowdrops are out.  In fact on Tuesday I was so lulled by this False Spring that I did indeed shed some layers. Oh what a mistake.  The wind was bitter and out in the fields on the tractor I froze. Must remember that some of our worst snow-outs have been in February/March! But still, Spring is coming.......

I know a lot of people doing the Top Barn Challenge are having much worse weather than us, so Charlie and I are setting Charlies Challenges every week for a bit of fun, and ideas for things to do with your horse without moving from the field or stable. A long long time ago I joined Horse Tricks Club (find it on Facebook). We learned a lot of tricks, and so most of Charlies Challenges are trick related.  We have been going over some old tricks and its amazing that he remembers them all.  I have been working on a Maths Trick with him, but I'm not showing it here, because it will be a Charlies Challenge (Spoiler Alert).  I have to say I am crap at Maths and my OH (Mark the Mechanic and Part Time Horse Whisperer) laughed his head off when I said I had been teaching Charlie Maths! Next up Card Tricks!!

And as fast as the month has galloped by, so is The Top Barn Winter Challenge. We have already completed a Third of it. You may want to check this fact as I have already admitted my crap maths!  So far me and the ponies have kept up with our hours.  Charlie has banked one and a half hours, done all the Rhi's Randoms and 8 Mini Challenges.  Daisy is bang on target and has completed 7 Mini Challenges. I'm taking it very easy with her, due to her age and the length of time she had been retired. But she is totally enjoying the attention.

Both ponies have managed Agility entries this month. Charlie with his WO Liberty and OLHA and Daisy has tried Equagility!!!!  Having been only a brood mare and a Happy Hacker (being ridden in a Dutch Gag) she has never had any formal schooling and is only just learning Clicker Training.  She pulls like a steam train and isn't the sharpest tool in the box, but she is the sweetest Mare ever.  And we have to start somewhere.  Also she sucks her water!!!!!!

And so as a very special person used to say "Onwards and Upwards" and "To Infinity and Beyond".   Keep it up Top Barners.  And Good Luck to all the Agility entrants for the January Competitions.  

Oh and by the way......I have just entered the shady world of Tik Tok.  Charlie now has an account called er....er...Charlie The Trick Pony???? I think.  I'm doing the Tik Tok on my phone and the Blog on my Laptop, and I'm way too old to share any links.  We also have a YouTube channel (Charlie The Trick Pony) and Instagram (also Charlie The Trick Pony) and a Facebook page (also Charlie The Trick Pony) .  While I am plugging Social Media, I have 2 books available on Kindle. "The Ridgeway Romp" and "Tails From The Rda".  Sorry I can't share any links.......Thats Old Age!  

See you in Spring x

Cause For Celebration and The Top Barn Challenge Begins

And so the 2023 International Agility Club year ended.  Where would we end up in the League Tables?  I waited, chewed my nails, waited a little more, gnawed up to my knuckles. When the results came out i couldn't look.....literally. The site crashed!!  So I am absolutely humbled to announce that Charlie and I became European Champions and Reserve World Champions in the Walk Only Liberty League.  It was my very joking pledge at the beginning of the year......But I never thought we could pull it off!  I am full of pride for my boy, who started life badly and found himself on a meat truck at 5 months old.  Luckily he was rescued by the fantastic Sara Higgins.  Having spent 3 and a half years running with other colts, he was pretty feral, and coltish, and very opinionated. He is also partially sighted in his offside eye, seeing only light, dark and shadows.  But after only taking up Agility in June 2022, he has pulled this off. Whatever next??? 

So as we continue at the moment with the Liberty Agility, I am also prepping for Equagility (The ridden version).  I would also like to do this with Daisy.  My main aim for Charlie this year is to get him out hacking.

So I have entered both ponies into the Top Barn Winter Challenge.  Charlie is doing Bronze Premium ( 3hrs a week plus some extra challenges) and Daisy Copper (1.5hrs a week).  The Weather has been a Bitch.  We have had Rain, Flooding, Storms, Hurricane force winds, a biting, finger numbing North wind straight off the North Sea (only about 4 miles away), Snow (which went as quickly as it came) and now a dry frozen week (currently -3c).  But at least its dry!! 

The ponies live out 24/7.  There are no stables, barn or inside to work in out of the weather. We have no School or Arena.  Just an area I call my Playpen where I do my Agility. Its just a small grassy area, fenced off with electric fencing and completely exposed to the North East (handy that). However a wise person once said "There is no bad weather, just the wrong clothes".  This year in all my years of working with horses I have had cold hands. Actually they have been numb in the wind.  So I have bought a pair of gloves. Lightweight neoprene. Brilliant. 

I don't advertise or promote anything normally, but I also got some waterproof, fleece lined over-trousers from a company called Cuddlr.  You may have seen their adverts on Facebook.  I also never buy anything from ads on Facebook, but thought this was worth a gamble.  It was!  They have been a lifesaver. I pop them over fleece lined leggings. My feet are encased in Nordic wool socks, and oh so attractive fur lined muck boots.  My top half is covered in t-shirt, sweatshirt, fleece and my brilliant Yak wool jacket that I got a few years ago from Tibet. With a fur lined wool snood covering my face and a silly wool/fleece hat, the weather can throw its worst at me.  I might look like the Michelin man in all this....but I'm warm!  

The Winter Challenge is a Challenge because of the Weather. It wouldn't be much of a challenge if it were in the Summer months.  So buckle up guys, smother yourselves in many clothes and waddle through the next couple of months. Its surprising how many things there are to do with your horse without actually leaving the stable (if you have one).  With this in mind I am posting a weekly Challenge (Charlies Challenges) to compliment the Mini Challenges.  I am posting on Friday nights/Saturday mornings. 

Most of Charlies Challenges will be Trick related.  So we are re-visiting all the Tricks we learned over the years (Check out Horse Tricks Club).  So Top Barn Challengers......Keep it up.. The nights are pulling out, at a rate of 1 minute a day. Before you know it, Spring will be here.  Achievements are achieved by sheer hard work.  No-one ever got their horse out of a field after months off and went and won the Puissance.  It takes hard work and perseverance through whatever life or the weather throws at you. So keep it up, YOU GOT THIS. X

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