Top Barn Challenge - Week 2 and 3

 Well our Top Barn Challenge is going great guns (touch wood), (Well touch anything wood like, Formica, plastic that looks like wood, chipboard, that horrible wood chip wall paper!!).

After having 2 weeks of Fence related incidents, we though 'What the Hell, lets start Week 3 with a little bit of Fencing'. We wanted to move the ponies over to the other side of the 4 Acre.  Apart from Lu getting impatient with the slowness of the move, and going under and through the fence midway through the moving, there was no drama.  Does that count as going under something??

In week Two while I was busy getting Charlie to drag a branch whilst in harness (which he had only worn once before), Lu ejected Jo with some force, while freaking out over a swinging Barn Door. Jo hung on to Lu, and cut her finger quite badly in the process. I don't do human blood, but managed to hand her a plaster. Nurse Ratchet at your service!!!!  Not to be put off by such things, Jo was up on Lu the next day.  This is the power of THE CHALLENGE!

Charlie and I practiced Long Reining in tack, Clicker Training with the Clippers and a solo walk out in hand down the lane.  We met a dog . In a Fluorescent Jacket. With a very nice owner. Despite being VERY used to dogs, this one was obviously different. A DIFFERENT dog in a DIFFERENT place. Out of Comfort Zone. Charlie became 15hh and managed Airs Above The Ground. 

In Week 3 we had very high winds (45mph). Storm Christophe or something. Jo went off riding Lu.  This is something she would never have done before Top Barn 2020!! The effect has rolled over into 2021!!  With Lu gone, Charlie was being a dick, so we had some fun in the Wind, in our 'so called School'. I kind of love the wind (even though it takes my breath away, which is not helpful with Dodgy Lungs).  The child in me wants to play, run wild.  The Child in Charlie wants the same thing. So we ran (well he did, I puffed like the Flying Scotsman), we (he) pinged over jumps.  I was trying to get a nice liberty jump over cross poles to tick off a Mini Challenge, but the Patchy Twat kept jumping Wing. Note to self....Make X pole higher!!!! Still we danced in the Wind together and had FUN!!

On Friday, both Jo and I opted for some Pamper Time.  Lulu LOVES being pampered. Charlie HATES it. He also HATES being tied and pulls back. He has broken more string than I have had hot dinners. And I'm 54, so I've had quite a few hot dinners! Anyway I cross-tied him.  It almost worked.  He only broke one piece of string. But I managed to comb out his mane, tail and feathers, and apply the dreaded Mite Powder. He almost looks cared for!!!  While we were in the Barn, I backed him into a stable, and got the clippers on his withers while he was eating. A major achievement as he normally leaves the county as soon as the Clippers are turned on!

Saturday.....I just casually tacked him up....yeah....and casually half mounted.

Yesterday (Sunday) was really cold. I went off for a walk with Charlie.  Got as far as The 3 Acre Field, and decided to try and write some rude words using the Equilab App. Small things etc!!!!!  Twat and Tit went wrong ( I must work on my T's), but my greatest achievement of the week was.....POO.

See You all in a couple of weeks, when our Mid Challenge Challenge will be revealed.

Wild Wind and Weird Worms!

Yep, and first to the weather report, which is not news as its already happened!!!  Its been Wild and Windy.  First we had Storm Freya, now its Storm Gareth.....although if there was a gap between them I missed it! It was so strong yesterday it moved the tractor!!  

Bad Hair Day for Charlie!









And now onto the more interesting subject.....Weird Worms!  So on Sunday Jo found some worms in Daisys droppings.  We don't have worms. We poo pick daily, and the only time we have ever had worms is when Molly first arrived. I wasn't there, so Jo saved 3 for me to look at (like you do haha).  My first thought was Earth Worms......Except they weren't red. And all 3 were a bit different.

With all our years experience Jo and I have seen most horse worms....but not these! Ask Google. The nearest image comparison was Round Worms....except they are normally only found in youngsters, and at 19 Daisy is hardly young!!

In the interest of science, we collected some Earth Worms from the muck heap. I wondered if Earth Worms went white when they died. So I popped them into a jar of water....mostly to stop them wriggling away, but also to see if they drowned and therefore lost their colour.  You know if you chop a worm in half you just end up with 2 worms?  Well they can also live in water! They must be a form of zombie!

So we put them with the dead worms from Daisys droppings and quickly photographed them, before they started eating them. Just in case you are slightly interested, we them released them into the wild, totally un-harmed! 

Still baffled we phoned the Vets, who asked us to email the pics through.  Result? A bunch of equally baffled vets! The older Vets asked the younger Vets, who may still have some memory of Uni and an encyclopedic memory of Worms. No-one knew what they were, and we all came to the conclusion that they were indeed some Mutant Albino strain of Earth Worm! As it was raining, they had moved up into the droppings, but as at this point they were mutant zombie worms, they did not scuttle back down a hole the minute the droppings were moved.  Why only Daisys Droppings?  Answers on a postcard please!  I think its because she has EMS, and therefore more insulin in her droppings, but the Vet suggested it was just because they were bigger, therefore warmer. 
Luckily for you dear Reader, I have already deleted the pics from my phone!!!

Remember I entered an On-Line Horse Show last month?  I didn't realise they existed, but the Top Barn Challenge has enlightened me.  So I entered a pic of Charlie in The Muckiest Pony class.  To my delight he came 2nd out of about 20 entries, and I am absurdly proud of his first rosette!!!

Sadly the Top Barn 12 Week Challenge is coming to an end.  We are now on Week 10.  Its been a brilliantly inspiring group, with the most encouraging group of horsey people I have ever come across.  People have faced their fears head on, and worked in some appalling weather, to get their hours in. No one on the group will ever say again, "Its too cold, wet, dark, muddy, windy, snowy" etc.  So in the spirit of the Challenge, I ignored Storm Gareth with his 50mph winds and worked Charlie with a hoop yesterday (well ok....its a piece of hose-pipe taped up).  We had a blast!!  Storm? Pffff!!

This may or may not be a link to the video!!!!
https://youtu.be/OfJDvlz2aN0

Out Of Puff ,Solo Rakes and On-Line Showing?????

Just a quickie......
Welcome back to the weather Channel!!  After a very mild Winter, we finally got Snow....for a day.  But that was followed by Storm Eric. Three days of 20-30mph winds, gusting up to 50mph. Now my dodgy lungs and dicky ticker just cannot cope with wind.  It literally leaves me gasping for breath, so I had to take my Holiday Week in the Top Barn 12 week Challenge. Just in case you are slightly interested, today dawned calm and sunny, with a high of 9c!! Work with Charlie began again (well actually, we had a play, while i drunk my coffee).

And a sort of review.........Last year at a pop up tack shop at a show, I bought a SoloRake, made by SoloComb.  I always liked SoloCombs, so I thought the rake would help me with the thick dreads that is Charlies mane.  Having chopped it all off last Summer, to help him stay cool, it has grown again.  So last week I took to him with the SoloRake.  Maybe its only meant for coats??  The blade is good and strong, so I started raking his mane.  To my surprise, it broke.  The handle is made of plastic (a weak point), and i was literally left holding the handle, while the rake was in Charlies mane. I have emailed SoloComb, so watch this space for their reply.

Finally as part of the Top Barn 12 Week Challenge, I have entered an On-line show. I had never heard of On-line shows before..... Back in the day we took the horse to a show-ground, having got up at stupid-o-clock, to bath, plait etc. We then had to hope the bugger wouldn't get too excited, and behave itself!  Having spent all day in inevitable blazing heat, dressed up to the nines in thick woollen show jackets, we then spent 3 hours loading the bugger to come home (or was that only me?), with a sunburnt neck (from the hairnetted hair), to finally arrive home at midnight, then having to unload the lorry and bed the horse down before finally falling into bed clutching a 6th place rosette.

So, does anyone know of any good On-line showing sites?  The one i found had a class for the dirtiest pony!!!!!!  I entered this.....

Molly Goes Home, Snow! And The Meaning Of Lowering Your Energy

So as you all know, Molly was an odd rescue case!! Loaned to the Rda from a friend of mine (the lovely Rachel), Molly had become very grumpy and unhappy. So Jo and I took her in for a while to 'fix' her, before she went home. 

She settled in well with the herd, but objected to being tacked up. Initially she wolfed her food, but then refused it.  She refused to wear a rug, and although ok with me, laid her ears back every time Jo touched her.  Oh yes a challenge. She was a bit lean, tucked up from stress and full of thread worms.  So we wormed her, and let her be.  Jo made a point of spending time with her.  

After a few weeks, I took her out for a ride with the other big mares (see previous blog).  Still not a happy girl.  As she was trying to kick me while I slowly girthed her up, we decided she looked like a girl with ulcers. This was NOT the Molly I knew.

So we put her on a daily feed of warm bran mash, with Ulcer Guard, Liquorice and Camomile....which she lapped up.  Jo brought her out for her feed every day, so she could bond with her.  Within a week the change was astounding. At last we had a happy horse! Unless we took Lily out of the field.  Despite the others being there, and hay on offer, Molly still cleared the 5ft fencing to try and find Lil.

We have always said, nothing over 14.2hh as we are set up for ponies. We put up a double fence 'Molly Baffler'. Landlord NOT happy!!  The time was right for Molly to go home.  Looking at the pictures when she arrived, compared to recent pics, the change was amazing. I always felt Molly was missing Rachel.  Even when she seemed happy, there was sometimes a wistful look about her, like she wished she could go home.

So Rachel came to collect her.  She has settled in at home, like she had never been away, and has a new friend to hack her out, so its all turned out well.  I miss her, peering over the fence, waiting for breakfast, but am happy to have returned a physically fixed horse to her owner.

Molly the day after she arrived.

Molly 3 months later.













And so it snowed. Thankfully a tiny amount compared to last year!!  We have been soo lucky. Kent (just across the Thames Estuary), Wales and the West Country seem to have suffered big time. We have been really lucky!

I have continued to work Charlie for the Top Barn 12 Week Challenge. We have had some fun...and some progress. I have discovered I have a Comedy Pony, who is very popular on the Top Barn site.  Check out my You Tube Channel (as I am incapable of posting the vids on here!!).  

Anyway today showed the meaning of the Handler Lowering their energy.  You may have heard this saying, and not understood it.  Todays video (if you can find it) shows what it means..  Charlie got out of the wrong side of bed this morning.  Maybe I did too.  Anyway he started being pushy...which pushes my buttons...I start becoming less patient (my energy levels rise), he feels it as a challenge....and we have conflict.  Some trainers relish conflict as a chance to exert their dominance. However I would rather have a partnership.....with mutual trust. I do not want to dominate my pony.  I want us to work as a team.

So time to walk away, take deep breaths, have a break.  I chose to change what we were doing.  As a friend had arrived, I was chatting away, as I tacked Charlie up. No pressure, my energy levels dropped.....and so Charlie relaxed and stood, loose, while I saddled and bridled him.  And thats what trainers mean when they say Drop your Energy Level.

The Top Barn 12 Week Challenge

So I got invited to the Top Barn 12 Week Challenge on Faceache. Its a brilliant idea.  There is limited sign up.....About a thousand of us. You commit to a certain amount of Horsemanship Hours a week... I chose Bronze Level which is only 3 hours a week....But as I am doing Groundwork with a goal to ride with Charlie, its plenty.  There is a worksheet to fill in.  There are also Mini Challenges to be done. On the Groundwork Challenge this ranges from Lunging a few circuits, to teaching the horse to lay down on command!

In January when the daylight hours are limited, and its cold, this is great motivation!!  What a brilliant idea.  There is a competition. At the end of the 12 weeks, the admin will trawl through the millions of hours of uploaded vids and chose a winner for a weeks holiday at Top Barn in Gloucestershire. 

I have never come across such a supportive ( and motivated) group on line.  The levels of horsemanship range from first time owners to experienced competitors. Everyone has a demon, or challenge to conquer.  Across the land brave pants are coming out. And people are killing off Mobile Phones while trying to video such bravery.

With this motivation, I have worked Charlie almost every day. I am making videos which can be seen on my You Tube Channel....Not sure how you find it....but they are ending up on our Facebook page, East Suffolk Ponies. By the end of this challenge I may be riding Charlie, if not I will be a proficient Video Editor...even if I have no clue how to share the links !!!!!

In the meantime.....a photo LOL!!!