A Long, Long Winter!

 So whats been happening since the Top Barn Challenge finished???  Well not a lot.  The brief warm days (2 of them to be precise) went as quickly as they came.....and it snowed again!  Not laying this time, but when you have snow showers instead of April Showers, you know its cold.  Having girded our loins for the last 3 months to work the horses in all weathers, we have had Winter Shutdown now.  April has been cold!!  And dry!!  The winds have blown from the North East relentlessly, and the grass is not growing. 

Having moved the Biggies back to The Bowling Green, we were able to not feed them hay for a least 3 days!!  Then they started breaking the fence down to get back to the bare field they moved from!! After Charlie had stretched the springs in 2 gate handles, and Lu had broken down the whole fence, we gave in and moved them to The Hill Field.  Despite a minuscule amount of new grass, they have been happy for a week now!! The Minis were moved to The Bowling Green.....where they seem to have found enough grass to satisfy them.

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There has been No rain, and No warmth!! We are in what is known as a Blackthorn Winter!  Folklore says while the Blackthorn blossom is in full bloom, it will remain cold!  The Blackthorn Blossom is still in full bloom! Jo has tried wearing flip flops, and i have shed a layer (and braved bare feet in crocs), but it hasn't worked. We have gone back to Winter boots (and even hats on some days).  Still, Summer has to arrive soon, doesn't it? Then I can moan about how hot it is, and the flies!!!!

On a good note......We have sharers for both Lily and Daisy.  No names mentioned yet (so as not to jinx it, and also because I haven't asked them if they mind me rambling about them). Jo and I are super excited to have these two mares getting some extra love and attention.  They are both cracking mares but we don't have enough time to lavish on them (as they are so easy compared to The Patchy Twat and The Blonde Diva).

And so the only thing that I have done with Charlie this month is enter him into a showing class in The Top Barn Hub.  Its been too cold (did I mention that?) to bath him, so Class 1-The Smartest Pair was out.  Hes neither a baby, or a Veteran, so another 2 Classes out. Best Ridden????? Really. Only if it means shortest duration before getting off, or being ejected. Best Trot? Charlie has a cracking trot, but with my dodgy lungs and dicky ticker? Not a Chance....!! So Judges Favorite it was.Criteria...Show off Horses Character.  I think we pulled that one off!!

Tune in next month to see if Summer has arrived!!  This has been The Weather Channel!

Autumn and The Importance Of Poo Picking

 Whoop Whoop!! Autumn is here at last.  Ok so it came it a bit quick.  In one week we were sweating in 28c, and freezing in 9c gale force winds.  It was a bit of a shock.  But with the cold weather, came rain. Sweet Rain. Lots of rain!  In fact Non-stop rain!! But we needed it.  Our grass had burnt off in the dry spell. We had dust and sand.  But then Boom!  It rained....and rained....and rained.  We have maybe had enough rain now (for a few days anyway), Thank You.  Personally I love Autumn.  The rain comes (alright enough now), the grass greens, the temperatures drop (to a very British 14c which is probably our favorite temperature) and the flies die!!! That's very important!  Less Flies!  Our Native Cobs love the Autumn too.  They are too fat and hairy to thrive in the heat.  They are loving the cooler weather. No more sweating while merely standing still. They revel in the rain and mud. What self respecting Native Cob doesn't like being covered in mud? 

As the grass has come through like its Spring, our fatties are still spending most of their time on the Hill Field, which they grazed to a Golf Green. But we are giving them loads of Hay. And 2 hours out of the fresh new grass. They are all feeling very well!!  Only little Coco is getting a feed. And Grass. And Hay. Being somewhat thin still she also has a rug occasionally when its really wet and windy. 

No-one is working much. Except Charlie who is busy making videos for You Tube.  And getting used to me swinging a leg over. My Dicky Ticker is protesting to too much walking at the moment.....So I figured it would definitely be to my advantage to be able to ride himself.  The new Poles Vid should be available on YouTube shortly.  So if anyone wants a ride (Mad Daisy), or a project (Lily, who would like to learn to drive, be hacked out or even just have a groom) please contact us.  These ponies need the work, and Jo and i only have 2 pairs of hands etc etc. And the buggers keep making their own entertainment. Invading the Tack Room, Locking Us In The Tack Room, and Upending all the Feed (Mini!!).

And so to POO.  Yep the main occupation of Horse Owners is POO. The other day I saw a post on FB about POO.  I can't remember whose post it was. But basically it gave facts about how much poo a horse does in a year. The post went on to say how important it was to Poo Pick paddocks daily.  The post mentioned Worms (well done. If Poo isn't picked up daily, worms will spread over the grass, be eaten by the horse and re-infest them), and Grass Management (poo if left will sour the grass). Then they said they liked their paddocks to look pretty.......HMMMM

Pretty paddocks are NOT important to the horses welfare!! And the post missed the number one importance of daily poo picking. The Horses Health!!!!  Anyone poo picking should be able to tell which poo belongs to which horse. You should know how many poos is normal for each horse, and the texture of a normal poo. That is the first way to tell if each horse is OK and healthy.  Anything abnormal can show up early in the poo.  So please get intimate with your horses poo!  

ODD Mares! And Lazy Tricks!!!

So we are slowly moving the fences out.. For the Fat Grass Munchers at least.
Daisy and the little uns have had less grass, but haynets every night to keep their bellies working.  Daisy has also been doing 10 minutes in the Round Pen every morning, before having her EMS-busting Breakfast. 

Last week the farrier came, sucked his cheeks in and pronounced them all too fat!!! We had actually noted their lardiness. This is nature at work. In the wild, horses lose weight in the Winter, gain in the Spring, lose a bit in Summer when the grass dries, gain in the Autumn Flush....And Yup the cycle continues! However these are not in the wild, despite living as close to nature as possible, we simply haven't got 20 odd miles of land for them to cover daily. Nor have we got the time to ride that far every day.....Anyone wanna come and help exercise??? Also Charlie and Lil are just starting their ridden careers, and are not being hacked out yet.  Dora is just a tad too small for me to hack without feeling guilty....And Mini??? Mmmm I could straddle her and my feet would still touch the ground!!

And so I tried out a theory last Saturday with Daisy and Lil.....Double lunging!! Both together in the round pen, me in the middle with the lunge whip.  Would they follow each other? Or would it end in chaos?  It Worked!!  Yup I have invented Lunging For The Lazy (or time pressed owners).  There is NO finesse to this....but it works as an exercise for....er exercise!

I also took Charlie out for a walk with Jo on Lu.  I planned to ride him back up the drive again.  But... All he was interested in was eating.  He got cross when I stopped him and he started nudging me. By the time we got to the end of the drive we were both a bit cross.  But I got on. He backed up, I squeezed and clicked, he reared, and backed again. He was bubbling up, so I got off. As there was a roar of motorbikes coming along the road, I didn't want to lose him.  When Charlie gets cross, he starts to build it up into a tantrum.  When we reached the 4-Acre Jo and Lu turned off to school and I continued to the Round Pen. By this time Charlie was in full Teenage Boy mode, prancing, neighing, pulling, trying to push me into the hedge.  As I was untacking him, he took off, racing round the Round Pen, with his reins getting ever closer to his ears.  I eventually managed to untack him so he could have a full blown temper tantrum!  Lu meanwhile, in earshot, was apparently on her toes, but obedient.
These outbursts are rare these days!

So for our next Lazy Trick.....Haynets out to the field. They are heavy.  The Hill field is a fair walk......Mmmmm....Would the horses carry them out for us?  We knotted 2 nets together, slung em on and set off.  Surprisingly Charlie and Lu were more than happy to carry them!

Yesterday we tried the double lunge with Charlie and Lu, who were brilliant, and carrying the Haynets with Daisy.  All Good.  I might start a Site for Lazy Owners 😂.

And so to ODD Mares!!  Lil is a tart!  She flirts with Charlie, teasing and squirting!!  But also flirts with Lulu!  This has happened before, but this week more so!  We have to walk past Lil, while bringing Lu and Charlie out. Instead of aiming at Charlie, she is aiming at Lu.  And the Ultimate Ice Queen is responding by squirting back. And Charlie is ignoring it.  But while in the field together, Lu has NEVER squirt-flirted with Charlie!!  Lu is the Alpha Mare. Does this mean she has more testosterone?  Can Lil sense that? Can Charlie sense that?  Does anyone know the answer?  I will be doing some research into Alpha Mares and their testosterone levels. But... Anyone care to chip in?

Springy.....At Last

Well...actually its still a bit cold here.....BUT, the clocks have gone forward and at last the temperatures have found there way above freezing. "They" keep promising warmer weather...maybe tomorrow?

A cool wind aside, we spent the early part of the week fencing the Hill Field (our Spring/Summer grazing). Despite the lack of spring temperatures, the grass has indeed grown. The blossom is starting to come out on the trees, and the horses are shedding vast amounts of winter coat. More telling the Arabs next door, have moved over the road onto there summer grazing.  Spring is unstoppable!

So yesterday we moved the 3 bigger ponies onto the Hill Field. They were very joggy on the way over, having clocked us fencing the day before. This morning Chanice (who helps on saturdays) arrived at stupid o clock, and caught all 3 of them laying down, fast asleep in a food coma.  Yes I know its Friday (school holidays!!). Trade off for a full belly is work.

After a good session removing last seasons coats, Charlie and Daisy were ahem....worked.  BTW Jo and I have both acquired these highly fashionable grooming gloves.  Jo has a pair which cost more than my single cheap one....but they are both SOO effective. There was enough hair on the ground to stuff a pillow, and its just like stroking your horse.  Goodbye Brushes!! The horses loved it, and nodded off.

Charlie and I went off to do some more clicker training.  He was very good, and I can now walk/stand all the way round him, while he stands glued to the Target (a sock on a cone).  Next up Daisy.  Ahem.  As she is known to get very springy on spring grass, we had hoped to lunge her quietly in trot.  I mean my "school" isn't really wide enough to canter in. Daisy had other ideas, taking off immediately.  As the line had got between her legs I let go and 5 minutes later we caught her for another go.  This time, after water-skiing several feet, I had to let go or break a finger!!.  Chanice and Daisy have a great bond, so she managed to grab her, whereupon we just unclipped her, and let her have her mad five minutes...I mean, we loose schooled her. 

Finally, unfit and heavy breathing, Daisy stopped and allowed Chanice to lead her round quietly. Oh Hum.  Still its nice to see the old girl enjoying life!! She also did some impressive sliding stops, and a fantastic flicky toed trot.

On Wednesday, Nancy had a lesson with Ellie, on Polly. Ellie has 5 children!  Luckily she only brought 3 with her.  The eldest Georgie, and the youngest,twins Billy and Ted, (approx 16 months old).  They are sooo funny.  They are toddling about in that drunken, falling over stage.  I would make a crap mother as I spent my time with them crying with laughter.  Totally fearless, they battered their way in with the Shetlands who proved themselves very good nannies, nudging them up on their feet when they tumbled over. Both wanting "Up", they ended up on Polly, being led round.  Health and safety out of the window!!!  But darling Polly is actually an angel and worth her weight in gold with children. She would Never Ever dream of being naughty, so the twins, and any other child that rides her is as safe as can be.

Fantastic Grooming Glove in action.

Daisy full of "Spring"

Starting young....on Polly who has taught dozens of kids to ride.

Life Without The Tractor and Hay

And now for the weather!!!! Funny how us Brits like to talk about the weather. I guess as we have a temperate climate, we tend to talk about any unusual weather conditions.  Even though its normal to have cold weather in December.....we tend to forget!  Anyway it suddenly got COLD (for us). We even had a few flakes of SNOW!!!!!  On Thursday I had leggings under my jeans and a hat!  We even rugged Charlie, Dora and Lulu. The forecast was 0c, 25mph north winds and rain/snow.  OOOh.  Bit of a shock after a mild November.

Naturally the Tractor broke down!!  Why wouldn't it? BTW its not really a tractor, but a ride on lawn mower....But it does the job of a tractor. Daily it pulls our little muck trailer, and helps us deliver hay. It stopped working on Thursday....My mums 80th Birthday. The day I had to leave on time, as I had booked us Spa treatments and lunch at a posh hotel/golf club. So we used Jos' Subaru....Not a 4WD, but an AWD with a tow-bar. 

Friday came, Tractor still would not start....Weather, Sleet, Cold. I was at RDA. The sun came out so I poo-picked with a wheel-barrow....well 4 wheel-barrows, then set about fixing up a paddock on the Winter grazing (Nearer to tack room and full of grass). Spent at least an hour untangling self tangling fence wire as the sun set and the temperature plummeted. Lost the will to live (and all feeling in my lips and fingers).

Saturday...still no tractor.  Once again I was at the RDA, filling in teaching.  By the time we had finished there I was cold and hungry. Jo had texted me saying horses had Hay and Water, Lu and Charlie had broken into the Minis' field and raped and assaulted Dora. I went straight home thinking 'Tomorrow is another day'.

Sunday saw us full of Scarlett O'Haras' grit and determination.  With Megs help we cleared the backlog of poo with the help of the Subaru. Moved the ponies to the Winter paddock and picked up all the fence posts from the 3-Acre.

Monday....I begged Mark The Mechanic to come and fix the Tractor. Which he did.  Meanwhile we untangled and reeled up all the self-tangling fence wire. Today was all calm.  Tractor working, ponies all on Winter grazing, temperatures back up to 8c, rugs off....Woohoo!!!

At the moment we don't have to give Hay.  Maybe only for this week, as we have lots of old grass and the horses are happy and full. BUT....this will not last. There is no goodness in the grass. Once the temperature drops below 5c it will not grow. Once there has been a frost, the goodness is gone from the grass. We are lucky that our ponies have gone into Winter fat. It won't hurt them to drop a bit of weight.  BUT if the grazing is poor, or the horses are old, or at the right weight, Hay MUST be given.  For a start the horse trickle feeds all the time. They need something decent in their guts at all times.  It keeps them warm, and it keeps the guts moving.  Without Hay a horse will get grumpy, drop weight and possibly get colic. Once an elderly pasture kept horse starts to drop weight in Winter, its a very fast slippery slope. Next thing you know, you will take a rug off and see ribs.  

This time of year it is vital to a) Feed plenty of Hay....There should be some left over, and b) Remove rugs daily for a visual check, and weigh tape once a week.

Happy Winter!! x

Warm ponies with lots of Hay.

The container stops it blowing around in the wind.

A Nice Sunset.

WARNING - Autumn is Coming!

Yes..... Autumn is coming.  Our field bordering trees are full of Sloes and Blackberries.  Its cool enough at night to tolerate a duvet. For the last few days I have been wearing jeans (one soaking in shorts is enough thank you....took hours to warm up). 
There are Arabs up on the opposite hill. The eldest is wearing a rug. As is Polly, who has dropped some weight, so is having a feed a day. When the Arabs move to their Winter grazing, it will truly be a sign that Autumn is apon us. The swallows will be leaving soon.  Don't get me wrong.... I love Autumn. I love the colours of the leaves, and the cooler dewy mornings. The lack of flies!! It's a great time to ride....Not too hot, not too cold. Perfect. Yes I love Autumn.....I'm just not so keen on Winter!!!

We have been moving fencing around a lot this week....eeking out the last grass on The Hill Field, and leaving some to rest in the hope that a September flush will happen.  The Shetlands...Sorry Unicorn Superstars are grazing the verges like the little lawnmowers they are. Still, our winter grazing is looking good, and the Barn is full of hay.

Now is the time to stock that Hay Barn, and make sure the rugs are cleaned and proofed.  Its also the time to check for bot eggs on the ponies.  They show up as small yellowish flecks on dark coloured legs.  They are also on your greys...you just can't see them. Bot combs are available.....If you have no life, or you can wait till they have been licked off and then worm!

Now a quick mention for Bracken.  If you live on Heath-land/Moors etc you probably have bracken in your field. We normally fence around it, but as it was spreading, we sprayed it in the summer.  Now its a nice brown colour we have been pulling it up. ALERT....It gives nasty paper cuts....Wear Gloves. 
Now having kept horses on Heath-land most of my life without problems I thought, a) some moorland ponies can eat it without a problem, and b) it isn't poisonous when dead!  So I did some research.

Turns out Bracken is poisonous dead or alive.  In fact its more palatable dead. Most horses don't eat it when there is other grazing available (as with ragwort), BUT some horses develop a taste for it. As proved yesterday by Polly! We let her out into the main paddock to eat her breakfast.  Despite lots of grass, once she had finished her meal, she started to eat the dead bracken we had pulled and put into a wheel-barrow!!!

Meanwhile Lu and Charlie have been mugging the trailer for the empty feed bucket......Sadly no feeds for them (due to their rather round bellies).

Heatwave Survival and Nasty Horse-Flies

Phew its been HOT.  Too hot to ride.  Not complaining (much) but this is a bit like winter.  We are in Survival Mode.  By the time we have finished the chores, its time to hide from the heat. 
This doesn't quite mean contact/bonding has stopped. I am actually having a major break-through with Charlie......This is because of his pink nose and the searing heat.  It has become imperative to sunblock him daily. So I have been taking a tiny feed or carrots up to him daily.  This means catching is no longer a problem.....He's starting to drop his nose into the head-collar. He has a minor protest about the sunblock... A very small rear or two, but its getting on and stopping him having a crispy nose.  Oddly enough he is fine with fly cream on his face and sheath.....and talking of sheaths, he is really happy for me to clean his.  Odd Pony!!!
Our grass is now standing hay...and burning off, so we move the fence back without fear of laminitus.  It is vitality important to keep the water clean, fresh and topped up. And to fly spray everyone. Including ourselves!
Last week I got bitten by a larger than normal horse-fly on my jelly belly.  This week its swollen and spread, and has lovely blisters.  Doc says its called Cellulitis.....I thought that was only on my thighs!  So antibiotics and slight apathy from me to do more than strictly necessary.
We thought we might use the time to clean all the rugs with the pressure washer.......but inevitably its broken after one rug!!

Lost Shetlands, Monsoons and The Horse Whisperer Has First Lesson

So the Horse-Whisperer actually sat on Daisy on Sunday.  Having watched a 7 year old girl happily trotting round, with Daisy looking a little excited, I gave him a chance to gird his loins, and sort his hat out, while i rode her round the round pen, trying to put her into the chill-out zone.  It worked.  He only wanted to get on and sit, but having done that he agreed to me leading her round, while Jo corrected his position......which was annoyingly naturally good. Having done Karate and yoga for years, he is naturally balanced.  I only had to say "Do the Horse Stance" and he was there. I un-clipped him and walked in front of Daisy, while giving instructions for start and stop. Then left and right. She would have followed me whatever, but He was happy....and did really well. Its no mean feat to learn to ride in your 40,s.  Barrel racing next then!!

And so to the Monsoon.  I know I am not a Weather Report....But Really! This is worth a mention.  We were poo-picking...in shorts and tees.  It was Hot! And Muggy. Then we noticed a big heavy cloud...and a sheet of rain heading our way.  It blanked the valley out! Before we could say "Rain coming", it was there. We all legged it to the shelter of the trees, by which time we were drenched to the bone.  And when I say we all, I mean Jo and I, both dogs, and Daisy, Polly and the Shetlands.  Having just put the fence back for Lu and Charlie, they braved the power-shower for the new grass. It didn't stop....So we left! Only after we had checked the water....haha the butts were filling up quicker by rain than hose, and gave the 'Dieters' more grass.  I sprinted up the field....Not a great plan with dodgy lungs and dicky ticker, and its not as if I could get any wetter!! My trainers are still wet 2 days later!

And so all that rain has made the grass go mad. I only wish we had the equipment to make hay.  When we moved the fence back yesterday, we immediately lost the Shetlands!  The 1 Acre normally lasts a month...at this rate we'll still be here at Xmas!