Pony Party, Hole In Hoof and Exciting News

First up we had an End Of Holidays Pony Party on 28th August.  It was a little quieter, and a lot cooler than the last one!!!  Same sort of format as before.....Minus the cooling off under the sprinkler!  A friend of mine (Shona) turned up unexpectedly, with her son Ben, unaware of what she was walking into. Ben was more than happy to join in.
After grooming and tacking up, everyone went out for a hack, followed by a lesson.  Then it was Poo Picking time, and tractor driving. Its amazing how quick this daily job is using child labour ha ha.  After lunch we had Gymkhana games, followed by Sparkle Up a Pony.

Next day we took Polly a feed with half a Bute in, as she had been very enthusiastic during the Games.  She didn't seem as if she needed it, as she cavorted around the Paddock bucking.  Dora meanwhile looked as if she had measles.......

Meanwhile Lu looked unlevel.  Being a tough old bird, it could have been anything.  After a good foot scrub we found a hole in her foot, so called the Farrier.  After a poke around he found the hole was quite deep.  We had been poulticing it for several days until there was no gunk.  On the Farriers advice we have plugged the hole with cotton wool soaked in Stockholm Tar (which was fairly hard to find being quite an old fashioned remedy). Lu is such a good pony, she was quite happy to stand in a bucket of Iodine water. Top Tip......If your Horse is lame call the Farrier first!

Charlie is nearly ready to be ridden again.  I have been working on getting him to stand at the mounting block without moving since January, using Clicker Training. In the last two weeks I have been leaning over him and getting a leg over (Phnarff Phnaff). Today Sammi (who he is very taken with) leant over him, followed by Eli (who couldn't resist), who sat on him. No drama at all. We are nearly there.

WHW have approved our application for LIv/Lil so we are picking her up on Friday.  Very exciting!!! Watch this space for her arrival.

A New Unicorn, Facebook Friends and Clicker Training

First up a warm welcome to Dora (The Explorer), the newest member of Jo's Unicorn team.  What a sweetie....Dora is about 11.2hh Welsh Sec A with a nice Welsh pedigree and an unpronounceable name! We picked her up Sunday, and she has settled into the small herd nicely. Polly was a bit grumpy, but SweetPea soon made friends.  The big herd were transfixed and managed to look like 3 old witches peering through net curtains!!

I now must give a shout out to a (mostly American) Facebook page.  Not one for joining Facebook groups, however I love this one. Its called "Aging Horsewomen" which suits me nicely.  Some of the riders are truly inspiring. There is heaps of advice and its such a friendly group. With 2000 plus members and an average age of 50 plus, there's not much this group as a whole doesn't know.  It's been a fun learning curve on the language front... I wasn't quite so aware of the language difference before.....and we have been having a laugh about "Fanny Packs" and "Riding on the Buckle"......not to mention "thongs"!!

Speaking of language.....Charlie and I have started a new one. Clicker training. As regular readers of this blog know, as much as I love the little fella, he has been a huge challenge to break.  A lot of the problem is my dodgy lungs and dicky ticker.  Back in the day, I would have hung on for grim death and not cared about flying lessons!!  But this is now, so its a careful slow process is needed.  I am having his eyes checked on Monday....just to make sure.  But in the meantime we are trying Clicker Training.  So far so good.  Immediately he figured that a click means a treat.  Today we moved onto a target......a bit of pillow stuffed on the end of a whip!!!  No problem at all. With his curious nature he couldn't wait to examine it.  In no time, the word "Nose" resulted in him touching the target.  So far so good ! :-)

Dora

Nosy neighbours!!

Click!