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!

OK So This Is A Weather Channel

Yes It is a weather channel....for those that like to know what the weather has been like, as opposed to what its going to be like.  Just in case you want to know....Horrible, in both cases. I am calling this Charlies brief turn away time. Just as we thought winter was over, and very short, it has arrived.  We had sleet and hail today in a very cold north wind. Yes the smurf hat is back. In December it was 14c, now its down to 5c.  But we still have April showers, leaving us the usual spring rugging dilemma. When the sun is out, it has warmth, so we don't want the ponies over-rugged and sweating.  But when the next sleety squall blows in, its like the Arctic.  So they have lightweights on.....and we hope they are not too cold at night. To keep them warm, we are supplementing the grass with hay still. And running around (well not actually running in my case....A cold North wind is not brilliant for PH lungs), to get them fed, and poo-picked as quick as so we can get back in the warm. I have more time to play with the photos I take!  

Bad Hair Day For Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea and Bee keeping warm

A Quick water-colour of Sweet Pea