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

Listen To Your Horse, A Crazy Month and Top Barn Challenge Begins!

 OMG Its been a crazy month!!! At the end of November my 84 year old mother became ill.  We thought it was a chest infection, so being the only child I began visiting daily ( hour long round trip).  I abandoned the Show-jumping classes and just did The Top Barn Fancy Dress classes with Charlie. (We got a 5th and a 6th and received some massive rosettes).  Apart from that Charlie languished in the field becoming feral, while I raced around in Headless Chicken mode.

Then I lost the plot slightly and decided to take him to a Livery Yard and put him on full grass livery. It seemed the only option in my new Time Short Life!! Christmas Day I went to Mums, and 'enjoyed' a Pot Noodle for Xmas Lunch!  I've had some dodgy Xmas Dinners in my time, but this took the prize!  But, never mind. Boxing Day lunch was booked up with Mark The Mechanic and Part Time Horse Whisperers family at our local Sports Club.  But upon ringing my mum, I discovered she had collapsed and an ambulance had been called.  Lunch abandoned, I got warp speed out of the Astra, and arrived just behind the Ambulance, running up the stairs and bursting into the flat, gasping for air.  The poor Paramedic!!  He was just about to give me oxygen as well and book a second ambulance, but I managed to gasp out that I had a long-standing heart and lung condition, and I would be fine....eventually.  Having extremely low oxygen sats, Mum was taken to hospital with Blue Lights and all.  My life then revolved around a booked in visit with daily Lateral Flow Tests, for a week, until the Hospital suspended visiting.  Turns out she has blood clots on her lungs.

So the day came to take Charlie to his new home.  He has always loaded fine.  In fact any time we have had a trailer or lorry open, he has loaded himself just to check for food. He wouldn't load.  When I say wouldn't, I mean he violently refused, rearing, knocking me over.  He couldn't have said No more clearly. It got dark. We gave up.  When I arrived the next morning, Lu was curled up like a dog. Charlie was flat out, snoring and leaning against Lu. When they got up, I realised Lu had Colic.  Jo and I went into nurse mode, like a well oiled team.  A few hours later, Lu was feeling better and I went home, thinking.  I don't generally think much. I kind of Do, and sometimes React, but never overthink.  However my brain was in Full Thinking Mode.  I realised the Ponies had spoken loud and clear about my decision to move Charlie.  They were not happy. I also realised that I had had a knee-jerk reaction to the changes in my life.  I have always had a habit of doing a thing I call 'Chucking The Balls In The Air'.  When things change, I react without thinking and change everything, and see where the balls land.  It has rarely worked out.  So this time I followed my heart and Charlie's feelings....and we are staying put.

And so the Top Barn 12 week Challenge has begun.  2 days later my Mum was released into the wild.  As weak as a kitten, living alone, but apparently not feeble enough for any help.  And so I am again racing over to cook her meals, shop, clean etc. But I will not give up the Top Barn Challenge.  The answer has been simple!  Get Up Earlier!!!  Plan each day like a Military General. Forgo the PH induced afternoon nap. Ignore the Side Effects from my meds. Oh and ignore the state of the house (Its NOT the end of the world if I don't hoover daily...after all the doggo makes a mess daily).  I have in fact discovered if I ignore the Washing Up long enough that Mark The Mechanic and Part Time Horse Whisperer does it! 

And so the first week of the Challenge has gone surprisingly smoothly. Charlie has forgiven me for trying to move him and is entering into the spirit of the Challenge with enthusiasm.  We have mostly been working on the next Top Barn Competition, and re-visiting our trick training.  We belong to a Trick Training Group, Horse Tricks 101 and are completing our levels. Who needs Sleep?

Top Barn Mania, Transplant Options and Life Goes On

 Top Barn Mania has got to me!!! So I entered Charlie into some shows! And I had hacked his mane off....And he was still a bit Feral. MMMM What to do?  Ah yes. Hog him.  But he is scared of the Trimmers, and they would never go through that mane.   !!!! Ok buy some bigger Cordless Clippers. It would be fine!  Actually due to the work I have done with the trimmers, it wasn't such a bad plan! We spent an hour with the Trimmers and a lot of carrots. In that time I had trimmed Charlies face. Next day within an hour, the boy was hogged with the big clippers!

Next, teach him to lunge quietly!  That's where it all fell apart!  Charlie just doesn't do lunging. For a start, he is partially sighted in his off-side eye. So he doesn't like being lunged when his bad eye is on the outside. He is also more comfortable at Liberty. Still, we ran through the Groundwork Challenge. He cantered instead of walking in lunge. Then I got all dressed up to do the showing classes. Quite easy I thought.  But Charlie absolutely refused to trot up! Then I found out we had another week to achieve perfection. 

And what a week it was!  On the Monday I had to go to Papworth Hospital to attend the Transplant Clinic.  They just didn't sell it!  To get on the Transplant list I would have to live like a Nun. Then if I did get a transplant ( I need Lungs and Heart), I would have to wrap myself up in cotton wool. And all this would involve monthly visits to check I hadn't had any Sherry Trifle for at least 6 months, as well as going back to Hospital to be poked and probed. I politely declined going on the list. I have never wanted a Transplant anyway. i feel if your time is up, then its up.  And I would rather someone younger with kids had the new heart and lungs. I have had a good life, and intend to live the rest of it to the full, and if that involves a bottle of wine, then so be it. I'd rather go out with crash, bang, wallop, while laughing than live a half life! BTW Charlie and I never did get that perfection. Still sulking, he refused to trot up and I simply don't have the puff to push him. But at least we tried.

And now I have become a Top Barn Challenge Junkie!!! I entered The Last Horseman Standing competition, even though it involves riding. Jo is currently unable to ride, with a bad hip, so kindly lent me Lulu for the Challenge.  Each week a new Challenge becomes available, and we have the week to complete it.  First week....Send horse around you in a circle on both reins without moving your feet. Its harder than it sounds, but Lu aced it (being well trained by her mum). Can't wait to see what next weeks Challenge is.

As if working with a different pony isn't enough, I have entered Charlie into the 100 mile Challenge. We have to complete 100 miles together in 2 months. I will have to do most of it on foot. Lets hope the inconvenient IV drugs are working!!!  Its one way to find out! He is a wuss when going out without another horse! I'm hoping he will take pity on me, and let me ride him!!! As well as that, I have a trick video i want to create. Charlie and I have just received our Level 2 Award from The Trick Academy, so we need to keep working onwards.

I'll update you all next month (if I'm not in my bed with exhaustion!)

Spring is Springing, A Hack, and The Horse That Will Not Back Up

Dare I say it????? Spring Seems to be Springing!!!  Today both Chanice (Who Helps on Saturdays Which Is Now Sundays) and I were both down to T-Shirts by the end of the morning!!!  I also stripped off to a T-shirt on Wednesday which reminded me I should start wearing a bra again!!!  I have been bra-less since cracking my ribs as the band pushed against the cracks and hurt. 

And so Monday was a momentous occasion.  Jo and I hacked out on Lu and Daisy together!!!! For the first time since last April, after which she went lame with the most horrendous bout of laminitus caused by her EMS.  For those who have not followed the blog, we spent months getting her right, padded back to front shoes, homeopathy, steamed hay, a restricted paddock etc, only for her to get an abcess in a hind, which took weeks of cutting back and poulticing. We then started to work on building up her lost muscles in hand. I crazed the Farrier to let me ride her, but he didn't want us to rush things. Considering the Vet said we may never be able to ride her again, and we had even booked the Knackerman, initially thinking the abcess was a pulled Suspensory Ligament, I was patient.  As soon as she was given to all clear to be ridden I went down with my Heart damaging Chest Infection.  Meg rode her a couple of times.

Finally on Monday I felt well enough to give it a go!!  It was a lovely ride. It felt so good to be out on Daisy again.  She jogged and strode out, ears pricked and thoroughly enjoyed herself. I was so happy to be doing something that at one time I didn't think I would be doing again. She may have no brakes, little steering and the odd frilly moment, but I love her to bits, and being able to hack her out again is a dream come true. There is a very edited video to watch on East Suffolk Ponies Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/charliehorseandfriends/?ref=aymt_homepage

Jo and Lulu are still going strong in The Top Barn Challenge.  There is one Plus Challenge we cannot get Lu to do, and that's back up in a semi circle.  All the others will back up easily. While playing with the Mini Herd, in their paddock perfecting them saying "Please", I checked them backing up. Yup they all do it on command.  I had Charlie in on Tuesday, running through our tricks, and starting the foundation of a new trick. I asked him to back a semi circle, loose and with my hands in my pocket. Yup...No problem! But Lulu? No way. I have never met a horse that will not yield to pressure. Until Lu. Most horses will back away from a finger in the chest, or a little pressure on the lead rope. Failing that swinging a rope towards them, or walking towards them with purpose will work. The idea being to get the pressure down to just moving a foot towards them will cause them to a back up a step, or just using the words "Back Up".

Lu WILL NOT submit to anything!!  A poke in the chest results in her walking forwards. A waggle of the rope.....Nothing. Pressure on the lead rope may get 2 or 3 backwards steps, but that's it. Getting really dominant just provokes her into barging into you, ears back. We have come to the conclusion that she is THE most dominant mare ever.  She is most definitely the herd leader, and does not expect even the humans in the herd to tell her where to place her feet.  It would be a problem except in all other ways she is polite and respectful. I guess backing is just a step too far!

The weekend finished well, with a friend from school visiting and having her first ever hack on Daisy, accompanied by Jo and Lu, Nancy and Mini (with Meg) and myself leading Charlie.  Today Chanice (who helps on Sundays now) rode Daisy and lead Mini as an experiment which all went well.

There is a new Trick Video available on YouTube https://youtu.be/eqgl0IM9Aqw

Top Barn Challenge Week 7, More Storms and Breakfast With Charlie

So Jo and Lulu are still in the Top Barn Challenge, and week 7 is now finishing. Jo has used the last week as her rollover week, and so from Monday we buckle down to finishing the last 5 weeks.  This week has been a non-starter.  Jo has had home stuff to tackle, I am still next to useless (Chest Infection gone, but low on energy, breath and ribs still painful), and no sooner had Storm Ciara gone, then Storm Dennis rolled in.

Storm Dennis seems never-ending. He must have a very whippy tail, as the wind has not dropped below 20 mph, generally being around the 30mph mark, and according to my weather app, there is no end in sight. Despite being naked and on top of the only hill in Suffolk, the ponies are doing well. They are all like polar bears! Its at this point Winter seems to drag.  Now the nights are drawing out, and the blossom and daffs are beginning to bloom, I get impatient for the T-shirt days to begin.

Last weekend it was so wet and cold that we brought Mini into the Tack-room so Nancy could dry her off before a quick ride. That child is hardcore!!! Mini amused us by showing how good she is at saying Please!

Speaking of Minis.....We are looking for another Shetland.  Preferably a Standard Mare. Older rather than younger, but unbroken to ride is ok.  Our Mini has spent the best part of her life with Sweet Pea (another Shetland who passed away 18 months ago) and just seems a little lost still.  She would like a friend her size.  We would be happy to do a loan swap with Dora The Explorer, a Welsh Sec A who is wasted with us at the moment.  Dora would make a great 2nd pony, is fully papered and has great paces. She is just not really a lead rein pony.

So as I am still crook, and unable to do anything too strenuous with Charlie Bear, I brought him in for a breakfast date.  I set us up a table and chair, and he had brekkie from the table, while I had my morning coffee. Was a great date.
While this may seem a little strange, you can't beat just bonding with your pony.
As Humans, we are always in a hurry.  We often put pressure on ourselves to hurry hurry hurry, to 'achieve' something.  Every moment with our horses must be spent doing what we feel is important (schooling, jumping etc).  Horses live life at a much slower pace.  They don't get the need to get on and learn something every time they see you.  They don't go back into the field satisfied that they have learnt shoulder-in. If you work your Horse every time you see him, he is not going to look forward to you appearing in the field with a head-collar. If you really want to create a bond with your horse, just spend time together. Hang out with no agenda. Bring him in for a Breakfast Date. Spend time just scratching him. Give him a pamper session. Go for a walk together. 

To learn some tricks check out my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLYQBYhWqo_WPVdz9MFkCtA/videos?view_as=subscriber

Or follow us at https://www.facebook.com/charliehorseandfriends/

Daisy's First Work, Pony Tricks and A Successful Partnership

First Published 6 Oct 2019


So with all the Yuck out of Daisy's hoof, we are now cleaning daily with Hydrogen Peroxide, then plugging the hole with cotton wool covered in good old fashioned Stockholm Tar.  At last we have a sound Daisy.  When turned out with Lu and Charlie, she is galloping up the field bucking with joy. On Friday we started her long journey to fitness, with a 10 minute pole session. Good job the 'poles' are plastic down pipes!! 

We have new friends joining us at the Weekends now. An old friend of mine (Shes NOT old. I have just known her a long time) has been coming up with her teenage daughter, who has very high functioning Autism. Way more intelligent than all of us put together, she has a very special relationship with the ponies already. She has been riding Lu who is NOT a riding school pony, but who has been calm and relaxed under her rider.  And as for Charlie...Wow!  Anyone who has followed the Blog will know he is very precious about his mustache. This lovely teenager has been able to stroke his muzzle and tache without a murmur!

The great thing about Autism is the Black and Whiteness of it all. Logic. A control over the intelligent part of the brain, without interference from the primeval illogical emotional side, that hinders us mere mortals. The ability to 'Be in the Moment'. Horses get this. They live in the moment. There lives are clear cut. They do not ponder the past, or worry about the future. They don't judge their human on what they look like, or stress about the fact that they should be at a certain level in dressage or whatever. The great thing about Autism is seeing it as it is, without the filter of social politeness. Thats why they get animals...and animals get them!

In between Vets, Doctors and some rather astonishing Autumn rain (haha), I have managed to do a little Trick Training with the Three Amigos (Dora, Lil and Mini).  Lil is very interested, Dora curious and Mini?  Well she is Mini!! She knows what I want and when ignored will trundle over, touch the target etc, get the treat and bugger off again.  Or sneak up when my attention is on another pony, and try to steal a treat from my bag! Check out the latest video on You Tube 
https://youtu.be/AmQqEMY1i6E

Daisy in Work