BOOM! Top Barn 12 Week Challenge Completed! Now What?

 Whoop Whoop!!! Both Jo and I completed the Top Barn 12 Week Challenge.  I went to the Wire! Only completing my hours on the very last day.  But we did it!

Week 11.... Charlie started in Full Patchy Twat Mode.  Took him for a walk out in-hand down the lane.  This brave pony that doesn't mind me popping balloons in his face, took exception to daffodils, waving gracefully in the wind!! He planted more than a farmer in spring.

Funny how a 14hh pony can grow to 16hh in seconds!

On Day 4 I decided to go for some TRT methods of leading.....that was after I spent 15 minutes trying to catch him!! This used to happen every day, but since I began Clicker Training its a rare occurrence. A sure sign that he needs a break!  Come on Charlie.....Not now!

The following day Patchy Twat mode was disabled.  We had a pamper session, some TRT leading and RIDING!!! With Jo at his head (but not leading) we rode around the Round Pen several times, with Charlie looking like a Riding School Pony!!

We finished the week in High Winds with some tricks and a balloon popping video for Horse Tricks 101 Group. The wind carried off a few balloons!!!

Week 12 - At last the weather was OK.  I started off with some Clipper Training. Most pleased..... Managed to clip some feathers and Charlies withers!!!!! Big deal for a pony that took off at the sight of running clippers!!

So Day 2 - Jo and I thought we would film some Mini Challenges.  The In-hand stuff went well. And so to the Ridden Challenges.  As I had ridden Charlie all of 4 times (with Jo on foot), I naturally thought I could hop up and do some ridden challenges, while Jo was doing them on Lu.  Charlie said No Way, Too Fast, NOT Happening!!!! Having got up he planted.  I got him moving, then he planted again. Jo and Lu came to give him a lead, but the only thing that was working was reverse and spin. Like some sort of washing machine cycle.  He was as tense as a crossbow, shortened up ready to explode. I caught sight of his rolling eyes and decided to get off. The Old Me would have stayed on and got after him.  The Old Me nagging away says I was a coward! The Old Me would have sat the explosion.  But the New Me is Old, with Dodgy Lungs and a Dicky Ticker.  The New Me also realises that frightening Charlie is going back several months. He had reached Station Shut Down. I think I did the right thing.....At least the right thing for me and Charlie.

So my goal for The 12 Week Challenge was to be hacking out by the end.  The Final Hours of the Challenge were a Fizzle rather than a BANG.  We spent the final time doing old tricks, nothing too stressful for the Boy. BUT......We have achieved Riding and Clipping.....my 2 goals if not completely, then we have made a good start.

So Whats Next??? Well Charlie has had the last week off. Typical English weather! Tuesday and Wednesday were 20c, T-Shirt weather, now its snowing again!! But on Wednesday, I had a lovely hack on Daisy, with Jo and Lu. Charlie and I have a new trick to learn, and I will continue to ride him, but slowly with Jo beside him, until he is OK with that. Repetition is everything with this pony!

This last weekend being Easter, and Charlottes last week with us (Charlotte has been doing her Duke Of Edinburgh award with us), we had an Easter Egg Hunt down the lane for our stoic Saturday Helpers. Easter eggs were found!

A Big Shout Out to our Saturday Helpers!

First up Neecy who has been with us since she was 13.  She is now 18, and could look after the ponies blindfold. She is indispensable and has a special relationship with Daisy.

And then there is Nancy, who is 8 years old and has been helping for the last 4 years,  She is happy to poo pick, dragging a heavy scoop to the trailer, and is much loved by Mini The Shitland.

Finally Thanks to Charlotte, (13) who has been doing her D of E with us and has worked her butt off every Saturday for the last 6 months despite the cold Winter. We will miss you!

Happy Easter...............See You all Soon.

Top Barn Challenge - Weeks 6 - 10. Snow and Stuff!!!!

 Oh wow its been soooo long since I had time to sit down and write it all down.  Blame Top Barn (haha).  So where were we???? Oh Yeah Week 5. With 2.5 hours done, THE WEATHER GOT ME!!!! Despite only half an hour to go, the final day brought SNOW......Lots of SNOW!!!! Sideways Blizzard in High Winds Kind of Snow. Just seeing to the Ponies was enough!!  So I used my Rollover Week, with 2hr 45mins in the Bank I only have 15mins to make up (which I still haven't done).

So week 6 started with SNOW!!!! So much SNOW.  So much SNOW if fact that the little town I live in was cut off from the World.  Even the Snow Plough got stuck!!! I tried for 2.5hours to get to the Yard.  Every which way was cut off by enormous SNOW Drifts.  Luckily Jo got through and the horses were watered and fed.  If I hadn't got Dodgy Lungs and a Dicky Ticker, I would have walked the 5 miles.....but Mark The Mechanic and Part Time Horse Whisperer banned me from even trying. I discovered my Land-rover has had the Prop-shaft removed, thereby turning it into a 2wd. I discovered this while going down the road sideways, while all the engine lights came on, telling me that Traction Control, ABS etc was off. I had already figured we shouldn't be half-passing down the road!!  Although if it had been a horse, the movement would have been impressive.  

The rest of Week 6 did not improve!!!!  The snow kept coming, the East Wind kept blowing. The drifts were so big, we struggled with just hay and water.  It was so bad we even rugged the Big Herd, as they had no shelter from the direction of the Weather. I declared Week 6 my Holiday Week.  Jo took it as her Rollover Week.

Luckily Week 7 brought a thaw.  We rejoiced as the temperature climbed to a whopping 4c.  We only had a few days left to film the Mid Challenge Competition, so we practiced. I had several attempts at filming , but the Pivo couldn't seem to follow us for a whole take!  On the Thursday, with 3 days to spare, Mark the Mechanic and Part-time Horse Whisper said he had 10 minutes to spare to film me. It was getting dark!!! I rushed over to meet him, pulled Charlie off the Hay and offered a practice run. We didn't have time!!! So we did it in the first take with the sun rapidly setting.  Charlie was a star. We did the whole course at liberty without even a headcollar.  We went under an arch with streamers, over a wooden pallet, touched and rung a bell, round a jump wing covered in streamers, jumped through the hoop, waved a flag, smiled and bowed. We didn't get placed (ahhhh boo), but i was very proud of my clever, complicated cob!   Jo left it even later, being buggered by strong winds, but did a brilliant course on the Final Day, which included Lu following her while blind-folded.  We had to do a very swift video conversion from my phone to a memory stick. 

Thank you Top Barn for giving us something very concrete to work on, and Well Done everyone who took part.  The creativity that went into some of the performances was astonishing!

Week 8...Time to stop messing about and get on Charlie. I have been trying for 4 years to ride him!  Slowly I go....Doing the Groundwork. Gently presenting the saddle, and the Rider (me).  Sometimes it has been OK. Most times not. I have ended up on the floor more than I haven't!! He basically goes into full panic mode when he can't see me.  Being partially blind in the Offside eye hasn't helped. Catching sight of a movement coupled with Mum not at his head, has sent him from OK to Terrified in 0.2 seconds.  Once terrified, he has lost the plot, setting us back to me not even being able to show him the saddle without a violent reaction.

So after all these years, doing tricks, walk outs blah blah blah, it finally feels like he is ready. He trusts me, he is fully grown, and has a new grown up outlook. So week 8 was mostly spent Tacking up, getting on, getting off, getting on, getting off....you get it. We even tried a few steps forward being led by Jo. All good!!!

Week 9 has been the high-point so far.....With a beautiful calm sunny day on Tuesday, I got on Charlie and rode him round the "School", following Jo and Lu in hand. Naturally the Pivo chose this moment to not record !!!  Then the wind got up, so we worked on Chill Mode, Lateral Work and Balloons (obviously).

Week 10 has brought us 50mph wind most of the week, along with hail, sun, rain, freezing fingers!!! Oh yes.....The weather for this Challenge has certainly been challenging!!  I have stuck to groundwork this week.....and balloon popping! 

So 2 more weeks to go!!!! It would be nice if we had some calm spring sunshine to finish off with. But that doesn't look like that's going to happen. So lets all gird our loins for a big finish!!!

Top Barn Challenge - Weeks 4 and 5 (The C word will be mentioned).

 So week 4 was good!!  Jo and I got creative building an obstacle course for the Mid Challenge Challenge.  We have to go over something, under something, round something and do a trick.  Now we haven't put our entries in yet.....so our obstacle course cannot be revealed in full!!!  But lets just say....we raided the Pony Party Box!  We may have streamers, windmills, bells, guitars......and THAT HOOP!!!   We spent the week playing with our course.

THAT HOOP is entirely the fault of Amanda who is a friend from OOP North.  Amanda posted a video of a pony jumping through a hoop on a Trick Academy group we are both part of https://www.facebook.com/groups/horsetricksacademy

So the jumping through a hoop challenge is on!!!  We made our hoop with plastic pipes and cones (oh and lots and lots of gaffer tape).  Its a work in progress!!

Towards the end of the week I got on Charlie.  He was pretty laid back.  2 days later I got on him again, and asked for a few steps.  Again pretty laid back.

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Week 5 has been a bit odd.  Last Sunday my Aunt died (which left me in a strange place mentally).  I pulled myself together and got on with stuff.  Charlie and I did some filming for a Valentine Video, played round the Obstacle Course and went on a walk together.  I meant to go down the lane, but The Patchy Twat was in full Patchy Twat Mode, spooking violently on the way out of the gate! We wandered round the 3 Acre until he had calmed down. 

 The sun was shining in the 12 Acre (which has been planted with trees and re-wilded). The temptation was too much.  In we went. We walked up to the first clearing, Charlie was on full alert.  We had a graze (well he did), and slowly came back again. Walking towards the sun was a nightmare. Cars in the distance were glinting and flashing, as was a stack of wrapped haylage (at least a mile away). Charlie grew to about 16hh. And snorted like a dragon.  After some reassurance, and head down tricks, he calmed down and we continued to the Gate (which I hadn't opened properly), which had a small horse size gap and a lot of rabbit wire stopping it swinging open. AND THEN I SAW THE MUNTJACK!  It was not going to move!  I saw it first and swore loudly....which alerted Charlie! Note to Self....Never react to anything scary first!  After a stand off with the diminutive Deer, Charlie and I edged to the gate, and kind of bolted through in tandem.

It was obviously one of those days when ordinary everyday ponies turn in to dragons.  As I went off happily to get my first Covid Jab, Jo went out for a hack round the Village on Lu. Lu had also turned into a fire-snorting dragon, and an hour hack took much longer, as Lu discovered napping.

I don't know why I was happy to get my Covid Jab. Well I guess I was feeling left out, as everyone I know has already had the first jab. And no-one had side effects!!  I guess my nasty lung/heart drugs reacted badly. By 4am I was shivering, aching, and freezing cold.  Then the Throwing Up started!! I eventually got some sleep, and forced myself up to the Yard, despite feeling like shit and having a mental heart rate. So that was another Challenge day wasted !!  

Today I felt better (although weak), and managed 45 minutes of something with Charlie. We started off OK, but he turned on Patchy Twat Mode again, and managed to nudge me so hard I fell over THAT HOOP......Onto the ground....In the Mud!!!!  Oh Well, as Scarlett O'Hara once said. "Tomorrow Is Another Day"

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.

Top Barn Challenge - Week One and Coco's Results

 OK so lets start with little Coco. When her bloods came back from her initial Cushings test her ACTH levels were around 135.  I have no expertise in Vet Blood Tests!  But 135 is high.  Normal ponies have ACTH levels of around 13.  Please don't ask what ACTH is!!!!!  Something to do with Cortisol, Insulin levels! What we do know is that Cushings is similar to diabetes in humans and the ability to process sugar levels in the normal way.  So Coco has been on Pracsend (a Cushings Drug) for 5 weeks.  She has also had homeopathic and herbal treatment (but please don't tell the Vet). In that 5 weeks her improvement has been outstanding.  Her ACTH levels have dropped to around 30.  The Vet was gobsmacked!!  Pracsend doesn't normally work miracles that quickly. She is slowly gaining muscle.....and better still for us.....she has become a cheeky madam!!  We let her graze free range for a couple of hours daily. She is now cantering away when we try to catch her to put her back with the others. That might not be a Win for some people. But for us, it shows her personality coming out, and her energy levels and zest for life!!

And so the long awaited Top Barn Challenge is GO GO GO. We all started Day 1 with great enthusiasm, despite the rain.  Jo chose to tidy Lu up, while I did some Treat Manners with Charlie.  Meg went big with Daisy and took her off to what we call "The School".  A roped off area measuring nothing like a school!!!!  Daisy was having a frilly moment.  Meg took Jo off to see what she was doing. After some time had passed I realised I could hear a commotion. Charlie and Lu were upset (in fact Lu was rearing up against the Barn sides).  So I turned them both out to find Daisy had run through the Stock Fence at the bottom of the "School" and had a foot trapped. Not only was her foot through the Stock Fence, but she had somehow got it UNDER her shoe!!!  A tense hour passed, while we tried every cutting device we had, to no avail. By the time Daisy had consumed every apple and carrot we had, not to mention a hastily filled hay-net (Thank you Nancy - aged 7 - for filling it up quick smart), Jo manged to borrow some heavy duty wire cutters, and we finally freed the idiot!!  Luckily the Farrier was due the next day, as Daisy had managed to get some wire between her shoe and hoof!!!!!

With no harm done, we had a good week. By Saturday Jo and I had pretty much achieved our hours and ended Week one on a high.  We all went for walkies together. Jo riding Lu, and Meg and I long reining Daisy and Charlie.  The sun was out, and despite the fact the temperature never climbed above 3c we were all feeling Spring-like.  Meg then realized Covid had got the better of her and had to quit the Challenge. Meg works as an OT and Nancy her daughter is only 7.  With the whole of the UK in Lockdown, Nancy was home-schooling again. Only this time Home-schooling doesn't mean 5 hours of PE and Nature.  This time round poor Nancy has to actually attend online lessons, so Meg has now become teacher and health care worker!  Never mind, there's always next year.

Jo and I started week 2 with a solid 45mins of training. We bounced into Day 2 fully intending to bag another hour as the sun was out and the temperature up to a tropical 5c.  But we were met with the sight of all the small ponies in with Daisy, and Charlie and Lu in the Minis paddock.  After Minor heart attacks, we discovered that there was not a single scrape on any pony. However the Electric Fencing between the paddocks was trashed!! Electric string broken and tangled up like a ball of wool mangled by a kitten, 4 fence posts shattered into pieces and the Paddock cut up like a Full six Chukkas of Polo had been played.  It took us a precious hour to fix it all up!  Turns out Lily has come into season.  Charlie is in lurve.  But so is Lulu. Lily is a hussy. She has been flashing, squirting and flirting over the fence, then when she gets the attention she wants, from either the Alpha Mare, or The Gelding, neither of which are capable of scratching her itch, she strikes out at the fence.  Tune in next week to find out what fence related incident has thwarted our Challenge!!!!!

The NagTivity Play, And a Happy New Tier!

 Hope you all had a Happy Xmas, and Wishing you a Happy New Tier. I mean Year! Yes as we rush headlong into 2021, we here in Suffolk are in virtual Lockdown again, having been placed in Tier 4 on Boxing Day. For anyone reading this outside of Britain, here is a brief explanation!?!  To combat the plague our government has put us into a Tier system, depending on how bad the plague is locally. At the moment Tier 4 is the worst place to live!!! Essentially it means pubs, restaurants, non essential shops, gyms, cinemas etc are shut. We must not mix with other households indoors. We must not travel out of Tier 4 into other Tiers. We must not stay away from home.  However this does not seem to apply to the 10,000 Londoners who have flocked to The East Coast to spend Xmas in their Holiday Homes! We are sharpening our Pitchforks and preparing flaming torches!!!!!

Somewhat lacking Xmas spirit, I only decided at the last minute to recreate The Nativity Play with our ponies. None of them are trick trained, except Charlie, and he is only beginning his journey into the world of tricks.  What could possibly go wrong?? I had a title....The NAGtivity play. And the cast.....Charlie as Joseph, Daisy as the Virgin Mare-ry (although as she is the only one to have had foals, is the least Virgin like), Lulu in her golden magnificence as The Angel (and the Bar Keeper), the 3 Minis as The Wise Ponies (Mini also had a part as the Town Cryer), and of course The Maligator as a lone Dutch Shepherd. Ok so she is a Mali, but had Dutch Shepherd blood.  Prudence the Bull-Dog desperately wanted a part, so I made her the Director and The Elf and Safety Officer.

Now to film the scenes with a bunch of ponies not trained to perform certain actions (like standing where they are put, holding things, ringing bells etc). I started with Lulu as she at least ground ties. However I was unsure is she would like being dressed up, especially the Angel wings attached to her ears!!! But she was a superstar!

Charlie and Daisy were a challenge!!  Although they live together, they have a strange relationship. They nag each other like an old married couple, but in their field they have Lulu to sort out any squabbles.  Without Lu as a referee, I just kept filming and got some good bits!!  Daisy decided she must be a film star, and acted like a Diva, with more dressing room Riders than Christina Aguilera!

The mini herd were as good as.....almost!! Mini was a star, ringing the Bell briefly as The Town Cryer.  Unfortunately she thought she had done her bit, and as a Wise Pony, ate her gift of Burrs.  Lily has never been dressed up before, and was a little wary of her clothing.....and her gift of Frankies Mints! Coco happily accepted the Costume and was happy to hold (and eat) her gift of Golden Hay. The main problem was stopping them wandering off!!

Both dogs played their parts well, and with the use of a voice changer and a LOT of editing THE NAGTIVITY was made........

https://youtu.be/OvTbrPbw1Yk

And so as we free fall into 2021, we are ready for the snow and The Top Barn Challenge. Happy New Year. x

Moving Home, Top Barn 2021, And Cushings

 First up...Sorry I have been absent for a whole month!! I have been moving house. Simple enough right?  Not this house.  We have basically moved from our pokey 1 bed flat to a 2 Bed House.  The House had been trashed!!  It is Social Housing and while the Group fitted us a nice new kitchen and left us a decent painting kit, the rest is up to us!  As the entire place was painted in Pink, Blue, Lime Green, Orange and Red, my Partner had to spend a week painting.  There is no deep clean now, so I spent the week armed with bleach, gagging as I scrubbed throw up residue from behind the toilet and cleaned the general muck out (anyone for used ear wax covered Q Tips???).  We finally moved in.  We have no carpets, no internet, no TV Ariel!  We have spent the last two weeks organizing everything, changing gas and electric supplies (including a nail biting 2 days of being on emergency credit with no means of topping up), visits from BT engineers to fix the broken Telephone cable and a plumber to sort the bath.  And then there is the Garden!!  At first glance it seemed OK, once I had cleared up all the broken glass.  And then we realized.....The 4ft Fencing was no match for the Maligator. So we are now replacing that with 6ft panel fencing.  And new posts as the old ones were all rotten!  Its all slowly getting there!

In the meantime, my escape is doing the Horses. Although I have had The Maligator in tow more than I would like (but between trying to murder the Plumber, Electrician, Fence Guys, Gas and BT Engineer, and "helping" Mark, coming with me is the lesser of two evils). All this means is I have had no time to do anything with Charlie, except a hug and a kiss while poo picking.

All this is about to change!!! The Top Barn 2021 Challenge is almost upon us!!! The anticipation is almost unbearable.  As a group, we are all revved up and ready to start.  Top Barn have opened the FB Page. The challenges are up for perusal and people are declaring their intentions!! Jo and I signed up immediately and have spread the word.  I have a couple of friends signed up (Amanda and Noche) and we have forced Meg to sign up with Daisy.  Dear old Daisy has to be about 20 now.  She gets ridden a few times a year, when the Moon aligns with Mars, and Jo and I are not rushing off somewhere, its sunny, and we are down to one dog!!! Meg has ridden even less this year, what with work, child etc.  So we are now starting the partnership off with a few lessons, to build them both up. I'm not sure if Meg or Daisy is more horrified with the school work. I promise I won't do anything dangerous with you both!!!!!  My personal Challenge with Charlie is to be hacking out with Jo and Meg!!

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And so to Coco.  Coco joined our herd in the Summer. Having been rescued very underweight, she came to us. She has had lovely grass, grass blocks, feeds, new hay.......to no avail. She is still underweight.  Having tried Ulcerguard and several weight gain feeds, Jo had bloods done, and Coco has Cushings.  She has no obvious signs of the disease (no shaggy coat, laminitus or bulges above the eyes) but she does have the lesser signs, no Top-Line, Lethargy and lack of appetite. She is now on Prascend (Cushing Drug) and is rugged. Ponies with Cushings cannot regulate their temperature.  So while everyone else is naked, the Shetland Pony is rugged! Hopefully with the right feed and management we can reverse this horrible condition.  Daisy who had EMS which is the precursor to Cushings is now showing no signs of it, so their is hope for Coco.

Stay tuned for Top Barn and Coco updates.