And The Heat Goes On, And So Does Agility And So Does The Zombie Ragwort

 And so the Hot Weather has continued.  On and ON AND ON!!! Every day has been between 27c and 32c.   August has remained dry, apart from 15 minutes the other day, when we got highly excited. It came to nothing. We didn't even get wet. While other parts of Suffolk had downpours and even flooding, here on the East Coast it skirted round us. The fields are like The Sahara. We still have standing hay, but we have already moved onto The Winter Grazing. To eke out this poor sparse dried grass we are already feeding a hay supplement. And just to prove the weather hates us, the other day we had a freak whirlwind, which lifted up the hay and carried it off in great swirling tufts!! 

Summer is supposed to be an easy time for horse care.  This year is tough.  Not only are we having to put hay out, we are also feeding the Shetlands.  Yes WE ARE FEEDING THE SHETLANDS. We have a Track System crossed with Strip Grazing for the big ponies.  This means moving the Electric Fencing back every day.  The ground is like concrete.  Our most treasured tool is the mallet.  Jo and I are gaining large arm muscles.......so if anyone wants expert tent peg hammer inners.......

And then there is still the Ragwort problem.  The damn stuff is still growing!  So we are daily pulling new rosettes as well as uprooting the dead stuff.  And like a Zombie, its not really dead. Oh No!  It may look dead, all brown and wrinkled, BUT the dead leaves are still toxic.  As is the brown dead stalks. AND they still have little fluffy seeds drifting off at the slightest movement, to infest the entire country.  So every day, two crippled old ladies are sweating in the burning sun, hammering in posts, fighting with Zombie Ragwort and lugging hay around. Not to mention the daily poo-picking etc.  No wonder we both sleep every afternoon!!!

So we really need some help. Jo is awaiting a hip operation and everyone knows i have the Lung Capacity of a 90yr old. The panting and groaning sounds like a Sex Tape!  We are looking for the impossible......A fit person to help us 2 or 3 mornings a week. For no payment whatsoever!! Just fresh air and excercise, with a coffee thrown in!  I would offer riding lessons, but these may be few and far between as the two riding ponies have been lame due to the hard ground.  Of course Charlie is sound......if anyone wants to take their chances???

All this heat and flies have not stopped my Agility Obsession though. Having got a 3rd in the Liberty Competition and 1st in last months Starter Competition,  has only upped my competitive spirit.  Charlie is still super keen.  This month we have been working on The Summer Sports Competitions, and The monthly Liberty and On Line Competitions. We have also gained our Level 2 trainers certificate and will start Level 3 next month. I have even got the dog involved, although we are not ready to compete yet.

Next month we are also doing The Top Barn Last Horseman Standing Challenge. Next month I am hoping for some rain!  And cooler temperatures, Next month I would also like to get back to riding more. Check back next month to see if any of this happens!

Summer Is Here, Agility. Lameness. And Ragwort

 So Summer is definitely here.  Despite NOT being a weather channel I am British, so I will bang on about the weather. Its been HOT.  I mean REALLY HOT. Like 'Broken All Records' Hot. Suffolk recorded 38c last Monday. Tuesday was slightly cooler at 37c.  Since then the temperature has dropped to between 23c and 31c. The ponies have coped surprisingly well, despite being Natives and more used to rain and cool.  They don't seem at all bothered in fact. We have coped as well, getting used to the heat and shivering slightly as the temperatures dropped to 20c. What isn't coping so well is our fields which are standing hay (burnt grass) and dust. Perfect for the ponies!! Unfortunately the Ragwort is taking over. Being on sandy soil and dry it is having a party. Every single day we dig the stuff up even in the Winter.  But this year it's got beyond our control, so its a case of digging it up when we move the fence back. I swear when the world ends and the planet is burning, the Ragwort will survive (as will the flies).  We have barely had a drop of rain for the whole of July (0.6 mm according to the local news) , so please send some asap.

Charlie and I have been ploughing on with our Agility. We have almost completed the Level 2 training. And we entered our first ever competition.  And came 2nd.  I am so pleased with him.  He is loving it, to the point when he sees me altering the course he is leaving his field-mates to the grass and waiting at the gate. A far cry from the pony that once took 2 weeks to catch!!!  We are fired up with the competing and have just entered the Liberty Trophy class.

https://youtu.be/CX6lt5SECIY

Having neglected his riding training, last week I had him in the school with Debbie and Lu.  While they were titivating Lu, I tacked him up. No adverse response. Parked him at the Mounting Block. Cool as Cucumber. Got up on Block. Still cool. Leaned over him.....no response.  Got on him, still laid back as a recliner.  At this point Debbie came to his head,  and we went for a wander around the school including weaving through the cones.  Of course the Pivo decided to go on strike at this point! 

But Charlie needs to step up as my riding pony.  If I can stop doing Agility for a day!!!  Having had Daisy shod last month we managed 2 hacks before she went lame. That was due to the wet June and the green grass (At this point I have forgotten the meaning of wet and grass). So that worked out at £26 a ride! 

Sound and shod again, we managed 2 hacks.  Catching her in for hack number 3, I was excited to bring my costs down.  Alas she trotted in lame. Only on one foreleg and more un-level than lame. I checked her feet for stones, the heat ( or lack of) in her hooves,  any swellings or hot spots in her leg. Nada.  No clue as to what is wrong, so can only put it down to the hard ground, a tweak somewhere. So please send us RAIN.  Our ponies need it!!!

 

Meeting TopBarners and More Agility

 It seems like ages since I last updated all 30 odd of you.  So Sorry. I seem to have been buzzing like a bee. 

Anyways going back to June. I may have mentioned Summer was a late starter.  It rained.... A Lot!  As a result our grass was green.  Inevitably just as I was starting the Top Barn 100 mile Stage of The Summer Challenge (Which involved me clocking up the miles on Daisy while leading Charlie), Daisy went lame. Nothing major, but as she has EMS she has a problem processing sugar. Green Grass = Sugar = Daisy gets a touch of Laminitus!  We immediately cut back the daily allowance of new grass along the track system.  Daisy was booted (and buted) and we had to feed hay to fill up their bellies, instead of grass.  Oh how we moaned and groaned....feeding Hay in June blah blah.

So short of some sort of miracle, where Charlie was happy to be ridden for more than 5 seconds, or my lungs were suddenly restored to that of a 60 year old,  The 100 Mile Challenge was no longer. Still I was happy that we had completed 3 stages of the Challenge, and set about the Agility.

Having passed the Stage One Agility, I joined the Club and enrolled on Stage 2. Where we have been stuck for an Eternity, or so it seems. The Blueprint goes like this.....Walk forward with Horse on a Loose rope, Horse must take first step. Halt on command with a loose rope...yeah yeah no worries.  Move to end of rope and count to 3. Horse must not move!  Well that's just way too far away as far as Charlie is concerned. After some 700 million attempts, he will now just about wait 3 Seconds.  So on to backing up.  A gap in our training has appeared. If I look at Charlie, point a finger and say "Back up" he will. For as long as I want.  BUT.  I have to be beside him and we move back together. After another 700 million tries we have nearly got it.  We are both bored now!

And so we will set this aside, and play with the Obstacle course which is far more fun. And I have neglected the saddling and mounting, so its back to that next week.  Daisy is sound again, so we can continue getting out and about with Charlie in tow. Anyone fancy a hack?  

So with the Top Barn Summer Challenge done as far as I could, and all the other stresses building up (mostly my Nurse Ratchett approach to looking after my Mother), I decided on a road trip.  I have known Amanda before Top Barn.  We 'met' on The Horse Tricks Club site 4 years ago. Both being Brits and both having 'difficult' ponies we clicked. I invited her to join Top Barn a couple of years ago.  Throughout all my stays in hospital Amanda has been my rock, checking in with me daily.  As I live in East Suffolk and Amanda is in Co. Durham it was a bit of a trek.  But as I had a day trip to Papworth Hospital booked in, I decided as it was 1.5 hours nearer, it was the ideal springboard for a visit.

After all the usual prodding and poking, I headed North up the A1.  Having stopped at the familiar Ferrybridge services (near Leeds) I thought I must be nearly there.  I put the Sat Nav on at that point and was gobsmacked when it informed me to stay on the A1M for the next 57 miles!!  Eventually i arrived in Co. Durham and found Amanda and her husband Colin at their small-holding.  I met Shadow (he is Enormous) and some rather scary bullocks! Amanda stayed with me the night at the Small-holding and we did a little Wild Camping. Coffee brewing on the Twig Burner and home cooked treats from Amanda. Bear Gryllls  eat your heart out!!  Next day we went back to Amanda's house and chewed the cud some more.  I really didn't want to leave. But I had to be home that night ready for Nurse Ratchett duties the next day. And so with a brief stop at Seaham for some sea-glass hunting (But that's my other life), I drove and drove.

I staggered back into reality like a Zombie.  By the end of the week, just as I was feeling nearly normal a shout out went out on Top Barn from Paula Gough.  Did anyone live near Lowestoft as she was on holiday. Well Yep we were on her way home, so Paula came to visit the ponies.  I think this should become a thing. Any Top Barner on holiday should shout out where they are and visit another Top Barner.  We could become a group of Top Barnarners!!

BTW If anyone is interested.....I still have a lump on my eyebrow!!

Top Barn Summer Challenge Continues and An Addiction To Agility

The Top Barn Summer Challenge Continues. Charlie and I have completed 3 stages. The 10,000 steps a day for 14 days - Done. Not without some sweat, but no tears. The 1000 minutes training over 21 days - Done.  It went to the wire, but we got there.  The 10 Challenges in a week was no problem, although I had to change what I had planned due to the Weather.  One of the Challenges was Bath Horse.  That's long overdue, but it just wasn't warm enough! When exactly is Summer starting this year????  I don't mean to be so British and continually bang on about the weather...But Really?  Its June, and I don't consider rain and wind and still wearing a Winter Fleece as 'Summer'.  I did manage the 'Sit in The Field with The Horses and Do Nothing'.  Harder than it sounds, but very interesting, just watching them graze.  The Alpha Mare, having initially stood near me, while falling asleep, then wouldn't let the others near. After about 40 very relaxing minutes it started to rain!

And so I am onto the 4th and Final Stage.....100 miles in 30 days! You have to laugh. I mean on a bad day I struggle to walk for a 100 inches without running out of breath!  I have bagged a couple of willing riders for Lulu, so I can ride Daisy and lead Charlie. He's been a star.  Due to the Holiday traffic I daren't go up the main road, so we have been going down the lane and through a busy campsite. It's been surprisingly uneventful, despite barking tents, flapping awnings, flags and banners everywhere, children playing on whirly-gigs, helpful neighbours on ride-on lawn mowers, people chain-sawing trees, loose dogs and some very surprising electric gates opening!  Charlie has taken it all in his stride.

Daisy had a Masterson Massage from the very talented Jade Monahan. She has been a different pony!  She was always quite strung out and prone to the odd trip. Now she is 'underneath herself', head up and has found power in her back end. She is picking up her feet, springing along and has found reverse gear, including up. Never spooky, she took a dislike to an overgrown Bridleway. She slams the brakes on. I say "Walk On", Charlie obliges, while Daisy goes into reverse, leaving my arms somewhat stretched. "Whoa" I say, Charlie halts. We reorganize ourselves. "Walk On" I say, with a couple of pony club kicks thrown in for good measure.  Charlie obliges, Daisy backs up, then gives a very balanced half rear. In the end I had to get off and lead them both in tandem!  Luckily Lu ridden by Debbie, quickly learned how to undo the gate. Next time out was smoother, mostly because the Bridleway is now a little trampled by us.

Anyhoo, despite this I have still only done about 7 miles so far!!!! The weather has conspired against us, and trying to find times when we are all free to go out is not easy.  So anyone else willing to join in my Challenge??? All you have to do is sit on a pretty palomino pony and lead the way, while I wrestle the other two into some sort of formation. 

And then there's the Agility Club!!!!  I was persuaded by my friend Amanda to join a Horse Agility Club. I'm hooked. We are working our way through Course Modules.  Having built the course, I have submitted a couple of videos and passed 3 sections. Charlie and i are loving it.  Its in-hand on a loose rope at the moment. At this rate I'll never be riding him! My last score for a 10 Obstacle Course was 99/100.  I only have one more Section to complete before I finish Module One. There is also world wide competitions if you become a Club Member.  So of course my competitive nature has sprung into action.....and I've joined the Club and am now looking at entering a competition!!!!

https://youtu.be/VsKf-dKuJQ4

That may or may not be the Link to our entry if you are interested. Even if your not interested, I would appreciate it if you could subscribe to Charlies YouTube Channel......after all, we only need another 3961 subscribers before we can earn his treats!!!!!

BTW - If anyone is interested........I still have a lump on my eyebrow! Nearly a month after the head-butting incident!!

Catch up soon x

Top Barn Summer Challenge, A Black Eye And A Goodbye

Top Barn Summer Challenge has been underway for nearly 3 weeks now. Charlie and I have been working our socks off. I have completed the Steps Challenge, walking 10K steps a day, every day for 2 weeks. I'm not gonna lie. Some days were hard. I normally do between 8k and 10k daily, but with my dodgy lungs and dicky ticker sometimes its a lot less. One of the days, after having done the horses, I was still 4k steps off. So I went out for a walk with the OH and Doggo. We went to an Open Access Area of a Re-wilding scheme on the edge of town. As per they went off at military pace.  Puffing and panting up the hills, we completed a circuit. "More?" inquired OH. I consulted my Fitbit. Yes More. Off we went on a different circuit. Finally half a mile from where we had parked the Fitbit buzzed 10k.  I sat down. Thats it! I'm done, just leave me here!! I also had a couple of days pacing round the garden which is the size of a pocket handkerchief, but I got there. I'm relieved to not have to be a step nerd any longer.

At the same time I have been doing the 1000 Minutes Challenge with Charlie. Thats 1000 minutes training time in 21 days. So far we are on 817 minutes with 3 days to go. Thats 183 minutes to do in 3 days! 61 minutes a day. I have to run my unwell mother around. Tomorrow we are off to Hospital. At least the nights are light. We can do this, although its going to the wire. Its not that easy to have long sessions in hand, with a pony that has the attention span of a Goldfish. But there is no way I'm starting again!  So its 3 days of hard work!!

As Charlie gets bored very easily, I have been mixing up the serious work of getting him ridden, with some agility, walk outs, tricks, and liberty. We have come on leaps and bounds with the Mounting!! I think he is pretty au fait with the Mounting Block Park and me getting on now. The saddle is no longer scarier than The Grudge Movies. My hat no longer scares me. Although maybe a Full Face Crash Helmet would be more appropriate.

So why would i need a full face crash helmet??  Well apparently learning new tricks are dangerous!  So there we were, learning to pick up mini cones.  I had been lunging Charlie previous to this and for some unknown reason, left the 12ft rope trailing off him. We were both bending over a cone, Charlie stepped forward and stood on his rope. Startling himself he threw his head up.....and wham....he caught me with his head right on my eyebrow! I saw stars! I staggered around with drunken knees, like a boxer caught with a right hook. I sat on my knees for a bit, Charlie came to see what was up. Obviously he hadn't hurt his head. I staggered to the tack room for a wet towel, and a sit down, until the room stopped spinning like a fairground ride. Charlie started calling for me. I asked myself what day it was and came up with the correct answer. I held up 2 fingers and again got the correct answer. I decided i wasn't concussed. So I pulled myself together and took Charlie out to the Grazing. I managed to lock up, drive home and convince my OH I wasn't concussed and was able to go out for Sunday lunch as planned. 

The shiner spread to both eyes and cheekbones. I had a four day headache and I still have bruising and a lump on my inner brow, 10 days on. The moral of this story is....Never leave a trailing rope. Something i should know after 50 odd years with horses!!!!

Today we said goodbye to Lily (WHW Liv). But not in a bad way. Jo got Lily (Liv) from WHW around 4 years ago.  She had been rescued from a roundabout in Cardiff, owned by the infamous "Gypsy King". She was incredibly head shy and nervous.  With us she has blossomed into a confident, sweet and affectionate pony.  She has been backed, and ridden by children and adults. But she had no rider, and was bored and eating a lot of grass! With Jo and I both unable to work because of health issues, and struggling financially, we had to thin out the herd. Sadly Lily was the only one able to be leave.  So today she went back to WHW who will have no trouble re-homing her. We will miss her heaps, but having started her, she will go on to have a happy and useful life elsewhere. 

A New Challenge - Like Climbing Everest, and Spring Is Nearly Here

 Yup! Spring is nearly here.  Nearly but not quite.  Everything has burst into blossom, the swallows are back, my Hay Fever has been raging....and yet.... There is still a persistent breeze from the North East, coming straight off the North Sea and freezing fingers and toes when you least expect it.  Clothes have been on and off (depending on what field we are in).  And there has been a distinct lack of rain, delaying the growth of The Hill Field (Spring Grazing), so every-pony is still in the Winter Paddocks and we are still feeding hay daily.  We are hoping to move them by May 1st. Frankly the daily hay wrestling is becoming a bore!! And May 1st is a very important date.

Yes its the start of The Top Barn Summer Challenge!!!!! Last year I didn't take part, knowing my Dicky Ticker was struggling, and a stay in hospital to have an IV pump fitted was imminent. As we all know that didn't work out for me, but i am now on stronger Oral drugs and am 'stable' (hahahaha).  So Charlie and i are going for it this year.  

The Challenge goes like this:

10000 rider steps per day for 2 weeks daily.                                                        1000 training minutes with horsey over 3 weeks.                                                100 miles with horsey over 4 weeks                                                                  10 challenges over 1 week.

I can do the 10000 steps, the 1000 minutes and the 10 Challenges (hopefully), but the 100 miles seems like climbing Everest.  However the nights are light in June. I can in theory do a mile with Charlie 4 times a day! We have been working at doing stuff with him wearing a saddle (this is where his Lizard kicks off) and me wearing a riding hat (my Lizard wakes up for a look-see at this point). We have also been working on standing at the Mounting Block and me getting on. We are progressing to this happening with the saddle and the hat.  I know this seems weird, but my Lizard wakes up when I put a riding hat on. It thinks I must be doing something dangerous where I expect to fall on my head. If I get on Daisy, for a road hack, The Lizard goes back to sleep, as the idea of coming off her is preposterous.  With Charlie, the Lizard is on full alert as this is a strong possibility. 

However with no tack and no hat the Lizards Sleep. But this is more of a danger! So in the spirit of Health and Safety and Squashing Lizards, we are getting there. My plan is to spend the first month doing the steps, challenges and intense training in the hope that by Month 2, I can ride the 100 miles.  Hope is a wonderful thing.  I am also hoping to find a regular rider for Daisy, to come out with me and Charlie! Of course I could always box him 100 miles away and ride back, but I would need Tess Glanville for that!! Read The Ridgeway Romp on Amazon Kindle. 

So this Challenge is my Everest!  My final push to the top! 12 ish days to the start. I can't wait!!

Charlie in Training

The End Of The Challenge, Stressage Results and Clicker Training

 WOOHOO!  We completed the Top Barn Challenge.  With the Holiday Week still in hand!  I wanted to finish the Challenge by riding Charlie, but it was not to be. I did manage to sit on him for about 2 seconds and he was calm, but most of the last two weeks of The Challenge he has gone back to feral, suddenly afraid of the tack and being restricted in any way, so we spent our time at Liberty (his comfort zone) and learning to say Yes. The week following the Challenge (or Week 13 as I see it) we took a holiday.  Well Charlie did!  Obviously him (and the other 5) still expect room service daily! And the snow came!!  I Told You So!! Although it didn't lay for long, we had NE Winds bringing Snow, Sleet, Hail. I hate Hail, it hurts! Jo and I struggled on, pushing ourselves in the crap weather, wishing we had some weekday help.....So if you are that person sat at home, bored, wanting some hard graft and a good dose of fresh air in return for a nice Highland to ride, and coffee and biscuits......please get in touch.

And what of that Stressage Test?  Well it almost reduced me to tears!! If it wasn't a problem with filming, it was Charlie objecting to being led on his blind side. Not to mention I had to run. Ok not for long, but enough to reduce me to a heaving, gasping mess, ready to pass out. Eventually I ran out of time for perfection and submitted my best attempt. Imagine my surprise when i didn't come last!!! In fact we came 2nd.  I have just received my test marks!! 84% with a couple of tens and some lovely comments. I am soooo pleased with my boy,

And Finally I would like to talk about Clicker Training. Many people in the Horse World ignore Clicker Training, or think it may lead to a nippy horse.  BUT if taught right, it can actually teach your horse to be polite around treats. It is also a way to accelerate learning.  Horses and all animals (including humans) need motivation to learn and work. Imagine if you went to work every day and your boss just expected you to put in 100% with no praise and the only feedback you got was being moaned at?  Ok so this happens in the workplace (we have probably all been in that job), but that results in an unhappy employee. You are rewarded by a wage, so that's why you work, but there is no motivation to give it your all.  You become shut down, do the minimum amount of work required and have no job satisfaction. You are probably searching the Job Ads right now. 

But what if you had a nice boss?  One that praises you, thanks you? Brings in cream cakes on birthdays? Lets you have time off on school holidays? Works as hard as you do? Takes you out for meals? Yup you try twice as hard to get it right.

So it goes with animals. Tell your Dog s/he is a good girl/boy. The tail will wag. Dogs like to please their human family.  With Horses (and other animals) a "Good Boy" may not be enough reward. But a treat is usually a high value reward. 

Throughout the Animal Training world, Clicker Training is being used. Film and zoo animals are Clicker Trained, not only to perform tricks, but for veterinary work. I have seen videos of chickens playing The Star Spangled Banner on keyboards! Or Tiger coming in for jabs. My favourite was a Clicker Trained Polar Bear!

When I first began working with Charlie, he was feral. I tried a number of training methods, most of which messed up my head.  Then I found Clicker Training. It worked. We have a good relationship. When I call him he comes running. He wants to learn. Yes he wants his carrot treats, but he is excited to see what he has to learn to get them.

Here is a link to our latest YouTube Video - Begin Clicker Training

https://youtu.be/BCuQpoOIvoo