The End of The Year Blog ( Track Systems, Sandy Soil and 2024)

Well its nearly the end of 2023 (How did that happen?)  Charlie and I have had a great 2023.  He has done really well in Horse Agility, we have progressed to about 8 steps ridden before the panic starts, and I can nearly get the clippers on his legs!! 

What always amazes me (still) is the fact he comes running when I call him, or if he has spotted me in the Playpen (new name for the 'school' as it really isn't), he is waiting at the Gate. It shows how far we have come from the pony that once took 2 weeks to catch!!!!  This is all down to Clicker Training and Trick Training.  This year I joined Connection Training and I have learnt sooooo much about how the horses mind works.  Our relationship has blossomed and its a real 2 way communication now.  Between Horse Tricks 101 Club, The International Horse Agility Club and Connection Training we now have a proper solid relationship and the ability to have actual conversations. I am now exploring the concept of his consent, and giving him a voice that I listen to. More on that next year.

As well as the Horse Agility and slowly slowly ridden work, during the Year, Charlie and I took part in 2 Top Barn Treasure Hunts.  I love a good Treasure Hunt. Its a brilliant concept ......To get out and seek 'treasures' such as Churches, Pubs, Water, Cows.....you get it. Not only was it great fun, we ventured out of our comfort zones in the pursuit of 'treasures' and spent a lot of time hanging out waiting for them to pass by. 

We have just finished our last Agility Competition of the Year. Having won the WO Liberty Silver in November with Charlie, I was raring to start on the final competition of the year.  However Covid struck!  I went to London (yes a Yokel like me, in the Big Smoke).  I went to see the Lionesses play The Netherlands at Wembley.  One sardines in a tin packed Tube Train later and I was struck down. I felt wretched for nearly 10 days. My Horse Landlord is vulnerable so I kept away, only visiting Charlie when the coast was clear. Poor Jo had to shoulder all the work, while I lay in bed watching crap daytime TV.  So I have only had 12 days to pull off a Competition entry, while the weather has raged with rain and wind. We also managed to film a few Xmas Shorts for our You Tube Channel.  Check them out https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLYQBYhWqo_WPVdz9MFkCtA/about.  If that doesn't work just type Charlie The Trick Pony into the search.  I'm crap with links etc.

Meanwhile Daisy, who retired aged 23 last spring, has been hooning around like a spring chicken.  She has EMS, but living on a track system has given her a new lease of life.  She is a great nanny pony, being fairly bombproof, so Jo and I decided she may as well do something. Like helping Charlie get out hacking.  Having done nothing for most of the Year, and never having done any Agility, I brought her in and took her round the OLHA WO Starter Course in November.  I had filmed it, and it looked Ok.  So I registered her with the International Horse Agility Club, and entered.  To my utter surprise, she came 1st. So Daisy has a new career!!  I have since had front shoes put on, ready for the New Year Challenge.

And that Challenge is of course, The Top Barn 2024 Winter Challenge.  I have entered both ponies.  Charlie at Bronze Premium Level and Daisy at Copper Level which is new for this year. My aim is to get them both fit and ready to try Equigility (Ridden Horse Agility).  I also want to Clicker train Daisy, and will be doing a series of videos on YouTube of our progress. 

And so onto that miracle Track System.  Our Winter Field for the larger ponies is 2 acres. We have always strip grazed it, but having used the Track System in the Summer with success, I thought it was worth trying it on the Winter Grazing. Using electric fence posts we have gradually increased the Track around the outside of the paddock, so now it runs all the way round. Then small strips are made into the middle. They are having very small amounts of hay to supplement the grass, and here we are, nearly at the end of the year, with a load of grass left.  They are using the whole track.  I would like to attach some sort of tracker to Charlie, to see how far they are actually moving. 

Now we are lucky to be on sandy soil.  With all the rain we have had so far this Winter, I know a lot of people are having problems with their tracks becoming bogs.  Ours is standing up well.  No one can chose their soil, but here in The Suffolk Sandlings, I have always had my horses on sandy soil. Yes it brings its own problems.  When the grass is cropped the horses pull it up from the roots which can cause sand colic.  We feed pysillium regularly to combat this.  In a dry hot Summer (Oh I wish) the grass turns to dust and we have to feed hay. Ragwort loves sandy soil, so its a constant battle to pull it up. But on the whole I would much rather have sand than mud. 

So it just remains to Wish You All a Happy Xmas.  See you all in2024.  x

Build an Ark, Halloween Agility and the Top Barn Challenge Looms

 Oh what rain we have all been having. We need to build an ark!!!  2 weeks ago we had Storm Babette who threw down a months worth of rain in a day. There was massive flooding in Sunny Suffolk. Cars under water up to their roofs. Lots of people and their horses flooded out. Our ponies were ok as we are on top of the Only Hill in Suffolk.  But poor Jo had her house flooded as did a few other friends. Then last Thursday we had Storm Ciaran (?).  More flooding and near Hurricane force winds. Since then its been raining!  During high winds many people ponder weather to bring their horses in. My view is they are better left out. Horses are herd animals and are born to run away in danger.  Left out they can huddle with the Herd, or run for it, if a tree comes down.  Shut in a cage (sorry Stable), they can hear Armeggedon going on around them, but cannot run away.  The stress must be immense.  Our Ponies don't have Stables so have to stay out. And after a night of weather chaos we arrived to find them happily grazing, without a care in the world. Personally I am fed up of the Wet stuff now and would appreciate some dry days.

Horse Agility has been great fun this/last month.  I mean its always fun, but October had a Halloween theme. I love Halloween, so used Pumpkins, Witches hats etc to decorate my course.  Charlie and I had a hard time with the Pumpkin Weave which had to be done with me at his right shoulder. As he cannot see much from his right eye, he does not like me at his right shoulder which blocks his limited vision.. We have just had the results through and I'm pleased that we had a 1st in WO Silver Liberty and 3rd in WO OLHA.  When we had finished filming we smashed up the Pumpkins....

https://youtube.com/shorts/7eXjFHO2GrE?si=VH9npUoQOv1VNUKB

So with Winter approaching fast whats next?  Well a lot of hard work!!!  Jo and I are girding our loins.  Jo is waiting for a hip replacement and my Dodgy Lungs And Dicky Ticker are getting worse. Papworth have fitted me with a tracker so they can keep an eye on me remotely.  The good news is its a Garmin Venu 2 smart watch and I love it.  Every cloud and all that!  Between us we nearly make a whole person, but it is hard going looking after 5 ponies in Winter, so if anyone wants some exercise/tuition/rides/fresh air/numb fingers/wet clothes/kisses from a Shetland pony please let us know. 

Obviously I will continue Horse Agility with Charlie throughout the Winter and Daisy, who is ancient but doing really well will be coming back into work. Charlie is coming on with his ridden work, and needs to start hacking with Daisy as a nanny pony. And then the Top Barn Challenge is looming.  I have just signed up Charlie for Bronze.  This is our 6th Challenge.  I have been told to slow down, hence the Bronze only, but this year there is a Copper Challenge, so maybe I will do that with Daisy.  Its a great motivation to keep going during the Winter. 

Autumn is Here, Winter Boots, Track Systems, and Black Nightshade

 Well that's it.  Summer is over. The Indian Summer that is. October has been, well HOT here on the East Coast of England.  Way up in the 20's.  Which has been great for us Humans, but not so great for our Native ponies who have been sweating in their fluffy Native coats.  My Dog hasn't been too happy either.  A Belgian Malinois with a thick coat (and black to boot), has been laying outside in the dark to cool off. Today she jumped into a stagnant pond, and at this moment is green and smelly.  Actually that might not be anything to do with the heat.  It was actually bloody freezing today! In comparison.  So on Tuesday I had shorts and t-shirt on. Then it rained, it blew a hoolie for 2 days.  Still not cold though, but the weather man said we had all of Octobers rain in 48 hours. I actually had to sit and wait for a bunch of bathing pheasants yesterday, who had mistaken a road for a river.  Today dawned sunny and calm......and cold.  We only got up to 10c. Bit of a shock from 23c! 

So my thoughts have been turning to winter boots. I hate having wet and cold feet.  When I worked at Poplar Park many moons ago, my boots leaked like the Titantic and I had chilblains.  Someone bought me some Hunter Wellies for a Xmas present and from then on my feet were dry.....but still cold. Even woolie Fishermans socks didn't seem to keep the cold out.  Now we have much more technical boots.  For the last few years I have gone for long 'country' boots. You know the type. Cheaper Dubarrys.  Oh yes they look good. Easy to wear in the Pub as well as the Yard. But do they really do the job?  Well they do when they are new.  My first pair were Harry Halls. On the cheaper end of the market, they were great and remained waterproof for around 4 years.  Then the dog (then a puppy Maligator) ate them.  My OH replaced them the following Xmas with a more expensive pair.  As comfy as an old pair of slippers, they have sprung a leak after 3 years. Last winter I tried water-proofing them.  Didn't last. They leak between the upper and the sole. So I just got a snazzy pair of Joules Goucho boots.  Oh they are beautiful. But they leaked in the same place.  Basically they are more fashion boots and can now be found for sale on Ebay! I started to think of all the years I worked for the RDA and which were the best Winter Boots.  Yup they were neoprene Muck Boots.  Not as pretty. But they do keep your feet dry and warm.  So a pair have been ordered.  What are your best Winter Boots and Why?

As you all know, we have a bunch of Native ponies.  They live out naked 24/7 all year round.  They are tough, cold blooded and designed for the wet, cold, windy British Isles. We like to keep them as close as nature intended for their mental well being. It is quite a task in England where we are land poor. Oh to have 30 acres of natural land so they can graze, move, browse, live in a big herd as nature intended.  That's what makes a happy horse. But we rent around 10 acres.  We have the 3 Acre Field, the 4 Acre Field and the Hill Field (approx 3 Acres). These are rotated. The Herd is split into 2.  We have 3 bigger ponies, a Highland (Daisy), a Haflinger (Lu) and Charlie (Gypsy Cob), plus 2 small ponies, Mini and Coco who are miniature Shetlands. Charlie is the only boy. It would be nice to have them all as one herd. But Lu seems to hate the Minis and Charlie will always follow her lead.  We had an incident a while ago when Coco (who really is tiny) got in with them and they nearly killed her. Lu has been Charlies surrogate mum since I first got him aged 3.5yrs old. He never had a Mum, so she resource guards him. While this isn't ideal, it is what it is. Coco was starved when she was rescued and although has put on weight is still only 120kg, whereas Lu and Charlie are both around 440kg. Its just not worth risking her life.  So although they are all in the same field, it is split.  Daisy (the Highland) mostly lives with Lu and Charlie, but has EMS and prone to Laminitus, so moved in with the Shetlands in the Spring. 

So how to make the best of this small space?  We have a track System in place.  Long narrow corridors that go round the outside of the fields, and do U turns back up on themselves. The corridors are strip grazed so a small amount is opened up daily.  When we reach the end, we close that corridor, and open a new one.  This system is not only making the grazing last longer, it is also making the horses walk much further for the water.  When they move to the 4 Acre Field for the Winter and finally run out of grass, I plan to have different corridors that lead to hay and licks and anything else I can think of to enrich their lives.  Horse Tricks Club on Facebook have a special Section this month on this subject.

This system has been working well, and despite the wet summer and the mad  grass growth, all the ponies have remained sound. Well actually its only Mini and Daisy we have to worry about regards Laminitus. But they have been sound for months (frantically touching wood here).  No I am not touching wood. I believe in the System.  Why didn't anyone think of Track Systems years ago?  They make sooo much sense!!  Wild horses travel at least 20 miles a day, grazing all sorts of stuff (not just lush grass) and all go off miles for water. Funnily enough they do not get Laminitus, long hooves, colic, stomach ulcers.  They do not crib bite or weave. They lose weight in Winter and gain in Summer. They do not have some human come and worm them, so presumably their worm count remains low, due to the constant moving around and not grazing ground full of droppings.  It just makes sense to me to try and keep our horses in as natural environment as we possibly can. 

So the Hill Field where the ponies currently are had not been grazed for a while. We went in, in the summer and uprooted all the flowering Ragwort we could find. We do have a patch of Bracken, but not much and every year it gets eaten without any problem.  Ponies that live on sandy heathland seem to eat it as part of their staple diet. Generally horses know whats good for them and what isn't. They spit out the bad stuff.  Problems only occur when they are starving and literally have nothing else to eat.  Ours will eat right round any Ragwort rosettes which makes them easier to see, however it is a daily job, spotting any baby plants. But last week, having moved a fence back I saw a bush that I didn't like the look of.  Two in fact. They were shrubby plants, with white flowers and green berries.  The leaves looked very potato like.  As we all know potatoes are part of the Nightshade genre of plants, as are tomatoes and tobacco.  We all know tomatoes are fine to eat, and potatoes which are actually the bulb of the plant are fine when cooked.  We have also all heard of Deadly Nightshade which is a rather pretty plant, also called Bella Donna.  In the old days, ladies would take a little as it made the pupils of their eyes bigger, making them prettier. This shrub reminded me of a Nightshade plant, but not one I recognised.  So I uprooted them both.  Lu came over to inspect what I was stealing from her grazing, and turned her nose up which made me even more sure they were not good plants.  Back in the Tackroom, I photographed them and used the Plant-Net app (its brilliant) to identify them as Black Nightshade. Turns out they are poisonous to all mammals, including humans, dogs and horses.  Particularly the berries when they are green.

And so we are heading into yet another Winter.  Charlie will continue his ridden work as well as Horse Agility.  We are looking forward to the next Top Barn Winter Challenge.  And we will continue to work on our trick training. I would love someone (Meg) to take on Daisy who has shown she is not ready to retire, racing about in the field like a youngster. Charlie and i could really do with a Winter of hacking out with Daisy as a nanny..........

Indian Summer, End Of Treasure Hunt and Rugs!

And so to the weather!!  Its been an Indian Summer, almost making up for the lack of real Summer.  Apart from a couple of Storms, the weather for September has been glorious (possibly hotter than the real Summer).  The mornings have been cooler, so its on/off with clothes. The summer shorts and crocs have been put away, and revived again.  THEY (whoever they are) say October will be up in the mid twenties again!!!! For those of us with Natives, who live out 24/7 naked its a bit of a pain.  They are growing their furry winter coats and sweating like a whore in church.

Which brings me onto rugs.......I have actually seen some horses already wearing rugs!  Rugging a horse will NOT stop the growth of winter coats.  Its the amount of daylight hours that does that!  Horses are designed to live outside in all weathers. They are most comfortable between 5c and 25c. Ok in mid winter if you have an elderly, or clipped horse, by all means rug it.  But right now even the night time temperatures haven't been below 8c.  They must be relieved when the sun goes down and the temperatures drop. 

And so its the end of the Top Barn Treasure Hunt Part 2. This time we had 30 Treasures to find. In multiples of 3.  To complete the Challenge we had only had to find 10 sets of 3 Treasures, but the hardcore went on to find 90 treasures!!!  RESPECT!!!!  Charlie and I completed 18 sets of 3.  We logged other treasures and finished with 62.  We also had to complete 5 tasks and declare miles in multiples of 10.  We only declared 20 miles (as its mostly on foot) and finished on 22.8 miles.  We did complete the 5 Tasks, but in our own way.  Charlie can be quite a handful in hand out on the lane.  My dodgy lungs and dicky ticker struggle when he's in racehorse on crack mode.  So I am most grateful for the help of Meg, who kindly came out for a walk with us, leading Mini the Shetland as a calming influence on Charlie and also took a shed load of pictures of treasures. Charlie was tacked up and I even had a hat on, just in case he was calm enough for me to ride a bit.  But he wasn't.  However, we did manage a few steps ridden in the Playpen (formerly known as The School) and a few more steps up the track. Well out of our comfort zone!!

The International Horse Agility Summer Of Sport has also finished and we all got our results. Charlie excelled himself with 3 x 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd. Aswell as getting a 1st in the August Liberty Class. The class I am most proud of is Horse and Hound.  We came !st with a score of 100/100.  The Hound in question is called Luna. She belongs to my friend Sarah.  She was rescued from Cyprus or somewhere, and had been in about 5 homes. Luna was on her last chance. Apparently she was vicious! I just happened to be dog-sitting and at the last minute decided to try the Horse and Hound class.  We had a 20 minute practice while I sorted out the camera angle, and 20 minutes to film the class. Both Charlie and Luna were foot perfect.

And so onwards to October.  A month I love.  The trees turn a fantastic colour, the nights are cooler and its Halloween Month.  Hopefully the flies will die off or hibernate.  I plan to carry on doing ridden work with Charlie. My goal is to complete an Equigility Class before the year is out.

 

Autumn Approaches and Pink Cars

And so to the Weather. Its getting cold. A mere 8c this morning. The sloes and blackberries are in bloom, the harvest is in. Yup there's no denying it. Autumn is on its way. Summer never really happened. So let's embrace Autumn with its beautiful leaves and Halloween.

At least this year we should have enough grass to last the ponies till next year! There has to be a silver lining in all that rain!

The International Horse Agility Summer Of Sport is over. Its been fun, but the August monthly classes have been tough. Its the first time Charlie and I haven't entered the OLHA class. The Advanced class which we are now in, is just too Advanced for us. But we have managed to enter the Liberty class. Here's hoping September competitions will be a little easier! Unbelievable to think we only have 4 more competitions till the end of the year!

Next year we will be aiming for Equagility. Just need to teach him to move forward with me on him!

Toying with Lulu aswell. As Jo can't ride at the moment, Lu is bored. She's never been ridden in a headcollar before, and doesn't like standing at the Mounting Block, so lots to work on. 

The Top Barn Treasure Hunt part 2 is halfway through. Charlie and I are on track for Treasure and Miles, but having to think outside the box. There are no cattle grids round here....so for the Treasure named Grid, I have used the National Grid and Grid Work!

And as for pink cars!!!!!! I have seen a Pink Range Rover and the Octopus Energy vans are pink. But what are the chances of one passing? If anyone has a pink Car (toy or otherwise) please bring it to the Farm. I also need a walker to walk up the lane with a Shetland for company for Charlie. Shetland provided!!!! Also willing to provide Gin, and sedatives!

So good luck for the last few weeks of the Treasure Hunt and Good luck for everyone that entered the Horse Agility Summer Of Sport. 

A Very Special August 💗

I LOVE AUGUST.  The heat (normally) and the fact it's my Birthday month makes it Special. There has been a little heat and a little less rain, although we are currently waiting for Storm Betty to lash the East Coast. And thats it for the Weather Report.

And so the beginning of August hailed the start of Top Barn Treasure Hunt Part 2. This time we have a list of 30 treasures, but to finish we only have to find 3 variations of 10 treasures.  Of course everyone is going for the full monty (or the full 90).  We also have to complete a set amount of miles (multiples of 10).  And complete at least 1 of 5 Challenges. The challenges involve leaving where your horse lives (ie Hack out Alone, Hack Out in Company etc).  And guess what? Yup the owner of the Farm I keep Charlie at is STILL doing the drive.  TBF it is a very long drive drive, and he is working alone.  But we have until the end of September, so where theres hope and all....  I have declared 20 miles this time because the 25 of the last Treasure Hunt was a push (being on foot and all).  I am aiming to get the required 10 x 3 Treasures and at least one of everything else. Although where the hell I'm going to see a Pink Car I don't know!  And No! I am not buying Barbies car! This is deepest darkest Suffolk. Everyone drives a mud splattered 4x4. Not pink cars! 

So far we have 4 x 3 treasures and a few of the others.  Not mentioning the miles yet. But its less than 5!!!!! 

If you are into Agility (as I may be) August is the 2nd month of Summer of Sports, a whole bunch of extra classes which are fun fun fun.  So far Charlie and I have entered 5 SOS classes. I may squeeze another one in.  Just to make this month even more special I have just received our rosettes for the July monthly competitions.  

But two very special visits have absolutely made my August.

On my actual Birthday my old friend Mel came to visit from Wales. She spoilt me rotten and helped me fulfill my Birthday Wish along with Jo.  Having got Charlie used to being mounted and having me doing weird stuff on his back over the last few months, we were stuck on him walking on. He has never been happy with moving whilst carrying me.  We have spent a long time building up the correct muscles, to help his confidence.  So the 10th was the day. With people on the ground to encourage him, we set off round the "School". Once in each direction. He was a superstar. No backing, rearing, spinning or bucking.  Just a calm walk in each direction.  I could feel the point where he said, "Hey I can do this".  Still on Cloud 9.

Yesterday my good friend Amanda came to visit from Co. Durham.  We also had a great day.  Between us we got some feather off Charlie and had lunch in a local cafe.... And she brought me the most amazing present. A pastel she did of my old dog Scrumpy. Tears were shed. Its amazing....

Amanda is happy to do commissions and is just as talented doing horses, so if you would like your horse/dog/cat/rabbit painted, please message me, and I will pass you her details. 

Have a good Summer, Treasure Hunt, Summer Of Sport and speak to you next month xx

Build The Ark, Summer Of Sport and Another Treasure Hunt

 And so to the Weather Forecast........For the rest of the month it will rain!  As it has done for the last week or so.  In between the rain there will be blustery showers, interspersed with Heavy Downpours causing flooding.  This time last year, our grass had become dust.  This year we have TOO much of it. Our lard (and lami) prone natives are a challenge, although with a combination of a Track System and Strip Grazing, we are holding our own. 

But it is Summer if in name only, so The International Horse Agility Club    https://www.thehorseagilityclub.com/join-the-club/  is holding its Annual Summer Of Sports.  As well as the usual monthly competitions there are loads of fun classes to enter over the next 2 months. These can be entered individually and as a team. Charlie and I are in a team called Brit Chicks Rock (or something like that). 

So far we have done Wild Agility .....basically obstacles in the 'Wild', and Act Your Shoe Size which is huge fun ......my entry can be viewed here : https://youtu.be/BnbrlTPrzvA .  

For the last week I was dog sitting for a friend.  And there is a Horse and Hound Class.....Can you see where I went with this?  We had a 20 minute practice where I realised the Pivo was not going to recognise a dog as a horse.  Especially when said horse was wandering around loose. I didn't have a Glamorous Assistant to hold on to the spare animal.  The Following day with only another 20 minutes to spare, I got it filmed from a distance, but both Charlie and borrowed doggo (Luna) were brilliant.  Except for the bit when Charlie wandered across in front of the camera.  Luckily he didn't stop and only blocked a part of the film where Luna and I were going from one obstacle to the next.  In case you are wondering I can't use my own dog.  As great as she is at Agility type stuff, she would try and eat Charlie. 

I am extremely proud of Charlie for getting 2 x 1sts in Junes Agility Competitions. With great scores.  As we have only recently moved up into Advanced I really can't ask any more. 

And what of The Top Barn Treasure Hunt? We completed our final miles in time, although our Horse Landlord decided to start concreting the bottom of the drive so we never did get out to get our Thatched Cottage and Pond.  Although someone did turn up on a bicycle.....the day after the Challenge ended. 

Huge congrats to those who did 200 miles, or found 50 treasures, or did both. I take my hat off to you all.  Now I am left with Treasure Tourettes.  The compulsive urge to shout out random words like "Butterfly" or "Ice Cream Van".  

But not to be left wandering round like deranged zombies, peering at houses to see if they are Edwardian, Rhi from Top Barn has devised Treasure Hunt pt 2, running through August and September.  I have to join. Even if Charlie is not ready to go hacking.  Even if I can't walk far.  Even if we may not complete the 5 new challenges (which all depends on actually leaving the Farm!). I still have to join.  If you want to join, this is hopefully the Link to Top Barn Online.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/topbarnonline

I'm hoping the links I have included will work.  I struggle with all this Social Media Linking stuff.  Too old innit.  So if you end up with the Bus Timetable for the No. 64 I do apologise. If they do work, perhaps you could check out this one and hit subscribe. For Charlie xx

https://www.youtube.com/@charliethetrickpony/featured