After a long, hot and dry summer, I think most of us with equines feared a wet autumn, yet – touch wood – the weather has continued to be fine with just enough rain to keep the grass growing for a little longer.
The Shetland Pony Stud-Book Society holds its annual breed show in a different venue each year. Last year we travelled down to Devon and this year we packed up the horsebox, ponies, and Flora the dog and headed to the Royal Welsh Showground at Builth Wells, Powys.
So, the time came around for Bob’s tooth removal, and the days leading up to it, I was a bag of nerves for him. I made sure I squeezed in every ride I could, knowing he will be out of work for two to three or even four weeks. To my surprise, the morning of the operation it was very dark as we were leaving early for the journey, but Bob had no hesitation on loading into the horsebox. As it was so dark, I kept the light on to help reassure him and allowed for us to see him on the camera. He travelled brilliantly and we arrived earlier than expected and to my amazement, he happily stood on the box with me sitting in the back with him.
Bob visited the dentist for a dental examination and an x-ray last week and sadly it was the news I was dreading; the poor boy needs to go in to have his tooth removed! He has an appointment next week, and the vets have been brilliant as they are letting me bring him in early to avoid all the rush hour traffic and stress for him (and me!). I went to their open evening last week by chance, as I had spotted it advertised and thought it a perfect opportunity to look round where he will have the operation, plus, there were treats and an informative talk on lameness on offer too.
It has been brought to my attention that Mabel has not been mentioned in the blog for quite some time, so I thought I had better rectify that. She is Diva’s best friend and as such does put up with a lot from the bossy little black Shetland.
I have owned Mabel for almost twenty years now, and in all that time I have never seen her bite or kick another horse despite some provocation from them. She is so gentle and kind – with people and horses and ponies.
We did it - we got Bob the big wimp out to his first pole clinic on grass and to make it even better, I stayed aboard!
So now the day has dawned. It’s showtime! We got up nice and early and took Flora for a walk before heading over with our bridles and grooming kit to get the ponies ready for the ring.
Lord Ben and I managed to qualify for ROR Novice Dressage Championships at Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, and I am not sure if someone thought it would be hilarious to have two days of retrained racehorse on grass arenas. I guess it will prove how well we have all retrained our racehorses!
Through glassy eyes, and lots of back space on the keyboard and a few months later it has felt like the right time to talk about losing Travis.