Paula’s Blog - A new trial for Bob?

That was a bit of a chilly one last week – did many people get snow? We weren’t hit too bad the first day, however, when I woke the next morning, it was a different story! There was a thick layering with more to come. Cue an early wake up call to the other half to come with me to the yard. You wouldn’t believe that it snowed most of the morning as by the time I finished work it had all melted and evaporated- It was like a completely different day! Neddies had to stay in, as the field got very wet, but I did manage a couple of days turn out before the rain ventured over to us! Thanks to this wave of rain, the field is under water much to mine and the Neddies frustration,

but they are stocked up with hay and feed ball treats to occupy them.

On the plus side, it’s given me a real chance to test out the new calmer I got for Bob as recently he’s just been a pain in the rear both ridden and on the ground. I had no expectations as most either have not worked or wear off after a few weeks so to start with, I bought the trial sample as the reviews and recommendations I’ve seen on Pro Kalm were very good. I was surprised from day one - I fed him the minimum amount one morning and when I came up in the afternoon, he was chilled and happy like his normal self! Great! I thought, but the real test would be riding. Due to the weather, they were in for a few days, so I kept him on the calmer and decided to ride Sunday morning to see what the result was. Again, he was only on the minimum amount and wow! For the first time in ages, he stood perfectly still at the mounting block, not even a muscle twitch. We then walked round nice and chilled. We came to trotting and although as we progressed, he got a little forward there was zero misbehaving, no hissy fits, or disagreements. We went on to canter and he was hoof perfect! I was blown away at the change in him - he was a pleasure to ride; I could even hear the change in his breathing showing he was properly working rather than pratting around! I am so pleased with it but am not letting my guard down just yet, we have another lesson scheduled at the weekend so I will see how he goes during the week. Fingers crossed this may just work for him where others have failed, especially as I can increase it if needed.

As it’s getting to spring (well kind of – if the weather ever bucks up its ideas), we had to get an order in quickly for the hawthorn bare root plants for the hedgerow we are rebuilding – it arrived in time for the weekend, so one afternoon was spent planting another 50 plants – and we have the scratches to prove it! We had a few small ones remaining so planted them alongside four rose bushes at the entrance to the yard, fingers crossed they take off this year.

With the snow we’ve had a few more visitors to the yard, the random otter in the river made an appearance for my other half rolling about in the field, and we followed its tracks to see how it was coming in and out of the riverbank. We have had a kingfisher flying around as well as well as some pretty yellow wagtails and a pair of ducks. We also have not one but two cats who now seem to like mooching about at the yard, normally sleeping in the hay barn out the way, but on Sunday afternoon when it was fairly warm, we came up to find one of them sitting on top of my horsebox! Does anyone else find animals in random places?! Luckily the horses aren’t too bothered by them and their odd antics.

I’ve been seeing lots of posts about fun rides so currently booking some into my diary! My favourite one has been announced for the 1^st May and I absolutely cannot wait to get out to it again as well as attending a few others dotted round the county! For anyone looking, there is a Fun Rides UK group on Facebook and someone is kindly collating all the rides in the different counties, so a good one to look at if you want to get out and about!