We hope everyone had a good Christmas? How many neddies got spoilt indirectly by us asking for things for them? Aria got treated to a pair of magnetic boots to help her legs, I had done a bit of research and found a lot of good reviews on them so thought it was worth a go to help with her legs as they become filled when the horses have to stay in for a few days when its wet. I also bought Autumn a new fly mask and Bob a hay-net (he was more interested in the contents!) The horses also got extra big beds made on Christmas day, which was a bit of a waste of time as Bob trashed his and the girls still refused to lie down 🙄 alongside this they got spoilt with a host of their favourite veggies and treats. Some of the money I have received I will be spending on lotions and potions for the horses as well as treating myself to a new mucking out rake 😂
The horses have had their hooficures again but were not too impressed at standing out in the snow that suddenly came down 😂 it was a shock as we had light rain which suddenly turned to big thick flakes, luckily it didn’t settle and the horses enjoyed being turned out once they were sorted.
Spook our yard kitty enjoyed her first Christmas with a few bags of treats and a cat toy, however she decided she doesn’t like the bell on it and runs away, much preferring to play with a small wound up bit of electric fence tape (if only I had known!).
We are currently crossing fingers, paws and hooves for dry weather so the arena build can commence, hopefully it will be done before the end of Jan?! The horses have had a few hyper days which involved on us arriving at the yard, the Ginger (notsomuch) ‘angel’ initiating a full blown gallop session with the other two doing laps of the field. Safe to say they are all ready for some work, as am I. I’m keeping fit with the cross trainer at the moment and riding/exercising the horses when the ground is safe to do so, waiting on the day for the arena to be ready for us to get cracking for 2021, theres a lot I want to aim to get done next year – Bob doing some dressage, Autumn doing more cross country and Aria getting out and about wither in hand or ridden!
What plans does everyone have for the next 12 months? We wish you all a happy new year, let’s hope 2021 is much better for all.
Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.