I have a bit of a quandary with the girls at the moment, now the weather is becoming more unpredictable. Mabel is 22 years old and although she has enjoyed living out 24/7 during the summer, the cooler nights and damper days mean she is more than happy to start coming in at night.
Three-year-old Diva, however, is quite another matter. She thrives on being outside and is oblivious to the weather. Her thick coat keeps her dry in the worst of the rain, and I’m sure her natural curiosity means she likes being out where she can see what’s going on! Consequently, it is now Mabel – not Diva – who gallops up the field to me!
It is great to see the old girl feeling so well. She was retired due to injury, and so it means even more for me to see her bucking and kicking. The saving grace of spending the night inside, from Diva’s point of view, is that there is then a good chance she will get to do one of her favourite things – go on the horse walker!
Diva is a very bold young pony who tends to investigate and work things out when she comes across something she hasn’t encountered before. This holds her in good stead when out for our walks down the lanes. The last time I took her out she had to cope with a huge tractor and trailer coming past. In true Diva style she stood like a rock.
The other day in the paddock, however, she really wasn’t sure what she was seeing.
Darcy, a working cocker spaniel, and Nessa, a German pointer, decided to cool off in the girls’ water trough after running around the fields. Diva was halfway down the field when the dogs took the plunge, and she galloped up as fast as her little legs would take her to investigate what was going on.
Her face was a picture when she came face to face with a soggy spaniel! Darcy was unrepentant and grinned at her before jumping out. Nessa, I think, was happy she was in the part of the trough on the other side of the fence.
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.