The wet weather seems to be a fixture at the moment and so, as mentioned last time, Diva (Melland Queen of Scots) and Mabel have been moved up to the winter field. This means I am saving on feeding hay again as when I requested my next delivery, the weather had been fine and the grass was still growing.
Although it will mean that my bank balance takes a hit, there is nothing nicer in the winter than to have a big store of hay ready for use. The girls have moved into a different barn at the yard this winter and are now sharing a large stable.
I was a little unsure about doing this to start with, because Diva can be a bossy little madam and Mabel is so placid, she could easily be bullied by the pint-sized pony. However, the doors are too high for Diva to look out of, so I thought being with Mabel would be nicer than being alone and not able to see anyone.
The stable also has a top door at the back which I keep open so the stable is nice and airy for the both of them and Mabel can look out at both sides.
I always ensure there is plenty of water for them and I have hung up two Himalayan rock salt blocks. Diva tends to be the one I see licking them rather than Mabel. In an ideal world I would feed the hay from the ground, but to prevent as much waste as possible I do put it in hay nets. I use the ones designed for haylage as they have smaller holes and make the hay last longer for them.
Despite my concerns, Diva does share nicely with her ‘granny’ and it is much nicer for her to have the company. Thankfully, both are lovely and clean in the stable, so having two in one large stable isn’t any worse to muck out than one in each of two smaller stables.
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.