Everyday Stuff

Just a quick post to let you all know how everyday stuff with the horses is going, if you couldn't care less about this please do feel free to skip it. Well as you can see we've got all the Thoroughbred Horses rugged up and they are getting their fluffy winter coats now, the ponies winter coats are so thick they don't need rugs and most likely won't all winter. 

Above is a photo of our field or one side of it anyway, with all the rain we've been having it had left the fields quite muddy, then we had all the wind that dried the fields out and here you have it one big dirt field, it does have some grass down one end but they won't eat that so I guess they can't be hungry, just as well with all the haylage they munch through.

Of course haylage isn't the only thing our beloved equines are eating, we've still got our portable fencing and although it is a little run down, it's plastic after all, it still does the job. This is a shot to show some of the grazing they get, it's not great and does have rather a lot of weeds but at least they can still get some grass.

Here's what else they can reach, yummy apples, some of our herd are a little too fond of the apples, but we do keep an eye on them to make sure they don't over do it and make themselves feel ill.None of our equines have to worry about getting a shock from the portable electric fence because we don't turn it on, with them in, this does sound a bit silly but they are remarkably well behaved so they're is no real need to turn it on.

  

Coming to the end of the post now with a photo of the wonderful Niko, he is looking over to see when we are done putting up the portable fence. All the equines are well and happy, the farrier is coming tomorrow to trim their hooves, so let's hope that all goes well. 

That's it from me I hope you are all having a great time with your equines or whatever it is you happen to be up to. 

Joy of a British Summer

We’ve been having some quite terrible weather here, it’s been rain nearly everyday now for what seems like an age. Here is a photo of Murphy soaked and about to be taken in, it was still drizzling when this photo was taken but the camera doesn’t show it up. All the bad weather has stopped me from riding most of the summer so far which means I haven’t been able to get Niko fit, which is quite annoying because Niko is a roarer. He has had the operation to help him but he still makes the roaring noises unless he is fairly fit and then they go away.

  
Also with all the rain our paddocks have become waterlogged but on the plus side we still have the portable fencing so they are still getting grazing without sinking into mud. We’ve been feeding a lot of hay rather than haylage which we normally feed because lots of our haylage has been going mouldy.

  
But onto a slightly more cheery note, when I have been able to ride, Niko has been going really well for me, and I’ve been getting a really nice slow canter out of him and he has been doing a fairly comfy collected trot which is very nice because Niko is not normally a comfy horse to sit on.

So all in all I haven’t really been posting much for quite sometime now because there hasn’t been a lot to report with this bad weather, I am hoping it’s going to clear up soon.

Ps I am not falling off of Niko just giving hugs.

Just an Update

  
All the snow here has melted and we’ve had a few day of dry weather so everywhere has dried out nicely, the horses are still enjoying their holiday and will probably do so for quite a lot longer, we had a spot of rain today but nothing too bad.

Also we found this sometime ago in our haylage, a golf ball, still I have heard that someone once got a pair of antlers in their haylage. Our recent haylage has been very dry almost like hay, so despite the fact that we are feeding the right amount of food for our horses, they are off work, they are getting two feeds a day, and the weather is very mild they aren’t even fat! And while I don’t really want them fat I would expect them to be and I am worried that Niko will get skinny when I start working him again.

  
Here’s an old shot of Murphy. I’ve been thinking about him and a show, I’m pretty sure that if we do ever go to a show that I want to show him in an in hand bridle because he gets very fast and it is easy to slow a horse/pony evenly in a bridle where as in a halter he often turns in on me when I try to slow him. Don’t know if any of that made sense.

I’ve also been thinking about Tipper’s coat, when I first bought him his coat was horrible with many bald patches and scars, now that we’ve had him sometime it has improved greatly, but it still is a bit patchy and it’s not as full and smooth as the others, which annoys me. So do any of you have some advise on getting his coat right?

Anyway as you can probably guess from all the rambling in my post there’s not a heck of a lot going on right now. Now before I go I’d like to say hello and thanks for following to my newest follower, also apologies to my fellow bloggers for the lack of comments I have been leaving. I do still read your blogs but it’s hard to find the time to read and comment on so many blogs, so a very big thanks to my commenters for finding the time :)