the forecast was correct

in that it rained. in the afternoon. when otherwise we would have wanted to do something. doh.

turnout

i, along with everyone else, believe that horses should be turned out as much as possible.

but sometimes, it just isn't possible

if you have no grass, will have no grass in summer if you do let them out (as they will trash the rest due to it being so wet), are not allowed to put hay in the field, and do not want to see your horses standing chewing fences/weaving/take your pick of consequential behavioural issue, or see them go down with colic...

then you keep them in with hay/haylage

I felt moved to say that due to people saying should turnout without thinking of those for whom it is not possible.

anyway, i rather hoped to be able to do something today. i'd turned them out for a few hours mid morning as it was starting to get out, and it stayed not wet until i set off back down to the stables...at which point, the heavens opened.

so time i did get molly in, she was wet... and the area round her poll was NOT drying, so even if i got the mud off everywhere else i could not have put a bridle/lunge cavesson/whatever on with a view to doing anything

also, she has been overheating - a heat spot on her back ... have had to dig the medicated cream out..

it would be about where the back of the saddle would be... i could probably put the roller on without a problem, but won't be able to ride until that has healed.

having said all that, at least it was light enough for me to be able to SEE!

and of course .. it hasn't rained since...doh.

rain all day

there's a surprise...

they went out..

as they do every day for a couple of hours or so...charged round like idiots, then wanted to be straight back in because it's still a bog and there's still no grass growing...so the end result is that they were only out for about an hour whilst G mucked charlie out..

on the other hand, molly is reducing her intake overall by herself, probably because she doesn't spend all day trying to eat what isn't there in the field, if you see what i mean....

the weather? got up to 6 C today, damp but still, a bit mizzly .. if it keeps warming up and stops being damp, we MIGHT rescue the field enough for there to be less mud and more grass...fingers crossed!.

improving?

possibly - above freezing this morning but it was raining slightly and where i get out of the car at the stables was VERY slippy - you know the sort of thing, been turned into ice by the car, then really frozen on surface with no grip, then the rain slicks it...very dodgy! snow through the morning and then fog this evening!

fingers crossed for continual warming (but without any wind! the one good thing about this winter is there have been no winds! well, not here..)

from minus 5 to plus 3

this blog is now all about the weather....doh!

more snow...

to the extent that they closed Cocken Lane and various others (that's the one i have to drive down to get to the stables) in the morning and didn't open it again until mid afternoon. G panicked as the haylage was due and she thought he wouldn't be able to get so her OH went and got two wrapped bales .. .then they opened the road and the man got through...still, means she's got some spares (OH had winged at the policeman that he lived on the closed road...)

happily they hadn't closed it when I went down...it wasn't that bad then as not too much traffic had been down to turn it into an ice rink

but getting anywhere by 8 am was a nightmare!

thawed by the afternoon. at least enough for the roads to be clear, but i had to be very careful when i got out of the car at the stables again as it had turned to ice....not looking forward to the morning!

freeze, thaw, snow

in that order

the cars were covered in heavy ice this morning.

eventually the temperatures got above 0 enough for the frost to leave the cars.. then it started snowing... and got heavier ... and lay ....

ggrrhh...

extremes...

-5 C when i went out this morning about 07.30 .. brrrrrrr

11 C when I went out at about 3 pm ... but that was only cos the car was in full sun, it was 3 degrees and falling everywhere else, LOL! all round the car is still icy...weird!

and what was drying out mud at the field gate is now a pond again .. the ballcock on the trough had got wedged, somehow, in the open position and wasn't discovered till lunchtime (it was still frozen when i came home again this morning at 08.30 ...) so none of us, people or horses, are happy about that!

but the horses were able to be out for longer today, lovely sunny afternoon despite the cold, and we took them for some grass in the park after we'd groomed them..

and a huge temperature difference even between the middle of the field (sunny) and the front of the stable (in shade.. )

yes, i could have done some work with her...but i didn't...grass in her was the better option ..

and here's a good one ... molly deliberately poos OVER the fence! bizarre! hope YM is reading this... we don't want anyone thinking we've chucked it over (clear, in fact, that it is a proper horse done pile, not a person chucked one)... maybe Molly thinks she's saving us a job? in which case, she could do that with all her poos, which she doesn't...just along the one fenceline.

and it snowed again ...

but not for long and didn't lie!

horses didn't go out until 4 - g's youngest had to go to doctor! not a well boy! so all mucking out done after i got there from work - but they still didn't volunteer to come in - i think they hate the mud at the gate which is deep and boot sucking (and claimed charlie's shoe the other week!). he's now barefoot altogether and won't be doing any road work ...when we ever get them back in to work LOL

again, i haven't looked at the forecast...

didn't want to come in...

after her couple of hours out .. wouldn't be caught for gaynor! and i had to go through the mud to get her... don't think she was that keen on being out, either, TBH!

snow this morning, just under freezing; but thank goodness it stopped rapidly and didn't lie

looking forward to, i think, maybe 2 weeks time by which time it should be a good bit light enough to be able to do something. fingers crossed. it's not quite there yet, time we get done with the working day ...

interestingly, despite them being in a lot more, we're not going through the haylage the way we thought we might...or the bales are bigger than they looked!

20.13, partner just rung, still at work....but going to chippy on the way home!

minus 3...and again..

will it ever warm up?

apart from anything else, I'm sure the extremes don't do things like our cars much good...let alone us and our animals! thinking about trudi the other day - from -9 to +9 in one day?

breaking ice on the trough to get buckets to do the water in the stables this morning...

first day in...

wasnt' so bad ...

I did try and turn molly out, but she was clearly just going to stand and stare at Charlie, and he was going off it wanting to be out, so she came back in again!

They were both turned out about 3, when G comes home from work, and she said they were happy with that and grazed a bit, ran around a bit, and so on.

They hadn't eaten all the hay we'd given them; hoping that they will pace themselves better and we may end up using less, since they won't be starving all day and then gorging all night.. that's the hope, anyway. i know when Molly had that 6 weeks in with her bad legs Autumn 2008, she didn't eat huge amounts, so we may be ok.

the only minor glitch was that the nozzle on the end of the hose was frozen.. i was only pleased the hose itself wasn't, I hadn't taken it in last night (i did tonight!). but as I said to G, if it IS frozen in the morning we will have a problem and she will have to fetch water from the house..

and in case you're all wondering - i like to do mornings, as I like to have all the mucking out etc. done before i go to work - whether horse staying in or going out. saves having to do it all later!

lack of grass

now results in charlie having to stay in for a couple of weeks and go on a different feed to bulk him back up again (after consultation over phone with vet). not quite sure what i'll do with molly. she isn't stressing (he is!) and hasn't lost any weight - i could tell on Sunday when i put the massage pad on, no adjustments required in the straps ...hadn't used it for a while... She stands a bit, then grazes a bit, then stands a bit ... i'm told! where he stresses. and there's a concern that they are fed up with each other as well (too much time together?)

of course if we keep them in, they'll have to have a couple of hours out just for exercise..and it's still not light enough to work them at night after work (well, not for me, and G has children to mind as well until her OH comes home, so not for her..)

we've decided i'll turn Molly out in the morning and if she ends up just loitering about in the deep mud looking at charlie G will bring her in before she goes to work...

too much wet! too much cold. poached fields... doh.

mould...

for the first time for a while i got down the roller .. but didn't put it on Molly, instead brought it home for a good clean! hadn't realised how damp it had been in that tack room!

so molly went over to the arena to be lunged with nothing save her bridle and horseman's halter...and i took dresssage stick as well as lunge whip, thinking do some in hand as well, but most of the way over the bridge realised I'd not picked the reins up, doh!

never mind, she did some sensible lunging, none of the boinging we've had lunging in the field, and even though she coudl hear Charlie screaming, she didn't worry too much about him - cocked an ear every now and again, but that was about it.

didn't let her get sweaty, of course, just warm and the walk back cools her down - i really don't understand the traffic there, they will insist on passing when they can't see what's coming round the next corner!

then came home and cleaned the roller and put the pad & girth in the wash!

the saddle will be ok, as it was in the house whilst we were away..

anyway, glad to get something done with her, it didn't rain at all today was in fact quite a nice afternoon! not yet light enough to be able to do anything after work, but it'll not be long..

missing shoe....

but you say, Molly is barefoot!

True, but Charlie isn't and so can't be ridden and so we can't ride out.. between the showers

i said to gaynor today, my next horse is one that has been well brought up and will hack on it's own and not be terrified of gates/approaching fences/nothing at all...

the weather forecast

i haven't looked at it.. because i think that would be tempting fate ! :-)

2nd post of the day; Colonel Carde response to FEI

copied from facebook, linked from Horses for Life

Colonel Carde : Response to the FEI statement regarding the Feb.9th FEI roundtable on Rollkur/Hyperflexion

I am not surprised with the outcome of the meeting. Had the FEI truly condemned the hyper flexion of the neck, it would have rejected the training technique behind the success of a triple Olympic champion, and disowned the judges, trainers and riders who have benefited from it until now.

In reading the text of the FEI’s press release, we find that the FEI is now authorizing Hyperflexion when it is obtained without force (“Using the technique known as Low, Deep, Round (LDR), which achieves flexion without under force in acceptable”.) It appears the roundtable of February 9th did not really change anything.

To justify its position, the FEI committee implied that Rollkur and LDR are different. They chose to completely ignore the history of Rollkur. One must remember that this training technique was developed by trainer Sjef Janssen who baptized it “Low, Deep and Round”. It then became commonly referred to as Rollkur by Swede Theresa Sandin on her website. Without a doubt, Rollkur and LDR are exactly the same technique as all the pictures published on this topic can attest to.

In reality, it would have been better to set aside Rollkur and LDR which are one and the same, and focus the discussion instead on hyper flexion, which is easier to define. To forbid Rollkur and authorize LDR is meaningless. It is akin to forbidding the consumption of pork but allowing pig!

In the final analysis, the conclusions arrived at by the FEI will only be valid if the FEI produces different photos showcasing on the one hand, the difference between Rollkur and LDR, and on the other hand photos showing horses in the authorized LDR posture. Otherwise, the ambiguity will remain.

minus 4...

is this ever going to end?

it did (according to the car's temp gauge) warm up to about 5 degrees in places, but not sure i believed that - think that was very localised where there was a bit of sun .. although the frozen mud turned to soup again!

FEI & rollkur

for those who haven't seen it:

http://www.fei.org/Media/News_Centre/News/Pages/summ.aspx?newsName=news-RoundTable-9Feb10.aspx&inc=0

hyperflexion is bad, LDR is not....

and the man looking sour in the pic is, apparently, Sjeff Janssen...

progress of a sort, one supposes... at least people now can't be seen in public in rollkur without everyone being able to say they shouldn't

one hopes, therefore, the rules will now be enforced.

Molly? didn't come in till about 5.30 pm; gaynor had been out the full day as well and it was still daylight! WOW! shame about the continuing snow showers...

showers and sunshine

snow showers, of course!

light....

just, but still light in the sky at 5.30 pm! so progressing towards spring, i would think in another 3 or 4 weeks i can look to being able to work Molly evenings.. no doubt that will upset her a bit, but it'll please me, LOL

in the meantime, it was trying to snow again..

and the scones turned out fine!

rain.....dry....rain

rained all morning b ut did eventually stop

you'll never believe - actually lunged! gaynor was involved with her 5 year old's birthday party, so no riding, but it was not raining so wanted to do something!...had to leave Charlie in the field - odd, he was ok at first, but then after we'd been out 10 minutes (bearing in mind he could see us) molly kicked off a little (boing!) and so he did too...

i think she'd had enough - she actually did quite nicely and offered right rein from the off

then left rein she started boinging .. and then made it clear she'd had enough... by heading in a straight line back to the stables... then charlie started boinging as well... and i had to be careful not to be knocked over!

a rod for our own backs, really, only two of them

in by 4 pm, they were...

roll on spring?

then home and did some work, and made a stew, and then some scones....which may end up a disaster as i misread the amount of liquid and put too much, and so had to tip more flour and baking powder in ... but they LOOK ok...

a rather good anti rollkur logo

we are all free to use:

right click and save as to put on your pc....then use wherever.!

thanks to deborah norris on facebook..

fog....

in varying degrees of intensity.

my mother, 20 mils north west, said she had clear blue skies and frost on the pavements (sidewalk, for american readers).

we couldn't see far and had fog lights on

in South Shields, 12 miles or so north east, no fog but no sun.. but at least clear

At the yard, when i got there - the fog had cleared, but they were shooting in the woods all round the stables, so thoughts of lunging in the field went out of my head

but i did spend some time grooming, and discovered i'd overrugged her - heat scabs! pah! i wouldn't have thought it would have been too heavy a rug, as it's been so cold, but there you go.. i was wrong!

and poo picked the field again - left a couple of bits as the barrow was over full by that point ...

thawed .. and rained!

rained all day....gaynor got them in early as they were SO wet...rugs hanging up to dry ...we're hoping it clears for tomorrow but i'm not holding my breath.

the only good news - gaynor found some drowned rats! not arguing about that!

do...

so, partner says she'll be home early from work as she has an evening meeting of a local group she's in.. so i, knowing i had no time to spend with Molly, didn't ...

guess what

that's right, partner didn't come home on time from work...

there were going to be more pics, but it crashed... and facebook upload didn't work either!

pic from christmas

Gaynor took this, has just sent me it

from minus 4 to snow

and it only got above freezing after 5, just enough to enable it to snow... pah.

stopped again now, just, but who knows! i've invested in some more de icer for the car...

three sorts of weather

in the one day.

it was raining this morning, but not that cold (above freezing) and the rain was easing.

after i got home, about 9, it started snowing!

then after lunch it got out clear and sunny ... but time I went down to the stables @ 4.30, it was 0 degrees C

but at least it was light enough to poo pick! need to keep on top of that...

bad us

well, bad me really ... took purse to stables this morning to leave money for haylage which is delivered today, running a shade late due to ice, couldn't find charlie's breakfast, did jobs, came home - purrse still in car with money still in it - result, not enough money for haylage. thank goodness he's fine about it and will collect thursday! Oops that could have been dodgy!

the sheet ice has largely melted from the roads today, thank goodness - was a shade iffy this morning as difficult to spot the bad bits even with full beam on!