back to winter

with a realy cold wind blowing directly in to the stable door, which is rare there. so moly got a thermatex rug under a thin stable ruc (her thick one being at the cleaners!) and charlie got his thick rug on and we have the thicker outdoor rugs ready for tomorrow. TBH i think they'l be warmer out in their thinner ones but not when standing in at the moment. hopefully, we'll miss the snow!

heat! gas! rain!

from which you'll gather that our new boiler is in and running, the minor (exceedingly minor) gas leak has been found and fixed - but that it rained all day- heavily, horribly, ponds everywhere and roads into rivers type of rain. kept the horses in to give the field a break, they'll have to go out tomorrow irrespective as, inter alia, Charlie's back legs don't like the standing in. so just as well the skys were clearing and you could even see some blue sky just before it got dark...

no gas...

the new boiler is in place, not booted up yet... but when i went to start cooking tea, no gas, so i rang up to see why not...he thought there was a very minor leak, possibly from round the cooker... and thinking about it, he's probably right as i regularly double check to see if i have left something on due to a very faint whiff of gas that i think i have imagined. clearly i haven't imagined it!

so went to the chippy

in the meantime - who ordered this rain? euch. so long as we don't get the forecast snow tomorrow!

mad march gales

we've been spoilt over the winter as we've had little wind (just as well, with all the other weather we've had) but made up for it this weekend...

if there's one thing calculated to wind me up and put me in a temper, it's that sort of wind, so i don't do anything with the horse when it's like that on the grounds that me being wound up will wind the horse up

it was a good drying day, anyway ... shame it then rained after i'd got home!

toady's mistake (typo, honest!)

was thinking that the bright sunshine meant I'd be warm poo picking the field. i was in fact FROZEN, that was 2 1/2 hours ago and my skin still feels a bit chilled ...i should have known, the alacrity with which the horses came in ... wind got a vicious nip in it and too lazy to go round, if you know what i mean... straight through you. and after then spending about an hour getting the mud off the entire horse (they'd both been turned out without their rugs, as it had in fact been warm this morning...)

and worming weekend.

the good news, you can tell the grass is starting to come through!

clean horse

well, she was when i'd finished getting all the mud off!

let's hope it stays dry tomorrow!

the original thought

was fried by the weather this morning, it was very very wet - huge ponds on the road down to the stables - no chance of doing anything, kept them in off the incipient mudbath! (they went out in the afternoon after the sun came out) .. but partners birthday today mandated that i had to be home for tea, not out horsing at the time i normally would have been..

looking forward to the weekend, and i think tomorrow will be another black coffee day!

meal out

partner';s birthday tomorrow, another friend today, so meal out in newcastle straight from work...so gaynor did molly and i had a reasonably nicemeal

another interrupted day...

people at the door, mostly, and gaynor asked me to go down earlier than planned - good reason, but wish i'd had more notice. ah well...

when i got to stables, didn't think i wanted to do anything, but then did, and enjoyed what i did - another lesson for molly in concentrating on me whilst a rather nice PRE gelding was ridden past, and in the park outside our field where we were working...

stuffed

that's me, full of food...

school friend of partner's here for dinner - salmon with salad & garlic bread followed by blackberry crumble with cream (the last an afterthought, since i had the ingredients and the oven was on anyway)

very tasty!

but of course meant that i didn't do anything with molly, as i had to come home...apparently by about 0930 this morning she and charlie had both eaten all that had been given at 06.30 that was meant to last until about 2....(today was a keep in day to rest the grass)

calm down dear...

in the tone of voice used by michael winner in that dreadful advert...

Gaynor took Charlie out for a ride, and i was going in the field to do some ground work.

She woul d have calmed down quicker had she not also spotted the horses being taken out of the field across the river!

i ended up walking her in hand round the field several times; then she was calmer. then we had some liberty - took the halter off, and she followed me, stopped when i stopped, walked on when i walked, turned when i turned .. i was well impressed with that!

so since she'd calmed down a fair bit i put the halter back on and did some rope circling - plan had been to try the standing at the mounting block/lean over again, but then i realised she'd heard charlie coming back (couldn't see him but knew!) so i concentrated on ensuring she stayed listening to me despite having half an ear cocked for him! and she did, even though he was getting closer and closer ...she wanted to but didn't.

so overall i was pleased.

the thing on her back is healing but needs some fresh air, and it's still not right to leave her rugless i don't think ... might be if she was back in harbour house (warm corner stable) but not where she is, yet.

of weasels and knees

first, weasels

partner was painting in the front room this morning and called me down in great excitement .. there was a weasel in our front garden! it vanished before i could get a pic, and goodness knows what it was doing here (it's a garden, not a field, LOL) but never seen one before save runnijng over the road, which doesn't count!

knees?

we'd turned the horses out lunchtime and after we'd mucked out stood watching them and chatting for a bit; Molly was licking charlie's knee...

weird, or what?

it's always the way

That when it's been a lovely week whilst you're in working, it's a naff weekend.... rained all morning so far (in fact, it started when we were on our way home last night) and looked as though it might let up lunchtime .. but not.

green.....grass!

the field looked green today when i went down this evening ...noticeably so.

and it's raining now, so should go greener...

we've been turning them out more, but have decided they should have at least 2 days a week in to help preserve what there is... also thinking keep them in after it's rained...

so we'll see how we feel tomorrow!

and partner got last minute tickets for the Dubliners tonight, at the city hall, so off we went and an excellent night was had!

more work in the field

with the mounting block to finish

she was a shade sluggish, but didn't challenge like she did the other day.

and at the end when i was standing on the top of the mounting block, she didn't move a muscle and i was able to lean over her.. would have been able to do that better if i'd placed her a shade nearer the block, but since i had my jacket under it and slightly poking out, and hadn't trouble to rearrange that, i was pleased... a lot of horses would have spooked for that one!

in case you're wondering, i still can't put saddle on as she still has a very residual place where that heat spot was ...

as soon as i can, of course, i will!

that was after a slightly worrying day....

nessie kitten went out with me this morning when i went to hang the washing out .. vanished under the gate into the graveyard .. and vanished nowhere to be seen....

thank goodness reappeared about 15.40 or thereabouts, just after I'd finished walking all round the area shouting for her and looking for her ... having gone out the graveyard side, came back the other and went back through to the front garden for one last look, and she reappeared!

i reckon she'd got herself shut in somewhere and has just been able to get back

then when i went to get the washing back in this evening, she had a great time scooting round, in and out of the garden, i could hear by the bird calls where she was.. then climbed the tree and terrified herself on a twig!

in the meantime, it had been Avril's funeral today - the place was so full it was standing room only at the back, and a lovely pic of her on her horse Dylan playing horseball on the front of the programme. a Humanist service, which was nice, well taken by the officiant

the complete works of shakespeare - abridged

was the evening offering at a local small theatre, by student theatre group - very well done, totally hilarious

wasn't the original plan .. but partner suggested it so went...

Molly?

we'd kept them in today to give the grass a chance (they'd been out all days since friday...and time i got mucked out and groomed it was really getting a shade to dark to start...

rope circling....

the field has dried up enough to be useable for work!

so i did, given that Charlie was in. for this work, it's more sensible in there than out in the park, as it's a confined space

thought some back to basics rope circling would also be a useful use of time, as we haven't done that for ages, and that tends to be the key to mounting.

so took the mounting block in there as well

did a fair amount of circles, stand, back up, come forward and the like.

half way through she decided she might try it on ... failed.

so the end of the session was to stand at the mounting block with me standing on the top step of it (bearing in mind, not tacked up etc, this is just for practice)

first time, she moved - so got circled away again both directions

second time - she stood perfectly still and let me rub my hands along her back etc

so that was the end of the session.

more of that as well i think! and that's a good place to do that, and in due course will probably be a good place to mount generally.

and in the meantime, the new wood pellets i'd ordered had arrived this morning so she has a nice new bed down .. was on shavings all winter but i do prefer the pellets!..

flexions.....

in the 1/2 hour while the agnus castus steeped...

i COULD have lunged, but the wind was biting - felt colder than the deep frosts we've been having! and it occurred to me i hadn't done any attempts at flexions for ages...

so got the mud off, took her outside and put the bridle on and did 5 minutes or so of that (lost track, TBH, of the time...)

i was pleased with her, she didn't give me too much argument at all, and did some relatively reasonable downs without stepping forward!

freezing again though tonight!

round the park

on the longlines...

Molly was very brave, in fact, and volunteered to go a way she hadn't been before, and in fact that I hadn't been before! then back along the top fenceline and down the hill from the other side - essentially a big circle with a small circle at the far end... and then on the way back to the stables i decided to not go straight back, but to go past into a field leading towards the track under the road... for two reasons, firstly i don't want her to assume that we always go straight back to the stables, and secondly because we hadn't been that way for a while.

it ended up taking longer than i thought as she started napping away from the gap to go under the bridge from way back, so i spent a long time trying to get her to go through by herself, and finished up leading her through - didn't want to leave with her not having gone under the road! which she has done before several times, but last time was last october ...

so overall successful

all fortified by 2 mugs of strong black coffee!.

tell me....

why Gaynor and I were both too tired to move?

I expect the after effects of along week, but we agreed it was a waste of a glorious afternoon... between yawns .. the best we managed after mucking out was to take the horses into the park for some grass, and even then she had to lie down, LOL .. i was struggling to stay awake in the chippy on the way home, and declined a trip to the sage with partner .. she'd been given a ticket, and i would have been quite happy to go, but I saw little point when i could see I'd yawn my head off and fall asleep (and then probably snore, never good in a concert!, especially when it's classical music)

RIP Avril

who has died of cancer....

she'd been such a fighter, i think this was her 4th go round that finally got her...

she was so bad last winter she gave her horse to another lady who had just lost hers, a good home on the same yard..

very depressing.

so was the weather, it rained.

a long day...

partner wanted to be up at 0530 to go into work early.

as it goes, i woke up before that and couldn't drop off again...

turns out it didn't do her a lot of good .. she set off very early (before 7!) but had to stop as her windscreen froze up and she couldn't see - even to get to the next layby! (her car heating is b***d as well and it's waiting to go in to be sorted under, hopefully, the warranty)

to cap her day, she had just got in the car to leave work tonight, when a colleague reversed into her.

she says no damage done

i got down to the stables with a view to doing something, but b the time i'd taken partner's call telling me of her dire day, i felt very very tired...

the agnus castus i'd ordered had arrived .. directions include, putting in a bucket with a 1/2 pint boiling water and leaving it for at least 1/2 hour to evaporate the alcohol it is suspended in off! doh. so molly didn't get that tonight, really couldn't be chewed to loiter about for 1/2 hour just for that.

i did get the kettle out of it's box and plugged it in .. but it seems the sockets have no power. they MAY run off the garage somewhere, will have to ask gaynor

but i got a lot of work done!

feet

trimmer & I realised we should have taken before pics, to show the improvement to now...

her feet are looking hugely improved.

defined walls.

much less difference between the asymmetrical front feet

the incipient crack in the left front (which was, i am told, developing because of the asymmetry and the fact that one side is higher than the other) is now under control and the new hoof growing down is showing no sign of that.

the heels are more to the floor allowing the frog to contact more and that will firm up more.

altogether good.

and the weather? minus 4 this morning, hard frost; very warm by the afternoon .. now how can you rug right for that?

another nice day - if a shade exciting!

exceptionally, i decided to go lunge molly in the afternoon, on the grounds that partner is always out tuesday evenings, i'd be back by 5 and do more then.. so guess who walked in at 5.30 or so? and then ate my tea! but i carried on working anyway....

anyway, Gaynor had an unexpected child free afternoon so said, why did i not go down and we'd go work the horses? so i did, and given the lack of people in the main yard, we went over there to use the arena.

now that was exciting, getting there.

you go across the bridge and ther'es a paddock on your left with two horses in it.

charlie grew 3 inches.

molly wanted tot alk to the grey which put it's head over the fence (and bear in mind there's cars behind us at this point, and a blind bend ahead...)

then chestnut came tearing over, spooked molly who pushed me aside and ended up on the other side of the road..i was lucky not to get knocked over, luckily i wasn't and thank goodness nothing coming the other way

apparently charlie had to be circled before he reared..

so that was a shade entertaining, not!

but once we got to the arena, molly at least settled and was starting to seek the bit - I'd put the bitted bridle in, and the side reins very loose - she looked good for a few circuits, once she'd decided to work!

home by 5.15, just

but bad me... when i went to make her tea - I'd forgotten that the original plan invovled going the feed store .... had enough top spec for tonight, but not for tomorrow, so i may be having a scoop of gaynor's mix tomorrow...

and with being earlier than I'd planned, i wasn't there when the people (hopefully!) turned up with the joint supplement.. hope they dropped it off!

hurray again!

evening lunging!

granted not for very long - it was getting dark (and cold)! but we did do 5 minutes which is more than we've been able to manage on a weekday for a while!

would you believe, minus 5 this morning, up to plus 6 or 7 during the afternoon?

glorious sunshine in a cloudless sky ..... which is why we're getting the overnight frosts, of course!

sunny!

allday - but freezing this morning...but not to worry about that....stayed nice,, laundry on the line :-), warmed up, longlined in the park this afternoon (whilst Gaynor just let charlie graze...)

i thought, she needs the work, and longlining even in walk gets her back in the idea of work and helps us both get a shade fitter...

shedding? yes, now why was it i wore a fleece top?

new plan 0 they go out in the morning and g brings them in at about 2.30...

well i never ...

lunged! with roller and side reins (loose, of course) in the field beside the house...

i was surprised, as at one point it had started raining, and i though, here we go again! but it stopped and stayed dry for the rest of hte afternoon and there we were.

both horses were a bit on their toes - a few boings going on - don't you just love the 4 legged spring jump? :-)

AND there was NO FROST this morning. but i've horrid feeling there will be tomorrow. but made getting up a shade more pleasant than yesterday!

we're going to investigate oil filled electric heaters tomorrow, Gaynor has a couple and says they're very effective and of course they have their own thermostats, once they've heated up they switch off but the oil retains the heat and pushes it out...

is it getting warmer?

it was 8 degrees at the stables tonight, when for the last few weeks it's been hovering about 1 or 2...so fingers crossed! and we're going to turn them out in the morning, so fingers crossed some more! i have to do some work lunchtime (only time client available!) but you never know, may get some work done with molly in the afternoon..will make a change to be able to say something, hopefully useful, about work done with her, LOL

in the meantime, partner is trying to have a bath using hot water from the shower ... and has retrieved the electric radiator from the loft, so using that to heat the bathroom..which was very fridge like! when the heating's working, it's by far the hottest room in the house, with sauna like qualities; but now is the coldest.

think we need another one of those for the kitchen...

oh dear....

boiler is dead.....

no heating...

something has gone wrong with the boiler... i thought so this morning, but thought that it was probably the vent pipe frozen and that thawing out through the day would sort that .. but no such luck. so i rang the man when i came home and found we still have no heat, put the gas fire on in the front room (which is not where the PC is, of course!) and put warmer clothes on ...

hope he can come tomorrow. hope he isn't away! it's cooooooold

new tyres!

ouchy!

the one thing that upsets me about my car, which i hadn't twigged when i bought it, is that it has to have sporty tyres (being a HDI sport!) and they're not cheap. so i got the cheapest i could! hopefully they'll last a bit longer than the last ones...

Horses went out in the sun and were still playing when i went down @ 5, but the sun had gone in then and it rapidly became cold...

Gaynor hadn't been able to find my lightweight rug for Molly ... she knows where it is now, and you can guarantee it won't be nice tomorrow!

why is it....

that, at the weekend, the weather is pants, but come monday when one is at work, it's a lovely (if nippy in the shade) day?

still, can't complain bearing in mind what's happening in yorkshire/France/spain/portugal/madeira/chile/everywhere else except here...