Holiday!!!

We're off on holiday tomorrow!!

We're going to Vienna for a week to see, among other things, The Spanish Riding School at home, doing the tour of the stables, morning exercise and the last performance before their summer break.

I haven't been on holiday, or abroad, for 38 years, and I'm not even sure what you do on holiday, but I'm planning on having a great time and not worrying about animals back home at all (well, only the tiniest bit anyway!!!). Dog, horse and donkey withdrawal symptoms are going to be terrible!!!

Everything is organised, I have lists of feeds, etc. all ready, feed stockpiled and have even just about finished packing, which is a minor miracle!

I don't know how I'll cope with no mucking out or poo picking for a week but I'll have to try! I think the odd run around Vienna will be called for to burn off some excess energy (and I'm not joking about that!!).

I will report back in full on return next week.

Bill.

I went to a smallholder auction two weeks ago as there was one Grey Faced Dartmoor ewe entered. I've always wanted a Grey Faced Dartmoor and as my ewes are now dying off fairly frequently due to old age I thought now would be a good time to buy one.

Needless to say the ewe didn't arrive on the day but there were some donkeys there including a 5yo gelding with a very sad, world weary air about him. The donkeys were sold last so I spent quite a lot of time with him and he seemed like a very nice donkey.

He was quite large and very handsome (I thought). He spent a very long day at the sale tied up in baking hot sunshine and he had a badly swollen front leg. No-one else seemed to want him and I had a friend there with a trailer so you can probably guess the rest.....

Bill is a lovely, kind, steady, long suffering chap and he needs to be as he now shares a paddock and a trailer with two young thugs called Rhys and Louis!!! I was worried there wouldn't be enough room for them all to take shelter in it but they were all lying down inside last night - Rhys flat out!

Bill loves horses and I think he's probably lived with them rather than his own kind before but he's just about keeping order with the two boys and he seems very happy in his new home. His leg went down very quickly and he's just had his first tetanus vaccination which he made no fuss about at all.

He still flinches a bit when you touch his quarters as the people who sold him were a bit stick and welly happy, and he was a bit touchy about having his back feet picked up to start with but a few treats for being good soon cured that as he's very intelligent.

He's a delight to lead and very co-operative in every way. Everyone here loves him, he seems very fond of us already and I'm really glad he's part of our family now. I think he's had a bit of a tough time in the past so it's lovely to be able to spoil him a bit now.

Rhys and Louis's Mobile Home!

We had another great weekend!!!

On Sunday Mike had a day's filming in Winchester so I drove us there and went to have a look around the city. It's a beautiful place and I especially liked the Great Hall with what is supposed to be King Arthur's round table, the remains of the castle which gave me a very strange feeling of stepping back in time when I walked into the deepest part, and the Royal Hussars museum which had a model horse and soldier in a stall, with horse noises and the smell of stables wafting about! It was very clever and made me feel at home!

On Sunday we picked up the boy's new field shelter. Donkeys are not waterproof and need access to somewhere dry to stand when it rains and I'd hummed and haa'd over the alternatives and decided that this was the cheapest, most mobile and most convenient solution. I bought it on eBay and it was a real bargain considering the brilliant condition it's in.

Rhys followed a bucket straight in but Louis was a bit more circumspect and took a couple of days. Now he goes up and down the ramp with great confidence.

These two are really cute, beautifully behaved and easy to deal with, and very, very lovable!!! On opening the bedroom curtains in the morning they are often the first thing I see. Not a bad way to start the day - they always put a smile on my face!!!!

Rhys and Louis Trying Out Their New House and Brother Greg!

And this is a photo of Rhys and Louis's younger brother, Greg, just a week old, and his mum at his home in Wales.

Easter Holiday.

Life has been very hectic around here lately!!!

I've been replacing the 30yo post and rail fencing with permanent electric fencing attached to wooden fence posts. I've been removing the old rails, saving the posts I can and pushing in new posts with my trusty Manitou where they can't be saved.

I can't believe how much difference it's making to the look of the place. The fields all look bigger and so neat and tidy, and with the Manitou I can knock down old fencing and put up new very fast and easily. I'm already about half way through the job and I don't seem to have spent that many hours on it really.

We had the bank holiday off and went for a BIG adventure!!! It has been Mike's lifelong dream to own a donkey and, as he has a lifetime of putting up with me and my horses in front of him, it seemed only fair that he should have his wish.

I found a pair of weaned colt foals advertised and instantly fell in love with the photos and description of the coloured one. Mike loved the other one so we hired a horsebox, loaded the 3 dogs in the grooms compartment and headed for Wales for the weekend.

We went through the Forest of Dean and the Brecon Beacons, which were beautiful, and stayed the night in a hotel by the sea. The dogs had their first ever runs on a beach, and then went to buy the donkeys.

Their previous owner moved to Wales from Essex 12 years ago with her husband and he then died, leaving her completely in the middle of no-where in the Welsh hills. How she survived that I will never know. I had enough trouble surrounded by friends.

She met her new partner, and academic and lovely person, on an internet dating agency and he's moved in with her on her 18 acres. The similarities between us all were amazing and we could have chatted for days but we had to drag ourselves away for the 7 hour drive home!

I can't drive a hired horsebox yet as you have to have passed your test for at least 2 years so poor Mike had to do all the driving. He's never transported livestock before but understood the requirements instantly and gave his new family a lovely smooth ride home.

Here are Rhys and Louie with Mike on arrival home. They are lovely, well behaved, friendly donkeys and follow everyone around, braying when you leave them. They lead beautifully, especially Rhys (the coloured) who is very confident and bold, pick up their feet and stand perfectly, and they love fuss and attention. I keep telling Mike that they're HIS donkeys but I am very smitten with them, especially Rhys. I've never had anything to do with donkeys before so it's lovely getting to know all about the and their characteristics.

Mike looks a bit like Old Father Time at the moment as the theatre company won't let him trim his beard or hair. It'll be down to his knees before the play finishes at the beginning of June! Having just spent practically every minute with him for 48hours, mostly in a horsebox, I can't wait to have him here full time again when his tour ends.



Rhys


One Man and his Donkeys!


Louie

New Homes for Ponies.

I recently found really good homes for Crystal and Justin. Crystal has gone to someone with 22 acres of their own land and two small children who want a pony to play with and ride out with their mum.

Justin has gone to a very experienced lady who show jumps and hunter trials with her 2 other horses, one of which is a 10yo Andalusian she has owned from a foal and backed and brought on herself. She wanted a young pony to bring on herself for her son, who is 6 years old at the moment.

She has never had a Fell or a Dales before and is used to more highly bred types so Justin has been a total revelation to her. Like me when I first got Bella she never realised that having a youngster could be so easy and stress free!!!

She took Justin to the Fell Area Spring Show on Sunday and when I told Josh's owner that she was going they entered Josh (I should say Jaffa, previously known as Josh!!!) too.

I went along to watch (and to lend them white show halters (I'd been to watch Mike again the night before and we didn't get home until after midnight so I was terrified of over-sleeping and them having nothing to show them in!!!

No-one would ever have believed that it was their first ever show! They were both immaculately behaved, so much so that Justin was shown in the Young Handler class by his owner's 6yo son and never put a hoof wrong! If anything he could have done with waking up a bit!!! I was so proud of them both, and it was Jaffa's owner's first show too, but they were all brilliant!

There was a lovely moment in the ring when the two ponies quite obviously suddenly recognised each other and just stared at each other, then went straight into mutual grooming when they came out of the ring!!!

I came home feeling quite emotional and hoping that I could find as good a home for Jamie too, and that he might be at the next show as well.

Justin's owner text me the very next day to say that, although she'd missed a hunter trial to go to the show, the whole family had had the "best day ever" and she is now "totally besotted" with Fells and would like to buy Jamie as well!!!!! I can't think of anyone I'd rather sell him to.

So now I just have Merlin to go, as far as rehoming is concerned. If I can find him as good a home as the others have found it will be a job very well done indeed!!!

These photos aren't very good because I didn't have the camera on the right setting so I've ordered a collage of 7 photos from the professional photographer at the show.
I'll scan and copy it onto here when it arrives.

Getting Life Under Control!

Things have been very hectic here, as usual!

I've sold Kate to the sort of home I'd have dreamed of finding for her and made two new friends at the same time!

She's gone to a very experienced rider and trainer who specialises in teaching Classical Riding. She works for a 3 Day Eventer, who is fast becoming a friend too, and she was looking for a horse to play with and bring on slowly. We got on like a house on fire and she's since been in touch to tell me how delighted she is with Kate - so much so that she's interested in maybe having one or even two of the Fells to bring on as well.

She seemed to approve of the work I'd already done with Kate and her attitude to life, which was very reassuring for me, and we both have very much the same ideas on training horses patiently and sympathetically, but effectively, without any fuss or drama if possible!

I'd like to keep the Fells longer and do more with them myself but there's just SO much work that still needs doing here. I need to do a major overhaul on the fencing and, even if I could afford to pay someone to do it all for me, I really do get tremendous enjoyment and satisfaction from doing as much of it as possible myself.

I've also got a couple of people interested in Crystal, who I love to bits and she's no trouble at all, but she's wasted here and would make a small child very happy, along with enjoying the attention herself.

The house is coming on well and the last room is nearly finished now. We have a big party planned for 18th June - Hilary and Charlotte - if you're free? And anyone else who can get here!

Mike and I are finding it very hard only seeing each other at weekends so I'm looking to buy a small, economical car so we can meet up more often.

On Monday my friend Peter drove my parents and I to Peterborough to see Mike in action (my 2nd time of watching the play). It was brilliant and everyone in the audience always says how well acted it is. There are some fantastic reviews here and I'm very, very proud of him!!!

http://www.easternangles.co.uk/show/UOS/reviews.html?id=3RTaerkm

We had a lovely evening and afterwards took my parents for their first ever MacDonalds!!! It was my dad's birthday and he was 79yo. They get on really well with both Mike and Peter, and Peter said how resilient and easy going they are for their age. Peter is just about the kindest, most patient person I've ever met.

So all is going well here and hopefully I'll soon be back to my original quota of ponies!!! It feels a bit like a huge weight of responsibility lifting at last!!!

My two year watershed passed on Wednesday and I was driving the Landy through a busy town centre, full of confidence, thinking that I just wish David could see me now! He'd be both horrified and amazed in equal measure!

Life can certainly change a tremendous amount in just two years. I have an awful lot to be grateful to David for, and I always will be!