29th November, 2016 Tack and Tact

Exmoor was looking particularly cuddly this morning...

First stop today was near Romsey, to see Dottie. Whilst Vanessa weighs up which saddle she might get for Dottie I have loaned her my Western one and we needed to make sure that Dottie was alright with it. I have only known one horse that objected to a Western saddle but as that objection was very big I had to be cautious.

 
Fortunately she was fine and Vanessa could enjoy a session where Dottie could really stride out. Once again we worked on going from place to place within the field and next time we hope to be able to take her out.

This afternoon Lynsey came over to have a groundwork session for which Théoden came out of medical retirement. He was very good although he did think he might flirt with Lynsey, gently taking hold of her jeans with his teeth, and she was very good using her gentle stockmanship techniques to persuade Théoden to move here and there.

These are her normal subjects and today was the first time she has handled a horse. Her knowledge of body language and energy and her lack of preconceived ideas about horses all made her a bit of a natural.

 
Hattie was fine this morning and has now been turned out with new field mates including fellow mule, Betty.

I came home to some lovely flowers sent by my wonderful friends and clients, Kerry and Chris. They live in Germany with their two Exmoors, Finn and Hazel, but the flowers are Scilly flowers and smell amazing.