22nd December, 2016 Jennifer Juniper

Todays blog is from Laura, giving an update on her beautiful Fell Pony, Juniper:

Juniper has been getting on great: she's learning to stand still on the yard (without being tied up) and most of the time picks up each foot herself for you to pick out.

We've made a start on long-lining: she picked it up very quickly and wasn't too bothered by the lines, although she did make some cross faces when she thought she should be coming in to me rather than staying on the outside of the round pen. (I imagine her saying "I know Join-up and you're doing it wrong!"). It doesn't take her long to understand, though, and she did some lovely licking and chewing.

Today I introduced her to her hi-vis quarter sheet, as part of the preparation for going out and about. You'll see from the photo that even on a dark, misty day it looks very bright! She was also not bothered by it at all. I'd previously introduced her to it, allowing her to follow it and rustling it on her sides. Today I laid it on her back, unfolded it, slid it off over her bottom, put it back on, walked her round with it just laying on her, then did it up onto the roller and walked her round and she was entirely unphased. She didn't even give it a cross look!

I then took her for a walk around one of our fields. She was a little distracted by Fabio (one if her herd mates) being ridden in a distant field and some highly suspicious-looking sheep through the hedge, but she stayed with me and listened when I asked her to walk beside me rather than push in front.