No spectacular results over the two weeks - too much to hope for, but some good ones all the same - and an emotional experience for all of us.
Karen has given me permission to draw attention to this aspect of Moon's story. As a paramedic and ambulance driver, Karen is all too aware of safety issues and yet, like a lot of people had not appreciated that the position of a horse within a trailer could affect the nose weight and therefore the stability of the trailer and the towing vehicle. In fact Ifor Williams now have a sticker in their trailers which states that horses should not travel further forward than the position of the front bar, and indeed the front and back bars of a trailer form an integral part of the structure of the trailer and help to prevent it collapsing in an accident. Because she is still wild, Moose travelled down loose and without bars. I would always be wary of carrying a pony loose in a normal horse trailer rather than a stock trailer which is made for the purpose. There is a risk that a pony might think about trying to come out through the front window which is particularly large in this model of Ifor Williams trailer and I'm not sure whether the top doors at the back would prevent a taller horse from making its way out. To reduce the risk, and to balance the trailer on the way home to Suffolk, Karen jammed straw bales into the front section of the trailer.
I was sad to see Karen, Natasha and Moon go but giggled at the list they had drawn up in preparation for their departure...it seems I could have been in the back with Moon!
I wasn't the only one sorry to see them go...
