15th December, 2016 Down to the Wire

This morning I got to see my injury in the flesh and the two er...interesting...bits of wire holding my thumb in place. The surgeon has done an incredibly neat job and I am really not in any pain if I don't try to do too much wiggling with it.

In the meantime I am still receiving news of horses that I have worked with past and present and pleased to be able to say that "Dolly is riding out past piggies in the forest." Dolly was introduced to friendly pigs, Otterley and Hiccup, and now rides regularly down what is known as "Pig Alley" at Kerslake where pigs are allowed to be out all year round. My particular favourite is this one.

The Warmblood Quintet belonging to Beccy are now down to two, with two of the foals, Theo and Holly, having gone to our students (honestly, purchasing a foal was not compulsory), and Archie more recently to a super home. Beccy reports: "All 5 foals, now yearlings perfect with headcollars after being shown the 'long strap back left' method & moving up gradually etc. Never looked back & they're all very easy."

...and New Forest Pony, Bear, who had a huge following on here, no longer runs away at the first sign of a vet. "Bear had a vet visit yesterday and going on past experience I was slighty anxious to say the least....he was scared of the stethoscope but good as gold with the injection....he has come along way thanks to you Sarah!"

14th December, 2016 Mum's The Word

Sarah has suggested I do a Guest Blog while her typing hand is incapacitated.

New Forest Pony: Patsy with Mum, Pat

Patsy, a true roan, had a P brand on her bottom

By way of introduction I am her Mom and therefore most things are my fault, and this probably includes her being horse-mad. I was not brought up in a horsey family myself but remember being in my parent's shop and seeing some children ride past on ponies. My immediate reaction was 'I want to do that' and I never gave up asking for riding lessons till I got them at seven, or asking for a pony for a long time till I got one at eleven. I once mentioned to my father that a family we knew had four children and they all had ponies and so they must be very rich. He said they must be very poor now and he didn't want to be the same. But he gave in eventually.

A little bit pregnant but Teddy's owner didn't notice until I was eight months gone; Sarah was born a month early!

Sarah started riding much earlier than me. In fact before she was born she was often on board a horse with me and perhaps the motion entered her consciousness. She started riding properly at four and we want for a regular hack out with a riding school with Sarah on a lead rein. Then a wonderful riding holiday in Cornwall which reaĺly set her up. The only problem was coming home and leaving the beautiful pony which had been hers for the week.

Suki left stirrup leathers, and occasionally Sarah, hanging from the odd branch.

It was not so long afterwards that we bought a horse for me and a pony for Sarah. We had lots of fun with the horses and I have some lovely memories of our rides out on Smokey, Thunder, Bonnie, and all the other horses we had later. And we managed to get into quite a few scrapes which I'll describe later if Sarah lets me contribute to the blog again!

Smokey, the day that we bought him...

Taking part in the Sherriff's Ride a few years later; Thunder and I are at the back.

13th December, 2016 Withdrawal Symptoms

I don't know about you but I have got withdrawal symptoms from writing already. I can manage about two minutes with my right hand as long as I don't try to engage my thumb and all it's gadgetry.

I have been kept entertained by Facebook, emails and real life visitors.

Apparently my horse is missing me although this looks more like his "Where's my hay?" face.

It's the right time of year for news of friends old and new, close and distant, and I'm happy to receive guest blogs.

Hattie and Bettie are getting along well and Helen wrote:

"My wild little mule is amazing after having lodged with you for six days!
She follows us everywhere, is easy to catch in the field and now loves the routine of coming out of the field every morning to enjoy scratches!" HT

I did ask her if she would like another one...!

Busy Lizzie was successfully head-collared and held for the vet on Thursday and had her microchip inserted so now she's all legal and Magic has settled into her new home having loaded brilliantly.

I also heard from Alice who was probably one of my earliest clients and now friend as tends to be the custom:

"Orca...a very unhappy mare who would either react strongly with force or completely 'switch off' to now where she is a changed horse...she is happy to be touched, cuddled and generally loved. She wants to come to me for attention now and will even completely relax in a stable which I never thought would be possible! People generally don't believe me when I describe how she was when I got her...and that is completely down to you." AT

11th December, 2016 I've Got a Bone to Pick with You

Long day at the hospital yesterday where I was given a surprising and fabulous amount of morphine when I came round from having wires put in my poor old thumb. The first pain free day I have had in ten years I would say!

185 people responded approvingly when I said that I knew where all the good people in the world have gone. They all work for Salisbury District Hospital where I was nurtured all day long and fell in love with every member of staff I met. To really and truly care about people in such a pressured environment is astounding; they were unbelievably kind.

I was determined not to cancel our bones party and so amongst Honour's bones we had boxes of chocolate biscuits, mince pies and some hot winter beetroot soup and ciabatta. Pocket rocket vet, Nicky Brooks, admittedly did most of the work along with former nurse, Sarah.

With all the bones numbered and the missing ones identified, the next step will be to create a display.

"Thank you so much for yesterday I really enjoyed it. That should so be an exercise for 1st year veterinary students!" Nicky Brooks, MRCVS.

9th December, 2016 You Didn't Want to Do It Like That!

From David:

So I have brought Sarah back from the hospital, but unfortunately they couldn't fit her operation in today. Back tomorrow for another attempt.

Whilst she is out of action, I have taken over her computer and thought I would put up a blog about how we all do things we know could end badly, but our brain either thinks 'I've done it before loads of times with no problem', or 'it's only for a few minutes'. It is for this reason that Sarah is always careful with other people's equines, tries to put across the safety aspects at all times and is frustrated by people who take a 'gung ho' approach, get away with it, and then suggest everyone else uses the same methods. This is even worse when it is portrayed by a professional trainer who should know better.

I mentioned to her the time I was maintaining my 750cc bike - big, heavy, and no stand. I only needed to take out the back wheel, so chocked it up with a  few bits of wood I had lying around. Wheel out, grease applied with no problems. On the way back in, the wheel spindle was a bit tight, so a quick wiggle and......

...45 minutes later, I had finally managed to extricate myself from under the bike, and was off to find someone to help me pick it up and put it on something more solid. Did I think when I started that it wasn't very solid? Of course I did, but it was only for a few minutes, so what's the problem?

If I just do a small wheelie to get the front wheel over the ditch.....this is when my Willy fell off (Willy is my older brother)

Why are 4 people needed to pick up a small bike? Well, the only thing stopping the bike and myself going over the edge of a large drop is that small tree.

Definition of chaos?

She should have known Henrietta was in a kinky mood...

...she even came into the yard kinkily.

Follow the scarf? No problem...

...but good luck getting it off!

As we all know, Henrietta is very reactive to things she isn't sure of. As usual, Sarah was working with her in a safe space, using a scarf instead of a rope, something Henrietta has been introduced to and been led by before. Sarah thought that maybe something to stop the knot in the scarf tightening might be a good idea, but it was only for a few minutes and Henrietta has been fine before, so.....

...all seemed to be going well, with Henrietta moving around and following Sarah but when Sarah tried to undo the knot in the scarf, Henrietta objected and wouldn't let Sarah get near. Sarah attempted to get the scarf off remotely with a feather duster, but to no avail. After half an hour Sarah decided to close the panels down to stop Henrietta moving around too much, at which point she kicked out at the panels. Unfortunately the panel then hit Sarah's hand, resulting in the injury.

Sarah has needed a bit of a break for some time, but I don't think this is quite what she had intended. It could be over 12 weeks of lost earnings before she can really get back to working properly. The joys of self employment!

"Sorry to hear about your accident. You are one of the last people I would have thought would have got hurt. Every time you have visited us you have ensured that our safety is of paramount importance. Your accident just shows that you can never be 100% sure. I am not sure if we can be of any help in any way but if we can please let us know." RJ.

8th December, 2016 Gordon Bennett's

...somewhat inevitably I have been kicked by Henrietta and a trip to A and E and the wonderfully efficient Dr Fayomi reveals that I have a Bennetts Fracture of my right hand. This means that I won't be able to take on any horse work until the end of January. On the plus side I will still be able to type so can get on with writing my book. I shall also be running telephone advice clinics in aid of BARTA  (animal rescue teams) and Shy Lowen. I'll get the surgery out of the way first!

7th December, 2016 He Ain't Heavy...

Da da!

I always share a little moment with Ollie, Sammy's field companion, before taking Sammy out.

Sammy earned ten out of ten for feet picking up whilst ground tied this morning.

We had a new route in mind this morning with a bit of roadwork...

By coincidence we met CJ, a Connemara Pony. They couldn't be more different than chalk and cheese but CJ is Sammy's brother.

We walked CJ home before going home ourselves.

Checking out the sheep...

... and some traffic.