7th August, 2017 My Other Hobbies

In truth I don't really have many hobbies - photography and writing being the only two - but every month I join David in his hobby of woodland management and it is definitely growing on me. Yesterday we collected more winter logs from trees that were blown over in the wind two years ago, and we spotted a toad, a frog, a Speckled Wood butterfly and a Small White. Attacking rhododendron with a sturdy pair of loppers is very therapeutic.

I see the horses almost every day (Tracey and Lorraine cover days off) and also keep an eye out for my New Forest ponies. Yesterday they were on their way to the water trough and my heart was in my mouth as they wandered down the road. He may be a poster boy for the New Forest Roads Campaign but it doesn't make it any easier.

He may be drinking from the water trough when he gets there but I don't think he's all that impressed. Not much nutritional value compared with Mum's milk.

6th August, 2017 Lady Muck

Our best ride of the year so far with Théoden much more confident now he has a few more miles on the clock. For a sixteen year old horse he is very low mileage and the nine months he had off represents a large percentage of his life. Today we met very polite people with double pushchairs, bicycles (those that could still breathe said hello!), and people that put their dogs on the lead the instant they saw us. We stopped for a friendly chat several times, allowing the dogs to get used to the horses and vice versa,  and also talked to a man who was an Oak Tree specialist, explaining that the French ones are likely to be better at withstanding the heat as we face higher temperatures through climate change. Théoden didn't put a foot wrong, although he did grow a few hands when we got back to the fields and he could here the sound of the tractor which he had forgotten about.

Juma was seeking sponsorship from Lockerley Garage trying to interest them in a free wash and polish. Product placement is very important.

Realised I haven't explained the Lady Muck reference - finished the muck spreading this weekend!

5th August, 2017 The Calm After the Storm

Having been battered by wind and rain for two days, the wild ponies were very tired...

...not so the riding horses who felt fairly fresh being ridden out as a threesome for the first time since they all came back into work. Théoden is standing behind me telling me which ISO setting to use.

Juma and the Blues Band were visiting the Care Home...

...Juma appeared to be serenading the residents but for those who aren't horsey this is a natural response to interesting smells called Flehmen where the pony curls up his lips to examine a smell more closely, wafting it over the sensitive Jacobsen's organ. A mare had recently urinated in this spot and Juma, who seems fairly forward for his age, thought it was intoxicating.

4th August, 2017 Book Sales

I've sold two dozen copies of my book this week. You don't have to have a semi-feral foal for the book to be useful. Domesticated foals can benefit too. I hear of so many domesticated foals where the first headcollar has been forced on and then the foal refuses to cooperate from then on because it does not, and cannot, trust the handler. It can be ten times as difficult to put a headcollar on a foal that has been forced than one that has not and yet takes very little time to do it nicely in the first place. You need a headcollar that does up over the nose (not underneath), a soft scarf, and a feather duster. The book can be purchased through my website No Fear, No Force or through Amazon. The book is recommended and used by The Exmoor Pony Centre, The Dartmoor Pony Training Centre, Intelligent Horsemanship and lots of individual breeders and pony owners.

I almost wandered up to the wrong ponies out on the Forest this morning with carbon copies of Blue and Blue standing up at Longcross. Since Lovely High Jack was out for three years, there have been a number of these dark roans to fool me. As I got closer I realised that 'my' Blue was not wearing a collar.

My Blue was just over the hill and much more interested in seeing me although I rarely take them food as I don't want them to expect it every time and run up to greet me.

Nelly is ever the optimist but recognises that it is a lottery. Both of them like to come up for a rub and a fly swat anyway.

She may look round from the front and underneath but she is dropping a bit of weight in her generosity towards her foal.

He's looking like a very solid fledgling at the moment.

Juma is getting pretty confident about me touching his face and the rest of his body but I am deliberately using extremely subtle body language so that he will remain wary of strangers who might not be so polite. Like all young colts he is inclined to use his teeth, which are just pushing through, to influence the way things are going - to say, hold on, talk to me, not so fast, I'm not sure about that, are you my girlfriend? I take care to avoid his teeth and just use bigger body language to ask him not to do it; I don't punish him for it.  I am in no rush to put a headcollar on him and will wait until I have to bring him in to avoid the drift (all being well) or when his dam has her feet done.

I was pleased to receive photos from Lorraine later in the day showing Juma with a friend...

3rd August, 2017 Call My Bluff

Henrietta sped off almost as soon as we had gone out on the Open Forest yesterday. Still, Jack had me, Lorraine, Sarah and Amanda to keep him company so we called Henrietta's bluff by going off for a walk without her. When we got back she was standing waiting by the fence, somewhat irate, and eagerly joined us for a second tour of the inclosure. Not only that but she accompanied us home across the open Forest again without looking left or right.

2nd August, 2017 Some prefer it Kinky

I have to confess to rarely grooming Théoden's mane, but today it was due for it's annual comb through. Another by now fairly routine day with riding in the morning, a Juma check if I can find them, and then writing all afternoon. I am concerned that this may become a bit turgid and wondered what else I could blog about. I have a friend who could make a fortune from advertising if she were to share all of her labour-saving tips on house cleaning. She house-sits in the most beautiful location in a mansion that has more bedrooms than a small hotel, and it always looks immaculate, like something out of  House and Garden magazine.

While I was working I treated myself to a wonderful house cleaner, preferring to muck out a stable to mucking out our own house, but am slowly developing my own tricks of the trade.

The super-giant-sized Pampered Chef freezer bag clips are brilliant for holding the corner of your super-king-size duvet inside the appropriate corner of your super-king-size duvet cover while you are giving it an energetic shake. Meanwhile, no kitchen or wooden floor should be without a Bona spray mop, Bona wood or Bona stone cleaning fluids which are all re-fillable.

1st August, 2017 That's It! I'm Off!

Out with Lorraine and Jack this morning trying to extend the things that this two year old can do. Incrementally he is moving away from the others to be groomed and to have his feet handled. He is unfazed by the bridge, or sharing it, and he's going on short tours of the open Forest and taking a few obstacles in his stride.

Henrietta blotted her copybook. She followed my Jack out happily and enjoyed dashing around the inclosure. We went out on the other side of the inclosure onto the open Forest and she stayed close to Jack...

We had a bit of a staring competition with the deer before returning to the inclosure but on the way back home across the open Forest again she skedaddled and set off with a look of determination. Luckily the ponies she came across were not her old friends from two years ago and weren't all that pleased to see her.

That was enough to convince her that she should come home after all...

 That's just the way she rolls.