A strange machine in the stables...

The other day something quite odd happened here, I had to ask Teddy what was going on.  The vet arrived with a machine of some kind, and then another vet arrived to help her.  Teddy said they were taking an 'X-ray' of Bertie's knee. 

A few weeks ago Bertie had an argument in the field with one of the other horses and ended up getting kicked.  His knee has been a bit swollen since then. Teddy says an 'X- ray' is a sort of picture of the inside the horse so they can see bones and stuff and tell whether anything is wrong!  I think the vets must be really clever (maybe even as clever as Teddy). Hopefully Bertie will be fine again soon.

Last week I was very busy with our visitors, and it looks like i'm having just as busy a time this week too!  I've done some agility and also I showed Kerri (one of our Instructors) how good I am at jumping! She thought because I am small I wouldn’t be able to get very high. I'm not called the mighty atom for nothing, I proved I am small and mighty with a great big leap!!

Me showing Kerri how to do agility, I'm such a superstar!

Nearly time for my new trainers!

I had a lovely groom after my breakfast hay today, which made me feel great! I am losing my Winter woolliness at the moment so all the long hair which protected me from the wind, rain and cold is starting to fall out.  I was brushed for ages but I still have loads of hair falling out!  Soon I will get my summer coat which is shiny and sleek, much shorter coat than my winter one to keep me cooler in hot weather.

Me in My summer coat. Gorgeous aren't I!

After breakfast the Farriers came to do some shoeing.  They were very busy as lots of us horses and ponies needed new shoes and a trim. I wasn't due for shoeing today but I'm looking forward to next Friday when I will get my new shoes done. I have special shoes because I am such a special horse; unlike the others with their metal shoes my tiny feet get plastic shoes. The staff in the stables call them my trainers!  

Worms? how very dare you!

This morning something strange is going on in the stables, I've seen some of the staff wandering around with gloves on, picking up droppings and putting them in a bag!

Picking up droppings!

I had to ask Teddy what was going on because it seemed a bit strange to me, he says that the staff take this to the vets and they can check to make sure we don’t have worms.

Humans are strange sometimes, but I guess they do it to keep us healthy. I don’t think I would like to do that job!!

I haven’t done any agility yet this week but I am waiting for my turn to do some work.  Obviously everyone comes to see me in my stable though because I am quite famous, and of course I have a reputation for being really cute!

I do LOVE doing my Agility course!

What a Busy Week!

On Monday we had our Open Day and we had lots of visitors who haven’t been here before, some of us horses and ponies were giving people rides and carriage drives for the day.  Duchess is one of the horses who pulls the carriage and said she had a great time in the sunshine meeting people and taking them for a drive.  It was great that lots of new faces came and saw what we do here, I love meeting new people!

Duchess pulling a Carriage

I have moved into my Summer paddock now.  It is next to the Archery Range but I don’t go out when there are people shooting at the targets in case one of them has a stray arrow!  I know horses in the past were used by riders with bows and arrows, but I don’t think I would like it much!

Me enjoying some yummy grass in my summer paddock

Are Easter eggs nice?

All us horses and ponies are enjoying a bit of sunshine and grass! As you all know it was Easter this weekend, and I did see lots of brightly coloured and glittery eggs hiding around the stables and the yard. 

I think this was so that guests could find them, I didn’t get any though and as I have never tasted chocolate I do wonder what I have missed? The staff say chocolate is not good for ponies so we all had some carrots instead which were yummy!!

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The other day I heard some music coming from the indoor arena while the guests were riding. I wondered what was going on and why I wasn’t involved, after all I'm a very talented fellow!

Bertie said they were doing a musical drill ride which sounds like a lot of fun (although I'm not completely sure exactly what it is!).

Louise and Hendrix

Our new member of staff Louise has been given a project by Nicky.  Hendrix told me that she has been lunging him and this morning Nicky lunged him and Louise got on him!

He has been doing lots of driving but hasn’t been ridden for a few months, but now Duchess has joined us to do some of the driving, he gets to do both again. Hendrix said he is looking forward to having some fun with Louise.

Louise and Henrix having fun

We are all happy to see loads more people coming to the stables, its getting really busy again. Roll on Summer!

More about the Newbies!

Jack is being ridden by all sorts of riders.  He is a jolly chap and he has the most amazing moustache! Also he has been out with Bertie doing something called "ride and lead". This means one horse is ridden and the rider also leads the other horse. Jack enjoyed this as he gets on well with Bertie. 

Once they had had a practice they then went out on a ride with one of our regular riders, Daisy on Bertie, Abi on Jack together and Nicky on Safari.

I told you Rooster had been a race horse before he came here, but he is loving life here as it is much quieter.  He's a favorite with some of our regular riders already.

Justyn riding Rooster

This week we had a visit from our friendly vet Jenny.  She came with her dentistry kit this time, and some of us had our teeth checked and vaccinations done.  Because us horses have so many teeth the vet has a special thing which she puts in our mouth so that she can see all the teeth, then she puts a rasp over the teeth to smooth them off as our teeth can get quite sharp. This doesn't hurt us and helps to keep us comfortable when we are eating and being ridden or driven.

Jenny doing Rooster's teeth