Running with the big boys!

Yesterday we got to do one of our favourite things which is called horse watching. I don’t get to watch the horses play and run around, that’s our guest’s job, but I do get to take part!

Running with the big boys (in the lead of course!)

Teddy says the point of horse watching is so our guests get to see how wonderful we are and how we interact with each other when we are not in our stables. We usually chase each other around and get to have a good roll in the arena. 

We like having a roll in there as it’s really sandy, I use it to get rid of my hair as I’m STILL looking a bit woolly from the winter.

I do LOVE a good roll!

Brin and Bertie got a bit carried away yesterday showing off to the guests and were having a competition to show who could stand on their back legs the highest. Of course I don't need to show off, everyone already knows I’m the special one.

Brin and Bertie showing off

Well the centre group is about to start so I had better get back to make sure everyone knows what they are doing today, and give all the guests their special Pilgrim welcome. Catch you all soon!

Hoist helps happy horse riders!

Today in the stables we have a group in from Leonard Cheshire who have come all the way from Guernsey. I’m sure they have really only come to see me as everyone knows I’m the star attraction at the Calvert Trust.

Teddy tells me that most of the guests in this group have to be hoisted on to a horse. He says that the horse needs to stand really still to be a hoist horse. I think this is why they rode Brin as standing still is one of his favourite things to do; well that and eating!  

Lovely Dil being hoisted onto Brin

Teddy knows all this because he's also a hoist horse, but he was being ridden by one of the other riders today. Apparently training to become a hoist horse takes quite a long time. I don’t know whether I would want to do it if I was big enough, but the good thing about it for Teddy and Brin is they get to do lots of slow and gentle work while they are looking after their riders.

Dil on Brin and ready to go!

It’s great that we are able to give people the opportunity to still ride even though they are in a wheelchair. Teddy says people have to sit in a special sling which gets attached to the electric hoist in the arena. Nicky or Abi then have a thing with buttons on that controls the height and the movement of the hoist so the person can be lifted on to the saddle, and then they are ready to go riding.

Dil and Brin enjoying their ride

Meeting my ½ sister

The best thing about going to the show was that I got to see a member of my family!! I met my half-sister for the first time. She did very well in the same class as me.  She was there with her owner Poppy, who I used to belong to before I came to the Calvert Trust.

meeting Poppy and my ½ Sister

 Poppy told Nicky she has lots of photos of me from when I was a foal so hopefully she can pass some on and I can put them on my blog for all of you to see how cute I was when I was born!

I really enjoyed my morning at the show and even saw some of our lovely volunteers there.  I hope I get to go to another show sometime and maybe one of the other Calvert Trust Exmoor horses or ponies can come with me.  I am sure we could have a great day out together. I will let you know!

After all the excitement of the weekend I was feeling a little worn out, but I'm looking forward to meeting some more guests this week and showing off my agility abilities!

My first horse show!

As I mentioned I've recently had a few baths to try to get rid of the long winter coat which I am hanging on to. (I'm still not 100% convinced that it isn’t going to snow soon!) Anyway I am still quite hairy but slowly it is coming out with lots of grooming and the occasional wash.

Last weekend though I was very glad I looked clean and shiny because I went to a SHOW! It was on Sunday and I had been in overnight so I had an inkling that something was going on.  On Sunday morning I was groomed and had hoof oil put on my feet.  I looked gorgeous if I do say so myself.

As soon as I was ready Nicky and Louise got the horse trailer and I climbed up the ramp.  The journey to the show was not very long, but I am too small to see out of the window in the trailer so I don’t know exactly where we went! When we arrived there were lots of other trailers and horseboxes lined up and horses and ponies of all shapes and sizes.  I don’t think I have seen so many shiny and beautiful equines in my life!  I got to have a walk around with Nicky to take in the sights which was great, and then I got to taste the grass which was brilliant! 

Soon it was time for my class and Nicky put on the new head collar that Mollie got for me.  The class was for Mountain and Moorland types - which means all sorts of different breeds from different parts of the country.  I saw Welsh ponies, Fell ponies and also some other Shetlands including miniatures just like me.

The Mountain and Moorland Class

Meeting the Judge

I enjoyed myself in the ring and was very impressed with the other ponies, and I got a rosette too which was lovely.  The judge did comment on how woolly I was!!

Proudly wearing my lovely rosette

I'm no oil painting... (but I'm going to be!)

Hey everyone it’s me, your favourite small equine here! 

Last week I had a special group of visitors come to see me, they came to say hello to me in my stable first and took lots of photos of me, then they took me outside to have more photos done in the sunshine. Teddy lives in the stable next door to mine and he was desperate to have his photo done too!

He posed beautifully so the visitors did take some of him as well as me. I am sure mine will look the best but Teddy is a very handsome chap! 

Teddy out for a ride looking handsome!

Anyway the reason for this photo-shoot was to get some good pictures of me for one of these visitors who is an animal portrait artist; she is going to paint my portrait. I'm very glad it's being done from photos as I don’t think I could stand still for long enough to be painted!

I will keep you posted on the progress of the portrait; all the other horses will be very impressed and a little jealous! 

vet visit

Yesterday was a really important day for us here at the stables. 

Every year a vet comes to see all of us and checks us all over to make sure we are fit and healthy. The vet looks in our eyes with a strange thing which makes a clicking noise! I think it is just to make sure we can see properly.

He also looks at our general health and listens to our heart with a thing that goes in his ears (Teddy said this is called a stethoscope). 

Next we have to walk and trot for the vet so that he can make sure we are moving properly and are sound.  I liked this bit; it was good practice for trotting for the judge when I go to the show. The vet said I looked very good and I made him smile when I showed him my trot! I hope the judge at the show thinks I look good too! 

Bath time again!

We had a great Horse Experience Weekend here last weekend.  These are great fun, and people who come on them get to spend the whole weekend in the stables so they get to know us all really well.

The weekend was lovely weather too so the guests did lots of riding and carriage driving in the sunshine, and then finished their weekend with a competition.

I was lucky enough to get a bath on Saturday, which I love. It's helped a bit more of my old winter coat to come out, but there is still some hanging on!

Hey! You forgot to do my hair!

I need to be looking as good as possible because as I told you I am soon going to a show; I think it will be great fun and can’t wait to see what other horses and ponies might be there.  I wonder if there will be any other miniature Shetlands? 

Meeting some lovely young people

Hi everyone, we horses and ponies have all had another busy week here in the Stables.  

We had a school group visit from Ladbrook School year 6. They were a great bunch of young people and all came to the stables for sessions riding, carriage driving and of course doing some agility with me! 

Kev is such a poser: He seem's to have forgotten its all about me!

Some of them also did some grooming and even mucked out!! I really enjoy meeting young people.  I think some of them may never have seen a pony as small as me before. 

 Quite often people ask whether I am a baby; If I was I wouldn't know half the things I know! I guess people think I am still a foal because I am tiny, but they don't call me the mighty atom for nothing!

More New Kit for Me!

Kerri, who is one of the riding instructors in our stables, has a young daughter who is horse and pony mad!

This lovely kind young person is called Molly.  She recently went to Badminton Horse Trials to watch horses and riders do lots of very clever stuff. They do dressage, cross country, (which involves very big jumps made of stuff like trees and jumping into water!) and show jumping. 

I've had a go at show jumps before...

Me show jumping!

...well very little ones and admittedly I didn’t have a rider on my back! These other horses sound like really talented chaps to me!

Anyway while Molly was at Badminton she saw a stall where you can get things for very important ponies such as me. As she had heard about me from Kerri she wanted to get me something special.  I am now the proud owner of a Superstar head collar!  It is red with stars and my name on it. 

Look at my lovely head collar!

As you can imagine I feel very proud that she chose me to get something for, and I feel like a movie star in my new head collar.  I am available for Hoof prints on the red carpet and feel sure I will soon get a call from Hollywood!!

Our Volunteers Are Awesome!

Hello everyone it’s your favourite small equine here!

I thought it was time to tell you all about the brilliant volunteers here at Calvert Trust Exmoor. Every week we have volunteers  come and help us in the stables. The volunteers help the stables staff to look after us and also they help to enable our guests to be able to ride and carriage drive.

Some of our lovely volunteers

Whenever there is a group of people coming to the stables to do things with us horses and ponies we need the help of volunteers, they get involved in all sorts of things! 

They might be leading one of us, or walking beside us to give a rider some help, or out being a driving groom in the carriage with Duchess or Hendrix.

Brin and some guests being lead by Mike, a regular volunteer

There are always things for the volunteers to do and the staff say they couldn’t do riding and driving sessions without their help.  Some of our volunteers have been coming to help us for years, even longer than Teddy has been here, but we  also have some newer ones.  Most of the people who come to help love being around us horses and ponies, of course I am usually their special favourite!

New volunteers are always welcome, all us horses and ponies love to meet new faces! Anyone can find out about becoming a volunteer here by speaking to Josh in the office or Nicky in the stables, or visiting the volunteering page. 

Meeting my new colleagues!

do you remember me telling you all that I have started writing for our local newspaper?

I had a surprise visit on Friday, some of my new colleagues from The North Devon Journal popped in to see me!

Some of the North Devon Journal Team

Apparently as well as meeting me they got to do some archery and had a go on the challenge course too; although I was undoubtedly the highlight of their visit!

I'm going to a show!

Hello everyone, Pilgrim here, I heard something exciting this morning!

The stables staff were chatting about me and I overheard Nicky say she is planning to take me to a show! I wonder where the show will be and how I will get there? 

Maybe I will get a trip in the horse trailer. I don’t know what I will be doing there but I will of course keep you all informed. 

I've been having a lot of my winter hair removed recently, underneath the long winter coat is a lovely sleek and shiny summer one but the staff haven’t found it yet!  I think all this grooming is so that I will look my best when I get to the show. 

The things I have to go through! It's not easy being as cute as this you know!

I wonder if I will get washed with shampoo before I go? I expect that everyone there will think I am the cutest pony they have ever seen and of course they would be right!

Surely I'm bound to win cutest pony? look at me!

Henry's Tried Jumping!

Henry tells me he has been learning to jump over poles with a rider. This is a new thing for him, but I think it sounds quite easy! I do agility and go over and under things all the time! 

Henry clearing the jump

He even had a go at a little jump, as you can see from the photo above; he said he loved doing it and he will be doing more of this in the future so I will keep you up to date.  If he wants to I might let him do a guest spot on my blog.

Here's a video I took of Henry clearing his first jump!

That’s all for now folks.  I am just off outside to do some agility and meet lots more lovely people. Hopefully later on I will get put back out in the field to eat some lovely grass.

A lovely week with EnergEyes

This week we have had a lovely group of people staying at the Calvert Trust called EnergEyes. 

They are a charity group who run social and sports activities for people with a visual impairment from Weston-Super-Mare and the North Somerset area.

This is their fourth visit to Calvert Trust Exmoor and they are enjoying a great activity holiday experiencing everything we have here from archery to abseiling to canoeing, although visiting the stables is the highlight of everyone's week of course!

The EnergEyes group in our indoor arena

Yesterday they spent the morning in the stables. They met yours truly of course and also did some riding. Once they were on their horses they got to know their horse by feeling along the horse’s neck and down their back.

Getting to know Safari

Then they practiced steering and even did a spot of fishing! Not in the river but taking fish off a post and hanging them on another.  The fish are not real by the way!

Jean, who is completely without sight, riding Jack by following Abi's voice.

Some of them went for a ride down the track outside the arena. They have also spent time with Louise learning how to tack a horse up, (that means putting on the saddle and bridle to get the horse ready for riding). They all thought the bridles were especially complicated!  

My New Trick!

Sometimes several of us horses and ponies get put out together in the outdoor or indoor arena.  This is great for us, we get to socialise and have a gossip!

Hendrix copying me

People like to see how we behave together and some of them try to work out what we are saying to each other and who is friends with who. I of course am friends with everyone; all the other horses love to spend time with me! 

I'm the leader of the pack! (well, herd!)

Brin, who is my best friend, sometimes gets a bit jealous of the other horses when they are chatting with me but I have told him it’s because I am so great they want to be my friend!

Everyone wants to be my friend!

______________________

I've learnt a fabulous new trick; I was out in the indoor arena with Rooster the other day, and as you all know he is very tall. I do like him and wondered how it feels to be his size, luckily I was next to the mounting block and I had a flash of inspiration! 

Before anyone could say "Shetland pony" I was up the ramp and standing on top of the mounting block next to Rooster! What an amazing view I had from up there I can tell you.  I must try it when I am in the arena with Brin, that will surprise him!

My new trick!

I'm back, and I've got a new job with the newspaper!

Hi guys, the mighty atom is back on the blog!  Thank you to Rooster who did a sterling job telling us all about his life. 

We are all busy here now and the weather is just perfect for ponies, we've been out in the fields a lot enjoying the fresh grass.  The riding and driving horses have all been out a lot in the outdoor arena working and taking people for rides and drives down the track, and I've been doing lots of agility outside. 

I've also got a new job!

The lovely people at The North Devon Journal phoned me a few weeks ago and asked if they could use the things I write in this blog in their newspaper.

Teddy say's that's called 'syndication', i thought it was pretty exciting.

The first piece, which i wrote specially for the paper as an introduction all about me, went into this weeks Journal; how fabulous is that!!

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the stories about me and my friends here in the stables in the paper in the coming weeks and months,apparently I'm going to be in every other week!

Guest Blogger Rooster 2: My life at Calvert Trust

Hi everyone, its me again, Rooster.

This December Safari and I came to live at Calvert Trust. Now I thought I had seen every kind of place but let me tell you there is nowhere quite like this place! 

Meeting Pilgrim was a surprise; I didn’t realise a pony could be so small! Most of the horses here are pretty hairy compared with my racing buddies, especially Jack with his moustache and Duchess with her feathers!

Duchess showing off her feathers 

All the horses here have very special jobs.  We are here to help anyone to ride and drive who would like to give it a go and also so that people can spend time learning what fantastic creatures we are. I am quite tall but once people realise how gentle I am they all seem to love me. It took me a few weeks to work out what was going on but now I absolutely love my job.  The best thing is we get to do plenty of slow and gentle work which is great for me! I can still remember how fast I used to go though and have reminded the staff who work here on a few occasions!

Me enjoying a ride in our arena with my friend Justin

Guest Blogger Rooster 1: A little about me

I am delighted to have this opportunity to tell you about myself folks, thanks Pilgrim for asking me.

Saying 'hi' to Pilgrim

I'm an old gentleman now, but I think I have lived an interesting life. I was born in Ireland and I am a thoroughbred. For anyone who is not sure what that means; I was born to gallop and LOVE to run!

I have done a fair bit of racing during my life both in Ireland and in England, so as you might expect I am a well-travelled chap. I moved from Ireland to England when I was about 7 years old, and have raced at quite a lot of different places. 

All ready to go out

I was quite good at racing, but like everyone I started to feel my age and needed to slow down a little.  Now obviously that is not very good for a racehorse! So it was time for me to find another job.

The next chapter of my life was spent going for lovely long rides in the countryside with a very kind man. I also met Safari while I was doing this job and we became the best of friends. It was lovely to have time to make friends because in racing you spend so much time travelling around you rarely get to put down roots.

My friend Safari doing bareback riding in the arena

Pilgrim may have told you about Safari? He is a spotty horse who also moved here to Calvert Trust with me. I was so pleased he was able to move here too, I would have missed him terribly if we had to separate.

Pilgrim say's I can have another go at blogging, so next time I will tell you about my life here at Calvert Trust Exmoor.

Exciting News!

Hi everyone, I have some very exciting news to share with you!! 

On Monday some of the Calvert Trust staff went off on an adventure!  They went to Cheltenham Racecourse for the Visit England Awards for Excellence 2014. Obviously, I would have been a superstar if I had gone but two things stopped me; it was way past my bedtime and because it was held at a racecourse I thought that I might get asked to gallop really fast!

I decided to ask Nicky, who is in charge of the stables, to go as my representative. So off she went on Monday afternoon with some of the other staff and trustees.  They came back home with not one but two awards! We won Gold in the Access for All Category and Highly Commended in the Tourism Experience Category.  Everyone here is very pleased to have got these awards.

Our team receiving the Gold award

Nicky was telling the other staff in the stables about the evening, I heard her say that they had a lovely time.  She said they all had a really nice dinner; well it didn’t sound like anything I like to eat but then humans don’t have the same tastes as me! 

Me with our Visit England awards!

Yesterday afternoon I had a look at the awards.  I think I would like to have them hung up in my stable but I am not sure that will happen!  Maybe I could just have one that is for the cutest pony instead!!

More about Bob...

Hi everyone!

Do you remember a couple of years ago I introduced you to Bob? I thought I would bring you up to date with what he's been up to.

He's definitely the quietest horse we have here at the stables; I'm not sure what sort of horse he is but he doesn’t ever make a noise! I have tried to have a chat with him but it’s always been a bit one sided!

He's not very chatty is he!?!

Bob  is only about as tall as me, he has been here at the stables for a few years now but he doesn’t ever move very far. He lives in the middle of the yard, never gets fed and doesn’t need mucking out! Bob is made from an old barrel with a saddle attached. He is used to see whether people can sit on a horse before they get to try the real thing.  

The good thing with Bob is he is very still and quiet, but he gives people a good idea of what it is like to sit on a horse.  He also has a head with a bit and some reins on it.  This means people can learn about how to ask a horse to turn and stop. Bob never gets upset if someone makes a mistake!  Bob is very patient and will let people practice for ages on him before they get to do it for real. Lots of our visitors here have sat on Bob and he is a very important member of the stables team.

Me meeting Bob, with Rooster and Safari watching!

It's been a while since I've had a guest blogger; having just seen him in the photo I've decided I will ask Rooster to tell us a bit about his life for the next blog post.

See you soon!

I'm a film star!

One of the staff here at Calvert Trust had a video camera in the stables today, so here is the first ever piece of footage of me!

I know i'm not doing very much in it, but its an exciting new development, I'm becoming even more of a superstar!

I'm hoping to star in many more films in the coming months!

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

Bare back? well, sort of!

Hi everybody, it’s the mighty atom here again!

We are very busy in the stables now with loads of lovely guests, and finally the grass has started to grow, so we are all a lot happier in the fields. I have even stayed out overnight on a few occasions as it has been warm and dry; lovely!  As you know I don’t like getting wet and cold so I am usually tucked up in my stable at night!

The new horses I told you about have all fitted into the team very well. Duchess is pulling the big carriage regularly now and she says she loves it.  It looks quite big and heavy to me but she is a big strong girl and she pulls it easily!

Safari has a new saddle type thing that he has been wearing.  It has no stirrups and is very soft. I heard the staff call it a bareback pad and Nicky, Abi and Louise have all had a go at riding Safari with it on.  

Safari looking great with the bareback pad.

It's looks strange to see people on him with no stirrups! but Safari says it feels great and some riders find it very useful as they like the feel of it.

More New Arrivals!

I mentioned new arrivals, well I haven't finished telling you about them; A couple of weeks ago we had another two horses arrive! 

The first one is called Duchess. She is a black mare who is going to pull our big carriage, she says she has done lots of driving before she came here and also she likes being ridden.  She has VERY hairy legs!! (she calls them feathers, but it looks like hair to me!)

Duchess trying out our carriage with Abi & Louise

Jack is a piebald pony so he will fit in well as we have several piebald’s already.  He is a riding pony and has worked in a riding school before so he is used to this kind of job. He also has a mousetache! I've never seen one on a horse before, I thought only humans had them!

Jack showing off his Moustache!

They both seem very friendly although Teddy tells me Duchess thinks she is going to be in charge of all the horses in the field.  I heard the Nicky say that quite often girl horses are the boss, so we shall see!

We are now all ready for the busiest time of year here with lots of visitors coming to stay at Calvert Trust Exmoor so I am looking forward to meeting lots of new people and saying hello to those I have met before.

I'm back! Hello again!

Hi everyone, I know it’s been a while but things have been rather busy here.  We had a wet but mild Winter here this year, I was looking forward to some of that white stuff falling from the sky but so far we've had none of that!

through the winter I've been tucked up nice and warm in my stable every night, so its lovely now that the weather is brighter to get out into the fields again.

All the other horses have also spent quite a lot of time in the stables at night too as the fields have been very muddy and us horses can only cope with so much rain; a bit like humans I suppose! We are all very excited about being out in the fields in the sunshine again.

The main reason why it’s been so busy is that we have had lots of new arrivals since Christmas, and I've been showing them the ropes.

The first to arrive were Safari and Rooster, who came together from another stables.  Safari is an unusual looking chap.  He tells me he is an Appaloosa, apparently that’s a breed of horse!  He is chestnut but has white spots and patches on his back and hind quarters.  He tells me this means he is "a Chestnut Frosted Blanket" which he obviously thinks makes him quite special! 

Safari posing for his photo!

Safari arrived with Rooster who is very, very tall!  He said he used to be a racehorse but now he is a bit older he was looking for a quieter life so Calvert Trust Exmoor should fit the bill for him. He is a chestnut but with none of Safari’s fancy spots. They seem very happy to be here and are both working with our guests really well.

Rooster ready for action

We also have some new humans too! Kerri-Anne and Louise have joined Nicky and AbI, to help them look after us and all of the new horses too.