Sweet Itch? what's sweet about an itch?!?

This morning I was talking with Henry about why he has not been out with us in the fields or in the Horse Watching sessions, and he explained to me that he gets very bad Sweet Itch. 

We asked Teddy about it and he said Sweet Itch is also know as Summer Seasonal Recurrent Dermatitis, which sounds a bit of a mouthful to me! 

In the hot weather there are lots of nasty little flies about, which none of us like, but for poor Henry they are particularly annoying; he is is allergic to their saliva, so the bites make him very itchy and he rubs himself.

At this time of year we all get fly repellent put on to make us more comfortable, and we get washed off quite often when we have been working which feels great and cools us down. 

Because Henry has such a bad reaction to the flies, he gets to wear some special clothing; he has a fly mask for his face and a fly proof rug for when he is out in the fields.

Henry in his fly proof clothing

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!