Roadwork and Clipping

After a couple of weeks holiday as you can imagine we were all feeling just like people do when they have been eating lots and not doing much exercise. We all needed to get back to work! The fitness campaign started with gentle exercise, most of the horses went out to do ‘roadwork’.

This means that they get out for a lovely ride.  Some even went in pairs, called ride and lead.  Jack was very happy because he got to do ride and lead with Duchess who is his best friend. 

Jack and Duchess out for a 'ride and lead'.

Bertie was very excited to be going out riding on the first day, but by the third day he told me he was feeling like he needed another holiday!

I have been doing some lunge exercises and also been out for a couple of walks.  I will be fit and ready to do my agility again soon, I can’t wait for that.  As the fields are very muddy we have all been allowed to go into the arena in groups to roll and have a scratch and play with each other which has been great fun.

Some of the horses have been clipped again this week. Henry and Bertie look particularly smart.  Some of us are still looking very shaggy though so I think it is probably only a matter of time before the clippers work their way around everyone!

Henry being clipped

I know Duchess is looking forward to being clipped; she's very hairy at the moment and I think she will feel much better when she looks a bit sleeker. You know how girls are about having a new hairdo! 

All our regular carriage drivers and riders are now coming back in for their lessons so we are back to normal which is great, especially for Rooster as he loves a routine. 

Bye Bye Safari

Hi everyone, its great to be back. 

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Safari just before Christmas, He has gone back home to his owners. 

He had a lovely time working here at the stables but has now gone to semi retire and enjoy some light riding work and  relaxing time in the fields with some new pony friends and his owner Kat. We will all miss him but I think he will enjoy life there.

As you know Rooster was very friendly with Safari and although he probably misses him a bit, he has now completely fallen in love with Duchess, which she seems to be quite happy about! 

Duchess and Rooster

We horses and ponies have all had a lovely holiday over Christmas and New Year;  lots of cleaning and some painting has gone in in the stables while we were having our holiday!

One thing that looks a bit different is the indoor arena.  It now has a bright yellow line all the way around the edge of it. I was a bit surprised when I first saw it and Bertie thought it was a bit scary!  (He is a bit of a baby about new things!). 

The line makes it much easier to see the edge of the arena and Teddy says this is what it is for; to help people who are visually impaired to see where they need to steer their horse when they are riding. I am sure it will help a lot of people to have a great riding experience. 

New Faces for 2015

Do you remember I told you a few weeks ago that some of the staff in the stables were going and new people were going to come and look after us? 

Louise has now left us to work at a vets and will be training to become a veterinary nurse. I think she will be really good at looking after sick animals.  When any of us horses and ponies felt a bit sorry for ourselves she was great at cheering us up and caring for us.  We will miss her but hopefully she will pop back in to see us all in the future.

Abi has also moved to a new job which is closer to her family. She will be working with some event horses and their family of humans, I think she will be great at training all of them! She said she hopes to come back and see me soon, I hope she does as I will miss her cuddles.

Cuddles with Abi...

... and kisses too!

Our two new staff Richard and Alice have been with us for a couple of weeks now, so I thought it was about time I introduced them to you.

Richard has lots of experience with horses and people; we are all getting to know him now and showing him how we like things to be done!

Richard

He has worked with carriage horses before and one of his jobs here will be driving the carriages. He has done some carriage driving with both Hendrix and Duchess, they both said he was very nice and kind to them and they are looking forward to taking him out driving in their carriages.

Duchess is a very sensible mare and I'm sure she will soon have Richard under her spell! Hendrix will just be his usual cheeky loveable self and get Richard to do things exactly how he wants him to without Richard even realising! 

Alice volunteered with us for a few weeks before starting her job with us, so we have got to know here already. She is our new Riding Instructor.

Alice

Alice has lots of experience with horses and has taught many people to ride so she has plenty of ideas for us equines and for all our guests too. I have also been chatting with Brin about Alice and I think he may have a new number one fan; apparently Alice loves him already!

Muddy Buddies

This week things are quiet here at the stables, we horses and ponies are enjoying a well-earned holiday. We have spent lots of time gossiping, playing, giving each other a lovely scratch and of course enjoying some winter sunshine in the fields.

The fields are a bit muddy now but horses and ponies love mud! 

A rather muddy Teddy enjoying some lunch!

I particularly like to have a good roll in the mud when I am put out in the field.  It is very satisfying and I love to see the look on the faces of the stables staff when they see the mud plastered all over me! 

Bertie makes all us horses smile; he waits until he hears the stables staff coming to check us all in the field and then rolls right in front of them to get as dirty as he can!

Yummy Christmas Dinner

Today we have had our Christmas treats!  Very nice they were too.  We had apples and carrots each in a little surprise pile with our hay. I had mine in my stable when I came in from the field. 

Yummy!

All the other horses and ponies had theirs with their usual hay in the field.  They always gallop down to the feeding area when they hear the wheelbarrow which brings the hay; they were all very impressed with the extra treats today! 

The Dinner Queue

Bertie enjoying his Christmas Dinner

We certainly all enjoyed them very much. Thank you to all our lovely friends who have generously given us nice things to eat for Christmas; we all had a lovely time munching!

Spring Cleaning already?!?

The staff here in the stables have been very busy.  Each year they pressure wash all the stables and the stable mats we have to lay on, do some painting and have a big clean up around the yard.

The stables looking sparkly and clean

I heard them saying they were spring cleaning.  Now I have heard of being organised but that can’t be right; it’s only December!

They do all this work at this time of year because there are no guests here and it's holiday time for us horses, which means that we are out in the fields and our stables are empty for the cleaning to be done. Of course I am still able to come in every night to go to bed! 

A busy day with the R.D.A.

I haven't had a chance to tell you before, but this time last week we had a really busy day here in the stables.

First thing in the morning I knew something special must be happening because there were lots of people here. As well as Nicky, Abi and Kerri our two new members of staff Richard and Alice were here too. Oli, who is an activity instructor, was also in the stables with Amy, one of our regular volunteers.

After we horses were brought in and given breakfast the two carriages were set out on the back yard. I thought we must be expecting a group of guests from the Centre.  Then Nicky went off to reception and came back with four people I had not seen before.

I heard all the humans talking and they discussed the carriages and the two driving horses Hendrix and Duchess. I kept hearing R.D.A.  being mentioned and thought I should ask Teddy what on earth was going on! He said he thought the people had all come to assess the carriages, horses and drivers.

The R.D.A. (Riding for the Disabled Association), is an organisation which provides riding and carriage driving for people with disabilities; as you all know that is what we do here at Calvert Trust Exmoor too. 

The staff here all think it will be great to be part of the R.D.A. I heard this morning that Nicky and Richard are now R.D.A. whips (this means they passed their assessments). Duchess and Hendrix also passed their assessments as R.D.A. driving horses. Abi was also assessed as an R.D.A. whip and hopes to be able to help at an R.D.A. group near to her new job.