Back in the Carriage

Big News everyone……

…I’ve worked in my carriage today!!!!

It was great; I didn’t do too much, mainly walking & getting my turns etc up to scratch. But it did feel good!

Me in my carriage

Long to rein over us....

I’ve been doing some long reining today; it’s a good way of getting back into driving my carriage!

It means that I wear most of my driving gear, but don’t pull that carriage.  Instead one of the staff works with me by walking behind & giving me instructions.
This way I can work on my turns & paces without the weight of my carriage. I’m looking forward to getting back into my carriage soon, watch this space!

Our holiday was great, if you forget about the rain, but it’s good to be back at work! Bailey is quite excited about what he’s going to be doing this coming season. I told him it wouldn’t be much as he’s still young…

….he needs to watch a master at work (that’s me!)

The White Stuff arrived!

I think I’ve told you how clever Teddy is, he seems to know EXACTLY what’s going on & who’s doing it!

Do you remember me telling you that Teddy told me to watch out for the ‘white stuff’?    Well he obviously knew more than we did as guess what…

…the ‘white stuff’ arrived a few days ago!!!

The White Stuff in our Ménage!

Everywhere looks really pretty, BUT it does make moving about a bit more difficult, even more so when your legs aren’t that long!

Anyway, we are all having plenty of hay & keeping nice & warm with our with our rugs on. Have you got any ‘white stuff’ where you are?  Hope you are being well fed & keeping warm same as me & the gang!

I’ve got new shoes!

I’ve got new shoes!!!

My plastic ones don’t last me that long so the farrier comes and puts a new pair on every couple of months or so (not exactly sure how long to be honest!).

This time Bailey had his feet trimmed – he did really well and behaved himself, flying the flag for us. Mini Shetlands Rule!    

He’s in his new stable (which he loves) and I was able to watch out for him as his stable is opposite mine; cool huh?   

The good news is that Duke had his shoe put back on so all well…

...I bet he’s pleased as I think he was getting a bit bored!

Fun with Maxwell

Did I tell you that Bailey & I had a neighbour in the field next to us?    It was Maxwell; remember he did the blog for me a while back?  He talked a lot about carriage driving and eating!

Anyway, he was next to us, in a fenced off bit of the big field & on his own (except for me & Bailey of course!).

I asked him way he wasn’t with the others, apparently he’s been off work with a sore leg, so he wasn’t allowed to run about with the others. 

 It makes sense I suppose, he’s a cheeky chap & loves to muck about quite a bit!  He & I have played a few good games; only trouble is he forgets he’s much bigger than me!!

He said he’s feeling better & itching to get back to work…

….I’ll keep my hooves crossed for him that his leg’s all better!

Duke's foot

Caught up with more news; Bruno told me that Duke’s had a bad foot & been in his stable rather than out in the field.
It turns out he had an abscess in his foot……

…it’s not too serious, but rather painful! Anyway, he needed the farrier to take his shoe off, then the staff put poultices on to make it better, and when it’s OK the shoe can go back on. What a palaver!

It’s a good thing that Duke is a pretty chilled out character & takes everything in his stride. In fact I bet he’s enjoyed the extra attention!  

The White Stuff

Been catching up with the other guys – they are as fed up with the rain as me! I was chatting with Teddy; he reckoned we were lucky as it was fairly warm even if a bit wet (a bit?!?).   

He reckoned we should watch out as he says it can often get colder after our break: he said something about ‘the white stuff’ might suddenly appear one day. 

It's action stations when that happens as us horses can’t get to any grass so we’re given hay twice a day.   Our water also gets frozen so the staff come & clear it for us, but if it gets really bad then we all come into the stables…
...that’s if we can get to them!

Now I love playing about with this white stuff, trouble is it can get stuck in my feet; making walking a bit tricky!   It feels like I’ve got high heels on; not something you’d do by choice, surely?

We shall have to wait & see what the weather brings us. I’d just like the rain to go away for its holiday; hopefully a for really long one!

Back to Work for Pilgrim

Hi everyone, it’s me again, your trusty mini reporter from the stables here at Calvert Trust Exmoor.

Well, our holiday is now over; it was good to have a break BUT it would have been better if it hadn’t rained so much!   Me & Bailey got a bit tired of all the mud; though it didn’t stop us having the odd ‘burn-up’ round the field to keep us warm!!  (Bailey’s pretty fast, but I won… ...mostly!)

Anyway, it’s back to work for me, and that includes doing the blog, so watch this space!!!

PS - Just a quick note, do you remember me talking about all the sparkly bits & bobs that appeared in the stables?

Well, whoever put them out has come along & taken them away again!  That seems a bit strange to me; I thought they were cool as they brightened the place up, I just would have liked some by my stable!

I Wonder if (or when) they might appear again…

…I’ll keep a close look out!

lovely aspect

I’m with Bruno, Bailey & I are having a lovely time.  We’re also in a different field & ours also has a ‘lovely aspect’…

...it’s got nice views as well!

We can see the reservoir and the big wall at the end (not quite sure what it’s for but it looks nice). We can also see some hills in the distance on a clear day. Not  sure what they are, but I bet it would be a long way to walk!

The view from our field

Just as Bruno said, I hope you are having a great time. I’m going to have a short break from the blog but will be back with you soon.

Bye for now!!!

Guest Blogger Bruno 3: Pesky Sheep

Hello everyone, Bruno here with a brief update on what I’ve been doing.

Myself and a few friends have moved to a different field; one that we tend to use over our holidays.   It has a lovely aspect, with a quiet lane on one side and sheep on the other.   

Mind you those sheep can be a problem – they try to sneak into our field given half the chance.   In fact the staff make sure they have shut the field gate AND locked it otherwise those pesky sheep would be straight in and munching all of our grass!

Otherwise we are all having a great time; relaxing, eating, looking out for the odd stray sheep, eating, watching the world go by and eating!  

I Hope that you are having as much fun!

Growing up?

As you might of guessed, Bailey is so pleased about his new stable!
He said it made him feel a proper member of the gang now & really grown up; how nice is that?

I remember how I felt when I first came to Calvert Trust Exmoor; It was a mixture of being excited & a little bit scared.   Of course I had my friend Pixie to help me settle in & now it’s my turn to do the same for Bailey.

Just had a thought…

...does this mean I’m growing up all of a sudden?!? I’m not the youngest anymore, so I must be!   
   
Well, I will be seven this year! Happy New Year everyone!