Goodbye to the old world
Two days of taking down and putting up fences, putting things in the car and driving up and down the lane, emptying out stables and old fields and keeping an eye on horses have culminated in Zorro and Cash being on a new yard, Small staying on the old one. Sad to break up a herd that have been together for some time- Zorro and Small had shared for five years until Zogs went onto box rest late last year- but it's what needed to happen.
Ponies felt that the new paddock contained precisely the grass they needed. As you can see, the weather was less than clement. I have never had so many outdoor tasks to perform in such heavy rain. I was soaked even with my big raincoat and my waterproof boots weren't strong vs the saturation from long, wet, grass.
Once I had finished with the arduous work, it stopped raining for a while. The new yard isn't so bad when you get to see it in the sunshine. You could almost feel you liked the place.
If long grass wasn't enough, the fields also feature an en-suite snack-bar style hedge.
When time to come in arrived, there were ructions - Cash didn't want to be first in, snorted his way around to the stables and then whinnied with such a squeally tone to his voice that the nearby bantam cockerel replied. Zorro totally lost the plot when I went to get him, barged the electric tape down and gallumphed around Cash's paddock for a while, trying to figure out how to get to his friend. He didn't seem to realise that letting me catch him would do the trick. Then when we got through the gate he did a full rear and got the lead rope caught around his front leg, then tried to canter off. This is on one side of a massive field so I wasn't going to let him go, which meant he cantered up with his nose on his knee for a few yards before my brain kicked in and I gave him enough rope for it to fall free. After that he was very prancey and intimidating, but nothing I'm not used to. Not sure it gave a great impression of either of us to the new yard owners, though. Certainly didn't leave me feeling good about much at the end of a very tough day.
Ponies felt that the new paddock contained precisely the grass they needed. As you can see, the weather was less than clement. I have never had so many outdoor tasks to perform in such heavy rain. I was soaked even with my big raincoat and my waterproof boots weren't strong vs the saturation from long, wet, grass.
Once I had finished with the arduous work, it stopped raining for a while. The new yard isn't so bad when you get to see it in the sunshine. You could almost feel you liked the place.
If long grass wasn't enough, the fields also feature an en-suite snack-bar style hedge.
When time to come in arrived, there were ructions - Cash didn't want to be first in, snorted his way around to the stables and then whinnied with such a squeally tone to his voice that the nearby bantam cockerel replied. Zorro totally lost the plot when I went to get him, barged the electric tape down and gallumphed around Cash's paddock for a while, trying to figure out how to get to his friend. He didn't seem to realise that letting me catch him would do the trick. Then when we got through the gate he did a full rear and got the lead rope caught around his front leg, then tried to canter off. This is on one side of a massive field so I wasn't going to let him go, which meant he cantered up with his nose on his knee for a few yards before my brain kicked in and I gave him enough rope for it to fall free. After that he was very prancey and intimidating, but nothing I'm not used to. Not sure it gave a great impression of either of us to the new yard owners, though. Certainly didn't leave me feeling good about much at the end of a very tough day.