More responsabilities

I have been given even more responsibilities, my duties now include dog walking!  Benji is a two year lab cross collie, he came from Bath Cats and Dogs Home and arrived here when he was 5 months old.

As you can see he has very, very  long legs which means he runs really fast (all day long) so he is super fit!  Mum has started to get up early to ride me, though she is often finding me still asleep in the field!  Well today I have now been promoted to dog walker/exerciser, which means taking Mum around the farm fields with Benji running in tow, off the lead.  It's fine while he is in front as I can follow him but then he disappears into the bushes and I carry on on my merry way when WHOOSH all of a sudden a flying dog hurtles from behind and overtakes me - quite scary as he has been practising doing this silently as well.

My nerves finally got the better of me and I had to put in an enormous bucking spinning thing, I was trying to take Benji out but he was way too fast - instead the sky turned blue above me (whoops) and I got a smack on the bottom and told to push on - I mean how rude.

Anyway we all got safely home, including Benji and Mum.  Do you think I could make some pocket money hiring out my services as a dog walker?  The only thing is Benji runs A LOT faster than me, so if they ran away I would never be able to catch them.

I know where she is!

I got an email from my friends Dave, Vince and Yearling Brian this morning, Mum has been found with Zippy, Benji and Uncle Tony back at my old stud in Wales.  What on earth is she doing back there?

They turned up the same day they went missing here.  Zippy was put in a different pen to usual and was causing the most upset, she set off the stallion, who evidently she has taken a keen fancy to (tart) and was being really nasty to Katy (who was in the pen next to her).  It sounds like Zippy has decided Rambo is her's and none of the other girls are going to be allowed near him.

I love Zippy and she has always been nothing but nice to me, but I don't think she is very happy about leaving and having to travel all the way back to the stud - its put her in a really grumpy mood and Katy is definitely getting the sharp end of her teeth at the moment.  I'm not too sure what advice to give to Katy, but I suggested to the boys that they tell Katy to just be nice and submissive and maybe offer some of her hay to Zippy - as that might work.

Well it must have done the trick, because blow my little hooves off, guess who turned up back at home to say hello - Mum, Benji, Uncle Tony, Zippy and Katy (she's my half sister - same Dad).  Zippy was still a bit grumpy but I was soooo pleased to see them all.

Zippy & I are sharing a paddock and Katy is next to us.  I've said hello and given her groom and whispered into her ear that just give Zippy some time and I'll convince her that she's nice.  We are all still in the back garden but getting on well.  Hopefully we can move back up to the big field soon.  So our herd of two has become three!

Mum came back but went again!

I was very excited to see Mum last Tuesday evening and even though she had been on an overnight ferry and driven down from Liverpool the same day, she still found time to take me out and about for a tootle around the farm which was great.

Humans are mad though, I mean on Sunday, hottest day of the year so far, she thinks its a great idea to go for a riding lesson (well that's ok) but in an indoor arena at midday!!!!!!!!  I mean it was boiling in there.  We had a nice lesson with two other much bigger horses who knew their stuff, they were very impressive, but I got told I did good, we practised shortening our stride along the short sides of the school and lengthening along the long side, I was getting the hang of it - in walk and trot - but then they wanted canter - humans its too hot to canter!  I struggled a few strides and made a gallant attempt to follow the sexy grey mare but continuous cantering was sooooo out of the question.

I think this was a mistake however, as the next day Mum must have been very cross I did not canter, as she packed Zippy into the tin can on wheels, with Benji dog and Uncle Tony and disappeared - leaving me ALL ON MY OWN - no one for company.  I cantered around and around as they left, neighing to Mum, saying look I can canter, I can canter, I promise next time we have a lesson I'll canter.  See I'll even buck and twist and turn and do lots of cantering, if you take me with you - but no they left me behind.

It's very scary being all on your own.  They all left at breakfast time, so by lunch I decided they must be coming home soon, so settled down to some eating as I was very hungry.  Lots of people popped in to say hello and give me carrots, but as it got dark there was still no sign of Zippy, Mum, Benji dog or Uncle Tony. I suddenly realised I might be spending a whole night, in the dark on my own.

Well I'm glad I am black, it makes great camouflage and hunkered down in the rain - no rug - and tried to sleep, but its very difficult without Zippy's soothing snoring next to me.  I wonder if they are ever going to come back?

Mum's disappeared!

No sign of Mum for the last couple of days, I have no idea where she has disappeared too. Zippy says she has gone to the land of her ancestors - she's and Irish Cob, so I guess that means she is in Ireland, but I thought we lived on an Island, so where is she?

Still the up side is we have the lovely Georgie looking after us and she spoils us rotten, so we a not really missing Mum at all.

Thank you pony companions for all your supportive comments regarding the scary swapping episode, your suggestions of buying Katy as well I am not so sure about but Zippy & I were involved in a big conference with Mum, Uncle Tony and Georgie last weekend and rumours are now rife about Katy possibly coming to stay with us for the summer! She hasn't turned up yet and report from my friends Brian,Vince and YB (Yearling Brian) is that she is still at the farm annoying them so only time will tell?!?

Rainbows

It had been a beautiful sunny day all day until Mum turned up and brought the windy spooky monster weather with her. It got quite scary on the yard with the tornado blowing through I got soooo scared I managed to pull back not once but twice and break my baling twine - opps!

Rugs were flung on Zippy & I in a hurry and Mum and Georgie disappeared into the food house, leaving Zippy and I on the yard to battle against the elements. Fortunately it didn't last long and the rainbow came out with the sunshine.

Rugs were then removed just as quickly and tack flung on before we headed up the road - from what I can gather this was a strategic decision because I had been bouncing around the yard in the wind and Mum thought combining this energy with big grassy fields may be dangerous - honestly!

I was as good as gold - which is why I am at the end of the rainbow!

Going around in circles!

I did start to worry Mum had gone mad when she turned up at 6am one morning this week - to ride! I mean I was still asleep in the field. So Zippy nudged me awake and bleary eyed I wandered over to see what Mum wanted. A ride, really this early? However being a good pony I obliged but was not too happy about going out on my own, even though we only went to the back garden.

Once there Mum wanted me to go around and around in circles, crazy lady. I did my best calling to Zippy the whole time to say Mum had gone mad and what should I do. She answered me and told me to humour her, so I did. After half an hour she got bored and we went home for breakfast.

Blow me two days later she insisted on the same again!

All became clear today, evidently the circles are called dressage, well there you go I'm still learning. So Zippy& I found ourselves at Breach Lane Equestrian Centre with me all togged up, tail brushed, super groomed and ready to go. I've only ever done one in hand show before so all this circle exercise game is something quite new to me.

I had a practice in the big outdoor school, that was quite scary as my experience to date of riding with other horses is they are always trying to kill me, so I was a bit nervous about going past the other horses, but these all seemed ok and we're busy concentrating on where they were going.

http://youtu.be/Ha3x9sjxOFs this is a link to my video of my first circle competition, round and round and round. Hope you like it, evidently the lady at the end thought I was quite good and placed me second! Hmmmm humans you can't eat a rosette it doesn't matter what colour it is, though I think you will agree blue does look good on me! But I did love the extra treats, carrots and cuddles, so I am looking forward to going out again.

Though how come Zippy just got to stand by the trailer and just eat hay? Women!

My holiday mountain adventures - passing the story down the generations

As a youngster I had heard all the stories from the bigger ponies as they grew up about the rides they had had up on the hills and mountains next to the farm. The track up to our old field always seemed like a mountain to me, but the older ponies always laughed and said that it was just a little slope.

Wooded track leading from the farm

Well now I am riding qualified it was my chance to see what these rides were really like. I have to say my training to date in Wootton Bassett hadn't really prepared me for the rides I had ahead of me. We started by following some beautiful wooded tracks before crossing a big bright green field - I would have liked to have cantered across it but as everyone else was walking I thought I had better follow suit.

Please can I canter? No? OK I'll walk with the rest

Then up a narrow track past the very scary water tank. I had been past it once before when I was little but I was so scared then I sent young Joe ahead to check it out first and followed reluctantly behind John who was leading me at the time. This time I tried to be brave and with some encouragement from Mum I went past in the lead this time - to be honest I'm not too sure why I was so scared of it now. Once off this track we hit the main mountain trails which run all across and around the mountains.

Track having safely passed the scary tank

We were very spoilt with wonderful weather - evidently the sun does shine in Wales (sometimes!) The views were amazing we could see miles and miles and miles. All three days I rode out on different rides each time with more and more amazing views.

Admiring the views

On Sunday it became my duty to pass the legend of the mountains down to my young field companions Dave & Vince (and their new companion Yearling Brian). Dave and Vince are two years old and used to share my field. It was decided they needed a groom so one at a time they were tied in the stable next to me and while Mum & Delia attacked them with brushes and combs, I was able to tell them the stories of my adventures up on the mountains and the pony truth of being able to see the whole world below you.

I feel proud to have been able to confirm the pony legends and know that the next generations will be lying in their field looking up at the mountains just imaging what it would be like, and wondering when they will be big enough to go explore the views for themselves.

It's not a holiday - I'm being swapped!

I should explain that Mum originally went to my old home www.akehurst-dalesponies.com for a break, but when she got there she fell in love with Katy, a dapple grey 5 year Dales who was ready for backing - she was a late starter because she had a baby before she decided she wanted to be a riding pony.

So Mum started helping Delia to back Katy last year (Picture above). I really really really liked the look of my now Mum and spent the whole of that weekend and the next time she visited convincing her she actually wanted to buy me instead. Well my charm and cheekiness paid of and she changed her mind and took me home instead - and the rest you could say is history - or it was until we went back home to visit.

Mum on Katy on Saturday

To start with it was all ok but then Mum started helping Delia again with Katy. In fact she rode Katy every day we were on holiday, now this was getting very worrying. By Sunday afternoon I was starting to get in a real panic, maybe I had done something wrong and we were in fact not on holiday but had been sent back to stay FOREVER!

Even worse I was going to be swapped for Katy!

Mum on Katy again!

Maybe Mum has changed her mind and coming back on holiday has reminded her how pretty Katy is and maybe she doesn't want a cheeky handsome black Dales boy any more. Tony really liked Katy too, he was always cuddling her and making a fuss, but all I did was get told off for trying to eat him and for kicking the stable doors. All I was trying to do was remind them I was there and not to forget about me.

We both started to compete to see who could be the best behaved and I excelled myself on our last mountain ride, we went miles, we hacked up and up and up the mountains, I led the way, followed behind, passed the van on the forest tracks, and bounced along for two whole hours showing how brilliant I was but then it was all looking very disastrous and bleak, especially when Mum took Katy out for her first ever hack and Katy behaved brilliantly, Mum came back smiling and was very impressed with her. It was all going very wrong, Katy & I have one thing in common we both have only ever been ridden by my Mum, but maybe she wasn't going to be my Mum any more.

Mum hacking out with Katy on Monday

It was only on late Monday afternoon when I was loaded back into the trailer with Zippy next to me could I sigh with relief knowing we were going home and Mum still loved me the best.

Holiday pictures - on top of the world

Wow there is sooo much to tell everyone, I just don't now where to start. I've had the best ever weekend in Wales meeting the old gang and I know my Mummy Delia was very pleased with my progress.

We set off about pony tea time on Friday, with much debate as to which way Mum should drive, in the end they left it to technology to decide and we had a smooth journey down the M4 and up through Wales back to my old home at the Akehurst Stud www.akehurst-dalesponies.com. We arrived about 9.30pm everyone else was asleep, but we soon woke them all up with our arrival and everyone was neighing and banging their doors to say hello, and as we were late having our tea, we became popular straight away as everyone else got a little extra to keep them quiet!

Then it was time for bed and I was tucked up in my old stable, with Zippy safely installed next to me and next to the stallion, which worried me a bit because she can be a right old tart, but they didn't seem to hit it off, so that was ok.

We soon settled into a routine of breakfast at 8.15am, followed by hay and mucking out. I was very impressed with Mum and Uncle Tony not only did they look after Zippy & I, but they also helped Delia with her 10 ponies and the cows too!

Saturday afternoon I got to strut my stuff and Mum took me up the mountain with Delia on Suzie pony. It was a very steep hill, but at long last I could discover where the big ponies went while I had to stand in the field too little to be allowed to go on the adventures. I'd obviously heard all the stories about the steep climbs and amazing views and I have often sat in my field wondering what it was like, especially since I have moved to Wiltshire.

Well nothing would ever have prepared me for the views, you can see the whole world from on top of the mountains. It is a steep climb but I'm young so I managed and made sure I impressed Delia by leading some of the way. I was walking out so fast I got Suzie into trouble because she felt she had to jog to keep up and Delia wanted her to walk - maybe that's why she kicked me when I put my nose on her bum?

It was amazing we even got to have a little canter. I need to find the rest of the photo's so I can post some more tomorrow, so much more to tell everyone, sleep tight pony friends and yes when you dream you are on top, of the mountains you can see the whole world underneath you!

Packing for holidays

It's sooooo exciting we are busy packing for holidays. Zippy, Benji & I are off to Wales to see my family for the weekend. It's mayhem here trying to decide which rugs to take, how much feed to pack, what we might have forgotten!

Can't wait to blog and tell you all about my adventures, we are going to climb mountains, maybe even swim rivers and no doubt have a roll & a play in the arena.

Can't wait to catch up with my partners in crime Vincent and Dave and see how Baby Brian is growing - evidently he's Yearling Brian now - they grow up so fast - heeee heeee hee

Time for a quick snack before we hit the road!