New tricks

Woody here!

Having mastered showjumping I thought I should turn my hooves to something new. So I decided to help my big brother Cyril out. He has to wear a big ugly fly sheet and neck cover (which he hates) it's to keep his mane all flowing and long - well that's what Mum says anyway. Cyril thinks it's because she's too lazy to brush all the mud off. Though to be fair to Mum Cyril does get brushed every time he's ridden even if he is wearing his rug, so I'm not too sure he's right about that. Plus I get brushed loads too and I don't have a rug and Mum won't ride me yet, wish she would so I could go on all the exciting adventures Cyril gets to go on. 

Anyway I have discovered not only am I good at jumping but I can also help Cyril get undressed. It turns out if I use my teeth, I can grab the sticky stuff Mum uses to keep Cyril's neck cover on and if I pull it makes a funny sound and then comes undone. It's great fun. 

I am now in an ongoing battle to help Cyril undress each day. Everyday Mum does his neck cover up and everyday I have to try to undo it, I normally manage to get it completely undone and you should see Mums face, I'm sure half the time she questions whether she even did it up in the first place, I'm doing such a good job of undoing it. 

Hmmmm think Mum may have just foiled my efforts.  She's brought Cyril a new rug thing that goes all over his head and neck but it does not have any sticky stuff to pull off.  She has to pull it over his head.

Cyril is super embarrassed about his new look and is threatening to run away and join the circus.  Well he does look a little like a clown horse, so I'm sure he could get a job.  

Maybe I could go too and get a job as a trick pony, what with all my jumping skills and undressing Cyril.  Wonder what Zippy could do?  Now that we are a gang we have to stay together, perhaps Cyril and I could earn enough money for the three of us to feast on carrots everyday.

Mum when is the circus coming to town?

How to win over a grumpy old mare.....

It's Woody again!  I said I would charm my grumpy old field companion into liking me, and I've managed it with some help.

I'd been chatting to my big bro, Cyril about how to win over Zippy, but he was out of ideas, thanks bro for nothing.  Benji dog didn't have any ideas either, in fact the only thing he does is shout at me if I go into the feed store, it's not like I'm stealing his food!

So I got chatting to some birds and bees and they came up with a great strategy.  So after some discussions we decided the best way to win Zippy over was to behave like a stallion.  Mum arrived at the field to hear Zippy squealing, while I was jumping all over her.  It's hard work so after a while I had to have a rest but it had worked Zippy was making loving chewing faces at me.  Phew!

We are now best mates, especially as Cyril keeps disappearing off on his own adventures and leaves us behind.  Mum says Zippy has come into season now because she likes me so much, so we will be expecting our first baby soon, then we can have a little me, well that's what the birds and the bees says.

I also let her share my food, I find that really helps get brownie points with her too.  Mind you I don't get that much, just a handful of nuts and vitamins.  It's not fair because Cyril gets LOADS.  Zippy doesn't get much either but I'm not allowed to eat her food because she has her old horse medicine in it.   

So the three of us are a real gang now.  Cyril is still 'God', because he is very clever and gets to do lots of fun things.  I'm hoping Mum will take me out with him soon, so I can do some show jumping with him.  Please Mum, you know I can jump.....

Can I be a showjumper please

This is Woody here. I've had a long wait to get my hooves on the iPad there is a pecking order and Mum has had it for ages for lots of boring work and then My big bro had some urgent news he had to dispatch, until finally it's my turn. 

I have been here over a month now and I like my new home. I've mastered walking up and down the road and sometimes I go with Cyril and sometimes I go with grumpy Zippy, she's ok really. This is me being led down the road, while Mum is riding Cyril. I don't mind who leads me or how, I just trot along enjoying the adventure. Nothing phases me, I've seen big artic lorries and trains go underneath my tummy when we are on the bridge, that's all ok. 

Me following Cyril up the road. I let anyone lead me, they don't have to be experienced. I know what I have to do and that's follow quietly, I don't pull and I don't need pulling either, I'm working on being the perfect pony to lead. 

Now I know my big brother, Cyril, is quiet a dressage diva and I've been putting a lot of thought into what I would like to be when I grow up, and I think I want to be a showjumper. Mum seems to agree as I have been doing my best to demonstrate my skills to her. Obviously I started this when I first arrived by jumping in to join Cyril and then Zippy in their fields. Since then I have been adding to these events. 

First came the jump over the water trough. Well Cyril had just arrived back and was tied to the other side of the gate and I wanted to say hello, and decided it was the perfect moment to show Mum my skills, so from a standstill and with some encouragement from Zippy (she was just about to take a chunk out of my bum and I had nowhere else to go) I leapt the water trough from a standstill. 

I'm quite small so seeing over my stable door can be a bit of a challenge. However the other day Cyril was showjumping in the back garden and Mum had left the gate open. Zippy and I had been put in our stables so we could watch Cyril working out from the comfort of our bedrooms. I could see him whizzing around the field and it looked fun, so I decided to join him. Ok it did mean leaping over my 4ft stable door, but I managed that ok, even with Mum looking!  I raced through the gate and then promptly followed Cyril cantering around the field and even jumped some of the jumps with him too. I think Mum was so be used she didn't know what to do, so let me canter after Cyril. I think I put up a good show and left Mum in know doubt that I want to be a showjumper. I wonder when my training can start?

When I'm not practicing my jumping I love hanging out with my big brother - he's God in my eyes. This is me and my big bro checking out whether we had intruders on the farm, but it was ok, it was cousin Eric from down the road. 

Zippy came along to see too, I still need to give her a bit of space at the moment, but when Cyril goes away she lets me look after her and we have a nice chat. 

I wonder what I can jump next, I think my sister Mel will be impressed, she has only learnt to climb into the hay feeder.  See if you can beat that big sis. Off to eat lots of yummy grass and work out what else I can jump. 

Bye for now Woody xxx

Please don't sell me

I think my success at Addington may have backfired on me.  As my followers know I have been going to have play days with my friend Lara. I had thought these were just what they said, play days, time to have fun and the humans entertained each other by swapping ponies. I'm now thinking I was mistaken and in fact a much more sinister plot was in the making. 

Why do I think this?  Well Mum got me ready for a dressage competition one morning, nothing unusual, she decided to put a running plait in my mane, well she's done that before. I was brushed and scrubbed to make me look my handsome self and loaded up onto the box on wheels. Mum had taken extra help, maybe I should have been suspicious at this point, Pops came along as usual and Jo, who rides my dales friend Eric, came along too???

Well we got to the competition, Mum tacked me up like usual and then disappeared! The next thing I know she is in all her competition gear on Lara, errrr Mum you are on the wrong horse?  Then to add insult to injury she walked off to the warm up arena without me. Trish, Lara's human, then turned up and got on me.  Ok I'm slightly confused but I know this human so maybe it's ok. We went off to join Mum in the warm up arena and Trish spent the time helping Mum to ride Lara, why?  Could this still be a play day? It felt a bit serious. 

Then Mum and Lara went into the long 60m x 20m arena and competed at Prelim 18, I then had to follow with Trish riding ME.  This isn't right at all. I tried my best to understand  what was required but it's not easy and didn't quiet make the halt at X. If that wasn't bad enough after a short break the whole experience was repeated but this time doing a Novice 22 test. Errrrrr Mum we have never done a Novice test, why am I doing it with someone else, now I'm worried. I don't understand why Mum is not riding me and even more worrying when she did her Novice test on Lara she had a huge grin on her face. Maybe she doesn't love me anymore. 

Even worse maybe the play days weren't play days, maybe they were trying us ponies out and are going to swap horses. Maybe Mum prefers the big fancy Lara dressage horse rather than a cute hard working dales pony?  But Mum I tried so hard at Addington, I did my best, we did come 2nd in the national dressage championships for ponies. Maybe that's it, maybe I did too good and now I am so valuable Mum is going to sell me to Trish. But Mum I don't want to be sold. 

All of this was going around in my head while I was loaded back into the box on wheels.  I am now usually quite good at just standing in my box on wheels but I started to panic and jump up and down. I don't think Mum could hear me so I double barrelled the inside of the trailer, because she had to hear that. The I saw her come back with a 2nd and 3rd rosette and they weren't mine, that's it I'm being sold. No Mum please don't sell me, I do like living with you and grumpy Zippy. 

OMG maybe that's why she got Woody. Woody is going to replace me and is going to be Zippys new friend and I'm being sold. I'm in full panic mode as the box on wheels finally moves, where am I going, where's Mum. I want Mum now, I managed to break one of the ties and turn around, maybe I could see Mum from out the back of the trailer. 

Then the box stopped and Mum climbed in through the little door to see what all the commotion was about. She turned me round and tied me back up and gave me lots of calming pats and hugs. Then she said she loved me and I was her forever pony and she didn't understand why I was making such a fuss. Well I wish she had told me this before, I started to calm down, it's all going to be ok, Mum hasn't sold me and she still loves me. She whispered in my ear that while it was fun to ride Lara, riding me was far better and she would never swap me for all the other ponies in the world. Phew. 

After that I calmed down and travelled quietly home, pleased to see Grumpy Zippy, but I think I had better keep an eye on that young Woody and make sure he doesn't become too cute and clever like me, just in case Mum changes her mind.