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Katy is alive, she's found the communal pony laptop under a tree that has no leaves - just wires! I have just got this message....

Hi Cyril (& grumpy mare Zippy)

How are you both doing? I have sooooooooooo landed on my hooves here. Sarah is my new human and she's really nice. She is coming down early in the morning and on the evenings to say hello, cuddle me and take me for walks.

As soon as I see her I run across the field to say hello. But it's even better than that, she has a whole family of brother, Dad and Mum who all love me too - I'm getting so spoilt & so much attention lavished on me, I just can't believe one pony can have so much fuss made over her! 

Now I understand why you love your Mum so much.

Miss you my little brother and our chats and grooming, I'm keeping my favourite picture of us together very safe.

That was a good day.  I can't say I miss grumpy Zippy like most other mares she is difficult to get on with, however hard I tried to be nice to her.  I'm now trying to befriend 5 mares, its hard work, but I quite like the look of another grey mare who currently lives on the edge of the herd.  Maybe in time she'll become my best friend after Sarah. I know Zippy loves her food so please show her the picture of me in my new home....

Have you EVER seen sooo much grass!!!!!! Unfortunately it's not my home paddock, I call it the snack field as I have to walk through it to get to my grooming area.

Hope all is well with you, lots of mutual grooming kisses, you big sis Katy xxx

I wonder whether Mum will let me move?  Katy can't possibly eat all that grass on her own? Mum we need to talk....

Katy's disappeared?

Mum arrived all in a rush on Wednesday evening and put Katy into the metal tin on wheels. She was all on her own and I'm fairly sure she has never been in the tin on her own, which worries me.

Well they set off down the road, Katy seemed quite happy, and we haven't seen her since, no word, text or email!

Women!

Zippy has brightened up no end, especially as her rider Georgie turned up Thursday to take her out on a special ride, just the two of them.  

Ladies what about me?

Still it gave me some peace and quiet (at last) to settle down to some serious eating. It's been very stressful trying to keep all the girls happy. Zippy might be boring but she's easy to please if no one else is around - wonder if Katy will ever come back?

You have to keep on running

As there are so many new born foals about, and I don't want to feel left out, I thought it would be good to take a trip down memory lane and tell you all a little more about me.  I was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex on 6th June 2009 (hey Mum you forgot my birthday!!!!) at the Akehurst stud www.akehurst-dales ponies.com -ahhhh don't I look cute! You have to excuse this photo I was still a bit wobbly on my legs.  It was all a bit daunting to start with but I soon mastered my co-ordination skills and as soon as I was allowed out I started running - some say I haven't stopped since!

Growing up and still running!

Still running, I love playing with my field mates, I do miss the boys. Zippy is OK, Katy is lots of fun we play race up and down the fence line as she isn't allowed in the same field as grumpy Zippy - will they ever be friends?

More running....in the snow

And even more running ........

I'm tired now so off for a quick snooze before, yes you guessed it more running!  I knew all that running practice would come in useful...

Cyril the Squirrel!

I'm having a bit of an identity crisis, I have always been brought up to believe I am a Dales pony. I'm fairly sure I am a pony, I mean Zippy is a horse but that's because she is bigger than me, I'm hoping to become a horse one day, but never a squirrel??

However Mum must have had a knock on the head because she now calls me Cyril the Squirrel - a lot! I really don't understand why, Zippy says its because I'm always squirrelling in her pockets for food, but I thought that was what all nosey ponies do?

Mind you Zippy does get called 'Zippy Dippy', so what does she know?

To double check all of this I have been doing some serious googling. Now we are both part of the Animalia kingdom, and both Mammalia's, so ok we might have something in common. Now I have referred to the might of Wikipedia and I have discovered we both have bushy tails and large eyes, with soft and silky fur. Their feet have soft pads on the undersides and they are herbivores too. Ok so maybe I am a squirrel, I do like nuts as well!

Katy may have her own new person

There are rumours circulating that Katy might have a new rider, well that is what she is saying anyway!

To be fair there is some evidence to back this up.  Zippy says when she went to collect Katy from Wales a girl called Sarah went with her.  Zippy loves Sarah, and she knows her really, really well because Sarah used to ride Zippy and took her to pony club camp and did lots of fun things with her when she was younger.  Zippy says she was her last proper rider and has know her for over 12 years and Sarah rode her for at least 4 or 5 years and was her main human carer as Mum had other silly thoroughbred horses at the time.

Well Sarah rode Katy in Wales, we've found the evidence - see below....

And then it was Sarah who came to help at the show and successfully led Katy to a second in hand in the handy pony!

She's also been to visit and played the circle game with Katy in the field, more evidence....

Katy's getting very excited that she thinks she might have her own new person and she really likes Sarah.  We are keeping our hooves crossed and looking forward to seeing Sarah on a regular basis, especially as even grumpy old Zippy loves Sarah - so she must be very special.

Will report more news as we find out.

Show Day (Final Part)

This is the final part to my blogging about our adventure last weekend.  To be honest by now we had a satisfactory haul of rosettes and I was ready to go home.  But no Mum had other ideas, I had been entered into Traditional Ridden, because it was a class where I didn't need to canter.

What Mum didn't understand was I was tired and just wanted to go home, it had been a long day and Zippy must have been getting worried because I had been away a long time.  Still we went into the ring there were five of us in the class. I managed to walk around Ok and trot following the others putting my best foot forward.  We then had to line up - boring- I want to go home, with ants in my pants, I fidgeted this way and that, I was trying to tell Mum I had had enough and it was TIME TO GO HOME!

Sometimes humans can be very deaf to our needs.  So I fidgeted so much in the line up the steward came to talk to me to persuade me to stand still, she held my bridle, but I fidgeted some more thinking I might get it through to her it was home time - but alas no.  I had to go and talk to the man in the centre or the ring, yes hello,  we've met already, you know I am handsome so can we just get on with it, I didn't do standing very well - well probably not at all - so he let me go have a trot around, I put in a little buck to see if that would help my cause - sadly no!

Mum spent the time calmly talking to me saying we could go home soon, I was still fidgeting, finally we went around again and I was pulled in last - evidently fidgeting isn't good in the show ring!  So we carried away another 5th rosette!

I think I looked particularly handsome in hand, if a bit of a handful! The pics aren't brilliant but they give you a sense of my handsomeness!  The judge adjusted my halter after these pictures were taken, tactfully  suggested I may be under more control in a bridle next time - the cheek!

Trust Katy to pose and look calm personified.  Note she is in a bridle!

Well it is great to reflect on the day and I have to say Mum and I are agreed that dressage is much more fun.  She tells me jumping and cross country are even better and has promised to educate me on these fun things too as I grow up.  I might even get to start jumping on the lunge soon, though my canter needs some more practising first.

Highlights, the trotting race and handy pony, because that's what I want to be - a handy pony for my Mum.  Thank you for taking me, it was nice to spend some time bonding with my sister, but I was very pleased to be home too!

Show Day (Part three)

I have to say I like this show thing, with so much lovely grass to eat, it's really not a chore at all.

Errr maybe I have neighed too soon.  After a serious morning we sensed a degree of relaxation from our humans which  I thought would be good, until I found I had be entered into a trotting race.  Now to be fair to Mum she thought it meant I had to trot as fast as I could in a straight line - she had even been sneaky enough to have planned to strategically position Katy at the finish line.

Her best plans had been foiled we were going circuit racing!  I was expected to do a big loop de loop as fast as I could in trot, I don't have the worlds biggest trot.  Another pony, who I think was called Pearl went first so at least I could watch.  Then it was my turn.  I made a good stonking trot to start and even managed to go past the scary windmill flowers but whoa the tree line hedged just looked like perfect hedge monster territory, way tooooo spooky!  Mum did finally squeeze me past through the cones, so I ran as fast as I could away from the scary hedge monsters, opps evidently too fast, so with effort Mum slowed me down enough to turn a circle (our penalty for going too fast) before I set off again at a pretty impressive trot, round the corner and through the finish.

I'm not sure if that was fun or really scary.  Mum let me have another (unofficial) go and I did much better the second time - what do you expect I'm a fast learner!  I got a 5th rosette but there was only 5 in the class - ohhh, I thought I had done quite well.  I'm sticking to coming 5th, it's much better than saying I came last.

Now if I thought the trotting race was scary, I had no idea what was coming next - handy pony!!!!  I sent my big sister in first, figuring if she survived I'd be ok.  Katy went in hand with her new handler Sarah, they really seem to like each other and Katy certainly seems to trust Sarah.  Wearing hiviz, they carried an egg and spoon while weaving around the windmill flowers. Then through the gate, to pick up a fish from the pond, which once they had dropped it off at the cone, meant that they could ring the bell.  They then had to carry a big flapping flag from A to B before walking the tarpaulin!  Katy listened to Sarah who promised her no monsters were hiding underneath so Katy took a big leap landing on the tarpaulin before leaping off - very impressive!  She finished with some parallel parking before walking over the finishing pole.

Gulp it was then my turn!  After a false start - come on timing lady, keep up, I was off. Mum was riding me carrying the egg and spoon, I did an impressive job of weaving around the windmill flowers.  Next the gate, opps Mum let go of the rope, but she stayed on picked it up and with some clever pony foot manoeuvring we reattached the rope gate.  The off to the fish pond and onto the bell, which Mum gave a long hard ring on - hey Mum pony ears are sensitive, take it easy,but I didn't move.  Onto the flag, which Mum carried so it didn't flap too much - thanks Mum, then onto the tarpaulin monsters.  Even though I know I had seen Katy leap it I wasn't convinced and felt it was much safer to go around it rather than go over it - Mum was cool with this, but has promised to replicate it at home, so I can check it out in my own time and be doubly sure no monsters live under it, before I walk over it.  We finished with some lateral reversing work, oh you want forwards, I can do that too and over the pole to finish.

I did a very credible 4th and smarty pants Katy came 2nd!  So we now had a haul of five rosettes in lots of pretty colours.  Surely this meant it must have been time to go home!

To be continued......yes there is more!