We are worried about Raw Deal.  She is an old lady now, who was, in her prime, a fantastic  looking Shetland pony.  She won the Royal Highland Show in 1996 – Overall Champion.  Her foals are divine but….. she is losing weight and her coat is dull.

So Jo and I drove up to see everyone in the hill field and to specially look at Raw Deal (or Delia, as we call her).

I took photos of the others while I was there.

This is Delia becoming increasingly greyer.  The photos don’t show that she is losing weight but she is thinner than the others.  We are beginning to suck our teeth.

We brought with us the bucket of teeth rasps and tongue wedge and have a special small sized Shetland pony tooth rasp for just this job.  Jo knows what she is doing – she receives continuous instruction and advice from our qualified equine dentist.

Obviously the girls wanted to help.

Wormer was given afterwards and we shall continue to monitor Delia.   If she looks like she is still losing weight, we will get her over to Jo’s where she can have hard feed during the autumn and see how she fairs then.  She is old and we won’t prolong her life for the sake of it.  Winter is hard here and we would hate her to suffer.

So, see what like in the next few weeks.  It is warm and there is a lot of grass in their hill field at the moment.  If she maintains her weight then fine.  If not, then we will get her home.