Floss and I spent our morning making kimchi.  The weather is galloping along, as ever.  It is all or nothing every so often so we spent the morning inside doing something productive and we all love kimchi.  It’s a pity no one can remember the recipe, though!

When there was a lull outside, we walked the dogs up to Clothie – my 5 acre croft away from the house where the Ancient Icelandics are currently living.  Despite having a large breakfast bucket delivered to them, they were very pleased to see us and I was glad to see they were completely unaffected by Storm Ashley.

We had brought carrots and apples and were very popular.

There is lots of shelter at Clothie, which was originally an old school house with a residence attached.  While the horses don’t go inside the old buildings, they make the most of the high walls when the wind blows. After the visit, we turned around to watch all the old horses cantering energetically up the hill and we commented we hadn’t seen them move so fast for a while.  As ever, Kolka was in charge bossing the boys around.

Back in the shed and everyone is doing ok.

The effects of the grass sugar-rush are coming out in a variety of poo’s and the ponies are drinking huge buckets of water, which is good.  Waffle has stopped dancing in the water provided.  Again, good.

The ponies love it when we turn up to clean them out.  They hassle endlessly.

I think everyone is looking much brighter today, which is the way forward.

And back in my shed, I am constantly watched.  So that’s my day.  Good to see an improvement in the Shetland ponies and relieved everyone is weathering this storm as well as they can.

This morning started well.

(taken from my bedroom window as I was getting up)

But we all know that saying “red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning”.

Anyway we were being warned and we all knew this.

While Floss was kindly mucking out the Shetland ponies and OH was feeding the Ancient Icelandic horses, I was in my feed container organising what everyone would need for the next three days.  It was going to be difficult to get into the container during the storm.

I made various piles of Stuff I Would Need.

Then I got a wheelbarrow and piled it up with everything, taking it into the big shed where the horsevan lives, as well as the ponies.

I unpacked and decided where everything should go and made a mental note of what I had forgotten, going back to get it.

Floss said it looked like one of those mobile horsebox bars/coffee station or I could be selling hot dogs and ice cream.

Anyway, I had my first customers who were intrigued.  I said it was closed and quickly shut the ramp.  I hate keeping food in the same shed as ponies.  We nearly lost a horse, Fat Kob, that way when he spent his whole night trying to open a bin, and succeeding, scoffing a good pile of food that was not for him.  It very nearly killed him. He was lucky.  Never again, I said and we got the containers for that exact purpose.  But the van makes a good fortress today.

Floss and I have been out every couple of hours to check everyone, staying on top of the mucking out and haynets, etc.

The sheep have taken to their beds with the chickens.

It is not nice out there.  Not nice at all.

A nice peaceful day, thank you very much but now it is “the calm before the storm” which arrives tomorrow and will last for three days.  Ugh.  I am not looking forward to this one bit.

And so I am trying to get everything organised for easy feeding but thinking about safety too.  The unused sheds, henhouses and container doors are shut up so the wind can’t catch anything.

While the Shetland ponies will remain in their shed, the big ones will stay outside.  In their field, there is plenty shelter from every angle (huge high walls) and loads of grass.  They know the drill and they know how to get through this.  I think they would be more upset if they were inside but we will still get out to their field to check them and give them a large bucket of food daily. If the horses are not coping, we can open the gate and they will run for home and I will find a place for them.   I just know they would prefer to be outside to make their own decisions in weather like this.

And the little ones?  Well, they can rot in their stalls in the shed oblivious of anything but eating hay and complaining about their incarceration.

The wind will be full on onto the big door, so we will have to go in and out via the back to muck out and sort everything out.

I might store the dried food in the back of the van too where it will be safe and small ponies cannot get it even if they escaped.  Getting to the feed container could be dangerous.

So, that’s the plan. It is work-in-progress as I think about the best way to tackle this for everyone.

The whole lot left their field, came up the hill to their feeding buckets to tell me they didn’t feel very well.  Their feet hurt.

So Floss and I spent the morning setting up the shed for the ponies.  Four – Storm, Silver, Waffle and Tiddles in one pen.

And Albie, Newt, Vitamin and Fivla in the other.

Then we left them to get on with their misery while thinking “it’s all your own fault” and drove to town to get the last round hay bale and some salt licks.

We dropped in on the sheep field and had fish and chips as our reward before we drove home again.

En route, a quick nip into the vets for some painkillers too.

And then home to find every water bucket had been tipped up and they were now standing in a sandy swamp.

Flossie and Skippy will be invaluable these next few days.  Poor lass, she came home for a rest!  Ooops.

I am not feeling particularly sorry for any of the ponies.  They brought this upon themselves, refusing to be caught and then getting split up over the flooded stream while spending days stuffing their fat faces.

As far as I am concerned, they can do their time and hopefully the stiffness will pass before it turns into full-blown laminitis.

Floss came home today.

We are all thrilled to see her.

Collecting Flossie from the airport was quite an ordeal.  There was torrential rain and fog resulting in some fairly hazardous driving conditions but we’re home safe and that’s all that matters.

After lunch, Flossie and I went for a walk. I had missed feeding the animals due to the airport run so I just wanted to see for myself that everyone was ok as the fields are heavily flooded.

And, yes, now I am glad the Shetland ponies broke through their fence to better pasture. I think they would’ve been utterly miserable living on their track like this.  But no one came up to the containers, despite the heavy rain.  I guess food makes everything better.

Like I said, everyone was pleased to see Floss.

(‘Bert’s “Happy Tail” – sheep wag their tails when they are truly happy, like dogs).

The Shetland ponies were divided into two groups.

With the flooded stream splitting them up.

Newt, Albie, Vitamoobag……

And Fivla were one side.

While Waffe, Storm, Silver and Tiddles were over the other side.

We threw them their share of carrots so they didn’t feel left out.

And now it’s stopped raining, it won’t take long for the burn to go down again.

And then we walked back up the hill with Monster, because he came too.