The Minions were victimised against our Welsh Section A, Hammy.  All seemed well yesterday when we let them out into the field. Silver had identified with a mad kindred spirit, Charlie. Waffle was loving pretending to be a stallion in front of Andrew. Unfortunately, the next day  the hierarchy had changed and Hammy had the Minions cornered in a field away from the water.

We managed to get the Minions into the school to recover from their ordeal.

Cones are an endless source of entertainment, as are empty buckets.

They were unsettled yet grateful for getting away from that situation.

Toys make every situation better. This was learnt by us humans from trips to the doctors and dentist (with a quick stop at the toy shop afterwards).

We bought more toys for the minions, the most recent one being the Jollyball. Endless hours of entertainment for them. They love picking things up and putting them down whether it is cones or buckets or ropes.

We did not expect this behaviour from Hammy Hamster. He should know better, considering he has the IQ of a butterfly. Hammy has been bullied previously by our Shetland Pony stallion Indy. He just seems to be a social butterfly. His intelligence usually adapts depending on the herd. He is such a nice pony, but herd interactions can change so quickly.

It must be hard for Hammy to not be a Shetland Pony. Their language is so unique and Hammy must adapt to every situation, which cannot be easy for him.

Hopefully, the Minions will recover from this ordeal. They did have a good few hours playing with their new friends though, before hell broke loose.

We moved Andy, Charlie and Hammy into the other field so they can only gaze at each other over fences and Hammy cannot bully the Minions.

Sleeping was required.  They were exhausted.

We will tackle this issue another day. We learned from this experience and it gives us things to consider for the future.

(written by Daisy – Thordale’s potential Animal Behaviourist)

The Minions have new toys.

I have noticed recently they are quite bored with each other and, as we were doing The Great Move of everyone, it made sense to give them what they wanted – Uncles Hammy, Andy and Charlie.

Here they are waiting, unsure of what is in the horse trailer that has just newly arrived.

We put Andy, Charlie and Hammy quickly out into the minion field.

And off they all went.

Hammy was an instant friend to the Minions.  They recognised someone of the same mentality.

Andy took charge of the herd and wandered around like an irate hippo.

He calls the shots and makes The Rules which I am sure the Minions will do their best to ignore or break.

Charlie took on the task of checking out the feed buckets (his one talent).

And Uncle Hammy had babysitting duty.

Hammy happily found his own level.

We will admit that we were all slightly trepidatious about the Minions’ meeting the new guys.  This is a first for them and a huge learning curve.

And they are so happy!

This is how they will learn their manners and be ready to go into the bigger herd once Taktur has left for his impending wedding.

One of the best parts about having a Stud is meeting folk and introducing them to the family.

Today we had two wonderful Australian ladies (and yes we did quiz them on everything Kath & Kim, Seven Little Australians and A Country Practice).  Daisy did her “koala bear” face and I needed to know if Redbacks were better than Blundies.  Hopefully life long friends were made as I think we spoke the same language.

We showed off our mares to them and everyone ooh-ed and aah-ed at the delights of the girls.  They knew quality when they saw it – our type of people, definitely.

Then it was time for them to meet the boys – Hammy, Andy and Charlie.  Sue was keen on Welshies, so that was good.  We wheeled out Hammy and were told that he was not fat, just in good condition (he looks like a Suffolk Punch to us!) and he was a fine chap (politeness will get you everything including my revolting home-made soup).

Daisy was pleased to see Andy again.  She used to ride him as a child and she learned her foundation skills avoiding his bull-fighting turns and imaginary fears.  There is nothing like a Shetland pony for teaching a child to actually ride!  She says if he comes to Thordale, she might ride him again.  He would love that.  It was lovely to see them again.

Charlie managed his idiot-face for the camera.  He is good at that.  It is his one talent.

It was a perfect day.  I hope our new friends enjoyed meeting my family – OH, daughters, horses, ponies, Minions, dogs, cat and chickens (in no particular order).

Frances is off at Aberdeen today, to hear the results of her MRI scan for her back. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone! Meanwhile, her eldest is bearing the blog burden at the moment, with BeAnne at my side, of course.

I apologise in advance for the lack of perfect photos. I am no photographer and I can’t work Photoshop out on Mum’s computer. Life is too short and so I present to you the Real Thordale!

Today was hot, hot, hot!! BeAnne has been missing Mum (the real blog owner) since she went off to hospital at 5 o’clock in the morning. She found solace on my bed since then…and she snores. 

Earlier today I went to see the minions. I apologise for the lack of photos but I was otherwise distracted…well, you try working a camera while surrounded by adorableness.

Carrots were distributed accordingly.

I was thoroughly loved and I have the bruises to prove it. Silver is becoming much more bold and is the first up whenever I open the gate. He is even starting to become more cheeky (hence the bruises). They are such a friendly bunch and have come such a long way since I first met them.

Meanwhile, someone rolled. And smelled.

Since it was such a beautiful day here at Thordale, I decided to pay another carrot visit to the Big Boys.

They were on top form as always. Taktur and Kappi had the day off since they worked hard yesterday.

I always think the Icelandic horses are so beautiful.

And as a small reminder, even the most beautiful people look silly when they yawn.

And here’s a picture of the perfect Mr Bimble. Very under-appreciated and under-estimated, but the best horse I could ever have.

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Fingers crossed that Mum gets home tonight. Foggy weather is a nightmare over here for the planes.

Our Equine Dentist, Stuart Huggan, paid us a visit today.

First up was Vitamin, Indy’s Mum. She has developed pouches on either side and we wanted them sorted.  She is an older mare so maintenance of her teeth is essential.  She was a good girl.

Then, Fakur, our 23 year old Icelandic horse, who lost weight this winter, was worrying us.  Stuart sorted him out and said, for an older horse, he looked very good.  That cheered us up.  As ever, Fakur was a complete gentleman.

Fakur and Vitamin were removed to my OH’s vegetable garden for safe-keeping.  We then wheeled out Taktur.  As a breeding stallion, who will be assessed and hopefully competed, we needed to know everything was as perfect as it could be.

Stuart is happy to share his knowledge and so both Jo and Daisy made use of this.

Haakon was afterwards.  Now, he can be a bit of a berk when it comes to the dentist.  He is prone to rearing but Stuart knows him and worked with his fears as well as his teeth.

Then Iacs….

and Klængur.

I asked Stuart to look at The Minions.  I am well aware how the lack of nutrition can cause problems.  You only have to look at their feet to see when they started eating properly so I was worried about what effects the winter starvation might have had on their teeth.

They all behaved as well as they could considering and Stuart just made everything perfect, saying they had suffered no previous dental harm.  All good.  I want them set up to be the best they can.

I am off south tomorrow to Aberdeen to see my Spinal Surgeon for a consultation.  I have instructed Daisy to spend as much time as she can hugging The Minions to make up for this afternoon.  She is good at hugging!