I thought you would appreciate an update on the Shetland pony mare who had hyperlipæmia last week.

She is now out all day in a field stuffing her face with green grass (a very rare commodity here in Shetland this time of year).

Her name, by the way, is Roseblossom and she is 14 years old.

She is one of the lucky ones – she made it!

The vet came to see her yesterday and took blood. He said there were no traces of hyperlipæmia in her blood anymore which was the best news.

I did not realise this but “The condition has a high mortality rate of between 60 and 100 per cent,” Management of Equine hyperlipaemia by Anna Hammond

So we did well, very well and between us, we fought the odds.  Poor Roseblossom was put through hell.  The treatment was constant interference by us.   I remember her lying down to die on the floor with her head in my arms on the Sunday night.  Her owner and I were willing her to live with all our strength while we waited for the vet to arrive.

Roseblossom still has a long way to go (both mentally and physically) and I think she will be different pony from this huge experience.  It has affected us all in some way.

But we did it and she is still here.  That is all that matters.

A huge thank you for all your prayers, thoughts, vibes and help – it gave us the strength we so desperately needed.

Today I am tired.  Very tired. I think all the excitement of last week has finally caught up with me and I can barely muster any enthusiasm let alone keep my eyes open.

The boys came up from their field to finish off the bale. They didn’t need asking twice.

I think it is our last sunny day for a while so they might as well make a clean plate and Jo, very kindly, delivered another one.  Her horses have given up eating it but my lot are still very enthusiastic.

The little boys are very happy mixing with the big boys.  No one minds and they squeeze in to help themselves to all the food.

Storm and Tiddles are inseparable and spend every hour together.  They are delightful little boys and I spend hours telling them ho

So I spent the afternoon having a rest with BeAnne and went to sleep.  I need to get my strength back.  There is so much to do now that Spring has finally made an appearance.

Daisy is due to go away on Friday (boo, hiss), back to St Snotters for her last semester and her final exam.  She has been invaluable to us all these past few weeks, especially to me, and she wanted to see Lyra Lyra Pants-on-Fyra before she went.

Lyra, who only loves Daisy, was of course thrilled to see her.

While they were having their hug-in, I went for a wander around the rest of the field.  Vitamin never took her eyes off her beloved daughter all the time.

Vitamin approves of Lyra’s relationship with Daisy but she is still very attached to her much-wanted baby.

Delia has wintered much better than we expected.  She remains a bit saggy but that is her age, more than anything.  She was pleased to see me and I gave her a scratch and a kiss.

Back to Daisy and Lyra.  Daisy will tell you she is not a huge mare/filly fan but Lyra is very special to her.  This is a relationship Lyra has with no one else.  Daisy is her everything and always has been since she was a little foal.

BeAnne does not like any attention taken away from herself.  She is always the Queen Bee but even she can see that she cannot take on Lyra in Daisy’s affections.

It is just always Lyra and Daisy.  That’s the way it goes.

For those of you who are interested, Lyra is half Berry and half Wells bloodlines.  She is Indy’s half sister.

A lovely sunny afternoon means Spring is in the air and The Minions want to play.

I was just popping into the house, from the indoor school, when I noticed Waffle’s little bunched up bottom while chasing Silver up and down a flat field they had escaped under the fence to.  They were having a lovely time and there was much giggling.

Meanwhile, in the next door field (these two had been good little boys), surprise of surprises, Tiddles was playing with Storm.

He was chasing him and trying to get him to play with him.  I have never seen Tiddles do this before.

He has always been such a serious little foal who never laughed at anything, just determinedly staying out of the way of everyone.

So this is a first for little Tids.

At last he has found someone to play with.  I trust Storm not to be too rough.  He hates really rough games himself.

Tomorrow is another nice day, and slightly warmer, so I will take their rugs off and I hope they play some more.

At last Tiddles is coming out of his shell and it has taken quite a while.

I think we are going to see his character grow and grow now.

Spring is most definitely in the air and I saw my first wild primrose too.

Look, look, look – a whole day of empty stall.

Two lovely ladies spending the day in my neighbour’s backyard.  They were very happy, despite the weather – rain but still warm by Shetland standards.

So we left them to it with no humans, no interference and they could eat and eat and eat.

So, with less to do on our hands, we rode our horses.  I rode Klængur and he said he would not go around the cones in the corner.  Therefore, I told him that he did and, just because he hadn’t been ridden in the school recently, it did not mean he could forget completely.

Daisy rode Kappi beautifully.  He goes so well for her and it is lovely to watch.

I had a quick Minion Moment and let the starving make a clean plate of the leftover hay.  I also gave them a pile of food too as they are very speshul and thinner than everybody else (as a mother, I worry).

The always do “lovely sharing”.  Dear little boys and the best of friends. Tiddles looks up to Storm (no one has dared say this is a bit of a mistake!)

Bjørn trained Taktur and it was incredible to watch.  For a five, rising six, year old stallion, he is doing incredibly well.

So we are back to normal and I am happy.

I took out the mare’s iv cannula as she is now drinking well.  I hope that was the right decision.