Category Archives: Icelandic horses and Shetland Ponies

Stanevatstoe Loch

Still Fighting with the Blog

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I am feeling a bit down today.  It is a mixture of things – the cold is in my bones, going through old photos has made me sad and I am still fighting with my blog settings (tag clouds etc). All just little stuff really in the grand scheme but still, they get to me.

But today I mastered the art of those social media follow me link things – I have no idea of the correct lingo, sorry but please see top right of page and there they are.  So, please follow me.

I also need more links on this blog so if you have a link, give me a shout (thordale144@gmail.com) and I will do my best, after a lot of effort, to add it.  Don’t feel bad about the strenuous effort it will take.  This is entirely due to my lack of ability to remember how to do any of this.  I have the brain of a hen.

Anyway, here are some photos that I can just about bear to put up from around 2020 and I will  go back to the nuts and bolts of this blog.

My darling BeAnne

Ominous weather looking over to Foula

View of Mum’s house in the Autumn

Lambie

Daisy hugging ‘Ster with a disgruntled/jealous BeAnne at her feet

“Corbie” (raven)

Icelandic horse foal – Hjalti

From left to right – Hjalti, Efstur, Taktur, Kappi, Klaengur and Dreki (I think but I could be wrong)

Her Maj looking perky

I Made my Decision

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I took this photo first thing this morning.  The sun made an appearance. It was brief.

I duly dished out my buckets at breakfast-time and then I went round feeling each horse and pony.

I was looking for the semblance of ribs, or even a rib.

Breakfast finished, Haakon’s hoof treated, I went to the Shetland ponies’ field and made another grassy bit for them to munch on. It just involves relocating the electric fence freeing up another bit of the field and then calling them there.

Again, I prodded and poked about for these mysterious ribs.

And I quickly came to the conclusion that none of my equines actually have any ribs whatsoever so, with this new discovery, I made a decision – no rugs.  They are all very well covered and don’t need them.  Also, when anyone wears a rug, they just stand there and don’t get around much which is not great.

I told them this so they know where I stand on rugs.

Monster said ribs were overrated anyway.  He may speak from experience.

Rug Dithering

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It was a beautiful morning – still, no wind with a winter beautiful light.  There had also been a frost from last night.  There was even ice on the water buckets – the first this winter.

But the horses and ponies were all on good form and pleased to see me.

I even got a smile off Tiddles!

But I am still a-dithering about putting rugs on the old horses and ponies tomorrow and, if I do, I will become that person who I hate most – she who asks for advice and then does exactly the opposite because it wasn’t really advice that was wanted but confirmation that this was the right thing to do – ie, put the rugs on!

I have looked ahead at Accuweather and it is going down to -11℃ (real feel) tomorrow night or as OH just said, when I told him, “Blimey!”

So I will keep on dithering for the time being and see what like tomorrow.

Thinking Rugs

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A lovely sunrise this morning.  Everything looked very atmospheric and beautiful.

This is Iacs eating his breakfast.

Haakon was in the garden eating his.

I had my faithful little Pepperpot with me, always helping or waiting to help.

And here she is helping me get all the rugs out ready for the approaching bad weather.

It is going to be a week of vile weather and I can’t decide what to do so I thought I would be prepared and probably cave on Sunday and put rugs on everyone.  You know me…. hopeless.

I made four piles.

Fivla (left) and Vitamin’s purple pile.

All the 5′ 6″ – which is really all for Iacs.

And then there is a similar pile (5′ 9″) for the husband and wife team that is Haakon and Kolka on the opposite gate.

And my last pile is for Tiddles but he has a container he can stand in for shelter so I am hopefully not going to use them.

As Haakon and his friends didn’t appear this afternoon, I didn’t encourage them (ok, I crept around) and went and made the track a bit bigger for the Shetland ponies so they will have something to eat, rather than me putting out more hay which is not cheap.

So that’s the plan.  Basically I have no plan.

So Much Better

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Well, it’s been a week, I think, of running around after Haakon with buckets to soak his hoof in, injections, painkillers, food twice a day.  I am exhausted but at last I can say (still praying, though) that hopefully he is on the mend.

And because today was sunny, I took off Haakon’s rug and saw that all the tucked up’ness from the pain and misery had gone.  I have my old fat boy back.

The dragon of loathing and I-hate-everyone curmudgeon has returned too, as it should be.  So I am hugely relieved and the big injections (antibiotics) have come to an end. I am also reducing the painkillers and from tomorrow Haakon will be down to one bucket as all this running around after him is killing me and he doesn’t need it now.  I also don’t want him to become used to two meals a day, please.

Though some *** cough *** Monster *** cough *** have breakfast, a snack for Ted’s eye treatment,  a snack for the dog walk even if non-participating, tea, a snack, supper and lastly midnight feast because that’s the routine we’ve been trained to.  Now I write it down, it does sound rather a lot.

Anyway, the lovely day vanished later and the temperature lowered.

When I had finished packing veg at Turriefield, I went outside to go home and was confronted by this……

Snow!  Ugh.

I dashed home and got Haakon’s bucket ready.  He was waiting and I pushed him through the garden gate to eat by himself.

I gave the vultures some little carrots to shut them up.  They all have a very good covering (ribs? what ribs!) and this is why I let them get fat over the summer.  I need constant reminding not to go rug-mad.

Anyway, I am hugely relieved.  I think there is light at the end of this tunnel.