These two (Waffle and Albie), and Silver managed to escape this morning and got into the long grass around the house.  OH was mucking out their paddock and when he opened the gate for his full wheelbarrow, they must’ve bolted rudely through. After I had led Silver back into the field, I decided to give Albie and Waffle a little run around the school. I wanted to see how they moved.

I set my timer for five minutes and free-lunged them around in trot.  They were happy and most willing – ears pricked and in time.  Very pretty.

Feeling inspired, I went to catch Storm and Newt, and ended up with Tiddles instead as Newt refused to be caught. Wee turd.

Again, happy trotting and both moved nicely.  They enjoyed themselves.

And lastly, with a severe amount of lies, bribery and the promise of pocket-money, I caught these two reprobates who cantered madly about non-stop in every direction.

After their five minutes, they broke into a trot and refused to let me catch them…. again! *** sigh ***.

In other news, I found Pepper trying desperately to make friends with the ducklings.  She was eating grass with them hoping they would think she is one of them, just slightly a different colour.

Girl Ducky (one of two), came up to investigate. She was curious.

And then I think the family let her into their little clique.  It made me smile.

This morning I had to take the buckets to the horses.  They couldn’t be bothered to wait at the gate close by.

So, off I trudged along with my trusty companion, Pepper.

The sheep, already fed, were ignoring us and trying to slip past the horses to go into the hill without being noticed.

They are not huge horse fans. They think they are far too large and unpredictable, especially when Iacs has one of his rare cantering moments.

Pepper did her usual hoovering.  Dropped food is her’s.

She obviously got something. She’s licking her lips.

One turmeric tache.

Two turmeric tache

And three, but less mess.  Thank you Haakon. Ever the gentleman.

Horses and ponies “done” and I’m off to let out the duckies. Pepper is absolutely determined to make friends with them all.

She is intrigued and so are they. Neither back down.  There is definitely a conversation, of sorts.

The duckies get bored and go on their way in search of water to sit in.  It is fascinating watching the animal dynamics, mostly from Pepper. She loves being a croft dog and takes her job very seriously.

I am not popular with the ponies.  I wormed them.  Newt spat his out so I wormed him again and Waffle wore his, so I wormed him again too. Now they are all wormed.

That’s Waffle’s distinctly unimpressed cross-at-me face.

After the great worming debacle, I decided the Minions could not stay on the grassy bit all the time.  This would just take away all the good that we’ve achieved over the last few months.

A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the lips is what I tell myself. It applies to me as well.

So I called the herd up and with much difficulty and unhelpfulness (ie point blank refusal), I got them all back onto the starvation track part.  More unpopularity and “you cannot be serious, mother” from them all but it has to be.  I must stay strong.

So a new regime today.  The Minions were in their paddock over night as per usual, then onto the track for the most of the morning and afternoon.  Again, an unpopular decision but at least I could get them away from the long grass.  Then later in the afternoon they were allowed on the grassy bit for a few hours before bed-time.

It works out about :-

12 hours = paddock
8 hours = track
4 hours = grass

Hopefully this will work and they will all be a bit more cooperative.  Waffle and Newt were the worst to catch and evict from the grass. I ended up having to find a headcollar to lead them out. Imagine that!

Some photos from my dogwalk today at Leradale.

The Original croft house – now derelict.

The last of the flowers – all beginning to die down now.  There is a real autumnal feel in the air.

One of the enclosures in the field (and small dog).

Some field terracing (possibly Bronze Age).

Old field boundaries or enclosures.

More enclosures – the inner line of rocks, not the complete line.

And again, the inner line of rocks on the left but not the “wall” – that’s modern!

The Bronze Age oval house.

(model from the Shetland Museum)

A modern-built house probably used for lambing.

Nothing changes here except for the fact I need to really read up on Bronze Age life in Shetland because, as I wander around with the dogs, I feel stupidly ignorant of the folks’ way of living.

Where the wiggly lines are, show the Bronze Age settlement.

The Historic Environment Scotlanc blurb…..

“The monument comprises the remains of a prehistoric settlement of at least one house together with the remains of contemporary fields.

The settlement is located on a NE-facing slope overlooking Loch of Breck. A single oval house has been revealed by peat-cutting. It measures some 6m by 4.5m internally, with walls up to 2m thick. The entrance has been from the SE, where a curving wall foundation suggests a porch or windbreak. Within the house, alcoves can be traced in the inner face of the wall on the NE side. To the N and NW of the house small squarish terraces probably represent contemporary fields, and there are a number of small cairns, perhaps of field cleared stones, in the area.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, bounded on the NE by a modern fence, which is itself excluded. It measures a maximum of 95m NE-SW by 90m, to include the house, fields and cairns and an area around them in which traces of activities associated with their construction and use may survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

It’s rained all day and it feels very damp both indoors and out.

When I got back from packing vegetables this afternoon, all the Shetland ponies were just standing around looking utterly miserable so I gave in. I opened up the small triangle of grass for them.

They can eat it for the evening and then I will try and lure them back into their padddock for the night – I don’t suppose for one minute they will come in, but I will try.

I also put Fivla back in her field.  She doesn’t eat when she is with the Minions and just stands there all day worrying me.

I was speaking to Iacs’ vet (south) and I mentioned Fivla’s depression and she told me about having a geriatric profile of bloods taken as well as an endocrinology screening. I have booked Fivla in for a vet visit next week.

If Fivla is not eating while she is on the track, then I worry she will get Hyperlipidemia which occurs when horses are in a negative energy balance due to decreased feed intake.  I could not nurse her through that. It would be too much for Fivla’s body to take.  Anyway, when I put her back in with Vitamin she started to eat and that cheered me up.  It is a constant juggling act.

So wish me luck trying to get the Minions lot back into their paddock and three haynets for the night!  I may well fail.