I took these photos a few days ago.  A happy little herd of Shetland ponies and Icelandic horses, I think….. and hope.

Lilja and Sóley are learning a few more new skills.  Lilja has learned she is not going to be Boss-Queen-Baggage/Ruler-of-the-World – that job is Vitamin’s and she ain’t abdicating soon.   Lilja had high hopes for this position once her mother had left the field.

Sóley has learned that Lilja does not produce milk.  She is rather surprised by this fact but there is nothing she can do that will change this and Lilja, I think, has told her in no uncertain terms to give it up!  However, she still dips under Lilja more out of habit than anything else and Lilja quietly side-steps away.

As I walked away, happy they are now content, I noticed a small brown yak following me.

Of course Newt would’ve come home with me. I only had to say and he would’ve popped himself into the car.  No one would ever notice.

As I type, the weather is descending into Hell again.  I have no concentration, limited attention span, a very short fuse and have totally lost my riding mojo. I am running on empty (or gin). I feed and kiss noses and that is about my equine limit these days.

Guess who has begun his training?

Little Efstur – and he is all enthusiastic (I love the way he looks to Daisy, slightly touching her hand as he leads – Haakon has always done this too – it’s a silent conversation).

Daisy is in charge.  This is Efstur’s fifth time in the school. First there was some brushing.

So Efstur pressed his nose up against the wall and tried not to think too much about it.

He asked Daisy what on earth she was doing?

Next up, some leading practice.

His brain had a little wander……

And Daisy got him straight back to the job in question.

Then some lungeing – nothing strenuous, just the basic commands.  We teach the youngsters to turn inwards when they are asked to halt.

Both reins.

Efstur loves being told he is a good boy.

This was the first time he had trotted on a lunge.

Then it was a formal introduction to Mr Saddle-Cloth.

And again, he looked to Daisy for reassurance.

So smart, so very very smart (this is Efstur’s Princess Di look).

And then the saddle.

He took it all in his stride and Daisy reassured and rewarded all the time.

There was a very brief moment when Efstur said that possibly no one could walk with a girth around their belly until then he realised he could.

The Support Team took an interest.

Well, some of them.

Noisy flapping about resulted in no reaction.

Efstur had his Daisy.

So, in his book, all was right with the world.

A little lean just to see if he would mind. He didn’t.

And that was that!  Job done for the day. Short and sweet.  How we like it. As ever, we will take things slowly.  Little boy is all growed up!

The two rescue girls are coming along very well now.  They come when they are called or only have to see me and arrive shouting for food and/or company.

Even Madge, who was initially very shy, is coming out of her shell.  You can see her eyes are much softer and far less scared.

Rather alarmingly her wool is falling out but, according to my sheep expert (the postie), this shows that her diet is good and her general health is improving.  Her body is getting used to the improvements.

Edna (the alleged mother of Madge) is learning her manners – it is work-in-progress and she knows I will explode if she sets foot in the feed shed or walk on my heels to get her bucket of breakfast.

I will admit to having a very short fuse these days (BeAnne worry) so everyone is wary of my explosions and  the upshot is that the Girlzens are quickly learning respect for the picket fence around me. I hate being nagged by bad-mannered animals.

Anywho, I am pleased that they are looking so much better. A regular good diet (breakfast and lunch of sheep mix plus a lick bucket and unlimited hay) is doing its job.

The mud is inevitable sadly this time of year but Madge and Edna arrive regularly at my front door for ginger biccies.  The boys are tolerating them admirably too.  No more bullying and butting – well, not if they want free access to the lick bucket.

It was not a day for going out and Her Maj as been very lack-lustre today so we stayed in and I made sheeple while she slept.

When we got back into the house, however, she nipped up the stairs and had Monster’s tea!

Anyway, this is the view from my shed and you can see the ground is revolting, just turning to watery mud and mush while I watch.

The Boyzens came home this morning – the lure of their breakfast plus ginger biccies – and have been loafing around all day in their shed with a haynet. The Girlzens have a separate bedroom – (with wifi obviously), haynet and lick bucket.  ‘Bert visits often!

Tomorrow is looking better. I will try and get Her Maj out on another walk. I think it does her (and me) good. I haven’t felt like riding but I don’t think Klaengur is that enthused either.

Onwards, ever onwards.

We have our good days and our bad. Yesterday was awful so that this morning I woke up with a migraine.  Anywho we, as a family, are trying to keep BeAnne going forward.

She won’t eat and so has her hepatic diet syringed down twice a day. It has become a huge battle and one that stresses me out probably more than her.  She is actually quite good about it.  We are getting into a routine now.

Daily we go out for a long walk in the hopes it will help BeAnne’s digstion/appletite and our mental state.  Today Her Maj woke up bouncy and tail-waggingly happy so I took her onto the hill.  She loved it, running like a normal dog everywhere. The Boyzens came too.  The Girlzens stayed in their field.

I am a great believer that it is not the actual distance you cover on a dog walk but the fun the dog has so we all stopped and let BeAnne look for bunny rabbits and enjoy herself.

She sniffed a rabbit out – ever the hunter (just a rather hopeless one).

I sat on a peat hag and watched my wee dug doing what she loves most.  I wanted her to get the most out of her fun.

She was so happy – an enthusiasm I haven’t seen for a while.

My peat hag.

I sat for a while watching her to and fro from each rabbit hole totally oblivious to the fact that the bunny was long gone!

But she was enjoying herself and that’s all that matters.

And the view was very good too.

After a good 20 minutes, BeAnne admitted defeat and went home.  She even went for a bit of a dip – you only have to ask her if she wants to go “swimbig” (said in an adenoidal fashion) and she dives into any puddle.

We got home and Her Maj is tired now but I think a good sort of tired (and she also nipped upstairs and stole the cat food).  Not ideal, I know, but according to the vet any food is better than no food and if she gets her head back into thinking she can eat, then I will go with that.

My heart is breaking watching BeAnne. I clutch at any straw. I feel awful syringing food down her but food is calories, antibiotics are going down and she is still with us.  I look at her and wonder. We regularly have family conferences about her and at the moment we still keep going because if she is hunting and looking for bunny rabbits, she is still happy.