My days are spent wondering if my horses and ponies (and possibly sheep) are too fat or too thin and then worrying accordingly.

At the moment Hetja is constantly in my thoughts.

She is still feeding Sóley-the-Foalie, which is fine and what we wanted, but she has started to lose weight and I can feel a rib if I press her sides.  Brá did this when she was nursing Dreki – suddenly dropped all her weight and was skin and bone.

So, rather than concentrating on her usual maintenance ration of hard feed, we have upped her feed adding more calories.  I have also opened up a small hay-park that I was keeping for just this purpose.

My thoughts being that if we can limp along, keeping Hetja’s weight from dropping while she is feeding Sóley, then we can wean her daughter in March. Well, that’s the plan.

Sóley is a big lass now and she has her big sister to watch out for her.

Lilja is good with her little sister and, despite the bickering, they are actually very close.

And we will also open the gate, when we remove Hetja, and let the Minions work their magic on Sóley so that she forgets to miss her Mum, and concentrates on being distracted and weaned instead.

I will be glad when Spring finally makes an appearance. I think we all will be.

A certain little Miss Fluffball (FB) has gone feral!

Who me?

So Floss and I have been working (weather permtting – and I say that because there is absolutely no point in trying to talk to Little Miss FB when there is a Force 10 blowing plus horizontal rain – she goes all suspicious and silly).

Today was lovely and calm so I brought Mr Headcollar out to play.

And I quickly gave Floss that particular short straw!

While I kept Lilja entertained, Floss worked her charms.

She is good.

I was very impressed.

They obviously have a rapport.

And Flossie obviously has a pocketful of carrots.

So that was a huge success.

Good things come to good little fluffballs.

I am quietly hoping we have overcome the headcollar hurdle….. again.

And we will repeat this process for the rest of her life now.

Today the vet came out to check les girls.  We had been in conversation previously by phone and quickly came to the conclusion that they could do with a visit.

Easily caught with a bucket – the Boyzens included who were in the other part of the stable grumbling – something about incarceration with hay and water….. I wasn’t listening.

Our vet checked teeth, mouths, feet and answered all my sheep-related questions.

We caught the youngest first and tipped her. I put a collar on each of them. I am not a fan of them but they make good grabbing handles if necessary.

She was a good girl about everything and then, once released, went back to her bat-shit crazy (BSC) ways.

They were given an antibiotic injection and the potential lamb situation was sorted.  Both ewes are not healthy enough to go through pregancy.  Photos never show just how thin an animal truly is.

Then mother sheep was then caught and I tipped her (my first tipping – my poor back was very unimpressed).

She is “broken mouthed” which means teeth are missing.  There was also some evidence of foot rot on her so the vet sprayed her hooves with antibiotic spray.

While we were working with “Mum”, the BSC daughter constantly did the Wall of Death around the stable so we ignored her.

So that’s them all checked over – one more thing to do but I will wait a week – they need some pour-on anti-lice stuff in case they have any nasties hiding in their pathetic thin fleeces.  My lot look quite luxurious by comparison.

We did our best. I think they were fairly unimpressed but I know they have been fully checked over by a vet and the only way is forward.  Also they have calmed down hugely about BeAnne, which is good.  There was a definite atmosphere from both side.

First thing this morning, I received message – “Do you have time to ride today?”

The answer was a conditional yes – ie horses checked and fed first.

I felt like Klængur and I hadn’t been out for blast for ages. I had almost forgotten how to tack him up!

Luckily I remembered and even more luckily, Klængur was thrilled to be out and about.

In this photo, I am finding the carrot-for-standing-still-while-I-get-on-and-then-attach-my-air-jacket. Klængur is such a good boy. He stands like a rock for a motivational carrot.

We waited while my riding companion, Peter, mounted his own Icelandic horse.

And then off we went.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.  Utterly perfect. Klængur and I had a good clean tölt of varying speeds as well as lots of Icelandic horse willingness.

Klængur and I came home with huge smiles on our faces – equine and hooman.  Perfect. I had forgotten I like riding my horse.  Winter has taken over my life far too much.

So how did it go? I hear you ask.

Well, the Boyzens sloped home this morning for their breakfast and I fed everyone first separately. I had initially thought I would keep the two flocks separate for a while but then thought the only way to find out if they will get on is to actually bite the proverbial bullet.

The Boyzens knew there were girls about and ‘Bert, on his way home from the pub, did his best silly bouncing!  Lambie was sulking.

But he soon stopped when he remembered that he likes girls.

It was all going fairly well.

Except Lambie and ‘Bert wanted a bit more from their new relationships and the girls were unimpressed.

Floss and I did our chores leaving them all to sort themselves out.

The girls seemed fairly calm and just walked away from any undue attention.

‘Bert was fairly persistent.

Lambie was a creepy stalker.

And ‘Ster just wanted everyone’s biscuits (but he is very handsome).

After a while, I let the Boyzens back out into the hill to give the girls some peace.

I also had a fence put up around the paddock behind my house and opened up the shed so they can have their own space rather than the stable.

The girls look at me through the window, which is lovely.

They still have no names.  The older one follows me everywhere not for food, but to chat.

Daughter is getting braver.

Today, I drenched them both, plus gave them some ovaloids (condition and immune system boost) – the limp and the cough have gone.  My sheep expert gave them a quick once-over and we agreed they should have three meals a day plus all the grass they can find.

So that’s how we are getting on. Thank you for asking.