This past week Haakon has changed so I called the vet to come and check him over.

Symptoms:  He is lying down a lot, he won’t get up for silage (Daisy had to fetch him the other day), he looks tucked up, has stopped arguing and he is not himself.

Since yesterday, Haakon is living round the house with his bestie, Iacs, and the chickens.

So the vet arrived this morning.  She said Haakon presented with no clinical symptoms but appeared stiff on his hind legs after a flexion test.

She took blood and mentioned that he had “a beautiful jugular” as well as “excellent caecal flush in each of the four quadrants” (so proud, sniff).

She also mentioned that my horse was very well behaved which cheered me hugelys.Haakon failed his original buying vetting when he arrived in Shetland 22 years ago because he “couldn’t stay on four feet”.  A plus – he has improved! (more proud, sniff).

We talked for a while about possible diagnoses and treatment.  Bone spavin is very common in the Icelandic horse breed and that is what I am thinking it could be.  The farrier, when he took off Haakon’s shoes yesterday, also mentioned this possibility based on his gait when he walked out of the shed.

So Haakon has started twice daily oral analgesia.

Iacs had a smidgen of food and then had to be held back.

This afternoon, the sun was shining and everyone was lying down.

The blood results are back now – all normal, so the way forward is two weeks of painkillers,  regulated exercise (put shoes back on as he can’t manage without) and then discuss.  If Haakon is not responding to the regular analgesia then x-rays and maybe a referral to an equine specialist.

Basically, Haakon has to live forever.  He knows this because I have told him again and again.

Although we don’t have a diagnosis of spavin, it is a horrid possibility.  An x-ray may confirm this, though.

Whatever, the pain has to be under control and Haakon has to be happy and when he stops blagging for carrots, then I will know what to do.

Meanwhile, I am trying very hard not to over-think this.

The ladies are rather large now. They are blooming in their pregnancy.

Very settled but getting more enormous each day.

Meanwhile, Lilja is desperately wishing she could be a Minion again.

Fat pregnant ladies are absolutely no fun.

Even if one of them is your mother who you used to make such a fuss about leaving.

But Lilja has Flossie so she will have to do.

Of course Floss has all the time in the world for our beautiful Lilja.

And she probably has carrots.

That’s the essential part.

I haven’t seen the Minions for ages.  That doesn’t mean they haven’t been checked daily – just not by me.  So today I took my big camera to see the little sossages.

They were all on top form and very pleased to see me.  I liked to think they missed me – though, probably not as Floss was always there with her bag of carrots.

Storm, as always was first up.  He is a handsome chap (I write reaching for the thesaurus realising I have now got to come up with eight different descriptions that basically say the same thing!)

Tiddles was having his good forelock day.

Silver looked like he had swallowed-a-button!

Vitamin is under all that hair.  Really, she is.  Although she is starting to go grey around her face, she is still the boss.

Even Newt was being nice today.  Who is Muzzah’s handsome little woolly yak?!

And look how Albie has blossomed.  Into such a pretty lad.

Waffle chose to wear his food.  Perhaps it was camouflage.

And lastly, darling Fivla – the most gentle, kindest Grande Dame of them all.

After the “school photo”, we told the ponies to stop milling around and to get up the hill to look for better grazing.

There was bouncing.

Some hassling.

Endless sniggering.

Like little school boys, they can’t just do what they’re told sensibly.

Eventually they cantered off, annoying each other as they went.

And were last seen heading up the hill.

It is always good to see these little chaps. I had missed them.

I have been asked to make a film for Transition Turriefield – the nearby vegetable place where I work on a Thursday afternoon, when required.

I took my “sound guy” or my OH as he is better known.  He knows what to do.  His job was to stand in a ditch with a snare drum head to act as a windshield for the microphone.  Whatever works.

It was a Volunteer Day so they were volunteered into being my cast.

I was the Director and vaguely had an idea of what I wanted to achieve.  I see my work as an ever-evolving organic process (in my head, that makes sense), ie I have no plan.

There was lots to think about – like the light, the background, would it work…… (I will admit I took my camera’s instruction manual with me as I haven’t actually made a film like this before. I didn’t tell anyone that I didn’t know what I was doing).

Everyone walked up and down the hill endlessly, shouted, held up cards and hopefully, laughed as well.  I did try to make it fun rather than arduous.

And I was not the complete slave driver.  I did allow a tea break.  I am considering turning up on Volunteer Day from now on, just for the biccies.

Then, once I was happy we had everything “in the can”, so to speak, the volunteers went home.  My sound engineer and I continued to do more filming of Penny and Alan, the owners.

Now we were filming the narrative.  There is still lots more work to do on this project but it is fun and I have plenty of out-takes that can be used for ransome vegetables.

After lunch, Daisy and I went to catch some horses to ride.

It was Haakon’s turn but, as he was peacefully snoozing, I left him until the next ride. We were going out twice so he could wait.

I always feel ashamed when I wake up a horse and make him get up to go out for a ride.  It doesn’t seem fair or particularly kind.

Iacs, on the other hoof, was very happy to volunteer on behalf of himself, the carrot in my pocket and just about anyone who wanted to go.

He definitely knew about the carrot.

There is a carrot, right?!

I tried to get a photo of the two cousins together – which I sort of achieved.

Before Iacs remembered that carrot with his name on.

So, I left Haakon to his snooze.  He is an old man and he deserves to rest when he wants to.  We did go out later and it was a lovely ride.

So I looked around the field and quickly found another candidate and rode him instead.

Suffice it to say, it was a very fast ride on the Ginger Ninja, aka Klængur.