Meanwhile, back at the ranch a few things have been happening.

BeAnne is very down, refusing to eat and losing weight.   The vet checked her over.  I needed to know there was nothing sinister going on.  I am now obsessed, obviously. He diagnosed depression brought on by the loss of her two “friends” in quick succession.  It has been all too much for Her Maj.

When we were south last week we had to visit Pets At Home in Aberdeen to get some cat things.  We also bought BeAnne an array of new toys, which she is quite likes.

If you have seen Best in Show (brought to you by the same folk who made This is Spinal Tap) then you will know about Busy Bee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib0Xv86kyIk

So we had to buy one for BeAnne. It is to help her through her depression/neuroses.  Here is a link to Busy Bee which I highly recommend if only to make you smile because of the film.

BeAnne and I also go for long walks along the road as exercise releases endorphins.  She is beginning to turn a corner and plays more with her new toys.  Monster is nicer to her as well.

The vet had a bit of a list when he visited – he had to check Monster over too.  Last up was gelding Dreki Dragon.  It was done and he is still talking to me, just.

What with everything going on, we totally managed to miss Lambie’s third birthday.  He doesn’t seem to mind and is enjoying life.

So, that’s us.  The Spring grass has started to grow, if slowly, and everyone is very happy.

We are having some lovely sunny days and it is getting warmer.

With that, I bet it snows next week as lambing is in full force.

These are the photos from our second day’s training from Elisabeth Jansen, Assistant Professor at Hólar University College, Iceland.

In the morning, Daisy went in with Kappi.

And the poles were out!

Kappi has not seen trotting poles (with us) so he made the executive decision to jump them.

I love this – he sniffed, he thought….

And his next stride was to jump.

The poles were put up and the jump therefore became bigger or “scopey” as it is known in show-jumping circles.

And then Elisabeth and Daisy concentrated on Kappi’s gaits.

A little break and it was Taktur’s turn.  He got the same pole training.

Again, Taktur has never seen a trotting pole.

But he managed and stretched.

The poles helped him to lift his legs up.

The girls were impressed!

Poor Taktur, he was looking so beautiful but was totally ignored.

What’s a guy supposed to do to be noticed around here?

The spectators spectated.

Last up from Thordale was Flossie on her horse Klængur.  Again, he has never seen a trotting pole.  We just don’t do them.  Perhaps we should.

First they managed fine in walk.

And then in tölt.

There was even some jumping (Floss has never “jumped” before but gave it her best). Klængur looks like a medieval tapestry horse!

They were soon taking it all in their stride.

There may have been bribery involved too.

So all in all a good two days training for everyone.

A change of scenery for us anyway is always fun – It was nice to meet new people and to see old friends.

We have tried every name for a day that we could possibly think of for this new cat.

Leopold?

Napoleon?

Ulysses?

Titus?

Gus-Gus

Despot (though he is a lot better with Her Maj).  The attacks have stopped.  There is the odd bit of hissing but he is mostly realised BeAnne is no threat.

Pol Pot

Mac

But we have settled on Mons, short for Monster.

He is a very nice boy. I am glad we have found his name. It took a while but we think Monster is his name.

Edit:  Just to say that Monster is registered with our vet as “White Panther” – this was before we came up with his name.

As we arrived on Sunday morning, we met Esja and her owner coming up the track.  Esja used to belong to us and it was lovely to see her again and looking so well too.

There was a diligent group of spectators perched on the side of the arena, now possibly suffering from hypothermia.

Daisy went in with Kappi.

Kappi’s has lovely hair.

They both worked very hard.

Midway through the lesson, someone brought their sheep up to meet and greet the on-lookers, as you do.  It’s a Shetland thing.

BeAnne also did her best to entertain the troops.

Straight after her lesson on Kappi, Daisy rode Taktur.  Luckily she is used to this kind of set-up at home so just tacked up and got on with it.

Taktur tried his best but the Lady-Girls kept distracting him.

Flossie was on Kappi duty while he cooled down and had a bit of grass to eat.

Taktur, I think, won the Best Hairdo of the Day Award but he is always very handsome.  It’s his job.

Icelandic horses were coming and going all the time.

The fog also came down but, as usual, we all just got on with whatever the weather threw at us.

After the day of lessons, there was a bit of a break, then a Chinese takeaway in the hall.  Elisabeth Jansen, our trainer, gave an interesting lecture on the bio-mechanics of the Icelandic horse.

It was a very long day, but a good one.

(BeAnne slept through the lecture – I brought her “travel” bed in for her.  I always keep it in the back of the car.)

We loaded up first thing Sunday morning, having fed everyone and done our chores.  Daisy had spent the prevoius day packing our van with everything but the kitchen sink for herself, Kappi and Taktur.

Lessons were already in progress when we arrived.

The weather was not helpful.  Foggy, cold, wet and windy but we are tough.

Because PolPot (today’s name for our ginormous cat/panther) was planning World Domination, we took BeAnne with us to duly enchant the spectators.

Upon our arrival, Daisy and Flossie led the horses to their new onsite accommodation.

Taktur happily moved into his stable and spent most of his day, when he was not in training, shouting to let every the Lady-Girls know he had arrived.

Kappi lifted his head briefly from his very own pile of silage when I said his name.  He probably thought I had brought more food – his main motivation.

Daisy’s first lesson was on Kappi.

BeAnne, and her followers, were watching avidly, taking it all in.

Photo by Jean Sinclair

Between horses, Baa-rry, the resident tame sheep showed off his show-jumping skills, which were very impressive.

Photo by Jean Sinclair

I am exhausted.  It has been a long two days but definitely worth it.  We learned so much.  More photos tomorrow when I have gone through my big camera’s memory cards.   I need to sleep for a week.