I like to feed the youngstock, ie Efstur and Hjalti, with extra hard feed as they are both growing lads and winter is a difficult time, grass-wise.

You would think this would be easy.  Of course they would eat.  But no, Efstur has little, if any interest in hard feed.  He eats some to be polite and then tries to wear the bucket on his head.  It is very frustrating for me to watch.

So, rather than let him kick the feed around and waste it, I contrived a cunning plan.

I added sliced carrot, an obvious and very visual favourite, to the Mare & Youngstock, plus some Cool Mix.

And then I went forth into the field where they live with three vultures!

Sorry, that would be Iacs…..

An enraged Haakon……

As well as the always-helpful Klængur.

The big boys were not happy with this situation at all.  Despite a good supply of silage in the mornings, a bucket of hard feed with carrots is always considered better provender.

Haakon wanted the food.

But I came into the field armed with a dressage stick.

Purpose – for keeping unwanted noses out of the bucket.

Expelliarmus!

This spell works well…..

(on most).

I mean it is not as though anyone is actually thin.  In the trade this is known as an “apple bottom”.  I think we can all see why.

Yes, Iacs, we can!

I let the tidy-up squad finish off.

Efstur’s bottom is on the far right.  He is looking good so I am not that worried.

(Btw, the ground, although churned up, is fairly dry and there is grass to be found on the other side of the stream and sliced carrot is answer!)

Whinge Alert!

I have a cold.
It is freezing and windy outside – a north wind which makes my bones ache too.
My back hurts – I am back on Tramadol
My nose is blocked

And worst of the worst, I can’t taste anything

/Whinge Over

There was a weather window this morning so we all made the most of it.

Shelter and a good supply of fibre, a horse’s central heating system, are everything when the weather is bad.  The Icelandic horses stay out all day and night because they are all fat, very furry and happy.  We have put them together, except for Taktur and Kappi – they get to come in at night as they are both in training.

My OH was on repair duty.  There were lots of little things to do – repair fences, important gates, etc.

The Shetland ponies were around the house last night.  Daisy went to check her boys in their stable and found all four (Delia, Tor, Albie and Newt) all curled up and fast asleep in Lambie’s second-best bedroom.

This morning, as the weather had calmed down, we put the ponies back out into their field with their boxes of silage.

Delia gets to stay outside and I gave her a block of pressed alfalfa.

These were left over from last year.

Delia loved it.

So, with everyone happy and eating, I drove over to Leradale.

It was completely different there.  It felt calmer and warmer.  A lack of the windchill factor, I think.

There is so much shelter from the surrounding hills as well as drystone dykes (walls).

When I lie awake at night listening to the wind howling and the hail crashing down outside, it is reassuring to know that everyone is fine.

In the wee small hours, I worry.

😕

I drove my younger daughter, Flossie, to Sumburgh airport this morning, leaving OH and Daisy to feed the hoards in a gale (sorry, guys and thank you!)

Because of the stormy weather, folk had been offered the opportunity to change their flight plans.  The airport was fairly empty as a result.  We had decided to risk it.

Amazingly, Floss’ plane took off on time and, as I write, has just landed in England (with one change at Aberdeen).  She said the flight off the island was “ a bit bumpy but very quick”!

I can well imagine.

Once I had dropped Flossie off, I started the drive home.

The sea is on both sides of the airport and there are three runways to choose from.

This is the end of the runway we have to drive over in the car to get to the airport.

We wait at the barrier.  It is like a train level crossing only with aircraft.  You just drive over the runway once the barrier is up, obviously.

“The western end of runway 09 crosses the A970 road between Sumburgh and the northern mainland; access is controlled by a level crossing with barriers closed whenever a flight is taking off or landing.” – from Wikipedia

Anywho, it was a lovely Christmas break and we are all going to miss Flossie very much.

Safe travels, Flossie and thank you for all your help this holiday.  I wonder whether she would fly back to Shetland if the Boyzenberries escaped back into the hill?  Do you think her Oxford tutors would understand?

The light was beautiful this morning so I rushed round taking photos of everyone around Thordale before I changed into clean clothes and went off for the weekly flute lesson and trip into town.

Delia is doing ok – she was busy rubbing her bottom on the fencing – a heinous crime.

When I see her walk on hard ground, I suck my teeth a little now.  She is absolutely fine on the soft grass around the house but it is the hard-standing she struggles with around the edge of the field.  What to do.

The Boyzens are now back (or banished, depending on your outlook) into the pony field due to ‘Bert’s Houdini-like qualities.

They only have themselves to blame and it must be hell living in a field with endless silage, grass and a mineral lick bucket.

Ok, there is a bit of mud at the gateway but nothing too awful.  Lambie spends most of his day looking out for me trying to make eye contact or running to the gate when he sees my car so that I will notice and let him out early.

Newt has taken it upon himself to eat his weight in silage every day.

Albie is nicer to Newt now and I think Newt may be a good grounding influence on him.  Albie is prone to hysteria at the mention of change.  A word he hates.

We have started to reduce his milk – by diluting it.   We will see how he goes.

Klængur is looking after the little Icelandic boys.

I am tempted to move Klængur as he is going to get fat like this but he is very good with the children.

It is a dilemma.

Another what-to-do.  We will give it some thought.

Yesterday, while everyone ovine was busy gallivanting on the scattald (open hill), Floss and I went to Liradale for a spot of equine maintenance.

First up, were the preggie ladies.

I caught each of them – I now see that when Brá is pregnant, she doesn’t tolerate people much.

(I can relate to this!)

But Brá can’t be allowed to go feral in case there is an emergency and I need to catch her quickly.

So, armed with apples, I offered her a whole one and she held it in her mouth knowing full well that if she ran, she would drop it and lose it to Hetja.  So I caught her.

Apples are obviously the way forward and they were on offer in the Co-Op so I stock-piled!

Floss and I brushed conditioner into manes and tails and I also trimmed their tails.

Next up, were the little ones.

Vitamin had spied the apples!

Fat chance – I kept them on the other side of the fence for distribution later.

We caught everyone, one at a time, and brushed their mane and tails, as well as a trim.

Waffle loved being brushed.  He “helped” a lot to the point of offering to put on his own headcollar!

Even Lyra was caught using the now (patent pending) apple method.

Lyra dropped her apple but it was too late – I had her and, while everyone else was helping me put on her headcollar (they do that),  Silver saw it, and stole it!

Well, an unwanted apple is fair game.

Tiddles has changed.  Tiddles thinks.

Tiddles is loved.

And Tiddles plays with his stick!

So everyone was made beautiful.

I must’ve cut at least 8″ off Fivla’s tail – she was walking on it and it annoyed her.

Just before we left, we distributed the rest of the apples.

Beautiful ponies.  The best of friends.