So, where are the Minions right now?

They were happily in the hill park 4 miles away.   We check them daily and everything was fine.

Today, Floss and I went over so Floss could say goodbye.  We counted and counted again.  We worked out that 2 (Fivla and Waffle at home)  and 5 (Lyra, Storm, Delia, Vitamin and Storm) make 7.  So who was missing?

OMG!  Tiddles.

He was nowhere.

Floss walked in one direction and I walked in the other.  This is a very big hill park separated into two fields.  In the other field is a sink hole that has been fenced off.

I was praying as I walked over the hill to the sink hole and there next to it I saw two nostrils, two eyes and two ears floating in another hole that was full of water and Tiddles.

I put my coat under his head, to keep it above water.  Next, I got one leg out but the sides of the sink hole were sheer.  Dear Tiddles didn’t panic and I had no idea how much time we had.  He had been there a long time and wasn’t trying.

Flossie came over the hill having found nothing and ran to help.  She took off her coat too and managed to fall in too. I hauled her out.  Visibly shaken, Floss helped me get Tiddles’ other front leg out and we put her coat under them to keep them out of the water.  It didn’t do much good, but it was an idea.

And then we took a front leg each and we pulled.  We bloody well pulled.  We would pull, and Tiddles would move an inch out of the water and I would sit down.  Get up, say one, two, three and pull again.

A million years later (it seemed like it), we pulled Tiddles out of the sink hole.  He managed to shakily stand up and I supported him while Flossie ran for the phone in the car to summon help.  She phoned home (no answer, left a message) and she phoned the nearest someone with a horse box.  No joy there.

While she was away, Tiddles started to nibble grass and wibbly wobbly walk.  I left her with him trying to get Tiddles back to the main herd who were near the gate while I went to fetch the horsebox, Daisy, rugs and headcollars.

Upon our return, Tiddles (and Flossie) were with the main herd.  With a space blanket and a rug on, Tiddles came home with Silver and Storm.

What to do?  Toweled vigorously, given hard feed, Danilon (he is stiff on his back legs) and put on his thick winter rug.  The others are next door so Tiddles can see them and share his hay but he can also have peace and quiet too.

My back hurts.  It hurts very much.

More healing vibes please – firstly for Tiddles and secondly for my back.  They are never going back to that field.

Floss and I went to Brae to get some barley straw (this year’s cut) and wood shavings for bedding.

As it is Floss’ last week, she goes back up to Oxford on Wednesday, I treated her to fish and chips at Frankie’s – No.1 Fish & Chip Shop in the UK in the National Fish & Chip Awards (2015) and it is on our doorstep.  Get in!  So we did.  It would be rude not to.

We went the scenic route and I stopped to take photos of Autumn in Shetland and to prove we have a few proper trees here too.

It was a lovely lunch.  We loaded the van with straw/bedding and then we went home.

Now Taktur and Kappi are back in Clothie.  They are very unimpressed but this will stop Taktur wrecking the fences and gazing at the girls.

Albie and his stepmother are in the field behind the house (Lambie’s ex field).  I want it eaten down so Fivla can live there.

The Maternity Unit has moved to a field with lots of grass.  Only mothers-to-be and milking mothers need apply.

Haakon, Iacs and Klængur are in the hill park.  20 acres to themselves.  It is half hill and half grass.  That should keep them going for a while.

Darling little BeAnne is a trooper.  She tries all the time to do everything she used to.  She has mastered the stairs and can walk up them sideways while I walk behind her ready to catch.

However, BeAnne can’t walk downstairs, as the stairs are too steep but we will put non-slip tape down and see if that helps.

However, she managed to jump up onto the sofa (yes, I don’t care) by doing a sort of Fosbury Flop. Whatever works.

And this is now the view from my kitchen window.

Lovely.

There is no denying that little Fivla is a heffalump and this is not good for her health.  I am worried.

I thought the Fat Fighters Field would be enough but, in retrospect, I think more drastic action is needed.

So, with Waffle as her companion in the fight against flab, Fivla said goodbye to her friends and came home.

They live in a stable with a small soaked haynet for company.

This is severe horse dieting is a severe learning curve for me.

Fivla has a three times a day fitness routine.  She can walk energetically or trot around the outside of the indoor school.

Waffle was unimpressed.

There was no motivation so Floss motivated.  Waffle looked into that bucket every time he went round.  It is there to collect dripping rainwater.  The contents never once changed into chocolate cake.

This is a necessity.  It may appear unkind but if it saves Fivla’s health, then it is essential we all stick to this.  Waffle will not stay long.  He will be swapped out for the next fatty after a few days.

Fivla has never been this fat.  The cresty neck looks horrid and has to go.  I am scouring the internet looking for information.  Apparently I need to feed her 1.5% ideal bodyweight in soaked hay.  Does anyone have any idea what her ideal bodyweight would be?  She is 36″.

I may be wrong, and please correct me if I am, but this evening we have put Fivla and Waffle out for an hour in the starvation paddock so they can have some fresh air and a little grass.

I can’t decide if Fivla is lame or just poddling.  She is the same on both reins.  First I think it is her front left and then when she changes direction, it looks like her front right.  She doesn’t find it difficult to walk and happily walks and trots around the school (unlike Waffle who grumbled every inch).

What to do.  All advice and suggestions gratefully received.

“We’re thin now.  Please can we come home?”

Yes. we found the fatties all congregating by one gate pretending they were there for a drink of water.  Yer right.

I have my knitted fence (Patent Pending) already situate and working well in the loch.  This was initially created to stop Iacs from going down on his knees and crawling out.  I know he was considering this during his stay at Fat Fighters this Spring.

Floss was busy reconstructing a gate that had been “tampered” with so small wide ponies could not go a-wandering.

Obviously there were offers of help.

And obviously, they were appreciated!

“You’re doing that wrong!”

While Floss was busy, I pottered about putting other fences right and took a few jolly little snaps.

Mother and daughter.  So beautiful.

Our darling little fairy pony, Fivla.

She always remembers and adores Flossie, her owner.

The many faces of wicked!

Our venerable old lady.

Here is the yummy yummy Fat Fighters Field in Autumn.  It has some pretty heather and a smidgen of grass if little fat ponies really look for it.  Ideal.

This is the last photo I took.  That gate doesn’t stand a chance but we tried and tomorrow we will return with better ammunition, sorry fence construction materials!

From Vet Extra Neurology, Broadleys Veterinary Hospital

Finding of the neurological examination:

BeAnne had evidence of right fore and hind limb paresis consistent with either a brainstem injury or a high neck injury.  BeAnne would also tend to curve her body to the right, and ther was a tendency to circle to the right.

MRI confirmed the presence of a traumatic disc extrusion in the high neck (between the 2nd and 3rd neck vertebrae, with right-sided spinal cord damage…..

Diagnosis:

Right-sided traumatic disc extrusion in the upper neck.  There is moderate to severe spinal cord bruising…..

…. I would expect BeAnne to slowly improve over the next few months, but there is likely to always be some right thoracic and pelvic limb weakness or incoordination.  Beyond the how (?) severely  affected BeANne was at presentation, and the severity of the changes on MR imaging, there is no other way of knowing whether BeAnne will improve, and to what extent BeAnne will improve.  We can only wait and see. In some dogs there is unfortunately a poor improvement.

Treatment:

BeAnne should be encouraged to exercise on soft (non-abrasive) surfaces so that she does not damage the tops of her paws as a result of dragging them.  BeAnne may benefit from some support with a harness until she is strong enough to support herself.  There should be a gradual improvement over the next few weeks.

While I write this, BeAnne is sleeping in her bed under my desk covered with her favourite blankie.  When I went to feed Albie his lunch, she pottered about outside but stayed with Lambie in the stable instead of following me to the field.  She waits to be carried over the hard ground and I put her down onto the soft grass.

(from BeAnne’s medical report by Jacques Penderis’)

A huge thank you to everyone at Broadleys for their superb care of my precious heaven.

Darling little BeAnne.  She did her absolute best – brave and wonderful.  I am so proud of her.