Bergli Stud, my neighbour, have had their first foal.  Of course, I had to go over with my camera.  Just try and stop me.

There, behind the wall, was a miniature skewbald filly foal called “Tilly”.

Sire: Tibru of Berry
Dam: Kutie of Houlland

So some very old Shetland pony breedlines there and very a nice combination too.

Tilly was born this morning.  She was expected but not quite today – a little early but a wonderful surprise, none the less.

Floss and I went to visit Tilly and Kutie and quickly fell in love.

Now, Floss and I need to work on some distraction techniques so we can steal Tilly away.

She has already started tölting so will quickly fit in with my herd.

No one will even know she is with us (she already tölts better than some Icelandic horses I know).

Anyway, Tilly is heaven with whiskers.

We luff the whiskers and the expressive eyes.

When I see any young animal stretch out, I always say to myself “stretch and grow, stretch and grow”.

Anyway, welcome to the world, Bergli Tilly.  You are divine and very special.

Anni Stonebridge, saddle fitter, was up in Shetland and had been booked, by her owner, to come to see Esja.

I just stood on the edge, watching and taking photos.

The Boysenberries were also present, offering their support as well as their unique type of expertise (just in case, because you never know when you will need two sheep while you fit a saddle and no, I do not mean sheepskin lined saddlecloths – that would be morally wrong!)

Anywho, there was much expertise going on and we all watched.

Tt resulted in Anni saying that Klængur’s Black Country Frelsi was the best saddle for Esja, at this moment in time.  Esja is young and she may change shape as she develops and is ridden.

Esja agreed with everything Anni said, taking a interest in the whole saddle-fitting process.

Ster just looked on, just checking everything was going right…..

….. while Lambie mentally added his two penn’orth (two pence worth).   He knows these things – ever the expert.

Anni gave Esja and her owner a brief riding lesson – Esja is going very nicely with her new owner.  They have a good relationship and it is lovely to watch this grow.

NEW:  On the right-hand side of the blog are my three shops – Boysenberries, Thordale (Zazzle) and Redbubble.  If you want something specifically designed, give me a shout.

⾺ 🐴 🐎 🏇🏻 ⽝ 🐶 🐕 骁 🐱 😾🐈 ⽺ 🐑

NEW PAGE: MyShetland MyShop 

In 2009, I had a touring exhibition with the Bonhoga Gallery called The Nature of the Njuggle.

These original signed photos are now for sale.

If you are interested, please email me – frances@fstaylor.co.uk – and I will let you know the prices.  They are not costly but some are mounted and some are not – I would even consider a donation to The Minions’ feed bill.

Measurements:
Photo –  8″ x 4″ (20.32 cm x 10.16 cm)
Whole piece, mounted in white mount, – 15 ¾” x 12″ (40 cm x 30 cm)
Unmounted photo – A4 – 8.3″ x 11.7″ (29.7 cm 21 cm)

Waves

Backs

Feather

Thistledown

Nosey

Seeds

Beach pebble

Icicles

Twists

Autumn

Seaweed Ripples

Look who I found asleep in the silage bale yesterday?

Fast a bye-byes, snoring gently to himself.

Little Hjalti woke up briefly…..

But, having acknowledged it was only me and my camera, he lay down ….

….. and went straight back to sleep – Zzzzzz…..

I had to physically stop myself from kissing his velvety nosey – his soft precious magical nosey.

I love this photo.  Hetja will always love her little boy and look out for him.

And this is the face of foal who knows his mother is standing over him.

Not a care in the world.  His head full of dreams.

The rest of the herd were resting too.  Some lying down, some standing up but everyone relaxed.

And then Esja lay her head next to Hjalti’s.

Life is precious and mostly snoring!

Flossie has a new job.- she is now officially Taktur’s exercise buddy.

We want Taktur to put on more muscle (not flab) and the only way is to walk and walk and walk him round and round the school to 1980’s disco music.  The music is important as there is a good working beat to walk to.

Ten minutes in one direction, encouraging Taktur to walk as fast as he can manage without breaking into trot/tölt, on a loose rein so he stretches down too.

Turn on the forehand.

And then ten minutes in the other direction.

It is good for both Taktur and Flossie.  Taktur will get more muscle and Flossie will achieve a better seat, learning how to move her body in time with the horse’s movement.

After the twenty minutes, they can both relax!

Bjørn, our trainer, taught Flossie exactly what he wanted her to do.

He talked her through the whole process, telling her what should be achieved.

I have put up this photo to show you that although Floss has her concentrating face on, she adored riding Taktur and says it will not be a chore to exercise him almost every day for 20 minutes.

Today, I sat in with her while she exercised Taktur, just to keep an eye, after all this is a vicious stallion who could kill her at any time (NOT), and as she was absolutely fine, I will leave her to get on with her new job.