Good face

Good face

Plotting face (note the winter belly – I am so pleased).

Putting-evil-plan-into-action Face

Very Evil Plan.  Chasing sheep.  Not A Good Thing.  We had Words.

Who us?

What did we do?

Giggling.

Smirking

Sniggering

Annoying

Irritating

Intermission-ing

With a spot of dressage or trotting round together vaguely in step – ok, I am easily pleased.

But peace did not last very long

They were in a playing mood and Minions “just wanna have fun”.

Dear little Silly Billy Boys but bad boys for chasing sheep.

I’ve just remembered that we got Tiddles about this time last year.  He has come a very long way (mentally) and I am so pleased.  I did wonder last winter if he would ever come out of his depressed little world.

Today was meant to be Esja’s first ride outside but it started to rain and not just a brief shower, proper soak-you-to-the-skin type rain.  No one likes particularly going out.  Rain dripping off the brim of your hat and the tip of your nose makes me very unhappy.

We will got out another day.  So we were back in the school.

This was Esja’s first step with weighted boots on. She lifted up both front feet, one at a time, to find out why they felt different!  She is also shod on her fronts.

It did not take long for Esja to get used to the boots and she went happily along in them – especially in tölt – the four-beat lateral Icelandic gait.

Esja is working very hard trying to find out which leg goes where, why and how best to carry her rider.

Her trainer, Bjørn Roar Larsen, and I are very pleased with Esja’s progress.

Afterwards, we free-lunged Klængur.  He is not very fit and I am working on this as well as trying to help him, without my fat arse on his back.

I have discovered that it is very difficult, nay impossible, to photograph and lunge a horse at the same time so I asked Bjørn to show me what he wanted me to do while I took photos of the outcome.

Trotting.  I don’t do trot.  Haakon has never trotted in his life (apart from when he saw a mare and then floated across the yard like a dream a hundred years ago).  My back hurts if my horse trots.  I would probably get off and walk home.  But trot is useful and Klængur has a beautiful trot which I should encourage as it helps all the other gaits too.

I love Klængur – he always gives 100% to any job asked.

Horse in a million ❤

There is rarely a day in Shetland when it’s beauty does not shine through.

The skies in winter are particularly dramatic and I am always slamming on the car brakes and reaching for my camera.  This is my view of Foula from the track to our croft.

My neighbour’s car died in the village a few days’ back so I took him to do some messages.

What is your view like from the waiting room in your doctors’ surgery?  Pretty damn good?

Afterwards, I drove over to see the girls taking some carrots to shovel in.  This perfectly normal hill puddle looked magical in the setting winter sun.

The days are very short now (the longest night is in just over a month and then the days will get longer again – yay!)

Everyone had hard feed this afternoon and some rugs were removed.  Calm weather is forecast for the next few days with maybe snow on Friday.

I am trying not to rely too much on rugs for the horses. I hate rugging and but somehow I have become someone who rugs, justifying why a few ponies need it more than others.

Little Himself, aka Hjalti is doing well.  He is growing and continues to burn up his energy playing crocodiles (face fighting) with Silver and Waffle.

Hetja is much more accepting of her little herd now.  Everyone eats from everyone else’s buckets and there is no arguing.  The respect of Hetja, as herd leader, is taken as said. No more Shetland ponies testing the limits of her patience.

Not sure if I am dreading snow or looking forward to it really.

I drive over every day to see how the girls are getting on. I am sure they can hear my car approaching.

I took Delia’s rug off as I wanted to get a good idea of what was going on.  Probably one of the sweetest old dears but she always manages to resemble an enraged dragon in all photos.

Once Delia’s rug was off, I gave her a good brush , trimmed her tail and secretly fed her more carrots.  For an old lady, she has a very good appetite.  I don’t think she looks too bad and I re-rugged her because of the disintegrating weather (this was yesterday).

Under that rug is a furnace.  She is very cozy and I am hoping it is helping.

So after sorting out Delia, I caught Vitamin, gave her a bit of a brush and a tail trim.  She was very cooperative and never stopped talking to me.  She says “wooh, wooh, wooh” all the time and her nose wuffles!  It is only polite to respond.

Then it was Lyra’s turn.  She had been hanging around all the time, offering to help, move brushes, pick up things, etc.  Then the minute I wanted to catch her, she was off so I told her to sod off then and ate the last carrots myself making sure I crunched loudly at her!

She doesn’t look bad and she is Daisy’s problem anyway.

Today has looked mostly like this.

I was going to call this post “Grooming the Girls” but somehow that sounded very, very wrong!

“A day between weathers” or “atween wadder” (Shetland dialect) is what folk say up here for what we have had today.  A slight reprieve, before it all starts over again tonight.

The horses are exhausted from the last 48 hours but so I gave them a big meal to make up for it.

Rugs were taken off Storm and Taktur.  Everyone was drying off.

Taktur spent his morning gazing at Hetja in the other field.  She, of course, took absolutely no notice and continued to stuff her face.

Rather than disturb them by fussing, brushing and riding or lungeing, I left everyone to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Stormy weather is exhausting.

Tiddles made it his mission to own and personally eat the entire contents of the lick bucket.  He was wearing quite a lot of it while I was in the field taking photos.

We have had Lambster a whole week.  My OH remarked, when I mentioned this “Oh, really? I thought he has been here forever”, which I shall take as a huge compliment to Lambster as he has fitted in very quickly.

He is definitely one of the boys now.  He looks less bewildered and has learned how to bleat.  He can’t run yet – his legs don’t seem to go in the right order but he is happy to follow Lambie and Lambert about in a fast walk yelling for them to wait for him, which of course they don’t.

(I removed the blade of grass which I think was some sort of initiation rite by Lambert – I have my suspicions!)

And so off we go again. The next storm is on its way and I don’t think anyone is looking forward to it.