I seemed to be the only person with any diesel in a four-wheel drive today (the local shop has run out which results in a 20 minute drive to find any).  So, as it was the day my neighbour wanted to put his stallions out with his mares, I volunteered to help, leaving Lambie with my neighbour.  She had very kindly offered to look after him when I was stealing rhubarb from her garden!

The handsome Alex was looking forward to meeting his mares and has been shouting his mouth off at the stallion/mare combo in the opposite field for a few days.  He was ready for his girls.

So we gave Alex three beautiful mares to entertain.

So he said he couldn’t get over the stream and he was stuck.

This is a very small stream that Alex has crossed to and fro happily for the past few weeks with his friends.  Today, he couldn’t.  So we left him to work it out for himself, confident that by the time we returned, he would’ve had it sussed and gone over to introduce himself.

The next trip involved taking two mares to Lyra’s beautiful dad, Zain of Berry.  Lyra is Vitamin’s daughter and Indy’s half sister.

That visit went well.  Zain was very happy to see ladies and rushed over.

The mares were suitably impressed to see Zain and we left them to it.

Zain is a lovely boy and such a gorgeous colour.

But, when we returned home, Alex will still by himself and still had not worked out how to jump the teensy-weensy stream.

*** sigh *** – he might work it out one day.

The lovely Hetja yesterday.  She is pregnant and could be due in June, though I am still sucking my teeth and wondering whether it might not be July.  She just doesn’t look like a mare who will be giving birth next month.

It will be her first foal so I might be very wrong.

Hetja is our only mare who will foal this year and I can’t wait to meet her baby.

I know one horse who is going to miss her desperately when she is away for her maternity confinement and that is Esja.  She adores Hetja.  When they travelled together from Iceland, Hetja took on the role of her mother.

I am not sure how we will manage to split them up, to be honest.  Esja has been known to jump over fences to get to Hetja.

Esja is a very determined girl and I don’t think it would be a good idea for her to be with Hetja when she foaled.

She could be very jealous of Hetja’s new foal.

Hopefully we can take Esja’s mind off losing her best friend by starting her training.

She is ready now and it will be interesting to see how she progresses.

While I was in Sandness taking photos of the girls, there was a flock of shalders (oystercatchers) arguing between themselves.

BeAnne is not a huge fan of the field with Esja and Hetja as she tends to be chased so she opted to stay outwith (and sulk, and refuse to get back into the car).  Yes, that is BeAnne, the dot by the brown painted fence in the far distance.  Can you feel the waves of resentment eminating?

BeAnne gives a good resent – she has had much practice!

Just because I can, Lambie had his first photoshoot today.

Spring is here and tomorrow is a day of shite so I wanted to make the most of what colour there is in the garden before it is all blown away or drowned.

Lambie was very professional, a natural, of course.

I think I might be doing this a few more times.  Well, you know me!

In the outside world, there are foals everywhere.  I am very jealous and still nip down looking for any opportunity to talk to them and take photos.

I had a long chat with this little lady, Vida Rose.  She is enchanting….

and very smart ….

and we luffs each other.

If I didn’t have all my boys and Minions, she might go missing in the middle of the night – just sayin’. I suspect I will be fighting Daisy off her too when she comes home.

This time of year everyone (including me) looks scruffy.  This is because it can get very cold and it would be wrong to strip the winter coat from a pony that lives outside.  We had a nasty monsoon-style downpour of rain this afternoon.

Anyway, the grass is growing and everyone looks exhausted from lambing and foaling.  The National Sport in Shetland, this time of year.

This little chap has just been born today and he is spending the first few hours of his life unravelling, stretching and finding his feet.  He belongs to my neighbour’s Shetland Stud – Bergli.

I popped by with some pathetic excuse so I could get to snog a foal!

And I found the very candidate – Little Miss Thickie or Bergli Vida Rose as she is officially known.  She was the one we taught how to suck from her mother a few day’s back.  As you you can see, she has very obviously got the plot as she is now covered with her mother’s milk.

Vida Rose is probably one of the tamest foals I have ever met.  I sat down, she stood in front of me and I spent not nearly long enough kissing her nosey and telling her how gorgeous she is.

Vida Rose doesn’t think the world is mean or horrid and she is desperate to talk to another foal, so we watched her try and make friends with the latest arrival, the colt foal.

She could see no reason why not.

This was until her mother marched in and told the colt’s mother just what she thought of them trying to lure her beloved daughter away.

She then gave her errant daughter “The Look” (the one we mothers know well) and marched off.  Poor little Vida.  I hope her mother lets her make friends with the others soon.

Spring is back. Yay.

We all spent a lovely day outside soaking up the sunshine.

Lambie is feeling much better and wants to be out and about if we are outside.  He is very energetic and runs as fast his little leggies will allow him, bleating “wait for me”.  I was feeding Taktur his daily food and thought I would let them meet each other.   Once Taktur had finished, he was intrigued by this little mite that had dropped down to sit by his front hooves.  He was very gentle in his introduction to Lambie.  What a dear boy.

Once I had put Taktur back in his field, I let The Minions out as I wanted to brush their manes and tails, pick out their feet and trim and tidy up their ears.   First they met Lambie and were very curious.  Everyone was strictly supervised and I kept my beady eye on them all, thinking only of Lambie’s safety.

When Waffle thought about seeing if Lambie would play with him, I scooped my precious bundle away and put him in the safety of the garden.  I popped back later to find a new boy band was being formed!

A busy day for all.

Awwwww!