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!

It was a lovely morning, if windy, so I looked outside to see if the horses were around.

Yes, yes they were all outside but fast asleep having forgotten to leave an armed-guard against the potential tigers.

Feeling guilty, I took Haakon from the field and took him out for a ride.  I hate waking them up but the sun has been a rare commodity recently so I wanted to grab my moment.

We set off along the usual route.  I didn’t have to tell Haakon what to do – he knows his job.  So I plugged in my earbuds, put my hands in my pockets, sat back and enjoyed the view.

Poor boy, I may have been singing as we went along.  You know, that awful tuneless singing when you wear headphones and can’t hear yourself.

I was reminded of this clip…. and I got a funny look from a passing car driver!  But it was nice to get out and I feel refreshed, though poor Haakon probably feels deaf!

https://youtu.be/8VNoRECQJII

Afterwards, I took Lambie-borghini to the vet to be, cough, castrated.  Lambie was a huge hit with the staff on account of his cuteness overload.

He escaped the castration as there was nothing big enough to castrate.  This job will have to wait for another day.  Meanwhile he had another dose of antibiotics and painkillers to help his walking and Joint Ill.  Lambie weighed in at 1.6kg so he has gone up in weight. I can’t remember what he was before but he weighs more than before.

Lambie was very perky when he got home and took over the dog bed with a “dogged” determination.

Vote For Wu!

He promises not to look down on you too much.

He has a Moggifesto.  He believes in more food whenever he wants, especially lightly boiled white fish, open windows, turned up central heating and no Loki.

Especially No Loki, actually.

He would like to reiterate, No Loki.  Have you got that?

Meanwhile, Lambie’s physio is going badly.  It has just not been the weather to be outside.  I carried him under my coat this afternoon to see if we, ie the dogs and I, could get him going in the indoor school.

He looked very small all on his own.

But he did eventually get the gist. Ok, he is not gambolling yet but when the weather gets warmer, hopefully he will feel more inspired.

Questions I need the answer to:

Should he be trying to eat grass? Can I offer him grass I have picked from the garden?  What about water too?  I can’t leave him in the garden as it is too cold and windy at the moment.

Can I give him anything to get his joints a bit better?  He does look sore when he walks and this weather is not helping.  He hates being outside (I don’t blame him – I hate it too at the moment).

His bed was dripping in urine this morning.  Is this normal?  Do sheep sit in their own pee?  He also pees on the newspaper so I was surprised to find his bed drenched.

Any answers would be hugely appreciated.

We are all cold.  I don’t believe it is really Spring and there is a gale on its way to make everything worse.

Lambie-Borghini, who I think you will agree has grown, refuses to leave the warmth of the Rayburn, ever.  I don’t blame him.

Sometimes there is a bit of a queue for this amenity but everyone seems to share ok, if grudgingly.

I hate this weather – cold, damp, windy and sometimes raining.  It makes all my bones ache but I still have to look after my animals.

Taktur is fed daily his Muscular Handsome Prince food.  He needs to put on weight – muscle preferably.  He is not easy to keep weight on especially in this weather.  Hence the rug and I am not a rug person at all.

BeAnne’s lifelong ambition seems to be to turn herself into a muesli bar!

Once he had finished his grub, I returned Taktur to his waiting Fan Club.

Taktur instantly went in to try on their small shed.  He was happy to share it with his twin.  I think it is nearly impossible to tell them apart (from a distance).  Woah – look at that uncanny resemblance!

Little Storm loathes this weather.  He is always the last one to go outside and would hang around waiting to come in the house if he thought I would let him.

(sadly, OH says no, though I would in a shot).

So, I have spent the afternoon, having walked the dogs, staying mostly indoors taking photos of Lambie.  He is much cleaner now thanks to all your suggestions and he likes being brushed.

Lambie has the most beautiful long eyelashes.

And floofy wool – some of which is very curly-wurly (around his neck) and some is straight (body and head).

Should I comb his curls or leave them?

I was asked to help a lovely little lady this morning.  She arrived at 05:00 but hadn’t suckled from her mother despite everyone’s (mare and owner) best efforts.

So I went over at 10.00 to see if I could help.

The foal’s spirit was willing but the brain was not in gear at all.

Bless her, the foal was very easy and instantly tame but she just could not get the plot with this sucking thing, despite all our efforts.  Everywhere and anything, just not her mother’s teat.

The lights were on ……. (and Mum was certainly in the house, trying to help).

So we had to interfere and milk out the colostrum, give it to the foal in a bottle before she went downhill and then afterwards try to get her to latch on to her mother.

Once she had the bottle of colostrum and a little sleep, the foal tried to suck her mother’s armpits….

Then her own knees…..

And then she went under her mum, where we had been showing her for hours….. (note, she is missing the teat and sucking her mother’s fur, skin, anything…..)

It is so frustrating when they are like this because half of you does not want to interfere but the other half knows that foals must suck and fairly quickly too.

Et voilà!

Once the filly foal had suckled, we breathed a collective sigh of relief and left them to it.  I checked on them both a few hours later and everything still seemed fine.

Meanwhile, back to my life, little Lambie-Borghini is doing well.  He is walking, if oddly, and I am taking him out when the weather is nice for little walks.  He just runs back to the house like a heat seeking wind-up toy but, still, he walks.

He reminds me of a Star Wars AT-AT – All Terrain Armoured Transport

Well, he does!