Thank you for all your kind words and thoughts about Jack.  They are hugely appreciated and mean a great deal.

The family is all a bit at sea now our little black gargoyle has gone.  There is a level of noise that is missing (probably the snoring) and I still glance over to where his bed was, expecting to see him or wait to see him slowly trundling round the garden.

Here are a few films of Jack in his youth.  This is where he learned the word “dead” as he was very territorial and obsessed with toys.  He would collect them all up, put them in his bed and then sit on them like a hen waiting for her eggs to hatch.  I had to teach him when to let go or give his toys up.  Luckily, he liked to learn and do his best.  Clever boy.

Despite the fierce noises, he never bit anyone ever.  He was “very vocal”.

BeAnne used to run rings around Jack and he was very nice about it too.  They were good friends.

Loki is not himself at all.  He hates being the only dog in the house.  BeAnne spends most of her day outside keeping any potential marauders at bay so Loki, although he as not Jack’s best friend, appreciated the snoring canine in the corner.

BeAnne and Loki are almost playing now, which is not like them.  The pack dynamic has changed and it is also a bit tense.  I think there may be words, new lines drawn and then back to a truce.

Anyway, the best cure for missing someone is to go and hug someone(s) you love very very much.  Someone(s) who you can talk to and who understand.

It feels a long time ago.

Haakon is not allowed in the field as he is still lame.  His abscess, we think, is a result of an over-reach injury.  I clean it daily and spray it with terramycin spray.  Various unguents and potions have been bought today to promote hoof growth.

So every day, Haakon has a different friend to keep him company.  Today, it was Klængur and The Minions´turn.

Of course, as Haakon was making the silage bale his own close personal friend, the others left him to it and were resting out of the weather in his stable.

When I went in, I could immediately see Tiddles and Waffle were feeling tired.

But Silver and Storm were not.

They had that gleam in their eyes – the one that says one thing and one thing only – Mischief!

They played for in the stable without disturbing Waffle, Tiddles and Klængur who were nodding off around me.  I was sitting on the floor with Klængur standing over me.

Eventually Storm decided he didn’t want to play anymore, despite Silver’s best efforts.

So everyone stopped and went to sleep. Silence.  It was wonderful.  Just listening and feeling the soft breathing of the snoozing ponies.

Sadly it didn’t last very long and off they went again!  Bounce, bounce, bounce!

Goodnight Jack, sleep well. xx

The weather is alternating between gales, horizontal rain and occasional wintry showers.

Last week, I was feeling sorry for the horses/ponies and we dragged a big bale of silage over to Thordale.

Because I wanted to keep Haakon off the mud and let his hoof dry out a bit, I let him and a friend of his choice have free access to the bale.  They were very happy to oblige.

For the last few days, the forecast has been particularly tiresome, I let everyone up to attack the bale.

Then last night at 3am, I woke up to the rain hammering down while the wind thundered.  I pottered off to the bathroom and suddenly thought “I wonder if the stable door is open?”  It was then I realised it was shut and my poor Minions were having to stand outside.

I could not go back to sleep knowing this.

So being me, in my bedtime t-shirt, I put on my survival suit, a pair of boot liners as socks, a pair of boots, a hat, armed myself with a lantern and went outside.

The door of the stable was shut. I had been right so I wedged it open and went to look for my boys.  I had to walk round the big shed and eventually found them standing with the big boys, using them for shelter.

Tiddles and Storm they followed me to the stable and went in.

Phew!

Knowing they could escape from the weather if they wanted, I went home, divested myself of my waterproof outer layers, hung them up off the ceiling rafters to dry and went back to bed.

I could not have slept knowing my little boys were out in the rain with no real shelter.

Last week, I was contacted on the phone by a German film company (ZDF).  They wanted to film a Shetland pony being driven in harness and/or maybe ridden.

As you know, we spent Saturday fetching home Andy and Fivla.  Sunday morning was spent washing the cart and harness, brushing Andy and taking him for a test-run.

Then, on Sunday evening, I received an email saying that our filming was cancelled as “it just all got a bit too tight” (whatever that means).

So that is us.  Sitting here on Monday, having done all the work for absolutely bloody nothing.

And it was work.

The harness, cart and Andy do not clean themselves.

And it has cost us money – a Land Rover towing a trailer does not run off fresh air.

We will return the ponies to their loan home and tell them in our eyes they are stars but I don’t think folk appreciate just how much work goes into providing animals for filming.  There is a great deal of behind-the-scenes effort so that the pony you see is 100% perfect for the job required.

To say we are greatly pissed off, is to put it mildly.

They could’ve offered to pay for our diesel.