Vitamin and Fivla make me laugh. They can’t manage soaked hay as they don’t have the teeth for it anymore but they must have something. I was told to just give them a big bucket of Fast Fibre (Allen & Page) every morning and they could graze their way through it slowly.

Fat chance. It was gone in ten minutes! I tried again and gone just as quickly.  Food is food.

So, rather than leave the old ladies to digest all morning, I now feed them little and often – about every 2-3 hours with a smaller bucket of Fast Fibre.

I don’t want Vitamin to lose weight.

Meanwhile, everyone else wants a bucket of grub every 2-3 hours through the day.  Again, fat chance.  They get soaked hay and I have decided to reduce rations as it is not being finished.

Meanwhile, out in the fields there are three lurking Icelandic horses.  I go out daily with carrots to check no one has colic or laminitis.  Iacs farts his way towards me and everyone else moves well and looks good.

Haakon heard a motorbike in the far distance and did his best to look like a Przewalski’s horse ….

….. or a cave painting.

Iacs just did his best.  This winter he is favouring the woolly mammoth look.

And, well, Kolka was busy trying to hoover up all the small carrot bits everyone else had dropped. We can’t all look beautiful all of the time.

And tonight, after making a sheep.  My fan club awaited me.

I was followed to the Feed Shed.  Cupboard love.

This side in the shed are doing ok – no more lameness and good healthy appetites.  The odd runny poo but I am working on that with probiotics, etc and lots of bottom washing and tail brushing..

This lot are still mildly lame and ditto on the runny poo situation.

And these two are worrying me.  Fivla has been producing watery sludge, which I am nuking with probiotics, kaogel, a digestive equine supplement and buckets of sugar beet.  Today was the first day of a good solid poo and I may be just slightly obssessed with the state of everyone’s bowels.

Vitamin is still lame but perky – on the mend slowly.  She approves of buckets of food very much.

Lambie, for anyone who is missing him, is on top form.

As is ‘Bert.

Later this morning we had a break in the weather and, feeling rather neglectful about Gussie and Dahlia who have been so good these past few days coming down for their breakfast and then going straight back into their field with very little bother, I went to see them for a chat.

They were miles away in their field and I trudged over with my walking poles.

While Dahlia happily left her son to talk with me, I had a long chat with Gussie who couldn’t decide if he had reverted to being a wild sheep again or not.  He decided he didn’t want to be that sheep.

I sat on a peat bank and got a wet bottom as my waterproof trousers are not that waterproof.

But it was worth it to talk to Gussie who is all back to normal now and my best friend again.

I was sent home from Turriefield (volunteer veg packing) yesterday afternoon with a huge pile of unsellable carrots for anyone who liked them.  Floss and I took a good pile over to the Ancients as they are particularly partial.

Everyone asked nicely, there were no arguments and Flustice (Flossie plus justice, ie fair shares for all) was adhered to at all times.  Them’s the Rules.

(Iacs trying to look noble.  Haakon trying not to look).

Once finished, Kolka and Iacs followed us to the old rickety field gate.

I was just thinking to myself that Kolka was looking particularly beautiful when I thought I would take a few more photos of the typical pose – “horses standing at a gate”.

I was a fool to think it would work out.  Thank you, Iacs.

Slightly better.  Now, if they could both look at me.

And fail.  It always ends in bickering with those two.  We gave up and went home to build more electric fences on the track.

With everyone of the small pony variety in the shed, Floss and I went out to put the track’s electric fence back together so it was strong in the winter wind and, if the ponies went back outside ever again, it would be ready to go.

We took back a lot of the grazed areas and reattached everything to the wooden fence posts for extra security.  My trust in the ponies has totally gone now and I am also considering a second strand of wire too.  That’ll larn ’em, I thought to myself.

We also made sure no long grass touched the fence, moving the posts forwards so it was better aligned.  I mean business now.

Tomorrow, we are going to build two more fences across the track to cut off a boggy/muddy stretch as they hate wading through and Newt almost got stuck.  Although they will lose some potential grazing on the track, it will be a bit dryer.  The mud gets them down but I will not feel sorry for them. They will have the containers and they will have hay and that’s it.

Meanwhile, back in the shed, we have split the ponies up differently into those that are still very lame – Vitamin, Tiddles, Storm and Albie.

And those that are fine now but I am not taking any chances – Silver, Waffle, Newt and Waffle.

They seem to be managing perfectly well inside.

There are lots of kisses.

And silly faces.

If the latter four continue doing well, I might, just might, let them outside to the container paddock next.  My jury is still out on that decision.

Daisy made a brilliant Tiktok video yesterday and I felt inspired (turn up the volume for this because the dialogue is brilliant too).

So I made this wee filum just because I thought I would give it go on the old social media thingie, which I barely understand (read hopeless). Mine is not nearly as good.

Enjoy.