The Minions are very well, very happy and very enthusiastic about everything and everyone.

But……. they need to be castrated for a number of reasons:-

1.  Their growth has been stunted and they are of no use for breeding.

2.  I would hate them to fall into the wrong hands and someone to think they were small and therefore perfect to use as stallions in the miniature Shetland pony market.  Both Waffle and Silver are standard Shetland ponies.

3.  There are far too many Shetland pony stallions, licensed, vetted or registered out there who should or should not be used for breeding.

4.  They will have a much easier life as geldings and can be incorporated into any herd we want.

5.  I could do with a peaceful life.

So I have  arranged for them all to be castrated on 18th June at Sandness, where there are stables and a small paddock they can go into afterwards.   The Minions will be moved over the night before and Daisy and I will scrub out the stable with Fam 30 (Multi-Purpose Iodophor Disinfectant).  They will remain in Sandness for a few days to recover and then return to Thordale.

For those that have asked about their heights (they are all one year old btw):-

Silver – is 31.5″ tall

Waffle is 32″.

And Storm is 29″. (I’ve owned bigger dogs).

While The Minions are being castrated, we will take some scissors/clippers to them and get the rest of the tats off.  They will get a good going over ready for summer so they don’t think that all we do is pull fur off them.  I can see them beginning to resent us for doing this.

So that is what I intend, as a responsible owner of 3 rescued but under-developed/stunted little boys.  They can live their lives out having fun without any hormones getting in their way.

I hope that all makes sense. I want to be a responsible parent.

BeAnne is obsessed.

She loves her bally-ball no matter what.  It goes everywhere with her at the moment.

We don’t dare take it away from her.  No one would dare.

Meanwhile, Taktur is still in love.  However, it is not reciprocated.

Klaengur is beginning to get a bit pissed off by his friend’s behaviour so he decided to tell him.

Despite the obsession and the infatuation, Daisy and I had some time today riding or working with the horses.

I am starting Klanegur again as he has had so much time off work.  It has not done him any harm, apart from his waistline, and hopefully we can retune his brain into thinking more relaxed thoughts.

It was lovely spending “quality time” (yuck to that phrase) with the boys in the summer sunshine.  A perfect Sunday in my eyes.

I honestly do not miss shops, a social life or material things as long as I have my horses nearby to talk to.

Oh yes, and Bjørn rode Taktur and he was very happy with him.   Not bad for a 5 year old stallion.

I love Shetland summers.  So much gets done without the interference of bad weather.  It was a long winter.

Today was a very important day…the day to return Klaengur to Thordale, so he could start his exercise again (seems like a foreign concept to him right now) and lose some weight.

Our first stop was Jo’s to drop off Fakur and collect Klaengur.

We unloaded him from the trailer and (re)introductions were made.

Taktur didn’t seem to remember his travel buddy from Iceland. Instead Klaengur was exotic and exciting and smelled like girls. Taktur was smitten (if not a bit confused).

There was much squealing. Anyone would think they sounded like a bunch of girls at a Justin Bieber concert. Uncanny.

Meanwhile, Hakon and Iacs remained apart from all the drama, preferring to watch from a distance. A very wise choice. One has to watch out for those bloody kids nowadays.

The love story continued between Taktur and Klaengur.

I think Taktur will eventually work out that Klaengur is not the woman for him.

But a girl can dream…

Next, the minions decided to make themselves known with much giggling and running up and down the fences.

And love continued to blossom in the face of adversity.

And the bottom…

Klaengur will just have to get used to this unwanted attention and of course the adoration of his new fans.

Welcome home, Klaengur! The summer is only just beginning and it should be a good one.

I went for a walk in the fields today, armed with the camera (obviously).

The Summer flowers are just beginning to start flowering while the Spring ones are dying down.

I should really know all their names but I will be honest, I don’t.  However, I do appreciate them all, and think they are very special.  Every year, when they do appear, it is like seeing old friends.  There are no new species.  Just the same but still beautiful.

I have identified them so far but could be wrong…

If you want to educate me, send me the list and I will put it at the bottom of the blog.

Marsh Marigold
Bog Cotton or Common Cotton grass
Cuckooflower
Early Marsh-Orchid
Common Dog Violet (?)
Heath Spotted-orchid
Ragged-Robin
Field Forget-me-not
Dunno
Spring Squill
Meadow Vetcling or Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil
Red Campion

And Fakur fast asleep in the sun.  It was very hot, for us.  Too hot and I was quite crabby while BeAnne ate grass and made constant sick noises.

Oh yes, and I met a froggie as well.  And now I am off to look up said froggie to identify him.

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I am thinking he is a common froggie but still, I do like him (or her) very much.

It is very hot here – 18 degrees centigrade – so we went to the beach.  I love the beach and am always the one at the back loitering with the camera.

Out of nowhere my OH produced a tennis ball for BeAnne.  This is rarely any wood.

The Arctic Terns are back.  There were only a few screeching above us.  They are very quick and not easy to photograph.

I crept up on this Shalder – Shetland dialect for Oyster Catcher.

The beautiful sea pinks are just beginning.

The path to the beach was a fabulous place for the Shetland Bumblebee (Bombus muscorum agricolae)

I have been asked to take photos of my girls from Iceland.  So here they are.  Here is Hetja.  My mare and soon-to-be wife of Taktur.

She is a darling girl who will make the loveliest mother.  She “adopted” Esja when they travelled over together from Iceland.

Esja is growing up fast.  She is 3 years old this year but still an inquisitive baby in her head.

Some Icelandic horses are started in their third year and turned away but Esja is definitely not ready for this and we will wait a year for her to “grow up” in her head.

Anyway, it was lovely to see my beautiful girls.

Klængur is err, cough, umm…… (hides head in shame) …… very, very, very FAT!  We are going to bring him back to Thordale tomorrow.  I am tempted to put him in with The Minions so they will chase and chase him until he loses some weight.  But work will begin as I think he looks like a miniature Suffolk Punch Horse.  He is still very loving, though.