Do you remember this dog?  Daisy and I travelled down to Elgin to collect Loki in the middle of July.

This is my first photo when we met Loki at Brumley Brae Cattery and Kennels.  He was an aloof little thing who was shut down and not listening.  He didn’t have much concept of actually wanting to please or be part of the family.  Why should he?  What had he seen?  We will never know.

This is Loki yesterday….

He has a grown a good winter coat, put on 2 kgs, had his bits off and is much better about the cat.  Best of all, he has fairly good recall and can be walked off a lead.

I will admit that we have had our ups and downs as well as some discussions about ‘haviour and disappearing.  There were a few unmentionables too like attacking Jack but we are putting that behind us now.

We trust Loki far more, but we set him up to succeed rather than take anything for granted.   Food is not left out anywhere.  Doors are shut. He feels safe in a routine and religiously comes upstairs every morning to have his daily crust from my breakfast of Marmite on toast.  He has lovely manners.

It has taken a while for Loki to settle.  He adores my OH and asks to go for a walk and then he runs and runs, always keeping OH in sight.  He listens (Loki, not OH) if you say no to jumping over fences and knows which ones are ok and which ones are boundaries.  He has caught and eaten numerous rabbits, which is what it is all about for a lurcher.

At the beginning, there was a moment when I seriously wondered what I had done but I am quietly confident that Loki is a good dog who is starting to feel like part of our family now.

Unlike Celt, who wobbled at the slightest whiff of Shetland weather, Loki doesn’t notice the cold or rain at all.

(and he has stopped chasing the ponies!)

WARNING – photo overload!

An old friend, Bessie, phoned me this morning.  She offered herself and her car at my disposal to take me for a drive with my camera.  It is something I used to do regularly and miss.  So I scootered quickly out to her waiting car and off we set, with me yelling “STOP” every minute, or “REVERSE” when I had missed an opportunity.  We must have been out and about for a couple of hours.  Shetland in autumn is glorious.  The summer colours have changed everything quickly and I doubt my photos show the true visual treat we saw on our travels.

Bessie calls sheep “Woolly maggots”.  Shetland sheep are everywhere on the open scattald (hill, or common grazing).  This photo is to prove her maggoty theory.

Then off to see my ponios.  It was the darling boys first and they were miles away in their enormous field so I shouted and they appeared!

Some faster than others – the galloping thud of hooves was wonderful.

They seem to be getting on fine even when there was jealousy over a stray brassica (where did that come from?)

Next, the ladies.  This is their field and it shows just how scattered about they are.

Zoot – “who me?”

Fivla was perfection, of course, ever the fairy-tale pony.

They all came rushing over when they saw us.

Bessie wanted to meet the ponies, while I sat in the car snapping.   She has known Fivla since a foal.

I love the faces of the ponies as they surveyed the mini version of BeAnne, called Mootie (Shetland dialect. adj – very small; often used for a child as a term of affection, peerie mootie ting.)

Zoot, of course, was happy to chat.  She loves people and her inquisitiveness for all things new never fades.

Mootie is enchanting, just very very small!

It was lovely to have a drive out and especially to see my ponies. They all look very well, fat and ready for winter.  I shan’t worry about them.

Lovely, lovely Shetland ponies.  I wish they could all live in my house!  Wouldn’t that be perfect?

Taktur started his training today after a long summer holiday.  He needed this time to grow up.

I have missed seeing the horses up close and this is about as near to them as I get every few days.  I find it very difficult at times and miss everything about them.

Bjørn fetched Taktur in (OH had kindly ushered them into the paddock nearby) and got him ready for training.

How many stallions would you hand to someone to hold who is sitting down with a leg in plaster and effectively useless?  Taktur stood there, ever the gentleman, and we passed the time of day.  I sneaked a good snog – that furry nosey smell and warm stallion breath.  It should be a prescribed medecine.

The light was going and my camera was running out of batteries (now on full charge for tomorrow) but I managed a few shots before it died.

I asked Bjørn if Taktur has still “got it” and apparently he has.  As young horses mature, you never can know just what they will grow into.  Upon advice, I would geld him.  I don’t like breeding from an average stallion.  He must have the wow factor and the temperament.  Time will tell.

Bjørn free-schooled Taktur for a short while just to see his movement and gaits.  All these things change and nothing is written in stone.  His trot is still lovely.  All good.

It is not just my opinion that decides Takur’s future.  We will see how his training goes and make decisions later. I do love him very much, though he sniffed BeAnne on the top of her head and she told him what she thought in no uncertain terms.

Taktur has grown and matured.  He still has some more to do.  Lovely broad shoulders!

One night in March 2008, I was going through the death-row photos on Equinsection, a heart-wrenching website, when suddenly two little black button eyes looked back at me. Well, that was it, I had to save Charlot.

His description:
Charlot, 4 year old chestnut gelding
Height approximately 1.5m (43 inches)
Microchipped
Is friendly, but nervous

He arrived at Lerwick pier on 1st April 2008 and stayed with us until October 2010, when my back first went.

In the two years we had him, we tamed him down and worked with him, within his very narrow limits.  He was a traumatised lad and you can read of his journey with us here – http://thordale.co.uk/

When he left us he was just beginning to pull a cart.

A friend offered to take him and I am forever in her debt.

This is him, and his friends, Likely and Malachy, the day they arrived all those  years ago.

This is them last week, three years on….

It brings tears to my eyes.  This is his latest update for any Charlot followers.

Hulloo!

I can’t quite believe it’s 3 years today that Auntie H drove me down to the port to collect my 2 wee companions for my big eejit horse… and how Charlot ended up coming to mine too… “for the winter”.

What an utterly brilliant 3 years it has been – ups and downs and all sorts of learning.

We are finally approaching the end of a massive house remodelling project that has consumed all my sanity and trashed my sense of humour for the last 18 months… if it wasn’t for the boys I’m not sure how I would have coped.

I have a lovely new neighbour down the hill who is light enough to ride Charlot and she has been helping me out 2 -3 times a week since last Autumn.  She now has Charlot cantering under saddle (straight too!) and since this summer actually seeking a contact.  When we hack out together with me on my Viking it is invariably Charlot who will lead the way up to strange happenings.  The two of them on free reins picking their way over virgin bog territory is worthy of a tv advert – utterly the original 4 x 4’s.  Love them to bits. 

Charlot remains my right hand man and main helper when the chips are down – if I need a steady anchor he is right there waiting for the next cue.  He really would make the most amazing film actor.

My neighbour does ride and lead occasionally with the grey shetland who will at some point try to go his own way – without thinking or any aids – Charlot will just chest him back to where he was meant to be going – I WISH I was 8 stone and could work him as a cutting horse – he’s just GOT it!  (I’ve asked the farmer if we can round up the sheep on the hill this winter – haven’t asked neighbour yet tho…).

I’ve a new helper this summer for business and horses and she too is light enough to ride Charlot – after a few weeks of in hand handling and helping with all the chores, she popped on and I promise my intention was to make the first ride nice and straightforward on the forest road.  It was one of those stunning days when the moss is dry, the sun was out and the loggers off the hill.  We walked out the first mile (my intention was to come back the same way)… I looked up the moss to the top and said lets go this way.  Up thru the moss we went – the moss and grasses and Charlots coat all merging in the sun.  Then I remembered the tree was still down blocking the grass track to home… so up the steep grassy trail, over the old log, down the even steeper low branches trail ending with a 15 foot steep drop to the original trail.  Charlot hesitated at the top as he’d only ever gone up it before and helper went to kick.  Don’t kick I said, just sit there and tell him it’s ok…  I was down in front, she said it was ok, he thought for a second, she gave him a loose rein and down he tootled.  First time she’d ever ridden him.  Love him to bits. Wish I was 4 stone lighter! 

And Charlot… well my favourite phrase still comes from Husband when he backed him that winter… I was in the upper steading filling haynets and all I heard was this muffled voice saying, “this is the coolest pony I have ever met”.

This IS the coolest pony I have ever met.

Three years.  Happy Anniversary boys! 

Thanks Frances, 

Aunty P

So proud, sniff.  Something in my eye.  Tissue.

A few years back, when he had just got Hammy (Welsh Section A yearling), I remember we put Indy (aka PingPong, 40″ Shetland pony stallion) in with him and the colts for the winter.

It didn’t work.  Not a good situation.  Poor Hammy could not cope.  He was endlessly hassled by Indy so we had to put a stop to it quickly.

The answer was to take Indy back to Thordale to live with my herd colts and geldings.  We hoped there was enough room for everyone to just get on with it and Indy could play with them instead.  Some were his progeny.

It was a long boring winter and we wanted to engage PingPong’s brain.  He has always been easy to work in-hand, had been lightly backed so the next obvious stage was to train him to harness.

We went through all the stages, not moving to the next until everyone was ready.  PingPong was an easy boy.  He always liked work and enjoyed being around people.

There was the odd blip but he soon got over himself.

PingPong always wore his stallion bridle and was trained without blinkers, mainly because we didn’t have a driving bridle for him and it seemed to work safely.  He was perfectly happy with this too.  Our theory of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

What PingPong liked most was the attention and thanks.  He could completely see the point of training if there was a calorific reward at the end.

But his idea of a job well done is appreciation.  He positively glows when you tell him he is a good boy.

What a guy!