Tag Archives: Shetland ponies

All Inside

My morning was spent getting ready for the mother of all weathers. According to the weather forecast, the temperature is going to dip hugely so I filled every container I could find with water for when the tap freezes, which it always does.

The stalls all have fresh water buckets, forage licks and haynets (except for Fivla and Vitamin’s – no hay eating teeth).

And Skippy is charged up, ready to go.

The sheep have haynets hanging, a lick bucket available and fresh water too. I even cleaned out their feed bowls just because.

Later on at 2.30 p.m., the weather started to disintegrate and I don’t mind telling you that no one needed asking twice when I opened the gates.

They all, to a horse/pony, rushed into their stalls, almost taking off their own rugs without rolling first and started to eat looking very relieved that they were not having to stay outside anymore.

So now I am going to spend my entire night lying awake thinking “thank the Gods everyone is inside tonight” while the weather rages around us.

But will I sleep? Probably not, because Gussie and Dahlia are the only ones outside – I didn’t see them come home. I’ve wedged their field gate open just in case they remember.

update: they’re all home now. Phew!

Winter Brushing

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We have a northerly storm on its way, along with the possibility of snow. It will probably arrive Wednesday and rev up for Thursday, dying out by Friday and then snowing from henceforth.

So, as I have help at the moment, Flossie and I went out armed with a bucket of brushes and we gave the horses and ponies a quick once over, concentrating mostly on the fur on their backs, which needed a good brush and floof up.

While Floss worked hard, I picked out feet.

Everyone behaved beautifully – they just stood there, no headcollars or anything and we brushed and picked while being investigated (read frisked) as we went.

Then it was the Shetland ponies’ turn in the other field. They were very helpful though I did have to put a headcollar on Tiddles (which he immediately took off his nose) as he is not keen on being brushed and kept moving off. I talked to the front end while Floss did the brushing.

The ponies were mostly very fluffy and needed little done, except of course for Tiddles whose coat needed a thorough brush. He turned into a fluff ball afterwards. So another job done.

Lots of Help

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I gave Floss my phone this morning to take photos for me in my usual routine.

So, I rustled up the troops and, clutching my bowl of sheep food, we all walked around to their shed for breakfast.

The sheep are all used to this routine and so know to follow me and my bowl of food.

I thought this routine was pretty fool proof except for one fool ….. Lambie, of course.

He decided that “Things Were Different” so he had to be different too and refused to go inside the shed like he always has done all his life.

Luckily the others wanted their food in their usual bowls.

Dahlia also slipped out because she got pushed off her bowl so I fed those two out of the shed, shutting everyone else in. We will stick to my routine, even when we don’t. It’s the law.

Meanwhile, Daisy had an easy job and fed the Shetland ponies. She took this gorgeous photo.

Next, it was time for the old horses and ponies – we each grabbed a bucket of food and off we went across the hill. It is so nice having all this help.

We were finished in half the time and then it was our time for breakfast.

Veg Peelings for Ponies

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I realise I didn’t feature Ted in the Christmas photos yesterday so here he is today, just after his rather soggy-doggy walk.

Ted’s eyes are always grot because he has KCS ( Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca) or dry eye, which has plagued him for most of his life. We put in regular eye drops to help and luckily he is very good about this.

(and the divine Miss Pepperpot. Just because).

Anywho, today has not been great, weather-wise. Dreich. We all felt it in our bones. I spent my morning trying to make space in the fridge by cooking soup (curried root veg, thank you for asking). I ended up with a good pile of edible veg peelings in a dish for later – that perfectly good piece of parsnip (top right corner) was found in a dogbed and even I declared it inedible by hoomans! I have a standard, low I admit, but one none the less.

While I was going over to my shed, I noticed that the Shetland ponies were all down by the house, so I scrambled over the garden fence clutching the dish, and threw the veg overboard.

I might’ve been a bit of a bad shot as Waffle was wearing some of it. He will wonder why he is so popular for a while, I think.

Everyone was very grateful for the peelings.

I was going to give them the pumpkin rinds but the last time I fed them, Storm came down with colic the next day so these days I am a bit wary.

I left them all picking through the grass looking for nice bits of vegetable to eat.

And then I went into my shed to make that sheep. Probably the last of the year.

Where Do They Go?

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Most mornings (except when the weather is beastly), I lead the sheep out to their field of choice.

Currently, they all want to go into the same field as the Shetland ponies, which is absolutely fine. Less grass for fat little ponies then.

But I do wonder where the sheep all go for the day. It is a large field (26.26 acres or 10.63 hectare to be precise) and, once they are out of eyesight, they could be anywhere, even out of the gate at the back which has a nasty habit of breaking it’s manky rope during a good gale……

As I was on dog-walk duty today, I decided to find out where the sheep went during the day. I found them right at the back of the field, somewhat near that gate I mentioned (luckily still shut).

This part of the field is fenced in apportionment (ie, hill) so it is rough grazing which is perfect for everyone. No rich lush grass for fat little ponies or sheep.