Flick's Writing ♥ Flick's Journal ♥ ♥ Flick's Contacts ♥ ♥ Add Pictures ♥ ♥ Tags ♥ ♥ Calendar ♥ ♥ About Flick ♥ ♥ Update ♥ ♥ Search ♥

Here, have some pictures ♥May. 19th, 2019 // 08:01 pm♥ [Tags | angelo, benny, ducks, garden, horses, pictures ] My leg is much less swollen than it was. This makes the bloody great lump more obvious, but at least I can wear my boots again now. We've been busy in the garden, both removing things (grass and weeds) and adding things: the courgettes and all the legumes are now planted out in the veg bed. The shade netting is there to stop the muscovies from getting at the legumes and eating their leaves. Ella spends an ominous amount of time standing on the hay bales and looking speculatively at them. When she's not doing that, she's often to be found harassing the ducklings. Not sure what's going on there, but she's forever having a go at them. Zu Zu doesn't seem at all bothered, though, so I guess it's all ok. The ducklings are starting to get their adult feathers in, and their voices as well in the last couple of days. We have definite quacking going on from at least one of them (and we think at least two; they're still peeping a lot of the time, so it's hard to be sure). This is excellent news: only the girls quack. GB's leg is bothering him. He was quite lame last night, and although much better today is still struggling a bit. He keeps scraping the skin off the back of one of his legs, which we think is because he's struggling to get up off the ground after lying down at night. Still, he seems alright in himself. I must take some pictures of Benny, who is looking particularly glossy and healthy in his nice new summer coat. (GB, of course, is still in his shaggy winter number.) Link 2 kisses // Who loves you?

Bloody animals.... (Insects are animals too, right?) ♥Aug. 24th, 2018 // 10:03 am♥ [Tags | angelo, benny, ducks, horses, owie, pictures ] On Wednesday evening, as I was leading the boys in from the field, Benny decided that he was sick of having to walk as slowly as GB does and started rearing in protest. The first three times weren't really an issue, but on the fourth he managed to hook one of his forelegs over my arm as he came down: My back also felt rather peculiar, so Mike played it safe and told work that he wouldn't be at the company away-day yesterday (he was devastated, especially at the prospect of not having to go out at 6:30 to drive there). As it turns out, it wasn't too bad (although I skipped our riding lesson yesterday afternoon and let Mike have a longer session), and he's off in London today. As well as my various scrapes and bruises from Benny, I'm covered in mozzie bites. I seem to be getting half a dozen a night, and am not sleeping well as a result, so I'm quite pleased that it's going to be chilly tonight so that I can spray the bedroom and, with the windows closed, hopefully not get nibbled on. Even Mike has had two or three bites over the last week.... I think I prefer horse fly season. Grump. GB is also suffering from the insect life, getting nibbled on his feet and face by harvest mites, which appear in the grass at this time of year. The poor things has some horrible open sores on his feet, and is terribly itchy. Actually, I think that Benny's getting a bit bothered by them, too, which might explain the grumpiness the other day. Still, it was *lovely* to be out first thing this morning and feel a bit of an autumnal chill to the air, even if it did warm up fairly quickly. We're actually going to close the polytunnel tonight (which will at least stop Bob from stealing the tomatoes...), and maybe put light rugs on the horses! In good animal news, I'm very happy to report that Ella, the new muscovy, has started laying (I guess they mature more slowly than mallards), and is doing so in the duck house. Even better, Erzulie has taken the hint and is now also laying inside, rather than in one of her hidden nests. Of course, this means that she refuses to come out of the house in the mornings, so that I have to tuck her under my arm and carry her to breakfast, but I'd rather that than the alternative. Must post more often! Link 1 kiss // Who loves you?

Busy busy ♥Jun. 27th, 2018 // 01:57 pm♥ [Tags | benny, bob the dog, carpal, family, horses, pictures, riding, visitors, weather ] We had Mike's family visiting over the weekend, so it's all been a bit busy. Still, it seemed to go well. Bob did very well, once he'd settled down after people arrived. He's very noticeably more barky at men, especially if they have beards. Fortunately, the dog-phobic visitor found the combination of howling and wagging tail to be very amusing, and even brought herself to feed him a treat, so that was good. The kids made a huge fuss of him, which he seemed to enjoy tremendously (at least, he didn't get up and walk off after a few minutes, like Jo would have). ( The Bob theorising bit ) ( The horse theorising bit ) Before that, I'd ridden Benny in the school, just some dressage basics in walk. He was being a bit of an idiot about going into one corner, by the orchard, which makes me wonder if our grass snake is back. I'm very pleased if so, because it can help the little owl to keep the rodent population down: (Ok, it's a bit Sammy The Brown Pixel, but he's quite shy so I took that from the house! Click to embiggen. Which is now a word!) After I'd ridden, while we were waiting for the Back Lady, I shut the gates to the field and the road and left them by the school, where the grass is in need of a trim. When I went back half an hour later to get them, GB was mooching around in the school (he quite likes to have a little run around in there for old times' sake, and he *loves* to have a good roll on the nice big, flat, soft surface) and Benny was... standing in the middle of the field eating grass. I suppose, if he's going to jump the gate, it's better that he goes into the field rather than out of it...? (I'm reminded of the way he tried to jump into the field when we first got him.) Other things? I've been saying for a good year that there's something wrong with a couple of keys on my Macbook keyboard, and a couple of weeks ago the spacebar started to go iffy as well, which is good timing as apparently they've now admitted that it's a Thing and will (hopefully, as this is the original and worst design) give me a new keyboard: handy, as I've now had this for long enough that the keycaps are wearing off! My wrists are misbehaving. They were really bad a couple of weeks ago (I always struggle at this time of year, from weeding), but seemed to have improved. I am finding that my right hand is going numb whenever I drive or ride, which is annoying. I've been off the sewing, because of this (and visitors), but have done two swans so far. My mother said the other day (from Greece) that my sister said that their lawn was all brown, because it had been so dry. I woke up today to the news that the moors are burning, so I guess it really has been dry there. Hope they manage to get it under control. I'm quite glad that my brother-in-law is retired from the fire service. Link 9 kisses // Who loves you?

Bits and Bobs ♥Jun. 6th, 2018 // 04:37 pm♥ [Tags | benny, bob the dog, garden, riding ] Bits: - We have tomatoes in the polytunnel! Nowhere near ripe, yet, but there are plenty of fruit starting to set. Since those first two courgettes, we've not had any more (they didn't like the grey damp weather), but there are now a few mange tout and a couple of pods of peas, and the runner beans are shooting up. - My leg is now almost entirely back to being leg-coloured but is still very swollen, so I still can't fasten my riding boots properly. On the plus side, it's much less sore, and I'm pretty much back to normal riding again, because... - ... Benny is getting over his pulled whatever-it-is much more quickly this time, presumably because he was more muscled up in general, and is now almost back to normal. and Bobs: - Bob's leg is healing nicely, although not as nicely as it would be doing if he didn't keep catching one of the scabs when he's rolling around in the grass. For now, he's still wearing pooch pants, but only because of that little surface wound. He's back to walking, zooming and jumping over stiles as normal. - We had a good session with the doggy shrink last week (although I got rather sunburned: I'm used to walking in the woods, not at the seaside!), and she gave us various tips for getting / keeping his attention when there are other dogs around or when people come to the house. - Over the weekend, Bob walked to the pub and met lots of dogs, often very abruptly, on the way but was good with all of them. - He's also improving with people around the house, but he's by no means where we want him to be. We had visitors at weekend, and he got a bit over-excited when they were arriving, but nothing too bad and he calmed down after a zoom in the field. - Today, we've had a visit from a man to look at the boiler and another to read the electricity. The first didn't even merit a huff, the second he barked at constantly until he was off the property. I suspect that the difference was largely because we were on the drive waiting when the boiler man pulled up (he'd phoned me, twice, fifteen minutes apart, from the same spot, to get directions. And then drove straight past the house...) but the electricity man rang the doorbell. This suggests an obvious training opportunity! Link Who loves you?

Encouraging animal news ♥May. 24th, 2018 // 01:25 pm♥ [Tags | angelo, benny, bob the dog, ducks, horses ] This morning, after a couple of weeks off, I had a quick go on Benny and he was barely hopping at all, so fingers crossed that he's recovering much more quickly this time than he did last time. I didn't stay on for long, because my leg is still not right and -- based on last time -- he's always more hoppy when he's tired, so I didn't want to do too much. The vet popped in to give GB a blood test, and said he looks well. We did talk about his problems having a wee, and she agrees it probably is a bladder stone and therefore not something we can really fix. (Given that he takes months to heal a little scratch, cutting him open doesn't really seem viable.) He's happy in himself, though, and as long as he is we'll leave him be. We also had a phone call from Bob's vet, to say that the lab report on his lump is back and it's entirely benign, which is what we expected but is always nice to have confirmed. Bob's going a little loopy from lack of exercise, as he's still not allowed to have zoomies in the field, and indeed is currently wearing the Cone Of Shame as well as his pooch pants, because this morning he was zooming as much as he possibly could on the lunge line while we were getting the ragwort out of the field, and the wound is now oozing slightly again. I think we're going to have to go back to just the lead, as the lunge line lets him get up a bit too much speed. (Yesterday morning, while I was poo picking, I left him tied to the gate on the lunge line and turned around at one point just in time to see him do a mid-air forward roll as he reached the end of the slack....) I've given up on the bird 'flu rules: in the last few months, there's been nothing but a couple of dead buzzards two counties over, so I'm not sure why they're still keeping it going. Anyway, we're not feeding the garden birds any more so now that the adolescent crows have found the food bowl, the swallows have started nesting in the stables, and the wagtails are spending all day on the muck heap it's not like there are more wild birds in the garden than in the stableyard. We're still lucky to be getting one egg a day, usually from Magrat (traditionally the worst of the layers, which is very odd; Esk, our 'oh, I thought I'd lay two today' girl, still hasn't managed any that we've seen). If something *isn't* going in and stealing them before we let the girls out in the morning, hopefully the more varied diet will get the others going! Link Who loves you?

Animal magic ♥May. 13th, 2018 // 03:09 pm♥ [Tags | benny, bob the dog, ducks, riding ] I've not really ridden since Monday, as my leg's still sore (it rained last night, so I couldn't just go around in my trainers this morning. After an attempt to get my boots on I gave up and wore an old pair of Mike's: ankle and foot are still rather swollen), but Mike's had a few goes on Benny. He's started hopping again, which probably means that when I came off him he re-tweaked whatever it was that he tweaked to make him go hoppy in the first place. Sigh. Hopefully it won't take so long to get better this time. We're trying out clicker training with Bob. He's now excellent at dropping his toy to have it re-thrown, with much less trying to play tug-of-war. He's a bit better at coming when called, although he's still crap if he's busy with an interesting smell. We're having a bit of success at stopping him from barking, but not a huge amount. Yesterday, we left him in the garden while we moved lumps of concrete across the stableyard to the skip. Unfortunately, next door's cat came into his view and the next thing we knew he'd jumped the gate, run across the stableyard, and jumped the wall onto the road. Fortunately he lost sight of the cat at that point and stopped, but annoyingly he now knows that he can get out. Even more unfortunately, when we got him back into the stableyard he was still excited and decided to play with the ducks. No harm done, but he spent the rest of the time we were out there with his muzzle on, and being busy rolling around trying to get it off was enough distraction that he left the girls alone. The local dog trainer's been on holiday, but I'll be giving him a call next week. (The rescue assured us that they'd tested him with cats and he was fine. Then again, they also said he'd been chipped and vaccinated, so.) We also have a bit of an egg mystery going on: Zu Zu laid consistently for a fortnight, then stopped and hasn't laid for a couple of weeks now. In the gap, Magrat laid for about four days and then stopped. This morning, Agnes had laid. I had some rubber fake eggs, which I was trying to convince Zu Zu were really hers without much success, so I bought some apparently very realistic sand-filled ones. I popped one in the nest this morning, when I took out Agnes's, and left the other two, along with the two rubber ones, on a pile of bricks in the stable. When I went to feed the girls at lunch time, the two realistic ones and one of the rubber ones were gone (although the realistic one in the nest was still there), which rather makes me think that something is stealing them, and possibly that Erzulie has been laying all along and we've just been missing the eggs. As she tends to lay late morning (unlike the runners, who usually lay before they come out in the morning), I'm not sure how we're going to stop it happening, short of popping out every five minutes to look for an egg (and disturbing her from laying in the process). Link 2 kisses // Who loves you?

The trouble with plans.... ♥May. 7th, 2018 // 10:23 am♥ [Tags | benny, garden, ow, pictures, riding ] The plan for today was that I would dig over the new veg bed while Mike mowed the lawn, and then we'd move some hay bales onto it (we're going to experiment with putting the squash in hay bales, as we have plenty of spares) and plant out the courgettes (crossing our fingers for the weather, but they are about to flower and we can always put fleece over them if we have to). Oh, and moving lumps of concrete into the skip. But first, lovely sunny day, I took Benny out for a hack. Tootling along the lane, a car came up behind us. Inconvenient place for it, as it's a long way until the next passing place, so we switched up to a trot so as not to delay them for too long. Benny was going along quite happily until he caught sight of a sheep through a gap in the hedge. There are sheep in the field next to ours. They frequently stand around watching when I ride Benny in the school. He is entirely unconcerned by them when he's at home, so I don't understand why they suddenly become so terrifying when we're out on a hack. They are, though, so he span 180, I went off the side and he tried to head for home but couldn't because I'd kept the reins. Unfortunately, when he tried to head for home I was between him and home, and one of his feet came down on my leg. Fortunately, the people in the car were the (small animal) vets, on their way to their practice open day. After I reassured them that I was ok and only a little bit trampled (I think they were thinking that one of them would drive me home while the other led the horse back), they came and held Benny while I sorted myself out and got back onboard, and then reversed back down the road and went the long way around so I wouldn't have to worry about holding them up. I decided it was probably best if we didn't go for a canter in the woods today, so instead we just pootled around the lanes a bit more, passing as many sheep as I could because really he needs to get over this, and then headed for home. In our absence, Mike reports that GB was very well behaved, only calling for Benny once, when he saw us coming back down the hill, which is excellent news and does make me hope we'll be able to stop sedating him. I was slightly worried that I wouldn't be able to walk (to the extent of having Mike stand ready to catch me when I dismounted), but I managed to hobble around the field to poo pick before coming in, being helped out of my jods, and inspecting the damage. I am very glad that 1) the horses are barefoot and 2) that I didn't go with my impulse this morning to ride in short boots so as to be cooler. I don't think I'll be doing any digging, though. Link 8 kisses // Who loves you?

Animal Magic ♥Apr. 22nd, 2018 // 07:57 pm♥ [Tags | angelo, benny, bob the dog, ducks ] Bob went back to the vet today, for a fairly general check/catch up. "Do just check that you can find his chip, now that he's had one put in," I said. Three chip readers later, she put another chip in. "And, while I'm here, can you check that the vaccinations he was given were right? I was surprised that he didn't need repeat jabs to start with," I continues. We have re-started his jabs, and will be going back in a couple of weeks for the repeat ones. On the plus side, he's put on half a kilo since we've had him, and hopefully he'll manage to do the same again. (The posts posts having finally arrived from Chile, Jobbing Farmer and His Mate are out in the garden doing the fences. "Our cocker spaniel was 21kg," Jobbing Farmer said. "It took us two years, but we've now got him down to where he should be, 12kg." Boggle.) After a few days of laying, Erzulie realised that her eggs were being stolen each morning and went looking for a safer nest spot. She did try the barn again, but seems to have given up on it after Bob followed her inside and tried to investigate her. I heard the scuffles and rescued her before anything worse than a wet back happened. I remembered later that I still had a couple of fake eggs in the house so the next day, when she laid in her new nest (actually in their house, even!), I swapped one of those in. I did the same today, and hopefully she can't count higher than two. I haven't updated about Benny recently, but that's because it's good news: he's pretty much entirely stopped doing his hoppity thing, it just very occasionally comes back if he's going faster than his balance can cope with. He's doing very well, and Mike is now cantering him, which is marvellous news. GB remains his usual charming self, now with added "The flies are bothering me, do something. Eww, why have you put this horrible thing over my face? When I said 'do something', I meant you should stand next to me and wave them away!" I continue to be a little concerned about his bladder, because I do think that Something Is Not Right, but there's nothing I can realistically do to fix either of the two most likely causes of the problem, so there you go. Our non-fancy cherry tree is a mass of blossom this year, it's looking lovely. The fancy crab apple and cherries are just about to open as well. Sadly, the weeds have greatly appreciated the recent weather. Must get out in the garden. Link Who loves you?

Hacking ♥Feb. 22nd, 2018 // 09:19 pm♥ [Tags | benny, riding ] This morning, I took Benny out into the main part of the woods (where we usually walk) for the first time. Given that it was a horrible cold windy morning, he did superbly. He doesn't like water troughs, and apparently is very dubious about sheep, but even when he was very nervous he was a good boy. At one point, he decided that he'd got worryingly far from home and started calling for GB, but fortunately it was only a few minutes until the path turned a corner back towards home and he relaxed. (Horses have amazingly good direction senses. In his younger days, I'd take GB out for long rides to unknown places. An hour or so from home, we'd get to a junction and I'd be looking up the map on my phone while he looked around and ambled off in the right direction.) I was amused to note that a ride that used to take GB about an hour and a half, including several canters, took Benny 55 minutes with only a couple of short trots. (The trots, incidentally, were fine. No funny business when he's going in a straight line.) Next time I take him up there, I'll let him have a run. For today it was more important to let him look around and learn his way. Plus, it was horribly muddy in the woods. Link 1 kiss // Who loves you?

Poor pooch ♥Feb. 16th, 2018 // 06:09 pm♥ [Tags | benny, jodie the dog, riding ] Jo was sick yesterday afternoon, which was a bit worrying, but then she was sick again three times in an hour this afternoon. As it happened, the third time happened while Mike was on the way to the vet to pick up more medication for her, so I phoned and they added an anti-nausea pill to the stack. Unfortunately, she turned her nose up at her dinner and she's just been sick again. Fortunately, when I went through it with a spoon I found a bit of cheese but no actual pill, so hopefully enough of it got into her to do some good. Also, no blood, which the vet was worried about. In better news, Riding Instructor came to have a go on Benny this afternoon. I'd not realised, but the last three times I'd ridden him (for the vet, the saddler, and the dealer) Mike wasn't around (and neither was she). Although I've been saying 'he seemed a bit better today than he was last time', I'd not quite twigged that kept happening. He wasn't *right* today, but Mike and Riding Instructor were both impressed by the improvement, to the extent that Riding Instructor didn't bother to get on him. Her theory is still that he Did Something when the dentist was here, and it's just taken longer to improve than we expected. I'm going to go back to riding him, and just try to work through the weirdness. And improve his balance! Right, time to see if I can get Jo to come back in from the garden.... Link 2 kisses // Who loves you?

Animal news ♥Feb. 14th, 2018 // 03:43 pm♥ [Tags | benny, horses, jodie the dog ] The Only Honest Horse Dealer In Kent has just been to see Benny. First, he watched me ride. After a couple of minutes, he said 'the problem's you, when his balance goes, so does yours and you give him a canter aid without realising it'. (Which kind of made me go 'surely someone else would have noticed this if it were the case?', but ok.) Then he got on, and Benny did it even more. His conclusion is that there's nothing physically wrong, rather that Benny's got poor balance (true) and is trying to canter when he wobbles because it's easier than trotting. The prescription is lots of hacking to let him learn better balance in a straight line, only going in the school in short sessions, and changing him to the more gentle bit that we bought soon after we got him (but he didn't like) so that he can't lean on it so much to compensate for not balancing himself (the inability to do so being - TOHDIK says - what he didn't like). Also I need to be stricter with him about things like standing still and not pulling on the reins when I'm standing holding him (this is true, he is in danger of going out past 'showing his personality' and into 'a bit bolshy'). If he'd gone straight into reason two without having tried reason one first, I'd be a bit more reassured, but no one has found anything physical and everyone agreed that he's the person to ask, so.... I'm going to talk it over with my riding instructor, but if she says to follow his advice then I will. Edit: hrm. She's a bit dubious as well... she's going to come and ride him herself on Friday. Jodie's increased medication has had good effects and bad. She's moving around well, and the lump hasn't got any bigger, but on the other hand she's spent much of the day doing what I can only describe as going through the motions. Last night, I had a lot of trouble getting her to eat her pills and she wasn't keen on going upstairs to bed. Today, when I got up she came over for her morning cuddle but lost interest and went away after about five seconds. When I put the boys in the field, she stood up and walked a few steps over for her treat but just let it drop back out of her mouth. When I put her breakfast down, she walked over to it, sighed, and started eating in a very dutiful way. She also only ate half of it, and then threw that up while I was upstairs changing the bed. She then spent the morning lying in the hall, not even giving me a wag of the tail when I walked past and gave her a stroke. When we went outside to get ready for TOHDIK, she had a very liquid poo but then seemed a bit brighter. Not sure if that was because she'd got rid of something making her tummy feel bad, the steroid wearing off, the painkillers she'd just had kicking in, or just being out in the fresh air. Mike's in London today, so it'll be interesting to see if he gets the usual enthusiastic greeting when he comes home. I spoke to the vet (inevitably, he phoned just as TOOHDIK arrived) and we're going to reduce the steroid and he's going to bring around something to help her stomach this evening. Link 4 kisses // Who loves you?

Jodie update ♥Feb. 12th, 2018 // 10:18 am♥ [Tags | benny, horses, jodie the dog ] We started Jo on the steroids on Thursday evening, and she improved dramatically on Friday and Saturday: we've even all been sleeping upstairs for the last three nights, which is a relief. By Saturday morning, the lump was much, much smaller, and slightly spongy (rather than hard from being stuffed full of fluid). On Sunday, I thought it was maybe a bit bigger again, and it had gone hard. Today, I'm sure that it's bigger, although still nothing like it was pre-steroids. I also think she's maybe looking a bit skinny, even though she's eating well since the steroids started, so I might see if I can get her up to the vet and pop her on the scales, although I'm not sure when that will be possible (or if there's anything to do about it if she is). She does get a bit restless about an hour before her painkillers are due, so also on my list of things to mention to the vet is the possibility of taking her up to four times per day rather than three. Still, she's getting around well, and is bright and happy, so we'll just keep playing it by ear and crossing our fingers. The saddler came and checked Benny's saddle, and reports that all is well there. When I rode him for her to see, he was slightly better again than he has been, but still doing his thing; whether that means it's a temporary thing that's getting properly better or a long-term thing that's bothering him less because he's not working is up in the air. I've got the Only Honest Horse Dealer In Kent coming to ride him on Wednesday, so we'll see if a) Benny still does it and b) he has any ideas. Slightly concerned because the boys are both off their hay. This probably just means it's a bad bale, but actually they went off it half way through a bale, then refused the next one, then started off eating the one after that but changed their minds this morning. Not sure what's going on there.... Link 3 kisses // Who loves you?

The vet; the other vet ♥Feb. 1st, 2018 // 03:27 pm♥ [Tags | benny, horses, jodie the dog ] Today, the vet came to see Benny, who was maybe a little better than he has been but still doing his thing. The vet has no idea what the problem is (to the extent that he can't even think of which tests might give useful information), so we're going to have his back and saddle checked (again: only had them done a few weeks ago), and if that doesn't turn anything up then we're going to ask The Only Honest Horse Dealer In Kent, who's about 200 years old and has ridden more horses than I've had hot dinners, if he'll have a go and a) see if Benny still does it with him and b) see if he's got any ideas. While I was out with the horse vet, Jodie's vet called. The lab didn't get much that was useful out of the biopsy, but there are a few cells that they're going to stain to try and identify them. If they can't, there are a few unappealing options (basically, more biopsies, possibly with added CT scans) but I suspect that we'll just do what we can to manage it with painkillers and steroids for however long that works. (Unless the lab results show something different, the assumption is that she has this.) Link 5 kisses // Who loves you?

More animal news, mostly not good ♥Jan. 26th, 2018 // 10:52 am♥ [Tags | benny, ducks, jodie the dog ] A few days after we re-started her medication, Jodie threw up again, and was very limpy as well. We went back to the vet, and now she's got opiates, antacids, and no walks for a fortnight to see if we can settle both her sore leg and her tummy. It seems likely that she'll have to some off the metacam and onto something else (which will be less convenient and probably more expensive), but it's possible that having a longer break will sort her out. (This, inevitably, happens just after I've refilled her prescription. I'm likely to have a 180ml bottle of dog metacam going spare, if anyone can use it.) (Given that, what with one thing and another, I've been on my own doing the horses for five days in the last seven, not having to find time to walk the dog is a bit of a win. As is not having to hose a layer of mud off her at the end of each walk.) The horses have been in for the last couple of days, much to the ducks' annoyance, but I did manage to get them into the top of the field today. After several days of playing chase each morning, the ducks went into the polytunnel quite happily today, and stayed there for ten minutes poking at their breakfast. Then Magrat started her usual ritual of chasing Erzulie around in circles, but as the 'door' was open 'Zuli just legged it. When I came in after doing my jobs, Magrat was outside the polytunnel but the other three were in it, so at least they seem to be getting used to the concept. I am seriously wondering if I need to put some kind of partition in there so that 'Zuli can get away from Maggers, though. This morning was the end of Benny's fortnight off, so I checked to see how he was doing in preparation for a lesson tomorrow morning. I lunged him first, and he was a bit frisky (understandable, having been standing in for two days) but trotting fine. Then I got on him, and we had a lovely, if brisk, walk around, and then I asked for a trot and got about half way around the school before he started hopping again. Tried the other rein just in case and then got off and cancelled the riding lesson. When we bought Benny, it just happened that the most senior vet had a gap in his diary and was the one who went out to check he was fit and well. I was sure to point this out when I phoned to make an appointment and now I have him coming to visit us next week so see if he has any ideas. This is great news, because it saves having one of the junior vets come out and faff ineffectually for a month or so before they get the boss to come and have a look. (I'm pretty sure that it's not something the vet missed, but it was a useful nudge to the receptionist and it will mean that he's seen by a vet who recently saw him when he was moving properly.) Link 10 kisses // Who loves you?

Benny bother ♥Jan. 12th, 2018 // 04:31 pm♥ [Tags | benny, garden, jodie the dog, pictures ] Ever since the dentist came to visit, we've been having a bit of bother with Benny: when he's in the school, he's completely fine in walk and canter but keeps trying to hop a few steps of canter every so often when he's supposed to be trotting. The first thought was that his mouth felt funny after having his teeth sorted out, so we gave him a couple of days off to see if he got used to it. There wasn't much improvement afterwards, though, and he was still hopping about when I rode him with no rein contact, so that was probably crossed off the list. We had a riding lesson on Friday morning, which turned into a long experiment / diagnosis session. The current hypothesis is that he strained a muscle in his neck when he was having his teeth done (he was holding himself very rigid), so he's having anti-inflamatories and a couple of weeks off to see if it sorts itself out. If it doesn't I suppose we'll get the vet out (we've not done yet because the fist thing they'll try is anti-inflamatories and a couple of weeks off, and we've already got boxes of the drugs for GB). My parents have just been to visit for a couple of nights, which was nice but has left us both more knackered than we would usually be after a short stay. We did take advantage of the extra pairs of hands to empty the used grow bags out of the polytunnel and lift the frame over the fence and into the stableyards: it's going to go next to the duck house, where it will get vastly more light and benefit from the ducks going on slug patrol. Yesterday morning, after being fine all night other than a little whimper shortly before getting up, Jodie asked to be let outside and went to throw up. Yesterday evening, half way through the usual nightly routine of trying to get her dinner before it's due, she suddenly turned around and threw up on the living room hearth (after which I let her outside and she may or may not have done so again): she didn't get her dinner. She had rice and peas for her breakfast this morning and seems ok now, but then again she seemed ok all day yesterday other than when she was being sick, so who knows. We have an incredibly early iris on the drive: I'm not sure if the others will wait or come out now as well! Link 2 kisses // Who loves you?

Hmm. That's going to be a problem.... ♥Dec. 24th, 2017 // 01:32 pm♥ [Tags | benny, horses, riding ] This morning, I took Benny out for another hack, and we had a couple of nice canters up in the woods. Then I had to duck to go under a low branch, and learnt that Benny treats leaning forwards when hacking as a signal to canter. Oops. Yeah, going to have to work on training him out of that one! Other than that, we had a nice (if tiring) time, although it didn't take as long as I was expecting: we were back in 45 minutes, when that route would have taken maybe an hour and a quarter on GB. Might have to do something to slow the walk down a little! Now that I think back, though, I remember the time when I was plodding along on GB and a nearby neighbour came up behind me, had time to say two sentences, and then vanished off in the distance, all without moving out of walk. She favours horses with the same breeding as we think Benny has.... GB did better this time than last, Mike reports, which is also good. Maybe we will be able to manage without the sedation in a few weeks more? Benny's been doing well in the school as well. No massive progress yet, but we managed a visible leg yield the other day, and we've started on turn on the forehand. Link 2 kisses // Who loves you?

Everything's better with drugs... ♥Dec. 17th, 2017 // 11:44 am♥ [Tags | angelo, benny, horses, riding ] This morning, I took Benny out for a little hack, for the first time since Bugsy left. That meant that GB was Left Alone, which we were a bit worried by, so in a fit of organisation I'd already got a tube of sedative from the vet. He wasn't terribly impressed when I shoved it down his throat ("It's palatable," said the vet, "so you can put it in his feed if you want." "Yeah, right," I thought, and was right: no way he would have eaten his food with it in), but when I went to pick his feet up fifteen minute later he was swaying slightly, and by the time Benny and I left he only managed to stagger up to a trot to chase across the stableyard to come with us. Mike reports that he shouted for about fifteen minutes (as opposed to screaming, which I was worried would happen) and then calmed down to eat hay with occasional shouts. When we got back, he did just about manage to get up to the field, but he was a bit wobbly on the slope: I'm not sure how he'd do if it had been slippery rather than frozen solid, so if we do the same thing on a muddy day we may have to remember to take them to the field the long way around. Benny was also very good. There was one icy patch on the road, which he took very slowly and carefully, and he had a good look at a few things (eg, pheasants, water troughs) but wasn't as worried as last time. When we got to the end of the road and I told him to keep going, he was a bit concerned, but once we got onto the bridleway he was very much up for nice run (which I denied him, keeping it down to a sedate trot instead). We didn't go very far at all before we turned back for him, but I want to take it slowly and was a bit worried about GB! We had his front shoes taken off a couple of days ago (having had the back ones off the day he arrived) but he didn't seem at all bothered by that, which was also good. (Actually, he'll have done better on the ice without them.) On the way home, he was rushing a bit but nothing too bad until we got level with our school, when the mares over the road started running around and GB shouted: Benny did break into a little trot then, but he came back to walk fairly well, so all in all I think it was a success. I suppose I'd better get a permit to go in the woods, after having let it lapse! I've got enough sedative for five more goes (possibly more, if I give him a smaller dose after the first couple of times: he is very susceptible to it), and then we might try him without... or we might just get another tube! Link Who loves you?

Animal updates ♥Dec. 12th, 2017 // 02:02 pm♥ [Tags | angelo, benny, bugsy, ducks, horses, jodie the dog ] Bugsy left this morning, gone back to a girl who used to own him where he'll go back in the field with a Shetland who used to be his best mate (and hopefully still will be). GB called for him a few times, and stood by the gate looking confused a bit, but reacted much better than he did when Jonny went. Very relieved, both about GB's reaction and that he's gone to someone who knows him. Benny had his back checked, as well, and the Back Lady is happy that his wonkiness is just muscle development, from how he's been ridden, rather than anything structural, which is also good news. He was very good with her, considering that he's unlikely to have ever had anything similar done to him before. She wants to come back in a couple of months, to see how he's getting on, just before the saddler does the same. GB also had a very quick five minute check, and she's very impressed with how well he's looking considering that he's not in work any more: very little loss of muscle along his back (although he has lost some on his neck). Jodie... well, I think she's getting a bit dotty in her old age, or rather getting more so. As a breed they seem to get a bit funny at about 8 or 8 and a half (she's nine in a couple of weeks), so it's not entirely unexpected. She's even more clingy than she used to be, these days, and it's not been helped by the fact that GB bit her on the bum a few weeks ago. The boys have been not-in-the-field a few times in the last week, and when we do that we let them wander around the stableyard while we're doing our jobs; normally, she'd stay in the barn while that happens, but this week she's been refusing to, and instead following us around and getting in the way (and making it more likely that the boys will catch her out in the open than if she was in the barn). Still, hopefully they'll be back in the field soon and she'll be happier! Erzuli continues to spend most of her time on her own, looking nervous, as the runners poke around at the other end of the garden. I've got a saved search for a friend for her.... Link 2 kisses // Who loves you?

Whips (no chains) ♥Dec. 8th, 2017 // 10:56 am♥ [Tags | benny, horses, riding ] I've been riding Benny without a whip since he arrived, because he doesn't need it for the basic stop / go stuff and I wasn't sure how he'd react to one, given how scared he is of being hit. Last time I rode him, though, I was starting to feel the absence of a whip when I was doing things where it would have been helpful to use one to give him a little nudge left or right, so I thought I'd give it a go and see how he felt about it. This morning, I tried it out, and he is indeed terrified of it: he was ok if I just carried it, but every time I swapped it from one hand to the other he jumped, even though I didn't touch him with it at all. We spent a little while going around in walk with me swapping it over, and then I put it down and went on without it. I suspect it's going to take a little while to even get to the stage where I can just move it around stroking him! Link 3 kisses // Who loves you?

More weather ♥Dec. 1st, 2017 // 01:39 pm♥ [Tags | benny, pictures, riding, weather ] Today has been rather changeable, weather-wise: we had rain, hail and sleet just while we were getting the boys ready to go into the field, which rather scuppered my plan to ride Benny first thing. After we'd mucked out, though, the sun came out and I thought I'd take a chance on it staying there. I think that was the only decent dry hour of the day, so I'm glad that I decided to risk it! Mike even had a little ride around on him, for the first time since we got him home. Link 1 kiss // Who loves you?

Now I'm tired.... ♥Nov. 27th, 2017 // 05:09 pm♥ [Tags | benny, horses ] I had a text message from the saddler this morning: she had a cancellation at lunch time, would I like the slot. I said yes, and she came over. In fact, she didn't have to do very much: adding a temporary pad (which we'll take away again when he's muscled up a bit) meant that Benny can wear Bugsy's saddle with no adjustments (which, given he's not been ridden and so has lost muscle, is probably more than Bugsy can do these days!). Things I did before the saddler got here: - clean lots of dust, cobwebs and swallow poo off the saddle - find a clean pad to put under the saddle - take the nice stirrups off GB's saddle - clear the brambles out of the riding school Things I did not do before the saddler got here: - cut back the two bushes by the side of the school whose branches have grown into it over the summer..... Still, I have now ridden Benny at home, albeit fairly briefly, and it went well: compared to when I was trying him out before we bought him, I got a steadier trot and a nicer canter transition, so we're already making progress, although the steering left a fair bit to be desired (not helped by the bushes!). I am very glad that the saddler was able to fit us in before Friday, but I could wish that it hadn't been on a day when Mike was in London, so I had the joy of mucking out and poo picking on my own, for three horses, in the pouring rain. With an incredibly clingy pooch being under foot the whole time. Ah well, it's done now. Well, the saddler. The mucking out and poo picking will, I fear, be back again. Link 3 kisses // Who loves you?

Oh, FFS. Again. ♥Nov. 26th, 2017 // 03:58 pm♥ [Tags | benny, horses ] I downloaded an (App Store) Animal Crossing update this afternoon, and when I reopened it it wanted a 50MB download in the app as well. Must be something big, I thought. Maybe clothes crafting, which is 'coming soon'? I checked the update log: 'minor bug fixes'. Note to self: don't download any Animal Crossing updates unless going to somewhere with mobile signal soon.... (I did manage to get the 50MB in, but over half of it was in the stableyard while we were putting the boys to bed, so it's possible that my phone got a bit of mobile data to help it out.) In other news, Benny was a lot calmer about being in the stableyard today. I discovered that the duck's corn is also food, but it's not terribly practical to carry around in my pocket. We took him in the school again and I had a go at lunging him. We'll have to do some re-training, because he's previously been lunged-as-exercise (start, walk a couple of circles, run until tired, stop) rather than as a way of helping his schooling, which involves far more changes of pace and stopping and re-starting, but he was very well behaved when he knew what I was asking for. Rather nervous of the whip, which didn't surprise me at all. I think he is getting a little less nervous in general, but it's going to take a while. Link Who loves you?

Trying to make friends ♥Nov. 25th, 2017 // 04:00 pm♥ [Tags | benny, pictures ] Today, Benny was very keen to get into the field with the other boys. He was sure that he could manage to jump the two gates if he just had the right run-up, so he tried, and tried, and tried... and eventually we put up a temporary fence at the bottom of the hill so that he couldn't try any more. He did calm down after that, and hopefully he'll stay calm for the next few days until he goes in the field with them. He's completely bewildered by horse treats and polo mints, although he will (after much suspicious looking and sniffing) take a bit of carrot or some feed from your hand. He's quite a friendly chap, and follows us around the stablyard, but he's also quite nervous and won't always stay for the cuddle he's asking for. He's happier with Mike than with me, because he's more used to men; Mike did wonder if he should try and Irish accent to see if that would make him happier still.... Link 2 kisses // Who loves you?

Busy day ♥Nov. 24th, 2017 // 05:16 pm♥ [Tags | benny, jodie the dog, pictures ] This morning, we got things ready for Benny and then waited for him to arrive, after which we handed over an enormous wodge of cash (bugger, I'd meant to take a photo!). After a bit, the farrier came and took his back shoes off (the fronts will probably come off next month, but we'll play it by ear: his feet will be a bit sensitive until they grow some more, and we'd rather do it in stages), and then I let him out of the stable to have a bit of grass and a look around. It didn't take long before he wandered over towards GB, who'd been hanging around the fence looking interested ever since he got out of the horsebox. (A minute or so later, they bumped noses over the fence and then both jumped back, possibly because one of them had been zapped by the electric tape. This alerted Bugsy, who came running down from the top of the field to see what was going on.) Mike popped into town to get some bits that we needed for him (although they didn't have the right bit, which was a shame), and then when he got back we led Benny for a little walk along to the school, and walked around it a few times so that he could have a good look around: we're making a virtue of the fact that the saddler can't come until the end of next week, so we'll be doing plenty with him on the ground instead. Conveniently, and to the relief of our bank balance, he's able to wear Jonny's rugs, Bugsy's bridle and GB's bit (although I have got a new one coming that should be better for a younger horse, and the bridle's getting a bit shabby and isn't a great fit). He'll probably also end up with Bugsy's saddle, but that will have to wait a week. Here, have an autumnal pooch picture as well: Now then, I seem to remember that I put a bottle of fizz in the fridge when we had it installed.... Link Who loves you?

Finally.... ♥Nov. 22nd, 2017 // 04:08 pm♥ [Tags | benny, horses ] (After so many failed attempts, I thought I'd wait until I was sure, but I say yes, and Mike says yes, and Riding Instructor says yes, and this afternoon Vet said yes, so....) On Friday, we expect to be taking delivery of Mr Benny! His advert. He's quite young, and his balance will need some work, but he's fit and healthy and neither brain dead (eg, looks around to see what's happening) nor too excitable (eg, doesn't actually do anything when he sees things happening). He looks quite like GB, but he's a couple of inches taller and has a bigger white patch on his nose. Link 7 kisses // Who loves you?

Navigation ♥ Viewing // Most recent entries ♥