Gabe!

Hows this for a handsome fella?



I took a great many pictures of Gabe when I went to visit him last week, but I think this is my favourite. It shows his deliciously long forelock, which reaches the tip of his nose! I DO NOT have Fell envy, but I was tugging Merlin's forelock a little when I brushed it today :)

Messing around with sketches.

I haven't yet had the time to do a picture of Toffee, but now I've started sketching again, I wanted to keep the momentum going, so last night I sat down and worked from a picture. The original picture appealed to me because of the Arab's glowing colours, so I think I may turn it into a painting, just to get back into the creative flow.

Poppy's ride

At the weekend, Poppy went for a lovely ride on Toffee, accompanied by me and my trusty camera.

This is at the entrance to our field.



At the top of the very steep track that runs down alongside the Magic Road.



Looking down the track.


On the Magic Road. The steep track is to the right of this picture and is high above the road.



Posing for the camera :)

Lovely neighbours

Well, here they are, the two lovely horses that live next to our field, the son and daughter of a famous Black Horse, and they really are in a class all of their own.

This is Tempest, Fiery and magnificent.


and Atlanta, gentle and fabulous.


Can you tell that I'm a little in love with her.


And their incredible father, in one of his most famous pictures.

Flies!

What all the best dressed ponies are wearing this year to combat the flies!

A couple of hours after this picture, however, the fly fringe was trashed and in many pieces!!!


Despite looking lovely in his fly fringe, Merlin also disposed of his, but thoughtfully left it hanging from a branch in his paddock!!!

He loves her :)

Ahem hem...



Whaaa?



Could you just, pleeeese...



Thank you, just what I wanted :)

WOO HOO Gabe!

Yaaay, Gabriel won his class at Royal Windsor. Bless his darling little heart. HOYS here he comes :) Then I can say, 'I know that famous Black Stallion'. Oooh, I'm such a name dropper!!!!

Little loves :)

My babies having a fun lesson :)




and then some quiet time the next day.



We do so love our Toffee-pie :)

Around the bend!

I took Toffee for a short ride, round the block tonight, and I think it's fair to say that 'That boy is fat!' I didn't bother with a saddle as the lanes that run around the field are quite short and the ride is usually only 10-15mins, so not really worth all the bother of tacking up (I am lazy!). But Toffee is pretty large in the shoulder and as we trotted he made my legs swing so much that I felt like I was running! I shall get fit in double quick time at this rate :)

The boys are only on the good grass for an hour or two a day otherwise I dread to think how fat they would be, not to mention at risk of going down with laminitis. Poor mites, they think I'm so cruel to restrict their grazing, but already the grass is so lush and I just won't risk it.

Lets hope the weather carries on as it is, with a little sun and rain during each week, and then we won't have the problems we had when we first moved to the field. At first it was so wet that everything turned to a muddy bog, and then a long hot spell baked the ground like cement and the grass couldn't break through. I spent days trying to break it up with a garden rake, and then sowed new grass seed that was quickly eaten by the pheasants! The pasture did finally recover, but it's made us very aware of how quickly things can go very wrong and so now we err on the side of caution.

Gabriel

This is our new friend, Gabriel. He is a Fell Pony stallion. He lives on Hayling Island and has many wives that visit him every year!!!! He is very noble, well behaved (like an Angel, in fact) and absolutely drop dead gorgeous.



We would like to wish him all the best of luck at the Royal Windsor Show on Friday, although we think he will do very well as he moves like he has wings on his feet :)

He belongs to a very kind and special lady who has been an absolute Angel herself. Thank you Jules for your help when things seemed so bleak.

Snow today.

It was magical at the field this morning in the softly, silent snow.



I tried to rug Toffee, but he showed his contempt of that idea.

Parelli

I know a lot of people aren't keen on the Parelli training program for various reasons and in some cases you're either a Parelli person or a Monty Roberts person, and never the twain shall meet. Well, I have to say that I love Monty Roberts and briefly met him at one of his demos. He was softly spoken and had kindness flowing from his very pores. I've not met Pat Parelli, but surely any trainers wanting to make life better for the horses are worth their weight in gold.

I started the Parelli level 1 course a couple of weeks ago, and it's been such an eye opener. The way they teach you to read body language and watching their students go through the program and struggle with some of the concepts really brings it home. One student had to get another to perform some pretty complex tasks using only body language and a plastic bottle, which he could only hit her with if she got it wrong. He wasn't allowed to lead or direct her with it at all. It was funny that as he wasn't able to speak, she also stopped verbalizing, and she also took on some particular horsey traits. When cornered by the bottle, she bolted and when hit too much she lashed out and then ran and hid behind a flip chart. Amazing stuff, and made me realise how important it is to be clear, precise and firm with instructions.

Toffee had his first dabble with a Parelli lesson today, and it was wonderful to see him thinking and watching me. We only worked for about 10 minutes, but he clearly had fun and so did I :)

This afternoon Merlin and I had a game of ball. He chased it around the school and then deliberately pushed it under the fence for me to throw. After he'd done this three times, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't a coincidence and that he was playing 'fetch' with me.

Other chores today were pooh-picking and ragwort pulling - oh, deep joy!

Domino

We remember Domino, and all the photos she took of him. We were jealous!



We don't know her, though!

Windy and Wet

The weather has been all wet and falling on us , so we stayed in the shelter, watching and waiting. She didn't stay long, just long enough to feed us and run away again. We heard her say she was going to start making horses again, it was time now. But that meant nothing. We only know about buckets and hay.

Welcome to Pony Tales :)




The horses paw and prance and neigh,
Fillies and colts like kittens play,
And dance and toss their rippled manes
Shining and soft as silken skeins;...

~Oliver Wendell Holmes