Mud

Living the Dream

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After our busy day on Saturday, Sunday was wonderfully restful.

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I had two lovely hacks, the ponies behaved well, the sun was shining and everything seemed right with the world.

My reward for riding and looking after Cookster – my sister’s pony after all – was to find him absolutely covered in mud.

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At first I thought t was highly ironic that I was wearing my ‘Living the dream’ gilet.  Who dreams of spending their Sunday afternoon scrubbing mud off of a pony?  Especially one who is moulting.

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However, as we pottered up the hill, I realised that actually it was an amazing day.  If anyone had told my twelve year old self that one day I would be able to spend a sunny afternoon playing with two ponies and riding them I would have been thrilled.  I really am living the dream.

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Winter Wonderland

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The long expected Arctic blast is beginning to make itself felt here.  The temperature has plummeted but we have been having beautiful weather.

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The ground has frozen nicely and we can walk over the top of the mud now instead of wading through it.  These footprints were made just the day before I took the photograph.

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Our big rainwater tank is also now frozen enough to bear my weight.

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It holds a lot of water and it needs to be pretty cold to do that.  It’s always one of the highlights of the winter if I can ‘skate’!

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Yesterday we finally had some snow.  It may not be much compared to the rest of the country but we get so little of it down here that even a small amount is exciting.  I love snow!

 

Glorious Mud

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It seems to have been raining solidly for the past few weeks and I have never known the ground to be so wet.  We will definitely not be schooling here anytime soon!

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However, on Monday Galahad and I got out for a hack which was miraculously dry.  We got a little further afield than usual and found distinct signs that spring is on its way.

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It’s hard to tell in the picture but there is a whole bank of snowdrops in front of Galahad. It was beautiful!

There have been primroses out since before Christmas and the snowdrops have been around for a while too but a bit further up the road we found daffodils and even some campion.

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Then on Thursday morning I stepped out of the door to find the sky was a gorgeous blue and the birds were singing like crazy.  Make sure you have the sound on when you play the video!

It was a beautiful morning until the rain came back.  Definitely promising signs of spring though – it’s amazing how much better it can make one feel!

Running Repairs

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Right at the end of last winter Galahad pulled one of the surcingle buckles off of  his rug.  I didn’t fix it at the time because he stopped wearing it and I’m really rather lazy.

I finally got around to sewing on a new buckle (I never did find the original one) last week as Galahad is now wearing the rug again to keep his back muscles warm.  I was pretty proud of the job I did.

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Unfortunately,  the hole in the new buckle is slightly smaller than the old one and as I hadn’t changed the other half of it I could not quite twist it closed.   It did stay done up though so I sent Galahad off in hopes that it would hold.

He hadn’t been turned out in a proper field for over a week and I think he enjoyed himself!

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When I brought him in again the buckle had turned itself and was fully closed.  Which was great … except that I couldn’t get it open again – less than ideal.  I had visions of us having to cut Galahad free and I thought that at the very least I would have to replace the other half of the buckle.

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Luckily my Dad managed to cut the rubber band off and although it was still very stiff I could at least open (and close) the buckle.  No more mending for me – until he rips it again!

New Year New Haircut

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For a few weeks now I have been thinking that it was time to give Galahad a haircut.  Specifically his tail – it might not be very thick but it does get rather long.

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It is not technically correct to trim native ponies but that has never stopped me clipping him.  We don’t tend to show much anyway so it really doesn’t matter.  Besides, when it rains as much as it has done this last week this is the sort of thing that happens.

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It can’t be particularly pleasant!

I didn’t want to wash the whole tail but I did clean off the ends before I trimmed them – the mud wasn’t just wet it was cold too.  Plus, clean hair is much better for the scissors!

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Galahad looks much smarter now and I should think is more comfortable.  I seem to have neglected to take a picture of the finished product though – I wanted the hair to dry first so we went for our ride and I forgot all about it.  It was a lovely hack though, even if it was blowing a gale!

Mud, Glorious Mud

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We have had a lot of rain over the past few days.  Also hail and sleet.  Things are starting to look a little soggy!

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In fact, the gateway into the yard got to the point where we just had to do something about it.  We had some branches taken out in our woodland and the work has left us with a large pile of wood chippings.  These are excellent for putting down on the mud!

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My parents were very kind and put down a load of chippings on Friday.  They are wonderful!   I can now get into the yard without having a struggle and getting covered in mud.  The dog likes it too – she might be a country dog but she hates mud and will do her best to get round it!

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The rain hasn’t stopped us getting out and about though – although other people’s fields are looking even wetter than ours!

Winter is Coming

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You can definitely tell that winter is well on its way.  For one thing, Galahad now frequently comes in from the field covered with mud and I have swapped from using a body brush to a dandy brush.

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The fields are holding up pretty well so far but there is still enough mud to cover a pony!

Another sign is that Cookster is now wearing these stirrups.

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My sister likes to ride in her wellies when the ground is muddy and these make it that bit safer to do so.

I on the other hand am still sticking faithfully to my jodhpur boots.

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They might be falling apart and they definitely need replacing but until it gets cold or very wet I will be wearing them!

Enjoying The Sunshine

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We have had some wonderful weather over the past few days.  The sun has been shining and it has been really warm.

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Galahad has spent most of the days without his rug and he has definitely been making the most of the time – he is constantly covered in mud!

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Yesterday I was out for the evening so it was my Dad who had to put the rug back on.  Galahad did not want to cooperate.   He was apparently quite happy for my Mum to feed him apples but he kept one eye firmly on my Dad and whenever he moved the headcollar Galahad would jump away.

In the end, he had to catch Cookster and take him up to the stables.  Galahad then followed, walked straight into the stable and was quite happy to have his rug put on.  He  is usually fine to catch but he certainly likes to keep us on our toes!

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The forecast suggests that we should continue to have some good weather for the next few days so I am looking forward to some lovely hacking.

Job Satisfaction

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I am terrible at procrastination.  I seem to have a constant list of small jobs which need doing but something more important comes up and after all they can always be done tomorrow.  Last weekend though I had a free day and made the most of it to get some yard chores done.

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My jumps have been lying in the field for the last few weeks – unusable because the ground is so slippery.  I have been wanting to get them put away – obviously I don’t want them to rot!

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Sorry the picture is so blurry – it doesn’t look it but it was getting dark!

As is almost always the case it turned out to be a much smaller job than I had anticipated and didn’t take long at all.  They are still outside but they are not sitting in the wet any more which is the main thing.  Hopefully I will get around to painting them this winter.

 

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I also managed to get the yard properly cleaned and swept.  I keep it pretty clean anyway but the ponies are always tracking in mud which needs scraping off every so often.  Again,something I have been putting off for a while!

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Lastly I filled the water trough.  Obviously, it always has water in it but if I am in a hurry – and I usually am – I just make sure that there is enough in it to last the day.  It takes quite a long time to fill the whole thing but it does mean it won’t need doing again for a few days.

It is incredible satisfying to get the yard chores done.  Having the afternoon to do them all made me feel like a proper equestrian!

Muddy Lanes and Christmas Wreaths

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We recently had some work done on our lane – the ditch was re-excavated and the mud and grass was scraped off the middle.   It is looking a lot nicer and the puddles have pretty much gone which is excellent.

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It is a bit muddy at the moment but that is just because the digger was driving up and down all morning.  It will dry!

Galahad – who can be a bit spooky walking on an unusual surface – didn’t bat an eyelid at it.  However, he did have a massive spook both going out and coming in through the gate.  I couldn’t decide whether he was objecting to the concrete slab which got left in the hedge when the digger had gone:

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Or whether he didn’t like the Christmas wreath on the gate.

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Either way, he wasn’t happy!