Ann NF
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Post by Ann NF on Aug 14, 2005 23:59:24 GMT 1
Oh that is brilliant and just so typical of this silly censoring site LOL! There was me wondering if you had Timber with you and the bratty girl thought he was a pregnant dog.....
Well done anyway Carol and long live the magic Dually! You were very brave to step in, but what a life that poor pony must have with that horrible child. Very sad. As much wine as you can drink tonight I reckon :0)
Carolwilts - your ride sounds wonderful, despite the unplanned exit. Hope you have been able to soak in the bath tonight.
I think Chris and Tim are averaging around eighty / ninety miles a day, although I expect gradient will slow them down or speed them up. While they were practising on day rides from home they were doing around eighty miles a day. Neither of them had ever done a long distance cycle before this one, so having to keep up the mileage day after day must be quite something. Tim is a student at LSE in London so cycles around The City in term time, while Chris is a member of Bristol University`s Mountain Biking Club and is in one of its teams, but the long distances are a new thing for them both. They are camping by Loch Ness tonight.
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Post by aberlemno on Aug 15, 2005 7:33:40 GMT 1
Phew - where do I start? All of a sudden everyone has written at once. Well, not much to report here. I haven't ridden Fahly for over a week now - first of all he banged his leg when the hosepipe snake attacked him, and since then either the weather's been against us, or I've been having to concentrate on other things. Today is a misty Autumn morning, and I intend to ride.
Other Ann - sorry to hear that you were grounded for a while, but at least you were able to keep up the groundwork. Sounds like he was an absolute star over the motorbike, so all the trust that the groundwork has built up paid off.
Murph's field mate has had a stay of execution then. I hope he is fine right through the winter now that he will be able to keep moving about and not stiffen up completely in a stable 19 hours a day.
Ann NF - I'm glad to hear that Hamlet is enjoying his retirement. Do you bring him in at night in the winter, or does he have the option of using the field shelter?
The bicycle training sounds to be going well. I will have to get Danny to get ours used to bicycles too, but he will have to give us a very wide berth if approaching from behind. Horses, being prey animals, are bound to have 40 fits if something suddenly startles them - I wish I'd had a chance to explain that to the idiot that rang his bell behind us. I've met another, different, chappie since, who doesn't have a bell, but was very sensible about passing the horses. I did see him coming though, and yelled out to him, but he had already slowed right down.
The boys are certainly making very, very good progress. They must be super-fit though. My dad used to cycle all round Dartmoor when he was a teenager and said he regularly cycled 100 miles a day at weekends. He used to race-ride too.
Carol in Wilts - hum, you really do have your work cut out with Mara over loading don't you, and it sounds like she is one step ahead of the game every time, which doesn't help matters.
I visited the Long Riders Guild website once or twice (inspired by Nikki Italy who mentioned it). Makes you want to pack your bags and be off doesn't it? Oh, along the Ridgeway and Scotland here you come - sounds absolutely wonderful. I seem to be at a stage in my life where I am very much tied to the home by my responsibilities, and even one day's freedom is bliss. Ah well, I can dream.
I enjoyed the auction(s). The one on Thursday was largely very junky. I bought two sewing machines and a box of odds, which had been lumped together. I didn't know there WAS a 2nd sewing machine until he announced it. It is pretty well seized up, but a pretty little thing, with nasturtiums painted on it, and the wheel sitting over a scooped-away bit of the base, and an inlaid ruler along the front. How sensible! No-one would bid on the box of odds as it was all cracked, damaged and undesirable items from other £1 boxes bought the previous Saturday, so I shall try and get rid for 50p a time at Car Boot Sale when I do one next. I did get a lovely black and white Spode plate from the box though, with a chip, which I've stuck on the dresser with the chip out of sight. I also got several kitchen chairs to replace some rickety ones we have now and will sell the rickety ones at CBS too.
When I went to the Car Boot Sale on the showground yesterday, I could spot everyone who had bought from the previous two auctions by what they were selling. The £1 boxes of junk still looked like - £1 boxes of junk, just spread out!
Gosh, Mara does sound a baggage when she doesn't have enough work!
I'm glad you weren't badly hurt when your stirrup got caught on the gate. Years and years ago I can remember that happening to one of the Whips when we were out hunting. It was just "solid" nickel irons in those days and the stirrup was bent completely out of shape. He caught his knee at the same time and I should imagine he was black and blue next day poor chap.
Lambourn Gallops sounded right up Mara's street though. What a pity you missed the gaggle of nude walkers! Sorry, but when you get to be the shape I AM - you want to jolly well cover it up, not let it all hang out.
Carol - glad that Jess arrived safely. Rups is definitely in disgrace after playing the big bad stallion! What a bully! At least Tess will be her friend for life.
I take my hat off to you over that poor pony. I think I would have been hard-put not to put the Dually on the daughter and tie her tight to a tree with her mouth taped shut! I think you kept your cool very well, and the pony certainly benefitted from your help. The parents must have been mortified by the way their daughter behaved - although she is obviously somewhat doted upon to behave like that in the first place. Spoilt rotten is the term I believe. You certainly earned all your brownie points and a whole bottle of wine to yourself!
Rosemary - now, I could cope with Lambourne Gallops - any wide open spaces. What bothers me is getting up speed when there's a hedge coming up fast and I need to stop! Because we just don't have the off-road riding locally, I've only ever cantered him in local fields, so we can't get up too much of a head of steam . . .
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Post by rosemaryhannah on Aug 15, 2005 7:58:59 GMT 1
Well Carol that was both brave and noble. Not to mention seriously clever to actually pull it off. What a cow! Are we allowed cows? Probably not ... What a Fresian!
Oh Aberlemno - that WAS clever too - auctions here used to be fun, then somehow all the cheap stuff went and prices went through the roof!
Not much happened here. I have been staining Geroge's new bed - this is not the bribe bed, but the bed which he will have till he leaves home and I will then inherit. It is a very basic build it yourself pine bed frame with a mattress. I have stained it dark green - and it really has transformed it from a boring boring bed into something suggestive of William Morris. George tolerates the finish, really it is for me!
This, and getting both of the driving ponies out (Mace is going very well still - not the smallest hint of trouble) took up my day, along with the dreaded domestic economy. I finished beading my bag but did not get a chance to make it up. It was a stunningly beautiful day, sunny and hot - real late summer! Today, not!
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Ann NF
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Post by Ann NF on Aug 15, 2005 23:06:41 GMT 1
A home economy morning here, followed by a couple of hours in Bournemouth for shopping. It`s always quieter on a Monday, even in mid holiday season. Lovely hot weather today so many relaxed and happy holiday makers slowly wandering the streets in shorts and licking ice creams as they went :0)
I seem to carry thoughts of you all with me and am now getting quite addicted to spotting beautiful bags covered in beads and buttons a la Aberlemno and Rosemary Hannah.
Having resisted all the lovely clothes ( bought denim jods last week so that`s my ration for now) I found what I though was just the right duvet cover for Matthew. Guess what? He doesn`t really like it and has gone off the idea of geometric patterns which he had last week. Now he wants beige...so we shall trudge back again in a day or two and he can choose his own! At least he has done a bit of poo picking for me this evening, although he was most upset because a squirrel did a dodgy manouvre on the overhead power line in the field and electrocuted itself. It fell squealing to the ground and Matt found it very dead and with very singed whiskers. No doubt it will be dinner for a fox tonight.
I hope Nikki hasn`t lost her phone connection again?
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Ann NF
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Post by Ann NF on Aug 15, 2005 23:09:08 GMT 1
I am fascinated. Why do we have adverts for hot air balloon rides on the top of this page?
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Post by aberlemno on Aug 16, 2005 7:58:47 GMT 1
Don't know Ann, but when I replied (after you) on the thread where the lass had broken her pelvis when her horse fell on her, apart from birthday card ads, there was one for crutches! I fell about after reading THAT!
Another lovely morning here. I've just gone up to the field and brought Fahly down before they get the big machinery out again. You took your life in your hands the past couple of days going up the hill, as they had a constant stream of huge tractors and trailers full (or indeed empty) of shale which they'd quarried from the field beyond ours and were then bringing down to lay an extension to Route 66 across next door farmer's fields. He's had his knuckles rapped for moving his cattle up and down the lane outside (and with good reason, as it made for dangerous driving, quite apart from it being extremely dirty - I'm talking about it being like a slurry lagoon, not just a couple of cow pats). Now I think he's had his knuckles rapped about digging up the Iron Age enclosure in Castle Field, next to ours. I'm hoping he's had a hefty fine for each.
Fahly and I had a nice flat ride up the valley bottom yesterday, and apart from nearly getting squished by our alcoholic neighbour on his tractor, who had obviously had his bottle of sherry instead of breakfast and hit the wrong pedal coming down the hill towards us, we had a nice ride. I shall try and get him out when I've been out for mum's pension and a few bits and pieces from town.
I have not got anywhere near doing the long list of chores I have set myself recently. I really MUST remove the cobwebs in our bedroom today - it's starting to look just like Miss Haversham's wedding feast in there now. I also really MUST clear the patch for the polytunnel near the gate. Now - it is a BABY polytunnel, courtesy of Lidl special offer back in June - so only 6 feet x 4 feet by my height tall, but it will do for me, as I don't have a greenhouse at all - just a couple of cold frames and mum's four-shelf mini-greenhouse with a fleece cover. I still lust after a great big polytunnel (put up by someone else other than ME), but I have abandoned all hope of that now. In fact, when we finally downsize, OH has told me he wants a back yard with a few containers and no lawn to mow . . . hum, not what I had in mind at all!
Ann NF - I'd have been upset about the squirrel too, being so soft-hearted. I know they're tree-rats really, but . . . You might have known if you bought a duvet set for Matthew, it would be wrong . . .
I'm glad Rosemary and I have opened your eyes to glitzy bags! They are fun, and I've just realised, I don't have one, so I may make myself one over the winter. I had so many really original ideas, and so did Tam, and it seems a shame to bin them forever. I had a lovely idea involving a applique ferns, unrolling as they do in spring. Then another "Autumn" one with Fungi (OH thinks my interest in Fungi is, how shall I put this, a little batty!)
Rosemary - if you go back to an auction, you may find that prices are on the ground again. We had that here - stuff was cheap as chips, then lots of people started selling stuff at car boot sales and demand for stuff was very high, and then it all tailed off again. Our friends in the antiques trade said that after 9/11 there was a marked change in antiques prices, and it would seem this has filtered right through. Another friend in the trade locally, more at the bottom end of the market, said that half the stuff for sale in local Antiques Bazaars are so dear because they were bought when the market was at its highest, didn't sell, and now are so overpriced they won't sell - even for less that what the dealers paid for them . . . Having said that, there are some idiots about with money to burn. One couple in The Works recently, were discussing a wall clock they quite fancied. She, "But where are we going to put it?" He, "Oh we'll find somewhere when we get it home," and they bought it. Price - £550 . . . . Just like that!
I'm glad to hear that Mace is driving really well again. I'm sure he was only sticky to start with because he had been stuck in the field, idling, and his last memory of driving wasn't a pleasant one. Now he's got his confidence back and doing beautifully. He is a really gorgeous colour dun you know. I've always had a soft spot for duns.
Anyway, time to go and sort mum and Trixie out.
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Post by rosemaryhannah on Aug 16, 2005 8:15:06 GMT 1
Poor squirrel! Should have taken the hot air balloon? Once when we had been talking about bags, it offered a series of ads for bag handles - I think it picks up on key words from discussions. I cannot see how else it comes up with bag handles for pity's sake?
I reckon we could insist it advertises bed linen. I really need new sheets and a new duvet cover. Do the Americans call then duvet covers? Well, new bed linen is the thing – make sure all of you insist on adverts for new bed linen in exciting patterns! Or do a google for this!
I have once again had to abandon dress making for a bit while I have a blitz on the house. I agree with Aberlemno, anybody who thinks they could clean this house in ahlf an hour is welcome to try – even when not really dusty to start with, it takes longer than that to dust the kitchen.
You are so energetic, Aberlemno – and I do envy you your garden. Something had to give this end, and gardening was one of the somethings.
One day I shall go a distance ride – and one day I shall have a holiday, and hopefully, one day I shall get this house in order and finish my dress making. Still no saddle.
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carolwilts
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Post by carolwilts on Aug 16, 2005 9:35:53 GMT 1
I think I am missing out! Because I use Firefox (with ads blocked) and Norton web/antivirus which also has an ad blocker, I don't see the ads at all. Almost tempted to switch them back on so I can see the odd ads. I had to laugh at the crutches reference! And wonder what on earth prompted the hot air balloons. Quiet day for me yesterday and today - rest days for Mara after our long ride on Sunday.. and she now has a snotty nose and a slight cough, so looks like she has caught a virus. Grrrrrr. So maybe a quiet week. Still, we can continue the trailer loading project. Decided to get her to use her brains a bit more by setting up a clicker project! Now she will load straight on and stand, so the first thing has been to teach her to stand in the trailer whilst I wander off and do things. Here she is last night. Now my challenge is to teach her to close the partitions herself! She already knows "target" and "hold on target", so I'm teaching her to put her head over the partition and touch the outside of it. On one or two occasions she has nudged it slightly shut, so she is getting heaps of rewards for that (but keeps volunteering the nudge it open, which is not quite what I want). Still she's a smart cookie, so I'm guessing she will cotton on soon to the "nudge the partition shut". If I have the patience to continue, perhaps I can teach her to load herself and close the partitions whilst I stand at the bottom of the ramp! Hmmmm probably going to be OK until I travel her again! Had a scare of a different sort yesterday. I took my friends dog Tilley out for a walk yesterday and poor girl electrocuted herself on a cattle fence..... not just a quick shock, but she got tangled in a loop, did a flip and then was rolled up in the wire screaming. I had to go and untangle her. She was getting more and more tangled. Golly those fences pack a punch! And so does Tilley when she bites! Fortunately far too polite to bite really hard, but far too stressed not to bite whilst tangled up and being shocked. having untangled her she ran off at full speed back home.....straight across the road. I was having kittens running after her imagining her being squashed on the road! Fortunately she got back safely and seems OK now, if a little shaken by the experience. Bet she won't want to come for a walk with me again! The rescue dog, Ellie, arrives on trial this afternoon. We have had one walk which went well, so fingers crossed that Skye and her get on when they are together in the house for a long time. My only worry is the cats.. but we will see. Carol.. well done with the loading of the brats pony! LOL "pregnant dog" indeed. I might have to recruit you to come and load Mara, if the clicker training project fails. Aberlemno.. I'd love to see some pics of your bags.. they sound wonderful. I think if your daughters like them then they must be fine.. I seem to recall that at that age I wouldn't be seen dead with something that looked in any way "home made" .. so they must be professional. Ignore the critics.... You have inspired me to go back to auctions.. we used to go a lot when we lived in Swindon as there was an auction room within walking distance and it was easy to pop in on a Saturday morning to see if there is anything worth buying. Problem is as a consequence we are two people living in a 4 bed house with spare rooms, attic and three sheds all crammed with junk. OH is threatening a skip soon. Problem is he is as bad as I am.. lots of the junk is offcuts of wood and thinks like oak pew fronts, large pieces of slate (ex-blackboards), stone slabs, piles of sarsen stones, chimney pots etc which might "all come in handy" somewhere. The back of our house has a growing resemblance to steptoe and sons and i have to keep a close watch to stop the tidal drift spreading to the rest of the garden. Ann NF.. where have they got to today? Must be nearly there! Rosemary...couldn't help but laugh and speculate what ads your post has generated.. what will the automatic ad generator make of electrocuted squirrels, bag handles, saddles and bed linen... please someone put me out of my misery or i will have to switch off the ad blocker!
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Ann NF
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Post by Ann NF on Aug 16, 2005 11:53:28 GMT 1
CarolWilts- we have THREE hot air ballooning adverts this morning! I wonder if it has latched on to me posting the name Bristol ? Lots of ballooning happens there, in Ashton Park just across the Avon Gorge. When we lived in Portishead in the early 80`s we often had balloons landing in fields near to us if the wind turned .
I`m surprised the site allows the word Bristol/ Bristols as it is SO sensitive.
The boys were at Lairg last night, in a B&B. 100 miles to go........ Good luck with the arrival of Ellie the non pregnant female dog. I hope she settles well with Skye and that your OH soon falls in love with her. Just off to take Hamlet for a walk up the lane.
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carolwilts
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Post by carolwilts on Aug 16, 2005 13:55:44 GMT 1
Ha ha
Couldnt resist.. had to turn ad block off and have a look. One ballooning ad and three cycle-related ads. At least the latter make sense!
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Ann NF
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Post by Ann NF on Aug 16, 2005 22:43:49 GMT 1
A quick update. Chris and Tim cycled 99 miles today and are now at John O`Groats!! They have done it! Details on the IHDG Appeal Big Bike thread. Chris has just phoned . First proper conversation for weeks as we have relied on brief text messages. They sound very well, fit and happy and just full of all they have seen and done. They are also totally in love with Scotland! Three days more cycling to do as they need to get back to Inverness for the Saturday train home. When they get home they want to make a website about their trip with all their photos on.
I have had a lovely day , mostly outside in the sunshine. Lots of poo picking and field jobs here and at Sarah`s and time to talk to friendly ponies at both places. Hamlet had a good walk through the lanes. It was too hot to take him up onto the moor this afternoon but he enjoyed stretching his legs.
I hope things are better today Jennie. Your neighbour sounds very inconsiderate and the damage to an archeological site is unforgiveable. I hope Fahly`s leg is improving.
Must go - an early start tomorrow.
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Post by aberlemno on Aug 17, 2005 7:48:53 GMT 1
Fahly is fine again now - he was never lame on the cut leg, but it was rather puffy and where the cut was would have been rubbed by his brushing boots, so I just let him chill out for a few days. We have had a flat ride up and down the valley bottom, but he's now got a couple of days off again as he had another Bowen treatment yesterday so, as with Human Bowen treatments, has to take things easy.
It is really fascinating to watch his reactions to the movements. A lot of the time he was pulling 'orrible faces and looking very grumpy. If a sore spot was touched he would pin his ears back and move his head as if to say, that hurts you know! I had my hand by his mouth on several of these occasions and he would just mumble his lips against my palm, so he didn't intend to carry out his threat. Sometimes, particularly after the neck and withers movements, he would just go to sleep, legs slightly splayed and obviously throughly relaxed, bless him. After some head moves, we left him loose to relax, but he walked over to D and put his head in her hands. She did one final tiny move and then he moved away and went to sleep . . .
Ann NF - CONGRATULATIONS to the boys for making it to John O'Groats, and in record time too. They must have leg muscles like racehorses by now! I can't afford much, but will send a small donation via Eileen. What tales they will have to tell, and photographs to show. Not surprising they have fallen in love with Scotland. I still cherish my memories of holidays there in the past, especially on the west coast and Skye.
My neighbour doesn't give a sh-t about anything Ann. He does what he wants to do and was perfectly happy to pollute our shared water supply in the past (with cow slurry), or use it all so there was none left for us in the house. I was extremely glad to find he was sufficiently stupid to have sold us the one field on his farm which had a reliable spring (marked on the OS map) in it, and it was the one which had fed the well in Victorian times and before that too . . . His elder son is of the same persuasian, and has left me very upset in the past when he took the flail to my trellis of rambler roses, honeysuckle and clematis. He killed the lovely, lovely Montana Rubens clematis I had growing all along the trellis. It was an absolute picture in the spring, especially on the farmyard side of the trellis. I haven't replanted it, needless to say. The words "pig" and "ignorant" spring to mind, and those are just the polite epithets I can use on here . . . I found out yesterday that he has had a HUGE (we're talking moon craters here) pond dug out in the field beyond ours so his cattle have drinking water. It will be 9 feet deep. I'm afraid I harboured dark thoughts of rather hoping his cows couldn't swim . . . That should bring up some interesting ads . . .
Rosemary - well, gardening really got quite abandoned here, and I have certainly lost the enthusiasm I had for it pre-degree course, although the creative living forum I'm on has helped inspire me this year. The veg patch is producing large quantities of runner beans and yellow French beans and some more peas due on my 5 foot Victorian peas. I hope to do a bit more with it next year and get more organised.
I'm sorry you are still without your saddle - they are certainly taking their time. I would have been jumping up and down long before this! Must go and do that about my hay too, come to think of it!
Carol in Wilts - lovely photo of Mara, and lovely box too. She certainly looks totally at ease up there. Teaching her to shut the doors sounds like a brilliant notion and I hope it helps settle her worries about being shut in.
Oh poor Tilley - you must have been distraught. Barney went under a too-low bit of next door's electric fence recently and got a whopping zap on the bum. Poor dog, he did yelp. I think it's a much stronger charge than my field electric fence. Getting tangled up in it must have been terrifying - poor little dog. Hope your hands weren't too chomped. A friend of mine from many years back once got bucked off right by an electric fence. She landed in a patch of nettles, with one leg crooked OVER the fence at the knee. She said afterwards she would hardly have been stung by the nettles at all if she hadn't been thrashing around so much trying to get her leg off the wire!
Auctions - love 'em! It's the thrill of the chase and all that! You sound like me - rooms full of all-sorts of stuff you may need one day, and your yard sounds like a proto Architectural Salvage Yard!
How did Ellie's visit go?
Off to do breakfast now, and bring Fahly down to the paddock.
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Post by aberlemno on Aug 17, 2005 7:51:48 GMT 1
Gosh - the censor allowed "bum"!!! Plus for some very strange reason, we have a Diabetes ad? What encouraged THAT?
Forgot to mention, my family arrive back home today after a week at my b-in-law's in Essex. I hate being on my own here and have smuggled Barney-dog up to my bedroom every night for moral support. Shhhhhhhhh - don't tell OH! Oh it will be lovely to have a noisy home again tonight.
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Post by rosemaryhannah on Aug 17, 2005 8:35:33 GMT 1
Pee, po, belly, bum, draws!
Talking of banned words, it today A level result day? Best of luck!
Oh, er poor doggie! My dogs really fear our electric fences - they are mains ones because ofd the sheep. Poor dog to get stuck in it! Are you both recovering?
I love the picture of Mara - she has a little of the look of my beloved Sorrel about her. bigger of course. But Sorrel was another mare who could on occasion be a right moo.
School is back today up here.
Oh Ann - well done them! Looking forward to photos very much. That WAS so quick, I'm impressed! It is a huge huge distance. How very worth while.
Still no Nikki.
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carolwilts
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Post by carolwilts on Aug 17, 2005 10:15:33 GMT 1
Despite the bum and other references i'm still seeing hot air balloons and cycles ads- my curiosity is such I have left the ad block swithed off. Now I am on the "Post reply" page I'm gettong ads for "animated emoticons" "smiley faces" etc. Why is this so compulsive?
Ann NF Congratulations to the boys for getting to John of Groats.. It seems like no time at all! I'll contribute to the sponsorship as i am so impressed!
Glad to hear Fahly wasnt lame, Aberlemno.... what a relief - just when you are getting him going. The Moo loves Bowen as well... most of it... and also tells the therapist what she likes and dislikes. Having said that she had Equine touch last time. equally acceptable as far as she is concerned. Its nice having expressive horses- at least you know what they like and dont like.
You neighbour sounds just terrible! At least we are sourrounded by nice farmers.. one one side of the village is a huge organic farm which is heavily into welfare, and on the other side an equally nice large farm (mainly arable) with lovely people who also run great concerts in their garden and are into irish folk music, vintage motrobikes and other things. They run a great B&B too (and will accommodate horses) so if anyone fancies a trip to our nice riding country.... We are very lucky.
Tilley seems n one the worse for wear after her shocking experince. met her and her owner out for a walk this morni9ng, so all is well. PHEW!
Ellie has arrived and seems to be settling in OK. For the first hour she was distraught and trying to run after her "mum" .. broke the cat flap trying to get out to see where her mum had gone. But after a couple of hours she gave up the vigil (so heartbreaking to see) and came to settle down. Skye is not giving her too hard a time, and she is even starting to worm her way into OH's affections... she cuddled up to him last night - as he is a floor dweller (always sits on the floor to eat supper and watch TV!) - and put a paw on his arm. I could see him melting despite the Victor Meldrew impersonations. I took them out (thats Skye and Ellie.. not the OH!) for a long walk this morning and they are now both flaked out asleep on the floor.
The "training Mara to close the partitions" project is going crackingly well. I know it sounds a little bonkers.. but its working! She cottoned on this morning that I didnt just want her to target on the door but actually to nudge it. By the end of our 20 minute session she had twigged that I wanted her to nudge it shut, not open, and was reliably closing both partitions and looking very pleased with her self! I wish I had had someone videoing it.... it was a classic example of how quickly a horse can learn something! And of course because SHE, and not I, had closed the partitions she didn't seem to be worried about them.
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