Wednesday 8th June 2011 was a day I shall never forget.  Two of our older horses, Trigger who is coming up 29,  and Spindle, who was in his twentieth year, were booked in to head off to Horse Heaven. Trigger hasn't worked for years now, and has just been blobbing out, retired, but we know he was riddled with arthritis, in fact he clicked all over as he walked.  A couple of months ago the vet couldn't improve upon what was left of his teeth, but he said he looked quite good for a very elderly horse.  Spindle has been permanently lame for a few years now, with severe arthritis in his right front knee, but he was still charging round the place being the Great I Am. although he would then be even more lame after his showing off phase. He had lost a lot of muscle on his shoulders and backside and never does well in the Winter.

On Sunday we went up next door to find Trigger and bring him home for his usual Winter spoiling. When we found him he was planted on a track and very unkeen to move, in fact we had a helluva job to move him at all to walk home..

Spindle was way up the hill in the forestry block and not reporting for duty, so we set off on Monday for an extended search and retrieve session..He came thundering all the way down the long tracks like a two year old and the two younger horses with him had difficulty keeping up!

The Old Boys, with Toss the Boss,  then spent time in the Hospital Paddock, in front of the house, with ad infinitum hay. They got primped and preened and looked after and loved. Spindle. in particular, has always enjoyed being tended by hand maidens, as is his due as a Very Important Horse of the first calibre.

Wednesday afternoon was sunny and nice and the two very old friends went to Heaven together. They are horribly missed but happy now and pain free

Happy Easter Everyone!!  I hope the cold and nasty weather didn't spoil everyone's enjoyment of the holiday. We were jolly busy in the week leading up to Easter and had lots of rides in really unseasonably cold conditions.
David Sim, the Vet, came as well to do the next eleven sets of horses' teeth, check out a very skinny Perkins and give Clonbern her next bottle of sodium iodide. On the day that he came there had been heavy rain all morning and it was building up to be a gale force wind, so we set up down in the Hospital Paddock, in the middle bay of the Hay Barn, which is empty at the moment as the horse float is away.

Some of the horses were very, very good, like Clonbern, and some were really naughty, like Sergeant Pepper, who managed a super duper rear when he though no one was looking.  We are discussing a demotion to Corporal if his behaviour doesn't improve!

The whole herd was home from next door for the Vet's visit, and while they have been home we have managed to get all their feet trimmed, dose them with selenium and  tidy up any messy manes and hairy heels.

After the Easter Day ride, cold, damp and windy of course, we re-sorted the herd and put twelve horses back next door. The Old Boys, Toss and Trigger, are on the Bottom Flat, with Clonbern who is Toss' current girl friend, and Perkins. They get lucerne every morning.

We are battening down the hatches for more horrible weather!  Our heat pump doesn't usually go on until mid winter, or when Rod finally feels the cold, whichever comes first, but it is on today.  My feet may defrost, eventually!

Sunday 6th February  2011 was a jolly hot day  -  a jolly, jolly hot day!  So, inevitably,  we had a booking for a three hour ride at 4.00pm. The thermometer, on the SHADY side of the post, registered 33 degrees Centigrade!  The Volunteers all dispensed with their terribly correct jods and slipped into shorts and even I rolled my jean legs up. We decided  not to do the usual three hour trek which climbs steadily uphill all the way, and, instead, just rode up the Branch Creek, going from water hole to waterhole with all of us, including our good riding customer, getting very wet in the process.
When we sweated our way back to the last water hole on the way home, Tina flopped off Jack, Emmerson off Dusky and Rachael off Ellie and all three just lay back in the deep water with their horses giving them the strangest looks  -  What are you doing down there?

Jack's face was something to behold. He loves splashing in the water but he was expecting Tina to be on top not under him!

You can see that both horses and riders seem to be having a lot of fun. Jack and Tina were having a tug of war with her stick, while Dusky puts up with a new sort of under water rider.

We rode from waterhole to waterhole but it was still unbearably hot. I was sitting up the bank on Clonbern, holding everyone's cameras and enjoying the two mini dripping ponds in my boots.

Once Rosie flopped down poor Katalin had to stitch like a maniac before Rosie stirred and got up again. Luckily Nancy was here to cut and allow Katalin to start on the next one.

On Her Feet Again  -  Just

 Not a happy pony at this moment, but, two weeks later, we loaded her on the horse float, took her to see Katalin at the surgery, and had the stitches taken out. Rosie is now charging around again, sticking her nose into everyone's business and probably waiting to have her next accident. In a few weeks Emmerson can get back to riding her pony agaiin.

The vet, David Sim, is coming on Tuesday to worm all the horses by injection and inspect and rasp teeth. Yesterday we brought all the horses home from next door's property, and there were lots of squeals and excitement as the whole mob was back together again. Inevitably there was a lot of chasing, bossing and kicking as they sought to re-establish the herd hierarchy. During the course of this process Rosie lammed out at a horse in the next paddock and got caught in the fence. When she yanked her leg back she had a big chunk hanging down and obviously needing stitches.  Poor Emmerson has been riding Rosie all through the holidays, built up quite a bond with her, and was very upset. as was Rachael who is another softie.
Another of the vets at our practice, Katalin, came up later in the afternoon to try to treat the wound. Rosie put up with the wound being hosed, with good grace, but was very anti having local anaesthetic put in such a sore spot, and did her best to knock Katalin into orbit. A general anaesthetic was administered and the stitching began in earnest, with our American friend Nancy, a full time human nurse, pressed into service as tool passer and cutter of suture thread.

Eventually Rosie came to and staggered to her feet, and stood there rather drunkenly.  She is now in the Hospital Paddock with best friend Specs for company, and must endure a few days of more jabs, pain relief and lots of spoiling.

Apologies to the viewing public! I have been trying, for two days, to upload four more photos of Rosie's treatment, but the computer, via dial up, is being very anti!  So I will publish what is there so far and hope to add the other photos later.

Our very nice  young blacksmith, Linton Spence, came today.  Most of our herd is unshod, and Rod does a barefoot trim about once a month.  Feet that used to have shoes on, but were very crumbly and unhealthy, are now rock hard, and very difficult to trim and rasp. The majority of the trekking horses are quite happy barefoot and don't seem to feel any ill effect from being unshod.  There are a few, however, who feel every pebble, and these horses have front shoes on.  Last year we had a huge problem with seedy toe, flares and separated hoof, and are now down to two or three whose problems persist, and of these one now has front shoes on.  This has meant he has come sound with regular treatment from our blacksmith.  This is Boogie, who is now taking custommers very happily.  Today Linton  put front shoes on big Kilmun, who has had really horrible feet for nearly three years.  He is ready for customers now, and his sore feet won't hold him back

Our very good vet, David Sim, came up yeaterday to continue treatment for Clonbern's damaged hock.  He inserted a large bore needle in Clonny's neck and proceeded to run in a bottle of Sodium Iodide.  [  I hope I got that right ]  Rachael was deputised to photograph  the whole event, but squeamishness had her the other side of Clonbern, not focusing on the injection site.  Clonbern was unbothered and apparantly falling asleep.  She knows David well and he was the vet who rode her at the Fun Race Day.  We are hoping that the drug will help the swelling to go down.

Clonbern Lady, Clonny or Miss Piggy, is my best guide horse. She is 18 now but still very much in her prime!   At the beginning of September, in all the rain, she galloped down the hill like a  two year old, bucking and kicking, slipping and sliding, and when she got to the bottom she was lame. By the following day she had a hock like a small melon and ever since, despite treatment, the hock has remained too swollen for her to be used although she has been totally sound for some weeks.  It has been hard trying to get other trekking horses to do the job she does so well.  Get better soon Clonny!

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A big ride, nine people, was booked today for 10.00am, so we knew we were going to be flat out, but the fun started last night when we tried to persuade the horses to come down off the hill, so that we could sort them and put today's horses in a smaller paddock for easier retrieval this morning.

I drove home from town to see Rod up the hill with his quad bike, and both Linda and Rachael chasing round the hill behind a huge mob of horses, who were having heaps of fun evading the issue    -    descending to river level to be caught. Far too much Spring grass under their belts!   One would break free from the herd and head off in another direction, and then the rest would see the break and follow at speed, kicking up their heels.

Dusky, our 9/11 baby, was SUPPOSED to be on our next door neighbours' property but she had climbed through two fences to be with her Best Friends, Specs, Rosie and Chile. Meanwhile her main boyfriend, the elderly but aristocratic Sultan, bellowed his disapproval from next door.  So Dusky was instrumental in leading the whole mob astray. The horses were having a whale of a time and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

This morning the horses were a little better behaved and suffered themselves to be caught, tied up, groomed and generally made ready.

Our customers were from QCC, Picton, and turned up early, which is unheard of in trekking circles, but it took us a while to get the nine lovely ladies on board and ready to go.. Even more unusual, most of them could actually ride and were in control of their horses, so the Volunteers and I had a very pleasant ride with good conversation and a generally relaxed atmosphere.

At home and untacked the horses always get an apple, which they whicker for and accept gently in most cases.  The two old horses, Toss and Trigger, as befits their station in life, stayed behind for a small feed, but everyone else hoofed it back up the hill  to find their mates. Kilmun stayed by the Top Yard with his friend, Glen, and made such big goo goo eyes that they had to have an extra apple.

Tea required for the workers as the first of many saddle pad washes is in the machine. 

Yesterday it was 29 degrees C on the shady side of the post where the thermometer lives outside the Tack Shed.  Our hay growers phoned to say the hay would PROBABLY be ready to be baled late in the day. I spent all morning reorganising the Hay Barn and laying down wooden pallets ready for the 150 bales of meadow hay we had ordered. I phoned round all our helpers of the past to see who could come up and cart hay at short notice.

At 6.00pm we got the call, but could only track down one, not necessarily keen, helper as the temperature was still in the high twenties with a nice nor west gale blowing.

Rod and I set off on our own and loaded the first 48 bales on the truck.  My poor knees knocked, back ached and hands protested as I lifted the first bale on to the truck deck. Only 149 to go!!  Our friend Tina caught up as we left the farm to drive home, and the three off us unloaded and stacked the 48 bales and headed back for the next load..

Two more loads of 40 bales and Tina headed home as it was well after 10.00pm. Rod and I went back to the hay farm and lugged the last 24 bales on board, drove home and, as it was pitch black now, drove the truck straight into the garage to unload today. Phew!!

At least it didn't rain.  Aching muscles all round today and a trail of hay all over the house.  Earlier in the day I had gone mad and hoovered. Now I wish I hadn't bothered!