Pendlewitch

That's a really super picture, how come his wall eye makes him look stunning whilst Banner's makes her look bonkers?

Signed

Poor horse, that's so sad. CP, Wanda is more than a tad arthritic and she uses Simple System Total Eclipse, Joint Eclipse and Cider Vinegar. She is looking good and hasn't had to have her hocks steroided this year

Good Luck Milo and CP, hope it all goes well! Come on Clare, positive mental attitude and all that for the jumping, go with the intention to use it as a schooling session! Novice tests are a bit of an eeeek at first glance I know, there seems to be so much to do. You'll have it sorted by the time the comp comes round! I hate the weather! The lower yard flooded again last night, Harry cob, Little Lilli, Monty, the chickens and the tool shed were 2ft in water and the yard is covered in mud. All the bedding is soaked and had to be chucked out, we have had to take all the mats out to clean underneath, the mud has to be shifted quickly before it dried out in today's annoyingly blazing sun! We have a huge lake in one field and a colony of ducks instantly moved in, they always arrive, how on earth do they know the lake is back?

I love the audition stage and there are some shockers but there is still no need for a has been, incredibly rude Spice Girl to be judging. I did like the nervous chap, the funny lad with the candyman song and the 16 year old at the end. Pink girl should be stuffed in a bag with Mel, they deserve each other!

Now that's a result Clare, jolly well done! Err, where's the vid? Good luck vibes for Gooster and CP, hope it turns out well for both! I'm so cross with myself, I've let Banner get too fat so she now has had to come off the grass and is doing lots of little legs lunging! She is just so good and will change pace on command but her fat wobbles! She is an amazing 75kg overweight, I'm so surprised she hasn't got lammi and it would be totally my fault if she had done. The vet thinks she is possibly on the EMS/Cushings side because of the fat distribution. (That's Banner, not the vet). She has put on loads of coat already (again Banner not the vet) so she is being clipped this week, I can't have a sweaty yak again this winter! Talking of fat, the vet is happily doing Banner's teeth, not an easy thing to do when she calmly told me she is 5 month pregnant, eeeek, should she still be dealing with wild ponies! One of the other vet's wives is and so is the receptionist, YO Sam is so glad she doesn't work there, it's obviously catching!

Here's Banner doing a bit of lunging, I'm surprised she didn't just tell me to SHUT UP, I can't believe just how annoying I am with the constant clicking! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qekk3NB99Qg&feature=player_detailpage

The white stuff is grease, it helps prevent splinters if the horse rubs a fence and can assist the legs to slide insted of sticking. There can also be cooling properties but they have to be so careful it doesn't contain a banned ingredient! Here's Banner's July agility! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XGlRIKKM1YI

BBC coverage of horses stuff is poop! Not everyone has Sky and it's so annoying to be watching something and to be whisked away to silly stuff like beach volleyball which appears to have to be done nearly naked! It won't be long before paper folding is an Olympic sport. Grumble grumble, moan! Wanda ducked out of her last dressage with a recurrence of her hoof abcess, now Finn has a shocker in the bulbs of his heel and his Mum Sheri has stress laminitis! What on earth is going on. My International Superstar Banner has just done her second agility competition, apart from messing up the back over a pole she was great! She is grossly fat though so has totally come off the grass, she is eating only Lucie Stalks and Ruff Stuff for a week, then I will reassess. She was only out at night on poor grazing with a muzzle but still managed to explode, take away cream cakes maybe!

Ah, just how cute are those piggies, now I want some again!

Aw Blue, he must be so happy to be out at last. Good on you Clare for taking the trouble to help the dog! Wanda was supposed to go to dressage last night but pulled a sicknote, her hoof abcess flared up again, fortunately the farrier was to hand and whipped her shoe off. He found a nice track leading to gunk so a couple of days poulticing and she should be fine. I don't think she was too worried about not going as it was peeing down, we had a lake in the field again and once again Lilli was prancing about in it!

Time, patience and a hutching board, more commonly refered to as an utchin board! It's a mini version of a pig moving board to trap block piggy into a corner, you can then pick them up with less trauma than grabbing wildly. Pick them up from underneath if you can then they won't think you are a predator looking for lunch! They can and will try jump out of your hands at first and have no idea at all about height so watch for kamikazi leaps. You could take the platform out when you want to handle them but they do like to have a hidey hole, I used to have grassy huts for mine, they loved them. Well they eventually ate them but I think they are meant to! What sex are because if you have one of each females can and will breed at 4 months and are prolific, you can have males castrated though. Two males can develop a 'relationship' but both may not be happy with this idea, two females always seem to get on ok. I love guinea pigs, pictures please!

You are having a time of it CP, the new place sounds fabulous with the super hacking. Sadly it does sound as though you have a rig on your hands but as long as you keep him away from tarty mares he should be ok. Good news with Blue Gooster!

I'm sick of rain! We had an absolute downpour last night, the chickens, Monty shet, Lilli shet and Harry cob were all flooded out, Harry is at the top end and his box was a foot deep so the lower boxes must have been much deeper and all were inches deep in mud that had washed off the field, through the turnout and down the yard! The woodchip track down to the fields has gone, lord knows where and the arena has lost a lot of surface. I've had to dump all Lilli's bedding and wash out the mud, her rubber mats were so coated I had to wash them before I could get them out and the mud reeks like a poke of devils! We have an amazing lake in the middle of the shets field, fortunately they have loads of much higher areas to escape to and equally fortunately they are out at night, otherwise they would have been doing breaststroke round their stables. Lilli loves water and was happily playing in the lake, she was the only happy person about though! She's taken over the foaling box in the barn and Monty went with her so they are ok, All the other horses in and out were fine, we are coping with the clean up and no-one got hurt or drowned so it could have been worse. I can only imagine what it must be like for the unfortunate people who have their houses flooded out!

Poop, this may work better! http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=FLy8ZRINyKfrLeCCnCo_Wqzg&feature=player_detailpage&v=9VaS38raeM8

This may or may not be Banner's video! http://youtu.be/9VaS38raeM8

Yay, WTG Loki, you are a star! Wanda went out for her first competition in a year, she did P12 and P4. Twelve was dire, she was so stiff and donkey like, the canter was lumbering and jump totally absent! She had a rest and a snack before P4 and Sam did some serious working in and she came in a different horse and did a really good test, ending up in 4th place so we were very pleased with her. As for Banner's vid I recorded it as a vob file for some reason and I can't post it as yet. I'm trying to sort it out though!

Well would you believe it!!!! Banner did her first on line agility competition in June. We just got the results today and she came 6th of of 37 entries, we get points in the league (well one point) and a rosette, my little pony is a super star! There were entries in her class from Australia, Canada, USA and New Zealand and well as England. I'll put the vid up as soon as I can, Banner looks brill and I look like a bag lady!

Aww , he looks so cute but slightly embarressed!

It's always worse when you haven't done an unscheduled dismount for a long time, easy to feel fireproof I suppose. But what was he jumping, he was was way up there in the clouds! If you don't have the support from the knee roll an exit stage left is on the cards at some point! You seem to have got it in your head that you are rubbish at showjumping and I don't understand why 'cos you're not at all. A few technique probs creep in but to be honest who doesn't have them. Re ride the lesson in your head, deal with what happened and put it right, then breathe deeply and on to the lesson with the international bod! That first pic is awesome!

Ian I am so very sorry you have lost Thor and so soon after Tara, your heart must be breaking. Run fast and free Tara and Thor, together again and free from pain.

Good vibes for Phoebe EAD, she is a lovely mare, I hope you find out what's wrong quickly! Ooo Gooster, a Dales pony! Pictures please, round or not! Watch this space for Banner's first vid competing at pony agility, be warned, it's not an exciting spectator sport! Special Lilli has been started on Alphabute in an attempt to help her awful movement, the results have been so good she is now Super Lilli! She does still drag her feet a tad but is much more free moving. My main problem with her now is her tendancy to bite, she has a very bad temper and is quite a sulky little person. Her dad was a bit of a monster but I always thought it was the way he was kept in a small area with no turnout, maybe he was just arsey and Lilli has inherited his temperament!

Oh dear, he's Lokki now! Not a lot wrong with that round Clare, some nice slow down and wait aids from you that were very clear. When he gets a tad unbalanced you stop riding and leave it to him so he clonks them. Little bit more schooling and he'll be fine, huge potential there! Ead, Phoebe is gorgeous!

Glad the saddle worked out Clare! Would Blue like a football in a haynet to bat around Gooster or as has been said, clicker training. CP I was thinking about Milo and his bum biting, have you tried a calmer or even rig calm. He could have the tiniest bit of testicular tissue that releases testosterone, he then would be a bit driven to be bossy and not necessarily be a rig or show stallion like behaviour apart from the bullying.

Many thanks to all for the kind messages, we miss Cecil so much it's hard to bear. Jumble was so sad and quiet and I did not know how to help him, I think we have helped each other though. We are doing all Cecil's favourite walks and including the bits he could not do anymore and we leave wild flowers on the paths for him. Thank you for the link Ian, it's lovely. My thoughts are with you and Thor.