Sitting here, first thing, on a bright frosty morning I can see a thermometer reading minus four. Immediately you begin to think, are the ponies ok? You then realise that they have grown the thick outer coat that will keep them warm and dry. The only thing they are lacking is a lovely long tail. Rolo, Charlie and George have all lost most of theirs. Blue, Frosty and Starlight have suddenly got very thin tails; while Golden Flame has a lovely long thick tail. Can you guess who the culprit is?? She comes over for fuss and butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, “you don’t think it’s me do you?” We have made minerals and licks freely available to them all, so we are at a loss as to why she is doing it.

Earlier in the month we wormed each of them and they all took the paste without any trouble at all. We are told it tastes of apple but we will have to take the makers word for that. After a short period of time we put them all in a clean field so as not to introduce the worm eggs back into their systems.

We have been working, over the last few weeks, concentrating on picking up their feet. We have been teaching them to put their feet on a log cut from a tree trunk. Why, you might ask? The farrier was coming and we did not want any reactions to having their feet picked up by a stranger. Typically it was tipping down with rain when Mark, the farrier, came; but we found an empty barn to take the ponies into. They all behaved impeccably, even Starlight and they all had their hooves trimmed. Charlie, true to form, thought we wanted him to lie down when Mark picked up either of his front feet. We had to convince him that it was easier if he stood up, so, he went to sleep in Donna’s arms; he loved the attention.

Each of the ponies is in tip top condition (minus tails) and are well prepared for the coming winter. Little Bessie has gone to a new home but we still have Annie who is adorable.