March 2017

Modern technology is wonderful, until you don’t know how to deal with its problems. Yes, March’s post is late. This is due to a technical hitch with running the website, not because we have had any major disasters.

The new property is flooded with daffodils, and should really be called the Daffodil House rather than Oakfield, but of course it probably didn’t have all the daffodils when it was first started as a farm. The animals have settled in fine, although we very sadly had to say a final goodbye to Goldie, the stable cat who took over the house. Old age caught up with her but she did have some lovely weeks enjoying all the warm areas in the new house.

The rest of the animals are also enjoying the new place. The horses think they have semi-retired, as they are just hacked around the field while we wait for the arena. Fortunately the property has excellent drainage (despite a lot of rain this spring) so they are also getting turn out each day, with lots of long grass to keep them happy. As Lexi arrived in Wales a little lean (for her) it is just what she needs! Yes I know that there are hundreds of supplements that help put on weight, with before and after photos to ‘prove’ it, but i have always had just the same effect from lots of good grass on top of normal feed.

Patch has discovered her ‘inner terrier’ and has taken up digging in the garden, but fortunately not digging her way out through the (hopefully) new terrier-proof fence. The previous owners seem to have put plastic under large areas of the gardens for weed control, using things like old fertiliser bags instead of weedmat, and Patch has decided that it is her mission in life to dig it all up. She is not impressed with having to have her paws washed before coming back inside though!

Just to prove that everything comes in threes: 1. who knew that one of the large concrete paving stones scattered round the property covered a VERY big drain – falling in as i tilted the slab left me with bruises and a sprained hand. It could have been a lot worse though, as the concrete block fell away from me not on top of me. Will be more careful in future but I had already moved some without any surprises underneath.
2. I can no longer tease Carol about getting run over by Lexi, as it also happened to me! You don’t want to be in the way of an old mare determined to get from point A to point B. She sort of just pushed through me and knocked me over, giving me more bruises and an even sorer hand. It could have been a lot worse though as i know she landed on my leg at one point but without doing serious damage.
And 3. Diva got spooked from behind and jumped forward, giving me MORE bruises, this time on my foot. Thankfully not the blood and torn nail of last time though.
Hoping that is the three things all done with.

And speaking of threes, I’m currently re-painting the third stable in anticipation of another new resident. The son of a mare that Carol used to own last time she was in Wales (Poppet) may be coming, but more on him if it comes to pass. In the meantime, it should make going to Llanybydder horse sales next week fairly safe as there will be no spare stable. But then again, there are numerous spare barns available…

That’s all for now, as although we have been very busy it hasn’t been with anything excitingly horsey this month, just clearing rubbish, getting metal recycled (who could guess how much old metal hides under the blackberry!), and moving things from one place to another.

Happy Spring Riding

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