Kay is the boss, repeat after me, Kay is the boss

Now Sheltie is five. He has been getting a bit bold of late and has needed taking down a peg or two. It became apparent when the landowner looked after him when I went away for a few days. He never tried to squash her in the stable nor move around when she brushed him. Basically he knows me too well and does not show me the same respect as someone who treats him like proper horse and not like a teddy bear.

I understand these things but he is so cute and I want to hug him BUT I am now giving him the cold shoulder and not loving him. It seems so mean to treat him like this before he does anything naughty but it is the way to go. Lately he has been virtually demanding that I scratch his withers and shake his hand...he is making the first move and he is not meant to that. He nipped my arm the other day, I had bare arms for the first time this year in the stable and as I was picking up poo he had a sniff and then a little nip...nothing nasty just a bit exploratory but I really chased him for it. He went round his box a few time while I played big bad mare behind him. Then I ignored him while talking over the door. Next thing he was standing behind me like a little lamb, head by my knee waiting for further instructions. Must be something in this tough love. He does not get edible treats after working well either, nor when being turned out. Instead he gets a good rub on his shoulder which pretty well sends him into ecstacy anyway...but now it is only when I choose, not when he leans on me in the stable ! Just like someone with a spoilt brat of a kid it is hard to see the faults in your own baby..but we are now back on track.

We are on regular walks out now with his bit in. The walks only last for half an hour so I lunge him a short while before we go out at walk trot and canter. He knows exactly what I want and is long reining a lot better, and can back up in his reins.

Been a long gap between posts, I will have to try to move this action packed life of ours on a bit so that there is something to report!

APRIL UPDATE

Well I can't belive where the time has gone either. It is almost the end of April and I have not reported on the great cuteness in my life for weeks. That is probably because although he looks cute he is not. He is one ornery critter as they say somewhere.

We are waiting for the equine dentist to visit again in May. When last here she advised on a new bit and let me have a really good look into the mouth of Sheltie. I have found a bit I think is ok but am waiting till she assesses it before doing any more rein work.

That is not to say he does nothing, but a few lunging times and a few walks up the track are quite bland now. He will follow on a loose line and he will walk, trot and even a canter on a lunge now, though I made him canter when he was being stubborn rather than let him avoid forward motion so even if he looked good doing it it wasn't being done under best conditions. One day I will ask him to go up the pace steadily rather than just chase after him like I did then. He was being a stubborn boy...

He has given a few rides again, only short, twice two weeks ago and twice this week. He stands to allow the riders to mount well enough and will walk and lunge with them on, but he would rather go to the paddock where his friends are and stuff his face. One of the riders is ready to try a rising trot on the lead, he is more ready to head for the field and has thrown in a couple of baby bucks, fortunately he is little and the rider thinks it funny so if he thought he was getting rid of her he was wrong. We just kept moving.I think it is more showing his frustration at being kept busy than out and out trying to getting rid as the jumps he did were very tiny and we have seen how he broncs around the paddock when he feels good- so if he tried those actions with a kid on board there would be a few nailbiting moments..but he doesn't so that ok then. He looks so sweet but is not at all.

He is still moulting like mad. It is white hairs all over me and you can see in the paddock where he has rolled leaving a white mist over the grass. It is a shame there is no use for a carrier bag full of white fluff..

He is still playing fetch with his glove and a brush and a bucket and anything he can carry which is really fun, he wants a reward and almosts asks me to throw my glove, trying to pull it off my hand. He steps back as if waiting to see which way it is going to go, it is a very deliberate movement and impressed the dentist and the farrier.Unfortunately he is not moving on much with riding pony skills. I am so short of a rider who can bring him on. I have not sat on him this side of the snow as I am too big and that is the trouble with his best friend Alysha, she is too tall now although she has had a good long ride around the hill on a lead so he has shown he is ok out and about...until he wants to sniff a pile of horse droppings on the path. He is like a dog, he cannot walk past someone elses business, perhaps because his nose is so low to the ground.

Morning are the same as ever, early out, feed and groom, work him, walk him or turn out and then the rest of the stable chores (except they are not chores). it does not matter what the day or the weather, he is a commitment and this has been over a year of blogs so far and he is only rising 5, his birthday is late June. There are years and years of life in him, probably more than I have left in me which is not a joke, it is a serious responsibility. Each day I see his face for the first time I get that gooey "isn't he gorgeous " moment and then the work begins. Mums out there - do not treat your child to a pony, little as they, are unless you truly want to live the life, it has to be what the grown up wants to do, never mind what the child wants. I am just so lucky to have my own MILKY BAR KID pony to enjoy, it doesn't matter if the rest of the family think I am bonkers. xx

I am off to my very best friend's tomorrow for a few days and the landowner  is in charge of Sheltie, I am lucky there too, I can trust her with  his life !!

THIS IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT

February half term and Sheltie has visitors. They say a picture paints a thousand words (Perry Como??!!) These will show what a long way my boy has come. What a great time we all had. He now plays fetch in the stable and a little outside before the Spring grass calls too strongly. I will get photographic evidence of that claim before too long!
When  my daughters saw these pictures they were worried about the safety of the children...but you can see by the body language he is not a bit bothered. I have spent enough time poking and prodding Sheltie to know that he was going to be ok...besides there are plenty more kids where they came from!!!

New year new skills.

January is almost over. It seems ages since I updated this. In the time between I have seen two beautiful horses put to sleep before Christmas and a third only yesterday. I can still weep for my lost Spice, the more we look back on her the more we realise what a good horse she was and how kindly disposed to us humans. Sheltie has settled so well in his new home, he never seemed to stress at all and recently had a new mare join him and his pal so he is in a little herd of three and very content. After breakfast and a grooming session I have worked for 10 or 15 minutes most mornings, but where it used to be on the lunge it is now on the long reins. He understands whoa as a prelude to stand these days and we can do a slalom down a line of fence posts (with no fencing between, like bending poles) on the long reins, so steering is pretty good. He has just got the hang of backing up in them as well. He is very good at walking backward any old time but in the reins was a new skill. He moves off quite well too, at first he used to turn around and look at me ... can't see that being too good if in a cart! I am at the stables by 7.45 seven days a week, when the snow was bad it was a six mile walk round trip to get there.but he is worth it! Doing his bed does not take long, he is on rubber and easy bed; it takes two minutes to make his buckets for next meals ,the hardest thing has been water when the outdoor supply was frozen, fortunately there s  a handy utility room in the home close enough to carry buckets to and from. I only went flat on my back once this winter on the ice, no harm done thank God. Looking back on the last year Sheltie has gone from being a bit of a thug to being a very clever boy. He is quick on the uptake but has to ask why he ought to do stuff at the outset. After a million repetitions he gets on good as gold, but it is the repetition and the very regular routines that push the message in thoroughly. We have started doing a regular weigh tape check on the three ponies, all needed to lose a bit, but as we head into spring with the restricted grazing I am hoping to see Sheltie become a bit more slender. At the mo he is so hairy you cannot really tell his shape so the tape is a quick way to monitor all is well. I do not want him to end up a fat and laminitic pony. I got his crupper ok, and now am trying a different bit as he has not stopped opening his mouth in an unsettled way despite being light to steer with his bit in. I would even consider bitless if need be but we will see how a different bit works. He has such fat lips...all the better to kiss you with my dear! I am looking forward to having a few young riders up at half term to work on his rein skills from on board, Alysha did a couple of circles loose on him recently, I just stood in the middle and he did let her steer. WANTED, FOUR FOOT JOCKEY ,APPLY TO KAY. He is very small, very cute, very clever and very good, his personality is there but he is calm and biddable....I love him to bits.

THERE ARE FAIRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN

Look what I found today!!! Sheltie is turning into Pegasus. Apparently he is an orange belt in flying lessons and will get bigger wings as he improves...
The snow is gorgeous but means he can't stay out all day. He has a wander about while I am there and then goes back into his deluxe stable when I leave at dinner time. He gave two little girls rides last week and was good on lunge but I could not risk him off lead, the girls were beginners. Now weather is bad he is having a bit of holiday just a little ground work each day. Last week though he long reined all the way from here around Hartshead Pike which was a good hour's walk and he went really well except for a couple of power struggles when passing his old gate and when two ponies ran to fence and spoilt his concentration. I was even able to hold both reins in one hand on way back and he is responding to a squeeze on them for directions...pretty good eh!

SHELTIE PUT A SMILE UPON MY FACE!!!

Today I have to say, Sheltie excelled himself. He makes me smile anyway but today he made me BEAM! Little things mean a lot to some folks don't you know?
I have long reined him a few times in the winter paddocks now. I want him to be able to give the small kids a ride on soft going in the future, and so need him to realise that everything he does outside the field can be done inside.
After the first time when there was a little power struggle for direction he has taken to it really well. I can do all the turns with gentle rein aids and he went up and down hill too. Today I had to stand him and wrap all his reins round as the shepherd had called the sheep and they were all at a gate on our side unable to move on. They usually go under the rails but we had to close the gate so Sheltie did not go away over the furthest field too. I left him and let the woolly ones out and by the time I had turned round of course Sheltie had bobbed under the tape on the other side of the paddock to rejoin his friend. They graze like this...the two ponies go onto one side of a field and Sheltie being little is able to graze under the tape into the next paddock too. When I work him in there I go on the side away from the old pony so we do not disturb her and so she does not come over when I give Sheltie a treat when he has done well. The sheep graze here too and they are able to get under an even smaller section of rail at the bottom onto rougher land again. Sheltie has not bothered about them at all which is nice and from a distance it wold be hard to tell if it was a sheep bottom or his you were looking at.
Anyway, back to the story.. I stood with my hands as if I had the lunge line attached to him (from the distance of about twenty feet on the other side of the tape fence still) and moved my hands as if drawing the line in. Sheltie came straight up! He ducked the tape and then right up..what a good boy. I took his bridle off and let him loose but then asked him to walk on as if on the lunge, holding my arms and the schooling whip in a shape. He went around me, very wide and back into the next field...but then, ducked back under the fence and did left and right rein circles completely free with a "stand" and "come in" in the middle before I gave him final treat and said we were finished. Is that not one cute, clever, special pony???
The photo is an old one, we are not at that farm any longer , I just liked hs face .

Who's a clever boy then?

Well, it has been seven weeks now since saying goodbye to Spice. A friend said that grief was like standing on a beach with your back to the sea, having a lovely time when suddenly a big wave crashes over you. Other times smaller waves lap at your ankles. That is a good picture, I am getting along ok than suddenly a wave of loss comes over me. If I sound chirpy in the blog it is because I can be, but it is not always so; for the sake of any readers' sanity I will not mention Spice again in these adventures of Sheltie. Sheltie has settled so well into his new home and has already come on in leaps and bounds in his work. He loves his stable and walks in from the paddock without an escort! He is a friend to Fudge, Goldie and Whisper. He would make a fantastic companion pony as he is so sociable with others, but that is not to be his destiny yet. He has finally understood what I want when long reining him. He responds to the signals to turn left and right with just a tweak on the reins, and an open rein to allow him to turn. He is able to do a figure of eight and circles now, without stopping or booting me. He has stopped mouthing the bit so much and carries it quietly . I even trotted him on long reins this week to prove we have control at speed. I am very proud of the way he has changed in the last year, if you read back to January I was as thrilled when he finally understood lunging. You might think that we are making slow progress but I want him to be rock steady in the things he can do, not just say that he has done it once...If you read between the lines of some horse sale adverts you get the impression that "has had tack on" means literally that and just once! I have also sat on him a few times...short of a mount now aren't I. He has carried on grazing or walked a few steps. He has not batted an eye as I have hitched my welly over his rump or shifted about to get comfy. I am only on for a minute and he is not concerned, so when a small child wriggles he is not even going to feel it. Also, to get off I put my hand on his neck and lean a little, again he ignores my movements. This is really to make him a safe mount. I am long reining so that he will understand rein aids from a rider though a child would never be left alone on him anyway.Got a crazy teacher friend who is tiny though and I expect to see her off the lead one day!! I have taken him a few walks back around his old farm on Hartshead Pike, and he is really doing well leading now. Remember back in Spring he was very nappy and I had to go back to some change of direction work. It has all paid off. Five days a week I do a short training session with him after he has had a couple of hours grazing while I do stable jobs. He comes away from the others nicely, does his little tasks and then has a big roll when released as if to say thank goodness that is over. He is a lot of fun and a source of exercise and through him I met my new friend with the lovely stables and land, so most everything in the garden is lovely ...just don't mention the S word xx