Our Gang 2016

Tess, Nuts and Acorn all had the farrier last Thursday, feet all good, bruising to Acorns feet all gone. You can tell, hes running round the field like something demented, feeling very good I would say.

Nuts is fine, full of beans and keeping up with Acorn and his antics.

Charlie is doing well, due September for next trim, hes out on restricted grazing, supplemented with 1 flap of soaked hay divided In a net am & pm.

Tess bless her is suffering, she is have respiratory problems again brought on by the heat we have being having over the past weeks, she has kept a coat this year, she started to wool up again after her moult with the weather being cold ( she obviously felt it aged 25) and never shed it - shes on NAF respirator and that seems to be helping her a bit, shes out 24/7 anyway and on the hill so its usually quite breezy but we have opened up the winter field for her so she can get up and out of the Sun under the top hedging a little during the day, its been relentless and no air quality to speak of, will see how she gets on , I spoke with Vet about her when he came a couple of weeks ago (it was only mild heaving then - not the heatwave temps we have had recently) and he was happy with what we are doing - hes due out to Charlie in a couple of weeks so if not fully sorted by then will get him to have a look, if she relapses again then he will have to come out sooner, sods law 22 years of paying insurance, at 25 she no longer has ill health only accident cover - so it will be bank of Me if it gets costly - but she will get what she needs if it comes to it.

All 4 have now been wormed - an easy process for once.
 
Tess is more comfortable, still heaving a little in the hot weather but bright enough and eating well which is always a good sign.

The others are fine, went up this morning and found Acorn in with Charlie, the little sod had gone over the wire again- so stronger battery put on. they appear to have tolerated each other, no obvious injuries to report.

Charlie claimed his space as soon as his bucket arrived and Acorn took no persuading to go back into his own when his food arrived - Nuts seemed bemused by the situation and carried on in her Scarlet O'Hara manner.

Tess seemed happier when they where all back where they should be - she does not like change bless her.

We washed the stables out at the weekend ( a Royal We, as my ankle still not good so Son-in-law took pity and did the deed).

Weather still hot and sticky here, we have had some rain so grass has perked up from nothing to a covering, Autumn flush now under way so having to manage again - not happy with the little sh*t getting into the long grass last night, ending up with Charlie under the partition fence which at 3ft stops Charlie but is no way a challenge for Acorn.
 
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September already and this hot, sunny, dry spell in great for all of us except poor Tess, who is moulting, growing her winter coat and really struggling with her COPD when hot - the suppliments are helping and giving some relief, she is bright enough and eating normally - taking her in out of it is not an option as dusty enviroments are a definite NO NO for her. She was much better this morning, although still 17 degrees at 6.00am it was overcast and windy on the hill, so she was active and alert, still heaving a little, but no doubt by tonight with the Sun out and the heat ramping up again she will be struggling, will give her a good shed again, next year she will be trimmed out in Spring and then again at first sign of the coat returning to try and avoid this, we have rain forecast overnight so that should cool things down somewhat and help. all the others are fine and enjoying the Sun, although winter coats are now coming in with all the little summer coat hair shedding, Acorn has the thickest so far which is normal, Nuts next and Charlie is always last to get a full coat.

Charlie has his next remedial trim on Thursday and the shetlands their trim on the following sunday, I then have 3 weeks to do all 4 of them as daughter is going on Holiday, good job by ankle is now much better, no doubt the weather will turn when she goes and I will get the wind , rain and cold!

Going to get the stables put back together after their cleanout, they have all been re roofed this year so hopefully we will not have the damp conditions that caused Acorn so many issues over last winter.
 
Farrier and Vet been today,
Charlie has had remedial trim - Vet more than happy - next visit 6 weeks for trim and check - if as expected he will sign him off.
Acorn - Vet check whilst he was there - happy with him ( he has Farrier on Monday night now)
Nuts - Vet Check whilst he was there - health wise fine - shes officially got to go to slimmers world , he has no idea how she puts it on - exactly same grazing as Acorn is who is spot on - so exercise to be upped for her, easier said than done when I am recovering from Ankle injury and daughter is going on holiday, little lady has no idea what lunging is - oh well will have to do what I can - she will lose it in winter and tbh she has only put about 5 to 10 kg on - she has never been on the super slim side and is still a third less than what she was when she arrived, hes being careful I expect.
Tess - her COPD is causing concern, he has put her on a course of Ventapulmin to try and settle it, she starts that tomorrow. She is a lot better than she was but the heaving is still bad, we gave her a 5 day panacur course to ensure she didn't have a worm issue - shes on suppliments for her breathing , her coat is thicker than usual and he agrees its too late to take it off now but that next year we will get it off early.
this hot weather is obviously having a bad affect on her, its cooler today and from now on in the forecast so along with the course of treatment he is feeling positive- with winter coming on we need to get it under control. Even at 25 and under the weather she can still give him a run round the field :) tough as nails the old girl and gets on with it, we have taken the decision to fully retire her now and let her enjoy 24/7 in the field for the rest of - she owes us nothing.
 
Tess is a little easier now, combination of Meds and weather cooling down, she struggled on Sunday with the temps way up again and little air quality, but we have had rain last couple of days which is cooling them down.

Farrier not coming to Shetlands until tonight now, both ready for doing , my ankle is much better now so true to form I managed to catch a back kick on my heel on the other foot off Acorn last night, so whopping bruise and sore - he was in bad books - little sh*t! - he was protesting at his foot being cleaned out, with so much growth on them they are full with the ground being wet and the sparse grass cover so are taking longer to do , he's normally not a problem so obviously that way out last night - his trim tonight will sort out the problem of them filling up and unbalancing him.

Charlie is doing great and full of beans.

Daughter is now on holiday, flies to Jamaica tomorrow, so I have all 4 to do for a couple of weeks - no doubt the weather will do what it usually does, rain, mud and cold is usually the order of the day for me while she's away.
 
Day 1 of 4 on my own - dark and foggy start this morning, got there to find Charlie had broken through into what bit of long grass is left, fence posts and wire down and gate broken - so I had to fix that before anything - luckily no harm done, only one poo in there so hes not been in it too long - so back in restricted again - Nuts and Acorn where stood watching him he had brought down some of theirs but they had not gone over it to join him, so had to fix their side as well before letting them back on it - great start to the 2 weeks - luckily I leave for work 1/2 hr later on a Wednesday so not too much of a rush.

Acorn and Nuts had their trim last night, the final bit of old bruising in Acorns feet is out, farrier really pleased with both of them.

daughter rang from Airport to see if all okay - so I had to assure her Charlie was fine - a little miffed maybe that I have taken him out of the grass but no obvious issues.

ah well , let hope the rest of the hols goes incident free :)
 
Day 2 and everyone was where they should be this morning, all in an amicable mood which led to a uneventful and organised routine - fields mucked out and feet cleaned out in record time, hopefully tonight will go the same way - only another 13 days for them to keep it up :)
 
half way through daughters hols and they are all still behaving themselves:) the weather has cooled somewhat, although thankfully still mostly dry which makes life easier........... may their good mood long continue
 
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Well a couple of days to go - hopefully - daughter is in Jamaica and thanks to Hurricane Matthew all flights in and and out are cancelled, she is not due to fly back until Wednesday but that much depends on wether they can get to the Airport - they are obviously worried about flooding and damage - she has sent some pics on facebook of the outedge of the storm as it arrived in last night - the eye is tracking towards Haiti away from Jamaica but the storm associated is 250 miles so they have been told to expect extreme weather, the hotel evidently are fantastic and she feels as safe as you can with all this - it could be worse........... my nerves are shredded as limited contact but news reports are encourageing.#

meanwhile we had the first frost this morning , I have put some hay in the fields and restricted access for them on the longer frosted grass - its bloody cold but dry and sunny now - forecast for week is much of the same hopefully without the frost - I really do not do winter...............
 
Well daughter hopefully flies home tonight, facebook last night to let me know safe, they were on the part of the island which was hardly affected by it in the end - so tomorrow we should be back to normal.

meanwhile the ponies good behaviour continues:)

all well, the weather is dry and cool which I can cope with.....
 
daughter back safely - so back to once a day for me from tonight.

I must say I am impressed with the ponies behaviour over the past 2 weeks , other than Charlies breakout on the first night we have been incident free:)

Will find out if that's just for me or they have been saving it for her return remains to be seen;)
 
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:):) my suspicions were correct, well as far as the boys went, the girls have continued their best behaviour however the boys gave daughter the run around on her first night back - bless em! serves her right for going on holiday.

they seem to have settled again now they have got it out of their system - Charlie is back in a light work program to build up his fitness , hopefully a couple of weeks and he will be signed off from the Vets.

All ponies ok, Tess is happier now the hot weather has gone - shes still heaving a little but hopefully it will settle, Snot has completely cleared up - Vet will check her when he comes to Charlie - suspect it is something we are going to have to manage a little more after this flare up but rising 26 we might have to tweak management for her more often, she has done so well over the past years since diagnosis.
 
Friday already and the ponies continue to do well, they are still angels for me however daughter is continuing to get the run around - even Nuts has joined in with high jinks for her now:rolleyes: -
the fields are starting to get a bit slippery with the rain but still no standing water in there yet.

Not enjoying the dark wet mornings, think would be used to them by now .

Inspected the stables this morning after the rain, YO had new roofs put on, well the only one that leaks is Acorns so guess what I will be sorting at the weekend, its 100% better than it was which does not need to be much considering he was wetter in than out most of last winter - but the damp affects his mobility so they are going to have to sort it out for him.

Jobs for this weekend are to sort the fencing in the winter turnout at the yard and we are rejigging our rug room/store and hay/beddingstores around to make better use of the space.
 
end of another week, weather has been good , just a couple of showers this week, now cold and dry........... ponies ok, Acorn is in disgrace again, now his winter coat is almost in he cannot feel ( or choses to ignore it if he can) the zap off the electric fence and has had to be recovered 2 nights by daughter and put back into his paddock, so last 2 days he and nuts have had the bottom 2 well eaten paddocks and Charlie is finishing off the small parcel of grass left at the top of his which Acorn keeps being tempted by.

I will be rejigging the fencing and paddocks at the weekend , now nothing in the bottom 4 sections they will be opened up into 2 and one extended into the bottom half of Tess's.

another week or 2 and Nuts will go back in with Tess for the winter and we are going to try Acorn in with Charlie, as they appear to be okay in together when Acorn escapes then hopefully it means with maturity has come manners and common respect for each other, it will make life a whole lot easier if they can share, less fence lines as both on same management for a start.

the girls and acorn due for their feet this weekend , charlies getting a check, but he has his vet/farrier session in a couple of weeks at which point we are hopeful he will be signed off.
 
all quite this end, farrier came, both shetlands done and looking good, Tess checked but not needed and Charlie checked and tidied one foot - no more done as he has his final remedial next week.

Nuts is now with Tess and both have free run in the winter field.

the summer fields have been opened up, so the boys are running together ( and playing nicely) we have left one small paddock and set it up with poles as Charlie is getting worked in hand and they are used in his exercises, we have left the top fence wire up on one paddock so if Acorn needs to get away for Charlie into his own space he can, he is coming in there on his own at feed times, he has worked out that this way Charlie cannot push him off.

the summer fields are bare with minimal new growth now so the boys are getting 1/2 flap hay each morning and night along with their feed, so far so good.

they are holding up well as we have had hardly any rain and non in forcast for next few days, they will be pushed out as long as possible, Charlie having been on box rest for so long is enjoying his freedom and Acorns mobility is much better for been out as long as possible - the field conditions dictate when they come in - so as long as it remains good and not too sticky/slippy then its better all round. Bonfire night soon, we prefer them out anyway so hoping the rain keeps away.
 
November and the cold has hit brrrr........... I really do not do cold weather, but its been dry up to now at least.......

ponies are all coping well, nice thick coats even Charlie who up to this year grew a very fine coat, the boys are getting hay and the girls are fine , still plenty left in the winter fields.

Charlie had Vet/farrier today - last of vet accompanied remedial trims, he will sign him off in December when he comes to do their injections, that visit should be claimable through the insurance , so just jabs to pay for if all okay.

Vet is more than happy with him and he can now go into full work.

We had him check Tess over as though her COPD is much better the heaving is still present, he has advised that she is much better however he thinks this is as good as she will get, she is to be on the prescribed meds for life now as obvious symptoms of scarring on the lungs - to live out (which she does) and rug only if she really needs it, no hay and only haylage if she needs anything extra, along with her bucket feed which is well watered down anyway, so the old girl is officially retired - rising 26 she will spend the rest of her life on the hill god willing.
 
brrr! first snow flurry this morning when I was mucking field out - Charlie has rug on and is happy , others are fine without - he always is a wimp.

sorted fields out and Charlie and Acorn have access into part of what was the Girls summer field which has some grass in it - Acorn still has access to his own little paddock if he wants so he has his own space and goes in there for feed and hay, Charlie has his shelter although its getting boggy outside it now - the ground is so wet and summer fields getting quite slippy, Girls are pushed back now into winter field and still have plenty to go at so no haylage for them yet.

we are keeping an eye on Tess, at the moment she is not needing a rug and is better off without according to vet, but obviously if she starts to struggle then it will go on.

Nuts is just doing her own thing and happily going round all the grass she has not had access to in summer, a bit of a tum but that will decrease once winter sets in proper.

its supposed to dry up again after today, its rained all day today, so hopefully the fields will stand up for a few more weeks, trying to push the boys out as long as possible.
 
cold here this morning after a couple of fairly good days for this time of year.

all ponies are okay - we have farrier at weekend for girls and Acorn - just hoping the bad weather forecast holds off until Sunday as they are to be done at the field - need to get some hay up to the field as well, so far so good fields holding up......... but with whats expected to come not sure for how long
 
the girls and ~Acorn had feet trimmed on Saturday, all looking good, last night Charlie was let into the winter field with the rest of them, Tess is now Queen of her own little herd and is in her element , Charlie just has to work out his place in the pecking order but she will soon has that sorted- although she will have to bring Acorn in line as he likes winding Charlie up. It is the first shoot day of the season today, hence why we took the plunge with ~Charlie, his paddocks are very short and with all the rain slippy, whereas the Hill has rough grass cover and less likely to cause issues if they run around, although all together they should just go to the opposite side and watch.

No more hay out whilst he is in the winter field and it will give the summer paddocks time to settle now and avoid the churning up in the inevitable Mud which will follow this rain.
 
officially the first day of winter, we have had hard frosts for 3 mornings now - all 4 still out on the hill, charlie has rug on and they have had 2 flaps of hay between them on the 2 worst mornings - just to line tummies until it defrosts - they are doing okay and getting into the routine at feed times now, all 4 line up - Charlie first, then Tess, Acorn and Nuts - the shetties finish before the other two so no issues there,
Charlie is a sod though if he finishes first and then pushes Tess off, so a couple of battles but hopefully it will settle.

We will be preparing the turnout paddock up at the yard this weekend in the event the weather doe change eventually to the point Charlie has to come in - but other than a bit of begging the other night when the frost had not lifted all day hes not bothered, he does tend to be a bit of a wimp for a Native :)

managing to keep on top of the poo picking daily to a point where daughters OH can clear whats missed on a Sunday without it being a mammoth task, finding all of it under torch light is not foolproof.

We had the 2nd shoot on Tuesday, all ponies are comfortable with it now and don't bat an eye at the goings on, its great that we don't have to worry about getting any of them in for the day.
 
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