It has been a long time since my last blog. It has been a Summer of highs and lows
Some of you will be aware that I had my cob Johnson put down, what a shock that was. I did mention in my last blog he had shown slight lameness, what I thought was the beginnings of arthritis. After x-rays it was discovered that he had severe degeneration of the pedal bone and navicular bone in the worst foot and slight changes in the other. Bless him he was so stoical I had no idea of the severity, how he coped I’ll never know. We had a difficult conversation with our vet and farrier and made the decision to relieve him of his pain. He was an amazing creature, so trustworthy, willing and happy wherever he went or whatever he did he gave 100%. I had hoped he would go on for many more years and we could retire together.
The empty stable door on the yard was heartbreaking, Chris and I really struggled, Pepper really missed him too and became quite withdrawn. After much soul searching I decided I did not want to be without an equine companion. I felt I needed something positive to focus on. The final straw came when watching Chris come back after a ride on Pepper and that was it, operation” find a horse” became my obsession.
Chris and I had long discussions about what I should buy,finances were limited and a Johnson replacement was going to be impossible. A school master, safe conveyance was financially not an option. We have broken lots of youngsters over the years but neither of us are in the first flush of youth.
I have had a passion for traditional gypsy cobs since I was a little girl, when I used to sneak out of the house and go to see the tethered horses on the old opencast mining land near to where we lived. This drove my mum insane she threatened that the gypsies would take me away !! This obviously never happened.
Traditional cobs have a reputation for being wonderful sensible characters, so many breeders are crossing them with Welsh cobs to give a little more presence, which can come with a more sparky attitude, not what I wanted. So I decided to look for a pure bred traditional and thought a filly would be something different . Then Chris and I would break her in .
We went to Lionheart stud in Warwickshire. We had a most wonderful experience looking around all their horses ,the temperaments were exceptional even the stallions were so friendly. Issie was one of a couple I liked even though she was older at 6 ,but at least I knew what I was getting size wise, she is 15 hand. Anyway cutting a long story short the decision was made and Lionheart Isadora was purchased.
We fetched her in the lorry and bought her home, bless her she was so shell shocked, she had lived in a herd environment all her life. Issie had been bred at the stud, had a couple of foals and this was her first experience of the outside world. Patrick our donkey was excited to see her , but she was terrified of him. She would not go in her stable, that was definitely too scary. We took a chance and turned her out with Pepper and Patrick and she settled happily munching the grass with them.
Over the weeks she has learnt how to pick her feet up, had her teeth done, under sedation, she had Dectomax injections for heel mites as her legs were terrible itchy. We long reined her around our lanes and taught her to lunge. Issie has been shod and entered into a couple of shows in in hand classes and has loved the attention. She has thrived and is now broken in and hacking out with Pepper. I am thrilled with her progress, all of this in 4 months. Pepper and Issie are over at their winter grazing now until after Christmas . I hope to show her next year in hand and under saddle and do some riding club dressage . British Dressage now have a dressage series for traditional cobs so I may aim for that , time will tell .
Chris and Pepper had a wonderful few weeks, he has been out and about competing with lots of success . The best of which was them winning our riding club Prelim Dressage Championship. It seems Pepper has a spring in his step, has got his mojo back and is now in love!
We have also been training Cassie and Kite in agility and have been to our first UK Agility competition, now that is value for money. Registering and entering are so cheap, £4 lifetime registration per dog and entries £4 per class, this included official measuring. The day was such fun, 10 of us went from Mannerly Mutts Agility. Chris and Cassie thrilled us all by winning their class, she loves it and has taken to it so well even at 8 years of age. Kite couldn’t go because she came into season but we are planning to go again in December. Other M.M. handlers had success too, claiming a 3rd and 4th places in their respective classes .
I am currently exploring all of my options for a mate for Kite. She is an exceptional girl so biddable ,affectionate and trainable. I really would love her to have a litter if I can find the right dog . She was in season the end of October / November and I plan to mate her next time so we are looking at May 2017. She has been slow to mature , she is so much taller than my other girls, exactly what I wanted and has now filled out. She will be going to the Spring shows with Cassie making an occasional appearance
The vege plot has been so productive we still have parsnips in the ground ,unfortunately we were so busy with life that the Cabbage White butterflies had a field day and destroyed my sprouts. We also have carrots ,beetroot and pumpkins in storage . I will soon be ordering my seeds to start the whole cycle again
Enjoy the photos and I will see folks in the New Year probably at Manchester.