And just cos I love him

First hack!

Fraser AKA Spider Pig

Fraser makes a strange snorting sound, so because of his long legs and this snorting he has somehow become affectionately known as Spider Pig. :D

Sunday – the big day has finally arrived! Everything is now in place for Mac’s first hack out, which happened today. With Nina on Toffee, they met up with another village rider and her horse Pete and went out for an hour or so. I would love to be a fly on the wall when Mac goes back to work and stiffens up. Tee hee!

So here we have pre-flight checks, the great ascent, Little and Large, 'Oooh I love my owner', and 'Oooh I love my horse'.

What a week!

Monday – visit from the vet to vaccinate, rasp teeth and microchip. Fraser is, it turns out, fine with needles and dental procedures. We sadly do not know how he is with microchipping, as the vet had the wrong gun with him and couldn’t do it. So that treat is in store, which may not be a bad thing as apparently it often requires sedation as it can be painful. Strange, as it isn’t in dogs and the chip is the same size. We shall see...

Tuesday – Fraser has moved on to straw bedding (his stress when left behind when Toffee went for a hack made him churn up his shavings bed), so cue much snorting and detailed examination when he entered his stable.

Thursday – farrier came and replaced the lost shoe. Hurrah! Fraser is fine with the farrier. Farrier didn’t actually say anything rude about him, which means he must like him. Which is nice.

Ok - we'll compromise then...

...and call it 16.3hh. Better? :D

Head Over the Stable Door

Well, that's one way of doing it. This shows the Berlin Plank in situ.

East-West relations salvaged

Yesterday evening Mac installed a very miniature version of the Berlin Wall. It is made of wood, it at about my shoulder height and runs between the post in front of the stables, and the stable wall - so about a foot long and four inches tall. Just enough to stop the horses swinging their heads at each other, which they do when food is around. The result? The most hilarious spectacle I have seen for a long time - funnier even than Robert Webb's Flashdance routine. Toffee saw Nina walk into the yard with the feeds, went to swing her head at Fraser and pull a face only to find her way blocked with a piece of wood! You could almost see the question mark coming out of her head. She nearly collided with the wood, which would of course not have been funny. Not at all. So, lucky she didn't. This morning the stable wall had suffered no further teeth attacks from Master Catchphrase, so it looks as if the problem is solved. Hurrah!