Riding a giraffe

I've discovered a great horsey community over at Neigh-Bours, a cool EQUINE social networking site for us horse-mad types. I've also set up a li'l blog over there. Honestly, you'd be forgiven for thinking I am a serial blogger, but that really isn't the case. Yesterday was interesting for this reason. While you're taking a look around the site, keep an eye open for one of my PetPawtrait Giveaways. Sign up as a member, and start blogging, we all think our horses are quirky, so share their eccentricities with other horse lovers. It's a great community. Go look.

Zoopy vid – online fame

It was really cool having Zoopy come round to video myself and Fly for their online and mobile social media community. I got to chat about animal communication, and although you don't get to see it, Fly kept coming over, breathing and snuffling through my hair. Funny horse.
My dogs make an appearance too :)
Enjoy the vid and give me a shout if you have any questions.

Extended family

My horse needs a friend, of the equine persuasion. Until then, these two will have to suffice. The goose and rooster go everywhere together, the goose protects his rooster, chases the dogs, chases humans at a foot-slapping run and generally makes enough noise to raise the dead.
The Grooster, as I've named them, sleep beneath Fly's stable window and are currently his only animal companions. I just wonder if they give him a headache when they start yelling as the sun rises every morning.

With age comes wisdom – and memory loss

This is much harder than I remember it... Day three and I'm exhausted. Why are Thoroughbreds so difficult? I requested that the grass be kept a longer length in Fly's new paddock, thinking he'd appreciate and enjoy that, given just how much he LOVES eating. Alas, the best part of the past 36 hours have been spent pacing up and down the fence and churning up the grass and soft ground, thanks to all the rain we've had.

At least he's eating everything else, and all that is going in the front end, appears to be coming out the back end... a good thing. Despite how stressed he looks, he did give me some deep sighs when I did some TTEAM work with him. And he was quite good in the new arena, considering that the neighbour chose that moment to drive his tractor past us. Poor Fly, I could feel his heart beating against my leg.

A roll in the mud and he seemed much happier. I guess we all love routine, and figuring all this out as I go isn't as routine as I expected it to be.

I'm off to lie in a warm bath - my response to a roll in the mud.

The Fly has landed

Fly, aka Flying Promise, has arrived. In true Thoroughbred style, he is alternating between trotting up and down the paddock fence, grabbing a mouthful of grass, yelling at the top of his lungs and wondering, no doubt, why he's in a strange place.

I'm hoping he'll settle soon, and in time, I'll have to look at getting him some equine company... In the mean time, its odd having at horse at home again. First time in 20 years! I was just thinking about everything I have to re-learn. All the quantities, qualities and food brands; remembering to call the farrier, order food, not forgetting to deworm... A list which grows with time and becomes embedded in the mind of any horse-owning individual, until it is stored in an easily retrievable memory vault.

It's a tad daunting, but I guess it's like riding a bike. I'm hoping it all comes back to me as I go.