Back To Rain And Gales

After the snow last week, sadly it's back to the rain and gales again.  The snow disappeared within 24 hours of the rain starting, but with the thaw and the (what seems like constant) heavy rain, the ponies had to stay in (the yard and barn) for a couple of days this week.  The mud is so deep in the field now, it's a regular occurrence for the volunteers to get sucked in and stuck on the way up to the field! 

Just a few consecutive days of sunshine (and no rain) would really help things to dry up...Graham managed to catch a snapshot of some of the ponies out last weekend in a brief moment of sunshine.

Poor Bobby...the mud's not too bad at the top of the field, but his legs show how muddy the field entrance is

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Snow's Nearly Over...??

Tufty

The snow has been continuing all week.  Each day the snow and icicles have been thawing, but by the evening everything freezes, and it usually starts snowing again.  Last night it was snowing for hours, and we awoke to another covering of a couple of inches of snow.  I've been staying over with the ponies since last Thursday night, so after a week of snow, I might finally make it back home tomorrow!  Thank you very much to Ted and Jenny for keeping us provisioned, and for their hospitality!

Dan and Munch in the yard

Thank you to Graham for going on a special expedition to get more carrots for the ponies...and for their lovely new trolley, which we really appreciate for moving hay and water around.

Also, look out for the people4ponies charity pots, which are now out in LUSH stores across the country!

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Self-Supporting Haynets

We've still got lots of snow here - the icicles are getting bigger.  It does get warm enough during the day for the snow to melt a bit, but it's all frozen again by the afternoon.  The forecast is for more snow tonight!

Hazel-Ann and Graham did manage to make it up here yesterday to help with the mucking out and the ponies...they were rather impressed with our self-supporting haynets!

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Can You Spot The Manure Heap??

The cold weather is continuing, and the couple of inches of snow we had last night was frozen and crispy this morning.  The icicles are getting bigger and some of the haynets were frozen solid enough tonight that they could stand up on their own...they also had their own icicles attached, with the haynet contained at the centre of the thick ice!

I managed to catch a few nice short videos, but they'll have to wait until I get back to the home computer to add them to the blog.

Icicles

Finding grass

Hoof prints in the snow



Birds enjoying niger seeds



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Snow!

The ponies had a big surprise this morning, as the weather forecast was right...about 4 inches of snow fell in the early hours.  The yard was absolutely covered in hoof prints where the ponies had been running around and playing in excitement in all the snow.

Hay made a good substitute for the lack of grazing in the field, and, as usual, there was a choice of indoor hay in the barn, or outdoor hay (which I managed to position in the more sheltered spots of the yard).

Late this afternoon, just when we thought it was improving and the road might be passable, it started snowing again - big flakes too and it started laying again - that was 5 hours ago and it hasn't stopped since!

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More Snow photos

 

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Frodo's Hooves

I thought I'd have a go at posting some photos of Frodo's hooves, which have absolutely transformed since we've been at our new yard.  He had laminitis last summer, and when we arrived here, he was landing "toe first" on his hooves when he walked.  Now, he has super hooves - they've changed in shape so much, and they are free from any kind of ripples in their surface, and he most definitely has heel first landing when he strides...and so far he's "self-maintaining" which means he's moving around enough on different surfaces, in effect, giving them a self-trim as he moves along.


Frodo, June 2012

Front hoof, January 2013

Back hooves, 2013

Left fore, 2013

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Thank You...

We'd like to say thank you to Graham for donating a new wheelbarrow, and 2 new trowels, to us this week, invaluable for all the hours we spend poo-picking!  Thank you also to Amanda for her donation of tack and horsey jumble, which we have split between ourselves and "The Brooke" charity.  And...another thank you to Nikki for donating a huge number of salt licks to us, which will keep the ponies happy for some time!

Also...have you seen the latest edition of the LUSH Times??  People4ponies is featured on page 50 https://www.lush.co.uk/lush-times , just click on the magazine to download it.  Meanwhile, Tufty has her own page on the Verm-X website http://www.verm-x.com/customer-stories.php , and also featured on their Facebook page at Christmas! 

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Galloping In The Wind

Hazel-Ann managed to capture this wonderful video of the ponies having a frolic in the field - which looked like great fun!  Notice that Dan and Frodo decided to observe from a distance, and not get involved in a run about on this occasion, but watched on from afar...

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Munch's Visitors

Munch had some special visitors today - his former fosterers Barbara, Jo and Oliver came to visit Munch to say hello and see how he is getting on.  They very kindly brought 2 huge bags of carrots for the ponies, which the ponies were very pleased to see!  Munch and Frodo enjoyed having extra rations of carrot this morning, whilst the other ponies were out in the field.

Jo and Oliver gave Munch a good brush (he was mostly dry on top) - Munch is so good with people and children around him and he happily stood without a headcollar or leadrope and enjoyed all the extra attention from his visitors!

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Introducing Our New People4ponies Mugs For Sale

Thanks to Jane Healey, and Ted and Jenny, we now have these lovely bone china people4ponies mugs for sale to raise money for the ponies.  The designs on the mug are from our original greeting card designs created by our volunteer Gill Knight.

Each mug has two designs on the outside - "I'm wild about ponies", and "I don't do thin", and then the p4p logo on the inside of the mug.  Each mug is £6 and all profits from sales go directly to the ponies.  They're proving very popular with our volunteers and supporters alike!

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