Tag: horses

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We lunged Bliss and Misty in the sand school for…

We lunged Bliss and Misty in the sand school for the first time today. Horses are more often than not lunged before riding. Knowing Bliss and Misty it was important to ride them first. Lunging teaches horses to go in to different phases of walking, trotting, canter and halt on voice command. Lungeing also helps Horses to coordinate their weight and balance, it improves the Horses outline and strengthens their hind quarters. Lunging has many benefits for both experienced and unbroken inexperienced Horses. We are only using lungeing with Bliss and Misty to teach Bliss and Misty the voice commands of walking, trotting, canter and halt. It is then used when riding them, eventually the commands are made with the reins, knees and heels.

The equipment used for lungeing, is a caveson and lunge line. The caveson is a type of head collar that has padding to stop any chaffing of the Horse. Some people will use head collars to lunge with, but they tend to cut into the Horse skin, if the Horse tries to resist being lunged and pull away. You also need a lunge line of about twenty two metres long. Initially one person walks around in a circle of about twenty metres, another person stands in the middle of the circle at the end of the lunge line. Eventually the Horse will, we hope, walk at the end of the line in the twenty metre circle. Then it is a matter of keeping the Horse at the end of the line, making it go into a walk, trot, canter or halt, all the time giving voice commands to let the know what they are doing.Horses never understand the words, so you need to emphasise the sounds and words. Both Bliss and Misty both were very good on their first try. Both tried to walk towards the person holding the lunge line. Both also got excited and gave a number of bucks and darted towards the exit of the sand school. I am sure that they will get the hang of it in a couple of days.

We had two Barn Owl nest boxes put up in our large modern barn today, by the Barn Owl Trust. I think that I have told you before that we haven’t seen any Barn Owl since we have been living at Denbury. We have left a couple of areas of pasture without being grazed, to encourage a rough area that is good habitat for voles, the Barn Owls main food source. We also have an old barn that was built with holes in the ends to encourage Barn Owl. The two nesting boxes have been positioned on two opposite walls of the barn, hoping that any Owl that passes has an opportunity to see one of them. There must be Barn Owls in the area. Hopefully with the new nesting boxes and the rough grass area we may get some Barn Owls visiting Denbury.

Yes Elaine they were Deer on the Puppy cam earlier this evening. I had only a little while earlier drove down the valley, with the dogs chasing behind, so I was surprised that the come out so soon after.

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A very dear and special friend of mine Linda Greaves…

A very dear and special friend of mine, Linda Greaves died today. I am going to tell you a little about her, not as an obituary, but because people need to know of special people in this world, like her.

I met Linda many years ago, by our common interest in Horses. Linda when I met her was the Co founder of a Riding for the Disabled Centre in East End of London Docklands area. Linda opened the Centre not for personnel gain, but for her love of Horses and the desire to help the disabled and poor in the East End of London, to give them the opportunity to learn to ride Horses. The Riding Centre started in arches under an old viaduct close by the London Docks, and within what is now the London City Airport. The Horses stables were made of old pallets and abandoned timber. Under Linda’s guidance, many Children, Disabled Adults and Children were taught how to ride and look after the Horses. Although the Riding School was ram shackled, the Horses were looked after and cared for as well as any Horses could be.

When the regeneration of the London Docklands started twenty five plus years ago, Linda was the equestrian advisor for the Developments body, and with her help, guidance and dedicated hard work, she was able to secure for some of the many Horses in the East End, accommodation in purpose built stables. Most of the Horses were working Horses, who previously were stabled in conditions that would have made you want to cry if you had seen them. Nearly fifty Horses were given homes in super high quality stables, with all the facilities, and a live on site Caretaker. Unfortunately over the past few years the Stables have been neglected, by the current undesirable owners of the Horses, and it looks very much like that they will be pulled down, if they haven’t already.

About ten years ago, the ground that the viaduct was built on, that housed the Riding School, that Linda had founded was needed for development, the opportunity came about to get a new Riding School built. With Linda’s dedication and hard work she was able to secure a very large amount of money for the funding of a purpose built Riding Centre for The Newham Riding School and Association. And what a Riding School it is. It has a full size indoor Riding Arena and Sand School, a wonderful American Barn Stable complex for the Horses, a Barn for their hay and straw and in the past couple of years a building has been built for live in Grooms, a Caretaker and a large hall for teaching, all in the middle of the Dockland area. We went there in July 2006 for Linda’s Retirement goodbye. That was the last time that I saw or spoke to Linda, for she made herself a recluse from then on. She told me that she was dieing a few years ago, when she visited us at Denbury for a day. We offered her a cottage, but she would never stay away from her home, if she could return within a day.

I respected Linda’s desire to be reclusive. She would not have wanted pity in her last days. She died a spinster aged only 62. A few years ago she was awarded an MBE for her services for her life longs work, It was presented to her by Princess Ann the Patron of The Riding for the Disabled at Buckingham Palace. If ever a person deserved an award, Linda did. Although I have had no contact with Linda for over a year, it was still a shock to hear that she had died. I have and will miss her for all she has done for me over the years that I have known her. When ever I had problems with Horses my first call would be to Linda, she had forgotten more than I will ever know about Horses. She will be missed.

Linda’s last visit to Denbury was to come and see two Horses that I was to put into syndication for racing. We talked about the names that we may use. Linda suggested a French name, Joie Du Vie, meaning Joy of Life. We gave that name to a Filly, but she never raced. A few weeks back it came important for me to try to get the name back, to be able to name Bliss with. I have been trying ever since to trace the new owner of the named Horse, from a person who knows the owner. Last night I had practically given up. This afternoon I got the call. Strange. Even stranger just before I went to feed the Badgers, I asked if that after Linda’s death should I put the Witches Mask and Hat on when I fed the Badgers. We decided I would, it would have made Linda laugh, we decided. As some of you witnessed, the cameras went down just after.

I hoped that you may of thought that it was Mrs.Farmer who had fed the Badgers tonight. There has also been some strange visitations on the Ghost Cam tonight. Have an interesting Halloween.

Elsie, that was the Ewe Lamb that I had taken out of the fenced area. I have put her back with the rest of the Sheep, to see how she does tonight.

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This morning I left the valley camera pointing to the…

This morning I left the valley camera pointing to the right hand wood, hoping that you would be able to see the beautiful colours, as the leaves on the trees start to change colour. With the valley having woods on both sides, we are surrounded within a sea of fabulous shades of brown, orange, yellow, green and red. The camera will never be able show the display as it is when you live here, but I hope it gave you an idea of how the valley looks at this time of year. I think the valley looks its best in the Autumn, unfortunately it last only a short time, even less in a windy Autumn, when the trees can be made bear overnight. It is then that you think of the long winter that is on its way.

Last winter was very mild here. The Horses were out in their field until late November. We could do with the weather we are getting now to last for a good while longer. It is only the rain that make us get the Horses in of a night. With their turnout rugs on the Horses are much better off being out. I must admit it also makes it easier for us not having to muck out the stables every morning. A few year back we started to have rain early in September, the Horses had to be stable very soon after. I remember that at the timed we worked out for how long it had rained for. It was over a hundred days that rained for none stop. Every day we were soaked through. I hope we never get that again. This year it has been so mild and dry that most days we are able to leave the Horses rugs off during in the day.

We have got to start thinking about weaning Willow off of Lady. Willow is now six months old and the time is very near. If you don’t wean the Foals you can cause them problems. Their Mothers know when it is the right time and will sometimes start to kick out at their Foals when they try to feed from her. In past years we have had two Foals to wean off each time. It makes it easier as we are able to put the Foals together away from the Mares, who we have to put in closed stables for about a week. With Woody loosing her Foal it is going to be difficult for Willow. Willow hangs out with Bliss and Misty a lot of the time. If Bliss and Willow had been staying on the Farm, instead of going to France we would have been able to shut Lady away, leaving Willow with the Youngsters. We need to decide how we are to Wean Willow soon.

The Ewe lamb is doing well now that she is not in the the rest of the Sheep. First thing this morning I went to look for her. I thought that when I called out she may of come my way. When she didn’t I thought the worse, but I soon found her, close to where I had seen her last night.

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Sheep can be really stupid I have probably said that…

Sheep can be really stupid, I have probably said that a few time before. We have six Sheep in a stable, four we are going to take to Market and two Portland Ewe Lambs we intended to keep. I would like to see them out, but they have broken out before and I don’t want the job of trying to have to catch them again. When I went to feed them this morning one of the Portland Ewe Lambs had managed to drown its self in their water trough. Some how it had got stuck under the partition that the water trough has in the middle. I cant imagine why it should want to get int the trough in the first place. The trough is very low to the ground, making it very easy for the Sheep to drink from. That’s Sheep for you. I will be taking them to Market next week.

We still have a Ewe running free around the Farm from when we caught them early in the Summer. We managed to catch her two lambs about a month back, but she is really doesn’t want to get caught. She tends to hang about near the Horses, the way she is starting to act i think that she may believe that she is a Horse. When we get the Horses in for their morning and evening feeds she follows them in up to the field gate. When she see me she runs away, just now and then she might make a dash past me, only to find that she my get caught again. The Ewe is so fast you would think that she is a Greyhound in disguise.

Tonight it was my intention to go up to the observatory, to try once again to setup the Telescope. Late this afternoon the sky was reasonably clear, a little cloud that would mask a lot of the stars. making it easier for me to identify those that I needed to align the Telescope. When I went to feed the Badgers there were no stars to be seen at all. The Moon was only visible through a haze. For the past two nights it has been very clear, maybe a little to clear for me to accurately identify, as on clear nights at Denbury we are able to see every thing possible that the naked eye is able to see, and I wasn’t going to miss the Rugby either. That is why the Telescope webcams would be good. When I had the Telescope on last year and earlier this, we showed the Moon. With the powerful main Telescope, we were able to see all of the craters etc, but as it was not aligned correctly I was constantly having to go to the computer in another room to adjust it remotely, that was a pain after working all day, to be up and down all night. I am now able to watch the Telescope webcams in our lounge, on our 40 inch monitor TV that has picture in picture, with a Laptop I am then able to adjust the Telescope if it wanders a little. That wont be so bad. Then the only trouble with the setup that we have made, will be to open the Observatory hatch when we put the Telescope on, and close it when we shut it down. I will be prepared to pay for a new observatory once I get every thing working properly, so that the opening and closing the Observatory can also be done remotely. As soon as we get a clear night I will try to set it up again.

Elaine it is nothing personnel, but I do not publicise other webcams. Other that those that I choose or are very exceptional. The reason is that when ever I have requested others to publicise ours, the response has always been negative.
We try to keep the Horses out for as long as we can. We always rug all of our Horses at night. Most Thoroughbred Horse are fine coated and need to be kept warm. Breeze the Arab feels the cold badly, when it gets very cold she also has a hood. We wont have them out in the wet and cold, then they are stabled.

Sue, I haven’t seen the injured Badger for a few days now and I only counted thirteen last night. There is a good chance that it has not survived.

Alex the Fox are about, you can sometimes see one on the valley camera.

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As I said in last night Diary there is no…

As I said in last night Diary, there is no way that Bliss and Misty are going to be ready for the Auction on the 27th of this month, at Doncaster. I must admit, that I really did not want the Fillies to have the trauma of the long journey from Taunton to Doncaster, to then being put in a strange environment, prodded and handled by potential buyers, to be then paraded in front of a large audience. They would like that one bit, let alone being parted from their lifetime friend.

I have been making enquiries into the options of racing the Fillies myself. It has been a waste of time phoning UK trainers, out the six I have phoned, only one has had the decency to get one of his secretaries to phone back, and she needn’t have bothered. Their daily rate was

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Bliss had front shoes put on today She was brilliant…

Bliss had front shoes put on today. She was brilliant having the shoes put on. It was as if she had been having them fitted since she was born. It is good when Horses can be shod without any trouble, most are, but some Horses can be a pain in the neck, the odd ones even need to be sedated. A good Farrier helps. Our Farrier has worked for some of the top racing yards in the Country, and is by far the best that we have had. I remember that once when we mentioned the name of a Horse that I had purchased, the Farriers ears pricked up, he knew the Horse very well, and told us of things that we wanted to know about her, that we could not get any information about. Bliss after being shod is no longer lame and we will be getting her working as much as Misty. Misty didn’t need doing, her feet must be a little harder.

Some of the Farrier’s that we have had, have been nightmares. Shoes falling off within days of new shoes being fitted, putting the nails through the soles making the Horses lame. One Farrier who came to shoe, started to hit the Arnie when he moved. Arnie is very good being shod. He was sent on his way very quickly, so quick that he didn’t get the chance to even finish shoeing Arnie. Another Farrier that we had use to employ three apprentices, who would do most of the work, that caused a few problems. When we lived in London, the Queens Farrier shod our Horses. He was in full employment as a Farrier at Buckingham Palace. I should think he was moonlighting shoeing our Horses. It didn’t sound a bad job, he had a Flat in the Royal Mews. Twice he gave me a tour of the Royal Carriages, my passion and the Royal Horses. He was a nice man, but not a very good Farrier, probably was when he was younger. Living in the middle of London, you don’t get much of a choice of Farriers.

Its looking less likely the Bliss and Misty will be going to be sold at Auction. Neither look as if their coats and condition will be up to the standard required for them to realise their true value. Misty is not too bad, but Bliss looks like a walking disaster. Her coat is very much like Ladies, her Mother, very fine and marks very easy. The other day we put her in a Stable on her own, whilst we worked with Misty, when we let her out she had taken a very large area of hair off of the front of her face. Every time she gets a mark on her, which is most days, it looks bad, but it is only superficial. For Bliss to turn up at the Auction with these marks would be a turn off for a lot of potential buyers.

We need to make a decision very quickly on what we are going to do with Bliss and Misty. I will go into it further in tomorrows Diary.

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Elsie the Sheep with horns are Portland classified as a…

Elsie, the Sheep with horns are Portland, classified as a rare breed.

Karen, there were 16 Badgers a couple of months back. I counted 15 a few weeks back before I found the dead Badger in the lane at the end of our driveway. There could still be 15.

With the last two nights being cold, it was decided, before we had checked on the weather for tonight, to rug the Horses against the cold. Now that the Horses have been turned out we heard that it is going to be quite warm tonight. Most thoroughbred Horses are fine coated and do feel the cold. We always try to have them rugged if the temperature is about 6 degrees or below, or if there is continuous rain. When cold thoroughbreds loose condition very quickly and any feed is used in keeping them warm, when it is given to help them grow.

Some Horses will let you put a rug on them without any trouble, others will be a nightmare. Last year when we rugged Bliss and Misty, Bliss let us put a rug on her as if she was born with it on. Misty didn’t like it one bit. They were stable together in an large gated area, in one of the barns, it was open to weather on one side, so they needed to be rugged. Misty kept walking away from us whilst we were trying to put the rug on her. You need to put the rug on without the Horse panicking, it may take longer but it is always the best way. We finally got the rug on her back, but she was having none of it. Rather than upset her we left it until the next day. It took three or four attempts to get her to accept it. But she did. Today even after months of Misty not having a rug put on she allowed us to put it on without any protests at all. The other reason Bliss and Misty need to be rugged is that we do not want their Winter Coats to come through, as they will look scruffy when they go to auction in October.

It was Willows first time of her having a rug put on her. Like Bliss she accepted it without any trouble, she didn’t even look at it once it was on her. Breeze because of her breeding also need to be rugged, being mostly Arab she also has a very fine coat and shivers when it is cold. Lady is a different problem, as Willow is still feeding from Lady, having a rug on stops Willow from getting to Ladies udder. The weather forecast did not say it was going to rain like it is now, so it is as well that they are rugged.

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I tend to check the Sheep first thing in the…

I tend to check the Sheep first thing in the morning by using the webam, when I reset the cameras from the nighttime views. It is now a habit with them being fenced in around the lake. I keep my hand on the controller, as soon as I see them I move the camera around to make sure that there are not any Herons on the lake, after the fish. I took it that the Sheep were where they should be, and kept the camera moving, only stopping when I saw that the electric fence had been pulled down. I could see a number of the Sheep around the lake, so we went and got the Horses feed ready, believing that they were all around the lake. After getting the Horses in, we went to the lake with a feed bag to shake, to get the Sheep to follow us back to the area where they should be. When we got to where we thought they were the six Texel’s were missing. They must have got out over the Leet, and through the hedge onto the farm lane, as they did last time, that made me electric fence them in.

We checked to see if the Sheep were in the Horses field, as that is where we found them last time. No such luck, so I walked down the farm lane to make sure that they were not in our field across the road, at the end of the lane. We could see by the Sheep droppings that they had gone that way, but they were not in the field. With the Foot and Mouth restrictions I had to find them as soon as possible, or I could be in trouble with the Ministry if they had left the boundaries of Denbury. We went back and got our car, to drive around to see if we could find them. We went to the Common first, as the obvious straight direction from the lane was that way. They were not there. We drove about to all the other places that they may have gone. After three quarters of an hour driving about with out seeing any Sheep, let alone ours, I decided to go back to the farm. I would need to phone our neighbour’s to see if any of them had seen our Sheep. If they still could not be found I would have to phone the Ministry.

As we drove back down the lane, I caught a glance of a Sheep on the Holiday Cottages lawns at first I thought that it was the ones that had not escaped. On a second look it was the Texels. They must have turned back instead of going up the farm lane to the road. As soon as we started to shake the feed bag they followed to a stable that I intended to shut them in. Dolly and Minty followed me into the stable, the other four were a bit to wise and ran in the opposite direction. No way was we going to get them into a stable easily, so we put them back in the area around the field.

Unfortunately what we did see on the road, only a few yards from the end of our lane, was a dead Badger Cub. Where we found it, it must have been from our Sett. I checked it over as best I could, it did look as if it had been run over by a vehicle of some sort. Most farmers will not slow down for a Badger, and of coarse it is not unknown for people who shoot Badgers to dump them away from where they had been shot. But it was not so with this one.

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This Blue tongue virus is a bit of a worry…

This Blue-tongue virus is a bit of a worry. fortunately we are a long way from the outbreak. Cold spells normally will kill midges off, although last year with the very mild Winter we had midges about for most of the year. Some Horses get a condition called Sweet itch that is caused by a midge that bits them. It causes bad itch irritations. Horses with the condition will rub their mains and tails, some times so much that they are left with very little main or tail, only bad sores caused through the rubbing in an attempt to get rid of the itch. Once a Horse has the condition it is for life and there is very little you can do for it. There are special rugs with hoods and tail guards that can be purchased, as well as insecticides that can be put on them. There is also a vaccination that they can have. Unfortunately none of the treatment really works and will only help. It is really miserable for Horses that have the condition, when I see what they are going through, I wonder if they would be better being put out of their misery. Although one of the Friesian Stallions, Sargent that we used with our Horse Drawn Hearse when we did the funeral had the condition but we never could have had him put down.

Elsie asked if the Swallows have migrated. Living with the Swallows you really don’t notice when they have migrated. It is only when you asked did I look. I have seen a few about today but it looks as if most have left. I should think those remaining are the last to have left the nest and that they are not ready to leave on such a long journey. I always wonder if they make it.

I have met a few so called Horse Whisperers, some make it by putting on a shows to prove what they can do. Most don’t and are on the road, living in their Horse Drawn vehicles. Believe me they are shows, any one who has the time, patience and is experienced with Horses can do all that they can.

Pat, I hope that there is just one Dove egg in the nest. We have to many on the farm and they don’t stop breeding all through the year.

Karen, there are twelve Sheep around the lake. ten are fenced in where I feed them. Two Rams are out of the fenced area around the lake. Every time I put them back they get through the electric fence. In the end I got fed up with putting them back and I have left them where they are. We have six lambs in one of the stables and one Ewe is running loose around the farm as we are unable to catch her.

GJ, the reason that the images of the Owl last night looked different, was caused by the capture cards that we use in our computers. The images were going through different capture cards, none a exactly the same as each other, hence the difference.

As it is getting darker of an evening, from tomorrow I will be feeding the Badgers just before 7.30 pm

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Bliss and Misty were entered into the Doncaster Bloodstock Sales…

Bliss and Misty were entered into the Doncaster Bloodstock Sales today. The sale is at the end of October. I don’t know that they will finish up going there or not. I have been looking at the different options. There is a chance that I may decide to race one of them if not the two.

I spoke to a trainer in France earlier today. What he has told me sounds very interesting, but I shall have to make more enquiries. Unlike the UK, the French Government run the racing industry and give it a lot of support. The winnings are a lot more and there are other benefits.

I had an email last week from an Abdul Kareen making enquiries about Branston being for sale. I checked out his email address and it turned out to be Kuwait Oil, Abdul Kareen being the Kuwaiti Oil Minister. He had checked out Branstons Pedigree that I have on the Ownaleg website and he was interested in buying him. A few emails passed between us. As I have not heard from him for nearly a week I should think that he is no longer interested. It would have been good to have known that Branston had got a chance at racing. I am not to disappointed as Branston is a really nice Horse, I should think that we will break him over the Winter for a riding Horse on the farm.

The night are drawing in and getting chilly at Denbury. I must admit I am not looking forward to Autumn and Winter, as there is a lot more work to do with the Horses. We need for it to be dry for as long as possible, for if the fields get to wet and muddy the Horses will need to be kept in of a night, and a lot in the day. We try to keep them out until late November with their turnout rugs on. If we are really lucky it can go into December, Although we have at time had to get them in their stables as early as the middle of October. That is part of the reason for me having to sell some of the Horses, we really need to cut down on the work. Mucking out the stables is not the best jobs, and they need doing every day.

No Elaine, they didn’t forecast those heavy showers that we got last night, just some very light rain that would hardly be noticeable. The ground was still wet this morning.

The Badgers are getting a bit to brave again. You probably see them run back to the sett just before I get in view. I do try to stop them being friendly, but it is becoming a bit harder every year. It is mainly this and last years Cubs that have got use to me from the start of them leaving the sett. It would be very easy to get them feeding from my hand, then they will not be wild animals, they will then eventually have no fear of humans, that would not be right. I will need to make them wary of me.