It has been a busy weekend up at the field. Our field is currently being rested so we are renting the one next door that happens to come equipped with a small stable block and yard, making it ideal for our purposes.

 First on our list yesterday was to take Star and Fella out for a hack. Due to our field's location we have to ride along two pretty busy roads for about ten minutes before we reach the bridle path. Helen and I are very lucky Star and Fella are really good in traffic as otherwise we would not be able to ride out. It is a good job too as the way some people drive past us is so dangerous! I rode out alone on Star this morning and out of 24 vehicles only 4 of them passed me in the correct manner-wide and slow. Some drivers pass wide but don't slow down, some slow down but don't pass wide and some do neither! One idiot in a van overtook me on a blind bend, meaning he narrowly missed an oncoming car! I really think there needs to be more education in driver training about how to drive around horses. It's like drivers see us as a hindrance not realising horses have as much right to be on the road as they do; in fact some might say more as horses were around before cars! On Saturday once we were off the road our hack along the bridleways was very pleasant apart from Fella spooking at a tree, I kid you not!!! Star outdid herself this morning by spooking at a white cow in the field across the road from ours. This makes no sense to me as she lives in a field next to a herd of cows, plus she was born and bred on a beef farm! But when did horses and ponies ever make sense!? Any type of vehicle, buses, coaches, tractors, cars, lorries, vans, you name it can pass them on the road at speed and they don't even bat an eye lid, yet a tree and a cow come into their path and they spook!!!

 Once our Saturday hack was done we moved onto our next task which was not quite so enjoyable.....washing Betty and Barbara's bottoms and tails!! Barbara in particular is still quite nervous (her and Betty were cruelty cases, hence why they came into the ownership of the RSPCA) so she has a habit of having lots of 'nervous poos'. Apologies for the poorly written English there but I have said it how it is! Betty is just greedy with the grass at the minute hence her dirty behind! Both ponies were understandably unimpressed with the bathing situation as shown in the picture below!!!

They did however pay me back for it today when I couldn't catch Barbara and Betty helped herself to several unauthorised apples out of the feed room meaning I was unable to take either of them for their 'Bootcamp' hand walk. Both of our little ladies are a a tad 'portly' as the vet described them so they are on a diet and exercise plan. I am sure the pair of them were rather pleased with their exercise avoidance for the day!

Sunday afternoon lent itself nicely to the poo picking. It was my turn so I put 'Smooth Radio' on my phone and got to work. I find poo picking a great way to stay fit both physically and mentally. It is a great way to burn calories and tone up as well as giving you time to think and clear your head.  I always get a lovely 'accomplished' feeling knowing the field has been cleared of the herds  'brown mess'.
That rounds off another lovely weekend at our humble field!