Taking on our small holding has certainly been a challenge, with the cost (another thing to 'thank' Covid for!) rising by the day for materials, availability and stock being hard to come by, companies being nearly impossible to book in, and the yard duties obviously not stopping for any of that!
With all these things on top of 3 horses, 2 I was trying to keep in work, and 1 yearling I am determined to get as much life experience as possible before breaking, sometimes one of those spinning plates drops!
We are currently trying to clad the outside of our house, thankfully it is single storey, and thankfully it is half way up with brick - done by more talented people than us, but it is still a massive task for 2 of us who quite honestly are learning on the job. The weather has also decided to stop play, and off course after all the nice weather we had, when I did nothing but hope for rain, it came, and it came exactly when we didn't need it!
But what that rain did do, was make the grass grow, and WOW did it grow! Soooooo, now I have a hay field! A hay field I wasn't expecting, a winter field that got so worn out last winter, that I was worried it would barely recover all year, and yet here I am with a hay field, not enough horses to eat the grass, and no one available to even make it into hay! But that is OK, because I have sheep - Finally I thought, they can be of some use, oh but wait - It only has electric fencing and no stock fencing because I ran out of soft ground (and money) to get the posts finished. Although on the flip not having the fence up meant it was easier to put a drain in where my arena will (soon?) so wings and roundabouts? Or maybe at this point I am juggling spaghetti junction!
On a really positive note, all the animals are pampered, and have no idea the mayhem behind the scenes!
It’s safe to say the horses’ are feeling their teeth are back to normal as all are eating happily (phew as I always worry and did spend a good few days and nights going greyer), so good in fact Aria decided to try her knashers out on me!
Across the UK, there is a growing problem of people feeding food to horses that’s making them unwell. If your horse has fallen sick because of this, horse insurance can help you cover the cost of treatment.
Read our Equesure guide to some of the most common scams both buyers and sellers need to watch out for. And how to protect yourself from becoming yet another victim of these criminals.
There are few better ways to get your equine fix during the summer months than heading to a polo match. Watching a few chukkas while sipping a glass of Pimm’s or chilled Champagne, you’ll soon feel like you are part of your very own Jilly Cooper novel!