The Not-So-Secret Diary of Diva the Shetland Pony - Floof!
18/04/2024Diva (Melland Queen of Scots) usually gets her summer coat quite early compared to other horses and ponies, but this year she has been holding onto hers for a lot longer.
So far this winter we have been very fortunate with the dry weather. I was hoping that this dry spell would last until Christmas, but it was not to be.
The field is heavy clay, and so the surface gets slippery when there is heavy rain and gets poached by the horses’ feet if I am not careful. Mabel and Diva are not too impatient near the gate and dislike mud so tend to hang back when they are waiting to come in, but Julius goes right up to the gate and can create a bit of a mess.
Luckily, the yard has a horse walker so when the weather is really wet, I tend to keep them in every other day and they go on the walker when they don’t go out. As mentioned in previous blogs, Diva absolutely loves going on it and the others are quite happy to have a nice walk and then retire to their stables with plenty of hay. Mabel, now in her twenties, really appreciates a dry stable.
Along with the rain we have had some very windy days, and one day as I put out hay for them, I saw it literally blow into the adjoining field. A bonus for Indi, but not so great for mine. What could I do to stop this happening?
I had a half barrel that I had used for Jackson’s hay when he was with me, so I found another one and weighted them down with large stones scavenged from around the yard. Perfect for keeping the hay, or at least most of it, from blowing away!
Today was remarkably warm and sunny so I turned Mabel out stripped, as she is roughed off and has only a lightweight rug on to keep her clean Needless to say, she enjoyed a good roll!
