I have a bit of a quandary with the girls at the moment, now the weather is becoming more unpredictable. Mabel is 22 years old and although she has enjoyed living out 24/7 during the summer, the cooler nights and damper days mean she is more than happy to start coming in at night.
Three-year-old Diva, however, is quite another matter. She thrives on being outside and is oblivious to the weather. Her thick coat keeps her dry in the worst of the rain, and I’m sure her natural curiosity means she likes being out where she can see what’s going on! Consequently, it is now Mabel – not Diva – who gallops up the field to me!
It is great to see the old girl feeling so well. She was retired due to injury, and so it means even more for me to see her bucking and kicking. The saving grace of spending the night inside, from Diva’s point of view, is that there is then a good chance she will get to do one of her favourite things – go on the horse walker!
Diva is a very bold young pony who tends to investigate and work things out when she comes across something she hasn’t encountered before. This holds her in good stead when out for our walks down the lanes. The last time I took her out she had to cope with a huge tractor and trailer coming past. In true Diva style she stood like a rock.
The other day in the paddock, however, she really wasn’t sure what she was seeing.
Darcy, a working cocker spaniel, and Nessa, a German pointer, decided to cool off in the girls’ water trough after running around the fields. Diva was halfway down the field when the dogs took the plunge, and she galloped up as fast as her little legs would take her to investigate what was going on.
Her face was a picture when she came face to face with a soggy spaniel! Darcy was unrepentant and grinned at her before jumping out. Nessa, I think, was happy she was in the part of the trough on the other side of the fence.
Who else has felt the pain of this winter? It's hard to believe we are coming into spring, and yet the last of lockdown is still keeping those winter blues in place! Unfortunately due to the weather here, and the ridiculous hot headed nature of my horses, combined with no travel or arena hire allowed I haven't been able to take the boys out anywhere or ride.
Yassss! Yesss! Horaaah! Finally! I am back on a horse - horses - all of them have been off the yard! It actually feels like an eternity but the minute Boris announced the "road out of lockdown", I sat with the calendar and got filling, admittedly we had a slight hiccup as the lorry despite it's fancy repaint, apparently didn't appreciate being sat still for 4 months and my steering broke, but after many, many pestering phone calls to my mechanic daily (oops) we were back on the road within a week!
So what should you be aware of before immunising your horse? What vaccinations are available, and when should they be administered? And what do you need to know about protecting your animal’s health through insurance for horses?
Ex-racers who have already been away from the track for some retraining can be suitable for a whole range of equine disciplines. However, if you’re looking to buy a horse fresh from a racing career, then you’ll need to do some careful research into retraining. To get you started we’ve put together some guidance on how to retrain one of these sensitive and spirited animals.