Sunday 23rd August
Oh look it's raining.
Both tired after yesterday. Together with 3 volunteers and 2 ponies we did pony rides at the Twm Sion Cati Festival all day. It was hard work, a shame that the Festival wasn't better attended but in the long run it probably worked out to our advantage as we had steady trade all day and we couldn't have coped with more than we had. A total of £94 including collection tins isn't bad really. Susie and Sophie coped quite well, in fact Susie had a good blast round the field afterwards as she was still full of beans and Sophie did well for her first outing.
We were cancelled for today, just as well really as the weather has turned foul again and we would have probably wasted our time standing about in the rain. So we have had a quiet day, just Adrian and myself, no volunteers and some space to breathe.
I decided to take myself off for a walk, going nowhere in particular, just needed to go somewhere on my own for a while so I put a map in my backpack along with a fleece and a waterproof (what else) and headed off. Didn't even have a mobile phone or any money now I come to think about it so it is just as well I came to no harm as I would have had no means of calling for help or money for a phone box, not that there were any where I ended up.
I walked for several miles, I guess with a vague thought about heading eventually for Lyn y Fan, nothing fixed about getting there, just the direction really. I stopped for a break and consulted my map to find that I wasn't all that far from where I have learned that the author of "The Wind in the Ash Tree", Janine MacMullen lives. At least I knew the me mentioning her in previous posts as being a bit of an inspiration.
Well, you have to go and check it out don't you so I set off down a very steep lane that I knew was going to feel a lot steeper when I was trying to climb back up. There was a drive about half way down the lane and I stood at the end of the drive and had a look. I couldn't see much and I would never have gone any further, she doesn't know me from Adam and anyway we crave our own privacy so respect other's. Certainly it was a white house behind a wall with several outbuildings. Couldn't initally see an ash tree until the breeze moved a sycamore to reveal a huge ash tree in the front garden. Even then I couldn't be sure, there are lots of ash trees in Wales after all.
I thought about moving on back up the lane; ok. it was probably her house, might never know different but I would assume so. Then just as I as turning away, the breeze moved another tree and I saw the wind vane on the chimney, a unicorn. That told me all I wanted to know. It is her house, I found it.
I stood there for some minutes, blatantly staring at the place, no one appeared to be about. Have to say at that moment, as I stood there I felt really strange. It was different to how I felt when I went to Thomas Hardy's house or Ann Hathaway's cottage or even when I went to Charles Dickens' house years ago. They were all famous authors, world famous and I doubt that Ms MacMullen has a following quite so large as any of them but I as still felt a bit humbled.
With things the way they are here at the moment, I didn't know if I should praise or curse her really. Perhaps I should look upon it as a bit of an omen that things will get better for us in the near future. Ms McMullen stuck it through good and bad times. We should do the same, things can only get better.
Sunday 23 August 2009
Friday 21 August 2009
Friday August 21st
It has been a long time since last I posted.
In m own case it could be said that I am suffering from a bit of a melt down. Maybe it is lack of sunshine, maybe we are both just burnt out. It has been a tough 3 years or nearly so as we will have been here 3 years on the 17th October. In that time we have both worked ourselves silly, putting in so many hours I couldn't begin to even count, certainly Adrian has and it is beginning to tell on us.
In the year since August '08 year alone we have had flood and tempest, frost, snow, frozen pipes that meant no water on site for 11 days, strangles, conjunctivitis, ring worm, being told by 2 major charities that we should close, we have done open days, events, trips here and there to deliver ponies, collect ponies, collect hay and feed, been to welfare meetings to raise awareness of equine welfare. We have struggled to get more money into the Trust all the time, relentless in our quest to keep afloat here, to push the place into the 21st century and wake up the Sleeping Beauty that we know is the Lluest Horse and PonyTrust.
We have learned to live on less money because there simply is none. All the things I came here to do, my writing, make butter, bread, my garden, my goats; everything has had to take a back seat to bringing money into the Trust. Adrian is still working 80 hours a week, few rest days, he has never taken all his holiday allocation and we are still running 1 groom short.
Where this is all going to lead to I really don't know. We are due to go to the Falkland Islands for a visit there (Adrian is a Falklands veteran and he is being sponsored to work with some of their horses) but that isn't until November and between now and then we have to carry on, we can't give in, we can't say no we won't do it because the animals still must be fed and mucked out and tended and the fund raising must go on and on and on.
Next year is the 25th anniversay of the founding of the Trust. I hope that it will prove to be a better year for us, that we can slow down just a bit and enjoy being here again. At the moment I have to say that I'm not enjoying it much at all.
It has been a long time since last I posted.
In m own case it could be said that I am suffering from a bit of a melt down. Maybe it is lack of sunshine, maybe we are both just burnt out. It has been a tough 3 years or nearly so as we will have been here 3 years on the 17th October. In that time we have both worked ourselves silly, putting in so many hours I couldn't begin to even count, certainly Adrian has and it is beginning to tell on us.
In the year since August '08 year alone we have had flood and tempest, frost, snow, frozen pipes that meant no water on site for 11 days, strangles, conjunctivitis, ring worm, being told by 2 major charities that we should close, we have done open days, events, trips here and there to deliver ponies, collect ponies, collect hay and feed, been to welfare meetings to raise awareness of equine welfare. We have struggled to get more money into the Trust all the time, relentless in our quest to keep afloat here, to push the place into the 21st century and wake up the Sleeping Beauty that we know is the Lluest Horse and PonyTrust.
We have learned to live on less money because there simply is none. All the things I came here to do, my writing, make butter, bread, my garden, my goats; everything has had to take a back seat to bringing money into the Trust. Adrian is still working 80 hours a week, few rest days, he has never taken all his holiday allocation and we are still running 1 groom short.
Where this is all going to lead to I really don't know. We are due to go to the Falkland Islands for a visit there (Adrian is a Falklands veteran and he is being sponsored to work with some of their horses) but that isn't until November and between now and then we have to carry on, we can't give in, we can't say no we won't do it because the animals still must be fed and mucked out and tended and the fund raising must go on and on and on.
Next year is the 25th anniversay of the founding of the Trust. I hope that it will prove to be a better year for us, that we can slow down just a bit and enjoy being here again. At the moment I have to say that I'm not enjoying it much at all.
Monday 10 August 2009
Monday the 10th August
I have to say I am finding it incredibly hard to find time to update myself here. By the time I have downloaded photographs, updated 3 other sites and done everything else, the day is gone and I am ready for my bed.
Not to say there isn't a lot going on other than just computers. At the moment it is all about events and fund raising things. The 2nd of August was the pub olympics which was a lot of fun, organised by Tabby and Julie it started at 3pm but due to visit0rs that arrived at the farm and required a full tour, we didn't get there till nearly 5 and had to rush through our events. Am I proud to announce that Adrian and I would have got the booby prize for the worst score of the event? Well sort of. It was a great afternoon though, people were very supportive of the Trust and it makes you feel good.
Since then it has been lots of comings and goings in a way, a couple of horses have come in for remedial training etc and it seems like we have been out and about a lot lately though I would have to look at my other diary to tell you what we have been doing.
So having done that ....
We hosted a group called Interplay one day. They are a charity that integrates special needs children into activities round and about south Wales and we first met them at the Waterfront Museum in March. Adrian was day off really but we helped Tabby and another volunteer get sorted in time for Interplay's arrival before we had to shoot off into Llandeilo. The group of 15 had lunch then did some grooming and were so pleased at how the children reacted that they will bring another group up to us later this month. They would like to do more here but we lack the facilities really. Everybody ends up using my downstairs loo and the house is not our own when that happens.
I was thrilled when the sun finally came out, we had 5 whole days of sunshine. Unfortunately the grass is so long now that I couldn't cut it the first couple of days, then we were busy and now it has rained again. Always the way I am afraid.
We spent 3 days doing various events that meant we were out with a variety of animals. First was the Grandparent's Intergenerational Activities Day at the National Botanical Gardens and then 2 days at the Waterfront Museum in Swansea where the donkeys took part in a "Miner's Seaside Holiday" exhibition.
Bit of a rant coming so prepare yourselves.
Parents, please look after your children. Anybody who has anything at all to do with horses and donkeys can tell you they can be dangerous. We police our animals, don't expect us to police your children as well. The number of children that headed straight for the back end of the animals while their parents stood back watching them is not to be believed. All of us were having to say, "Don't stand at the back end, mind your feet, don't crowd the donkeys, watch yourselves." The doting parents stood idly by while we kept a fixed smile on our faces while thinking seriously about murder or at least ABH in a lot of cases. Poking a donkey with a walking stick is not a good idea, nor is stabbing my dog with a sharp stick either. We have to be polite and courteous, it is a shame so many young children aren't taught the basics as well. NO, it isn't a mule, it isn't a cow, it isn't a yak, it is a donkey but no she won't appreciate you stuffing your fingers in her ears.
It's no wonder we are tired at the end of an event.
I have to say I am finding it incredibly hard to find time to update myself here. By the time I have downloaded photographs, updated 3 other sites and done everything else, the day is gone and I am ready for my bed.
Not to say there isn't a lot going on other than just computers. At the moment it is all about events and fund raising things. The 2nd of August was the pub olympics which was a lot of fun, organised by Tabby and Julie it started at 3pm but due to visit0rs that arrived at the farm and required a full tour, we didn't get there till nearly 5 and had to rush through our events. Am I proud to announce that Adrian and I would have got the booby prize for the worst score of the event? Well sort of. It was a great afternoon though, people were very supportive of the Trust and it makes you feel good.
Since then it has been lots of comings and goings in a way, a couple of horses have come in for remedial training etc and it seems like we have been out and about a lot lately though I would have to look at my other diary to tell you what we have been doing.
So having done that ....
We hosted a group called Interplay one day. They are a charity that integrates special needs children into activities round and about south Wales and we first met them at the Waterfront Museum in March. Adrian was day off really but we helped Tabby and another volunteer get sorted in time for Interplay's arrival before we had to shoot off into Llandeilo. The group of 15 had lunch then did some grooming and were so pleased at how the children reacted that they will bring another group up to us later this month. They would like to do more here but we lack the facilities really. Everybody ends up using my downstairs loo and the house is not our own when that happens.
I was thrilled when the sun finally came out, we had 5 whole days of sunshine. Unfortunately the grass is so long now that I couldn't cut it the first couple of days, then we were busy and now it has rained again. Always the way I am afraid.
We spent 3 days doing various events that meant we were out with a variety of animals. First was the Grandparent's Intergenerational Activities Day at the National Botanical Gardens and then 2 days at the Waterfront Museum in Swansea where the donkeys took part in a "Miner's Seaside Holiday" exhibition.
Bit of a rant coming so prepare yourselves.
Parents, please look after your children. Anybody who has anything at all to do with horses and donkeys can tell you they can be dangerous. We police our animals, don't expect us to police your children as well. The number of children that headed straight for the back end of the animals while their parents stood back watching them is not to be believed. All of us were having to say, "Don't stand at the back end, mind your feet, don't crowd the donkeys, watch yourselves." The doting parents stood idly by while we kept a fixed smile on our faces while thinking seriously about murder or at least ABH in a lot of cases. Poking a donkey with a walking stick is not a good idea, nor is stabbing my dog with a sharp stick either. We have to be polite and courteous, it is a shame so many young children aren't taught the basics as well. NO, it isn't a mule, it isn't a cow, it isn't a yak, it is a donkey but no she won't appreciate you stuffing your fingers in her ears.
It's no wonder we are tired at the end of an event.
Saturday 1 August 2009
Birthdays and Pony Hooves
So how did I get to be 56 all of a sudden? Where has all the time gone to and why has it gone so fast? I swear to God that someone has worked out how to condense time so that when a person gets to 50, the 365 days in a year are squashed into something like 180 days. I got together with Adrian 16 years ago when I was 40. In another 16 years (it will feel like 8 or so won't it?) i shall be 72 years old. That is a very scarey thought let me tell you. In fact I don't want to think about it so I won't.
Adrian is not a happy man. One of our loan ponies has come back today, he only went out this spring and the loanees have had to bring him back as they lost the grazing. On first glance he looks ok, perhaps a bit on the chunky side but for him, not bad at all. Till you get to his hooves.
Now this particular pony does suffer a lot from laminitis, it's quite common really, lots of animals get it and for a variety of reasons; rich grass is one of the most common causes actually.
But it is definitely a controllable condition through diet and correct management. When the pony went out, we were assured that they would keep an eye on him and that he would be ok, they had had experience of laminitis, no worries.
Clearly they hadn't considered the farriers knowledge of how to manage hooves that are affected. The pony's front hooves have been dubbed (chopped) back so far that on one the farrier has gone back to toe callus, there is little of the hoof wall at all and the poor animal is not able to walk on hard surfaces without suffering discomfort. He will be alright on soft ground but not on concrete or gravel, anything like that.
It will grow back and eventually the pony will recover and be sound again but it shouldn't have come to that. There is no reson why he had to be trimmed as far as that, it doesn't relieve the laminitis.
My husband is livid and has taken photos of the hooves. The pony cannot go out again probably till next spring and then we will have to consider whether or not he is best to stay here where at least we can keep him trimmed in accordance with the laminitis. He is a good pony, loves children and if managed properly, would be loved to bits. I think he was in this last home, in fact I am sure he was but it would appear that the farrier didn't know some aspects of his job very well.
Rant over.
Adrian is not a happy man. One of our loan ponies has come back today, he only went out this spring and the loanees have had to bring him back as they lost the grazing. On first glance he looks ok, perhaps a bit on the chunky side but for him, not bad at all. Till you get to his hooves.
Now this particular pony does suffer a lot from laminitis, it's quite common really, lots of animals get it and for a variety of reasons; rich grass is one of the most common causes actually.
But it is definitely a controllable condition through diet and correct management. When the pony went out, we were assured that they would keep an eye on him and that he would be ok, they had had experience of laminitis, no worries.
Clearly they hadn't considered the farriers knowledge of how to manage hooves that are affected. The pony's front hooves have been dubbed (chopped) back so far that on one the farrier has gone back to toe callus, there is little of the hoof wall at all and the poor animal is not able to walk on hard surfaces without suffering discomfort. He will be alright on soft ground but not on concrete or gravel, anything like that.
It will grow back and eventually the pony will recover and be sound again but it shouldn't have come to that. There is no reson why he had to be trimmed as far as that, it doesn't relieve the laminitis.
My husband is livid and has taken photos of the hooves. The pony cannot go out again probably till next spring and then we will have to consider whether or not he is best to stay here where at least we can keep him trimmed in accordance with the laminitis. He is a good pony, loves children and if managed properly, would be loved to bits. I think he was in this last home, in fact I am sure he was but it would appear that the farrier didn't know some aspects of his job very well.
Rant over.
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