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A Day in the Life of the Cotswold Horse Whisperers, 23

March 2012

Amber’s month’s trial is now over, and she has now actually, completely, properly been sold. We miss her enormously. We were a bit concerned about how she would settle in, though, and she also showed some worrying unlevelness behind during her month away. She’s nearly 17 years old, and although low mileage, concerns were raised by various vets about her potential long-term soundness. What they don’t know about her, of course, is that she is as tough as old boots. She was clearly irritated by the attention paid to her imperfect movement. After treatment and appropriate work,  she massively improved and we’re sure she’ll be fine.

Far from struggling to settle in, she loves her new home. I didn’t think she was at all bored at Moor Wood, but she seems to be enjoying the change!

The ponies that we were hoping to have on livery might well not be coming now, but a business meeting with our web consultant has clarified what we already knew: we would love a few more liveries. We’re very much enjoying working with the ones we do have, and there’s a lovely buzz about the place now. It’s great to have regular, ongoing clients, and it means we’re more of a “centre” – for learning, support, inspiration and fun!

We’ve decided to do fewer clinics this year, too. The clinics take up a lot of school time and energy, and while they’re on we really can’t do much else. As soon as the teaching day ends, we need to catch up with our little people. With liveries, Intensives, and regular lessons, we still get to help clients with their horses and their learning, but in a more sustainable way.

Yard-wise, the horses are still in bank Field, but will be moving soon. They won’t have had quite 3 months out there, and it does seem like an expensive luxury sometimes to keep renting 12 acres that spends so much of its year resting. I wouldn’t like to be the one to explain to the horses that we’d decided to economise, and that they’d have to cope with a muddy alternative! Of course, our hay bill would go up, but definitely still less than the rent. But winter is hard enough without hock-deep mud, and I’m sure the horses appreciate it, in their own way.

My winter project to sort out all the fencing hasn’t quite happened yet. It’s a big job. Much re-wiring is needed, and I’m trying to come up with clever, innovative ways to accommodate the changes we regularly make. There’s talk of droughts already, so like last year March might be a wonderful time to ride, and we can indulge our habit of worrying about the hay situation, early!

 

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