21st Feburary 2010

Well, today is Day 1 of Charlot's training (or is it re-training again!) and he got off to a good start.

Easy to catch, once in the school and Jo did his feet very matter-of-factly. He didn't mind and so we did some lungeing, where he sped around in his good trot not really listening to anyone. At one stage he had 5 little Shetland ponies following him at liberty but once taken out of the picture, Charlot started to concentrate and listen to commands.

Charlot is still very sensitive. He lunges looking at your body language to react to. The slightest movement and he will try and interpret it somehow, either changing direction, standing still or jumping 6 foot upwards. Silly boy.

He needs to work now and stop dining out on his nerves. We are bored of them. He is getting very appreciative of having his head scratched but when we touched his back, he jumped in alarm and we laughed at him. I think he needs a terrier to sit and go to sleep on his back. It will be arranged a bit later on!

Really with some de-sensitizing, Charlot will make a lovely little pony. He is much more relaxed in the field, enjoying the sun on his back with no rug and has fluffed up beautifully. When he is with nervous ponies, he tends to latch on to them and copy their behaviour. This herd are quietly confidant, each wanting attention so he watches them now!

Jo was pleased with him so she picked up all his feet one more time, one at a time, and he was very relaxed about it all.

20th Feburary 2010

Well, we brought the lad back to the fields by the house to spend the rest of his winter with the Shetlands-in-training. He was fairly easy to catch, a bit wary but I caught him with the promise of silage.

I led him home, he still touches your hand with his nose and once home, we took off his rug to see what sort of state he was in. Not bad for the time of year. Spot on in fact, with no rubbing or sore bits. His rug was a bit ripped from playing - thank you Andy.

Anyway, he is out now with no rug and seems happy enough. I can always replace it if it gets wet and windy. The boys he is with are a happy little group and he fitted right in immediately, having met most of them before, I think.

This afternoon, I popped back to the field with my camera to take some nice close-up photos of him with my posh camera. He was very pleased to see me and was calmly coming up to be scratched, hugged and generally made a fuss of.

Dear boy seems alot more settled and alot more grown-up. So, here is the year ahead of us......

31 January 2010

Well, it has snowed again with a vengeance over the past few days, rendering roads undriveable and fields inedible!

We are back to putting out silage for everyone. Charlot seems to have stopped being quite so mad and lets me adjust his rug and replace his straps. Today, I caught him and put a bungee strap around his neck while Richard put his belly strap back. He was happy enough and let us sort him out with minimal fuss and his face in some silage I was holding for him.

He even came up to have his photo taken!

30th December 2009

Well Charlot is being a little bugger and won't be caught to have his rug straightened, though we did manage with the help of a Christmas carrot! I refuse to run around after him and he seems warm enough in his rug even if it is a bit wonky. There is no evidence of rubbing and he is always pleased to see us when we bring the silage in the morning.

The snow is not too bad, just sheet ice everywhere, which is terrifying and lethal. Any snow melts during the day only to freeze over at night. Despite that, everyone is managing fine and there is definite evidence of playing.

20th December 2009

The fat boy had his rug put on because it is snowing. What was a rug that fitted very well last year is now rather a snug fit with a large expanse of belly showing now.

Yesterday we put the rug on and he was reasonable, letting me catch him and put the rug on, fiddling about with straps between his legs and under his belly. Today, he was wild and free! He kept looking at Ljosfaxi for inspiration. I managed to grab him as he went wittering past and rearranged his rug to be a bit more central on him. A strap is twisted under his belly but he wouldn't stay still long enough for me to correct it. He was being a pain.

On retrospect, I should've put a headcollar on him rather than expected manners. He was warm and happy so I gave up my idea of a cooperative pony.

26th November 2009

Charlot and his friends were moved to another winter paddock having eaten that one down. They usually spend a month in each paddock until Spring. These fields have been left all spring and summer to grow so no one goes hungry. They will only be fed if it snows. There is running water in each field too.

We caught the ring-leader, Fakur, and the others all dutifully followed him into the new field with absolutely no deviation. This sort of thing lulls us into a sense of false security!

Charlot is rotund. He has not got a rug on yet, but it has not been cold, just very wet and he is keeping the weight on so far! He is definitely one of the boys and is looking well. We didn't do anything, just walked through with 5 dogs and no one batted an eyelid or chased the dogs. A nice relaxed time.

6th October 2009

Haakon came in to be shod, so I caught Charlot to work with.

I put his bridle on and we started with some lungeing so he trotted happily over 4 poles, picking his little feet up. I am not sure about lungeing as I don't like to lug on Charlot's mouth trying to pull him in the direction I want, so I asked and released, asked and released giving him room to make decisions based on my requests. He was a good boy and got used to the bridle again and dropped his head beautifully to look at the poles to pop over.

After that I harnessed Charlot up and attached the reins to his bit so we could do a spot of long-reining. He liked that and was far more attentive, listening to my voice commands rather than me hauling again on his mouth to get what I wanted. He appreciated the ask/release method and it got to the point where I would just say "Charlot, and st...." and he would instantly halt! "Charlot, walk on" and off we went again. He is not keen on turning and tries to evade that option but we succeeded and I even managed to take some photos. When he stands though, he gets bored easily and starts pawing the ground (see photo below).


While Jo was finishing up, I sat on the physio ball with some pony-nuts and Charlot came to stand in front of me, nibbling the odd nut and generally chilling with me! It was lovely. What a different pony from this time last year. I felt totally safe.

On a roll, Jo trimmed Charlot's front feet with absolutely no bother at all. He even put them up on the stand to be rasped! The backs were the usual fight so we tried a couple of times and then twitched him before he got more and more in a state and he let us do them with no fuss at all.

I am pleased with him. We are getting there. I know we are now.