Finally

Poor Thomas!

Rain, snow and bad ice has stopped play these last few days so Dudley has been having duvet days as the field has been a relative bog.  I don`t think he`s minded too much as he`s been out for part of the day at least every other day.  Today the weather is fine so he is out all day - after a trundle round the block.  He could hear the other horses being led to the field and obviously thought he should go next.  I was still mucking out though so he launched a creep campaign in the hope of expediting his release.  Creeping usually involves little nudges with his nose and grooming of whichever bit of skin he can find, often the nape of my neck, which is naughty but nice.

Bad Girls!

Simon

Spring is clearly in the air and the chickens are broody and nesting.  Their favourite place at the moment seems to be on top of my hay bales behind the nets.  The racket they make is unbelievable; two broody hens and a vocal cockerel makes for quite a din!  One of the hens favours Thomas`s haybar, which is the reason Deana thinks that the boy poor is so neurotic about putting his head in it!  The poor lad had a cat on his window and a hen on his door this morning!


Out on our hack and Dudley is in ignore mode.  Cue the usual argument and then suddenly it seemed to occur to him that the sooner this was over with, the sooner he would be at liberty in the field - and as Lady was also out, that was quite a good prospect!  He continued at a good pace all the way round, even taking to trot when asked.  He didn`t object when I suddenly ducked and grabbed his reins when  fighter jet suddenly appeared overhead, nor did he flinch when the Landy skidded to slow down beside us.  He didn`t even seem to mind the noisy tractor and trailer that trundled out of the side road towards us.  No, he was on a mission and it was completed in very good time!

Glorious Day

After the sharp, snowy showers of yesterday, today dawned bright, beautiful and icy cold.  The view from my bedroom window was gorgeous so I knew the views from the top of the ponies` field would be equally so - and I wasn`t disappointed!  Dudley and Scruffy the bearded collies accompanied me and were absolutely fabulous, bounding around and coming to call.  I want one!

View from my Window

Dudley and Scruffy

Clougha Pike

Across the Bay

Towards the snowy Howgills

Silly Cat

Uber Cool

I take it all back - yesterday was a heatwave compared with today!  We`d planned to ride out with D and S this morning so I was a little later than usual arriving at the yard.  I`d watched from my window the big, grey cloud making its way over the Lakeland Fells towards the Bay but thought it would pass over as we had lovely, bright, sunny blue skies.  By the time I was reached the yard it was a full-on blizzard!  The snow, however, was interspersed with bright sunshine which melted the snow as quicky as it fell.  None-the-less, the ground was slippery and quite unsuitable for aged Highlands and their rickety owners to venture out upon, especially with it being so hilly.  Consequently, Duds has got another day off and I am sat here trying to thaw my fingers out by tapping on the keyboard.  Not one my most successful ideas.  Think I`ll make soup . . .

Duds - where is everyone?

There are two cats and three chickens in this picture . . .

D and Lady head up the hill

Georgie thinks maybe she`ll stay indoors today . . .

Big Foot

Picture Post

Accompanied

Dudley doesn`t do hills, or downhills at least - unless of course there`s a mare in front or something he wants to show off to.  He doesn`t seem to appreciate that, like his owner, he is possessed of short, fat, hairy legs which constricts the amount of ground covered and the speed at which it is traversed.  No, Dudley imagines himself to be fleet of foot and long of limb.  If only . . .

Today we were out with Sarah and her horse Jasper who lives in the next door stable.  He`s a big, bay 17hh horse with a long body and even longer limbs.  Dudley and I, riding alongside, must have looked like the opposing twin being short and grey with little sturdy limbs.  I wish someone had taken a picture as we must have looked quite a sight!  I know Sarah from a previous yard and wondered if Duds remembered her too.

Woolly boy!  Tired after ride.

Sarah is bringing Jas back into work after a period off due to injury so she wanted to keep it short and sweet.  That suited us as Dudley is still building up his fitness and in any case is never in a hurry to get anywhere - usually.   The ride was very uneventful and even paced though Jas looked to be a bit strong at times and was tossing his head quite a lot, a trait I`m more used to seeing in Duds.  On the turn for home both were strong and clearly raring to go and I mentioned as much to Sarah who replied in a worried way to ask `he won`t, will he?`  clearly imagining the pair of them bolting along the Kirkby road to be first one back at the gate! It was good to reassure her that he wouldn`t though if I asked him to he absolutely would.  He might have control of me in the school, scene of his routine humiliation of me, but on the road and on the ground, I am the boss and he seems to respect that.

Back to the yard and out in the field and Jas is the first one down.  Whilst Duds trundled sedately off to the higher ground where the grass is greener and full, Jasper was on his knees and rolling in the thickest mud within seconds of us turning for the gate.  Not content with rolling one side, he then turned over and rolled on the other sending mud flying everywhere as his hooves dug in as he spun.  Still wallowing, he buried his muzzle in the mud and ground his ears to ensure maximum coverage.  Even with a rug on he still managed to clart himself!  The sound of Sarah`s despairing wails had me howling with laughter, the more because she`d spent ages before we rode brushing and grooming and getting him ready for his owner to view this afternoon.  Never again will I accuse Duds of being the muckiest pony ever!  At least he had the commonsense to keep out of the way!

The cats were around again today, as usual.  They are such a sweet little pair who today were curled up on my hay.  The chicken who has made a nest at the back of the bales was also back, still chiding, though now displaced because of the cats.  Not for long, however, as when I returned she had lodged herself behind Bubble and Squeak obviously preparing to sit again.  That cockerel has a lot to answer for!

Equine Therapy

Dudley`s a rum lad at the best of times.  Yesterday he tripped over his water bucket soaking half of his bed as it trickled under the aubiose.  Today he attempted to retune the radio.  Always he is a character, sometimes strong, sometimes in a huff, always amusing.  Today I`d woken up with the issues of work hanging heavily on my mind.  I`d awakened from a dream in which I`d felt the abiding sadness and weight of so many things surrounding me like a smothering fog which dulls the way forward and in which all sounds of life are muted and voices muffled as though in another room.  I feel so often that others are in another room into which I merely peer through the darkened panes of a cold exterior.

Dudley though, aw, Dudley.  He is like a balm applied directly to a wound which soothes and cools and heals as it is absorbed through layers of roughened skin.  His beautiful big brown eyes soften the soul and reach to where the heart hurts most.  His muzzle, warm and tender with smooth little hairs, invites the weariness to leave with the offering of a gentle kiss.  He is equine therapy, all in one.  Priceless.

Today I decided we would have our inaugural hack around the block, bored as we were with trotting round the school on the end of a lunge line.  We could have gone out with Deana and Sam but that would have meant an hour of hanging around so we went on our own instead.  Besides, I wanted him all to myself!  We will enjoy the company another day.

It feels good to be back where I started, the familiarity of the route returning to me as we sauntered along.  I told a disinterested Duds about Scottie and the cross country course and how we used to hack down to the beach.  I told him that this was where it all started for me and how I`d come full circle.  I remembered when I first had Dudley and how difficult it all was and of how much I`d subconsciously resented him for not being Scottie.  I realised, eventually, that I held back from loving him and was disappointed because he was so different.  I remembered, too, when all that changed and in a moment as soft as a whisper this beautiful, big, gentle maverick made the silent transition from resented to utterly loved, just for being him.  I wish I hadn`t wasted so much time wishing he wasn`t himself.  Yet those lost years were so formative and so often punctuated with little moments of intense intimacy and understanding, such as the evening when he quietly sensed my distress as I peered into the distance of the Bay and gently moved to stand beside me with his head resting against mine.  No words were needed even if he could speak.  Time and again he has correctly sensed my unspoken affect and articulated a response that transcends any words.  He is more than Scottie to me for Scottie was never mine.

It was good to be in the saddle again and good to see the interest in Dudley`s eyes and ears.  We spooked twice, he at a duck that suddenly came in to land on a puddle on the other side of the hedge and me on the same stretch when  a cyclist that he`d already heard, suddenly spoke out a greeting.  He was such a very good boy on unfamiliar territory and so calm when first the double-decker bus and then the concrete lorry came trundling up behind us.  Steady as a rock, my Dudley.

Settled

Dudley seems to have settled himself in to his new abode very nicely.  On the second morning I was met by the sight of Duds in a huff, manifested by his large, guttered posterior presented at the door, head firmly fixed in the corner of the stable from which he could view my approach without acknowledgement.  On the third morning, he deigned to pop his head over the door before disappearing to his corner.  This morning  his big, grey face was planted against the window as he regarded my arrival with faint interest.  He is very precise in the way he expresses himself, his thoughts transparent and clear. 

Despite his apparent huff, he quickly recovers and these last two mornings he has been very sweet and receptive, grooming the nape of my neck as I pick his feet out or nuzzling me gently as I stoop to pick up the debris of the night before.  There`s so much more for him to watch and engage in on this yard, as well as more space, more company - and more mares!  He seems happy.  He seems popular, too, with the yo`s partner this morning declaring him to be a nice, quiet sort who doesn`t bother anyone and gets on well with his fieldmates.  I confess to a little swell of pride on hearing that!  John is a very down-to-earth hunter/hacker type of bloke who I expect doesn`t tolerate fools or bad lads easily so I was pleased to hear his assessment of Duds.

Apart from the other liveries, there is an assortment of other animals on the yard.  There are the cats, Bubble and Squeak, two tiny litter-mates who run and leap around and are the sweetest little things.  The black is an un-neutered male who is set to be de-bobbled soon, if it isn`t already too late to avoid another generation.   Then there are the chickens who, like all chickens, flutter around the feet and make dives for the banking.  The cockerel struts around with his harem following, quite unfazed by all around him,  Lastly, there is Dudley and Scruffy, the yard owner`s two collies (I think they`re collies).   They`re a lively pair who bound around with youthful exuberance and a bark that demands attention.  They are used to me now so don`t bark when I arrive or bound up at me when I walk across the yard.

We haven`t ventured out for a hack as yet as I wanted to work Duds on the lunge first to build up a level of fitness before he has to tote my excess weight.  I also wanted to get him listening to me again so that we could re-establish the easy partnership we had created before.   We may have hacked out this morning but oh my goodness, the wind is biting and brutal and whips right through the layers  of my jods and jacket.  So we went in the school instead, a nicely sheltered arena in which I run around huffing and puffing on the end of the lunge line and Dudley emerges calm of wind and not a bit out of puff.  Something not quite right there!

New Beginnings

Dudley and I have moved yards yet again.  The other yard, offered in respite, gave great freedom and no interference and was what we needed at the time.  It gave us breathing space and for Duds, especially, the winter off as there were no facilities there at all, just a stable and some land which was quite boggy due to it being at sea level.  As a result we have both emerged from winter like two plump, hairy blobs whose puff runs out long before the end of the track, both of us clearly fat and unfit as a result of an easy, albeit muddy, winter.  Time to change.

The new yard takes me back to the area where my equine interest began therefore it feels comfortable as a result.  There is a school and easy hacking and lots of folk to hack out with.  There is more land and more company and altogether more going on so Dudley won`t be so bored.  It isn`t a big yard, just four other liveries (I think!), one of whom I know, plus the yard manager`s horses.  It has so far appeared very friendly and easy going on this our first morning there.

My only sadness is leaving Mia, Dudley`s field mate at the other place.  Being just the two of them they formed a strong bond though Duds was always the boss.  Contrary to her owner`s opinion, Mia did need and want company and would holler and shout whenever we went out for a hack.  Yesterday, as Duds and I drew away in the horsebox, Mia whinnied and called and paced along the fence line.  It was terrible and I wished we were taking her with us.  Dudley for his part, returned her call and shook his head and I felt like the worst person ever for separating them and causing such anxiety.  I`ve never left like that before and would never wish to again, for the other horse`s sake.

This morning I hurried to the yard to find Dudley merrily munching on a haynet, kindly given to him by the yard owner who had beaten me to the yard this morning on account of my stating that I was usually up quite early!  He didn`t look at all concerned though his bed was pretty roughed up.  He finished half his net and I tied him up outside to begin the task of chipping the mud off his coat and removing some of his winter fuzz, the moult having started with the longer, sunny days.  I plan to give him the weekend off to acclimatise himself to his new surrounding and then to bring  him slowly into work over the next two weeks while I`m off.  So today I would just turn him out with one other initially and see what happened.  Nothing happened.  We waiting, he walked then did a little canter, then a sniff at the ground, checked out his field mate, spotted the mare next door, did another little canter, then nothing.  We got bored . . .

I hope he likes it where he is now.  I am so very aware of the upset it must cause to so frequently be moved and I am not immune to the distress caused by the severing of a pair bond.  I hope he will find life interesting again and as a result be freer in his movement and mind.  He has such beauty in the surrounding hills to gaze upon and the distant rise of the Lakeland fells to give perspective and a sense of freeom and openess; we were so hemmed in before.

It is tranquil on this yard despite the activity.  I hope it will be a good place to be.  And I hope we have a good summer to enjoy all it has to offer.

Somewhere, half way up the hill and to the left of the tree on the fenceline, is Dudley, munchiing a little distance away from the blue blob who I think is Thomas.