Some pictures of us at the Regionals

We've been to the Regionals...

I cannot believe the last post was from April... how time flies!

Hannah qualified for the Summer Regionals for the Preliminary test, so I tried to be as prepared as possible for it. Unfortunately, nothing ever goes to plan and we started to realise that he saddle was just not sitting on her correctly and it was making it near impossible for me to collect her with my seat.

Following an emergency visit from my fantastic saddle consultant, Heather Roberts, I started using Grace’s on her as a temporary measure as Hannah’s needed sending back to the Albion to have the headplate changed.

She started to become a lot more comfortable in Grace’s saddle, but I was nervous as hell about the Regionals as I have never been before. Thankfully, my trainer, Jo Wright-Graham helped me warm her up so I went in with her in front of my leg and with the feeling that she was carrying me. She did a sweet test, but he walk does let her down, however it was a brilliant day and I enjoyed every minute! She came away with a respectable 64% and a very happy mummy!

Since then I have started working on some Novice tests and am hoping to start taking her out elementary very soon. I am also considering starting her at Medium once we get the half passes up to scratch, but she finds the lateral work pretty easy and really enjoys it too. Yesterday afternoon I had one of the best lessons I have ever had on her, and for the first time in a long time I am excited about riding her again!

The arguments are non-existent, her work is becoming far more consistent and she is travelling like a dream! I am beginning to get a lot of enjoyment from her, and it is a real achievement because she is not an easy girl to ride. But she is now working with me, trying her heart out for me and we are getting on really well!

BD Report - Cockshot Dressage

I have been concentrating on getting Hannah forwards and more elastic for the past month, so we have backed off the competing side of things. However, I have felt that she has been much more consistent in her work and decided to book in for a BD competition at the weekend.

It was the first time I have taken her on my own, so I had to make sure I knew the tests to avoid ‘panic’ moments which usually occur when I go completely blank! However, I felt as though I knew them quite well by Sunday morning, and set off feeling confident.

We got to the venue and the classes were enormous! I tacked Hannah up but she had two rubs on her sides which I believe to be a combination of my old boots and my spurs... so I felt a bit lost without my spurs as I always wear them out competing.

I started to warm her up for the first test, P15 and I could feel she was a bit behind the leg and very spooky! It is quite an open venue with a lot of electric fencing flapping around which she took a serious dislike to. Perhaps it was my though, as I seem to get a mental block about Preliminary tests, I do not ride her the same way as I ride a Novice or Elementary test!

We went into the arena and she was boggling at everything, but even through this I could kick her into a contact which is not usually something you can do with her when out competing. I felt that she could have done a lot better, but was pleased with the 65.8% and 3rd place that we received.

There were almost three hours in between the classes so I grabbed 30 minutes sleep and then some sandwiches and the most gorgeous butterfly cakes (they were for charity so I HAD to have some!)

With an hour to go, I tacked up Hannah decided to ride her as I would in my lessons or at home. I am always worried that people will think I use the whip/spurs/leg too much, but I just went for it in the warm up and she was the best she has ever been at a competition. I still left the spurs off because of her sides, but with them she would have been even better. However, we went into the test and I felt she was really up in the shoulder, in front of the leg and willing to work with me rather than trying to find a way of ducking out.

The beginning of the test went quite well, and the canter transitions were the best she has done. She stayed round into them (if a little deep at times) but it is so much better than her hollowing into the transition. Her first medium canter was a little weak and did not show enough change in my opinion, and the first medium trot was a bit shaky because it headed straight to the entrance and Hannah decided out was better than this!

However, her second medium canter felt great and the second medium trot (off her best rein) really moved up and forwards straight away rather than gradually. I was so pleased with her and have to admit I was a little disappointed with her result of 63.something% But the small arguments we had were nothing and quickly rectified, I used my whip to flick her up more in the test which normally I tend to forget about, and all in all I felt she was much better and we were more prepared than we have been in the past.

We have two more competitions booked for the next few weeks, so hopefully I can start getting her results up a little and she has already qualified for the Areas!

Hannah is back from boot camp!

I went to pick her up yesterday morning...

Jo showed me how she has been lunging her before riding to get her more forwards, and encouraging her into the outside rein. She looks quite different, she has muscle in her bottom that she certainly did not have when she went.

Jo then got on her, and I could see that she looked much easier and forwards into the contact. She will never be an easy ride or straight forwards, but the arguments were manageable because she was not backing off, and she was trying to please.

I then got on (God, I am unfit after a week off riding... it's amazing how quickly you lose it) and could feel how soft she was through her jaw and neck, and more over her back and through from behind.

This morning I lunged her as Jo has been and she was really working hard through her hind legs... I couldn't stop smiling when I was watching her because it is great seeing such an improvement. She is more stuffy on the right rein, but when I put her onto the left rein on the lunge she was much looser and actually loose through her shoulders.I then got on and worked her as Jo instructed... using the shoulder in on the right rein to get her hinds working underneath her (she tends to throw them out) and leg yielding from the track into the centre on the left rein. She found it all so easy!

To finish, I had put a little jump up. She has not jumped since she was four months in foal, so July 2006. She absolutely loved it today. We started with a little cross pole and trotting into it, but she jumps so much better out of the canter. I put it up to a straight about half way up the wings (so not huge but big enough for me) and she gets so excited. She tries taking over a bit and then gets too close into it, so I got her together and tried really watching for the stride and she was great!So, I am a very happy bunny this morning

Hannah is now at boot camp!

Hannah has been quite difficult to get forwards the past week, and seems to be blocking through her right side. So I made the decision to send her over to my trainer for a week of ‘boot camp!’

She seems to have settled in very well and Jo said she is really trying.

I nipped up with a cooler for her over the weekend and she looked completely exhausted! That shows I do not work her hard enough at home because she never looks like that when I have ridden... It was nice to see how relaxed she was in her new surroundings though; at one time she would have been very stressed out about the whole ordeal!

I am going to watch Jo work her tomorrow morning which should be interesting... and I will try to remember my camera!

Crow Wood Report

We set off at 11am yesterday morning looking very scruffy. I had intended to plait her up in the morning, but time ran away with me and I ended up having to just give her a quick brush and set off.

Once again, Hannah travelled perfectly, I still find it hard to believe it is the same horse who used to look as though she had just been through a carwash whenever we got anywhere. I had to tack her up quickly as it had taken slightly longer to get there then I had initially thought it would do, and the warm up was quite busy. She just would not settle, was fighting me like she has been doing and would not listen. We ended up 3rd with 63% which was generous really seeing how she felt.

Rather than putting her back in the box, I took her straight back into the warm up area and just walked her for 20 minutes until she felt as though she was actually listening. By the time we went in for the Novice she felt so much better. It is the first time I have really felt her work in the medium trot and canter which is such an improvement, and she came out with 65.8%. I was really pleased with her Novice test, and now look forwards to Richmond next weekend.

A different horse!

Hannah and I have been having a few disagreements, in that I want her to do something and she wants to do something quite different. She has been getting really worked up in the training sessions once she has cantered, and we have had a few competitions which have been interesting to say the least!

However, last week I took a good friend’s advice and booked a lesson with Jo Wright-Graham of Dressage Horse International. The first lesson was a little nerve wracking, as it always is the first time you ride in front of a new trainer, but I came away feeling really inspired and with a horse I did not recognise! I rode her first and Jo could see she was leaning on the left rein because she was not straight. We got her straight and she immediately softened in her jaw and also her topline. Then Jo got on her and I have never seen Hannah go as beautifully as she did! She looked like a completely different horse as she was using her hind legs much more, loosening her shoulder and really trying.

With this is mind, I took her to a competition at Croft Top on Saturday. The moment I got on her to warm up for the Preliminary, I could feel how easy she felt. I worked her in as Jo had suggested, and the test was the most fluid test I have ridden on her. She made a small mistake and changed legs in one of the canters which left her on a 4, but she ended up with 65% and 3rd place which I was thrilled about.

As I warmed up for the Novice, she once again felt soft and supple. The test itself felt straight forwards, there was no time in which I felt she was unbalanced or fighting me, and yet we ended up on just 60% which I was a little disappointed with because I felt it was the best Novice she had ridden.

In our second lesson today, she once again came out feeling soft in the mouth and supple through the poll! Jo commented on how much she had improved since the last lesson, and we did more work on getting her up in the shoulder and really powering from behind. By the end of the lesson she was cantering a shoulder in with lots of jump in her hind legs, and we ended on some medium trot which felt fantastic!

We have the Preliminary and Novice classes at Crow Wood on Friday, and then I will have to book some more in as I would very much like her to qualify for the Regionals this year! This is not something I would have envisaged saying a few weeks ago, but Jo seems to have real faith in us!

Hannah now has BD points!

The past week has been a very trying one with Hannah... it started last Saturday on her British Dressage debut!

We got to Myerscough and she had travelled very well. So I tacked up, jumped on and warmed her up for N38 in the outdoor. The warm up arena was really quite busy and there were some ponies running up and down in the field next to the area which seemed to wind her up and made it difficult to get her soft through her topline. By the end, she was working quite well but we had to walk past the horse walker to get to the arena where the test was being held and she had a complete freak out and would not go past it. When we finally did her in the arena she was inattentive, jumpy and only achieved 57.9% which I was disappointed with.

I then warmed her up for the Elementary and she warmed up beautifully. However, as we trotted up the centre line and halted, she slipped her tongue over the bit and did the whole test in this manner. Hence she came out with 50%.

All week she has been fighting me constantly, putting her tongue over the bit, running off etc etc. I tried quite a few combinations and on Wednesday I tried the Myler comfort snaffle with a drop. Hannah has a very fleshy mouth, and the drop squashed it all in and rubbed her mouth quite badly. So she had Thursday off work, and on Friday evening I rode her in just the Sprenger (put up one hole) and the cavesson which seemed to work!

This morning it was quite snowy and icy, but the competition at Adlington in Cheshire was still on so an unplaited (and unbrushed) Hannah and I set off, albeit a little apprehensive! But the weather improved nearer to the venue, although was still icy, so I am glad we made the effort. The venue is lovely and chilled, it has a nice atmosphere and does fantastic sausage sandwiches too!!!

Due to the weather making our journey that little bit longer, by the time I was on Han we only had 15 minutes to warm up for N25. Immediately she had her ‘work head’ on and was very settled in her mouth. The test felt lovely, but her medium work still needs work and this was reflected in the marks. She came out with 66% which I was very pleased with and we then had a two hour wait for the next class.

The second test was N28 which is a new test and one I have not ridden through yet. I got on Hannah over 30 minutes before my time, and overcooked her a little. This resulted in her feeling a bit tired and flat in the test, which was again reflected in our mark of 61.67%. However, she travelled superbly, worked really well and we now have lots to work on!

Some photographs...

Three months later...

Due to everything that has been going on with my young mare, Grace, I have not really been updating the Blogs as I should do... However, I am now determined to keep both Blogs up to date.

Since the last entry Hannah and I have been having lessons with Jo Graham and one with Spencer Wilton. Hannah tends to set in her jaw so I have been working really hard to soften her and get her working more through her back and stretching her neck down. She is great in the collected work, but finds stretching down difficult because it is not something I have done much work on before with her. This does seem to be inducing a few more strops than usual, but I think this is more due to the fact that she is unable to fight me!

We have made a small step backwards as I moved yards and went away after Christmas for 10 days, but I did expect this. I have a lesson booked with Spencer on Wednesday, so hopefully he can get us back on track and ready for Hannah’s BD debut on Saturday at Croft Top. I have booked her in for P17 and N38, then the following weekend she is booked in at Myerscough in the Novice class. I would like to concentrate on the Novice tests more, and perhaps in February start taking her out to some Elementaries too as she can certainly do all of the moves required.

I am now increasing her work load as she has started to finally gain some condition. When she came back from stud she was quite thin, and because she started working she seemed to struggle getting the weight on and keeping it on. It didn’t help that she was on hay, but since moving yards I have put her back onto haylage and she is now looking really well!

Fingers crossed for Saturday!

They are weaned...

Troy has now been weaned and Hannah is now back in work.

The whole weaning process went so smoothly I could not believe it... We just led Hannah away from Troy and his friends, loaded her and brought her home. There was no fuss at either end, and neither one has missed the other. I am incredibly proud of myself for making the decision to send them away, it was the best thing I could have done and the least stressful way of weaning,

Since Hannah has come home she has had her teeth, back and saddle checked and is now doing around 30 minutes in the school at trot and canter. We had a lesson last week with Andrea Johnson (nee Morris) because Hannah and I were getting into our old routine of a fight and I wanted to nip it in the bid before it even started. Andrea was great and we got her working really well. Since the lesson she has worked fantastically well, and is showing me all the ability she had before she went into foal which I am really pleased about!

Troy is now standing at around 15hh and is loving his life at stud! He is currently living out with another colt called Louis and the two of them are really chilled out and happy. He has matured an awful lot since he went a month ago and is no longer yapping at me whenever I handle him, instead he just stands and allows you to do what you want. I can’t believe he is almost 8 months old though, he is turning into a really stunning looking little man!

We took some pictures of him, so when I have uploaded the images I will put them on here too!

They have gone to stud!

I have been so worried that I was not doing the right thing that I have barely even thought about the actual process of taking Hannah and Troy to stud. It only dawned on me last night that he has not been in the trailer since he had his ‘little’ operation, but I need not have been concerned.

We loaded Hannah first and she stood quite quietly while we concentrated on Troy. He kept backing away from the trailer and because Hannah was getting a bit worried my Dad and husband tried encouraging him from behind like we did the first time he travelled. However, he was much smaller and lighter then!

I could see him getting a little stressed and worried by it all, so I asked everyone to step away and I gave him a minute to think about what he was being asked to do. I put some pressure onto his halter, and he took a few steps forwards loosening the rope a little. Then I asked for him to come onto the ramp, and as soon as he placed his front feet on it, I let the rope go slack and gave him a scratch on his head while he thought about what he had achieved.

When I applied the pressure again, Troy stepped onto the ramp with his back feet, so I allowed him to have a look at the ramp, but he was no longer suspicious of it and was confident enough in me to relax. I then asked him to walk into the trailer, and he just walked straight in and stood completely still while we closed the doors and put the ramp up. I was just so proud of him!

I could hear Hannah moving about in the back as we set off, but apart from that she seemed really quiet. When we got to stud, I was dreading dropping the ramp. I don’t think you ever feel confident when you are travelling a mare and foal! But again, I had nothing to worry about. He was quietly suckling when we looked, but poor Hannah was wet through as she always is when she travels. He did not have a bead of sweat on him!

Hannah was unloaded first as she was nearest to the ramp and I expected Troy to run after her and leap off the ramp. But he walked down as cool as a cucumber, and stepped off as though he had been travelling for years... what a fantastic little man!

They have settled in really well and will be going out tomorrow and gradually introduced to the others. I am sure he will soon be as happy as pigs in muck playing with the other foals and getting to be the baby he really is. I am hoping to go over and see him this week, but I am going to miss them both so much while they are away!

It's nearly time for them to go away...

After a lot of worrying and thinking, I finally decided the best thing for Troy would be to enjoy some time with other foals. Since being born he has only ever been in a field with his Mum, therefore has never really had the chance to play with other youngsters. I am not saying I would not do it the same way again because he has turned into a lovely little man, but I think in his last month with his Mum it would do him the world of good to start interacting with other horses.

I phoned Trudy at End House Stud and she said both Troy and Hannah could go and live out for a few weeks at the stud. Originally I was going to wean them at another venue, but what worried me was the fact Hannah would have to travel back in the trailer without a partition. I am a lot happier with the way I am doing it, and I think it will be less stress free for the Hannah and Troy too. There are two other mares with colts going to the stud to be weaned. Hannah and Troy will go in with them, and then they will all be weaned together. Hopefully, once Troy is used to being without his Mum I can move him to the original place he was going to be weaned and stay there as long as necessary!

So, the big day is Saturday 1st September... I am just hoping they both load and travel as well as they did to the vets, and that they settle when they get to stud.

Last night I wormed Troy for the second time. I weight taped him, measured out the wormer needed and as I went to give it to him I must have knocked the gauge and the whole 500kg worth of wormer went in. I phoned the vet immediately as I was unsure what to do, but he reassured me that he would be fine and just to keep an eye on him. Thankfully, he is absolutely fine and most definitely worm free too!

Then this afternoon he had his first vaccination. I was all ready for him to be leaping about, but there was absolutely no reaction whatsoever. He did not even realise it has been done! Just another thing he has experienced and not been fazed by. I am going to miss him so much when he is away!

I cannot believe he is 16 weeks old

The past few weeks have been quite a trial with Troy. Since the weather became colder and wetter he has turned into ASBO Troy! He is spooky, bargy and very nippy. The other night he would not have his head collar put on in the field and kept running off with all four feet off the ground, so I decided enough was enough.

Since Richard Maxwell has been out, Troy has been a pleasure to handle. But I have to admit I have become a little lax with his teaching because he has been so good. So, on Monday night I put Hannah in their stable and kept Troy outside. I made him do lots of moving away from me, and then encouraged him to move into the pressure rather than pull away from it. He put up a bit of a fight at first, but by the end he was listening to me, respecting my space and doing as he was asked.

The teaching seemed to have truly hit home because he has been very good again. Yesterday the driveway had flooded and there was one area where the water was past my ankles. Hannah walked straight through it without a second glance, but Troy was really frightened and just wouldn’t come near to it. Because I still lead him on the long rope, I stood with Hannah on the other side of the Troy eating water, and let him figure it out for himself. He was running from side to side for about 5 minutes, but I did not put any pressure on him because I knew this was a pretty big thing for him. All of a sudden he stopped, looked at me and then leapt into the water! Once he was in, he just stood there as if to say, “Is that all it is? No problem, I can handle this!”

Troy also had his feet trimmed and filed a few weeks ago… he was a bit of a handful, but the farrier was very patient with him and Troy eventually stood still and allowed him to take some length off his feet. Since then I have been picking them out every morning, just so he gets used to having his feet handled every day.

We are now learning how to trot up in hand, so hopefully I will get some footage of his trot because in my opinion he has a lovely elevated action. I am just hoping and praying that it is a sign of things to come!

Troy is 11 weeks old

I cannot believe he is already 11 weeks old! It seems like just a few weeks ago that I was sleeping in the caravan every night and looking like a zombie in the day time. I just have not had the time to keep updating this blog, but while I have a day off I thought I would fill you in on what has been happening in Hannah and Troy’s world.

Hannah gradually became more settled being led out with Troy and after the first few days she started to relax and would let him leave her in the field for short periods of time. She is now quite happy for him to be led away from her (I think she likes the break) and the other night my husband walked her around the corner and into her stable and she did not bother at all that she could not see him.

Troy had to have a little operation when he as just a few weeks old. I started to notice that his willy was quite swollen when he came in from the field. At first I thought it could be flies biting as we were having some warm weather, but when it was still swollen after two days I called the vet up. Kathleen said his willy was too big for the opening therefore it was impossible for it to pop out. So a trip to the vets was required and as you can imagine, it was quite a stressful event. Hannah loaded perfectly the first time but Troy ran off around the back of the trailer so we brought her out and then started all over again. The second time we practically lifted Troy in and they both travelled and unloaded really well.

Coming home was less of an ordeal. Troy understood what was expected of him, and as soon as Hannah had been loaded he ran up the ramp to join her. We travelled Hannah tied up and Troy loose with no partition, and this seemed to be the best option for these two as Hannah did not sweat up as she usually does when travelling.

Despite this little set back in his life, Troy seemed to get quite coltish and I wanted to nip it in the bud before it became worse. So I organised for Richard Maxwell to come up in April and do some work with both Troy and me to point us in the right direction.

When Max came out he showed me the sort of work I could be doing with Troy to keep him interested (rather than nipping all of the time) and teach him things that would be so valuable to him in the future. I have continued to do some work with him both in the field and in his stable, which does seem to be making him a nicer foal to be around. He still nips quite a lot, but he also knows that she should not be doing it too! His leading has improved, although we still have stand offs where we both refuse to move, but he is now giving in every time and the periods of standing still are reducing each time.

I will try to update this more often from now on because he is changing so much and developing new characteristics every day. He continues to nip, but has been much easier to handle and is now starting to respect people’s space rather than just running into you. The only time he is a handful is when he is wet and wants to rub on anything in his reach, including me!

Troy's first day out in the field

It did not go quite according to plan!

Hannah is very foal proud, so is not happy when she cannot see him at all times. We tried taking her out of the stable first, but she just went crazy, so then we tried leading Troy out in front. Hannah started playing up the moment Troy put his head out of the stable and proceeded to jump on my foot!

Bringing her in was just as eventful, as she fell on her side panicking!

The second day out was much calmer as I think we were ready for what Hannah was going to react like, and it went without incident. I think it is going to take time to get her relaxed going in and out of the yard with him, but if the improvement yesterday is anything to go by then hopefully she will start to trust that I will not let anything bad happen to him.

At first she would not let him near to the stable door and would not leave him alone. But last night she left him with me at the door and went back to her haylage, which was a big thing for her I think.

Troy is getting a bit more independent though too, which probably helps. He is starting to be interested in things, and keeps chewing my wellies for some reason!

Meet Troy!

Well, Troy finally came into the world at 10.30am on Monday 12th March! At 5am, Hannah’s foaling alarm went off and I started watching her carefully on the monitor. She was getting up and down a lot, and breathing quite heavily. At 6am people started coming onto the yard and I couldn’t risk anyone tying up near to her so I got up, threw some clothes on, and raced to the stables. Hannah was still down and looking at her tummy a lot, but she didn’t seem to be doing much else.

Corrie came as soon as I phoned her, and thought it might be a good idea to telephone the vets because she had been down so long (around 20 minutes by now). I spoke to Kathleen and she said to give them a call in 30 minutes and see what she was doing then.

We went back into the caravan for a cup of tea and some digestive biscuits, watching her all the time on the monitor. She seemed to settle, so I popped in to have another look at her and noticed she had sticky stuff running down the back of her legs from the vulva. I telephoned the vets straight away, and Kathleen said it sounded as though this was the cervical plug and she was well on her way. But she wanted to send someone out to see her, because she thought she might have stopped because of the activity on the yard.

At 9.30am John turned up at the yard, had a quick fee inside of her, and said she had definitely started and stopped, and that he was going to induce her. Panic set in, as in the foaling bible it says on 25% of inducements survive!!!

I asked John whether he thought she should be induced, and he said she was ready but the foal had its legs tucked under so she might need some help and he would rather be there. He then gave Hannah the injection and went back to the practice for his clothes.

I watched Hannah from the caravan, and she started sweating up almost immediately. When John came back 15 minutes later she was absolutely wet through but not showing any signs of getting down and foaling. John felt inside her again and said there was no reason she shouldn’t be pushing as the birthing canal was open. As soon as he went to get some more of the inducement injection, Hannah lay down, pushed, and out came the bag!

I videoed the whole birth, so when the DVD has been formatted I will try to put it on here.

Watching Troy being born was a very moving experience, and the sounds they make to each other is just so lovely. Hannah loved him the moment she saw him, and was soon licking him all over and encouraging him to get up.

He took about one and a half hours to get up, and had difficulty finding the udder to feed from, partly because he is so big. I helped him, and once he had latched on, he soon knew what to do. Poor Hannah, she just stood there and let him suckle without moving once.

She is turning out to be a very good Mum.

Hannah's foaling alarm went off last night

Hannah is now 9 days over her due date and is looking more and fed up, the poor thing. She had a really restless night last night, and was pacing around a lot, getting up and down and breathing heavily.

I checked her through the night, but at 4.30am the foaling alarm went off. It took Corrie and I some time to realise what the noise was. At first I thought it was the monitor so turned the volume down, then I thought it was the heater, but while turning that off I realised the red light was on!

We got dressed, had a cup of tea and kept a close eye on her through the CCTV. Then at 5.30am she started munching her haylage and seemed to settle down. So we got a few more hours sleep after a very sleepless night.

This morning she had some milk down her legs and her left hock was swollen, probably through rolling around. I turned her out this morning for a few hours, and when I went to get her she wanted to come in. Her bag had gone down a little bit, but there was wet milk down her legs and more coming out when I squeezed them a little.

So it is yet another night in the caravan tonight… Number 14!

Today is her due date

What a night last night! At one point I thought the caravan was going to take off and take me to Oz… There’s no place like home (or at least there is no place like my own bed at home)!

Hannah was very settled again last night and showed no signs of discomfort. I checked on her at 10.30pm, then at 12.30pm and finally at 3am. She was snoozing a lot and seemed quite content keeping me waiting.

I went in to see her this morning and her stable was uncharacteristically tidy. She has not done many droppings in the night which is unusual for her, and there was quite a bit of haylage left on the floor.

I turned her out for an hour while I mucked out, and after half an hour she was shouting to come in and messing about by the gate. But to be honest, I don’t blame her; the weather here is dreadful today.

When I brought her in she started eating her breakfast and then left it. I popped in to have a look at her and could not believe she had hardly touched her favourite thing in life… I checked her over, and again her bag had decreased slightly during her time in the field. Someone on the Horse and Hound forum said to see what came out when you gently milked the udder. So, I decided I would give it a go. There was a small amount of clear liquid and then big blobs of creamy yellowish liquid coming from both. I stopped when this happened as I don’t want to disrupt the natural balance of things.

So, another night in the caravan tonight… I am starting to feel like Trailer Trash. I am thinking of changing my name to Brandeen!

Still no foalie, and only one day to go!

I got to the yard at 10.15pm last night and had to go into Hannah’s stable because I had forgotten to fit the camera when I left. As I got to the door I noticed she looked a little agitated and her stable was an absolute disaster area.

I skipped her out, tidied her bed, and then went to the caravan for a well earned cup of tea with Sue. I honestly thought that last night was the night!

I checked on her every hour, but she seemed a lot more settled and started eating her haylage and then finally went to sleep at around 3am. I continued to check on her, but I knew that it had just been a false alarm… can you imagine how tired I am this morning?!

There is no wax still, and no sign of her running milk. Her bag was more swollen this morning than it has been and her quarters have noticeably slackened now, although still not to the extent I have seen on some photographs of mares ready to foal down. I think the caravan is going to be my home for quite a bit more time yet!