More about Possum

Show Name: Pennyroyal
(From the herb which grew in the first paddock I kept her in. It meant I didn't need to change her name (bad juju) and sounds fancy enough for a show name).

Paddock Names: Possum, Miss P, Fluffy, Flossie, You Old Bat!!!

Breeding: NZ Stationbred
Sire: Unknown
Dam: Unknown

Colour: Dark Bay

Markings: Station brand on near shoulder of a rounded diamond, some white hairs on forehead, TMJ, and body. Over-reach scar on near fore heel

Height: 154 cm (not quite 15.1 hands)
Weight: 470 kg

DOB: ? 1990, I consider 1 August to be her birthday

Disciplines: Eventing, Dressage, Jumping, Games, Trekking

Gear: Wintec Saddles with Wide/red gullet
Snaffle bridle with 5" Trainer (double jointed) loose ring snaffle
Dropped or grackle noseband when jumping
4 ft 9" covers

Girth: Jumping, Dressage

Shoe Size: Barefoot!

Favourite Treat: Carrots

Favourite Itchy Spot: Still haven't found this.

Guy Fawkes survived, so far

We made it through last night with no major injuries. Just R and me pretty tired as we were out till eleven calming a couple of ponies.

Possum was fine, and as she is far enough away from town it doesn't get very noisy at her paddock. She is still revoltingly in season so I left her next to the boys for some entertainment. Well, I think it is entertaining even if they don't. They can sniff and squeal or ignore each other as they want, which must be better than standing in a far-off paddock with no company?

I am watching her carefully as she cycles to see if she shows any reaction this time around. She is still on the tiger lily preparation for the rest of the month, but has finished her course of Apis. Yesterday she had a hot and slightly swollen udder and I thought I could see some swelling in her hind fetlocks. It was a really hot and sticky day though - still 24C while I was driving home from work at 5 pm. She was a bit sticky looking too, from sweat and the boys' lickings. I think it must be time for a bath and makeover this weekend.

PS Complete Fail! on protecting the cat from the fireworks. I forgot to shut him in the house but found him later, totally unphased by the humungous bonfire and explosions from next door. He just strolled up, asked for a petting and looked perplexed when I asked if he was frightened. Another advantage of adopting an ex-street cat from the SPCA, I suppose!

Damn the fireworks and the idiots too

I HATE Guy Fawkes.

I used to love it as a kid, all very exciting, looking forward to staying up late for fireworks. We had lots of fun with the sparklers and my brother spent days blowing things up with Double Happies. Typical boy.

But now, it is just days of stressed horses, late nights out in the paddock with them, trying to syringe them with sedative and a cranky me. Where I live there are 7 ponies, most of whom are old and sensible enough to not bat an eyelash as whatever goes on. But come Guy Fawkes, when they start selling fireworks, it all goes out the window.

Little Choco is terrified and will stand and shake in a panic. So far, she hasn't tried to run away, but it is heart-breaking to see as she is such a lovely little pony. It puts her off her work as well, once the local idiots start letting them off every night. They seem to start as soon as they are on sale, and unfortunately the idiots are smart enough to stockpile some so they can continue for other nights such as New Year's Eve. We have to spend hours at the paddock, holding on to her, talking to her and then letting her walk out her anxiety as she needs to.

So far this year we have got away with sedating her lightly each night, but tonight our dear neighbours have a HUGE bonfire. And I mean huge - they spend all year building it up with a frenzy of activity in the last weeks of November. It is about 2.5 meters high as at this morning, and no doubt by the time I get home they (and all the kids they have ever met) will be running around, shouting and dying to get burning. They also like to take the kids for rides behind the quad bikes and other vehicles, which means hours of varooming, and shrieking kids and did I mention it makes me a bit cranky?

R. and I will have some quiet wines, keeping an eye on everything. Once it is dark we will go out into the paddock and sit there to be close enough to intervene in any mayhem. I think the plan is to put all the ponies in together and hope for the best. The older ones will hopefully offer a bit of sanity, and with all of them, their motto is "if in doubt, eat" so that should help.

I will have to hope that Possum is far enough out of town not to be bothered, and I know there are people there to keep an eye on her and the others. It hasn't been a problem the last couple of years. She, too is pretty sensible and I can't imagine her being silly enough to waste energy running around like a loon.

Must remember to lock the cat door to keep the cat inside too.

Feeling Flirty

The old baggage is definitely in season. She was in the paddock with slightly longer grass yesterday afternoon, which is next to all four of the boys. When I went to bring her in she was covered in what looked suspiciously like goober marks. Sure enough, she had been flirting with the boys (all geldings) and even let Albie groom her for a while. Hence the goobers.

She is ususally a cranky mare and snarls at everyone, including me. But she is feeling very lovey-dovey, and is being so nice to the boys they are confused. Being geldings doesn't help as none of them know what the heck to do, but they are happy to hang out with her. It made me laugh to see her still snarl at the Dratted Pony (probably 'cos it's a mare too) so she hasn't had a complete personality change!

Melbourne Cup day

Such a weird thing. This whole country is waiting for a horse race at 5 o'clock.

We have a young German woman working with us on her working holiday. I was trying to explain to her this morning why we were all so interested in a race in Australia.

Hard to say really. But lots of "our" horses have won the Cup over the years. Even if they were only bred here, and now have foreign owners/trainers/passports. If they win, we proudly declare them Kiwis!!!

The same phenomenon applies to musicians/celebrities. Except for Russell Crowe - the Aussies can keep that one.

I am absolutely hopeless at picking the Melbourne Cup winner - the best results usually come from the office sweepstake. And there aren't enough people in my office to run one. So I will vote for Daffodil ('cos she's a Kiwi mare) and Zavite (because of Zabeel/Sir Tristram lines) and Cape Cover (no reason, but Kiwi!).

Results after 5 pm.


EDIT - Melbourne Cup results First: Shocked, Second: Crime Scene and Third: Mourilyan. See - don't let me pick your horses!

Can horses see ghosts?

I am trying to get both of us fitter, so thought I would ride tonight, even though Monday is usually rest day. Miss P was standing half-asleep in the paddock so wasn't too hard to catch. I thought a bareback ride would achieve three things: a rest for her back, still get some riding done and help improve my balance. So I just brushed her off, put the bitless bridle on her and got on.

Off we went, striding down the driveway in her usual confident way. I decided to just hack around the orchard and paddocks as I noticed how slippery her new coat is. Too much linseed in her diet? Anyway, she looks great, with a dark shiny coat. We got down to the hay paddock, where I heard her kick a piece of wire, so I hopped off to find it. Once I had sorted that out, I then had to figure out how to get back on!

I led her up to the stack of tree trunks (soon to be firewood) and eventually got her to stand close enough that I could get on. She was a bit squirmy, but that's not unusual and I try to get on from both sides so it doesn't worry me too much. Off around the apple trees, past the scary shed at the end of the property. She was starting to get a bit tense by now, and was a bit spooked by the new piles of junk outside the packing house next door. But just a raised head and shortened strides, nothing problematic.

But a bit further round the orchard, she stopped, snorted and started to go backwards. Even though she was off the grass and into the holes left when the trees were ripped out and in danger of falling over, she went backwards. I couldn't see anything to spook her, so told her to get on with it. No way. She just spun around to snort at the ghost again, and refused to take another step. As I was bareback, I decided that it was safer to give in and try again. We turned back the way we came, hacked along for a bit and when I tried to turn her back, it was all on again.

Eventually we made it out of the former pear orchard (by some tacking manoeuvres the America's Cup team would be proud of) and onto the drive. I had spotted the neighbours' cat slinking around in the weeds, so maybe that was the problem? I had had enough of feeling as if I was going to fall off, so I got off and led her for a bit. Back we went to the shed where I could get on again off the mounting block. Determined to get some exercise into both of us, I set off again into the apple trees. But we didn't get far before she saw the ghost again and started the prancing about.

Now, I am a fan of high school dressage, but having your horse attempt piaffe and halfpass in a panic is not dressage. Especially when you don't have a saddle to hang on to! I just gave up after that and took the silly old bag home.

So, can horses see ghosts? Or was there something else I couldn't perceive? She is normally so good and nearly bomb-proof for most things and even if she does react, she keeps going forward. I just can't figure it out. I will be increasing her magnesium uptake from now on though.

And will think for a while before going bareback again...

NaBloPoMo

So, I've been on holiday. I had great intentions of blogging lots and doing all sorts of exciting stuff but then my internet has been - well, pardon me for saying - crap. Thanks Vodafone.

I think my computer is a bit overladen with stuff as well, but the trip to get that sorted is a story for another day.

I am trying to achieve my first NaBloPoMo and I'm already a day late, but that's okay because it is still November 1 at BloPoMo headquarters. (Slightly cheating) But then if I keep going till the end of the month for them, that's okay isn't it? Ah well, better to have a go and die trying. Or something...

I will also finish some of the draft posts that are sitting in the wings, so it wasn't a wasted effort. And I had a great time on holiday being around the horses, and going to the A&P show, and gardening and staying in bed and reading a book if I felt like it. Bliss.