Roll up

Somewhere in there is a lesser spotted Bert! Or more apt, a slightly wild Bert. He’s had so much fun rolling around in the blanket sofa cover. He does make me laugh. It’s also exhausting watching him bounce around the house before he crashes out.

Oh to have that much energy! I do find that the cold makes me tired. Most animals like to hibernate when it’s cold. Horses can get a bit wired by it. Thankfully Buddy was on his best behaviour today.

We had the most magical moment when a red kite flew over the arena and hovered over head. I was so transfixed, I didn’t get my phone out. The red kite is one of my favourite birds. So majestic in the sky. Seeing one always makes me smile.

Humble by nature

This was one of my Christmas presents. I’ve been looking forward to reading it. Today was the day I started it. I took my turn to bask in the sunshine in the conservatory. Just me and the kittens while Bert had a nap after our lovely walk this morning.

It makes me smile whenever I walk out on to Braydeston Hills. I’d lived in the close for over 7 years before I found out there was a footpath at the bottom. It leads out onto the most beautiful countryside. One of the more positive things that came from lockdown!

Taking Bert out there this morning was so lovely. He was such a good boy on the long line. He even sat and waited while a rather nervous dog walked by.

Sitting in the sunshine reading about Kate’s move from London to Wales really struck a chord. I can totally understand why she wanted to move to countryside. I’m definitely a country girl too…

Bird battle

So today we found out that a seagull is better than a canary! My two teams were drawn in the FA Cup so only right that I pop along to Carrow Road to watch the match. One of those lovely matches where I didn’t mind who won.

It was a bit of a one sided affair, with Brighton proving to be the much better team. Very grateful I wore my Equidry. It was rather cold. Not much opportunity to jump up and down either. I felt it might be frowned upon to celebrate Brighton’s 4 goals…

Star chart

If Bert had a star chart, he would have added a lot to it today. Not only did he ace his lorry dog training, he also completed his Puppy Pre-School. What a clever boy.

I had to take a horse to the vets in Newmarket (not Buddy). Bert came along for the outing as we didn’t know how long it would take. He sat on my friend’s lap, watching the road go by, before crashing out on her.

He waited in the lorry while the investigations took place. He went for a nice walk round the grounds. And even sat patiently in the waiting room. Before sleeping most of the way home. He was a very good boy indeed.

Then tonight, he went to his final Puppy Pre-School session. It’s making the difference in from the first session to now. Though he was still running about like Superman with a hi viz cape on. Not quite the exercise. That was to desensitise him to having stuff on. Not sure he even noticed he was wearing it!

I had a chat with one of the ‘new puppy parents’. They took a lot of comfort from hearing Bert’s progression through the weeks. They’re in the ‘we seem to have gotten a piranha that never sleeps’ stage.

Bert starts Puppy School proper on Saturday. He’s got such a good brain on him… well when he’s not distracted or over stimulated. He’s such a darling, he really is.

5 years…

Wow! I’ve just realised that I’ve been writing this blog for 5 years!

I started it as a safe space for me to talk about how I was feeling, to chart my recovery from a badly broken ankle and generally share my musings.

Has it been the roaring success I’d hoped for? No. Have I enjoyed writing it? Yes. Will I continued? Why not!

Thanks to everyone who’s commented, liked or shared it.

Here’s to the next year!

Kiwi & Sage

Well my self-imposed saddle pad ban has held firm for a while now. Then they had a sale…. And my resolve waivered.

So Buddy is the proud owner of two new saddle pads. One in Kiwi and one in Sage. In my defence. He has got a couple of pads that have seen better days. So these will replace those.

I can’t wait to put them on him. I think he’s going to look very smart indeed! Just need the weather to improve so I can actually take him somewhere now.

Ancient woods

I took Bert for a walk through some ancient woods this morning. I’d forgotten how beautiful they are. Even more beautiful in the winter sunshine.

After the grey skies, clouds and fog of the past few weeks, this made a wonderful change.

These woods used to be privately owned, but were bought with donations and put in trust to preserve them. That makes me heart swell. So much of our beautiful woodlands and countryside are being lost. Knowing this will be kept for future generations is great.

These woods were on one of my lockdown walks. It seems such a long time ago that I used to walk miles to keep my head from imploding with it all. Now I have Bert, I can see I will need to rediscover some of the routes again.

Think I might need to invest in some decent walking boots…

Working boy

Super sub was called into action today. The receptionist at the Chiro’s has been poorly, so I went in to cover the desk for her. I didn’t want to leave Bert that long, so he came with me. His first day’s work.

He was a really good boy. There’s a treatment room at the back where one of the other therapists brings her dog in. So was already set up. Bert got lots of visits and a few visitors. Bless him.

He waited patiently in the car afterwards while I got the results of my recent health check. Gold star to me it seems. The nurse was very surprised at how good my results were. For my age. That does make me laugh. She said whatever I’m doing, keep doing it!

Apparently I’m very low risk for diabetes, heart attack or stroke. Can’t say I understand it. But there were lots of positives judging by how excited the nurse was about my results. She said I’m one of the rare ones.

Bert’s crashed out now. Tough gig this working lark. And yes, he got his pay in treats of course.

Dark Destroyer

Someone was very pleased with himself. I swear he’s part-womble! He had a whale of a time ripping this box up. He was tearing round the house too.

I have now nicknamed him ‘The Dark Destroyer’. Judging by the way he was throwing himself about, he clearly sees a future as a WWE star. And now he has the name sorted…

Poor Santa

This is what happens when you try to take a photo of your horse standing next to Santa. Buddy knocked him over.

We had a lot of fun at the yard today with a spot of ‘pony club games / Le Trec’. Buddy aced the obstacles. He’s a pro at it now. He even acted as ‘emotional support pony’ for some of the newer liveries who haven’t experienced our yard games before.

Anything to make winter a little bit more fun..