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.

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.

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..

Big coat

In preparation for the ‘big freeze’, I broke out Buddy’s ‘big coat’. Of course, it will now be much milder than they’re forecasting.

My ‘big coat’ was called into action too. First to take Bert for a walk. I did wait till the sleet had stopped. Then again to lunge Buddy over some raised poles. I say over, he nearly fell over them! Poles on the ground or raised are definitely something we need to work on. And when I say we…

Centre Paws

Bert and I headed over to Centre Paws today for coffee and cake with Michaela. First we went for a little walk. Bert got to meet lots of new dogs as they have a huge dog field. He also had his first ‘pupochino’. One of the other dogs didn’t like it. Bert definitely did!

Then I headed back to pop Buddy over a few jumps. All in all a good last day of 2024.

Defluffed

I’m sure Buddy will be feeling much better for being defluffed today. It’s been so mild and he was super fluffy, he’s been getting very sweaty. You can see how much came off him!

He want the only one to get some attention today. I had part 1 of my NHS Health check and my eye test. The latter means I need new glasses. Of course. I felt my eyesight had deteriorated. My left eye is weaker than my right one now.

My eyesight is still pretty good for my age apparently. Little things huh?! As was my health check. Just got to wait for the results of the blood tests now. Either way, I can definitely see how handsome my little boy is…

Pub pup

Bert went to the pub for lunch today. Yes, I know he’s underage at a mere 12 weeks. So we kept him away from the hard stuff. He was rather well behaved for his first outing. He didn’t start any fights – even with a rather large pointer shouting at him. He didn’t pee or throw up. Better than some I’ve seen in the pub. He also got lots of fuss and attention.

We had a lovely relaxed lunch. After a lovely long ride out. Then back to the yard for my friends to pop some jumps. While Bert slept off his pub lunch…

Christmas Cheer

This little face has brought some much needed Christmas Cheer to Chez Langley. He was very excited about going to the yard to muck out first thing.

Then he went for a lovely walk. Before heading home to open presents. Can’t say he’s totally got the hang of presents. Like a small child, he was more interested in the wrapping paper than the gifts. But he loved the toys and treats he was given. He was spoilt that’s for sure.

Buddy and the kittens got their fair share of gifts too. Buddy got carrots and parsnips. The kittens got Sheba. And I had my non-conventional Christmas dinner.

Whatever you’ve been up to today, I hope you’ve had a wonderful time. Merry Christmas one and all.

Brass monkeys

What a fab way to start the festive week. A lovely ride round Blickling. It was brass monkeys weather that’s for sure. Where does that saying come from?!

Fear not, we didn’t freeze. Buddy is super fluffy (he desperately needs clipping) and I was toasty in my Equidry.

I wasn’t too warm to forgo my National Trust Mocha when we were done though. It’s sooo good. As were our ponies…

Finger food

Well I battled my way through the crowd. I survived Aldi and Tescos. I succeeded in my quest to buy enough finger food to keep me going!

I am ready for the festivities. Or the time of the year where I get to ‘eat my body weight in finger food’ as I prefer to call it.

Christmas isn’t my favourite time of the year for so many reasons. This year has been a really tough one. But finger food is my favourite part of it all. I have voluvents. I have filo prawns. I have cheese bites. I have spring rolls. I have a full freezer.

I had my first plate after my ride while watching the show jumping from Olympia Not Olympia. Well once my fingers had thawed out. It was a tad fresh out there! Can’t eat finger food with frozen fingers.