Here he is with Jasmine, doing what she does best.
The scene is set ...
Balmy Summer's evening, makes a pleasant change.
LotR soundtrack, which is new to Kirsty as she hasn't seen ANY of the movies, & is a Kiwi so has NO excuse.
Plenty of time to blog.
There's something delicious about going back to bed during the day & that's exactly what I did this
morning after work. Claire, Trina, Ledge & I did everything we had to do by 0830 this morning & then
I returned to the house, made porridge & retired back to bed with a cup of tea.
And that's why having kids is a bad idea.
So, what's been happening ?
On Thursday I went to see Billy Connolly in Rotorua with the Tanners & Michelle.
Billy was on fine form, as ever, although to be hyper-critical, he wasn't as funny as when
I have seen him live before. Trudes, do you remember his 'potatoes of the night' at the Hammersmith
Apollo when we were beating the arms of our chairs ?
Maybe he was as funny, & it was just the venue which didn't do him justice. After 2.5 hours in a plastic garden
seat, I was looking at my watch, which seems unbelievable, now that I've just typed it.
It was a sports hall & the organisers had crammed us poor sods in cheek by jowl.
The RSPCA would have been prosecuting, had we been chichens.
Humour me for a moment whilst I ask you to perform the following.
Hold out your arms straight in front of you at shoulder height, palms facing each other.
Take your right arm & without moving your elbow any further than the width of your body,
place your right palm onto your left collar bone. Repeat the process with your left arm,
placing your left hand on your right collar bone.
Slide both hands over your bumpy bits if you are a lady, non-bumpy bits if not, & secure
your right hand under your left armpit & your left hand under your right armpit.
Finished ? The seating was so tight, that's how I had to fold my arms.
When I took my seat I didn't know the chap seated to my right. I did by the time we left.
The best line from the show ? Billy discussing making love to fat women.
He describes it as 'scary being up so high ' & claims that once, he blew a passionate coupling
by shouting to the poor female that he '... could see his house from here'.
The weather has perked up considerably during the last couple of days & shoulders have
been burning all over again because our pallid flesh has been swaddled under fleeces.
Sadly, the last couple of mornings have also seen us starting work in the dark & I am just not
ready to do the Autumn/Winter thing again so soon.
It does not help when locals attempt humour by cheerily informing us Poms that
this is the worst Summer ever & 'it's always much hotter, for much longer, than this usually'.
On Thursday morning, I fed the horses wearing 2 fleeces & didn't discard one until we commenced
mucking out. 'I ain't happy & I ain't 'avin' it', as Burnside (sexiest cop ever) would say.
On Friday, Milie returned from his afternoon rounds asking for a box (stable) to be prepared, a bucket
of warm water & a sponge. There are hundreds of horses on the farm who could have been injured
so there was no reason for me to think 'Please, not Watties' but that's who Chris led into the box
5 minutes later.
She looked very sorry for herself with a nasty-looking slash on the back of her nearside knee.
It is suspected she had put her leg through a fence & drawn back to do the damage, although
there was no obvious site for the injury in the paddock.
On the contrary, the farm is extremely well-maintained, something for which Murray must take credit.
Both Michelle & Eric commented on how well the place looked, even at it's most messy & shambolic
after 2 weeks of storms.
Trina wound me up by pronouncing that, as the site could not be stitched, destruction was the only option.
For a horrible moment I believed her, & thought I would blub on the yard, she must have noticed my
reaction & quickly reassured me she was joking.
The vet appeared very rapidly & his main concern was there may be damage to the knee joint.
This wouldn't be good news for any horse, but you can imagine the ramifications for a racehorse.
After washing & dressing the wound, Watties' leg was encased from top to bottom in a supportive
bandage. She was utterly convinced she could only move around the box by keeping the leg
straight & she resembled Basil Fawlty with the German hotel guests, as she jack-booted her way
around the box.
The vet has been again today to reassess the wound & is happy that she is putting pressure on the leg.
He has re-bandaged her, this time in the colours of Man Utd & the prognosis is box rest, anti-inflammatories
& antibiotics to see how she fares.
I was interested to ask Millie how things stood, compensation-wise, as she is sold, but was being housed
by Trelawney, prior to her travelling to her new owner. The answer was unequivocal. As soon as the
auctioneer's gavel drops, the horse & it's care, are a matter for the owner.
Ledge told of occasions where a newly-purchased horse has injured itself terminally, exiting the sale ring.
It is purely a matter for the new owner.
Knowing how badly she coped with the confinement at the sales, we made Watties a toy of an empty
plastic drinks bottle , suspended from (can you guess ? yes, blue baler twine), with some stones in the bottom.
Horses, especially these ones, who never have any toys, usually go potty for these, knocking them
around & making you wish you had never given it to them in the first place.
This being Watties, she regarded our offering calmly, gave it an experimental tug & has since
studiously ignored it. Needless to say, the neddies either side of her, cast many an envious
glance in her direction, making it apparent they would love one.
Ledge's main concern with the wound, after infection, and, or putrefication, is that the scar tissue will be
too thick to allow her easy, unrestricted bend in the joint. To combat this, he suggests a daily short
walk in hand, to render it pliable. This will also benefit her mental health, for despite having a companion
alongside her, the mental anguish caused to a confined animal, which is bred to run & roam at will,
cannot be over-emphasised.
When I first arrived at Trelawney there was a filly caled 'My Funny Face' who terrified me when she
was confined to her box after surgery. She was so dangerous that it took at least 20 minutes to
place a hand on her in the box. I had to groom her daily & don't mind admitting, I hated it.
I can't remember if I told you on Blog, but she was the filly whom I used to spend my lunch-break sitting
with just to try & get her used to human contact ? Although she improved, she was never a horse you
would rush to spend time with.
The point I am making, in my usual, laborious style is that since she has been turned out into a
paddock, to run, with a mob of mates, she is a pleasure to be around. Always the 1st to come for a love,
even to the point of trying to keep the other fillies away. That is the difference between a boxed
horse & a feee one.
Cocky shares this philosophy & Snippit, her horse, is treated to permanent grass livery, even in the most
foul UK weather. She believes (and I wholeheartedly agree) that a well-fed, rugged horse living permanently
outdoors, will thrive much more readily than their stabled counterpart with limited turn-out each day.
Snips has access to a barn & we have visited him on the most inclement of days, expecting him to be dry &
snug indoors, only to find him grazing contentedly, in horizontal hail, oblivious to his surroundings.
I'm off my soapbox now. I appreciate people keep horses for different reasons & for different activities.
Space & money for turnout are also an issue, more so in the UK than here, all I am saying is that I
would like to see more horses enjoying more turnout & less people worried about grooming the mud off.
There goes my flow, I am afraid, I don't think the soundtrack of LotR was a hit with Kirsty. The moment
the last bar faded away, leaving me wonderfully serene, she piped up 'Can we have the tv on now please ?'
I am now trying not to listen to the soundtrack of some crappy American movie .
It's called 'The Animal' & the scene just on, featured the hugely comic idea of a man who is
endowed with animal senses, finding drugs up someone's backside at an airport.
There. Go. My. Ribs.
Focus.
We watched Swordfish last night. Turbo you were right, it was spot-on. Halle Berry was very sexy &
it was the first time I have enjoyed Hugh Jackman in anything. To be fair, I have only seen him in the X-Men
which I thought was awful. I now understand why Hx raves over him, he was very good.
This week, each afternoon, we have been handling the weanlings who have been turned out in mobs.
We herd the mobs into an enclosed yard & in twos, we pick up their feet & handle their legs. The reason
for this is two-fold. Partly to ensure they remember their initial handling in the boxes a couple of weeks
ago & partly to prepare them for the time when they will be shod.
There are now 4 mobs of weanlings, 6 in each, & on Friday, another group came up into the boxes,
signifying the half-way mark. It is fascinating to see what strong characters these babies have. Each group
appears to have the bully, the sensible one, the slow one & so forth. I can well understand how easy it would
be to do this job for much longer than one ever intended. Watching how the foals develop into yearlings
is very rewarding.
We also drenched all the yearlings this week. In the UK they woud call it 'worming'.
When we were dosing one particular mob of fillies, Trina called 'head up' after we had
given the filly her liquid wormer. I duly obliged & gazed skyward until Trina explained
she meant me to tilt the filly's head, to ensure she swallowed the medicine.
On Friday, I assisted an equine physiotherapist caled 'Baz'. He was referred to as someone who
'fixed horses' & I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I certainly wasn't prepared to meet the
lovely Hobbit-type chap, wearing Jesus sandals who turned up. Anyone who was prepared to
handle yearlings wearing open-toed sandals had to be either very good or very stupid & I
was fascinated to see which.
He spent time working with 4 of our horses & I found his methods & manner absolutely enthralling.
One of our colts 'Oh Sister', has a real aversion to having his head touched. He had an abscess
behind his ear as a youngster & associates his head being touched with pain.
Baz used a combination of guile, tact, diplomacy & strength to ask 'Sister' to submit to being touched.
His methods are similar to Monty Roberts, he teaches the horses there is an easy way to do things,
a comfort zone & conversely, a hard way. He encourages them to choose the easy way.
The most enlightening thing about him, was his approach to me. He introduced himself by his first name, asked
mine & explained, in a non-patronising way, the things he was doing. He asked me to place my hands on
the horses joints & give my opinion on what I thought may be wrong with them.
It was very refreshing, at work, to be addressed as someone who may possess a spark of intelligence.
And when I grow up ... I want to be an equine physiotherapist & am exploring the requirements.
The Easters
This is the term we use to refer to the high-quality yearlings we are currently preparing for the
Sydney sales in Easter.
The fillies are ...
Carmel Valley, a bay filly by Zabeel, she is huge & extremely easy to handle.
Procure, a chestnut filly by Stravinsky. She is also amenable, her only vice being the odd nip,
if she thinks she can get away with it.
Astralita, another chestnut filly by Kings Best. She is probably the trickiest of the fillies.
She will rear if she objects. She has improved beyond measure.
Rationaine, a dark brown filly by Carnegie is the most amusing of the fillies. She has an extraordinary
range of facial features & is the most laid-back thoroughbred I have so far had dealings with.
The colts are ...
Oh Sister by Carnegie, a very handsome red bay, with a penchant for running away, whilst still attached to his handler.
And Wise Lass, a dark brown colt by Montjeu. His speciality is biting. All the time. Which does get frustrating, but I can't help
but like him. I think it's because I saw him playing with his neck-piece once, demonstrating a real sense of humour.
I know that sounds anthropomorphic but I make no apologies for it. He was having a great time & not in the least
frightened by the flapping piece of cloth hanging around his neck.
If you're still with me after all this neddy stuff, then well done. I have to get it all down otherwise the words buzz around
in my head like jobless flies.
Which reminds me, I want to tell you about Kiwi flies sometime. They are rude, there's no other word for it.
And my Gran, she's also rude, but in a very different, funny way.
I will leave you with some pics of what I've been up to this week.
I also finished 'Shipping News' today. I am very glad I stuck wth it. The odd thing is that it has been
relentlessly hard-bitten & realistic but finished with the following line. I won't give you any context, should you
wish to read it for yourself, but the last sentiment is '... and it may be that love sometimes occurs without
pain or misery'. Just recently I have been waiting for a sign (if you are reminded of Life of Brian, hurrah for you)
and I was expecting it to be about my career choice.
Instead it came in the form of a life lesson.
One cynical friend commented that the 'may' & the 'sometimes' are disclaimers but I don't care. I'm going
to do as I do when the horoscope prophecies that Capricorns will have a great day & believe it.
This week, we had the first proper parade for The Easters.
Below is a picture of Lyn showing how the handler should stand to display a horse to it's best advantage.
She is displaying 'Oh Sister'.
To the friend who did the 'right thing' this week.
I am very proud of you, 'integrity is non-negotiable' doesn't mean anything to many of the people
employed by the organisation who claim to wave that banner. You are different.You may not
be rewarded in monetary terms for it, but your conscience will be clean.
Goodnight all,
Cx
No comments:
Post a Comment