Catching or being given permission?

I have been wondering whether perhaps my blog is the cause of frustration for Welsh language browsers. I have called it 'Ceffylau' but it contains no Welsh. Perhaps there are lots of Welsh people searching for 'ceffylau' (horses) in the hope of finding something interesting in their own language, yet if they come across my blog it is in English. So I have decided to address this by posting some pages (or parts of pages) in both languages. I apologise in advance for my poor Welsh! Please feel free to correct me. I'm only a learner.

I do not catch Dee every day at the moment - while she is in the field all the time with our yard in quarantine - just several times a week in order to groom her. Whenever I halter her now, I approach her and then simply stand holding the halter open for her and she puts her nose in. This simple connection is so heart-warming and I am amazed that I have owned her for over three years and only just discovered we could do this.

It occurred to me . . . do we ever really 'catch' a horse? Isn't it that whenever we put a halter on a horse to bring them in from the field it is because they have decided to allow this? Could we ever get near enough to do this if they didn't want us to? Surely a horse being 'caught' is their decision to want to be with us and has very little to do with our actually ability to 'catch' them. This slight shift in view is somewhat revolutionary for me and is starting to seep through the habitual patterning of my interaction with horses. I am looking forward to when I am able to start riding again to discover whether Dee continues with this behaviour when having a halter put on her may be the precursor to work.

Dw i wedi meddwl bod fallai mae fy mlog i yn creu teimlad o rwystredigaeth dros porwr gwe iaith Gymraeg. Dw i wedi ei enwi 'Ceffylau' ond dydy e ddim yn cynnwys Cymraeg. Fallai mae llawer o bobl Cymru pwy sy'n chwilio am 'ceffylau' i ffeindio pethau diddorol am eu iaith. Os maen nhw'n ffeindio fy mlog i ydy e'n ysgrifennu yn Saesneg. Felly dw i wedi penderfynu i postio tudalennau (neu rhannau o dudalennau) yn Cymraeg a Saesneg. Dw i'n ymddiheuro ymlaen llaw am Gymraeg anghywir! Cywirwch i fi os gwelwch i'n dda. Dw i'n dim ond dysgwr.

Dw i ddim yn dal Dee pob dydd ar y foment - ers mae hi'n yn y maes yn wastad tra ein stablau sy'n cwaranten - dim ond sawl gwaith yn yr wythnos i'w brwsio. Pan dw i'n dodi i hi ei halter nawr, dw i'n ei gadael ac hi'n dodi ei trwyn i mewn. Maen hyfryd. Dw i wedi meddu Dee am tair blynedd, ac dim ond gynnau fod i wedi sylwddoli bod ni'n gallu gwneud hwn.

Dw i wedi bod yn meddwl . . . dyn ni'n gallu dal ceffly dweud y gwir? Ydw i'n gallu dodi halter ar ceffyl i'w dod o'r maes achos yr ceffyl yn penderfynu i gydweithio? Faswn ni ddim yn gallu dod agos ceffyl os dydy e ddim yn happus? Mae e'n syniad chwyldroadol i fi. Mae e'n syniad bod yn dechrau i newid fy arferion am gweithio gyda ceffylau. Dwi'n edrych ymlaen i marchogaeth eto. Fyddi hi'n ymarweddu fel hwn o hyd pan dw i eisau ei ddal i waith?

A well organised yard

One of the things I love about being back at Wyndham Livery is that it is so well organised. Yes it is quite a bit more expensive than other places I might be able to find to keep Dee and Red, but there are many benefits that go above and beyond mere expense. Both of the horses are now looking really well - their coats have a lovely sheen to them again and they both look as though they are about the correct weight. It is such a relief to feel they are well and content. I am too inexperienced a horse owner to keep them somewhere that is even more DIY than here - I need the support of a yard manager who has the expertise and experience I lack.

The photograph shows the little shed that we are allocated for storing our feed and tools. I love the quality of the light in this photo (as well as the shadow of 'ö-Dzin taking it!). It has been balmy and cloudy here, continually feeling as though the weather is building towards a thunder storm. Here the sky had become quite lowering, yet the light was still bright.

As well as the shed, we also have a place in a secure lock-up to keep our tack, and space in another little room for our cupboards for storing hats, chaps, numnahs and other miscellaneous horse-related paraphernalia. The livery has a daily routine and is efficiently maintained. The horses clearly like the routine. There is an air of it being a place that is thriving which I like - it creates a positive and healthy atmosphere. I have heard that some livery yards suffer from interpersonal conflicts - that there can be cliquey groups, lack of consideration, the 'borrowing' of people's gear, and such like. Fortunately I have never experienced this. At Pontcanna everyone was friendly and helpful, at Ridgeway I found the same, and now at Wyndham this is also true. My experience of 'horsey' people generally has been that they are kind and sensible people who put their animal's needs before their own.

I thought I would explain the name of my blog in case any of you were curious - although I am sure you will have guessed. 'Ceffylau' is Welsh for horses. Although I am English by birth originating in the Midlands, I have adopted my husband's country. Both our sons are Welsh, so I really think of myself as Welsh more than English these days. 'ö-Dzin and I started trying to learn the Welsh language about five years ago. Although he is Welsh born, Cardiff is not a very Welsh city and the use of the Welsh language has only become more common and more encouraged in the last fifteen years or so. For the first two years of learning Welsh I attended classes several days a week, and this has given me a good basic grounding in the language. However once we became involved in horse ownership there was no longer time in my week to attend classes, so I have been attempting to carry on learning on my own. 'ö-Dzin and I try to talk to each in Welsh a little every day, and I have various books and cds to help me. He still attends classes as these are sponsored by his employer, Cardiff University. 'ö-Dzin particularly enjoys Welsh language music, and I often hear him singing to Red in Welsh as he grooms Red and I groom Dee. I think they enjoy this (and so do I!).