Contentment

It is interesting that there is less to say when life is running a little more smoothly. Difficult times are newsworthy, whereas contentment does not make the news. Difficult times make us focus on their form and try to manipulate it; contentment has more space, more emptiness, so we cannot manipulate it so much. Dee and Red are content – so I find I do not have much to write in my blog. In this photograph they are grazing in the far field which is yellow with buttercups. It is an idyllic scene. They are so content that Dee is behaving like an angel – immediately accepting a head collar and following me on a loose lead rein from the field. Red is also a delight.

The weather this week has been extraordinarily hot and sunny. We are not used to it and I find it a little exhausting. Unfortunately—despite the fine weather—we are not finding much time for riding at the moment, but we did manage a couple of hours on Sunday. We took them to the Ganol as they have not been there for quite a while and we thought it would make a change for Red. Most of his rides with Briwnant are around the Wenallt trail. I don't want him to get bored and sour. I've noticed that Dee is fitter than she was before we moved her to Cornwall in December – she copes with hills much better. I surmise that living at pasture without work, even during the hard winter months, is preferable for keeping Dee fit than being cosseted but stabled half the day.

Red is an easy-going chap so he never gets into trouble. Dee is more assertive and so gets into some argy-bargy in this large herd that they are now a part of. She has become well integrated nevertheless, so perhaps it is still early days and will improve. I brought her in today for a bit of TLC because she has been kicked. It is nothing serious and probably due to her being pushy with another mare. Paul tells me that she has settled out at about fourth mare in the pecking order. Dee so loves being groomed and became very soft and sleepy while I brushed her.

Reunited

Dee is safely home. The truck—the most monstrous horse truck I have ever seen—could not get up Wenallt Road, so I had to walk her about half a mile to the yard, including up a very steep hill. Those of you who regularly read this blog will know that Dee naps badly and can do this even when being led, so I was rather anxious about having to lead her such a long way to a new yard. As it turns out she behaved splendidly and we had no problems.

She had suffered a nasty cut on one foot. Judging by the amount of caked blood I would imagine it happened on loading. Also I was amazed that she had no boots or bandages on or even a tail bandage for such a long journey. Sorry Luck Transport, but I'm not too impressed. The driver was a nice chap and treated Dee gently and calmly however, and went to a lot of trouble to turn the truck around and reverse it up the steep lane so that Dee was stepping out onto a ramp going uphill rather than downhill. So that was good.

I kept Dee in Red's stable last night (they've put his picture on the door). This morning the cut on her foot was dried up and scabbed over and she is not lame, so we decided to turn her out. She was turned out into Red's field where there are a few other non-confrontative horses. Red immediately cantered over to her and got kicked at for his trouble. Thomas also got kicked at, but it was mostly for show and only lasted a few minutes. Red and Thomas have become good friends and are always together in the field. This morning however, Red wanted to be by Dee and so Thomas tried to be by her as well but kept being shooed away. I felt a bit sorry for Thomas. When I left, Dee and Red were grazing beside each other—looking like twins again—and Thomas was a little way away from them grazing with the other ponies (sorry it's a rather distant photo). All was peaceful. Hopefully as Dee gets used to Thomas he can be included in the gang as well.

Last night I gave Dee a thorough groom and got the lugs out of her mane. She looks beautiful. N. treated her foot and Dee stood calmly and let it happen. Then Dee and I just enjoyed being together for quite a long time – me stroking and talking to her and she resting her head contentedly on my shoulder. Life is good.

Altercation

I take my elderly mother shopping once a week. She finds the weekly shop quite difficult now, but still likes to be there to make her own choices rather than have me do it for her. We used to shop in our local 'village' but she started to find that too demanding this year - having to dodge in and out of several shops to get all we need - so we now go to a big supermarket where we can get everything. Lately we've been going early and having breakfast there before starting our shopping.

This morning we were just getting to the end of our meal when I had a call from my yard manager. It was about Dee. She'd had an altercation with another mare and the vet had been called. The other mare involved is 17hh - considerably larger than Dee - and shod on all four feet, whereas Dee is only shod on her front feet, so inevitably Dee had come off worse. It is possible that Dee started it - we shall never know - but certainly the other mare finished it.

The vet was due to arrive at any time, so we left doing our shopping and went straight over to the yard. Dee has a number of cuts on her hind legs, haunches and round her tail. She is clearly very bruised and in pain. The yard manager was concerned that she had been hurt under her tail as she had been bleeding there a lot. I made mum a cup of tea and found her somewhere comfortable to sit and went to talk to Dee.

Dee is not a demonstrative horse. She does not like to be fussed over and I've never really found a spot that she really likes me to rub, although she does like having her forelock combed. This morning however she was happy to receive some attention. I stroked her head and neck and she rested her head on my shoulder, relaxing so that I could feel the full weight of it. I stood with her in this position for quite a long time, feeling her hot, damp breath through my clothing, enjoying this quiet period of closeness. The bond between us is strong even though she doesn't often show it. I found it moving to sense how glad she was that I was there.

Eventually the vet arrived. A couple of the cuts are quite deep, but the vet decided not to stitch them, as they are on her legs where there is not much skin to stitch. There was nothing serious under her tail fortunately. I have medication to give her over the next few days and will be keeping her in of course. My poor mare. I'm sure she will be fine in a few days, but it is horrible to see her so uncomfortable.

At last we returned to the supermarket to begin our shopping again, a couple of hours behind schedule. Life will be busy for the next few days while Dee needs more attention than usual. Suddenly the regular routine of my life is disrupted and I am forced to be more present in the moment to flex with the needs of the current situation. As always, living with horses offers endless opportunities to remember to live with life as it actually is, and savour the present moment, rather than trying to live the life I might wish for.