The horses are spending most of the day in the hay fields at the moment. They come up for hay and feed morning and evening and then wend their way back down. The hay fields—as the name suggests—are usually left fallow for hay and the horses are not permitted to graze there. However the grass was still quite long there by the time the snow arrived and they are finding a lot of grazing by scraping away the snow.
On Monday we arrived at the stables early in the afternoon and the herd was still in the bottom fields. We plodded down through the snow as far a the stream which was one field away from the herd. We called to Dee hoping she would come to call. Red was out on a hack and not with the herd. At first there was no response and then gradually horses started to appear. At first they walked towards the stream, then they began to trot, and then—in groups of twos and threes—they cantered through the stream and galloped full pelt up the fields through the snow. Their enjoyment of racing through the snow was evident.
Dee glanced at us as she splashed through the stream, but galloped up the field with the rest of them. We then plodded back up the fields through the snow. Dee was waiting for us by the arena. The expression on her face seemed to say '
what took you so long?'
She is looking great. She was a little lame last week but it has quickly cleared up. I think she had just twisted a leg on the uneven ground. I'm really pleased with her new rug. It stays in place and she looks warm, dry and comfortable.
We have had an unusual amount of snow in Wales this month. It has stuck around for two weeks.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a healthy and happy 2011.
