Thoughts from the paddock

The School and Paddy's Disapperance

2009-05-23T11:19:00.005+01:00

Life trundled on and when I was nearly a year old my human Mum decided it was time I went to the school and learnt a few basics. My human friend Michelle came with us and we walked around with Mum making me stand still and back up. She said I was very good so decided that we could do a little pole on the ground. I couldn't really see the point of it and it wasn't at all scary so I just trotted over it whilst Mum ran beside me. I can see my field from the school and my friends were watching over the hedge which was a bit distracting as they kept calling to me. I couldn't help myself and had to call back which Michelle said was 'ear splitting'. After a while I got bored calling and just trotted round with Mum. I can't really see the point of this school lark, there's no grass in there you know! What's the point of that?????? I've seen Paddy being sat on in here and I'm hoping Mum isn't thinking of doing that to me, she looks a bit heavy!! Despite there being no grass in there I did find chewing the rubber quite fun but I can't say it tasted too good! There's quite a lot to look at and I have seen some of the horses spook at things, I can't honestly say anything was that scary, anyway it's far too much effort to spook!!

Fortunately, after about half an hour Mum and Michelle got bored of saying 'go back, stand, walk on, trot on blah blah blah' and after making a huge fuss of me put me back in the field with my friends.

Later in the summer Mum took Paddy from the field and he didn't come back! Mum and my human friend Sarah were also missing. Pinkie told my that Paddy wasn't well and had gone to Liverpool University to be looked at by a nice man called Dr Knottenbelt who would hopefully make him better. Mum came back a few days later but Paddy wasn't with her. I'm worried that, like my real Mum, he won't come back! Pinkie is o.k. but he gets really crabby at times and without Paddy I'm a bit bored to be honest. Before Paddy left I'd given his tail a nice new wedge cut, he didn't seem to mind but Mum was a bit angry! I think I'll get creative with Pinkies' if he'll let me, mind you he doesn't have a lot of tail for me to play with but I'm sure I can improve it somehow!

A few days later Mum and Sarah disappeared again and this time they came back with Paddy, yipee!! The only problem is Mum won't let Paddy in the field yet, he's got a very sore face and quite a few cuts and bruises. Pinkie tells me that he's had an operation on his head that will hopefully make him better but he didn't come round from his anaesthetic very well and tried galloping off whilst he was still very sleepy so he bashed himself a bit and had something called colic too, doesn't sound much fun I don't think I want to go to Liverpool! Even though Paddy can't come out to the field he's very pleased to be back and has to have quite a while off work which is great as that means he can spend loads of time with me in the field playing when he's allowed out again.

Paddy is back in the field with us! He was very happy and we all galloped round like idiots for a while whilst Mum looked on in horror!

Some weeks later Mum tried riding Paddy but it would seem his operation hasn't worked so he has to go to Liverpool AGAIN! It's now winter and the weather is really bad so Mum headed off with him a day early, this time my human friend Verity went with them. When they got back Paddy had had a much better time of it and he only needs to stay in the stable for a couple of days this time. I missed him sooooo much I'm really glad he's home now. Mum won't try riding him until February so that means we have a good two months of playing in the field together. Mum refers to us as her 'field ornaments' I don't really know what that means but everyone seems to think it's quite funny.

I'll let you know how Paddy gets on when Mum tries to ride him but in the meantime I think I'll give him another tail trim!!!!

Bye for now,

Luv Baby xxx

Goodbye To Mum!!!!

2009-03-23T09:32:00.002Z

Life at Jevington continued with Ugly, Mum & I sharing our paddock & being stabled at night. My human Mum has moved Mum & I to a new stable where I am next door to Mum but can still see her. It's quite nice really as there are lots of things to play with & Mum can't tell me off!!!! I particularly like pulling the rugs down & standing on them which seems to drive my Human Mum mad for some reason!!!!

One day Mum went out of her stable & Ugly came in. I thought it was a bit strange but as Ugly is my friend I didn't mind at all. Not sure where Mum is but I'm sure she'll be back soon. Later that morning My Human Mum took Ugly & I to our paddock, Mum wasn't there either. I called & she didn't answer so I thought I'd see if Ugly would let me have some milk - well, he got very angry & told me he was a boy & that it wasn't on at all! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to eat grass & drink water till Mum comes back. When we came back in later Mum still wasn't around, I guess she must have got bored with me. Never mind, I've still got Ugly & he told me that his other friends would be joining us in our paddock - whoopee, new tails to eat!!!

The next day Paddy came into our paddock, he's great, he likes to play with me & doesn't seem to mind me eating his tail! Pinkie looks a bit sad on his own the other side of 'electric fence' but he'll be joining us soon too.

Pinkie joined us today, although he likes to play & his tail tastes pretty good he can be a bit grumpy & tells me off more than the others. I've told him he looks really ugly with his ears flat back but it doesn't seem to stop him - I think he looks a bit like a gargoyle!

Today is really exciting, we're all going in the big field!!!! Mum let us all go at the same time & we all flew off around the field. I couldn't quite keep up with the others but it was fun trying. So much space to run around in & lots of things to investigate. This is going to keep me busy for a while.

When I was about eight months old two nice ladies came to see me in my stable. One was called Sally who is a vet (not sure what that means but I'm sure I'll find out) & the other one was called Emma (a vet nurse - perhaps she looks after vets?). They where very nice to me & made a real fuss of me. Then Sally gave me an injection, ow, that hurt but not much. I got very sleepy & when I woke up I felt a bit sore down there (you know where I mean). They also gave me an injection for flu & tetanus & to top it all they stitched up a cut on my head where I'd pushed Pinkie a bit too far & he got angry with me. Apparently I'd been gelded!!!!!! Ugly tells me he's had it done & it was no big deal. Apart from being a sore I feel fine so I guess he's right. The other strange thing was when I woke up I was wearing one of those rug things, it feels quite strange but kept me nice & warm.

Still haven't seen Mum but I've got my three buddies & they keep me out of trouble so I'll not worry about it. I'm sure she's happy & has probably got a new baby to look after now. Bye Mum, love u loads xxxxxx

Quite like this stable thing!!!!!!

2009-02-16T18:31:00.006Z

Those of you who know me will be aware of my one (the only one I'll have you know!!!) 'vice'. Sleeping and snoring VERY loudly whilst I'm at it! Having checked out my new stable and after the excitement of the day I needed to re-charge my batteries, so I crashed out at the front of the stable whilst my Mum looked on to make sure I was safe. Apparently my Human Mum nearly had a heart attack as she thought I was poorly. As she soon learnt this is my favorite position and I think the snoring is quite cool really. I can be heard from outside the yard and some say I sound like a pneumatic drill - how rude! When I'm asleep there isn't a lot that will disturb me and generally if you want to get past you need to climb over me as I'm not going to get up till I'm good and ready.

Over the next few weeks Human Mum decided it was time I met Ugly up close and personal, he joined Mum and I in our paddock. He was great and I particularly liked chewing his tail. I don't think Mum was too keen on him but soon realised that it meant she had a full time 'Baby' sitter so decided he wasn't so bad after all. He did like to keep me in my place though and I had to do a lot of that licking/chewing 'Baby' thing to make sure he didn't get too mad with me at times! I think he liked our molasses lick more than me but I did enjoy licking it then covering him from head to toe in the sticky black substance! My Human Mum wasn't too impressed due to the fact that Ugly was completely white - well not after I'd painted him he wasn't!!!

I learnt to be very grown up and from day one of meeting Ugly was lead in beside him. If I tried to go too fast he would tell me off by pulling a very nasty face and bearing his teeth at me (more 'Baby' licking/chewing was required at this time!).

I had great fun with Ugly and couldn't wait to meet the others up close too.

Oh well, time for a sleep so I'll see you soon xxx

2008-12-24T20:47:00.005Z

The lorry door opened & there was my human Mum Yvonne & so many other people.......I'm not sure I've ever seen so many at one time! I followed Mum off the lorry a & looked around, it's seems o.k. not sure where my brothers & sisters have gone but Mum's here so I'm sure it's o.k. As Mum & I had been living in the field my human Mum had gone to the trouble of creating a 'Baby' & Mum safe area for us to chill out in but I was told we had to 'come in at night' (?????) and only got to play during the day. It was a nice sunny day so we went straight to our new paddock.

This is where I met 'electric fence' obviously I'd not seen any before so after sniffing round the paddock I decided to 'check it out'. My human Mum & Samantha were sitting the other side of the fence watching, at the time I wondered why they were so interested in what I was doing????? I crept up and looked at it - well if they think that's going to keep me in they must be joking! Getting braver I reached out with my nose, smells o.k., got closer (human Mum & Samantha looked worried!), I touched it and OWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!! That hurt loads! My human Mum & Samantha were laughing so much they were nearly in tears - not very friendly if you ask me. I pinged off around the paddock & ran back to Mum who I have to say wasn't particularly sympathetic, she was laughing too. I think I'll stay with Mum for now.

Over the other side of 'electric fence' were three grown up horses. They came over to see me and introduced themselves as Paddy, Pinkie & Ugly. Ugly & Paddy had obviously met 'electric fence' before & kept a respectful distance. However, Pinkie crept ever closer and closer and closer and he touched it too........he jumped back and pinged off around his side of the paddock with Paddy & Ugly in hot pursuit. Poor Pinkie, I bet his nose stings like mine. Mind you, that bucking & running around looks fun, so I joined in too on my side of 'electric fence'.

Later that day Human Mum came back and took Mum & I into the stable yard and led us into a HUGE stable. This was where Mum & I were to sleep. I couldn't really see over the door too well but there seemed to be loads of other horses to get to know - I can't wait!

It had been a long day & I was really tired so I decided it was time for a lay down. My stable had shavings & something called rubber matting at the front. I prefer the rubber matting so I went flat out & snored so loudly that my Human Mum thought I was ill - she better get used to it, I am a bit of a noisy sleeper, apparently I take after my Dad on that score.

Next time I'll tell you all about meeting Paddy, Pinkie & Ugly face to face.

Nite, nite for now.

Luv Baby xxx

The Early Days!!

2008-12-14T23:05:00.004Z

Hello, my name is Badgers Quiet Knight, Knighty for short & Baby to my friends. I'm very well bred you know my Dad being the late Mars a well known coloured W.B. x T.B. & my Mum Namoski a T.B. by Petoski. I'm three & half now but I thought you would like to hear how I came to live with my Human Mum Yvonne & what I have been up to since I arrived at Jevington Place Stud.

I was playing in the field with my brother & sisters at the begining of August 2005 when Yvonne came to look at me & one of my brothers. My brother new all the tricks - chewed her boots, licked her, covered her in molasses & generally sold himself very well. Luckily for me Yvonne didn't fall for it, apparently she wanted a bay skewbald (1 point to me!) & also wanted the 'finer' one (2 points oh get me!) she muttered something about my 'eye' (whatever that meant) & didn't seem too impressed so I fluttered my eyelashes at her!

I didn't see Yvonne again for quite a while & I thought she didn't want me. All of a sudden I heard I was being vetted - not too sure what that meant & was a bit worried to be honest! Yvonne came back with a man called Karl who was a vet. He prodded & poked me & then expected me to run behind my real Mum with Yvonne hanging on for grim death - oh the fun I had! Karl said something about my feet & little did Mum & I know but this would lead to us both leaving my brother & sisters sooner than we all expected!

Only a week or so later Mum & I found ourselves on a lorry heading for Jevington Place Stables in East Sussex. It had been decided that Yvonne wanted her nice farrier Doug to look after my feet just in case there was any problems - there wasn't as it happens but I do like seeing Doug as he wrestles with me which is great fun! Next time I will tell you all about my arrival, the electric fence, my new friends & so much more!

Bye for now Luv Baby xxx