Better late than never!!!

On Christmas Eve Mark Dysoned  the cable for the Mac - that was obviously fairly disastrous - I had no computer fix and Mark says he will never Hoover again - B*gger!!!

So incase anyone was thinking that the annual ritual humiliation of the horses did not happen - fear not!!!

Arrayan "Santa" Numa

Pitufa - "I will not eat this foreign muck, poison, poison"

Quinton - when you're threatened with Potters as often as I am, you wear the Santa hat and you smile - lots"!!!!

My Christmas present from Mark was a Necklace in the shape of a Chamfron from the Celtic Goldsmith

My gift to mark was a pair of polo boots in his favorite leather (Shhhhh don't tell Treacle).....

....Mule!

NORAD.....

Just a reminder that Norad tracks Santa.....

www.noradsanta.org

Its been fairly quiet on the farm, Upa has headed South back to his owners Sian and Sebastian, at their new farm in Cheshire.  We had a great weekend delivering him and being wined and dined by S&S.  We both coveted another little Criollo mare, called Fatama, but the budget doesn't stretch to her for the moment!!  Sian and Sebastian have just bought Arrayan's full brother, so we look forward to meeting him when he arrives.

The foals are all well, they are now certified Yanks and have just been drawn by Andrew the vet for their British passports.  Stela helpfully "collected" all the paperwork for Andrew, carried it round the pen and then when she wasn't getting enough attention she ate it!  Someone's papers are going to be rather soggier than the others.

The have all had their feet done again, as per usual Stela bounces up and down going "Me me meeeeeeeee, do MY feet."  Marco likes to supervise all work carried out very carefully with his nose over Marks shoulder.  Amber picks up the tools and hands them to Mark, occasionally getting her swing wrong and giving Stela a dig in the ribs with the rasp - cue filthy looks from Stel.  Gordon endures - complete with sighs.  They are all so different but a lot of fun and very very funny.  

Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas from Chamfron Stud!

Back to mud and misery.....

So I thought some nice cheery photos of the Christmas decorations instead....

What do you mean we're not classy?

Spotty botts at Christmas!

A very fine tree indeed!

Only eleven more sleeps to go......

So to get you in the mood - Dominic the Italian Donkey

Then Santa's a Scotsman! (well of course he is!!!)

Like Bambi on Ice.....

About 3pm yesterday we started to thaw - fast.....

About 6pm we froze again....

Hugely entertaining stuff, this is the driveway, yes it is sheet ice....

All very funny until someone lands on  pile of unfrozen whippet shite....

Arrayan Photo Extravaganza....

There is a line of thought on the internet that says if you market your stallion you should only ever photograph it in show condition, immaculate and stood up perfectly in a classic conformation pose....

We on the other hand like to show our boys having fun, fat and furry on their winter holidays!  

Snow photos - Part 2

Furry hat weather!

Strangely matching - a man and his dog!

Silks - refuting earlier allegations!

Snowy morning..... (a few photos)

Aussie cattle dog..... some dogs get Bondi Beach, how come I got the Blue Mountains?

Quinton - Not afraid of the big bad tractor or the rolling bale - "Grubs up lads"

I keep telling Mark his polo pony is shrinking - look she's pocket sized!!!!!

Whippets don't "do" snow - Silks cockroaching next to the radiator.

Magical Mule....

Dear Mule Lovers, 

I am frosty, please send donations for a rug, mum says I have one but I don't need it.  For mules sake look at me, I am like a popsicle.

Mum says I am "magical" - I would rather be warm.  I have a white mane and tail and my fur is like tinsel, sparkling in the sun.

I am comfort eating

Love Treacle

Did someone say "Hay"?

We're coming....

Cherry and Liz got their first hay of the winter today.  Love the silver highlights on Cherry!!!

Oh my god its cold!!!!!

Not really complaining but it really is cold here today, that is preferable to last winter where is was mild, wet and seriously grotty, at least this feels "clean."

All the retired horses are still out in the back field thanks to Andrew providing us with fabulous haylage this year and Chris lending us his tractor once a week to pop two bales out (the back field is beyond Layla the Leyland - she's a yard tractor!!!) 

All the old boys have rugs on now but unfortunately Hectors resembled a Tutu - and a squint one at that.  So quick splash out on Ebay and Hector is a much happier horse, cosy from his ears to his tail and just so his colour!!!  

Mule and Ellie are unrugged, mule to try and slim her down for the spring (Mule wonders of the ethics of this!!) and Ellie because the mare is just thriving... she's due in May - can we see a bump yet?

mule silliness

mule silliness 2

looking in foal?

Foals with the silliness...

foals hooning!

foals hooning part 2

Emails.....

I've managed to get suspended from runhorse again.  Did I learn from the last time it did this and back everything up?  No.  Did I change email providers?  No.  Am I up shit creek without a paddle?  Yes.

Hope it gets back in working order soon but if anyone has emailed me and not had an answer I am not deliberately ignoring you!!!!!

Necessity is the mother of invention!!!

Well for various reasons we haven't had the foals advertised (mostly paperwork, lesson learnt, be much more on the ball next year!!) and we decided with the credit crunch and the truly horrible weather we have had this year we would keep all the spotty foals over the winter (Monty having already moved to Perthshire!) and sell them ready to show in the spring.

So this raised various problems and questions - the big one being "shit where do we put the fur balls?"  So we stripped out the walker and sold it on Ebay, amazingly for a large profit.  Into the walkers' external cage went two bales of straw, one round bale of haylage, a large tub of water and a mineral lick.  Quickly transforming it from walker to "foal hole" of the 5* and quite perfect variety.  The foals weaned with no trouble at all and are so happy and settled in their new abode.  They are very low maintenance, cheap to keep and well, just damn cute!

Happiness is a good snooze on an afternoon....

Stela has Marco well under her hoof!

Blue skies and bunnies....

Blue sky, Blue sky, Blue sky, how exciting is that?!!!!! 

Mini tuf showing she is on holiday, shoes off and kicking back!

Running total on the rabbits...

Bunnies - Nil.

Mark - One.

All done!!!

Foals all weaned and safely installed in the "foal hole" (formally known as "the horse walker!!!") Touch wood everything went smoothly and the only slight nervous breakdown was from Nico who thought the Child Support Agency had caught up with him!!! Not the best of shots, more to follow soon when they are all brushed and tidy!

Oh what exciting lives we lead......

Well I keep getting asked why I haven't blogged.... err its because I lead a boring life!!!

This week we have started rugging up the old boys and girls, this has been such a terrible summer and they all look "tired" and in need of a little comfort.  Liz got a new rug at the end of last year so it has been in the barn all summer and not cleaned.  Imagine my surprise when I shook the rug and noticed something "furry" in it... the cutest of bats.

He couldn't be safely returned so we picked him up gently and placed him in some more rugs (you know the sort you keep incase they come in useful one day....)  Liz says the furry little bugger must have fiddled with the surcingles as they seem to have got a little tight around her midriff.

Last night the dogs publicly announced they were unamused with the diet they are on and putting the chinese take away back in the fridge was a step to far... so they helped themselves to the large pot of lentil soup on the hob.... I have it on good authority it was EVERYWHERE... I wouldn't know as I carefully stayed in bed.  To put it none to politely the dogs are now sat quietly farting in their baskets.

I wish for once we had liveries for sheer amusement value as this years haylage is rocket fuel.  The stallions have turned into fire breathing dragons (lots of snort!!) and the foals only have one pace - bounce!!!

Oh and the big excitement of the week.... I got an email last night saying that the Royal Highland Show is holding a driving class for donkeys and..... MULES!!!!!!!!  On the Saturday afternoon, what a crowd pleaser that should be.  Well Treacle is going, we just haven't fine tuned the cunning plan yet, watch this space!!!!

Wee Fat....

Criollo on his winter holidays!!!!!!

Its WAR....

There are rabbits living in the haylage - NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Good haylage is like hens teeth this year and expensive to boot so this farm will not become a refuge for starving bunnies.  There will be no quarter given, this is war.

Target practice first.....

Be afraid little bunnies, be afraid......

... But probably not of me, couldn't hit the house at a 100 yards!!

All Change!!!

We have had a bit of a swap round on Monday, with Milly and Monty leaving and Cherry arriving.  Cherry is a solid appaloosa yearling filly, bought to be a future polo pony and "wife" for Nico.  This is Cherry legging it across the field....

.... As she was being advanced upon by "baby Stel" - who strongly believes everybody loves her.  She was bouncing along behind Cherry going "hello, hellllloooo, HELLLLLOOOOO" and Cherry was going "run away.... scary manic furball"  

Monty and Millie have settled in well at Meikle Obney Stud and will no doubt be loving the dry ground and better climate.  I may well be eaten up with jealousy if there is a buckskin spotty foal in 2010 though!!!!!

Dear Auntie Lou....

Dear Auntie Lou, 

Muchos Gracias for my jolyball, eet is a fearsome thing but I is teaching eet I is fierce stallion round here and beating eet into submission.  I can do this even with mouthful of haylage, I can multi task, I is dead clever as well as sexy and very manly.

Adios,

Arrayan.