|
Mina
Sept 4, 2011 12:17:09 GMT 1
Post by liz on Sept 4, 2011 12:17:09 GMT 1
I'm so pleased everything seems to be looking up, Helen Thanks for your PM and I'll write again soon!
|
|
erika
New Member
Posts: 35
|
Mina
Sept 4, 2011 14:24:14 GMT 1
Post by erika on Sept 4, 2011 14:24:14 GMT 1
Hi Nellie, So glad that you are keeping Mina. George was a great friend to me when my father was dying from cancer. Poor George didn't get ridden very much at all but when I did put a saddle on him he had to put up with me blubbing as we rode around the countryside. Sometimes we would go out for hours and just wander along on a long rein while I vocalised my worries and problems. He wasn't at all phased at me crying into his mane as we ambled about. He kept himself very quiet and behaved in a very calm and sensible manner, infact looked after me as I was not at all attentive to what was going on around me. It would break my heart to sell George, I think I would sell the house and live in a caravan first. I hope things are on the up now. Erika & George
|
|
|
Mina
Sept 4, 2011 15:56:02 GMT 1
Post by angelac on Sept 4, 2011 15:56:02 GMT 1
Hi Helen Good to see you around again. I had been wondering where you were , though remembered you saying you were going to sell the house , look at work, and maybe take a couple of trips to Greece. Did you get to Greece in the end or has it been too busy? How awful that you came so close to parting with Mina. Very glad that you don't have to. She sounds lovely and you look so fab together. All the very best with your plans and hope you manage to be on the forum a bit more Take care Angela
|
|
|
Mina
Sept 4, 2011 19:47:34 GMT 1
Post by janebaily on Sept 4, 2011 19:47:34 GMT 1
Hi Helen,
What a year it has been for you. What with you,also Em's move and myself and Mark living apart, its been a funny old year, and its not over yet!! Quite a few people i know have had unexpected happenings this year.
I hope you can keep Mina, as both Mark and i have said many times, we are glad we have kept Elda. She has been a true friend to me, and i can honestly say, hand on heart, i don't know what i would have done without her. Mark is over in the UK now for 10 days and as soon as she saw him she followed him about for ages (she does tend to be "free-range" about the yard when we are up there).
I wish you and your husband loads of best wishes and keep us posted.
Jane and Elda xx
|
|
|
Mina
Sept 5, 2011 20:31:53 GMT 1
Post by em on Sept 5, 2011 20:31:53 GMT 1
Helen
So pleased to hear that you are coming out of the woods so to speak...life really can be a challenge.. talking of trying to live in the moment i really have taken it to heart.. the farm was such a massive shock but in a way although it failed ... it has in fact has helped me to succeed.. sounds bizarre but I just refuse to worry about my future ever again....
I love this quote from the 14th Dalai lama when he was asked what suprised him he most in the world and his response was MAN .. and this was why..
" He sacrifices his health in order to make money, then he sacrifices his money to restore his health,
he worries so much about the future he doesnt live in the present So experiences neither,
he lives as if he is never going to die, then dies without ever having lived."
i can apply this to so many areas of my life previously it is scary.. but no more.... so good luck to you and the changes you are making listen to your soul... inner voice whatever you want to call it and you cant go wrong even if it feels a bit scary!!!! x x x x x x
|
|
|
Mina
Sept 12, 2011 21:48:49 GMT 1
Post by lisandsaf on Sept 12, 2011 21:48:49 GMT 1
Wow, that is a powerful and very very true saying,,, so often you hear people say live life to the full,, but it is so easy to say and so difficult to do....
|
|
|
Mina
Oct 23, 2011 21:27:43 GMT 1
Post by nellie on Oct 23, 2011 21:27:43 GMT 1
Well October is here - and is almost over. So far the new job is going ok and I'm getting used to the early start and longer hours. I've really missed seeing Mina everyday but that's about to change as next Sunday she's moving home. It's been a really difficult decision because the yard where she has been is so friendly and supportive but... I want to see her!
The funny thing is that although she has really settled now at the yard, she never did get used to the scary trees and she really didn't like being in her stable. Now I always though she was just being a bit of a drama queen but then one day a HUGE branch fell down right at the scariest point of the scary trees so I started to change my mind.
And then her stable: I mentioned to the owner of the yard, in conversation because I thought he already knew, that the roof over Mina's stable leaked. Next thing I knew they had dragged all the ivy off the roof and back wall and discovered that the roof timbers were rotten and the back wall was about to collapse! It's now all been beautifully mended, with a sturdy new back wall and a lined roof - no more ivy to trim from the inside. Do you think she knew it was all waiting to fall down around her? I can't help but feel that she knew.
I have made a note to self (per Mark Rashid for anyone who has read "Horses Never Lie"), to listen to my lovely fluffy pony with more open ears in future!
At the risk of being frightfully boring, I must also say that she is now slightly less fluffy as one of the girls at the yard very kindly gave her a low chaser clip yesterday. You wouldn't believe the size of the pile of hair! How much must there be when you do a full clip? But, aside from that, do you know how Mina reacted to being clipped? Bearing in mind she wasn't clipped at all last year... She fell asleep!!!! Eyes closed, bottom lip wobbling, all the way through having her tummy done and under her chin.
Thank you Avril, what a wonderful pony ;D!
|
|
|
Mina
Oct 24, 2011 12:15:02 GMT 1
Post by picasso on Oct 24, 2011 12:15:02 GMT 1
Lovely to hear from you Helen. You will feel a lot better when you are seeing Mina every day again. I bet she looks really smart in her new hair do!
Jane H
|
|
|
Mina
Oct 26, 2011 14:10:19 GMT 1
Post by angelac on Oct 26, 2011 14:10:19 GMT 1
Hi Helen Really glad things are going well. It will be good when you can see lots of Mina again and perhaps the new yard will be for the best. It will be interesting to see how she likes her new stable. We are now knee deep in mud so have closed off field and the ponies are in the hard stand area at the moment. Its a shame but at least they can get outside. Had to smile at thought of Mina being clipped. I don't generally need to clip but Jet loves getting his beard done and usually falls asleep with droopy lip , floppy ears etc. Take care Angela
|
|
|
Mina
Oct 27, 2011 0:09:23 GMT 1
Post by liz on Oct 27, 2011 0:09:23 GMT 1
Hi, Helen. How lively to have Mina closer to you and it's so good to see that you are getting on so well with her. I'm so pleased that the new job is OK - pity about the longer hours but I'm sure you'll be fine. If you enjoy the work that helps, doesn't it? I had to move yards once because my stable flooded every time it rained heavily. It an old loose box in a very old yard and both the horse ad myself loved being there. The drains under the stables had collapsed and the owners simply couldn't afford to get the repairs done. The yard is a listed building and is cobbled so the job would have been HUGELY expensive. As it was, my horse was bedded on paper and it got sodden quite often and it was very hard work to empty the stable and also very expensive to lay a new bed! However, I moved to a friend's yard, the small sport horse stud where she had her foal a few years earlier, where she spent the rest of her days. Unlike Mina, my mare hated being clipped and was quite tricky to do! As I did a lot of riding in the winter a clip was essential but I had the help of a friend who clipped all the local hunters as her part time winter job!
|
|
|
Mina
Oct 27, 2011 21:20:49 GMT 1
Post by avril on Oct 27, 2011 21:20:49 GMT 1
Mina grows a coat as thick as a mat in winter. It's not like other horses, she doesn't have the long straggly bits. It still feels soft and springy but with incredible mass. Some horses do actually like being clipped and she's one of them, bless her. So glad you two found each other.
|
|
karen
Full Member
Posts: 133
|
Mina
Nov 2, 2011 15:58:25 GMT 1
Post by karen on Nov 2, 2011 15:58:25 GMT 1
Hi Helen
Its great to hear all your news and how interesting about Mina's knowledge about the trees and the stable. I'm sure you are right that she knew about the dangers.
I hope you do get to see much more of her now you are moving yards. I am very lucky to see Crispin twice a day but the livery yard is quite a distance so I am spending loads of time travelling, also the Daily Mail front page today is talking about a "Siberian" weather front coming in throwing travelling in chaos (although I think they previously predicted it was coming in October!)
Crispin is quite funny sometimes, he definitely tries to communicate with Ray and I, he is especially motivated when it comes to food, when he is tied up in the yard, he will look at us, then look at his stable door, then down at his lead rope, then back to us, because he knows his hay is waiting for him and he wants to get to it! Last night he popped the lead rope in his mouth and offered it to me - he's cheeky, and I love him.
Hope you both settle well in your new yard, and look forward to hearing about it.
Best wishes Karen x
|
|
|
Mina
Nov 5, 2011 9:24:34 GMT 1
Post by nellie on Nov 5, 2011 9:24:34 GMT 1
Dear All, Thank you for your lovely replies. How sweet, and clever, Crispin is ! Such a treasure. I feel a bit like Sharon in Sula's thread because I pop-in so irregularly, don't have a chance to catch-up, just leave a missive about Mina and then disappear again. I do miss the forum and I'm always composing posts in my mind about Mina, we've had quite a journey over the last year, but time and my husband (mostly the latter, if the truth be told !) just get in the way. But I hope you'll forgive me today as I'm so bursting with excitement this morning that I have completely failed to sleep-on as I had promised myself and woke up at 5.30am as normal. I tried to get back to sleep but gave up at 7am - still 1.5hours longer than normal, I'm just hoping I'm still awake tonight for the fireworks! I'm bursting with excitement because of Mina! I've had a lovely week. Avril, you were so right! She settled straight away at her new stables. Partly because she is now bedded on straw so, as far as she is concerned she has a box full of food for those nibbly moments between hay! But also, I think, because she's surrounded by horses and people: she loves it! I thought she would find the first few days very stressful because she was in quantine in a temporary stable with a tarpaulin roof and wasn't allowed to be turned-out until her blood test results were back. But she took it all happily in her stride, flappy roof and no turn-out not withstanding! She was straight into work , hacking out and trying out all the arenas (outdoor and indoor, which I'm sure was a first for her!) with the staff. And now she's in her "proper" stable with a couple of boys either side, one a most beautiful piebald cob, the other a little nervous chestnut pony (well his label says he finds life scary but he took our efforts at building a plastic trunk and laying rubber matting all in his stride). In fact all the horses on the yard are amazingly chilled in their boxes - and friendly. Mina is soaking up all the attention and just keeps smiling at everyone - and they seem to really like her in return - in fact, in the office, they said they could do with a load more of horses like her ;D (take note, Avril, I tell everyone where I found her!). One lovely thing about my new job is that I don't have to work Friday afternoons (if I have already done enough hours, so I make sure of that!) so, of course, I was straight down to the stables and rode my lovely pony in one of their fabulous indoor schools (how great is that in this weather?). She was such a good girl, really gorgeous, and looked after her old mum a treat. You wouldn't believe she had only been there 6 days! Funnily enough it's me who's taking a bit longer to get used to the change! I have also booked in for a load of lessons with her between now and Christmas. I've found it really strange riding with a mended hip because I move in ways I never have (but should have done!), so I'm sort of starting from scratch with my riding, hence all the lessons. But she will still be hacking out too, a bit with me, a bit with the staff so she'll enjoy that. She's now also happily turned out with the school herd. Most of the liveries only get a couple of hours of turn-out a day but I really wanted more than that for Mina. From one side I believe it is good for their brains, so one should if one can, but also because she was so stressed in her stable at the old yard, I was very keen she had as much time as possible outdoors. Avril said that she did settle with them so there was always hope but I cannot believe how big the change has been! Nevermind, she gets lots of turn-out and has settled happily in her stable so I'm very happy . So, all that remains now is to get back on the hunt for rugs that fit well, get her saddle fitting checked and then a major clip! Avril is quite right about her coat - it is amazing, deep and incredibly soft but not at all long (if you can have deep and short!) - and clearly very hot! she's found this mild autumn quite a challenge with such a splendid fur coat and now she's working regularly she's almost impossible to dry-off - even with her mini-clip. Phew! Bit of a long post. Sorry about that . Helen
|
|
|
Mina
Nov 5, 2011 12:02:01 GMT 1
Post by sarah on Nov 5, 2011 12:02:01 GMT 1
Hi Helen, so lovely to see a post from you, and what a wonderful, happy, positive post. ;D
It sounds as though you have found an amazing yard, with a calm atmosphere and great facilities. I hope your lessons go well, maybe if you have time, you could let us know how you get on, and maybe even post a pic of your gorgeous girl.
So pleased you and Mina are happy and settled, you deserve it.
Best wishes, Sarah. xx
|
|
|
Mina
Nov 5, 2011 12:39:44 GMT 1
Post by picasso on Nov 5, 2011 12:39:44 GMT 1
Hi Helen, that all sounds brilliant, especially the indoor school and Friday afternoons off. Good luck with the lessons, it always helps to have a direction to your riding. I also found it took me a long time to settle into a new yard. Happily, I have been there 18 months now.
Jane H
|
|