PENNY AND PERCY WEANED

Yesterday I weaned Penny and Percy. I must confess to having a big lump in my throat when I took Penny away, especially as she gave Percy a last neigh when we rounded the corner. She was ever so good though, she walked with me to the field and when we got into the gateway she looked behind her for Percy and gave a really loud neigh.

I chose not to keep Penny in that night as we ended up bringing her and the two foals in early. This was because a little filly arrived a day early, who was due to be going out with Penny and Rio in the big field the next day. Initially they turned the little filly out with Rio and a lovely quiet old horse called Fox. However, Fox took an extreme dislike to the poor little thing and chased her through a fence. This was obviously a nightmare, as there was no stable available for the filly overnight. Therefore I brought our three in, so that the filly and Rio (who had been nice to her) could go out in Penny's big field. This meant there would be a good two hours of daylight for them to get used to their new field, I wouldn't want to turn horses into a strange field in the dark.

I pondered on what to do and decided to feed Penny and Percy together when they came in otherwise I knew they wouldn't eat anything later. I had intended to put Penny in the barn for the night and had made up her bed for her. Cathy had very kindly said I could use her stable. However, I was very worried that she may try and jump out of the stable, I didn't have a top door for it. I was also worried that she would be seriously stressed and would weave like mad and probably take a few chunks out of the stable by kicking it.

I decided that she would be safest out in the field, which she knows and where she was all summer. I was confident that she wouldn't jump the electric fence. Also meeting her new field companions would be a bit of a distraction for her.

When I turned her out she proceeded to charge off, neighing and looking for Percy. The two new ones followed her and then they all stopped to make friends. It is very common for horses to run about when they meet someone new, so I wasn't too concerned. Penny seemed to make friends with Rio pretty quickly, he was licking her and nuzzling her which was quite sweet. The poor little filly just followed the other two about.

Meanwhile, Percy took it a lot better. He stood in the corner of his box, calling every now and then. He didn't appear too distressed and even ate up his food which suprised me.

Today the weather has been absolutely hideous. Kim and I went to sort out the paddock which the foals were going in to. Half of the electric tape was broken and it was sopping wet with barely any grass cover. Beggars can't be choosers though, so we made good what we had. It's likely that we will have to out hay out for them.

When it came to turning them out the rain was lashing down and the wind was really strong. However the foals were incredibly sensible and just went into the paddock and walked around. We decided to muck out and then come back and check on them. When we did, they were soaked and were charging around, probably because they were cold. We decided to bring them in and as there was no-one to keep Ruby company in the barn, she went in the stable with Percy. They had a haynet each and spent a happy afternoon together.

Penny was still a bit stressed this morning, she was calling when dhe could hear Ruby and Percy. She would have a snatch of food and then march off and neigh, returning for a bit more food.

However this evening Penny was much calmer, she stood quietly when she ate her tea and I was able to feel that she was nice and dry under her rug. This was pleasing as it had done nothing but pour with rain all day.

When we took Ruby out of Percy's stable for the night Percy got a bit upset. More so than when his mum left him. He called a lot and walked around the stable. Once again though he settled and ate up his tea. All in all, fingers crossed, it went well.