Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Percy is doing well
Percy is now 2 1/2 years and doing well. He is about 15.2 now, though I have not measured him so a rough guess! He is looking good and his feet are really looking healthy so the Farriers Formula has paid off. He has been good for the farrier on the last three occasions so I hope he keeps it up. I have my friend Kirsty helping me with him next visit as I am heavily pregnant, so I do hope he is good for her!
We haven't had any outings this summer as Bev's lorry has been off the road and I have been pregnant. So at the grand age of three he will have only been off the farm to go to the vets. This will make life interesting...
I hope to break him in this summer and do some light hacking and some lessons with him. I don't want to do too much in his third year as he still has some growing to do. I will see how he gets on. Fortunately he has a fantastic temperament and despite being pretty much left in the field this summer he still has good manners and leads/trots up well. He is unfazed by all manner of farming equipment and will walk happily away from his friends and down the road, allowing traffic to pass him. This I am very pleased with as there are plenty of adult horses out there who don't behave as well! He has definitely inherited his dams good temperament. Thank you Lady P...
Penny (Percy's dam) is sadly for sale at Llangaller Farm. Over the summer she won several Broodmare Classes in the west country and did herself proud. Here is a bit about her performance:
Devon Show 2009: "A new member of the team is the broodmare Colombecille Penny. Purchased in the spring of'08, she is by Paris Lights and has Evented at Intermediate level. Not bought top be a show horse she has blossomed into the most beautiful Riding Horse Broodmare. She was 2nd as was her filly foal by Catherston Dazzler." Charles Upham
Royal Cornwall Show 2009: "Penny excelled herself by winning the Riding Horse Broodmare class and the Overall Riding Horse Breeding Championship. Her foal duly won her class too." Charles Upham
Dunster 2009: "Penny {Columbecille Penny} donned her coloured browband again and won her Riding Horse mare class" Charles Upham
Okehampton 2009: "The day after Exford is Okehampton. This time Colombecille Penny changed her browband to become a hunter mare. She is a very difficult mare to place in a show class because she is a quality hunter mare but at 16hh looks tiny in an open class but she does have enough quality to be a Riding Horse, she was Riding Horse Champion at Royal Cornwall. Anyway she won her class. She is such a pleasure to show as her schooling as an Eventer {she is Intermediate} makes her so balanced although she was taught to stand four square in her dressage and she can't quite get her head around standing with her hind leg slightly back. Bless.
To my absolute delight Penny was pulled Supreme. I just love this mare. She has bloomed into the most beautiful horse. I love her breeding, by Paris Lights, I love her way of going, I love her performance record. Her flaw is she's female, ginger and so not the most patient but hey! A County Champion and now a Supreme." Charles Upham - Llangaller Farm, Devon.
It is such a shame that Penny is being sold, she had a fantastic home at Llangaller. I managed to visit her and Charles showed me around the place. He has a lovely manner with the horses and Penny was evidently very happy. She had a beautiful filly at foot, which my friend Angela seriously considered buying. The practicalities of having a foal and no horse to ride in the meanwhile meant that she reluctantly decided not to. Charles also took me to see the stallions where I met an old acquaintance, Prince of Darkness, who I knew during my time at Louella Stud. He was considerably more chilled out than I remember him, though it is fair to say that several years have passed since then (like 12!). He once again had a good relationship with Charles and looked fantastic.
I do hope that somebody buying Penny from Charles would be a serious person who would look after her well. Her price tag suggests that it would be a purchase for somebody discerning. If we could keep tabs on how she is that would also be good. Meanwhile I will buy a lottery ticket on Saturday, I would just love to have the lovely girl back!!!
To the right is a recent picture of Percy out in the paddock.
We haven't had any outings this summer as Bev's lorry has been off the road and I have been pregnant. So at the grand age of three he will have only been off the farm to go to the vets. This will make life interesting...
I hope to break him in this summer and do some light hacking and some lessons with him. I don't want to do too much in his third year as he still has some growing to do. I will see how he gets on. Fortunately he has a fantastic temperament and despite being pretty much left in the field this summer he still has good manners and leads/trots up well. He is unfazed by all manner of farming equipment and will walk happily away from his friends and down the road, allowing traffic to pass him. This I am very pleased with as there are plenty of adult horses out there who don't behave as well! He has definitely inherited his dams good temperament. Thank you Lady P...
Penny (Percy's dam) is sadly for sale at Llangaller Farm. Over the summer she won several Broodmare Classes in the west country and did herself proud. Here is a bit about her performance:
Devon Show 2009: "A new member of the team is the broodmare Colombecille Penny. Purchased in the spring of'08, she is by Paris Lights and has Evented at Intermediate level. Not bought top be a show horse she has blossomed into the most beautiful Riding Horse Broodmare. She was 2nd as was her filly foal by Catherston Dazzler." Charles Upham
Royal Cornwall Show 2009: "Penny excelled herself by winning the Riding Horse Broodmare class and the Overall Riding Horse Breeding Championship. Her foal duly won her class too." Charles Upham
Dunster 2009: "Penny {Columbecille Penny} donned her coloured browband again and won her Riding Horse mare class" Charles Upham
Okehampton 2009: "The day after Exford is Okehampton. This time Colombecille Penny changed her browband to become a hunter mare. She is a very difficult mare to place in a show class because she is a quality hunter mare but at 16hh looks tiny in an open class but she does have enough quality to be a Riding Horse, she was Riding Horse Champion at Royal Cornwall. Anyway she won her class. She is such a pleasure to show as her schooling as an Eventer {she is Intermediate} makes her so balanced although she was taught to stand four square in her dressage and she can't quite get her head around standing with her hind leg slightly back. Bless.
To my absolute delight Penny was pulled Supreme. I just love this mare. She has bloomed into the most beautiful horse. I love her breeding, by Paris Lights, I love her way of going, I love her performance record. Her flaw is she's female, ginger and so not the most patient but hey! A County Champion and now a Supreme." Charles Upham - Llangaller Farm, Devon.
It is such a shame that Penny is being sold, she had a fantastic home at Llangaller. I managed to visit her and Charles showed me around the place. He has a lovely manner with the horses and Penny was evidently very happy. She had a beautiful filly at foot, which my friend Angela seriously considered buying. The practicalities of having a foal and no horse to ride in the meanwhile meant that she reluctantly decided not to. Charles also took me to see the stallions where I met an old acquaintance, Prince of Darkness, who I knew during my time at Louella Stud. He was considerably more chilled out than I remember him, though it is fair to say that several years have passed since then (like 12!). He once again had a good relationship with Charles and looked fantastic.
I do hope that somebody buying Penny from Charles would be a serious person who would look after her well. Her price tag suggests that it would be a purchase for somebody discerning. If we could keep tabs on how she is that would also be good. Meanwhile I will buy a lottery ticket on Saturday, I would just love to have the lovely girl back!!!
To the right is a recent picture of Percy out in the paddock.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Penny has had a filly
Penny had a filly foal by Catherston Dazzler on March 10th. Apparently she is a lovely filly. I am hoping to see them both on a trip to Devon later this month.
Percy was an idiot for the farrier for the second time in a row. They had a row and the farrier won so hopefully he will start to get the idea that standing still and being sensible is a far better option.
Apart from that Percy is doing well. He is doing some in-hand work in the school ready for his appearance at the South of England show this year. This has all been going pretty well, he walks and trots nicely in hand and stands up fairly well. I now need to work on him picking his feet up while standing up. We also need to have another go at loading which he hasn't done since last year.
Percy is now about 15hh, he is growing in to his neck and shoulders though still looks pretty immature behind. I am pleased with how he is doing. Apart from his hang up with the farrier he is behaving and doing really well!
Percy was an idiot for the farrier for the second time in a row. They had a row and the farrier won so hopefully he will start to get the idea that standing still and being sensible is a far better option.
Apart from that Percy is doing well. He is doing some in-hand work in the school ready for his appearance at the South of England show this year. This has all been going pretty well, he walks and trots nicely in hand and stands up fairly well. I now need to work on him picking his feet up while standing up. We also need to have another go at loading which he hasn't done since last year.
Percy is now about 15hh, he is growing in to his neck and shoulders though still looks pretty immature behind. I am pleased with how he is doing. Apart from his hang up with the farrier he is behaving and doing really well!
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Percy has got the all clear!
Percy finally has the all clear from strangles, five months after being diagnosed with it. He is looking really well despite the prolonged cold weather. He has been wearing a medium weight rug which I'm sure helps.
I hope to bring him in after Christmas. I have to wait for Paris and Pippin to be given the all clear I think, I'm not sure. I am very keen to get Percy in now though, it will do him a lot of good to get back in to the discipline of coming in and going out each day. It will also be good in terms of him keeping warm and dry, he needs to do well through the winter having had such a poor summer.
I need to buy him a turnip for Christmas.
I hope to bring him in after Christmas. I have to wait for Paris and Pippin to be given the all clear I think, I'm not sure. I am very keen to get Percy in now though, it will do him a lot of good to get back in to the discipline of coming in and going out each day. It will also be good in terms of him keeping warm and dry, he needs to do well through the winter having had such a poor summer.
I need to buy him a turnip for Christmas.
Friday, 3 October 2008
Penny
Lady P is apparently doing well in her new home. She is in foal to Catherston Dazzler which I'm sure will be a fantastic foal. I'm so pleased thhat she is happy where she is, she is such a lovely mare.
Autumn is here
Percy is recovering from his strangles and has recently had a growth spurt. So much so that his rug is a bit on the small side. I shall have to get him a 6'0 one as he will not fit in to Penny's yet. He is looking really well, which is the first time in a long time. He still has some swelling under his jaw which the vet thinks is old scar tissue. There is one hard node still under there which I suspect may be an abscess. I am waiting to see if it does anything. If nothing has happened by mid October then I will ask the vet to come and run his tests to see if Percy is finally free of strangles.
Percy has a new stable. While he has been out over the summer the old stables were knocked down and he now has a brand spanking new one. It is in a block of 8 so he has lots of company when he is in. He will be next to his old stable mate Jack though they wont be able to lick each other through the grill like they used to. The new stable even has a top door! I won't get a grill for the door I don't think as he doesn't need one. If he acts like an idiot when he comes in after so long out then I will just shut his top door.
I need to get some tie up rings for the stable etc. I am thinking of getting some good rubber matting and using shavings this year. I figured that this may save me a bit of money and will also help save on hay as Percy has a tendency to drag it all in to his bed and then waste it. I much prefer to much out a straw bed, but shavings are so much more absorbent and if I am using the rubber mats it makes sense to use shavings. I wouldn't worry so much about rubber mats but every morning Percy has found his way to the floor and I don't want him to scrape himself.
I have ordered him a cob size head collar today as his pony one no longer fits. He must be about 14.2 hh now. He is quite big so I am hoping that I can start bringing him in and out again soon, before he gets too big for his boots!
Percy has a new stable. While he has been out over the summer the old stables were knocked down and he now has a brand spanking new one. It is in a block of 8 so he has lots of company when he is in. He will be next to his old stable mate Jack though they wont be able to lick each other through the grill like they used to. The new stable even has a top door! I won't get a grill for the door I don't think as he doesn't need one. If he acts like an idiot when he comes in after so long out then I will just shut his top door.
I need to get some tie up rings for the stable etc. I am thinking of getting some good rubber matting and using shavings this year. I figured that this may save me a bit of money and will also help save on hay as Percy has a tendency to drag it all in to his bed and then waste it. I much prefer to much out a straw bed, but shavings are so much more absorbent and if I am using the rubber mats it makes sense to use shavings. I wouldn't worry so much about rubber mats but every morning Percy has found his way to the floor and I don't want him to scrape himself.
I have ordered him a cob size head collar today as his pony one no longer fits. He must be about 14.2 hh now. He is quite big so I am hoping that I can start bringing him in and out again soon, before he gets too big for his boots!
Monday, 11 August 2008
Poorly Percy
I haven't updated Percy's blog for ages because he has been ill. He has had strangles, a horrible disease which causes great big abscess' in his throat. He has been very poorly but seems to be getting better. He still has two huge lumps to burst but hopefully there is nothing new. Obviously he couldn't go to his show as he was infectious, so all our lorry work ended up being a bit of a waste. Though to be fair it's good ground work for him, so I can never really look at it as a waste.
He is quite thin at the moment because he is fighting the disease. He doesn't look terrible as I am giving him plenty to eat, even though there is plenty of summer grass I want to make sure he has enough energy to fight his illness. He is also wearing a rug at night when it is wet, this is so his body doesn't have to work at keeping warm as well as fighting Strangles.
I will ask the vet to come and lance his last two abscesses in the next day or so, they are not quite ready. Hopefully this will make him feel a great deal better again. Then fingers crossed he wont develop anymore!
He is quite thin at the moment because he is fighting the disease. He doesn't look terrible as I am giving him plenty to eat, even though there is plenty of summer grass I want to make sure he has enough energy to fight his illness. He is also wearing a rug at night when it is wet, this is so his body doesn't have to work at keeping warm as well as fighting Strangles.
I will ask the vet to come and lance his last two abscesses in the next day or so, they are not quite ready. Hopefully this will make him feel a great deal better again. Then fingers crossed he wont develop anymore!
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