We have just received confirmation that HRH The Princess Royal is coming to Greatwood on the 21st September. We have been very fortunate in that The Wooden Spoon Trust granted us a sizeable chunk of money to create a cloakroom, additional loo facilities and a time out room for the special needs children.
As you can imagine, this has thrown us into a bit of a spin, and we are already targeting areas which need sorting out, licks of paint etc. Nevertheless, we are absolutely thrilled, it will be a great honour to receive her at Greatwood.
Sue is running around like a startled gazelle this morning. She, and her fiance Robbie are off to Egypt tomorrow and she is desperately trying to get everything done before she leaves. I am really excited for them that they have finally got something together to go on holiday, but a little nervous that my two key people in the yard aren't going to be here! especially in the light of what happened on Monday when Robbie had taken a long weekend to fulfill a long wished for ambition to take his bike around the Nurbergring, and it was Sue's day off!
Mikey arrived to work in bad order, I took pity on him and sent him home after breakfast, and that left Coudy, Dan, Lucie and me in the yard. Richard our vet was due to come in with Polly, our physio, to work on Bunkhouse and Insheen. All would have been well if it hadn't been for a number of injuries throughout the day culminating in poor old Richard having to return to Greatwood at 6.30pm to try and attempt to stitch a gash on....Broughton's Turmoil. When Dan told me at evening stables that there was yet another injury, this time in the old boys field, I hoped upon hope that out of all the horses it wouldn't be BT. My hopes were dashed. BT is a dreadful patient, he fidgets, hates injections and has a keen left or right hook if things get a little personal. He even managed to aim a well directed jab at Richard's hand as he was trying to clean him, even though he was sedated.
Anyway, it was managed in the end without all of BT's toys being thrown out of the pram, and we turned him out again into the field later on. I led by torchlight, followed by Dan with BT and Coudy with Mikko. It would have been hopeless trying to keep BT in for the night because unless everyone in the old boys field comes in he acts like a complete nitwit.
Let's hope Monday isn't an example of what will happen over the next ten days!
Wednesday 26 August 2009
Monday 17 August 2009
New Seeker
I have had to hang on for a few days before writing this particularly sad bit of news until such time that Elite Racing Club and Axom could contact their members.
New Seeker died here at Greatwood on August 12th.
Robbie and Mikey had just about finished field checks but when they looked over New Seeker it was apparent that all was not well. The vet was called, he treated New Seeker and I kept an eye on him overnight. He appeared to be alot better the following day, was a little stiff, but wasn't in any pain, he was eating up well and was bright and alert. He deterioriated the following morning and it was our vet's opinion that euthanasia was the only option in order to relieve his suffering.
New Seeker had ongoing unresolvable issues with both his knees and hock and he had clearly had an acute episode resulting in spine/pelvic trauma.
New Seeker came to us in October 2008, and despite the fact that he was quite high maintenance we are all nevertheless very sad that he won't be able to enjoy the long and happy retirement that we had envisaged.
RIP New Seeker
New Seeker died here at Greatwood on August 12th.
Robbie and Mikey had just about finished field checks but when they looked over New Seeker it was apparent that all was not well. The vet was called, he treated New Seeker and I kept an eye on him overnight. He appeared to be alot better the following day, was a little stiff, but wasn't in any pain, he was eating up well and was bright and alert. He deterioriated the following morning and it was our vet's opinion that euthanasia was the only option in order to relieve his suffering.
New Seeker had ongoing unresolvable issues with both his knees and hock and he had clearly had an acute episode resulting in spine/pelvic trauma.
New Seeker came to us in October 2008, and despite the fact that he was quite high maintenance we are all nevertheless very sad that he won't be able to enjoy the long and happy retirement that we had envisaged.
RIP New Seeker
Monday 10 August 2009
What a Day
I am on night duty tonight, because we have had just one of those days, fortunately at the moment it hasn't ended in a tragedy. I try and grab Sunday's off, which usually works but nevertheless I remain on call. Sue got hold of me this morning to say that Warren Knight was completely immobile in the field. Some of the horses in one particular field were being bothered by the flies and there had obviously been some sort of fracas resulting in a few injuries.
Having looked at Warren, it was clear that we needed a vet. Warren was in extreme pain and unable to bear weight on his right hind leg. We treated Warren for his pain whilst we waited for the vet to arrive. Our vet, was already out on another call, so poor Lucy stood with Warren for an age to keep the rest of the horses away from him, and Coudy, Dan and Sue dashed around with fly sheets and fly spray for the rest of the horses until such time the vet arrived.
One look at Warren confirmed our worst fears; there was no way that we could get him into the yard without some sort of transport...which we don't have. I telephoned Nickie at Marlborough Horse Transport and she kindly agreed to come over to try and get Warren down to the yard, but she was at a show with her son and it would take a bit of a while to get to us. We then waited for Nickie, and greeted her with relief when she arrived. Warren was still uncomfortable but his pain was being managed. I hopped in the lorry and up we went to the field. I suggested to Nickie that it would be best to turn the lorry in an entrance so that we could try and load Warren facing the right way to the yard so that it would be the least possible movement for him.
Blow me down, the lorry got stuck in a rut, and we had to ask our neighbouring farmer to come out and tow the lorry out. We then had to wait for Gerald to come. In the meantime, Lucy was still holding Warren...this whole excercise took up about three hours.
One of worst fears when eventually the lorry was finally in a position to load Warren, was the very real possibility that he would be too unsound to manage the ramp, however with another load of painkiller we managed to load him without too much trouble and then we set about x-raying him.
It had been our initial fear that following an x-ray it would be clear that Warren had fractured his hock, but despite many pictures, and that Mike had managed to send over the pictures for a second opinion this could not be confirmed.
Warren is now in for the night, he is comfortable, and it does look now as if he will recover.
Sadly, I missed a day with the family to celebrate Michael's birthday; what with one thing and another we were waiting around for about six hours, but hey ho that's horse's for you!
I have just come in again from looking at him, thankfully he appears to be alot better and is dozing....lucky old him.
Having looked at Warren, it was clear that we needed a vet. Warren was in extreme pain and unable to bear weight on his right hind leg. We treated Warren for his pain whilst we waited for the vet to arrive. Our vet, was already out on another call, so poor Lucy stood with Warren for an age to keep the rest of the horses away from him, and Coudy, Dan and Sue dashed around with fly sheets and fly spray for the rest of the horses until such time the vet arrived.
One look at Warren confirmed our worst fears; there was no way that we could get him into the yard without some sort of transport...which we don't have. I telephoned Nickie at Marlborough Horse Transport and she kindly agreed to come over to try and get Warren down to the yard, but she was at a show with her son and it would take a bit of a while to get to us. We then waited for Nickie, and greeted her with relief when she arrived. Warren was still uncomfortable but his pain was being managed. I hopped in the lorry and up we went to the field. I suggested to Nickie that it would be best to turn the lorry in an entrance so that we could try and load Warren facing the right way to the yard so that it would be the least possible movement for him.
Blow me down, the lorry got stuck in a rut, and we had to ask our neighbouring farmer to come out and tow the lorry out. We then had to wait for Gerald to come. In the meantime, Lucy was still holding Warren...this whole excercise took up about three hours.
One of worst fears when eventually the lorry was finally in a position to load Warren, was the very real possibility that he would be too unsound to manage the ramp, however with another load of painkiller we managed to load him without too much trouble and then we set about x-raying him.
It had been our initial fear that following an x-ray it would be clear that Warren had fractured his hock, but despite many pictures, and that Mike had managed to send over the pictures for a second opinion this could not be confirmed.
Warren is now in for the night, he is comfortable, and it does look now as if he will recover.
Sadly, I missed a day with the family to celebrate Michael's birthday; what with one thing and another we were waiting around for about six hours, but hey ho that's horse's for you!
I have just come in again from looking at him, thankfully he appears to be alot better and is dozing....lucky old him.
Monday 3 August 2009
The Weather
I hadn't realised until I started writing this blog quite regularly, how pretty much everything revolves around the weather! So....I shall begin by writing about it once again.
As feared, the weather last week was horrendous, we did manage to unearth enough rugs to keep all the horses dry, but even so, we kept the old horses in for a couple of nights because it was so ghastly. We are on top of a hill so I do think that we get the worst of it. The days were dark with the wind and the rain driving across the fields. Monty, Eddy and Runner were particularly thrilled to come in out of it all, and there was a general feeling of contentment in the sanctuary barn as they gazed out at the pouring rain.
Anyway, we have taken the bull by the horns this morning and dared the rain to continue by removing the rugs. Apparently, it is going to be much better this week, which wouldn't be hard......
Richard came along to do a vetting for some of the newer horses, it was jolly good for our work experience girls because he very patiently went through the things to look for in general conformation, which will, no doubt, be useful for them when they go back to college.
As feared, the weather last week was horrendous, we did manage to unearth enough rugs to keep all the horses dry, but even so, we kept the old horses in for a couple of nights because it was so ghastly. We are on top of a hill so I do think that we get the worst of it. The days were dark with the wind and the rain driving across the fields. Monty, Eddy and Runner were particularly thrilled to come in out of it all, and there was a general feeling of contentment in the sanctuary barn as they gazed out at the pouring rain.
Anyway, we have taken the bull by the horns this morning and dared the rain to continue by removing the rugs. Apparently, it is going to be much better this week, which wouldn't be hard......
Richard came along to do a vetting for some of the newer horses, it was jolly good for our work experience girls because he very patiently went through the things to look for in general conformation, which will, no doubt, be useful for them when they go back to college.
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