Nightmare!

My nerves are frayed! The horses ran riot tonight when I was trying to move them from their stables into the barn. Zip had been so good that I had begun to trust him, but he headed straight up the yard and out of the entrance and down the road, followed of course by the other two. I have no idea what got into them, and Tia became the ringleader and caused no end of trouble. I don't have a gate on the entrance to the main yard, just the stable area. I have a rope with some hose on it that I put up if I think I am going to need it, but I got complacent just when Zip got extra-bold. My goodness he IS a brave horse.

Anyway, I managed to block the road upwards, and downwards is just a little country lane. Zip in particular was trying to go up towards the main road but I leapt around waving my arms about (all this in the pitch dark, no street lights where I live!) and stopped them all. Eventually I got them back in the yard but it was murder to get them into the barn. You can't try and catch one, because then the other two are back out on the road and away before you can blink. I finally managed to get the rope up, and then dear little Zip went into the barn. I shut him in while I tried to sort out the other two and he went crazy. I heard a huge thump against the barn wall. In fact I practically felt it shake the air :-0 !! Oh God, I thought, let that not be his head, let him have kicked the wall and not run into it and broken his neck.

Jazz was next to behave and go calmly into the barn but Tia was still being difficult. Finally she got her act together and all three were in. I sat and waited for them all to quiet down, and then looked at Zip. Sure enough, one of his eyebrows is missing. There is no broken skin, so the blow must have been a glancing one even though it sounded so ominous. I can press the eyebrow bone and he isn't in pain with it, thank goodness. Phew, got away with it............. just.....

Apart from that it's been a really good day. Jazz was stiff this morning but he worked really well in the end. "In the end" included getting off and going and grooming Tia at one point rather than accept him setting on me and refusing to work without being forced. When I came back he had changed his mind and went forward freely.

Then Tia did some really nice work, with the calmest canter transitions she has ever done. And I had taken off the martingale for the first time too. Just as we finished, the vet arrived for Zip's flu jab. He was as quiet as a lamb. She was a Spanish vet who works here for all the horse experience. She says that we Brits ave more horses, and do things for our horses that Spanish owners don't, so she likes working here although she hates our weather. Given that it was howling a gale and lashing down with rain at that moment, I didn't blame her at all :-) She asked to see Zip move, so I put him in the barn and got him to trot round. She was very impressed and said he had a lot of potential. Also that he was a very big horse :-)

Just minutes after she left, Tam arrived to see Zip, so I got him in from the field and put him in the barn again. This time, he produced the most spectacular trot he has ever done, including either time that I went to see him. Understandably, Tam seemed to think I'd done the right thing buying him :-) I have to say that he has got stronger every day I have known him, and it is improving what I thought were already pretty impressive paces. He also showed his dominant nature to Tam, and his willingness to knock me flying when I tried to pick out a hind foot. She timed a telling off at the front end perfectly, and I think he was most surprised with a two-pronged correction - at any rate it worked and the foot was offered nicely next time.

I'm working tomorrow so I don't expect much in the way of horse excitement. A calmer evening routine would be most welcome :-)

C