Bad news in Coronation Street :-((((

I have bad  news for Coronation Street fans :-(((((((((((  There is going to be a  horrible accident where a female character's car hits a fallen tree, runs through a wall, rolls down a hill and is all smashed up. She is cut free by the Fire Brigade but I'm not sure if she lives, sorry :-(

It's been great fun - they have been filming it for two days now. The Fire Brigade are real, by the way.

So ....  Jazz and I went for a hack this morning. He coped with the picnic area being full of crew wagons and the like. He coped with all the men in hi viz gear. He coped with two crews of firemen. He just about held it together as an extension lead was rolled out up the road. Then he saw the smashed up car, and was losing the plot. I held him together as he freaked at the cameras, but I'm afraid that the furry boom microphone was the last straw and he spun for home. I could hardly blame him, could I?  I got off and led him past, remoutned and went on to our normal turning point (with two huge fire appliances parked on it which he practically ignored) and on the way back he pranced along past it all, breathing fire out of his nostrils and with a huge arched neck! He made a magnificent sight and there were a lot of people staring at him in awe! :-)))

So, onto Campo's news. After SH had spent hours rigging a heavy duty hayrack and lining it with chicken wire, he simply grabbed the chicken wire and tore a hole in it. Talk about determined! So at ten last night I was outside lacing electric sheep fence wire in crosses across each of the diagonals. That stuff is tough on the fingers, I can tell you. It took an hour and a half, but it was worth it - it worked!

As I was working I could see that he was very uncomfortable on his feet. He was shuffling and lifting feet and generally unable to settle. I was very concerned about what I was going to find when I came out this morning. So imagine my surprise when I found a peaceful, happy horse who was able to walk into the barn without showing much sign of a problem at all. It was a shock, I can tell you. The only thing I can put it down to is that his feet were a bit numb from the shoes and he got that painful pins and needles that you get when nerves wake up again.

But the good news did not stop there. There was eatable haylage left on the floor of his stable. Not much, but he had not been fed since ten last night, so the fact that there was any left at all was amazing.

And there's more. I left him in the barn today with two packs of hay spread in tiny bits all over the place, and he has obviously pecked at it all day but there is still plenty left. The munchies appear to have left him already. His neck was very hard on the crest (that's a big danger sign in laminitics, in case you don't know) and it is definitely a lot softer today.

And that's not the end, either. We have just swooshed him around the barn to get him to walk, and in spite of having his soles packed up with barn surface, he appears to be totally comfortable on his feet. As things stand, I fully expect to be able to ride him on the outdoor in walk next week. And he is such a nice horse that I am positively looking forward to it.

Tomorrow Jazz and I are off to Sonia.

C