...aw, them 'orses....

...for the love of Tom & Henry...

...more photo-journal stuff, and how Tom really is slimming down for the beach, and nearly a year after his accident, where he had 37 stitches in his shoulder, he's recovered just fine xxx

...easter...

...a bank holiday to remember...

....amazing weather, great riding.  Exclusive access to open fields - recently tilled, soft and perfect surface for hooves.

The floor of the woods covered in a blanket of bluebells...Tom being a great horse as usual, Henry being Henry (as usual).

Fittening trotting and transitional work.

...then Monday....a day off in the pasture...

...springtime....

...and the land needs attention...

...the top 2 fields are done, but the final one - the 'pony paddock', the one that gets the maximum hoof-fall needs some serious harrowing,  and this is the weekend to do it, because the grass is growing fast.

My neighbours land, Boob-tube Lisa's, was being farmed last night, through the night.  Tractors with their lights on working all night in the dark.  It reminded me that time - like land - can wait for no man.  I need to get out in the Landy at the weekend myself and see to my paddock, with Placebo playing to keep me in rhythm.

You'll see from the photos with Min modeling the deep hoof-shaped ruts, there's lots of hard divots from rampaging Trakehners - I will work this to the extreme, re-seed and make this a perfect surface for growing healthy grass.


As you can see Tom and Henry are very proud of their grazing.

.... Coco, get off my land!  

another weekend on Instagram...

Instagram, it's a new addiction...

Tom and Henry are quite possibly the most photographed horses on the planet, I kid you not.

   

.......so when a friend told me about Instagram I naturally jumped at the chance to share my beloved boys with a wider audience - whether they were ready for us or not!

I have 'met' so many interesting and devoted equine keepers, it's a joy to use it.

Now, i am slow to social media, i don't do facebook or tweet, like my husband - but sharing beautiful and amusing stories and pictures about Tom and Henry, well, they're just such an easy subject to write about!

So almost a year into Instagram Tom & Henry have over 700 'followers', and because its the photos that lead to dialogue, its just quicker/easier than a blog.

I simply take my phone everywhere, document all crazy stuff, funny stuff, gorgeous stuff - and if your a regular on TCJ you'll know by now there's always a lot of that type of 'stuff' here.

It's a great way to ask questions, share dilemmas, resolve problems - because it's reach is global.  I have a buddy in Canada for eg, and she's naturally the best person to seek advice for cold weather tips.  another in California, she's key to hot weather problem solving.

...it's really friendly and if you don't like something, just hit the unfollow button, it couldn't be simpler.

I chat with a young girl in Newcastle who keeps a pony thats the same age as me - 45!! incredible, so getting important help from experts is really easy, and no one makes you feel like a fool.

.....give it a go, if nothing else, its a tremendous resource.

..it's in the air, it's everywhere...

Spring.

Tom & Henry are quite excited about the warmer, longer days.  More grass, more freedom, less udder cream.  They express their joy in one particular way - rampage!

 

Now you'll notice with a few of these shots, I am quite close, at one point I was diving for the fence to safety, and have broken the land speed record for fastest 100 metre sprint in wellies - through thick mud!

 

anyway, I risked life an limb to get these, so you don't have to.

 

enjoy.

 

 

 

 

...no shoes were lost during the filming of this sequence.

 

I make no apologies for the number of photos, Trakehners at liberty, that can't be beaten in my view.