The Custard Cream Trail

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I’ve been on tour with Aunty Tills!  Three days away and up to our forelocks in all kinds of escapades. 

It started badly.  We were forced unceremoniously onto the sweat box on wheels and had to stay in it for a long sweaty time while we were transported to the beginning of the Custard Cream Trail – a place called Rushop Hall.   On the plus side, once we arrived, we did have a field of grassy munchies all to ourselves. 

Our field at the beginning of the Custard Cream Trail

Tills seemed quite happy about this and quickly got down to the business of filling her fetlocks.  I tried to catch on to her relaxed vibe, but for some reason I did find it hard to blink for a good while.

The next day our humans, Kat and Sara, took us out on a training session.   In the name of all the saints over the bridge I can’t tell you how hard this was.  We went up, down, up down, up down and then for the final down, our humans – for some absurd reason – decided we needed to go down a stone staircase.   My feet are not the daintiest – Kat calls them dinner plates – so I did find this a bit daunting.    

At the bottom of the staircase there was a small gate we had to squeeze through.  Tills went through no problem, but our humans spent a while debating if I would fit.  Bit rude.

Up
More up
Top of the up
Down – the wrong way

Our efforts of the day were rewarded by Sara demonstrating a new hopping technique of mounting Tills on the move.   She almost hopped all the way around the car park – really impressive. 

On the way back to our field at Rushop I did call out over the valley beneath us, just to see if Jack could hear me.  I don’t think he did though.  On the plus side, I was so tired when we got back, I was relaxed enough to blink again.    

The next day we started properly on the Custard Cream Trail and headed south – towards home!!   Today was the longest day of my entire 6 years as an extremely hairy cob.   We covered 20 miles over 9 hours (I know, there must be rules against this kind of exploitation).  

Tills and I did lose our fear of water troughs though and slurped freely from them whenever we could find one. 

Happy Slurping

I also found out why it was called the Custard Cream Trail.     

Sara had packed enough of these human Custard Cream treats for 3 weeks instead of 3 days – no wonder our saddle bags had been weighed down!!    It was nothing less than our duty to try and lighten the load. 

Custard Cream anyone?
Sara and I working together to lighten the load

After this very long second day, brightened by the Custard Cream discovery, we finally arrived at the next overnight stop on the trail.   We were weary and hungry so another field all to ourselves was very welcome.   

The next morning we set off again – the load a bit lighter but more work required.   It was another very long day, but on this occasion brightened by the wee incident – seeing Kat scratting around in the squat and drop position while I ‘accidentally’ stood on my reins was highly amusing.  

In the afternoon Tills and I recognised where we were and despite our tiredness we picked up pace and headed homewards with renewed vigour.  

I would sum up my first real trail as follows – the world beyond my field isn’t all that scary after all and Hula Hoops are just so yesterday – it’s all about the Custard Creams.  In-fact, Tills and I have agreed to only ever go on Custard Cream trails in future – anything else and we’re calling a strike.    

GMFN

F x

Hula Hoops with Tilly of the 3 Wees

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Our training session the other day was so long that I had to go to the toilet 10 times and Tills was renamed Tilly of the 3 Wees…

The effort of being out all day was nothing compared to the serious deprivation of grassy munchies we had to tolerate. Tills and I had to pull all the tricks from the ‘How to Defeat your Human’ Manual for Horses to get the measly tufts we were able to snatch at rest times and on route.

Pretending to scratch our noses on the ground and then surreptitiously diving for the grass verge works well. However, we achieved the most success with the ‘Show and Swoop’ technique.

This little ruse involves leading our humans to a particular lovely view and, while they are oohing over the landscape, we then swoop down for some juicy munchies. On this particular day we were very high up so there were plenty of views to be enjoyed.

Tills demonstrating the Show and Swoop. I have no idea what Sara is doing.

Both these tricks work tolerably well, but not enough to keep us as full as we’re accustomed for 8 hours. Kat said we’ve been spoilt having endless grassy munchies in our field and wild horses would eat on the move most days.

Despite these hardships I discovered that if I helped Kat open the gates I got rewarded every time with a hay cob treat. She also shared some of her human hay cobs with me; she called them Hula Hoops.

Twice on this arduous day the sun was turned off and everything went black – all except a circle of light in front of us that kept getting bigger. Our feet on the ground were very loud and Tills got upset because her eyesight isn’t the best, even in daylight. Eventually the sun was turned back on but the same thing happened on the way home in the exact same place – very odd.

When we got home I was very tired and I can’t even find the words to express how hungry I was… That said, Kat was very pleased with me and said I was now a true trail riding horse as I’d done 20 miles on the trail with half of it in torrential rain.

Next week Tills and I are being loaded onto the sweat box on wheels and taken away from our home to ride 3 days just like this one. I don’t know whether I’m scared, excited or appalled, but I do know I’d like some more of these Hula Hoop human hay cobs. Fetlocks crossed Kat packs enough for both of us.

GMFN

F x

Hench Wench Thunder Feet and the Puff Puff

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Grassy munchies all. I have news – a new name and a new problem.

I am now known as Hench Wench Thunder Feet and, my human has been harassing me with an alarming ‘puff puff’ sound.

My new badge of honour is quite a mouthful so I’m happy to stick with Frankie still. Or, just Thunder for short.

My interpretation of this is ‘She Who is Fast and Strong’. Kat said it was because I was ‘built like a tank’ and ‘the ground shakes as my hooves pound over it at full pelt’.

Good job I can happily disregard my human.

I’ve also had more of the horrible hay-fever which has turned into Asthma, meaning I can’t breath as well as I should be able to. Kat said I need to start using something call an inhaler.

I am deeply suspicious of the ‘puff puff’ sound the inhaler makes and there is little this side of The Bridge that could convince me otherwise.

Kat even tried to tempt me with the Hobnob – literally my favourite thing about humans – but it wasn’t enough to entice me. In-fact, it was almost enough to put me off these crunchy oaty delights for life – an unforgivable travesty that would have been.

The ‘puff puff’ must be important as Kat has sought a higher authority – the man that can talk horse. Why she thinks I will ever be talked into liking something that sounds like a snake going in for the killer bite is way beyond my extreme hairiness.

They think I don’t know, but once I’m able to tolerate the ‘puff puff’ near me, they are going to ‘puff puff’ it up my nose – 5 times a day. I’ve never heard such nonsense. Game on humans.

While Kat is plotting and scheming with the ‘puff puff’, I’ve got the same medicine to take in my grassy munchies feed instead. Apparently, it’s something called Steroids, which is working wonders.

I think it’s probably what’s earned me my new title – my turn of hoof to full velocity the other day nearly sent Kat catapulting over my head.

That’s definitely something to keep up my hairy feathers if she continues with the ‘puff puff’ abuse. Tit for tat and all.

Until next time.

GMFN

F x (HWTF)

Love is in the field

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I’m just bursting with love and life at the moment.

My hay fever has gone so I can breathe easily again and I love my new field almost as much as my new friend, Jack.

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I’ve never loved like this before.  It’s literally knocked me off my hooves, giving me a lust for life – and Jack – I didn’t think possible.

Unfortunately, I think my all consuming zest and zeal was partly responsible for the little incident that blotted my fetlock with Kat today on our training session.

I was skipping along the road in high spirits when a herd of cows decided to chase us in the adjacent field.

So I did what any high spirited, loved up, hairy Cob would do and took off – at high speed – using all my new found oomph to flee the killer cows and save us all.

Once I realised Tills was calmly walking some distance behind me (she may have also been tutting, but I can’t be sure) and Kat seemed more concerned about my speed than the cows, I stopped running – and started feeling slightly foolish.

Thankfully, a strange incident later on with Tills took the focus off my folly.

In the woods Tills decided to jump over a pool of water. Quite sensibly as we couldn’t see the bottom so naturally assumed it was 20 horses deep and full of hungry crocodiles.

Tills cleared the pool fabulously taking herself and her human, Sara, safely to the other side. I was so impressed!

However, at this point Sara did something very strange.  Instead of congratulating Tills on her fabulous leap of courage, she flopped off Tilly’s back and had a lie down on the ground for a few minutes.  Maybe she was tired after all the antics?

Tills did the sensible thing and took the opportunity for some grassy munchies while Sara had her little rest.

Once we were back at the field I told Jack all about it. He gave me a peck on my muzzle, told me not to worry and said I was very brave trying to save everyone from the killer cows.

We both agreed that humans can be very strange before we settled down to the serious business of grassy munchies.  Together.

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I wish Kat would remove my hay fever net so I could get some proper nose on nose action with Jack.

GMFN

F x

 

 

 

From Tree to Bush

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In the holy name of all that’s green, I’ve only gone and moved fields. Again.

I asked Kat why I was being moved from tree to bush yet again. She said I was enjoying the ‘eat all your can buffet’ too much at my old field and was getting too big.  Again.

Kat is always forgetting I’m 50% hair and actually trim as a pin underneath.

On the plus side, I’m now sharing a field with Aunty Tills and her best friend Jack – a very fetching fella who has a bit of the Murray magic going on, except in ginger.

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Meeting Jack!

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The Magical Murray

I never met Murray, but he can still get us females all of a dither, even from beyond the bridge.

Cassie is also in my new herd. She used to be my previous herd leader at the ‘eat all you can buffet’ field and it’s clear she holds the same status here as well.

I am following all the basic new herd member rules, but she won’t let me in – or anywhere near Jack. I think she might feel threatened by my extreme hairiness.

 

I mean, Cassie is looking good for the more mature lady, but she doesn’t have the kind of voluminous lustrous locks that I happily possess. 

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Cassie

It’s going to be a tough group to crack all round to be honest – they are very tight. Tills and Jack practically share the same grassy munchies and threesome grooming sessions are common.

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Tills and Jack sharing grassy munchies

I am determined to be accepted though as my safety and sanity depends on it.

I cannot be truly safe from predators left out in the cold on my own and I cannot be truly sane without any friends to share mutual grooming with and general grumblings about our humans.

Plus, I kind of like the idea of a threesome with Jack.

Until next time.

GMFN

F x

Moving Conversations

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I think I am starting to connect with my human. There could be two reasons for this.

1. Working together in the building with sand on the floor has really improved our communication.

Or

2. She’s the only thing that holds promise of a half decent meal while I’m being left to starve in the barren lands of Weight Watchers.

Time will tell which it is when my belly is full again!

In the sand building Kat uses her body to tell me where we need to turn, when to stop, what to step over and what speed to do it. She has to fully concentrate and focus on what she’s asking as much as I have to listen, understand and do.

On a good day we can have a clear and continual conversation about how, when and where we are going to move, together.

She makes a great fuss of me when I listen well and try my hardest. It’s only verbal treating at the moment but I’m hoping it will move on to something more acceptable in time.

In the beginning I really didn’t like the sand building. We horses feel safer when we can see all around and far into the distance – living on a hill is ideal! We can fling all our senses out far and wide to check if there are any approaching dangers.

I can’t see anything when I’m in the sand building. I can only hear noises and let my flight animal imagination do the rest.

As I couldn’t rule out the noises being dangerous – and always believing it’s best to be alive than dead – I kept myself good and ready for flight mode.

Kat would say I charged around at high speed, not listening to a word she said and making a dive for the door every time we passed it…. she’s not wrong to be fair.

I’ve really progressed from that now. I feel calm and purposeful inside the building and can put all my effort into trying to understand Kat – I need it really, she can be a bit woolly.

This is our recent session with Ross, the man who can talk horse.

I did get my feathers in a fine old twist when I couldn’t understand what Kat was asking me to do. Then again, I don’t think she really knew either so I won’t get so worried about it next time.

I wasn’t sure how these new training sessions would help our trail riding but Kat said they would improve our trust in each other, especially when we’re away from home, and help make me strong so I can carry her all day, every day.

I was hoping she’d forgotten about that to be honest.

For now, I’m really looking forward to going back home next week – to Macy and Tiger and finally some decent grassy munchies !

GMFN

F x

The Barren Wastelands of Weight Watchers

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In the holy name of Pegasus have I been through it these last weeks.

Kat wrenched me away from my lush green grassy home and best friends, Macy and Tiger, and dumped me in a small patch of barren wasteland down at the Farm.

When I asked why in the blazing green grasses was she doing this to me, she said I was too overweight and needed some time in the Weight Watchers field.

My first days in Weight Watchers are a blur – I think I was in shock. Not only was I being starved, but I could see my field in the distance and hear my friends calling me.

My security and safety had been wrenched away from me – by my trusted human! – and I was left reeling with anxiety and uncertainty.

Things started to look up when Tia joined Weight Watchers. I have been out on training sessions with Tia and her human Jeff, so I already knew her. She is so nice that I quickly elevated her to Aunty status, alongside Tills.

Aunty Tia

Aunty Tia really helped settle my nerves and get me focused on the challenging task of finding a decent meal from the hoof sized scrap of earth I’d been deposited on.

However, when Kat started taking me away from Tia to do some training, I got my fetlocks in a real old twist. I could hear Tia shouting me this time but I couldn’t see or get to her either!

What kind of punishment is this now I thought as all self-control slipped away from me? Continually being taken away from my friends, my home, my new Aunty, my herd, my safety, my patch of wasteland?

Kat insisted on taking me away from Aunty Tia over and over though and eventually I realised that I was okay, I survived and would always get back to her at some point.

This whole experience has made me realise I am not really the girl about the field I thought I was. I am still very young and inexperienced, with much to learn.

Since this realisation, we have been joined by a third member of Weight Watchers, Freckles.

This is me welcoming her. I think she’s a regular member and a pro in finding a good square meal from a bare patch of earth.

There’s more though…

On top of all this, I’ve had horse hay fever, making it hard for me to breath properly.

The human called Vet came to see me and gave me some medicine. Vet also tried to put the stick up my bum again, but I was ready this time. The serious level of clamping and clenching I was able to produce left her in no doubt that that area of my physiology was not open for business. Literally.

My breathing is now back to normal but I do have to wear this ridiculous nose net to stop something called Pollen getting into my tubes and clogging them up again.

Big Col in the field next to ours does provide a welcome respite from the starvation and annoying head gear – he is very handsome and knows it.

His human says he thinks he’s The Dog’s Bollocks. I have no idea why he is likened to the anatomy of my canine foes, but something tells me she’s got a point.

This is Big Col demonstrating his canine credentials.

When all is neighed and munched, I am really looking forward to getting back to my lovely grassy home and herd up the hill but I think my time at Weight Watchers will be an important experience – one that will hopefully decrease my size as much as it increases my wisdom.

I wonder what Macy and Tiger will make of this new slimmed down grown up version of me!!

GMFN

Fx

Tresemmed Tills

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For the first time in a long time I saw Tills today. We’d been kept apart because of the human loo roll crisis.

Apparently Sara and Kat weren’t allowed to see each other because they weren’t from the same herd.

Good thing if you ask me. All kinds of plans get plotted when they’re together. Usually focused around the toil and strife of me and Tills.

It was great to see Aunty Tills; I’d missed her! And, wow, did she look good! All buffed and silky shiny.

I was in complete awe and immediately wanted to know how she’d achieved this classy, chic girl about the field look.

Tills said her human, Sara, had Tresemmed her. Well, I have no idea what that is, but I want some. The idea of my abundance of tangled locks being so silky smooth and lustrous is just super.

Here’s Tilly’s Tresemmed tail. Look at that bounce!

Here I am admiring her.

I wonder if Kat would do this for me?

I did enjoy a fun half hour this morning letting her run round after me before I allowed myself to be caught. Perhaps I need to reconsider this kind of behaviour if I want to be Tresemmed like Tills…?

Anyway, seeing Tills, plus an abundance of roadside Dandelions, made our session today just about bearable.

Tills is very adept at being able to grab and munch on the go and she certainly came off many more Dandelions the happier than me today. I just seem to grab mouthfuls of fresh air instead…

As you can see below however, I took full advantage of an ‘official’ grab and munch stop.

UPDATE: Since writing the above, Kat has Tresemmed my tail!!! Check me out below.

I was very pleased until she said it was a good job my tail was so voluminous as my bum would look monstrous otherwise.

Can someone find me a new human please?

Until next time.

GMFN

Fx

Haribo Fields Forever

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Three words.  Sweet Spring Grass.  

It’s my favourite time of year – no cold, no flies, just an endless sugar hit.

Not only does it taste mouth-wateringly amazing but, after a long hard Winter, every bit of my physiology is shouting ‘eat up all this goodness and don’t stop for anything – especially your human!’

Who am I to ignore such a direct instruction from Mother Nature?

Attempting to entice me away from this feast to embark on any amount of toil and effort for human entertainment is simply absurd.

Despite this, Kat is insisting we carry on with our training schedule – unfortunately these have now resumed after the welcome break due to the human loo roll crisis.

She says that I need to go back to work because my Winter field of Broccoli has turned into a Spring field of Haribo and it’s making me too round and too naughty.  

I have no idea what she’s on about. Although, I did bite her bum the other day – right cheek to be precise.

If I’m going to be dragged away from my so called ‘Haribo field’ and asked to flout a direct instruction from Nature herself, then I need to be asked politely.  Several times.  Probably over the course of about 20 minutes.  Or maybe 30. Depending on what day of the week it is of course.  With the proviso that I may still just refuse. 

Kat, however, is showing an exasperating amount of determination and patience. She loiters about, trailing after me and being so irritatingly persistent that I am completely put off my feasting. Often, I have to let her catch me, simply to stop the persecution.

This is an example of her harrassment.

Busy right now, you’ll have to wait.
Nope, still busy. Please stop following me.
Seriously? I’ve told you I’m not ready yet!
This is actually harassment now. Bugger off.
Okay, let’s get this over with so I can get back to my Haribo in peace.

See what I have to put up with?

Luckily for Kat, I’m the good-natured, easy going Cob I am. She’d be having all kinds of trouble with me otherwise…..

GMFN

Fx

Great Escapes

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Because of the loo roll crisis Kat has been spending more time just hanging out with me in the field.

As a bonus, I’ve been finding out more about the trail riding journeys she has planned for us. Any bonus stops at enlightenment, I might add.

Rather alarmingly, Kat wants to go on long journeys for days on end (or even weeks!) where we travel all day and stay out all night. She says they will be her Great Escape from the hurly burly of modern human life.

I rather like the journeys I do already – from the grass, to the water trough, to the hay and back to the grass. Throw in a stop on the way for some mutual grooming with my pals and it’s time to hit the shade for a doze.

Life is tiring enough without all this journey business

Apparently, humans also embark on such journeys to try and find themselves. I reminded Kat she was right next to me in my field so there was really no need for all the toil and hardship.

She said it was my fault she wanted to spend so much time with me because I offered peace and calm – something that isn’t readily available in the human world.

Well honestly, humans can be a bit dense at times.

If they only managed to replace their endless noise and motion with a good dose of our peace and calm, not only would they stop interfering with the balance of the planet but, they might be able to discover that elusive thing known as Themselves.

No arduous journey required. I get to stay at home and enjoy the quality grassy munchies I’m accustomed to. Job done.

Maybe an increase in my peace and calm dosage might give Kat the escape and discovery she wants without all this journey nonsense.

I will need to be a bit nicer to her, but I can work on that – a sacrifice for the greater good.

GMFN

F x