9th March - Zano settles in

Zano’s been here a week now and he’s settled in beautifully at June’s yard. He takes everything in his stride and he really is very calm and laid back – a typical Andalusian!

Rosie

  I’m getting to know the other characters here too – there are June’s two Highland mares – Mhari, who’s a grey in her early twenties and bay Rosie, who’s 14 years old.

Rosie’s ridden by Emily, and her 8 year old brother, Henry.

Chico and Megan

 Then there’s Chico, a grey 14 year old, 14.2hh Connemara x Irish Draft – he’s a really cheeky character owned by Megan and her mum, Nicky.

Scampi and Marlee

And finally there’s Scampi, who arrived two days after Zano. He’s 14 years old too, a little grey Welsh 12.2hh pony who is really talkative – he’s always whickering away, watching everything going on. He’s owned by Marlee, who’s 8 years old and she’s very excited about owning her very first pony!




 
So, now Zano’s settled in, it’s time to think about the next step – riding! As he’s only been ridden a handful of times in the last 18 months I’m going to have to really think carefully about how to bring him back into work. One thing’s for sure – I’ll have to take it slowly!

This week the vet, Angela visited him and gave him his inoculations. He stood very calmly and the vet, Angela, advised leading him out in hand and hacking on the roads to help strengthen his tendons and build his muscles before starting to trot. Zano had only hacked for very short distances a handful of times in his last home, so I went out on my first hack with Chico and Megan, and Rosie and Emily – their ponies were going to babysit Zano, but he’s got such a super stride that after we left the yard he led from the front and loved it all! I’ll make sure he has a day off in between being led out or being hacked to make sure that he doesn’t get too achey.

Next week, the farrier is booked in – he’s only got shoes on his front hooves at the moment, but if Zano’s going to do road work to get fit he might need them on the back too – I’ll ask Jason's, the farrier, advice on that one!

2nd March - A new arrival!

Well, Jerezano arrived today! He got a bit excited when the trailer pulled into the yard and he flew down the ramp, neighing at the top of his lungs!

Richard, his old owner, led him into one of the spare stables while he had a rug change, then he was turned out next to one of the other ponies at the yard – Chico. They had a few squeals and Zano, as I decided to nickname him, stomped his hoof a bit. But pretty quickly he was more interested in drinking some water and investigating the big blue bucket containing his hay!

Zano had a change of yard just before I bought him and he’s dropped quite a bit of weight, so my first challenge is to begin to build his weight up.

The next few days were spent just settling Zano in and getting him into his new routine.
His routine is this:

• He gets fed first thing in the morning, around 8am. While he’s tucking into his morning feed I put some hay in his blue bucket in the field and check his water. 
• Then, when he’s finished eating I swap his stable rug for his outdoor rug, giving him a quick check over and running my hands down his legs to check that everything’s okay. 
• Next Zano’s led to the field where he rolls within seconds of having his headcollar taken off!
• Then while he’s enjoying having a stroll round, cropping the spring grass or nibbling his hay, I muck out his stable, refill his haynets and top up his water. 
• Then, after a well earned cup of tea and a play with the yard cats, Eric and Toby and a chat with June, I either leave Zano in the field to relax or take him for a walk in the school in hand to get used to his surroundings. 
• After time to himself I bring him in around 5pm, he has another rug change, groom and his hooves picked out, then he gets his last feed, a cuddle and then it’s lights out for the evening.

1st March - A new pony!

Name: Jerezano

Breed: Andalusian

Sex: Gelding

Age: 7 years (8 in June 2012)

Colour: dappled grey

Height: 15.3hh (hands high)

Owned since: 2nd March 2012!

History: Jerezano was born in Spain, in a town called Jerez. His name translates as ‘citizen of Jerez’. His old owners, Richard and Pamela, saw him in Spain two years ago, fell in love with him and brought him back to England with one other Andalusian. But, not long after, Richard returned to university and, with a business to run too, neither he nor Pamela had any time to ride! So Jerezano enjoyed his time out in the paddocks at their gorgeous cottage in Norfolk for a while, living alongside Pamela’s other Andalusian and her retired Welsh section D mare. After some time they made the heartbreaking decision to sell Jerezano – Andalusian’s love to be in work and to have new challenges, so they felt he should be out and about, being ridden. I saw the advert and decided that first day that he was my perfect partner. The rest, as they say, is history!

Going to try Jerezano

 I saw the picture below with the advert title: ‘Beautiful Andalusian’, and it immediately grabbed my attention. The first line read ‘Dappled grey gelding, very very kind’ and I was hooked.

That was my favourite colour and I love Andalusians, so I arranged to see him and fell in love with how sweet he was to deal with on the ground and how willing he was in the school.

The next week I went back and had another sit on him, this time with my fab riding instructor, Jo Hirst. She thought he had real promise – a good attitude, coupled with a balanced confirmation and ability. The deal was done – I can’t tell you how excited I was!

My first sit on Zano

First things first - finding the perfect yard! During the week while I was waiting for Jerezano to arrive I had to find a yard to stable him at. I looked at loads but there was one that immediately felt like home as soon as I pulled up outside, partly because I was greeted by a huge, really friendly black cat!

Eric the cat

The yard is owned and run by the amazing June, who is like a mother hen to the ponies and horses in her care, and to all of us humans too! She’s got a background in showing and she really knows her stuff. She has her ponies in a good routine which helps them all stay really calm and relaxed.

The yard is small, with nine indoor stables in a barn and there’s a fantastic school behind the barn, and well-managed grazing. It’s even got a solarium to help the ponies dry after being washed, or to warm their muscles either before or after exercise!

But most of all, it’s ultra friendly and the atmosphere is lovely for the ponies and the humans – there’s even a sofa area with tea, coffees and a ready supply of biscuits – it’s yard heaven! And I can cycle there from home – perfect.