I have a snowplough…

… its been on order from our local farm machinery dealer for the last month, they hope it might be with me by Friday, oh well, it just keeps snowing and we now have  a good 18 inches, all 16 horses in full work trotted half a mile in the deep snow and then cantered steadily for a mile a a half, not perfect but it made them sweat.. I was having fun with the camera..

greylag geese…

some hungry roe deer (magnifying glass required..

a brown hare with Isla Patriot..

Daasij, a new recruit….

the snow has invaded the bedding store….

heading home after 3rd lot, still snowing!

oh, and don’t forget the Buffalo….

 

"oh gallop, where art thou?"

 Some pictures taken here at mid-day on 29th November 2010.... further comment would be superfluous!

Wow!

Driving home late last night I realised conditions were pretty severe but I was still surprised this morning, there was a good 8 inches of snow and it seemed to have blown into every corner of the yard, Seeking Power had about 3 inches in his feed trough, there must have been a blizzard more severe than anything we saw last winter which is saying something.  I console myself with the thought that at least Carlisle was off because there is no way we would have been able to get there anyway!

No plans to ride anything today so they all have an hour on the walker, looking ahead at the forecast for the week I am concerned and I find myself cutting the feeds back a little, not ideal but pouring in the rocket fuel when we might not be able to gallop them hard can have disastrous consequences.  I am heartened by the work ethic of the team who always make the effort to turn up despite conditions that would have most of the country staying at home, its probably the thought of the consequences of leaving me in charge that spurs them on!  Nevertheless conditions are so bad that I told the Sunday squad not to come back this afternoon and they have passed the baton to Mrs A & the "C" team..... silly old me will sneak round with a special treat - I've been sent a bale of sun-dried lucerne from the USA, its smells wonderful - a little taste of the American summer for the horses on a dark cold day.

Pictured below is Buffalo Ballet, this imposing 4yo son of Kayf Tara is a very exciting prospect to have in the yard, we bred him as we did his Flemensfirth brother who the champion trainer bought for Sir Alex Ferguson for a lot of money and "Buffalo" is twice the horse his brother was, he has a pedigree of the highest class and is a big strong powerful chasing type, he is also quite quirky and will need handled carefully, we have just started to let the handbrake off ocassionally and he doesn't disappoint, he is incredibly light on his feet for such a big horse.  I have held on to him in the hope that he can do something for the yard, I will need to find an owner for him at some stage or we will need to sell him, let's hope we can keep him here - in the mean time he is one of the many reasons that make slithering around in the snowy dark mornings worthwhile. Oh, and his name, where does it come from? the answer is here....enjoy....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOL2kwBrm4Y

and in the summer..

been here before

the "warmest" temperature today was minus 2, not unprecedented for the time of year, I actually took this photograph on the same weekend two years ago.  Blizzards forecast for tomorrow, I'll be hoping it rains!  Managed to work all the horses this morning on the all-weather today which was fine, they will have a quiet Sunday with an hour on the horse-walker and some will probably go out in the fields again as they did today unless conditions are completely horrific, last winter I stopped turning them out and I don't think that did their lung health much good so we will persevere. 
A wonderful renewal of the Hennessy, won in taking fashion by an improving young horse and a magnificent performance in defeat by Denman, it's what the sport is all about, Silver by Nature needs softer ground to be seen at his best but I am sure Peter looked after him when his chance had gone and he will be a very interesting prospect for the Welsh National. 
This weather looks set in for the whole of next week, we will just concentrate on keeping the horses fit, healthy and fresh... just not too fresh!

Grumpy?

Well, Newcastle off, Carlisle no chance of being on and I'm in danger of becoming grumpy, we couldn't go to Lucinda's this morning because of frost, am hoping to go there tomorrow but snow forecast for tonight, at least our gallop is holding up well and 12 horses worked on it today, the other four - who had all had more intensive physio yesterday - just a a long (and cold!) walk out.  It's a lovely sunny afternoon though so plenty of them are turned out in the fields for extra rations of fresh air.

So we won't be racing this weekend, our next engagements are at Ayr and Catterick on Wednesday - Native Coll might go down there as it looks the only place likely to be on for the next week or so, we will then have entries at Kelso on Sunday 5th.  With last weekend's runners both going so well and 7 of our 9 runners this season having made the frame I am understandably keen to get on, never mind at least there is the Hennesy to watch tomorrow with the mighty Denman on display, it would be wonderful for the area if Lucinda's Silver by Nature could run a big race and I will be urging Peter on but it's a bit of a shame for him that the race appears the most competitive its been for some time - if the same Denman turns up that won the race last year then I can't really see him being beaten.

Deja Vu

the first snowfall of the winter and it's back onto the tractor first thing to rotovate the school and gallop bringing back not very welcome memories of the slog of battling with the weather last season, stream of texts from the racecourses updating re conditions doesn't help either and an optimistic update to the owners of Northern Flame turns out to be a little premature as Newcastle announce that they have had 5 inches of snow overnight leading to a bleak prognosis for the weekend.  A fair amount of satisfaction though gained by the gallop coming up in perfect condition and all 16 horses in full work did a couple of steady canters which was just what I wanted, hoping to take Isla Pearl Fisher, Isla Patriot and Skipping Chapel to Lucinda's tomorrow if the weather allows so am happy to see her lorry in here today - using her gallop as much this season has been a big help and it makes me feel better about it if she is using ours too.
Grania our visiting physio came in at 9.30 and is still out there now at 3.30 with our in-house physio Gillian, they are going over all the horses and really take their time to go into detail, its hugely appreciated by me as they must be absolutely freezing by now, I am amazed by how often they find a little niggle that I suspected but said nothing about - I am sure that good quality pro-active physio must be hugely beneficial in enabling these horses to cope with their work, oh dear, another text just through, Newcastle abandoned.... drat!

schooling

We schooled Seeking Power in a visor (blinkers with a slit at the back to let in light) this morning and it certainly stirred him up a bit, I think he will run wearing this on Saturday and it should just help him travel and maintain his focus throughout the race. Also schooling well over fences were Native Coll and Skipping Chapel.  The rest of the horses took the chance to do plenty of steady cantering on grass as the forecast indicates that we will be restricted to the artificial surfaces for at least the next week.

This afternoon involved a trip to East Lothian to watch U13 rugby, very exciting but also absolutely freezing, the Belhaven rugby pitch is in a slightly elevated position right next to the North Sea which in todays north-easterly snow-laden breeze made it one of the coldest places on the planet, Aberdeenshire is now snowbound which comes as no surprise, lets hope it stays up there.  Saw a few old friends though which was fun....