January 2010

Happy New Year to you all.

Lets see what this year will bring, already the Shetland Society has increased all its fees for registrations, change of ownership, D.N.A. tests etc, this on top of the extra cost of having to get all the foals microchipped, not really the best news in a recession Unfortunately some studs will inevitiably put more foals down, a practice I have never and will never agree to, as I believe every life is special, and if we bring them into the world we should do our best to find them homes.

Most of the ponies are now in their winter quarters; a covered yard with an outside concrete area where we feed them. They have two round feeders, one with hay and the other haylage, which is really just dry silage, most prefer the haylage but a few just like hay. We do this more to save the fields than to keep them warm as they are quite happy outside. They often still stand out in the rain instead of going into the barn.

Some of the ponies are looking quite large, I have tried with a pregnancy scanner, which works on a doplar system, but as the ponies are so hairy it is difficult to get good contact, but I have seen a couple of foals kicking, this still seems the cheapest way of seeing who is in foal.

The cold weather has caused a lot of extra work, feeding is not a problem but getting water to the troughs is very time consuming, as all the pipes were frozen so we have to rely of hose pipes, but when it is very cold we have to bring them in as soon as you turn the water off as the water freezes in the pipe. Luckily the ponies do not drink much, but the cows drink gallons, especially as most have calves and are milking well.

The wild birds really struggle when it is frosty for too long. We had a flock of redwings and fieldfare for several days eating the fallen apples in the orchard, when they were nearly finished I bought some cheap apples to keep them going. The bird table is a hive of activity, as well as the usual birds, we had some bullfinches, a woodpecker and even a moorhen. The little flock of long tailed tits usually feed when the starlings have left, they always seem such happy little birds, unlike the starlings and robins that are always squabbling.

Roll on the Spring, we have a few snowdrops trying to make an appearance but on the whole most things are still asleep.

August 2009

End of August already and the autumn weather has already arrived with some very stormy weather. Summer was a non-starter again, but the foals do not seem to mind. They are growing really well and only a couple still have their foal coats; one of which was born on the 4th July- a lovely grey roan filly. She has so much presence and is always on her toes- you can't take a bad photo of her, unlike a black filly, Polly. Black foals are always hard to photograph at the best of times, but Polly still has some matted foal coat, so she could look better!

All the shetland foals have been micro-chipped. It went really well considering we had to temporarily take the foals away as we do not have the enough room to keep mum and foal in a separate stable, and the vets charge for the amount of time they are with you, so we thought it would be quicker to have all the foals in the stable waiting for the vet, instead of having to catch them whilst he was waiting. Only Bunty got upset, who's Polly's mum so she obviously loves her! Jovina though thought great they have taken him away to be weaned, only to get him back a bit later!

I think micro-chipping would be a good idea if all the markets and authorities have a reader and check the details against the passport, but unfortunately it seems this is only being done so our European counterparts will know if the pony has had any recent medication, so it will be safe to eat. I only hope it will eventually mean auctioneers will not be able to issue a passport on the day of the sale, making it harder to sell a stolen pony.

Hay had been made and stored- it is not very good as it was well overstood and had rain on it a couple of times, it will not be the lovely green hay made in June, but rather the brown stalky stuff made in August.

As you can see from the photo new hedges are being planted around Hillash farm, which will have many advantages. It will provide shelter from the worst of the weather, and separate the stallions with growing barriers- so they don't charge at the fences when another stallion is next door. They will also provide food and nest sites for the birds. My favourite bird is the long tailed tit, so to help these adorable little birds survive I am planting some wild gorse bushes in the hedges, as this is their favourite nest site.

Some of the foals are booked and deposits taken, these will be ready for collection at the end of September. To see our foals this year, please see our 'For Sale' page.

June 2009

Well its the end of June, only one mare left to foal. Had quite a few more colts than fillies again. Weather was very cold and wet for the first foals, they had to be brought in and out of the stables as the weather changed. The later foals were a bit luckier as we had some good sunny days. It is such a lottery, as some years we get lovely dry sunny weather early- then I wish I had put the mares in with the stallions earlier. This year I did put some in earlier than normal, so we could get some foals at the end of March- beginning of April next year- so fingers crossed for the weather! If it is bad though, I have plenty of room to bring the ponies in, as some of the cows have had to go because we have lost some grazing very close by, so I will have more room in the barns.

Unfortunately, the weather seems much more changeable now, with hardly a dry day. The foals are quite strong and growing well, and have plenty of shelter from the worst of it. Silage bales have now been made and stacked, but hay is not looking very good- hopefully it won't be like last year.

We already have a couple of enquiries about the foals, and are keeping the website updated with pictures as the foals will really start to change now.

February 2009- Then we had the snow...

December 2008- First we had the floods at Hillash farm.....

August 2008

Sorry it's been so long since the last entry; really don't know where the time goes. After a fairly wet spring we were all really looking forward to a warm to hot, reasonability dry summer, but we're still waiting! It has been difficult, at times, to keep the really young foals warm, popping them in and out of the stables so they are dry, but so mum also gets enough grass.

Had a really good foaling season, but we still lost one foal, which was born dead. We had three foals each born with a leg back, another foal which was really tight and required a bit of tugging, and finally one which decided to stay in the bag then born, but all of these we managed to save, either through good management or pure luck! And, all this without the aid of cameras, but we do spent a lot of time wandering the fields at night, as the ponies do not seem to settle when stabled.

Last year we had mostly colts, so this year we thought it would be a better balance, however, we ended up with a 4 to 1 ratio of colts to fillies, perhaps there is something in the water! The strange thing is the cows have been producing nearly all heifer calves; only the ones starting to calf now are having bull calves, so hopefully next year it will be all change!

What a dreadful year for making hay, we still have a lot of rubbish left over from last year, so after a lot of waiting and watching the weather forecasts, we made silage for the cows and the ponies have some haylage, but really annoyingly the forecasted rain never came, for once, and we would have had some really good hay. Hopefully the ponies will enjoy it, they can have some of the old hay until it gets cold, and then start on the haylage.

The foals are beginning to get weaned now, the first two have been taken off mum. This year we tried letting mum back in at night for the first few days, hasn't made much difference, if anything it has made the foals clingier, as they spend all their time waiting for mum to go back in. So, now the mums have been taken away completely, and the foals are pleased to see us when we go into their paddock.

We rang the Shetland Society to enquire when the passports would be received, but they are so far behind preparing ponies for Society sales, they have not started on ours that were sent after the cut-off date for the sales, and as they are all taking holidays at the moment, I do not think the passports will be back for quite a while. We know what you're thinking, why don't we send for the passports earlier, but you have to wait until the foal sheds its foal coat as they often change colour, not usually to dramatically, but it can be enough to get the colour wrong. This year, again because of all the rain, the foal coats are not coming out very early, and I can't stay I blame them!

We are receiving a lot of enquires for foals, and several have already been booked. We have had a lot of visits from really nice people, for some it is the first time they will have owed a pony, and it is lovely to be able to offer them a foal that will be a delight to own. Some ponies follow the potential owners around, as if it were them who are doing the picking!

November 2007

What a gorgeous autumn we are having, hopefully the winter will seem that bit shorter now. Most of the foals have now been weaned. This year I have been weaning them two at a time, getting them used to the halter and a bit of feed, before going on to the next two. Most of them were quite happy to leave their mums, only the filly Whisper got a bit wound up and sulked. Her mum, Emma, also did not want her to leave, which is quite unusual as I think she's in foal again, and they normally do not mind leaving the older foal then. Some of the mares actually seem relieved when the foals get taken off. I have seen them wondering around the field with the foal chasing them, getting quite grumpy with the other mares and not letting the foal suckle!The stallions are settled in their winters quarters. Squirrel has Fudge (Molly Bloom) for company, and Muffy (Zak) has Jinnie. Teddy is enjoying a rest in his small paddock and barn, which over looks the fields to his girls and the cows in the yard.

August 2007

Just finishing off the last few loads of straw. We finally made our hay in the first week of August. One field should have been made in June, so most of it resembled a carpet, as new grass had grown through the old and matted it together. It certainly isn't good hay, but it will fill them up. The second field was second cut so it should be nice, even though we had one bit of rain on it! The foals are growing and enjoying more human contact but we would all benefit from some sunshine! As with everything it is much easier when it is not raining. Some of the foals have not bothered to shed their foal coat and are now getting a winter coat, so it is much more difficult to see what their adult colour will be. The stallions have been moved from the mares and are looking really well. I think 'Teddy' looks forward to leaving the mares as he gets a rest and a bit of extra feed, such a little gent!

June 2007

Welcome to an insight into a small farm in Somerset. Initially I thought writing a few lines about the ponies would be easy, but as they are so easy to care for it will be more about what I hope will be interesting stories!

The ponies foal outside without cameras or monitors, they don’t get over-fat as the cows east the richest grass. The only downside this year has been colts currently at 4 to 1, but don’t think there is much I can do about that!

I do not show my ponies, not because I don’t think they are good enough, but because with my experience of my parents showing dogs, I know it is not always the best animal that wins.

It is the middle of June now and we are still trying to finish silage making and bringing back the seemingly endless loads of black silage bales. Haymaking seems a long way off after a really dry April we are now getting payback with not enough dry days to start.

The foals are growing well and its lovely to see them tearing around the field morning and evening in a gang, with Teddy (the stallion) trying to keep them under control, as the mums are not bothered now! The young calves do the same thing, running and jumping around. You never seem to think of them enjoying themselves not in the same way you see lambs playing on the television, but calves and foals have just as much fun. They particularly like an old bucket or broken roadside bollard to play with!