Jumping for Joy!

WOOHOO!!!! Merlin has been granted his stallion licence so that he can go on the Official Register. This means so much to us as we can now take him to shows other than the Eriskay Show. He can truly represent the breed now in so many capacities other than covering mares, although the thought of mini-Merlin's is so wonderful :D



I have so many things to think about now, so watch this space :)

More pictures.

A few more pictures of Merlin at the Southern Show on Saturday.

This was when we first arrived and Merlin wanted to know what was going on over there! My answer was 'Mares my dear, and not for you!' Until, that is, one broke free and came looking for him!!!



Hubby took a turn with the minding and gave me the chance to gobble down some lunch whilst Merlin gobbled down some grass.


We arrived home safely and with some considerable relief. The journey back was awful with torrential rain and speeding lorries. Poor Merlin was terrified and reared up in the box a few times. Lorry drivers really should have more respect around other road users, butI can't see that changing any time soon.



He was glad to be back on solid ground but stayed very close to us as we unloaded the trailer.


A few wonderful treasures from the day. 3rd place for In-hand class, 1st place (Best in Show) for Handy Pony and a rosette for completing Handy Pony. I think this is our forte as Merlin loves to show off. I have a couple of pictures on their way from the official photographer and will share them as soon as they arrive.


Today Merlin is expecting a special visitor, so his adventure continues. I'll share more details with you as and when it all unfolds.

Merlin's Day Out.

We had such a great time at our show today. Merlin behaved so well. He was totally overwhelmed by the journey in the trailer, all of the horses around him and my jangling nerves. He coped so well. He was a little lively and occasionally a bit of a pickle but as soon as we got into the ring, he knew exactly what to do and his confidence took over and gave me the courage to deal with my nerves.

Our first class was 'in-hand pony' and he behaved so well, despite wanting to make friends with a couple of mares. We were marked down to 3rd because he was stiff on his back leg (from kicking the box door for 20 odd miles, I guess!), but I was still more than pleased with his performance, and at least this year no geldings were in danger of a rude shock!

However, our triumph was in the 'handy pony' class, where we won on speed and completion of the course. We flew around and I could barely catch my breath afterwards.



I have to thank my dear friend Lisa for these lovely pictures. She really captured our mood.


It was team work all the way, and I can't thank my hubby enough for his time and energy. He was such a great help and so were both of my children. Thanks guys.x


I'm waiting for more pictures from hubby's camera and there may even be a movie, but I've got to watch it first in case you can see me puffing for breath, haha!

Looking good.

Merlin has been doing a lot of road work and I must say it's beginning to show. I think he's looking so fit and well at the moment. I love his dappled winter coat and his bottom is now starting to take on a bit of muscle tone. As for his manners? Well, I don't want to speak too soon, but he's been an absolute angel. We've met mares a plenty on our walks, and apart from a bit of strutting, he's behaved perfectly. I'm soooo pleased with him :)

White.

"How do you keep your whites so bright?"

"Oh, I just pop them in the machine with some bleach and a blue bag!"

He's so fluorescent, you could almost believe that he has been on a boil cycle! By the end of his bath, he was actually beginning to enjoy himself, and I had to try very hard not to squeeze him all up in my arms, but that wouldn't be cool. So I just kissed him a bit! You must never, ever call a stallion cute, though, they just don't like it :)




My continued fascination has begun to spill over into my work and I found myself making a miniature Merlin. I was very pleased with it, until sadly it got dropped and the legs broke. I could repair it, but it's just as easy to start again (sigh!) The neck wasn't deep enough though, so I'll have to make more of them. You can never have too many little Merlin's, believe me, it's true :)

Awesomeness

For some reason the boys were really antsy this morning. Toffee just wanted to pick a fight with Merlin and as always, Merlin was ready to oblige. These boys fight like wildcats but today's spat was quite low key. Merlin has been dying to show off his 'moves' since the weekend, and I'm guessing that Toffee was just sick of hearing about it.

Merlin and I are just so close now. What can I say, I just love this little boy to bits :)



In between every good battle, there has to be a moment of mud slinging! I think Merlin is saying "Yeah? you wanna piece of me?"



"Have some of this!"



Merlin made a swift exit, behind the bramble bush, but Toffee flushed him out.



They were about to start all over again and then noticed me taking pictures. How innocent do they look???



A nochalent scratch of his beehind on his favourite tree and then a bit of casual eating followed :)

Southern Show.

Our first day out to a 'proper' show was a hoooooge success. Merlin had been practicing loading and popped up into the trailer with no problems at all. He wasn't so keen on having the doors shut and must have picked up on my tension, as he was pretty keyed up. I stayed in the box as we crossed the field, but realised this was a very bad move, as he wanted to be on my side of the partition and I jumped out as soon as we reached the gate.

I could see his face through the little window of the trailer and he was looking right back at me. Every time I turned back to him, his ears pinged forwards and he looked very happy and relaxed. The journey was fine and the roads good and empty.

The weather was atrocious on Saturday, so I hadn't had the chance to bath Merlin and he was the most filthy that I'd ever seen him, when we arrived on Sunday morning. We tried to give him a quick scrub down at the show, but once the mares arrived, it became apparent that this was completely pointless, and therefore he remained 'antique white' for the rest of the day.

If you've ever seen Shrek 2, when Donkey turns into a stallion, you'll have some idea of what I had to deal with :) He posed and postured and announced loudly that 'Merlin is in the house' for the best part of the day. Thankfully the reaction of the mares was 'seen it all before sunshine' and his poor ego deflated more and more as the day wore on. When a rather lovely mare aimed a whiplash kick at him, he decided to back right off, but not after he'd shown everyone why he considered himself worthy, with a lovely display on two legs! I was a little embarrassed and that's all I'll say on that subject!

We didn't get as many pictures as we wanted, although I do have a couple taken by a friend to scan and I'll post those as soon as I can.

So here we are ready to go up to our class,


and about to enter, ponies in hand,


After the class, and happy with 3rd place.



The other pictures are of us doing Handy Pony, which was immense fun and gave Merlin a chance to show off his really useful skills, like bending round poles and going over a carpet between cones. He does all this at home and so it was a great way to finish the day. We came a very respectable second. We also won a rossette for show special, as the judges seemed to find Merlin very amusing ;)


When we got home he was very pleased to see Toffee, ran up to him and screamed right in his face. Toffee groaned 'oh, you're back then' in his best Eeyore voice.


This is just a little 'Arty' picture, for a painting I'm going to do. I just love Merlin's gorgeous black eyes :)



How do I sum up our day. Well, I think we've become a good deal closer and seem to be a little in love with each other at the moment. I know it's mutual, as Merlin has taken to 'chatting' to me in quite a surprising range of noises, like he's conspiring with me. Bless him :) Will we do it again, well we'll see :)

Hurtling onwards.

That's how it feels, like I'm hurtling towards Sunday and nothing can save me now :) It's been less than a week since I found out that Merlin can go to the Eriskay Southern show in Cholderton and I've been rushing around trying to get everything ready in time. Having given up on doing any shows this year I find myself woefully ill prepared, but then it would seem that I thrive on adrenaline and it doesn't give me too much time to worry. Merlin has certainly stepped up to the plate and is lungeing and moving like he's had intensive training for months. He has a peramanent smile I think :)

He performed so well for the vet last night, that he was disappointed when the vet drove off and neighed at his car to come back and see more. He's a shocking show off! If he keeps his mind on his work and off all the lovely totty then we'll be fine on Sunday, so please keep your fingers crossed for us.

Today we are tackling obstacles to prepare for the trailer arriving on Saturday. I want Merlin to load like he's always done it, and then we'll take him for a little drive in the evening. I'm a little worried about Toffee being left on his own for a whole day, but I've asked a neighbour to pop in and check him and give him a cuddle. So hopefully he won't feel too alone.

Other than that, we're just about ready to go!!!! I'll be back with lots of photos in a day or two :)

News!

Hokay! So I don't want to say too much and jinx things, but I've made contact with some wonderful people in the South that also keep Eriskay ponies. One lovely man has been breeding them for over 35years! He is hilarious, slightly irreverent, and a font of all knowledge. He is the man that has bred Mish, featured on Oakmoon, and I'll call him Mr.F. He assures me that he's in his 90's but I find that hard to believe but wouldn't dream of arguing with him! Meeting his ponies was such a joy.

This is Nonnie, the mare and Mish her daughter. Mish is short for a gaelic word that means 'Water of Life' or Whiskey :)



There is also someone else that I've spoken to who is incredibly passionate about keeping the Eriskay breed alive. I think she is a crusader, but is funny and interesting with it. We have children of a similar age and many more things in common, so it could be interesting when we get to meet in person.

I suppose the most important thing though is that Merlin has been offered the chance to be inspected for his stallion licence. This is HOOOGE and I'm so very happy that he has this chance. If he fails, nothing changes. He will always be my special stallion and he will carry those important genes with him wherever he goes.

Here he is in his new gift from me. It's a lightweight fly sheet and an attempt at keeping off the flies and Toffee's teeth! It would be awful if he turned up for his inspection looking like a scabby dog! The neck piece is held together with baler twine though, as his stallion crest is too big to fit in it and I didn't want him to strangle just for the desire of a smooth coat!


He is so unhappy and asking nicely if Andrew would 'just get this bloody embarrasing thing off me!'
I think he looks ready to go jousting, personally, and always loved 'My Little Pony' (actually that last bit's a lie. I hated my little pony because I'd never, ever seen a blue one in real life!)

Exciting!

Something very exciting is going to happen this weekend, I can't say more, but hopefully there will be photos and good news, fingers crossed for us :)

Relaxing.

After all the hard work he's been doing lately, it's good to let Merlin have some time off and a little grass. We have far too much this year, after hardly any in previous years, and so both ponies have to be severely rationed.



The bare paddock in the background is where Toffee and Merlin spend the majority of their time. I'm terrified of laminitis and so it's a case of being cruel to be kind. As their workload increases though, it's good to let them have a treat.

Lungeing.

Merlin's schooling has been going really well, and his lungeing lessons have been a huge success, with him going over trotting poles and doing a little jump too.

Here he is learning to stand quietly and not be such a speedy boy :)



I love the shape of his bottome here, as he's beginning to muscle up nicely.



He is loving this soooo much.



My instructor is really taken by him and was 'ooing' over his lovely paces.

The Merlinator

At last we managed to get some film of Merlin playing football. Although it's mostly me running around, fetching the ball and him hogging it and cuddling it! He does love his new ball now that he's no longer afraid of it. I hope the link below works. Sorry for the quality, I'll try for some more footage tomorrow.

Merlin's freestyle

Football.

Well, we tried to take the film of the football game, but Merlin didn't like the new ball, Poppy shook the camera soooo much that it would have induced a migraine and then Merlin gave up and just watched me run around. It was a dissaster. Better luck next time! :)

I did do a bit more backing with Merlin, which was fun, and he was shocked and then pleased to see that he could see me from both sides at once as I lay across his back. It was sooo sweet. He sniffed my boot and then turned his head for a cheek rub and closed his eyes. Not really bothered then! I'll be sitting on him by the weekend, hopefully :)

Merlin has been doing so well with his training and has become sooo sweet and affectionate. He's still a little pickle sometimes, after all, he's young and a stallion and always challenging boundaries. But I'd be disappointed if he was as quiet as a gelding!

My only complaint about Merlin is that he hogs the ball when we play football! I'm going to get a movie of us playing as so many people have trouble believing me. But it's the truth - he's not a team player :)



Look at his beautiful mane and forelock. He's growing into a truly stunning pony and we all love him to bits :)

A wee while!

I'll be offline for a bit. Merlin is doing fabulously and I need to spend more time schooling him. Will be back with updates soon.

Vet!

Oh that Merlin! He had to go and frighten me on a Saturday morning when the vet's call out would be twice as expensive!!! I was breathless with fear when I saw how lame he was. I was convinced he'd broken his leg, or worse, his back. Now I know I'm a complete worry wort, even at the best of times, so I took a few deep breaths, and then shot off home to phone the vet!

My vet's practice has several really good vet's and luckily, it was one of my favourites. It was the first time he'd met Merlin, and being from Scotland himself, was extremely fascinated by the Eriskays. He'd never met one in person before and as Merlin behaved impeccably, he seemed quite won over by him.

It would appear that Merlin had strained his stifle, probably during one of his more lively battles with Toffee, and after much trotting in circles and swift direction changes, we decided that it wasn't life threatening! Phew!!! The only time Merlin objected was when his stifle was manipulated, but I don't blame him for that, he was clearly in a bit of discomfort. The vet stayed for over 40minutes, examining and checking Merlin thoroughly, and when he left, he was pretty clued up about Eriskays and what a sweet nature they have. I couldn't have been more proud of Merlin, he was quite a little Ambassador :)

Forum.

If you love Eriskay ponies, or just horses in general then why not check out this new Forum , it's only just started, so the people that join, are the ones who will help create it :)

Summer.

Today I opened an email to discover to my delight a picture of this stunning little mare. She is RBF Cholderton Summer, Merlin's full sister. I've kept in touch with the farm that bred Merlin and they've emailed me to say that she is currently for sale!




I would so desperately love to buy her, as she's a stunner and if Merlin's lovely nature is anything to go by, I'll bet she's a poppet too! She has a typical strong neck and low dock, with a generous rib cage. Her body is a little longer than Merlin's, which is perfect for breeding as the Stallion should be short backed and the mare needs the extra length to carry her young in comfort.

Obviously we couldn't have her, being so closely related to Merlin, and I wouldn't part with him now for anything in the World, and for people who know me, know I'm not saying this lightly, I wouldn't give him up for all the tea in China.

Bridles and bits.

Well, plaiting the mane worked to make it lay on the correct side and I think it looks rather nice, but can you see what Merlin has in his mouth? Yes, he is wearing his bit and bridle. I was sooo pleased with him. He took the bit with no trouble and stood so quietly as I adjusted the straps and checked the fit.



He turned the bit around in his mouth and had a good old chew,



then much yawning and thinking, before I gave him a rest and took it all off.



After five minutes, I popped it back in for a brief moment, just to see if he would take it again. No problem, and he deserved his little treat for a reward.