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 :)