Parasites!!!

Toffee. yes very cute! But she got fleas. I know not where and believe me, I turned all my other dogs over as that's best way to find fleas on their tummy, and no one had anything.
Toffee was crawling!!! she had been to the vets just a couple of days ago and he spotted nothing. As she is getting lots of attention and rolling around so we would have spotted them.
I find it quite incredible that within a short space of time she was covered.
No longer! she has had a bath in specialist shampoo and they are DEAD!
Typical for a poodle, under that lovely fluffy coat she has a skinny body and at least she is small enough to dunk into the sink!

We have just had Holly spayed yesterday as she developed a condition called Addisons disease. This is an inability for her body to manage its sodium and potassium levels. She lost coordination and if left untreated would be fatal. She became quite poorly a few weeks ago and Dr Rehman diagnosed it. Her prognosis is good she just needs medication. We will not breed from her hence she was spayed.
She is however a young KC registered and very well bred standard poodle so we will look to re home her. She is very affectionate so some one will get a lot of love from her.
She is sat by my side now with her head on my lap.

Horsey day today.

Why do we clip (shave) horses?

This is Trigger our 13.1HH gelding. As winter draws closer his coat thickens and when we work him he sweats. This causes problems with drying him, which if not done thoroughly he will loose weight and condition. You may be thinking "don't work him in the winter that way he wouldn't sweat up!.

The other option is to clip him.

And that is what we did!

This is the same horse 2 hours later.
We have left the hair on his legs as this is thought to help prevent mud fever and his ears and above the cheek piece on his head.
This is the colour a bay horse at the end of it's hair.
He looks so much slimmer and if you had seen the mountain of hair on the floor you would understand why that is.
What a shine. He is fed corn oil every day in his feed and this certainly looks to be helping.
We rode him after clipping and he said he has his go faster stripes on!!

Tonight he has a thick quilted rug and a full neck turnout rug as we must keep him warm.

What a beautiful day; a friend, my boys and myself all rode. Well we have to make the most of the weather whilst it is here!!

I didn't chew the cable!!!

Me?? I wasn't doing anything!

Toffee's day

Toffee who is now 10 weeks old has such a huge personality. She thinks all our other dogs are fair game for her to wrestle with even Buster who towers over her.
She has had her first bath complete with doggy shampoo which she enjoyed drinking. We then did some puppy training which she learned very quickly.
A number one and two on the carpet, well accidents do happen!! and they have to learn.
She is fascinated by her own image in the glass gallery, running up and down to chase herself.

What a lovely view from our window, a pedigree calf suckling milk from its Mum. I guess now the weather has turned the cows will be going in the barns for the winter. We'll miss seeing them wandering and grazing.

Lulu and Bella day

What a beautiful dawn!! cold but crisp.

Bella carries a piece of tree bark in her mouth whilst Lulu carries Bella's leg, In her mouth!!!. Both girls trotting across the yard, Lulu on three legs of course. Soooo funny!

My partner and I made the most of the lovely afternoon and put the girls on a lead and venture down our very quiet drive. As we approached the bottom Bella had a panic attack as a car sped by!!. It was just too much for her so we carried her the short distance (thankfully she doesn't weigh as much as Lulu). We went on to have a lovely walk.
We discovered a conservation area between Findern and ourselves. It is very well groomed and someone clearly takes a lot of time over the management of it. We reached the train line and let the girls experience the trains flying by. Bella did very well.

Both girls spent time off and on the lead accepting the training very well. They are getting very good at recall, sit and down. They are such a pleasure.
Interestingly there is a clearly marked bridleway with no access off the highway for horses, a very low tunnel which at best our 13hh pony may be able to access and a pair of close to vertical steel bars which are clearly not welcoming to either horses nor ponies. How can this be called a bridle path?

Beautiful day

I have had the dogs out on the yard lots today in the sunshine. Whilst out I have taken the opportunity to clean and clear their pens. I have put new wall to wall carpeting in. They will ofcourse not appreciate it and rip it to shreds!!!.
They are so playfull, even my old girl, Gemma.

Off to the vets

Dr Rehman
 Blagreaves Veterinary Centre
Littleover Derby

No name (our new chocolate labrador puppy)  has had her first visit to Dr Rehman our small pets vet. She wasn't very impressed but he was so efficient and gave her a treat afterwards.
We discussed the merits of hip scoring and will revisit the option when she is a year old.








She has forgiven me now as she then got lots of one to one attention and enjoyed playing with a new toy. It was very nice giving her undivided attention and training. She is very quick to learn and eager to please.

Welcome to my first blog!!

A number of people over recent months have commented on our website as they enjoy looking at our menagerie Some asked if I would do a blog and let them have an insight into day to day life on the farm. My partner and computer guru has got me off first base so here goes and I hope you find it interesting.


Bad Bad weather today the horses have spent most of the day in the field shelter.
The dogs are always up for a good run around (other than our new labrador puppy) and are still enjoying eating apple and pear wind falls off the lawn.
The cats are all happy as they have their heat pads on and choose whether or not to venture out. Most don't!