A long weekend

Today we went out on a bit of a ramble with Zorro and Small pony, down on to the common and round for a little circuit. It was only a couple of miles in total but I really enjoyed it- both ponies were very well behaved and calm ( the only time Zorro got concerned about anything was when he saw a cat sat on top of a car, a juxtaposition that is clearly diabolical as far as he is concerned ) and I was able to concentrate on my riding, which is only going to be good news for my position. It also helped Small to go at a normal walking pace, which is probably for the best on account of he has started to think that the common is for running and get a bit too excited when he gets there. Very happy with both of them.

It helped that Joe was a lot more perky than last time we saw him, in fact this afternoon we were able to take him for a walk around the hospital and he was very perky, stomping along and really wanting to see everything and march about. Very hungry but much more the Joe we know and love.

If I hadn't been missing the Gathering this would have been an amazing weekend- as things are it was the best it could have been. I feel like I did the right thing in staying to be with sleepsy_mouse and Joe pony but it was a tough choice and I was feeling it the whole weekend. My sincere thanks go to everyone who offered kindness and support over the last few days, you all rock very much indeed.

A legacy for a small black horse

An online horsey community I belong to has a strong connection to the charity Equine Market Watch who go to horse fairs, sales and acutions around the country and make sure that the UK Welfare laws are being observed. They also keep an eye out for stolen horses and end up rescuing some animals themselves. It's a tough job by anyone's standards and a very necessary one.

So to help with their fund-raising a few people, including oifonly who painted these pictures for us, got together to set up a Cafepress shop for EMW and they've put some fantastic artwork onto T-Shirts and all the other standard Cafepress stuff, all profits going to the charity.

It was particularly touching for me because one of the pictures they used is a sketch of my little black horse Othello, who I lost earlier this year. It's a lovely illustration and I'm really glad that his memory will help save other horses in trouble.

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