Return to 'Buttercup Farm'

Today I moved 'Mr F' over to 'Buttercup Farm' where he'll be spending winter.

I had moved most of his stuff early in the morning prior to work so that I would not need to drive back and forth in the evening. All his rugs, liners, feed buckets etc etc was stuffed into the car. It's amazing how much room there is in a 5 door Ford Focus Hatchback. It has been well worth the £500 I paid for it! The loading space when the seats are down is quite impressive and has been fully utilised many times now also during moving my stuff.

As soon as I got back from work (and had a cup of tea of course!) I went to fetch 'Mr F' who was already waiting near the gate. It was time now for the field to be put to rest as all the grass had gone. 'Kitten' and 'Tolka' will be moved to another of 'Lillian's fields.

And so 'Mr F' and I got on our way over to 'Buttercup Farm'. I forgot to drop of the carrots and my tea-making things (very important of course: almond milk, honey and Yorkshire tea) and put it all in a big shopping bag which I slung over my shoulder. I guess we were once again an odd sight for passing cars but quite a few of them by now have gotten to know us and so they wave. There has even been a couple that would wait to meet 'Mr F' on our walk. Many of the people we met on our walks would tell us some parts of their lives, usually also animal related. It seems 'Mr F' just brings it out of people.

We munched some carrots on the way over while enjoying the beautiful autumnal colours of the leaves. It was a surprisingly warm day (16 degrees at the end of October) with an equally warm night. No rugs for 'Mr F' tonight. He is not clipped and has got a nice winter coat.

I was curious to see how he would react once he was back at 'Buttercup Farm' and would realise that he was going to be there with 'only' (I means from a horse point of view) 'Little Sam' and none of his big horse friends.

However, upon arrival 'PL' was wanting to greet him (she and 'Mr F' arrived together, both in equally bad shape - see beginning of this blog) but 'Mr F' showed no interest. Instead he looked at me: 'Where's my food?' - 'Sigh ... so matter of fact!'
'Little Sam' seemed very keen to join us, he was grazing outside at the back of the stable but when I went to say hello he came straight inside. It was mostly food orientated but he did come to rub his head for a while. Previously 'Mr F' would spends considerable time calling out for his big mates and would pace around in the stable but not this time. 'Mr F' was calm but did look at me somewhat quizzing ... 'So, whats this now? Am I going to stay here? What's the deal?' - 'Yes yes, all to please you.' - 'Hmm, OK. Took you a while didn't it!'.

'Helen' and young 'Jem' arrived too, the family that is currently looking after 'Little Sam'. And there was also 'Izzy' who also has her horse at 'Buttercup Farm'. I may get into troubles here but I think that the two girls may be of approximately the same age? Oh I am no good at age guessing because it doesn't matter to me. We all get on well and so the yard soon fills with the chatter and giggles and the noise of busy brushes, scraping of shovels and the boiling of the kettle. 'Mr F' observed it all, looking most up-beat. Once 'Little Sam' was prepared for the night we let them out. No fuss here, straight for the grass.
After a little while I went to see how they were doing and upon seeing 'Mr F's almost smug face as he turns his head towards me I smiled.

It was probably also a good experience for him to have moved and to see things from a different prospective. As I had noted in a blog post at the time, the day after we moved 'Mr F' was quite anxious to see me ... he seemed quite unnerved as though he thought I might 'abandon' him somewhere. I suppose he had a quite sheltered life since he arrived at 'Buttercup Farm'. This move may have just made him accept different circumstances with a little more calmness compared to what he was like before, pacing up and down and shaking his head. None of that this time.

It is favourable in every possible way to have a set up of stables with adjoining fields and 24/7 turnout. If needed, they can also be locked in of course.

Well, the fields are nowhere near as exciting as at 'Lillian's but at least here we have everything under one roof. Yes, I can't just walk out the door and go see him but a 10 minute drive is no ordeal at all and it's easier now that I have transport, which I didn't have in the previous years.

I am curious to see him in the morning before going to work. The barefoot trimmer lady is coming tomorrow latter part of the afternoon after I have finished work, a week overdue. I must not forget to measure his hooves, I might try out the new type of hoof boot called 'scoot boot'.

There has also been some interest in 'Mr F's new saddle ... we shall see how it works out. 'Rolling rolling rolling ... rawhide ...' (some of you may remember this tune ... seems to fit the saddle ...)

And then on Sunday we may go out for a ride ... in the new saddle or old pad, I don't know yet.



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