Today was a busy day because as well as Ros and Georgina putting in a new section of fence across the top field the horses at the home field were all lunges to improve their top line- Kezzia lunged belle, Alice lunged Bess, Gemma lunged Merlin, Jasmine lunged Maisey and Heidi lunged Freddie. After this we went to Rowney Green to work with Buster and Tara. Jemma rode Buster in the field and he was very well behaved and Jasmine rode Tara on the lunge. Tara was a little excited as she has not been ridden for a long time but she was not unmanagable and eventually was quite relaxed. Hopefully now she is settled we can lunge her over the next month and she will build more top line and become more calm.

Today was a busy day as there was a teacher's strike and so Ros was accompanied by Jemma, Heidi, Kezzia and Lauren D. At about 12 o'clock Tara the new pony arrived at Alvechurch. She was not too bothered by her journey and appeared to settle in well. George came to help and so Buster was ridden by Jemma. Unfortunately he could hear Tara calling him form down the road so he was a bit unsettled. Tara was put in a separate field to settle in and seemed happy.

The loans this week have gone very well. Buster particularly has settled down a lot and is feeling much happier in his new home. Today Apollo, Mo and Indy went up to Solihull club with George and Nina. They hired the indoor school and used it to practice jumping. The jumps were very small as Indy and Mo are just working on gaining confidence at jumping and Apollo is trying to learn to calm down over jumping as he gets very excited.  All in all it went very well and then Jemma left to hack into Alvechurch with Buster as he is practicing going out on his own. Well done to all who loaned this week!!

At ten o'clock we had a visit from an ecologist who was looking to approve the work that is about to start on the stables. She has now approved the work and so we can go ahead with the concrete base for the first lot of stables. Hopefully the work will start very soon as we have encountered a lot of problems in trying to get these new stables put in. In the afternoon Ros took everyone to Solihull as Jasmine and Nina were part loaning Indy and Amelia and Alice were part loaning Apollo. Nina had her day off today but the other three rode and the tackroom had a tidy up. Apollo and Indy are quite new to Alice and Jasmine so this was an interesting challenge. Later Jemma took Buster for another schooling session on the menage. This time he was much more settled as he understood what was expected and he was more familiar with his surroundings. He worked well and Jemma was very pleased with him. Well done all!

Today was sunny in the morning but wet underfoot so the Saturday riding was a hack out.  Everybody did very well and  the ponies were very well behaved. Many thanks to Maria's Dad for the shavings for Merlin's stable (Merlin has a dust allergy). In the afternoon George, Jemma and Jade went to help with the combined training at Solihull Riding Club.The day was quieter than expected but  jobs ranged from collecting dressage score sheets, to keeping the judges warm with blankets, extra coats and cups of tea as their heating was broken. It was an enjoyable afternoon and everyone was rewarded with a £5 voucher that can be used for entering competitions or hiring the school.
Buster was allowed out with his two new friends today. They got on well but as the weather was so wet and they were cantering round a lot, Barry, who owns the land, decided to separate them later to allow them to graze and settle as the heavy horses together were ploughing up the mud. We are hoping for a dryer day to allow them to canter round. They were all pretty happy but probably would have preferred to continue their play.

Today the horses at the home field went out out for a hack. Just as they got back it started to rain so all of the horses at the home field were stabled until it dried up. George, Heidi and Amelia went to the Solihull field and schooled Apollo and Indy. Ros and Lauren went to check on Tuppence whilst Jade and Jemma were very good and tidied the tack-room, the caravan and the feed-shed. George, Amelia, Heidi, Jade and Jemma did the last check on Buster. He was calm to handle but was still not happy about being separated from his new friends and was unsettled when tied up in the yard having his feed. Everyone was very tired and most are planning on an early night tonight.

Today was a hectic day. Those with horses on loan at the home field rode in the morning and schooled them for about an hour. At Rowney Green  Buster has become so attached to the other horses that he tried to jump out of his stable when  Molly went for her lesson. Apollo and Mo had a lesson at Solihull Riding Club with Gill Rose. She said they had much improved from last time, particularly Apollo was unrecognisable! Both Apollo and Mo worked a little on leg-yielding and later Mo started some canter work. Gill was very pleased with the horses, and with Sophie whom she had not seen ride before.

When checked at 9.00 Buster was a little unsettled as he was obviously missing his friends and family. He was mainly staying along the fence  line close to the horses in the next field and had not shown much interest in his hay. At lunch time he came in for a small feed and as it was sleeting it was decided to put his rug on. When checked at 6.00 he was much more settled and was warm under his rug. He had a small night-time feed and when we left he was eating his hay.

Today at 2.45 buster arrived at the Rowney Green field. He was very sweaty after his long journey from Staffordshire but seemed happy to get out of the trailer. he was very interested in Molly and Tulley but had to wait in his stable until he had cooled down before he could go out in the field to meet them. When he had cooled down he went in the bottom field next to the other two so he could get to know them. Tulley was a bit too interested and ended up getting stung on the nose by the electric fence! After a quick gallop round they all soon settled to graze occasionally pulling faces over the fence. Buster will be having the rest of the week to get settled in before he starts to be fittened up ready to ride. Buster's previous owners are very sad to see him go but we hope he will settle in quickly and he will stay with us permanently. They will hopefully be visiting in the next few weeks to see how he is getting on.