“Here we are in January and we’re under a foot of snow today! It’s not easy keeping horses fed and fit in this weather but we seem to be getting by. Something I’ve only discovered this year are the Simple Systems Lucie Brix. These are ‘bricks’ of dried lucerne that horses have to work quite hard to bite bits off and it keeps them very happily occupied for about 20 minutes at a time. I only feed them one or two a day and needless to say they need fresh water available to drink as with any dried food.

My aim for Christmas Day 2009 was that Rosie, Katrin and I would take ‘the giants’ (formerly known as ‘the babies’ but they seem to have grown somewhat ) out for their first ride together. The weather set us back a bit but we drove our little horsebox to a small indoor school nearby and at least had fun getting them all exercised. Corky (the black and white giant) is just a delight. He was originally pretty nervous of humans but he’s getting over that and within a couple of days of Rosie first getting on him she was able to lean back on his bottom and pat him wherever she could reach with him standing relaxed.

I guess it’s fair to say that Corky isn’t quite as classically handsome as Banksy, the other giant. Corky has rather a long face and his neck needs to build up considerably. However, we were astounded when Debbie Shilston (as seen on H&C TV on the ‘Slice of Pie’ programme) pulled his mane (well, a scissor trim so not to upset him at all) and trimmed his jawline. His likeness to George Clooney now is incredible. He’s really starting to fill out as well now we’ve got rid of those horrid worms and he gets a cup of crushed linseed in his feed every night, as do the others, which is so good for them all (Omega 3s get lots of good press now) and I’m sure is what has started to give his coat a lovely shine.

It was January 1, my birthday, when Corky was ready and the roads and tracks were safe enough to take the three of them on their first ride. We even managed to get a nice photo. The giants behaved perfectly, it was only Pie who got excitable when his little legs couldn't keep up with them trotting - typical! Officially it was their birthdays too with Corky now four years and Banksy five-years-old. Pie and I don’t discuss our ages – we say it’s all in the mind.

On the Sunday Rosie took Banksy to his first show. The jumps were all of one foot high and he only knocked one down – clearly Horse of the Year show is only months away for him! The main thing is both he and Rosie had a good experience and so now it’s onwards and upwards for both of them!

On January 4 I had a lovely day filming for Countryfile with Adam Henson at his picturesque Cotswold Rarebreed Farm. Adam is delightful and has a small herd of Exmoor ponies on his farm. He has one filly foal, Venus, he’s planning to keep and wanted some advice on gentling her. As her only previous experience of humans was being grabbed and branded she was understandably going to be a bit sceptical!

I took Intelligent Horsemanship Recommended Associate, Sarah Weston, as a back up and she was great to have along. Since doing her courses and becoming an RA she specialises in working with native ponies and has been doing a fantastic job. She lent me some her ‘untouched’ equipment for the day since most of mine was at Hartsop Farm ready for a course we were planning to run there (but had to be cancelled due to snow). I laughed at first at Sarah’s tendency towards ‘fluffy’ materials but after using them it occurred to me that maybe the fact that little Venus was intrigued by them did mean she accepted me more quickly. I’ll have to test this out more. It’s great to be learning all the time from one’s equine and human students. Sarah has written a lovely book called No Fear No Force and her website is linked below.

Venus was a complete delight to work with and although wilder than a dear in the first few minutes with our advance and retreat exercises (as written about in my Perfect Manners or my little Handling the Untouched Horse book) she was soon accepting a soft long line over her and then later the (slightly too large!) head collar I had brought along. It was so nice because when Adam and the TV guys came back 50 minutes after they’d done the initial filming they were genuinely astounded at the progress. Adam put the head collar on her as well and she accepted him stroking her – I don’t think he could quite believe it! They’ve told me this programme will be shown on a Sunday evening towards the end of January.

Exmoors often have a reputation for being ‘difficult’ but it’s my belief that they’re early handling is often responsible for their attitude. Adam has said next year they’re not going to brand them but microchip them instead which is great news. I’ve asked if I could come and handle some of them before they have to be held to microchip and I’m convinced they’ll be like different ponies altogether. Watch this space!

I can’t believe it’s only one month before Monty gets back to the UK and we’re back on the road again with our Willing Partners tour. I do hope we’ll meet some of you along the way. These are the dates and venues:

February
Sunday 7th South View, Cheshire - 1 pm start
Sunday 14th Hadlow College, Kent - 1 pm start
Friday 19th Berkshire College - 7.30 pm start
Friday 26th The Hand, Somerset - 7.30 pm start

March
Friday 5th Keysoe College, Bedfordshire - 7.30 pm start.

So do come and see us. You can find more details on my website - link below

Keep safe in this weather. Don’t take any silly chances it’s just not worth it – remember we’re going to have such a great spring!

Best Wishes

Kelly.”