Back!

Ok so a lot has happened since we have not had the internet. Good and bad.
Grace is 100% comfortable around us now, this includes picking her feet, hosing her, leading her and we even attempted to get her onto a float.

We have managed to get Beckam completely comfortable with floats and travelling. He used to be quite good with getting on floats but hit his head on the roof once while backing out and ever since then he has gone down hill. Our good friend Linda (Lisa's saviour) managed to get him on and off the float to the point where we don’t need to walk on with him, just tap him on the bum and tug his tail lightly when we want him to back off. She used the old trick of making outside the float as uncomfortable as possible, so every time he backed off she would make him back up continuously not able to move forward until she asked him, then when he walked onto the float calmly she would leave him alone and give him some TLC. So that problem is solved and leaving 2 to 3 hours prep time before we take the horses on a float will not be necessary anymore.
We attempted getting grace on the float, just to see how she would react, since we haven't done anything all that interesting for her lately. It was as successful as it could have been for one day. She ended up having her whole front end inside the float, remaining calm; of course, she continues to surprise us with everything new we try on her. We decided not to push it since she was being so good with eh float that we let her rest for the rest of the day.

Grace had her first experience with a saddle on her back that same day! Lisa and I decided to see how she would go, and she went really well!! We free longed her around the longeyard for about 10 mins. She did not buck, or rear or chuck a skits or anything! Like I said, she takes everything we throw at her in her stride, literally ;).

With all the good things that have been going on, or were going on I should say, it was all put to a holt thanks to the neighbours who started fireworks on New Years. Grace has NEVER seen fireworks in her life, but stupid me didn’t consider this at all. We get out to the paddock on new years day to find that Grace is MISSING! All her fences were down in her yard. Everyone started looking for her and eventually Linda found her over the back of the paddock, covered in blood on her face and two front legs. She was ok, no major damage, thankfully it was electric fencing and note wire, then we would have had some serious issues.

So the only major issue with that was that she had a corneal ulcer on her left eye. It looked quite severe at first but has now made an almost full recovery. Thank god!! No one wants a blind horse, especially not a blind 3 year old.

Her legs are fine, no damage to the tendons and they will end up with minor scarring. Which isn’t a big deal to us, she's not going to the Olympics or anything.

So that was a small update, I'm sure a lot more has happened that I just cant seem to remember as of yet. But will keep you posted from now on! And pictures for the next entry!!
Nat.