Its a really beautiful day today and really hot, which means that the ground has become very hard now so I've given Harry a holiday - it we get a wet July he can come in early and it wont take long to get him fit.
I have just come back from a swim in the river which was lovely although I have never seen it so low and the weir is barely running.
All the horses are now in the field - it is rather a science to get the dynamics right during the summer as some horses quite simply don't like other horses, and if you leave them in an 'unhappy' relationship for too long they get sour and it is my belief that they don't do as well as they could when you come to training them as they have lost their confidence. So, after much swapping around we have Paddy and Haunted House together, Leon and Jake, Red and Skye, Dream and Doris, and Dove and Laverty - Laverty has been rather the problem child as he has suddenly become very bossy having had rather a long holiday (he had a slight tendon injury in February) he came to us looking very poor and unhappy with horrible sores all over his back but now he has put on some weight and looks a different horse and has completely changed personality. He is totally the 'top dog' now to the point where poor Jake had to jump out of his field to get away from him, and then Leon was found hiding behind a tree with nasty bites on his head and his tail. When we put him with Dove it was the funniest thing - he charged at her with his ears back and teeth bared - she took one look and disdainfully turned around double barrelled him twice and then chased him around the field three times. You don't mess with Dove! Now they are good friends, as long as he keeps to the rules, and there is a certain amount of mutual respect there.
In the bottom field there is Frog (who's boss) Cloud (second boss), Dolly, Eeeyore and Spider - it's a big enough field for them to get out of each others way if there is any 'arguing' and they all look really well.
We have Amy's young horse, Jack, here at the moment as he is being backed and ridden away. he came last year for his first session and we are continuing on with him with Dougs guidance. Amy has got him jumping 'skinnies' and poles and he is going really well, Harry is keeping him company in the top field.
As is often the way the horses seem to sustain more injuries when they are on holiday than they do when they are in full training - We had Dream in as her fetlock had swollen right up (it has not been quite right since her last race) and Doris was keeping her company, four nights ago she let herself out of the stable and went for a wander around unfortunately cutting her shoulder on the tow bar of the trailer, she has been stitched up and it should be OK, then we have poor Jake who also had his tail bitten by Laverty and needs to have cream and spray on it to stop it getting infected, luckily nothing is life threatening but at this time of year you have to be careful because of flies and infection. Dream seems much better now so fingers crossed we're all on the mend.
We have a very busy yard at the moment as we have the overflow from Aston Le Walls where they are holding the riding club championships - 12 stables full tonight and 14 tomorrow. With each horse there seems to be Grandad, Grandma, husband and a child or two. so that's about 50 people faffing around. Thankfully they pay reasonably well...
Jay is back from university and is now off to the Amazon jungle for about 10 weeks. I'm taking her to Heathrow tomorrow. Five weeks of the trip is part of her uni course but then she wants to stay on after the others have gone back and do more exploring. For the first five weeks there is no internet or phone contact. Oh dear, more worrying.