Hi! Lofty here again! I hope you enjoyed hearing all about my early years in January’s blog?

I promised to tell you the next part of my story, so here goes…

 

Well…I found out that my time with ‘Bertie’ at the livery yard was up…temporarily anyway – ‘Groom’ and ‘Gofer’ were moving house, and I was to move into the ‘management’s’ home for a few months ‘in between’! I thought that sounded like a real adventure! I did wonder how I was going to get up the stairs at bedtime though…but I needn’t have worried…’Groom’ had it all planned out! I’m not so sure ‘Gofer’ was quite as keen on her plan… but he went along with it anyway!

 

My pal ‘Bertie’ was going to spend the time ‘between house moves’ at a place called ‘Catherston Stud’ where ‘Groom’s’ daughter, Jade, worked. Jade is into her dressage (big time!) and I couldn’t shut Bertie up…he went on and on about how he was going to be a dressage diva! Sparkle, bling, music and dancing! He made it sound like he was going to be a contestant on Strictly!

 

I said goodbye to Bertie – I was going to miss the big cheeky lump of a cob…but I also knew he’d be back soon with loads of exciting tales to tell…so I hoped I’d have some adventures of my own too – I didn’t want him to have all the fun without me!

A few ‘alterations’ were being made to the summer house at the top of ‘the management’s’ garden, and by the time I arrived it looked just like a cosy stable! I heard ‘Groom’ telling ‘Gofer’; “It’s what every summer house should look like!” They’d thought of pulling it down…so it was now being put to ‘good use’!

 

All it had needed was a little bit of love and imagination! The double doors at the front were now two mini stable doors – the perfect height for me to stand inside and look out to survey ‘my kingdom’! The roof had been re-felted, and the outside had been stained – to keep any wind and rain out. The bottom windows had been boarded up so that I wouldn’t hurt myself on the glass…and comfy rubber mats were on the floor. There were even shelves, somewhere to hang my rugs, hooks and tie rings – strategically put up inside and out…along with a string of solar powered fairy lights around the roof outside – to look pretty, and to act as a kind of ‘night light’ for me! I definitely had all the mod cons for a very comfortable stay!

 

‘Groom’ was a little concerned about me having to live on my own. Us horses naturally prefer to live in herds. As herbivores we’re fairly low down the food chain, so in the wild we’re always on the look-out for predators. It makes sense to live as a group because there are more pairs of eyes watching for danger…and it’s nice to have company! But ‘Groom’ needn’t have worried…I took to living on my own straight away – well, as the only horse I was given all the attention and I had ‘staff’ to cater for my every whim, didn’t I?!

 

As well as ‘Groom’ and ‘Gofer’, I had the neighbours…who would often be found out in their garden chatting to me (and the dogs and cat) over the fence. I had three dog friends; Phoenix, Freddie and Penny – that weren’t that much smaller than me really…and Patch, the cat, who thinks he’s a dog…and rules the roost! Plus I had lots of visitors who’d heard about ‘the mini horse in the garden’ who wanted to come round to meet me…and I would often stand by the front gate in the morning waiting to say hello to the postman! It did give him a bit of a shock the first time I did it!

 

In fact our ‘old’ neighbours still visit me in our new home, which is wonderful…I love to see them (and they love to see me…as well as the dogs and Patch) – we all grew very attached to them…including the ‘management’…so it’s always nice when they visit, especially as they often bring horse, dog and cat treats (yummy!) and they even bring homemade cake for the humans too!

 

Living at the ‘management’s’ home was when I began to show just how confident and brave I was…

If it was a hot day I would pop down the two shallow steps from the driveway on to the patio, because I knew the bi-fold doors would be open, and I’d wander on in to the kitchen to hang out with ‘Groom’ (whilst ‘Gofer’ was at work I hasten to add – he didn’t quite get the idea of having a horse in the house…even a tiny dog size horse!)

 

I think this is when ‘Groom’ must have started thinking about the possibility of taking me to visit ‘Gofer’s’ dad, Brian, in the Nursing Home he was in (they used to take one of the dogs in to visit with them now and again) and so it was soon arranged…

 

But that’s another story for next month!