Ok – this was what I actually posted today so I think we’re up to date!

Dino has been with us nearly 2 weeks now and he’s beginning to settle down.

After the slightly hair-raising first few days he was allowed out into the small turnout with one friend from last Tuesday. They were good friends by the end of day one! Here are Dino and Sonny having a bit of a cuddle:

And the following day:

Last weekend things got even more exciting on Saturday when Dino was the first horse out in the big winter field where all the boys will be turned out together! He and Sonny went out at 9am, were quickly joined by Sydney and then gradually met most of the other horses on the yard as they joined them during the day. Every time I went to look at Dino he was grazing quietly, or cuddling with the tiny spotty pony but every time another owner or yard person went to get a horse they came back saying Dino was tearing around like a loon! He was certainly very hot and sweaty when he came in!! He thought Pico and I actually wanting to work him after his running about was most unfair.

Here are some videos of his being turned out for the first time in the big field (the videos have no sound as you don’t really need to listen to me going ‘OMG he’s sooo cute!!! WHeeeeeeeee’ for four minutes:

In terms of working with him this week we’ve been mostly just lunging him, with side reins on now and going over ground he should already be very familiar with. We’ve also been teaching him some manners on the ground as he’s very fidgety and impatient. M did ride him for a few minutes on Monday though, and we might have another go today 🙂 In general he’s remembering things quite well, after being reminded, and learning new things fairly quickly so I don’t think it will be long before we have a lovely calm riding horse on our hands.

Baby horse arrived with us on Saturday! It’s been quite the weekend and today finds me pretty tried, aching in pretty much every muscle in my body but very happy with how we’re starting out 🙂

09.50 on Saturday morning found me standing outside the tack shop waiting for it to open, a slightly odd experience I shall try not to repeat. As with all good plans things were a good deal more hectic than expected as Dino arrived early! By 12.30 we had his bed made up, Pico mucked out and off in the field and lovely new boy was delivered by the people that bred him. It looks like he travelled well – they bought a companion horse with them to settle him – but he didn’t really know what to make of our stables and was quite distressed when the familiar people all left. Poor thing, there was a pretty nerve-wracking afternoon all told waiting for him to settle down a bit. He was pacing round his stable, almost looking like he was thinking of trying to jump the door but after a few hours he calmed down a bit and ate some hay.

Prior to the weekend he’s been living outside 24 hours a day on the stud where he’s lived since he was about 3 months old. The only time he’s ever been in a horse box was when he was transported down from Cumbria (where the stud used to be located) as a small foal travelling with his mum. He’s only been stabled in a lovely light, high-roofed open barn type space for a few minutes either side of being ridden or worked. On Saturday he was bundled up into a trailer, driven 90 miles up from Kent, put in a stable with a low roof and left there for a bit. We broke his pretty little head a bit and he was quite freaked out.

For part of the afternoon we took him into the indoor school and put him on the lunge to work off some energy….which was equally as terrifying. He didn’t know what to make of it. Here his is looking confused:
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A bit of dinner, snug up in his nice new fleece he calmed down even more and we left a still slightly freaked out, but at least now happy enough to eat pony resting for the night.

Sunday found his quiet. As far as we know he’s not spent a night inside in several years so I wasn’t quite sure how upset he’d be when I got there. But he was fine, no indication that he’d been stressed (he wasn’t sweaty or looking like he was tense at all). He’d eaten most of his hay (and helpfully walked the rest of it into his bedding..!) and seemed content. He didn’t like standing outside tied up while I mucked out his box which isn’t that surprising as this is all new to him but we he was very happy to be groomed and then put out on the lunge to let off more steam again, outside this time so we could reassure him we haven’t actually stolen the sky!

Here we are making friends in the sunshine:

Hopefully he’ll properly settle down once he’s able to be turned out for a bit, which will be tomorrow. He can’t go out at first as he needs to be wormed and quarantined for 48 hours to make sure he’s not carrying anything that might upset other horses on the yard. But tomorrow he can go and play outside which might reassure him that things will be ok and he wont’ have to live inside forever! He’s been really good though and is mostly really cuddly. When he gets unsure he just wants to come and be scritched and cuddled by his humans which we are happy to oblige! He is a little bit bolshy and needs to learn a few manners but that’s not surprising given how young he is and how little he’s done so far. He’s going to be lots of fun 🙂

Picture credits to M in case you didn’t work that out…