It is amazing how quick things can happen when everyone is keen and interested. Toux Ula was sold this week and as I write she is on her way to Norfolk with Gillies, with an overnight stop in the Borders. So that left Ann with no show horses even though entries were in for all our local shows. Plans for the Breed Show in September are having to be reworked.

The two arrivals are a bay colt foal from Maeve and true to form she foaled 2 weeks early. Both are well and no dramas. As it is quite late in the season now to cover her she will given a years rest. Ann has a theory that our mares don’t cycle the same when they have colt foals. Even though we wean the foals at 6 months the coltiness of foals seems to affect the mares. Pictures  to follow as the ones I took are not very good!

 The other arrival is ‘Wiz’, an 8 week old Bengal Eagle Owl.  Taking our sum total of pets to 3. Nash, black 7 year old sprocker and ex racing greyhound 8 year old Davie, who is more intelligent than his own good! Davie is very demanding, but he does understand the word NO on about the third time of telling. You will hear him join in phone conversations if you ring here. Unless the weather is really rough they religiously follow when horses are taken in and out.

Ann is off show jump judging at Turriff Show tomorrow, Monday. The weather hasn’t actually been flaming July. Although winter barley harvest here has started and the forecast doesn’t sound great this coming week.

The flies are annoying the horses when it is warm which we all know is not fine. A neighbour was fencing earlier in the week and he had to stop as the flies were just too much. And these aren’t midges we are talking about!

We have a visiting mare from Orkney that arrived on Friday, another fine grey mare. I belive her mum went of for some retail therapy before catching the ferry back to Orkney from Aberdeen.

Toux Tilly finally leaves tomorrow for her new home looking out onto the Moray Firth. Toux Omar returns having been on holiday with a friend of ours. More on him next week.

I am going to go a polish my camera again and hope for some better pictures or find an new operator. Those who know me would go for an new operator, Sam would mutter something along the lines of a bad workman blames his tools.

31st  July

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We were quite pleased with our showing results from New Deer Show last weekend. It is important that youngsters get out to a party every so often. Most of them go to a show with their mums and then by themselves once they look decent as 2 or 3 year olds. Sounds a bit like a human thing as it is important part of their education!

 Toux Ula 3^rd in Colt, Filly or Gelding 2-3 years old with Toux Tilly 5^th.

March Menna was 1^st in Grade 1 Irish Draught Mare with or without foal.

Then in the Irish Draught Grade 1, Sport Horse or Purebred, 1, 2, 3 year old Toux Ula was 2^nd and Toux Tilly 4^th.

Sorry I haven’t got into photos yet, but should be more up to speed by next week.

Thanks to Vikki, Jennifer and Sam for your help.

During the Grand Parade of the Horses Ann was seen standing using her mobile phone which looked quite bad, but it turned out she was negotiating the sale of Toux Tilly between two spectators around the ring. She is now sold and of up along the Moray coast. That must be a first!

Next show is Banchory so maybe we will see you there so come up a say hello.

Otherwise it has been a quite week and we started a new batch of chickens on Thursday so we are back to a normal routine again. But that is not strictly correct as we start foal watching soon as one is due any day.

23rd July

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Welcome to our first blog post. We have been lucky and had just enough rain in recent weeks to keep the grass growing and a good amount of sunshine. In fact we have more grass this year than can ever been remembered. Something to do with slightly less horses only 9 instead of the 15 odd for the last couple of years. We sowed a new 5 acre field of grass after winter wheat last year on about 10^th October and finally got it fenced and horses in it.

At Toux we have 8 grazing fields, rough speaking they are 2 at 5 acres, 2 are 4 acres, and the rest are smaller with the smallest being about half acre which is saved for mares and young foals or for anyone who is poorly.

Something I had noticed is the amount of clover that has appeared in some of the larger fields. We don’t have clover in our seed so we believe it came with the haylage we have brought and it past through in the droppings.

Need a game plan next year to spray some of it out.

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