Bad Backs & Dreary Weather

I have been with Richard our vet this morning. We had had some concerns over a few horses and our worst worries were confirmed, yet more cases of kissing spine....we did talk about it and it may be that owing to mobile x-ray units we are capable of diagnosing the problem easier. Anyway, sadly poor old Warren Knight has it so badly that it is untreatable, so now he will be off to the sanctuary. It is a shame because he had been going so well until the work made him sore. Insheen has a milder case and we will inject his back with cortisone, we never got round to properly x-raying Red Willie because we spotted a bit of shading in his eye, we looked at it further and realised that he has a fairly sizeable cataract on the eye (3/5) which has appeared within the last 6 months.......making it very probable that it will continue to deteriorate. Better news for Bunkhouse, we x-rayed his neck and poll and could see a small amount of damage which we can then treat, and he too has bones along his back which are touching and painful, but again, he can be treated with cortisone.
So a bit depressing really, the weather doesn't help, Laura, Head of Special Needs had organised a number of groups of children to visit, I am sure her life would have been alot easier if she had been able to go out into the sunshine instead of these continual heavy downpours!

Jodie Kidd Gala Evening

We consider ourselves to be very fortunate that Jodie Kidd nominated Greatwood as one of her four chosen charities to benefit from The Jodie Kidd Foundation. To this end, Janet and I whizzed down to Goodwood to attend the Jodie Kidd Foundation Gala Evening. For the last couple of years, Jodie has organised a celebrity golf day followed by dinner and auction. It was a splendid evening, and although the auctioneer had to work quite hard to achieve the bids, I think that it raised quite alot of money and everyone enjoyed themselves. It is very good of Jodie to put so much time and effort into raising money for 'her' charities, and it certainly makes an immeasurable difference to us. Thank you Jodie.
It has been a bit of a hectic time all round. We went to Nigel and Penny Bunter's Barbury Castle Horse Trials the day before, and took a table for lunch. This is always a splendid event, well organised and well attended with an incredible line up of top event horses taking part. It was great to catch up with so many locals who wish to support Nigel and Penny and enjoy the terrific spectacle.
Michael and I were approached recently by Harper Collins who wish to publish a book about Greatwood and how it all started. We have spent quite a while going through alot of archive material, (that in itself was a bit of a mammoth task, involving delving through loads of boxes which were housed in a pretty grotty shed). Anyway, miraculously we appear to have pretty much located everything we need. This is a bit of a miracle because we once employed someone to help us file everything, and to our consternation realised that her filing involved lots of black rubbish bags, all of which were aimed for the bin.
Other than this, everything has been fairly quiet, although we are rather hoping that our work with the horses and special needs children will be featured in the Sunday Times today. The horses themselves have been doddling along. We have several in work which we hope will be rehomed before too long, and as for the rest, they are enjoying a peaceful and restful time in the fields. I think that they are a bit relieved that it isn't quite so hot but we could do with a bit more sun now.

Memories of Devon

Michael and I have just returned from a trip to Devon and Cornwall, part business and part the sad business of the funeral of a dear old friend. We had a bit of time to spare when we were in Devon and went to have a look at the place where the charity more or less began.......now so many years ago.
Our old house is almost unrecognisable; the wing that was semi-derelict has now been done up, and all the old barns where I used to squeeze in any number of horses have now been converted into holiday cottages. We met an erstwhile neighbour after the funeral and she reminded me of her horror when she used to have to drive past our house. The narrow Devon road used to be full of goats, sheep, and hens...........
It did seem funny to remember those days, when horses used to copy the goats and clamber up the Devon banks to nibble on the ripe blackberries, and we used to herd the horses up the roads to get into the fields.
Our horses are doing well and now are covered in not only fly sheets but also Sue's unique fly spray concoction (which smells disgusting). The A&E wing is getting horribly full, Whiskey had a swelling on his hock and had to be brought in for box rest (which means that we had to bring in Georgina and Marshall) and then Seek the Faith tweaked his hock following a fit of exuberance after a shower of rain.
We took in a new horse Tua, he is a good sort, but has been lame so Richard our vet is coming in tomorrow to have a good look at him.

Greatwood Open Day

It's over!! and more or less without a hitch.
Dan & Coudy with TP and Forgery were remarkable, everyone really enjoyed their show, Dan as the wicked Knight Mordred was booed and there were great cheers when Coudy as Sir Galahad won the fight.
It was a bit nerve wracking at one stage because Forgery nearly boiled over and I was watching Robbie (Gaylord) to see if he was going to pull Forgery out, Dan did really well to sit on him particularly because it was such a hot day and the armour was so heavy. Mikey as Mincealot fought Mordred with great aplomb and all in all it was a raging success. It has been suggested that we should do something at Lambourn Open Day next year..........we'll see.
Bob Hogg was terrific with his dogs, although, sadly, I didn't get much of a chance to watch his show and the finale with our neighbour Graham just finished it all off brilliantly.
We were a bit fed up that perhaps it was not quite so busy as we had hoped, and I think it has made us all certain that we should have an Open Day every three years as opposed to every year. It is such alot of work and is totally exhausting! We loved seeing some of the old champions again, it was good of their owners to give up their time. Strong Flow won the Best Turned Out.
Ian, the carer of Beacon Flight came along to deliver the Best Turned out Prize and whilst he was here he remarked that he would really love another big horse, he spotted Maharbal and it was love at first sight.
Ian is just the most lovely man, and although Sue shed a tear when Marble left us on Monday, this lovely kind horse couldn't have a better home.
We have another horse coming in to day..........will write about him in the next post.

Beer and Brooms

We are just entering the last day before the big day.....everything that has been stationary has been painted, every little crook and cranny has been cleaned, hairdressing has been in for the horses, and so we are nearly ready.
We did a semi rehearsal of the tournament yesterday and the full blown one will take place this morning.
This will be an interesting exercise, Dan and Coudy will be wearing their Knight's armour for the first time, Janet is bringing in a couple of hessian dresses for Robbie and Mike, and Conan the Barbarian music will be blasting out, and I have got to try and remember my lines!
So far, the horses have taken all the activities in good heart, we have been practising with the megaphone all week so that the horses that are remaining out in the fields don't have a blue fit. Deano's and Paul are now so unenthusiastic about the whole affair that they were flat out snoring in the adjacent field.

Maddy has been dashing around dicing with certain death putting signs on the side of the road. Laura and Harriet scrubbed out Red's barn, which was a relief, John has completed erecting the poly tunnel, Robbie has weeded for England, Mikey has driven in enough posts to rope off areas, that he is just beginning to suspect that this is all life is about, Becky, Hettie and Sue have made up straw beds until they are seeing double and Coudy and Dan are rehearsing every waking hour. Danny has helped with the commentary and Janet is busy advertising the Open Day in just about everything.
We spent hours yesterday scrubbing all our acres of concrete, and at the end we rested our brooms and opened welcome bottles of beer.....the next time we reach for the opener will be after it is all over!

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

We have just finished hay making. The haylage bales are wrapped and the hay has been baled and is now safely under cover. What a relief!
It has been an uphill battle for the last couple of years to make enough good forage to last us for the winters because the weather has been so wet, so we are delighted that we don't have this particular headache.
We are all working hard towards the Open Day, Sue has taken off her Welfare Manager hat for the time being and is now sporting her Gardening Manager hat. The tubs are being transformed into artistic delights and even Mikey has become enthusiastic.
Last seen he had drilled a few holes in an unused water trough, filled it with compost and it is now overflowing with bedding plants.
Maddy has waited for years for a bit of software which will make her life easier when she needs to design programmes and leaflets, it has now arrived and now this year's Open Day programme will be her particular work of art.
Janet is working on the PR and contacting people to advertise the Open Day as widely as possible...do come if you can, if you are a friend you can come for a private viewing, and the public can arrive at noon.

Cabinets at the V&A

Kim Bailey came up to me at our recent fundraising race meeting, pressed a note into my hand and suggested that I follow it up. With all the various things that you have to do following a fundraising event...(lots of thank you's!)...It took a few days for me to step up to the mark. Following a very interesting 'phone call, Michael and I were invited for lunch with the most generous couple, who had inherited a couple of cabinets which were currently being stored at the V&A. Their wish was to donate the proceeds of the sale of the cabinets to Greatwood and to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
Following a delicious lunch we were shown the photographs of the cabinets. They are beautiful Spanish HUGE pieces, inlaid with ebony, ivory and tortoiseshell. We met Jonty over lunch (incidentally, Jonty told me that he was the auctioneer when John and Jenny McCririck raised money for us in Celebrity Cash in the Attic), and he told us that the cabinets were valuable and collectable and that they will be offered up for sale in November. I'll try and post some pictures of them because they are stunning, and I'll let you know how the sale goes on. It is with great thanks that we acknowledge this extraordinary piece of generosity and are grateful to Kim for the introduction.
The small animals have a number of additions, a couple of chicks which two hens are squabbling and squawking over and to date a couple of goslings.
We waited until the weather became a little more settled and then turned out the rescued 2 year old colt (Whiskey, or more appropriately Windy because he is scared of his own shadow). We had stabled George next to him, George had been really kind to the colt when they were in but I wasn't quite expecting what happened when we turned them out together. I have ever seen anything like it.
Marshall, George and Windy went out into the strip next to the old boys. We were prepared for Windy to panic in a large strange area. George circled around Windy, flatly refusing for Windy to have anything to do with the old boys who wanted to sniff and squeal at the newcomers. George behaved exactly like a mare with a foal......Windy was a little nervous when the marauding crowd of old boys came over and he actually looked under George's belly as if there might be a miraculous supply of comfort milk on tap. George continues to 'mother' Windy, moves him along if he gets too near to the fence, and trots after him if Windy strays too far away.
George has become Georgina.