chance encounter
12th October 2009, 10:16 AM
:mad:
We just don't seem to be able to leave our ponies for ONE night without something going wrong. Hate leaving them at all and some people just dont understand our concern especially non-horsey friends and family.
Left for HOYS 10am Saturday morning after feeding and turning all the ponies out with plenty of hay in case they got bored as they are still in the bottom paddock with not much grass. Chance was staying out too for the one night although she comes in every night. Wasnt too worried about her as it was nice and mild as were walking to our hotel at 11.30pm on the Saturday night and mentioned it. Friend was looking after them and gave them more hay at night time and checked them on Sunday she left at 2pm and everything was fine.
Got home 5.45pm last night, we were supposed to be staying longer but we had all been up since 5.30am as Anna's class started in the international arena at 6.55am, so we were all really tired.
Anyhow got home went down the field to get Chance in and feed the boys. Diggi was at the top of the field and we couldnt see Chance & Darli as the field circles round covering in bushes and hedges and that's where they usually are. Diggi stayed put for a wee while when he saw us and then started whinnying and trotting down. Now Diggi doesn't whinny and we were so chuffed that he did as that was the first time he has and we thought he had missed us, lol. Then we saw Chance walking to the gate and then heard Darli's pathetic whinny (he screams like a girl lol) and he was stuck in the back field near the railway line!!
Got closer to our gate and it was left off the latch with the cow chain loosely round, went up to the back gate and the wind blew it open so someone had left the back gate open, it must have blew open Darli has got through and then blew shut on him again but not properly. He wouldnt push the gate and wouldnt have known it wasnt shut properly so was stuck in a huge field. He must have been there for a while as when he came out he was very very quiet and wouldnt touch his feed and went to the water trough four times as there is no water in that field.
To say BCE was furious was an understatement. We have new vet students in the house and they have been walking through our field to get to the back field with their dogs. I haven't been happy about it but every time new students come into the house they cause problems with not shutting gates, dog poo, etc etc so we didn't want to say anything this time as they told us the YO said it was ok for them to go in the back field but he was on holiday at the time.
Well I'm afraid he got a bit of an earfull last night and was told nobody goes through our field again without our permission and the back field now has a padlock on it and I will give him a key. He was very very angry with the students as he told them under no circumstances did they have any pets because of the state of the house with the last students and he didn't tell them they could go through our field.
We were very worried that Darli would colic and brought him in to his stable and gave him some Epsom salts and plenty of water as he had dehydrated. Diggi is fine and Chance we don't think got into the field or she would literally have been dead due to her EMS, there would have been no doubt about that. If Diggi had got through he could have got on the railway line as the fencing is not secure and he could easily find a hole as youngsters do. He would have rolled down the banking onto the railway and would have had no chance.
So we go away for one night and this is what happens. Sorry for the rant but we are not very happy!!
We just don't seem to be able to leave our ponies for ONE night without something going wrong. Hate leaving them at all and some people just dont understand our concern especially non-horsey friends and family.
Left for HOYS 10am Saturday morning after feeding and turning all the ponies out with plenty of hay in case they got bored as they are still in the bottom paddock with not much grass. Chance was staying out too for the one night although she comes in every night. Wasnt too worried about her as it was nice and mild as were walking to our hotel at 11.30pm on the Saturday night and mentioned it. Friend was looking after them and gave them more hay at night time and checked them on Sunday she left at 2pm and everything was fine.
Got home 5.45pm last night, we were supposed to be staying longer but we had all been up since 5.30am as Anna's class started in the international arena at 6.55am, so we were all really tired.
Anyhow got home went down the field to get Chance in and feed the boys. Diggi was at the top of the field and we couldnt see Chance & Darli as the field circles round covering in bushes and hedges and that's where they usually are. Diggi stayed put for a wee while when he saw us and then started whinnying and trotting down. Now Diggi doesn't whinny and we were so chuffed that he did as that was the first time he has and we thought he had missed us, lol. Then we saw Chance walking to the gate and then heard Darli's pathetic whinny (he screams like a girl lol) and he was stuck in the back field near the railway line!!
Got closer to our gate and it was left off the latch with the cow chain loosely round, went up to the back gate and the wind blew it open so someone had left the back gate open, it must have blew open Darli has got through and then blew shut on him again but not properly. He wouldnt push the gate and wouldnt have known it wasnt shut properly so was stuck in a huge field. He must have been there for a while as when he came out he was very very quiet and wouldnt touch his feed and went to the water trough four times as there is no water in that field.
To say BCE was furious was an understatement. We have new vet students in the house and they have been walking through our field to get to the back field with their dogs. I haven't been happy about it but every time new students come into the house they cause problems with not shutting gates, dog poo, etc etc so we didn't want to say anything this time as they told us the YO said it was ok for them to go in the back field but he was on holiday at the time.
Well I'm afraid he got a bit of an earfull last night and was told nobody goes through our field again without our permission and the back field now has a padlock on it and I will give him a key. He was very very angry with the students as he told them under no circumstances did they have any pets because of the state of the house with the last students and he didn't tell them they could go through our field.
We were very worried that Darli would colic and brought him in to his stable and gave him some Epsom salts and plenty of water as he had dehydrated. Diggi is fine and Chance we don't think got into the field or she would literally have been dead due to her EMS, there would have been no doubt about that. If Diggi had got through he could have got on the railway line as the fencing is not secure and he could easily find a hole as youngsters do. He would have rolled down the banking onto the railway and would have had no chance.
So we go away for one night and this is what happens. Sorry for the rant but we are not very happy!!