Its wet, its dark, its foggy - its November on Exmoor. We were doing well with stunning autumn weather till the beginning of this week - Andy got in a lovely day's hunting on Monday, when it was glorious, but I couldn't go and since then its been murky and damp. So murky yesterday, in fact, that I didn't dare exercise horses on the road because we were sitting in a cloud - or rather a cloud was sitting on us - and you could only see about 25 yards - not a safe distance for visibility on single track lanes.
Fortunately I can use the school but the rehab horses found that a bit dull as they knew full well they were due to go out and about...
I have another visibility problem with Winston...Much as I adore him, the problem with having a fast-moving V puppy at this time of year is that he almost entirely disappears when he is in bracken or heather, never mind fog. He also covers so much ground that by the time I've looked round to see where he is he can be 3 fields away. Its not ideal just to wait for the pheasants to go up and then try to find him, so here is the solution...
- a hi-viz fleece, as suggested by Mark Johnson (thank you Mark!) who put a photo of one, as modelled by his Staffie, on Facebook ;-)
...and it works, too - genius - plus also keeps Winston warm and saves him burning off yet more calories on those rare occasions when he isn't running at warp speed...
There's no escaping now, you little rascal. I haven't forgotten that I have masses to put on the blog about whole horse rehab but its been an incredibly busy week - and the clocks changing seems to mean even less time, though I know thats illogical(!). There is lots to write on that subject and it will take a while but I will put posts together for next week.
Look out as well for news about Bailey W - he is going home on Saturday but not before he comes to the Opening Meet :-) Please send all good vibes his way for a safe and happy day - he won't be out all day as he isn't fit enough, but it should be a lovely treat for him to see hounds again for the first time in at least 18 months and I hope it will be a great omen for his future.
PS: My email has been playing up for the last 24 hours so if you've sent me an email and not had a response its because its disappeared into the ether...Sorry for the inconvenience but if you could resend, that would be great.
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