Some steps forward, one step back...

First bit of good news for Monday is that spring seems to be well and truly arriving on Exmoor. 

Well, it must be - the sun is shining, its even warm (by Rockley standards!), there is a definite green tinge returning to both grass and trees...

and we have had some unplanned and unscheduled new arrivals...

...five so far, including some very hungry triplets....

Zan and Lucy have also had a good week, both coming out of shoes remarkably well - Lucy in particular with hardly a care in the world.

I had been worried about how Zan might cope initially, not only because his feet are very under-run and flat, but also because he had been on bute.   He has also been lame for longer than Lucy and, like Oscar and Patsy, has a twisted leg conformation to make things even more challenging for him.

However, he is an incredibly cheerful and easy-going chap and although of course he struggles at the moment on hard ground or sharp turns, he is is moving happily about on pea gravel or soft going.

The one step back is Dilly, who I had been really pleased with last week, especially when I was able to take new footage which confirmed how much better she was landing.  I had been hoping to have a good day on Friday, when her owner and Oscar's came down to see them, but although Dilly had been working nicely up till Thursday afternoon, at some point overnight she seems to have knocked herself (although nothing is visible) and wasn't quite right on Friday morning after all :-(  The timing could hardly have been worse, but she is a lot better today, so I am hoping that we will be back onwards and upwards later in the week(!)...