atomicules UnDeRgRoUnD > Ponies > The End is Neigh


--- The End is Neigh ----------------------------------------------

Spring 2015
-----------

                        ***UPDATE***
Maybe. It's looking as if this may have actually been a knee-jerk
hissy fit reaction. That's their prerogative though, apparently: to
change minds before I'd even published this!
                       ***END UPDATE***

Well, blow me down. I've just learnt that plans are afoot (a-hoof?)
to end our time with ponies. The strangest thing is it's not me who
has finally snapped, rather the wife and girls have decided they
have had enough.

Also, you maybe as surprised as me to learn that I actually have
mixed feelings about this.

On a personal level, I will miss Summer and Gigha. I bonded a lot
with Summer the time I was looking after her when she had a really
bad abscess and I had to bath her foot in the morning before work
and then in the evening after work. We both got fed up of that
routine, but she was actually a really good girl.

I'm disappointed that I may well not even get a photo of Gigha
before she goes back. Unless Film Ferrania have a turn of good
luck.

I'm also sad for Mouse, since she's quite a bit younger than her
big sister she's not been able to do the same things yet. Since I
have worked more closely with Mouse from when she's been on a lead
rein her year on year progress has been much more obvious and
apparent to me. This year should be her year for shining off the
lead rein (last year was her first attempt at that). And she's not
even got to galloping yet and I'm pretty sure she'd love that as
she loves cantering. I worried she's too young to realise what she
is giving up.

But I can't lie and say there won't be good aspects. There's the
obvious financial benefits: It's looking like we'll almost save the
same amount a month as the total amount of money I got to spend
last year. 

So I'll be able to start shooting film properly again, which is
ace, but it's also annoying that I've missed so many photo
opportunities whilst we've had ponies. Perhaps I can finally buy a
proper bike though? An end to the abnegation!

The financial sacrifices have been extreme, but I would have
carried on with them. Far worse than that though has been the time
poverty. The hours, hours and hours mucking out fields, the summer
I had to spend days mowing the fields with a push lawn mower, every
evening of every single day mucking out stables and filling waters
up, etc and generally "putting the ponies to bed". The weekends at
shows (I need to write about shows), the Friday afternoons
(promptly, after arriving home from work) spent bathing the ponies
for those shows the following day. The missed lie-ins at weekends.

So as well as the asterisks being removed one by one, this maybe
the penultimate entry in this series.

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