Hi Guys,

It is your favourite four legged friend, Bloggins, again! At least Harriet thinks so, she left a note on the web-site saying I was awesome. I already knew that, but thank you Harriet for being a human with such good taste. If anyone else wants to leave me messages, I promise to read them…..provided they are saying how great I am!

Well, it has been another hectic month here at Trifec. We had a new arrival, all very posh. A racehorse called Dig Deep, would you believe. Apparently he won the Celtic Pride Wales New Premiere Ale Handicap Stakes at Chepstow in August 2009. He manages to slip that little fact into every conversation. When he arrived he was very attention seeking, demanding everyone fussing over him and vets everywhere. Probably because he decided to sit down in the trailer coming here. No doubt looking for a velvet cushion…..very Elton John! We will soon bring him down to our level.

I have had to make a quick transatlantic call via the interneigh (horsey internet) to my chums in America to warn them to tell their owners to lock up their human fillies as Elliot is on his way. Sad to see Elliot go, but he is off there for six months to learn about farming the USA way. We will all miss his cheerful banter as he turned us out each day, and not a few of your human fillies over here will be a bit moist eyed for a while.

Talking of which, I am told that Rachael Thomas (Admin Manager) is in foal. She says it is the result of a skiing holiday in Whistler and too much wine. These humans really are quite naive sometimes, as if skiing and wine puts you in foal……..Rachael, I must come up to the office sometime and whisper in your ear. However she has kept her existing 2 colts (a strange human habit to hang on to one’s foals) but says she wants a filly this time so is eating pink Smarties by the handful. Congratulations Rachael.

Most humans are a bit unsure about these things. I was watching my old chum Imperial Commander , the 7 year old gelding, win the Cheltenham Gold Cup recently on TV (I do watch TV you know, although I have never worked out how they get so many horses inside such a small box), then the next day a BBC interviewer asked his trainer if this meant his stud value was increased…………..humans, honestly they are so dumb sometimes!

We had a small accident at the gate recently. A young human foal got out of the car to open gates for her mother, but then got hurt when the car drove off. Fortunately the “Big Boss” Beccy Field and Amy Sevenoaks were on hand, and they have just returned from an Equestrian First Aid refresher course in Cheshire, so it was all dealt with very efficiently. I am told the human foal has a lot of bruises to remind her how careful we must all be.

At the moment I am prancing around like a fluffy cloud on high….. (see horses can do poetic!). I have just been fitted with a new set of Jimmy Choo shoes. (Well I think they are…………….all nice and shiny). Marc Jones of Forgeside Farriers Ltd, came to give me a personal fitting session. Of course, out of habit I tried to stamp on his toes and give him the odd kick, but Marc is good, he is very good and has so much experience, I was not able to play him up at all. He did a really good job, as he always does, and I am so delighted that in future I am refusing to prance with any of my chums unless they have been properly shod by Marc. See you again in a few weeks, Marc. Mates, get your humans to call on Marc on 01874 638920 or 07974 168655.

Normally I like to tell you about one of my chums, but this month I have had so much else to tell you that the boring web-designer says I am neighing on too much and taking up too much space, so look out for that next month.

My tip of the month:

You remember last month I told you how to avoid time out riding and delaying the inevitable? Well this month I would like to deal with rugs.

• The opportunity will soon be gone as the nice weather comes and our owners put them away till next winter. Humans love to spend lots of money on buying rugs with attention paid to breathable fabrics, high tog ratings, waterproofing and even making sure it has the right designer label. They seem to like this retail therapy, so it is up to us to indulge them. If they put our rugs on properly and strap us up correctly, there is little room for fun. But if they do it wrong and the rug is loose, then whoopee, it is time to rip your field mate’s rug and encourage them to rip yours. Everyone gains, the humans get a whole summer to save up to go out and enjoy their buying experience for next year, and we all get smart new clothes to wear.
• With the summer shows coming up, we need to look our best and a bit of beauty treatment with a mud-pack is ideal. So it is time to find some muddy spot in the field (and after our recent winter this is not difficult), and then rub your face and neck in deep, cloying mud. Humans love you to do this as they then get to spend hours grooming you and getting out all those dried-on clumps of mud. If you combine this with a roll, you also give them the pleasure of going to the Trifec rug-laundry and having your rug washed to make you look smart again.

Sorry, got to hide my laptop and look innocent, here comes Tom. He thinks I should be working instead of being on Horse-Face Book and writing blogs!

Leaving you with a hop skip and a jump in my posh new shoes………

Happy grazing,

Bloggins.