Itchy and scratchy

My coat has felt very itchy lately and I have spent a lot of time rubbing myself on trees and posts.  This is very satisfying but has left me with a lot of bald bits.  The Human says that I look like I have mange.

Apparently, I have inherited mummy's allergy to midge bites, but at the moment I am too small to wear a protective suit like hers. Instead, the Human has been trying to smear me with various creams and gels, but I have shown just how nimble I can be, sprinting round the stable, ducking and diving to avoid the fingerfuls of smelly gloop.
Then, while I was resting after these activities, the Human sneakily fastened a hat onto my head.  You have to watch them.

How to train your Human

The Human still wants me to wear a hat and has been trying to convince me that all the best dressed foals are wearing one. I am not persuaded, especially as the hat in question is quite faded and looks distinctly like a hand-me-down from several generations. After a lot of ducking and diving, I did finally agree that I would wear it dangling from the top of my head.

With correct early training, a Human will soon learn to compromise

I take control

I got fed up with mummy chasing the ginger horse away whenever we were getting to know each other, so when she started chasing him, I ran off in the opposite direction.  Of course, she had to change tack and run after me and I led her a merry chase round the field, giving the ginger horse time to make a clean getaway.  I did this twice and now mummy has realised that it is better to let me make friends.

Here I sneak up on the ginger horse

There! that surprised him

His coat is held together with Gorilla Tape because mummy keeps ripping it

In the video you can see that we are becoming best friends, although mummy is glowering at him at regular intervals to make sure that he stays respectful.


I found out that it is his birthday today - he is four years old and got a lot of carrots in his morning chaff.

The big ginger horse

I have managed to steal a bit of time with the big ginger horse lately.  First, I check that mummy isn't looking.

Then I sidle up to him and engage him in conversation.  I have found him to be very kind and gentle. 

Unfortunately, mummy doesn't see it this way and keeps chasing him away.  Yesterday, she bit him on his back so that he couldn't be ridden, which made the Human very cross indeed.  So, our relationship remains a clandestine affair. 

Mummy goes back to work

Yes, mummy is starting back at work and I get to go too.  At first I was worried by the traffic noises, but mummy said they weren't at all dangerous, and what I should be looking out for is the evil goblins that lurk in the long grass around the arena.
I thought mummy was going along rather sedately, so I showed her how to add a bit of verve to your work, but she didn't take much notice and in the end I trotted along behind, copying her.

Arena Walk

Mummy is thinking of going back to work sometime next week, so I showed her how to walk round an arena nicely.


Later that morning, when mummy wasn't looking, I ran up to meet the big ginger horse and we were just exchanging pleasantries when mummy found out and drove him down to the bottom of the field, where he had to stay all day.  I shall never meet any boys at this rate.

Early Training

I feel that it is important, on the subject of training, that one starts as one means to go on.  Today, the Human tried to get me to wear a hat.  I did not want a hat on my head, I wanted to be scratched instead.  It took a bit of pushing and wriggling, but I got my point across.

A correctly trained human grooming my mane

Meanwhile, I have been gradually sneaking up on the big ginger horse when mummy isn't looking.  Today I managed to sniff noses with him and was just starting to frisk about when mummy intervened and he had to go away.

Hello Everybody!

My name is Petal and I was born on 15th April.  Here is a picture of my mum, Posy.

She likes to keep me away from danger.  Here, Posy surveys the scene from the safety of the yard; you can see that I am helping.

There is also a big ginger horse called Hanuman, but every time Posy sees him she charges at him with her teeth bared so that he has to run away.  

Posy watches the rapidly retreating Hanuman

Mummy says that I am too young to play with boys.