Sunday walk and Cycle ride!

The photos are all arse about face!
so it's the cycle ride first and the last photo first! Meet Ned, well that's what he told me his name was... Now Ned and I hit it off straight away... haven't stroked a pony for ages... we shared my banana, well really I've not stroked a horse/pony since I sold mine when I was 16/17 before I started to go out to work, think it was about then. Actually that's not quite right as I worked a further 3/4 years with horse, from race horses, to brood mares, to hunters, to trekking in Portugal and trekking at Abbotsbury, Dorset... so I must have been about 19/20 when I last rode and mucked out etc... But Ned is special, not sure why he just is, hopefully I will meet him again on my next ride around....

These ponies are used to control the ground - moorland on Goss moor, one of the many walks around here.. except I cycled the route, it's only 7 miles, but I cycled from home to the start of it at Screech Owl Sanctuary, so maybe it was 8/9. I took a packed lunch and left Ian back home working with a friend..
Ned's second in command...

The Heard..

My Bike propped up next to a bit of bog!

A Bog! the wild life was amazing the butterfly are out, lots of different colours, I really should take a book next time and look them up...

First thing Sunday morning, I walked the dogs, in my favourite place in the world a wood, always loved woods and want one day to live in one, with a bit open so I can fit the agility equipment in of course!

Have you ever tried walking some of the runs that the animals have walked, just close your eyes and walk slowly with your feet and feel the twigs, grass either side of your feet, something I used to do as a kid but had forgotten until recently.... you really get to feel the ground ... sigh

Mindy would have made a great "Gun dog" Here she is doing the pose after hearing a pheasant in the distance.... whilst standing on a log!

the only shot of all of them in front of me, mooching along...

Oh and this one...

Ladock Woods

I love wood walking, the wilder the better, I think the dogs love it too, although the poor "smalls" end up having to be de-tangled from brambles, pine needles, on various occasions and 90% of the time getting home and having to bath them, which adds another hour before we can sit down and have a cup of tea!!

Sennen I feel is old enough at nearly 4 months old, to start coming on more of the walks with us and to run free, I didn't let her off before, apart from the odd 10 mins, due to me really wanting my recall better and more importantly not wanting her to chase the others or worse still hurt herself running too much with the others, but I think she is big enough now and hopefully with the amount of winter woods walks that we all do, she will become more aware of what her big hares legs are doing, ducking and diving amongst the branches, tree stumps and uneven ground etc.........

So Sennen has had two free wood walks this weekend, her recalls where perfect, but I did have a pocket full of liver and she would have to not only return to me, sit have the lead put on walk a few paces and then allowed off again, unfortunately Ian didn't have that kind of success with her, you cant tell your Husband that he needs to have a more exciting voice and say Sennen with a bit more excitement, can you?
So he has had instructions to go down the garden with her and do some recalls.....yeah right!!

I have just realised it's almost Monday and Sennen has puppy class and I haven't done my homework, the Stand!...so boring! She has been great and loves everyone two and four legged.
We have had just one bad experience which I'm not sure how to sort out, she went through a door way at puppy class straight into the path of a barking shepherd, she didn't react badly, turned her head away and stood still, until I walked her out the door, but since then she has greeted two adult dogs by barking at them, luckily I have a few adult large dogs that come training up here, so she has got to meet them, lovely Jem, a black lab, who calmed Sennen right down, but told her she should not only shut up, but not use her front feet to bounce on faces!
and Sennen understood quickly, so that was good...so just got to go out and about and meet the calmer adult dogs and hopefully sort that issue out.

So that's January 2011 almost over with, where the heck that went I've no idea!

Happy Birthday to Mum for Friday xx

So that's why...

So that's why you don't see too many "puffs" in full coats, out walking in the woods, although to be fair, Mindys coat is clipped shorter than a proper puff!
This was only 20 Min's in on the walk and she was far worse by the time we got back to the car another hour later!
.....Mindy is a hunter and chaser, where Red goes, she goes.
Harry was muddy, but not this bad.......

Bless them, but what fun to watch, her and Red ducking and diving in and out the trees, jumping some puddles and running through others!
So we spent the first hour when we got home using the dog wash and dog blaster......thank god for both, a god send!

Walking the dogs!

I love these woods, you can walk for hours and not see a single soul! Does get rather muddy in the winter and after just an evening of rain can be bad in places too.....



When you have everyone together you just got to have a photo, although Ian didn't want to be in this shot....good job really as no one was around to take the photo!