Thick as thieves

Remember I mentioned that I’m riding an ex-broodmare that belongs to my neighbour. I’ve seen several of her daughters, and they’re amazing! I’ve ridden one of them, and despite her being very compact and having tiny hooves, she’s uncomplicated to ride

Unfortunately, there is a problem with her (the “unfortunately” must be said in a Wrex Tarr voice). Well, rather she’s got several problems. She’s got an eye that allows the flies to lay their eggs in her eye. This wouldn’t be a problem if we could keep a fly mask on her without it being torn off by the other mares. It’s a tad annoying that we can only leave it on in the stables

There is, however, a tiny downside to leaving it on in the stables, and that’s her sister. A destructive little bag if ever I met one. Within a few hours of her being put into her new stable she had figured out how to let herself out. A quick release latch soon sorted that problem out. What it didn’t sort out was the kicking of her door, which she does whenever she’s not getting any attention

You see, if you put them directly next to one another in the stables, they turn into a two horse wrecking crew where NOTHING is safe from being destroyed, not even if it’s on the horse!

We’ve lost fly masks when the masks are on the horses. You see, the bags as we call them, don’t appreciate anything being on their face or body, so they will do *anything* to remove it, even if it means enlisting the help of another bag!

Then there’s the escapades they get up into in the stables. Whatever you do, don’t leave ANYTHING near these two! The young bag will chew on anything that’s left within reach. We’ve lost hoofpicks, curry combs, gloves and a few other sundries. We’ve caught her trying to help herself to the Barnsby saddle, so we’ve now learned to keep saddles away from her

But her proudest moment was enlisting the help of her full sister to try and destroy a bridle. I’d turned my back on the bags for five minutes and when I returned there they were with one end of the noseband in their mouths, happily destroying it. I’m sure Bag 2 was only doing it because her sister had conned her into it

Fortunately the bridle wasn’t damaged too badly, all we needed to do was trim off the chewed piece of leather, as luckily the strap was too long anyway. I might need to take into Horseman’s Haven along with a pair of reins (none of the bags got ahold of these, it’s just general wear and tear on these. The cleats are starting to come off and I’m very particular about my reins) for repair as I don’t like having a substandard piece of tack

It’s just one of my pet peeves. Like not having gloves…

Still, I’m sure a Jolly Ball or a coke bottle hung in her stable should hopefully help her