Haircut and other news

Relatively fine weather, whoopee! Hack time. Sadly we have to leave the little doggies behind, no matter how cute and appealing they are. Buffy here always does her best to make me feel bad for abandoning her. However, we are hard hearted...
Before we could leave Paddy was in dire need of a haircut. He looks so much better hogged and he was beginning to resemble a bog brush, with extra hairy bits.



Paddy used to have a deep seated antipathy to being clipped, to the point where he was dangerous (Shell tried everything, including twitching). In the end persistence paid off and now he's just rather bored by the whole thing.
Rash is (was) appalled at the idea of clippers anywhere near him, he even hated having his feathers trimmed by hand. I did wonder if he would take exception to having to stand next to Pads while he was being done. As you can see from the pic he's not bovvered (trekking centre here we come!). In fact he was so chilled he let Shell trim his feathers with the clippers!
Pads was delighted with his new look, full of himself and back on form, jogging and revving on corners. It's great to see him enjoying himself again.
Rash is still not on top form, traces of snot remain. He's developed an interesting technique... wait until I come off his back in canter, then have a coughing fit (while still cantering). I hasten to add that I'm not abusing the poor baby. I only asked for a gentle trot in the first place, it just kept getting faster. Obviously he's not at death's door just yet!
However, the following pic doesn't exactly help my case. This could have the RSPCA down on us.
Actually he'd just had a lovely roll in the muddiest bit he could find. Despite appearances he's a very happy horse, though you'd never guess he was a rather well bred Arab (donkey cross llama springs to mind!).

Just over a week to go now... Are we nervous? Well.....
This fetching little number is a sample of what our cycling backup get to wear (COME ON WHERE ARE YOU?)
And finally....
Thanks to Pip Greenwood from Hemcore who has offered us bedding for our escapade.
See www.hemcore.co.uk for details.