The real Royal Oak

22/08/12 lunch in a housing estate

21/08/11 new shoes at Cannock

20/08/12 Cannock

22/08/12 Jackie's House

We rode from Cannock to Jackie's, it was a pretty uneventful day, country lanes, a few busy A road crossings. We stopped for lunch on a patch of grass in the middle of a housing estate and being in a busy area I had to tie Cognac up outside a public toilet as I was desperate to go! We also rode passed the actual real Royal Oak along the Monarch's Way, although when I rung Jez to tell him he wouldn't believe me and was less than impressed! I also had a moment when I very nearly lost my pony! We stop for an afternoon break down a bridleway and it was so hot I lay down on the grass and shaded my eyes from the sun. Cognac was grazing loose not far away when "clip clop, clip clop" I opened my eyes and he was calmly but purposefully walking back off up the track! I thought back to try and remember if we had come through a gate at the top of the track or whether there was the possibility I would be following him all the way back to Cannock, when he stopped. He had just wanted a drink and had remembered that there was a puddle a few hundred yards back, once he was done he resumed grazing, blinking up at me with his big eyes, would I ever leave you...

Jackie was so lovely and it was great to meet her daughter too, who had just returned home after a stint abroad. Cognac had a big feed and went out in the lushest grass I have ever seen for the night. Jackie had set up her husband's fishing bed in the back of her lorry for me and had provided me with hot water and tea and squash and chocolate biscuits, in case i got hungry or thirsty overnight- which was impossible after I had had plenty to eat and drink in her kitchen before I went to bed!

20/08/12 Cannock . Rest and recuperation with Robin and Catherine.

I really enjoyed my stay at Cannock with Robin and Catherine. We had meet, by chance, a few days earlier when we had stopped at a pub for a mid day rest and Robin and Catherine had very kindly offered us to stay when we reached Cannock. So a couple of days later we phoned and it was all arranged, we had originally been invited to stay for one night, but that soon turned into two and subsequently three nights.

Robin and Catherine had a horse each and the rest of the stables we rented out, it was a lovely yard with a very friendly, calm feel. Cognac went out in a paddock on his own with lots of grass and horses over the fence. We were allowed as much hard feed as we needed, so Cognac got a few days of good hard feed in his belly and some much needed rest.

While we were there we took the opportunity to get Cognac shoes redone. Catherine had to ring round about five farriers to finally get one who was available for the next day.

Everyone I met during my stay was so friendly and really interested in Cognac and my journey and we received some very generous sponsorship money. It was arranged for me to stay with Jackie for the next night. When the morning came for us to leave it was tough to stay good bye. We had both been made to feel so welcome and comfortable and I really hope I get chance to visit again soon (minus pony!)

03/09/12 Wellow Trekking Centre, nr Bath

Cognac and I are currently at Wellow Trekking Centre, 7 miles south of Bath. We are held up here as Cognac is trotting up lame on his off fore. He is fine in walk (with shoes on) and has been striding out as usual, although he has been a bit touchy on stony ground.

I had the vet out to see him on Sunday and he has had his front shoes off to allow the vet to hoof test him and to par away some foot to look for any infection. He only found a bit of bruising, but thought that there was a chance that there was infection brewing, but not yet visible. I was therefore advised to apply a hot, wet poultice to the foot 2-3 times a day to draw out any infection. Dara, the vet was very reassuring and said that he hoped to get us back on the road by mid week. He also had a look at Cognac's general condition and put my mind to rest about his weight. He said that his condition was good and that he looked healthy and well and very fit. He compared him to a racehorse and said that although he wasn't holding any excess weight, he had just walked 1000 miles, so it was all relative. Dara's only words of warning was to watch that he didn't tie up in the next few days, as he wouldn't be working.

The poulticing failed to produce anything so we saw a colleague of Dara's on Wednesday, Tamara. Tamara watched Cognac trot up and hoof tested him again, noting that it was the bulb of his heel that was particularly sore and looked slightly swollen. I asked if it could be anything higher up the leg and she said that as there was no swelling or heat on his legs that she was 99.9% certain that the lameness was coming from his foot and not higher up. The advice now is to stop poulticing the foot as there is nothing coming out and this is leading to his hoof tissue softening and the potential of thrush. Cognac is on a course of Penicillin to clear up any infection that may be present, a sachet of Danillon a day for pain relief and he is to have his shoes put back on on Thursday, in the presence of the vet, so we can work to get him comfortable.

I also took a trip down the road to Totally Tack Ltd, in Frome, to look at the possibility of hoof boots for his front feet. The lady in charge said that she kept her horses a few miles up the road from Wellow and one of her horses has the same size feet as Cognac, so kindly offered to bring them over after she finishes work to try them on Cognac and see how they felt.

While we are stationary I hope to take the opportunity to update the missing days on my blog.

If this horse could talk...

02/09/12 Wellow Trekking Centre- itchy chin!