June 8th 2010

Going through the boxes in the attic has been good and necessary but emotionally draining too at times and I feel that I need to take some time out and escape for a few days. I am therefore planning a quick trip to France to see Tony before I leave for the US to go to Wyoming, as we won’t see each other for weeks and I am desperate to visit the castle where Merlin is filmed.

The frightened mare is now carrying a bridle and saddle and can walk under wands, held by people standing on mounting blocks either side of her to accustom her to the sight and sounds of someone above her eyeline (we made a video of this with another horse on Horse Hero). Tina and I have ground driven her around the farm and she is such a sweetheart. If she worries about anything she tenses her hindquarters, but walking along side her and stroking her gently all over with the long dressage schooling stick has stopped this pattern of behaviour and helped her to stay calm and relaxed.

All our animals are in fine fettle and Leo is frightfully pleased with himself as we came upon a trespassing jogger whist out walking across the fields. The man quickly became a trespassing sprinter and now Leo has to tank off to the spot in the hedge where the jogger ran through to the neighbouring property every time he is let off lead. His recall has gone out of the window!! It’s all very well turning and walking in the opposite direction but Leo knows full well that he can easily catch me up in his own sweet time, so today I drove him up to the fields in my pickup and when he shot off across the pastures, I called him once then jumped back in the truck with Miss Cookie Dough and drove off. It worked a treat and we are hopefully back to an instant recall - well for now anyhow!

I went online when I came home from the farm and am THRILLED to have found two emails in my inbox. One is from the relative of the Neen family (who now lives in Australia) and the other is from the lady looking for the Ansonias. What is more remarkable is that the Neen and the Ansonia families joined on June 10th 1927 when Joseph Conradi Ansonia married Mary Esther Neen and I think it’s neat that both got in contact as the wedding anniversary of their ancestors approaches. I have emailed them both back telling them everything I know about their relatives or potential family members.

This entry was posted on 17. June 2010 at 21:54 and is filed under Sarah Fisher. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.