.....the cold weather cometh

In my eternally optimistic way, I had hoped Blue would have sufficient shelter and warmth in the field with his bespoke, shaker style field shelter and winter rugs on that he would be able to manage the winter. However Blue made it quite clear that this would just not suffice for an animal of his calibre and I would simply have to move off my rent free field to a more suitable venue. He demanded electricity, top of the range food and constant attention. I ignored his requests initially so in response he cut his leg. Personally I think he did it in a fit of teenage rebellion however I cant prove it due to being completely baffled as to how he could manage the injury in the equine equivalent of a padded room. So as always, he got his way and off we went on another walk to a local livery yard. There were 3 other liveries there at the time and upon my arrival with my muddy, scraggy haired monster they made it quite clear I wasnt welcome on their virtually private yard and spoke to me only to tell me what I couldnt do. Thankfully, I suffered negative indifference at the hands of my equine on a daily basis so it was of little concern to me. Blue cleaned up nicely with a good bath (the first item on the endless list of things I wasnt allowed to do) and some attention to his leg. He was very lethargic and under the weather though despite it healing so I decided to call in the vet. It was to be the start of a beautiful friendship. I have spent so much money with them over the past year and a half they have taken to sending me a hand signed christmas card which I probably bought for their entire clientele list. After endless tests, prodding and poking and sticking an item which vaguely resembled a female sanitary product up his left nostril ( a personal low point in his life I would guess) it was decided that it was a virus and nothing could be done other than keep him warm, comfy and fed. Obviously in a recuperative 'nothing can be done' sort of way, his last rites were not required at any point. He had a bottle of green liquid which I am still to this day convinced is fairy liquid to boost his iron levels and after around a month he was back to his usual self. Unfortunately, Blues usual stabled self is not dissimilar to his usual field self just in minature, so the pacing and gazing out of the window was resumed.