Easibed, Winergy and 20 Metre Squares!

As I have been working at the donkey sanctuary for two weeks I haven't had much chance to ride Trooper. I rode him this morning and he went really well. I was riding 20 metre squares, this seems to make him go nicely as I have to use my outside rein more to keep him straight and then collect him on the corners to do a little turn on the forehand.

He has run out of Winergy Ventilate so I have decided not to give it him for a while and see how his breathing is. We have just bought the big 10 kg bag of it so we have it in for when he starts coughing again. I am hoping he will be OK now until he comes in at night time for the winter.

We are going to change his bedding to Easibed soon. We have been on it in the past but our farmer stopped being able to get hold of it easily. He is on shavings at the moment but Easibed will be much better for his breathing as there is a lot less dust in it. It is less absorbent than shavings but as the wood chips are bigger and more heavy they do not get everywhere (Trooper is always covered in shavings!). We have got two bags in the locker so next time we need more bedding we will be mixing it in with the shavings to use them up. When we were on Easibed we used to put shavings along one side of the stable as the urine would run under the rubber matting and collect at one end of the stable due to it being not as absorbent.

His tail needs a good wash at the moment as he has been itching it a lot. He also seems to have lost some of his already tidy forelock but I am not sure how!

I haven't had chance to jump since I fell off so I need to get round to doing that before I go back to university!

Love Laura
xxxx