I love watching the Shetland Grand National when it's on at Olympia, they are surprisingly fast and agile for having such sturdy bodies and little legs and obviously love a good gallop. I'm always surprised at the turn of speed Buttons has, although he sort of looks like a blonde tumble weed when he's flying around. There was an article in Horse and Hound this month about research that has been carried out into the genetic make-up of the modern Flat racehorse. They found that the speed gene entered bloodlines when the Darley and Godolphin Arabians and Byerley Turk were bred with British Natives - mainly Shetlands. And they have pinned down the original gene variant - C type myostatin - to a single British mare living 300 years ago. As Shetlands have the highest frequency of this gene, it's odds on a Shetland was the original speed freak. I think Buttons has always fancied himself as a little racehorse.
Things are back on an even keel with Honey and we are back to where we were prior to me giving her the wormer. I've managed to get them out for a few walks around the fields and they have both seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Buttons has been charging on like a little steam train. He loves to get out and having Honey there as company is an added bonus for him. Honey is happy just to walk at your side. Nothing out there seems to really phase her, I presume she's used to just fields and sheep without the interruption of noisy humans and all their contraptions. Hopefully Buttons can get ridden again this summer, but I really want to teach him to drive. We don't have a cart or dray, but even if it's just breaking him to harness and driving him off the lines or even maybe getting him to pull a tyre it would be another way to exercise him and give him a job to do. Maybe we could go logging. I don't think Honey will be doing much this year, just continuing to settle in and find her confidence. Maybe next year, when her feet are in better shape but for now she can just pony along with us walking.
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