The ponies got lovely little fleece rugs for their Christmas.  They only really ever wear turnouts, but handy to have to dry them off.  They are very cute.

  

Christmas seems to agree with them and they have both been in very good spirits recently.  Someone mentioned to me yesterday that it's hard to believe that Honey is the same pony that arrived 11 months ago.  Not just in that she looks better, but also her behaviour and confidence.  Obviously I see changes, but as I see her every day, it's nice that other people also notice.  One of my biggest concerns with her was as her feet were so horrific, she still leaned back and rocked on her feet.  It's not a problem really as she is not a ridden animal and will never be asked to do much work, but I worried about how this affected her joints.  I have noticed recently that she is much straighter in her stance and she is actually picking her feet up to turn instead of just swivelling around.  The changes we have made to her feet have been very gradual.  She had developed a way of standing and even moving if she could to compensate for her big curly elf feet.  It's now her bones and muscles are slowly adapting to a new way of moving.  She still doesn't land straight and there is still a long way to go with them and she may never have perfect feet but we will continue to do our best and as long as she is comfortable.  It's always interesting to see her feet being trimmed due to the growth pattern and weight bearing differences.  She has been very settled recently and is very much part of our family now and over the last few months, I have felt a shift in her attitude towards me in that she wants to be part of our family.