Achnacarry & Craigiebrig Highland Pony Stud

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2006 NEWS

29th November 2006

Here I am again.....Tim is always on the computer in the evening so I try to grab it before tea. To continue, we went to the HPEC AGM which we always enjoy. The company is always good and also the food!! Everyone had a good time and many rosettes and cups were handed out. The run away "Champion" was Christopher Grant with his various ponies, Whitehope Morag and Lambrigg Blackjack. He won the HPS Performance Award and also was top in the HPEC awards. The best mare was Whitehope Morag and Champion was Christopher and Morag.

Even Tim had a presentation for his many years as Treasurer, approximately 9 years ( I think). He was presented with a lovely pair of chrystal glasses and he also received the quaich awarded to the person whom the club thinks has contributed the most in the last year. Here is a photo of Tim and Penny Smith.

So, that was our few days away....all very pleasant and relaxing. Next was the Winter Fair which was held on Saturday the 25th November which was also the Wedding Day of Kathryn Allan to Nigel McLellan.

That was the Winter Fair.......This weekend we are off, or, correction I am off to Forfar Foal Show. Unfortunately Tim had promised someone that he would curl for them as they had done him a favour earlier so Brenda's dad, Jimmy will be helping me. I am hoping to take my two geldings, a 2 yr old and a yearling so.....anything could happen as neither have been anywhere before!!!!!

Until the next time..............

28th November 2006

To continue, Rannoch is now home and I am trying to ride him as often as I can, mainly around the house until we get the hang of each other. He has actually been very good considering. When he first returned home he whinnied non stop because he kept seeing the mares but he is getting used to coming in and out of the field and NOT covering a mare!! So...........watch this space!

The following photo is not the best but it was just for interest as this is Alison's yearling colt by Cameronian of Tower who is by MacGregor of Achnacarry. He is a lovely mouse dun with loads of bone and feather with a very nice head. If he behaves himself and turns out ok, Alison hopes to keep him entire.

27th November 2006

Almost the end of November. Where does the time go? It is blowing a gale outside and is pretty chilly so time for an update.

7th November 2006

Just a short update to say that Emperor, our yearling colt has now been gelded so hopefully he will find a new home easier than if he was still a colt. He should make a good ridden pony and is show quality. More details on our Sales Page.

Our two colt foals have now been micro-chipped and they also had their tetanus jags. No-one seems to be any the worse.

More later

4th November 2006

Time for an update. Life is never dull at the Connell's!! I say that because three weeks tomorrow, part of our bedroom ceiling collapsed just narrowly missing me!!! There has always been a crack in the ceiling but obviously as our house is over 100 years old it was just wear and tear. We couldn't even prove that there had been a water leak so the insurance doesn't cover it. Anyway it has all been sorted and yesterday, Tim and I chose our new wallpaper for the room. Once it has been redorated, the carpet will have to be cleaned. I am pleased to say the insurance does cover these two jobs!

We were to collect Rannoch last weekend but he isn't quite ready, so we are now collecting him on 11th November. He is quite happy trotting along and has only just begun to canter so the longer he can be worked on, so much the better. I am looking forward to his home-coming as I miss his big black face about the place!

The only other item of interest is that Joanne Parry, who owns Tinker of Achnacarry wrote to tell us that she was taking him to show at the NPS Area 25 show in October. She duly reported back to let us know that he was 1st in the Kilmaron Stud NPS class Large Breeds, 1,2 and 3 yrs old. Tinker is 2 years old and still entire. He is 13.3hh at the moment. He was also first in the Home Produced class and eventually Champion in the Home Produced classes. Needless-to-say, Tim and were delighted. Here are a couple of photos that Joanne sent to us.

I think that is me up to date once again. Unfortunately, Tim and I have decided to forego the Highland Pony Society Dance this year. It is only the second time that we have missed it. We are feeling "poor"!!!!! We shall have to sell some of these "pesky animals"!!!!!!!

Until the next time...........

22nd October 2006

Here I am at last. Things seems to be rather hectic at the moment with dogs and ponies.

The other thing I did was ride Tarka out on the road.

Perhaps Tim and I should change to the following mode of transport!!!!!!! See below!!

Apart from the above I have worked a wee bit with my yearling and two year old "boys" and have been grooming dogs! Next weekend we are going down to Jedburgh to collect Rannoch. Hopefully he will be broken and ready to ride on!! I have had a few conversations with Pamela Brown, who is breaking him to saddle and I think the two of them are gradually breaking each other!!! Ha! Ha! say no more. I think that Pam will win in the end.

Until the next time.........

29th September 2006

Just a short update. Nothing much has been happening. Skye is still lame but getting better, because she had a tiny touch of laminitis it has affected her white line and it is infected so at the moment she is on antibiotics and I am bathing her foot every day also. She is improving but it will just take time. sigh!!

The only other thing that is new is that Rannoch (Tarka's son) is down at Pamela Brown's being broken and I haven't heard any bad news so I imagine she is getting on fine with him. As they say, no news is good news!!

20th September 2006

Here I am a bit later. The photos of the Western Show have now been downloaded and I have slotted them in below.

20th September 2006

Just a short update with what we have been up to. Since Strathallan we have relaxed a bit as far as showing ponies goes, but needless-to-say I have been showing my dogs. More of that on Tiffany's page.

7th September 2006

Back again!!

And of course Echo of Achnacarry shown below.

The other pony which we met for the first time was a little exmoor who belongs to friends of ours, Douglas & Pippa Ogilvie. Here is a photo of their daughter, Kirsty on him.

One other happening was we had a phone call from Rachel Stewart who owns Primrose of Tower and also the yearling filly, Fiadh of Kirkcarrion. She asked if she and a friend, Kate could come and park their lorries in our yard and then go for a ride in Pitmedden Forest which is on our doorstep.

The other nice thing that happened to us was Skye arrived home last week having been away on loan down near Manchester for almost 2 years. She had been extremely well looked after by the Thorburn family who bought Ericht of Achnacarry from us as a 2 year old. Now that Ericht is a 4 year old he has been broken to saddle and Skye didn't really have a full time job anymore! I have to ride her now as she is too wide for Tim and he has knackered his back/hip at the moment.....as well as his poisoned hand!!

Here are a couple of photos of Kirsty of Orangefield and friends, also one of Mhairi's foal....Tearlach and some of our additional family baby swallows. We have loads of them!!

That is about us all up to date until the next time! We are off to a small dog show this Saturday, and to Ingliston Stud on Sunday to watch the Western Equestrian Society's show. Next Thursday we are away down to York area to Darlington Championship dog show....so we have a busy schedule ahead!!!

5th September 2006

I'm back again!! Time for more news. Although it was raining all day long today (usually when I update the site) Tim was off and hogged it all day!! He was off because of the weather but mostly because he has managed to get a poisoned finger!!! He went to see the "witch doctor" and has now two sets of anti-biotics to take as well as everything else!! If I turn him upside down he'll rattle!! It's amazing how much you can do with only one hand!

Anyway back to reporting on the shows. On Sunday 27th August we were at the SKC Dog Championship Show at Ingliston and that will be reported in Tiffany's page. Our final summer show was Strathallan on 2nd September. Although we had entered Rosanna, the yearling and Rowan again we only took Rowan because Rosie still had her cough.

4th September 2006

Time for updates on this page and Tiffany's page.

Since I last updated we have been to dog shows as well as horse shows. On 12th August, we decided to have a break from tradition and instead of going to Kinross Show we went to Carnoustie to a Dog Show with Sasha and Tiffany. Once I have updated this page I will update Tiffy's page and put some photos on.

My friend, Sarah Campbell who lives in Glen Lyon with her husband, Ian...bought a new Highland Yearling and also a Welsh Section A to keep her company, so I decided to pay them a visit......My nose was bothering me!!!!!!!

Next was Drymen Show which had been re-scheduled as it was postponed because of torrential rain in May!! We took Rosanna, the yearling and Rowan and although it was rather damp to begin with it soon cleared up and turned into a very warm day. I think that Drymen will have to change to that date permanently.

Next was Blair Atholl on the 24th August and although we had entered the same two ponies, Rosanna and Rowan, Rosanna had developed a wee cough so we thought we would leave her at home and therefore we had a very relaxing day. The entries were very good as usual and we were pleased to get a 3rd prize with Rowan.

Champion was the lovely brood mare, Islay of Whitefield and Reserve was the 3 year old filly, Shona of Sunnyneuk. The Open Ridden Champion was Anne Mitchell's Dunedin May Rose and Reserve was Aigas of Litigan. Novice Champion was Grace of Carlung owned by Susan Wardrop and ridden by Debbie Rodwell. Reserve Novice Champion was Barnacle of Glenoe owned and ridden by Victoria Bogan.

We don't have any photos of the ridden classes but we took some of the very well supported Working Harness Class which is proving to be a popular class. It was won by Gregor of Achindrean a very nice little gelding.

A few other pictures of workers.

Couldn't resist this picture of Annie Purdie with her Border Terrier puppy.

9th August 2006

Just a short update mainly to mention that our SALES PAGE has been updated with new photos.

On Saturday 5th August we took Mhairi and her foal to Perth Show. As Mhairi is now 15 years we did not expect to win a prize . However it was experience for the foal. He was 6th in his class. Here are a couple of pictures of them and one of Tearlach in the field. Lower down are a few extra photos of Rowan at Kirrie Show .

ON the Sunday we had a very pleasant day at Fourmerk Farm. It was Ronnie Alexander's BIG birthday and some friends were invited for a BBQ. Here is a photo of Ronnie's cake which I couldn't resist taking!

Here are a few photos of Ardnagaisk Mirren who belongs to the Gourdies of Glenfarg. She is a daughter of Rannoch and she and her dam have come back for a visit.

That's all for now......no pony shows this weekend....going to Carnoustie to a dog show instead!

Until the next time...........

2nd August 2006

Well......it's raining!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurrah!!!!!!!!!

Time for an update at long last. We have ups and down since I last wrote the worst down being the death unexpectantly, of our dear "black dog" Hope.

We miss her so much....she was different from the Schnauzers who are very noisy. Hope liked to pick up her toys or an old shoe and present you with it everytime she welcomed you. We miss her lying around the kitchen because she always chose to lie in front of the Raeburn and got in the way of the oven doors. She was forever being cursed!! She will be missed in the forest where she had many "dog walker" friends whom she presented herself in front of and just sat there until they gave her a treat!!

Here some photos of her and her human and animal friends.

Tiffany will miss Hope as you can see from the next photo!

Hope sunbathing!!!!!!!

Life must go and we have such happy memories of Hope from the time when she was a puppy and carrying my car keys to Tim when I arrived home from work... to when we last saw her, wagging her tail and following Brenda without a backward glance at us because Brenda had a "treat" in her hand!

She is buried in our garden along with our other pets.

What else has been happening?

We have been at a few shows, Alyth was our first this year apart from the Stallion Show in March.

After the Breed Show we had George and Barbara Clardy to stay overnight on the Monday having toured around our ponies in the afternoon. George and Barbara are from Pennslyvania in the States, and they have a few Highland Ponies themselves. I don't think we stopped talking apart from eating and sleeping!!

What next? The day after Kirrie, I was judging at the Border Highlands Show so off we went along with Marjorie Grant who was going to ride for me. We had a great day there, the weather was perfect and there was a good turnout of ponies and the setting was beautiful. Very relaxing!! We were very looked after by the committee and the food is to die for!!! My Champion was Burnside Erin and my Reserve was Jenor of Ednam House. The ridden Champion was Whitefield King Ivan and my Reserve was Whitehope Morag.

The lovely photo of Hope and the other three dogs was taken at the Border Highlands Show.

After that show, our next weekend away was the following one when we went up to Dornoch. In between times we had a visit from our friend, Kirsten Blazek all the way from California. Kirsten was actually staying with her parents who now live in Auchtermuchty, but for many years Kirsten used to help me show and ride the ponies. She then went to University, got a job in Edinburgh, met an American (Dave) who was over on holiday and the rest....... as they say is history!! They now have a lovely wee boy, Ethan, and of course Kirsten brought him up for us to see him (and her!). The lovely photo of Ethan on Hope's back was taken that day and here are a few more........just to prove I can "do" babies as well as foals and puppies!!

Here are another two photos of Rannoch and Tarka with their respective mares, Tarka with ours and Rannoch with visitors.

Well......that has been a marathon....that's what you get when you don't keep your diary up to date!!! I will update Tiffany's page too but not many piccies. What are we doing next? Well we are off to Perth Show this Saturday probably with a mare and foal..just to get the foal out. The day after we have a party to go to. Report to follow later!!

The only other clame to fame is that we heard from Bruce Haliburton that Echo of Achnacarry won his Picton class and qualified for the Final at Malvern which is this week. He also won the NPS Silver Medal and went on to be Supreme Champion. .......Not bad eh?!!!!!

Until the next time.......

13th June 2006

Just a short update.

Other than that, life has been as busy as ever mostly taken up with ponies and dogs. Tim and I did manage to visit the garden show which is held every year at Ingliston. We thoroughly enjoyed it and needless-to-say came back with a few plants!! One thing that did happen the other week was something that thrilled me.....even although it was in the shape of a FOX!!!!! I had had two of Tiffany's puppies in for a tidy and their owner had had to dash home for something. Whilst she was away I decided to go and have a look at the foals. As I was walking up the field I saw in the distance something reddish brown and it appeared to be playing with something.

I first of all thought it was two cock pheasants fighting, then I spotted it was a fox. When it saw me it began walking towards the woods leaving what it had been playing with behind. I thought perhaps it was a rabbit but then I saw that it was a very small fox cub!! It quickly followed its mother but a few minutes later it came back into the field on its own. I dashed down to the house for my camera and camcorder and was lucky to get a photo of it sleeping.

Here are another two photographs of our foals, Elphin and Tearlach.

We should have been at West Fife Show but like Fife Show the two which we had entered still had some down from their winter coat so we decided not to go, hence the reason we managed to go to the flower show instead. On the Sunday, Tim and I saddled up Xanthe and Fhuaran but unfortunately had to return home early due to the fact that Tim's back was hurting him. He has been pretty depressed about it thinking he may not be able to ride anymore, but I cheered him up by suggesting that we break Skye to driving when she returns home. He thought also it was a very good idea when I said he could take her down to the pub!!!!!

On 10th June I was judging the Highland Ponies at the N.P.S. Summer Show which was held at Strathallan Castle near Auchterarder. I had well filled adult classes but as usual the yearling class was not supported. Where are they all? They must be like us waiting for them to be just right before people take them out. My Champion was MacCallum of Millfield and my Reserve was Elisedene. I had some nice 2 and 3 year old youngsters and top of the line in them was Miranda Karri of Moulzie. We thoroughly enjoyed our day, being well fed and watered by the committee.

Next week we are off to the Royal Highland Show. We are going through on the Tuesday and how I am going to get organised for that ......who knows?!!!!!!! Until the next time.............

I am hopefully going to update Tiffany's page now.......

25th May 2006

Just a few photos I took the other evening of Tarka and his merry band!! It was such a nice evening.

Mhairi and her foal, Tearlach are thriving now and enjoying life. Here are a few photos of them.

This one is of Corrie and her foal, Elphin and the others.

Just to add the two young fillies, Fionnalaigh and Rosanna here is quite a nice one of them. We are struggling to get their winter coats out........... it is cold in them there hills in Glassart Glen!!!!!!!!

That was a marathon...I am now going out for a ride on Xanthe and hopefully get a few more piccies of Rannoch and his merry band for the next picture show!!!! I have also updated Tiffany's page with a few new pics.

Until the next time...............

23rd May 2006

Just a bit of light relief updating Tiffany's page and adding to our news page. I have had a busy day beginning with posing beside a hot tub belonging to one of our neighbours. They rent out holiday cottages and each has a hot tub for the guests. As they are this year connected to Visit Scotland they had to provide a few extra photographs of their cottages. They telephoned me this morning wondering if I could spare half an hour. As usual my day is always full of ponies & dogs and of course housework! What is that I hear some of you say?!! However I dutifully turned up dressed in summer trousers and teashirt for the photo session. My excuse for not going into the hot tub was that my swimsuit didn't fit!! Mind you at this very moment after walking with the dogs and walking up and down our hilly fields looking at stallions and mares I could do with a long hot soak. Margaret, our neighbour posed in the tub whilst I perched on the steps beside it both with a glass of red wine in our hands!! Hopefully I will get a photo to put on our site. The day did start out dry but it is now very stormy and rather wet, hence the reason I am in here. Anyway I have updated Tiffany's page for anyone who is interested.

Until the next time............

20th May 2006

Time for an update.

May began with our ride on 6th May which as usual proved to be very popular and we had a few people and ponies who hadn't been before. It was to be the usual format.....a slower ride for young ponies or just for people who wanted to chat and ride! The faster ride is usually taken by Tim who hates walking and always has to be trotting or cantering!!! Unfortunately, even although we have 18 ponies we seem to be in the position of only having 1 pony to ride which even I have to agree is ridiculous! Tim and I were going to share Xanthe as she is Tim's riding pony and also my western pony. However she got a shock from the electric fence when she leaned over to speak to us and jumped back injuring her tendon. She was out of action for about 2 weeks.

We collected .....I think it was £145 for Grass Sickness, Tim is having 40 winks whilst I am updating this so I can't check! Anyway we all enjoyed our day and Tim and I thoroughly enjoy having the ponies and their owners here.

After the ride the next event was the birth of Mhairi's colt foal on 11th May. She wasn't actually due to foal until around 16th or a few days after, so it was with great surprise when I spotted that she was beginning to wax up on the evening of the 10th May. I checked her around mid-night and there was no sign of her foaling and when we pulled the curtains back the following morning and looked out we couldn't see a foal, but when Tim went downstairs ...he came running back up to say there was indeed a foal! This foal was very much wanted as Mhairi had lost her foal last year and we were anxious. However HE seemed to be a very healthy foal and was trying to suck. On closer inspection, I noticed that although he was making sucky noises he didn't seem to be getting milk . Mhairi's udder was very hard and her teats were very large which actually made it very difficult for the foal to draw any milk out. To cut a long story short I had to milk Mhairi every 2 hours during the night and also for most of the next day and then give the milk to the foal from a syringe. I was Knackered!!! The next night I left her and her foal for three hours and when I went out around 3.30am they both looked very content and when I looked underneath everything was back to normal. What a relief........especially as I was judging Ayr Show on the 14th May and we had our friends, Jimmy and Brenda staying in the house as usual looking after all the animals. Here are some photos of Mhairi and her foal.

We stayed with our friends, Carol and Colin Mason the night before Ayr Show and met their second baby, Sarah who was born in March and a very pleasant evening was spent with catching up on all their news. Their mare, Farlan of Whitefield is due to foal soon and this is again a very much longed for foal as Farlan took her time before deciding to become pregnant! She is due around this coming week so we look forward to THE phone call soon!! Ayr Show was very enjoyable albeit rather cold. I had good quality entries forward and had Carlung Feargus as my Champion and Carlung Innes (owned by Miriam McCloy) as Reserve. After that weekend Tiffany and I were at the SKC Championship Dog Show on 19th May, but it proved not to be a lucky show...but more of that on Tiffany's page. Today we were at Fife Show without our ponies. We had entered our 2 year old and yearling but with the cold weather their winter coats are just not budging. We need some SUNSHINE....not just for a couple of days but for a week or two!! Our adult ponies are much better but we hadn't entered any of them. It was a rather cold day but we enjoyed ourselves. Champion was Marnonwells Cearstaidh...a mare that I am also very fond of. She was looking very well. Reserve was the stallion Sunny of Runivaid. Other results were: Yearlings: 1st Marnoch of Millfield 2nd Birchcroft Paddy 3yr olds: (not sure)...may have been Shona of Sunnyneuk 2 yr olds: 1st Myra O'Lundie Crags 2nd Pipers Water Betony 3rdMilldeans Bracken Stallion : 1st Sunny of Runivaid 2nd Kestral of Glencree Gelding: 1st Macallum of Millfield 2nd Robroy of Milroy 3rd Benalder Ossian Yeld Mare: 1st Marnonwells Cearstaidh 2nd Selina of Caenlochan 3rd Maxine of Millfield Mare with foal 1st: Marie-Rose of Strathmore Foal 1st: Marie-Rose's foal. That is about all our news at the moment. Life here is hectic with a few mares in to Rannoch keeping me very busy and also all the usual chores on top. We shall try and get the old hair out of the ponies for the shows looming but if we don't get better weather we will be struggling. Here are a few photos of Rannoch which I thought were quite nice. Rannoch of Achnacarry

30th April 2006

It seems a long time since I was last in our web site and it is when I see the date of my last update! Life for us has been rather hectic as always with feeding ponies and looking after them and our dogs. Also, Tim's resignation from Vice-President of the Highland Pony Society occupied our thoughts for a while. It seems that even in the HPS, one cannot air their views without being penalised. HOWEVER life is far too important to let these events affect us too much and we shall strive to breed traditional Highland Ponies and promote them all over the world.

One other subject which we were both vexed to hear about was that Susan Wardrop of Carlung Stud had a very serious accident whilst working with her ponies but hopefully she will soon be on the road to recovery.

I am sure that our regular readers will join us in wishing Susan a speedy recovery.

On a much cheerier note Corrie had her foal on Tuesday 18th April...the day I predicted! Unusual for Corrie, she had HIM!!!!!!!!!! in the barn in the middle of the day! This is the 5th colt foal by Tarka and prior to that she had 2 colt foals by MacGregor of Achnacarry. She has only ever had one filly foal by MacGregor and unfortunately we had to have her put down due to an abcess near her heart.

After Elphin was born I decided to move Corrie and him to the wee field in front of the house as I didn't want Corrie to hold on her foal heat as the foal would be a very early foal next year. Anyway I decided she needed a rest before trying for another foal. Midge is now in beside Tarka and has been covered so after all we may still have an early foal, but at least Midge has had a rest for a year. We have moved Mhairi in with Corrie as she is next to foal and there is some grass in the wee field and she will get some peace away from the rest of the gang. Saying that she is none too pleased and is walking up and down the fence looking across the road at her friends. I couldn't stand it any longer and moved Rosanna, last years filly, out of Midge and by Tarka, to hopefully keep Mhairi company.

A few weeks ago, Tim was down in London for a re-union with the Royal Dragoons which are now the Blues and Royals. He had a very superior lunch and afterwards stayed with David my stepson and Tim's son for a few extra days. I think a good time was had by all....Tim certainly needed a few days away to relax in the company of friends. He also went out with his sister and brother -in-law, nephew and David and his girlfriend the following day to the Gay Hussar. Here are the photos.

Other than the ponies I have also been very busy with grooming dogs....I think when ever the weather gets a little warmer , dog owners suddenly realise that their dogs need a haircut! Needless to say Sasha, our new puppy keeps us highly amused and I shall also update Tiffany's page where you can read all the news about Sasha and Tiffany. The Horse shows are looming and we shall be busy trying to get the old hair out of the ponies before the shows. It will be difficult to get ponies ready for early shows because of the cold weather.....it is fine if ponies have been kept inside, but for the rest who are run out naturally their coats are very reluctant to come out.

Until the next time...........Remember to visit Tiffanys page.

3rd April 2006

Time for an update. First of all Quote for the Month.

Let he who is without blame,...cast the first stone.

Well it is official........Spring has arrived?!!!!!!!!! I think we had two days of it....one last week, the other yesterday! I have just come back in after grooming a dog outside for 2 hours and I am just beginning to thaw out. It was even trying to snow. Corrie Bheag is due to foal around 18th April so I am hoping for much warmer weather for her, otherwise we shall have to take her in. However knowing the British weather it will soon be lovely and warm again. (hopefully)

14th March 2006

Well, winter arrived with a vengence on Sunday morning. Like most of Scotland we had very heavy snow here all day and it soon accumulated until there was around 8" at least. The ponies didn't seem to mind it too much and the dogs thought it was great fun! I took several photos and I have put in some below of the ponies and also some on Tiffany's page.

There is supposed to be more on the way this week but hopefully it will miss us! Until the next time..........

10th March 2006

It is a horrible day outside so a good excuse for updating the web site, I am supposed to be ironing too but that can wait!!!!

What have we done since last time? Not a lot apart from going to the Stallion Show last Saturday. Achnacarry had a very good day even although we didn't show all the ponies or indeed any of them!! I had decided that Rannoch needed an outing and if he was being paraded he may as well be shown also. We brought him up to the house on the Thursday before the show to clean him up a bit and I had had a rug on him for the past two weeks in a feeble attempt to "lay" his coat! However it worked to a certain extent as there was loads of hair coming out when I groomed him. He was a good boy and really enjoyed the pampering. However we decided to ask Hamish Cameron to show him for us as Tim was stewarding (I think he was glad!) and as I am rather small...and just in case Rannoch played up a bit I knew Hamish knew his way around Stallions.

The day dawned and off we went with Ellie helping us. Rannoch was neither up nor down and actually behaved better than his old dad! We were very pleased to get 6th prize as Rannoch was looking a little rough compared to some and apart from the Reserve Champion he was the youngest Stallion in the class.

HOWEVER we were very pleased when Echo of Achnacarry, bought by Bruce Haliburton from us as a yearling, was pulled in first then went on to win the Overall Championship. Also a two year old gelding by Rannoch owned by Irene Grant and bred by Bruce won a very strong mixed class, and his wee half brother was 4th in his yearling class. Also in the senior stallion class, Kestral of Glencree who like Echo is by MacGregor of Achnacarry, was 3rd prize winner. So....all in all....a very good day. When we arrived home Rannoch was turfed out again....no rug on and the first thing he did was find a nice mucky patch and had a good roll!!!!

I shall attempt to copy Tim's results which he put on the HPEC site as I usually like to put them on our web site. Here goes!

Stallion Show Results. These will also be posted on HPS website so am probably wasting my time! Name Owner Sire Dam Breeder Class 21 Yeld Mares 1st Burnside Hannah Alastair Munro Viscount of Whitefield Debbie of Cairnbank J Hendrie 2nd Glenmuir Rambling Rose W & M Nelson Glenmuir Lochinvar Glenmuir Rosemaree Owner 3rd Tower Orange Blossom Karen Methven Zephyr of Whitefield Mayblossom of Tower J Hendrie 4th Smowbell of Glenoe Alison McLeod Highfield Glen Albyn Ionedene LD Heriot-Maitland 5th ILPH Shevock Dusky Aida Alastair Munro Whitebeam Sentinnel Glentrowan Beauly The Late C E Caddell 6th Kaydene D Maxwell Rory of Balinoe Jodidene H S McGregor Class 22 Geldings 1st Aaron of Ashrowan Lynn Paisley Strathmore Valiant Dusty of North Milton Miss Elaine Millar 2nd Macallum of Millfield Miss Susan Fairfield Brig o'Doon of Whitefield Melody of Muillfield W K A Allan 3rd Connachan Buzzard Pauline Cousin Highfield Glen Albyn Connachan Braidth Mrs E MacPherson 4th Stuartdene Kirsten McKay Highfield Glen Albyn Amberdene H S McGregor 5th Strathmore Rhum Scott davidson Strathmore Concorde Mirrwen of Strathmore Mr C McQuattie 6th Appin of Litigan Angela Cushnie Glen Aigas Alice of Litigan W D O Valentine Class 23 Filly or Gelding Born in 2003 1st Lochlands Silver Flute K Lawson & W Sinclair Birchcroft Jazzman Flute of Whitefield Owner 2nd Creaghrannach of Meggernie Mrs B J Malim Cameron's Colin of Knick Tom Wittensee Schehrazade of Meggernie Owner 3rd Alonadene Peter & Sheila Keron Fyfedene Ballinton Lady H S McGregor 4th Moss-Side Marista W & J Ralston Ruaridh of Mendick Moss-Side Holly Owner 5th Prince of Craigieloch Angela Cushnie Blair Atholl of Whitefield Brigid of Dalbrack F F Lawson 6th Ardnagaisk Piper Lisa Allison Strathmore Concorde Briar Rose of Shianbank Moira Gourdie Class 24 Filly of Gelding born in 2004 1st Sheamus of Inverdarroch Mrs Irene Grant Rannoch of Achnacarry Shonagh of Inverdarroch T B Haliburton 2nd Pipers Water Betony Ms P Gray & Mr G Duncan Coulnacraig Highlander Nancy of Alltnacaillaech Owner 3rd Myra O'Lundie Crags Hazel Lundie Kestrel of Fourmerk Quartz of Caenlochan Owner 4th Jennifer of Carlung Mrs Susan P Wardrop Carlung Ebony Carragh of Carlung Owner 5th Beannachd Na Balvaig Karen Methven Glenmazeran Na Dailach Tower Orange Blossom Owner 6th Saskaidene J Henderson Rory of Ballinoe Salinadene H S McGregor Class 25 Colt, Filly of Gelding born in 2005 1st Tower Heather Cream James Hendrie Ulleam of Croila Toqwer Lucky Charm Owner 2nd Whitefield Queen Nefertiti K Lawson & W Sinclair Nashend Buzzard Whitefield Queen Henrietta Maria G M Baird 3rd Moss-Side Oonagh W & J Ralston Moss-Side Domhnach Moss-Side Breaagh Owner 4th Callum of Mendick Miss Susan Fairfield Rannoch of Achnacarry Uist of Mendick Mr & Mrs J Dykes 5th Mhairi of Meggernie Mrs B J Mailm Torrin of Croila Shastra of Meggernie Owner 6th Tower Bluebell Girl James Hendrie Ulleam of Croila Tower Lucky Charm Owner Class 26 Stallion or Colt born in 2003 or 2004 1st Moss-Side Mclaren W & J Ralston Ruraidh of Mendick Moss-Side Greagh Owner 2nd Atholl of Mendick Mr & Mrs John Dykes Carlung Findlay Uist of Mendick Owner 3rd Blaqckjack 11 of Logierait Alison McLeod Blair Atholl of Whitefield Roseabell of Logierait Miss M Robertson Class 27 Stallion of Colt born in or before 2002 1st Echo of Achnacarry T B Haliburton MacGregor of Achnacarry Corrie Bheag of Achnacarry Mrs J B W Connell 2nd Sunny of Runivraid Mrs A M McLeod Atholl Tilt Kyle of Sunnyneuk South Benula Estate 3rd Kestral of Glencree Tracey Cooper MacGregor of Achnacarry Rose of Glencree Mr A C McKnight 4th Kestrel of Fourmerk Mrs Joan Alexander Atholl of Fourmerk Kelpiedene R & J Alexander 5th Carlung Findlay Miss Heather **** Strathmore Valiant Tamaradene Mrs Susan Wardrop 6th Rannoch of Achnacarry Mrs Jean B W Connell Tarka of Orangefield Midge of Achnacarry Owner Class 28 Pair of Ponies by the Same Sire Sheamus of Inverdarroch and Callum of Mendick Sire Rannoch of Achnacarry CHAMPION ECHO OF ACHNACARRY RESERVE CHAMPION SUNNY OF RUNIVRAID I hope this is of interest to you all. Tim

Gosh....I amaze myself.....I managed!!!!!

Well that is about all at the moment...I shall be watching Crufts as no doubt some of you will be doing too. Hopefully I will qualify Tiffany for next year and needless-to-say I shall also try and qualify Sasha too. The schedules are coming in fast and furious both for dog shows and horse shows so that will keep us quiet deciding which to go to. Glancing through the RHSS shedule I think we shall be bankrupt once we have done our entries and paid for our caravan and other extras. Are they trying to get rid of us I wonder?!!!!!! I am now going to go and update Tiffs page a little.

Until the next time..................

23rd February 2006

Just a few lines to say that Tiffany's page has been updated. We may add a few more photos of the puppies before they left then later on ...much later on some more photos of them grown up!!!!

The rest of our news isn't much!!! Xanthe and I were at a western clinic on 11th February which was very enjoyable and most interesting.

It was taken by a chap called Sam Magdelena who is Mexican and a real horseman. I learnt quite a lot.

Apart from that I have had a few dogs in to clip and groom and of course am always kept busy feeding all our equines at this time of year. Today I had the farrier to do a few trims. I wanted Rannoch to have his done as he is going to the Stallion Show and also parading. Hopefully two of his offspring will also be there, so that should be interesting!!

Other than that I celebrated yet another Birthday (18th Feb) (ugh!!) Tim and I spent a very pleasant evening at the Cellar in Anstruther with our friends, Jacky and Ian and I thoroughly recommend it.

Until the next time...........

22nd February 2006

Well, here I am back with some time, hopefully to update our page. All is well here and I must say it is awfully quiet since the puppies went. The last one went away two weeks ago but of course we still have our own one who is growing like a weed! Her name is Sasha and photographs will follow on Tiffany's own page.

Pony news is not a lot but at the end of January we took Fearchas, Fhuaran's foal to his new home in Ayrshire. He is now owned by the Craig family and will be thoroughly spoiled as far as we can see. We took him through with his mother and he travelled very well and soon bonded with "Beech", their other Highland who was bred by the Erray Stud.

Just realised that we didn't report on our usual annual occurance when our ponies participate in the local Nativity Play which is now in its 11th year. We have helped for around 4 years now.

Because of the puppies I had a break from it this year but the ponies still performed. This time it was Mhairi, Rowan and as always Xanthe who is an old hand at it now and always is kind to the non-riders. We only took two photos of Mhairi and Xanthe in their stables and I have put them in below.

16th January 2006

Tiffany's page has been updated a little with lots of photos and a little text. All is well here and it is quite mild. Biggest problem is the cooker died on Friday evening and cannot be fixed until Monday p.m. Just as well we have a camping gas cooker which was for the huts at the Highland Show!b Also the microwave cooker!

7th January 2006

A quick note to say that a few changes have been made to the Web Site. Current News is now from Nov 2005 to date and 2005 News is all of 2005. Current news should download considerably faster now.

Tiffany and pups are thriving. The puppies are growing like weeds and are developing personalities. Only one left to find a new owner now. I will try to put some new photos on tomorrow.

2nd January 2006

Jean started this on 28 Dec but did not get very far so I shall try again. Doubt that I shall get very far either. Hope you all had a Good Christmas and New Year and a Very Happy New Year to you all. All is well here and the snow never came to too much, all very messy, muddy and wet now!

We have weaned Rosie and Ferchas and they are in the barn becoming very bored. We were going to put Emperor in with them too but decided 2 is company and three a crowd so he is still with Corrie and he will join Rosie when Fergus goes.

Tiffany and the puppies are thriving. The puppies are growing like weeds and Tiffany is beginning to stop feeding them. Jean weighed and wormed them last night, which was worth a guinea a minute, the biggest is 5lbs 6oz and the smallest 4lb 5oz. They are complete time wasters and are now beginning to develop personalities and become individually recognisable. I shall try to add some photos but do not guarantee success!

9th December 2005

This is me.....Jean....it used to be me asking Tim to put photos on the web......now I had to put the new ones below on as Tim has had a blind spot, I think and just couldn't get them on.

Anyway they're on now and it will be soon be time to put more on. I am still waiting for my Tiffany page as I am not sure how to do that! Both Tiffany and her puppies are very well and the pups are growing like weeds! I was going to supplement the puppies but instead I have fed Tiffany the best of everything and lots of it and she is managing to feed her brood and keep herself reasonably well too. She is going out for walks now for around 20 minutes as she trusts the other animals in the house and is quite happy to leave them in charge of her puppies!

So far we have homes for 8 possibly 9 of the pups and that was without trying!! I have no doubt we shall find homes for the remaining two. Meanwhile I shall have my work cut out in the next week or two when I wean them. They are great fun and real time wasters.

As far as the ponies are concerned they are all well apart from Mhairi whom I found hopping lame today in one of her hind legs. Her hoofs don't seem to be hot so perhaps she has had a kick from someone. I brought her into the barn and she will stay there overnight and we'll see how she is in the morning.

Tomorrow we are taking Xanthe and Rowan over to Lochieheads, the farm where the local Nativity Play is performed. We have lent the ponies to them for at least 6 years and I am always in attendance. However this year I am letting someone else do the work as I shall have enough to do here!! Mhairi was also supposed to go too but unless she recovers it may have to be Skye!! That could be interesting as she has never "performed" before and like her master she doesn't have any patience! The Play is great and if any of you out there haven't been you should go.

The foals are coming in soon to be weaned now that Tiffy has had her puppies. We have sold Fearchas to a very nice family from the West and he will join them towards the end of January.

My immediate job is to try and do my Christmas Shopping!!!

Until the next time........

8th December 2005

Sorry I am having great difficulties getting the photos to work.Tim.

6th December 2005

A quick update regarding Tiffany's puppies. Unfortunately we lost one of the puppies on Tues 29th. Probably Tiff lay on her, hardly surprising with that size of litter. It is one of those things. Anyway puppies are thriving, they have doubled in size in a week. Tiff is doing them very well and is now eating like a horse. It took a bit of time. She is on a luxury diet chicken, meat, scrambled egg, cheese, goats milk and fish. A few more photos are shown below. All the ponies are well. Skye returns from Manchester on Friday. Somehow we must keep riding her and not let her get so fat again.

26th November 2005

In haste. It has been one of those days after yesterdays snow which thankfully has gone. Getting into Perth via Gateside yesterday morning was interesting to say the least!

Anyway Tiffany started to whelp at 1500hrs today and now at 2300hrs we hope has stopped! Believe it or not she has 12 pups. 9 dogs and three bitches the poor little thing is knackered! Hardly surprising. The last bitch (12th)is a little iffy at the moment. How on earth does she feed 12 puppies? Tim

22nd November 2005

Time for an update.

As usual we seem to have had plenty to do.

On Saturday, 5th November we had a great evening at Scott's leaving party. It was held at Ballinton and there were lots of "worthies" there. Scott did us all proud. We had a firework display, champagne when we arrived,wine and good food. Willie Simpson was playing with his band and a good time was had by all. We were entertained during the band's break by an old friend of Scott who was an expert story teller in poetry form. He spoke in broad Scots and was great fun.

The following weekend saw us up at Nairn in the Newton Hotel at the Highland Pony Society's Annual Dinner Dance. Tim and I went up on the Friday and stayed the two nights. It gave us time to socialise before and after the dance. Once again it was an excellent evening, good food, good company and good music.

The following day we were invited to Sally Leslie-Melville's home to have lunch with herself and Alan along with several others. Needless-to-say we saw her ponies and foals when we were there so that rounded up a very enjoyable weekend.

With us it is always a famine or a feast!!

The following week we were off down to Pennistone in Yorkshire to stay with Alison Payne. It was time for the AGM of the HPEC of which Tim is Treasurer. We travelled down on the Thursday to avoid some of the heavy traffic so we had a free day on Friday.

We decided to visit Chatsworth which is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. We hadn't a huge amount of time due to the fact we had visited Alison's father and their ponies before-hand. (photos to follow once they have been downloaded)

We decided to visit the inside of the house another time and instead walked round the kitchen garden and the rest of the grounds. It was lovely and we had a great time.

Next day was the AGM which was well attended, not quite as many people as usual due to the fact that the date had to be changed and the new one clashed with some other things.

However we all had a good chat and caught up with all the news. We even came home with a rosette or two from the various Competitions that the Club runs through-out the year.

I will add another update of some of the winners later on with a few photos.

Anyway that is most of our news. We have almost made a deal with some

The next exciting event that we are waiting for is of course Tiffany's puppies which are due next week. I don't think we will be at the Winter Fair somehow!!

Here is a photo of herself and Hope in the warmest place in the house!!

I hope to add a new page soon just for Tiffany and her puppies IF I can persuade my darling husband to co-operate!!!

Until the next time. I shall sign off as it is now time to venture out and see to the ponies. I have been avoiding this today as it is bitterly cold!.............

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