Diva baby!

Where to start?!! I have had a very busy first week back at work and loved every minute of it. I really missed teaching agility and seeing all of my walking dogs over the holidays and its nice to get back into a routine again. It was lovely to be able to run our own dogs as well :)

Horse alert - if you want to get to the dog news, skip this bit!!

Little Diva arrived finally on Monday. She walked off the lorry and followed her new best mate Coco (Kates   yearling) out the field very calmly. The next day Diva's brother Rio arrived so there are three of them in total in the field. They are all so pretty to look at (Rio is VERY pretty despite being a boy!) Coco is pure Spanish and a rare colour called Grulla which is black dun, Rio is part spanish and silver bay with a blonde mane, chocolate coloured legs and a chestnut body. Diva is an Azteca (Spanish x Quarter horse ) and is bay but possibly dun as she has a dorsal stripe. I won't really know until her (very hairy) foal coat sheds out. Diva is being a really good girly and will pick all her feet up, be brushed all over and happily lead, not bad for 6.5 months! Thanks have to go to Karen who bred her and Rio and has done an amazing job with them :)

'Helping' with the poo picking!

Coco and Diva - best mates already :)

The shelties have done a fair bit of training over the last week, mainly as it has dried out and I feel like a human again after being so ill. Brax was amazing on saturday, she walked to the field with Matthew, ran around chasing Brooke for half an hour while we set stuff up, did a half hour training session as a 'school master' for a first time handler, ran around again and walked home! She is doing so well on her medication and its nice to see her so feisty again!

I did a bit of work with Brodie but mainly short sequences and lots of quick rewards. He is tugging really well in the field now and goes crazy which is brilliant! I'm so proud of my little boy. I never thought he'd tug outside the house after a dog had a serious go at him while he was playing years ago in a training class. He will tug like a maniac at home but only where he feels really confident outside. I always had a hang up about him not tugging and having to use a food bag but it got us to Grade 7 so I'm not really complaining! Its just nice that he is now brave enough to tug again. His speed has increased a lot over the past few months and I'm looking forward to starting the show season with my little toad!

I love this picture of my Mum eating yoghurt and Brooke waiting for the pot! As you can see, Brax adores my Mum :)

After setting all my J9'ers proprioception homework for the Christmas period, I thought I'd better do some with my guys as well!

I have taken a few videos of Brooke training recently so will post those next time. Her and Dolly have their first ever  proper non UKA show in a couple of weeks time - eeek!!