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Meet the rest of the family who are also very important members of our four legged collie assessment, socialisation and training team. |
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| Lady
Tara Please allow us to introduce you to Lady Tara, or Lady T to her chums. Tara is my 40th birthday pressie to myself, and joined the Wiccs crew after her previous Mummy had to go into hospital for major surgery on her back. Tara's field companion had also passed away, so she needed a new home and friends. Lady T is a cheeky madam - full of fun and mischief! She is a lady of more mature years, being 24yrs old, but she won't let you know that! She has the Wiccs volunteers wrapped round her hooves! She loves all her admirers and all the fuss and attention she gets - especially if an apple or carrot is involved! Tara is extremely tolerant of just about everything, and regards the dogs as idiots! She is fabulous for socialising the dogs and getting them use to horses. Her best friend here is little Pocket Rocket, the JRT pup. They spend hours in the field together - in fact, Tara's field is the meeting point for just about all the gang here. We regularly find Tara, the cats and a few dogs out there passing the time away together. Keep up to date with Tara's views on the world via her blog: The Outraged Horse Blog 
Just shovelling in the good stuff! 
Out with my Mum - we are thoughtful here - at peace with the flowers, and contemplating life in general - either that or we are lost! TeeeHeee!  Go on, admit I am the most beautiful horse in the world.... according to me and my Mum.  My Mum kisses and cuddles me a lot! I have her wrapped round my delicate little hoof! 
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 "I'm so pretty"  Rocket & I - she's nicked one of my carrots again!!  Me & Mum. Yes, you do see correctly, I do have my own marquee to keep the sun off!  YeeeerrrrrHaarrrrrrr!!! I love my western saddle, Me & Mum are riding the range!!   |
| Pops Say hello to this cheeky old chappie. This is Pops, 21 yrs old going on 21 months! Pops is a dear old man, a total sweetie on the ground but a devil of a jogger when out for a hack. This is due to being ridden hard by kids. We are using Natural Horsemanship techniques to help him understand that he isn't going to be whipped and kicked on to go hell for leather everywhere, and that actually, at his age, he can take it easy now. Pops also only has one eye. He was left with an infected eye years ago, and thankfully when he was saved by his previous home they got the vet in straight away and sorted him out immediately. Sadly his eye couldn't be saved. Being a one eyed chap doesn't bother Pops in the slightest, and apart from his jogging he is totally bombproof! Pops adores Tara, even though she bosses him about like Lady Muck!  Not bad for 21 hey?! |
 "I'm so cheeky!! The Phantom Raspberry Blower"  Check out the hippy beard man! |
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Mac Daddy Meet Mac, affectionately known as Big Mac, or Mac Daddy, or even Big Mac Daddy. Mac is a glorious chap. He is 12 years old, and has worked very hard. He competed in Dressage at Grand Prix level, and Evented at Advanced level. All this hard work and competition caused him to have mild arthritic changes in his legs. This meant his competitive career was over, and he was taken to the horse auctions to be sold as he was no longer of any use. Sadly they arrived late for the auctions and most people had drifted away, or had already done their buying and the only person left buying was the Meat Man!! You would have thought after working his arse off for his owner they would have spared him that horrible end and taken him home to find him a loving home with someone who would appreciate him, but no - he was going to be sold there and then! Thankfully a kind lady was there with her friend and spotted darling Mac, and literally saved his bacon from an early and cruel end. The lady was a riding instructor and she took Mac home to live with her horses and spent 8 months getting to know him, to find out the extent of the changes in his legs and to see what kind of home would be best for him. It soon became apparent to her that Mac still had a hell of a lot to give to people. He loves attention, he is very, very kind and gentle and has manners to die for. He is a real schoolmaster and takes care of whoever is riding him. Their vet gave him a clean bill of health for a happy hacking home, and I was the person lucky enough to be able to bring Mac home. UPDATE!!! Hmmmmmmm. It seems the kind lady wasn't quite as nice as I was led to believe. It now surfaces that Mac wasn't seen by a vet at all whilst with the lady he came from! He has been since been seen and examined by the Wiccs vet and Equine chiropractor as we weren't happy with how he was moving and how he was in himself, and darling Mac has been diagnoised as totally unrideable! He should never have been advertised or rehomed as rideable. his 'mild arthritic changes' are in fact 'severe, chronic arthritic changes'. Thank goodness he did come here!! I hate to think what would have happened should he have gone to people who wanted to ride more than Mac would have been ridden here, and who might not have got the vets out to him as quickly as us. Mac would have been in agony and someone could have been seriously hurt if a distressed and pained horse decided he'd had enough! People make me VERY angry. We are not sure how long Mac will have with us before we have to make a decision based on his welfare and quality of life. One thing is for sure, whatever time he does have left will be made very happy for him. He will want for nothing. We will not fail him or let him down, Mac has been let down more than enough by people in the past. Thankfully he has us, and his favourite Auntie Sharon (who he thinks is his own personal slave/groom) to spoil him rotten! |
 "With my daddy - what are you looking at short stuff?"  "Time for my close up!" 
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| Cats We have several cats at Wiccaweys. Most are semi-feral and spend their days desimating the local rabbit population. A few are friendlier, and visitors to Wiccaweys are most likely to bump into Glory, Pip & Mildred. They are the main part of our catty-doggie socialisation team and is usually nosing around when visitors appear. They tend to throw themselves in front of arriving dogs, and then look at us as if to say, "Yes, Cat Test Passed" or "Nope, I'll be down the field!" They all also have a habit of trying to get into peoples cars, so we have to ask people to check for cats before leaving! Polar is often lurking around the house too - although he has a strict 'You can look, but not touch me' policy. Polar was extremely feral when he arrived from Ireland, so he has made huge progress. Polar's favourite game is to wait until it is time for the chickens to go to bed for the night, and then jump out at them from behind a flower pot! He makes them sqwark! He usually gets a pecked bottom, before he heads off down the path looking very pleased with himself! We also have brothers Eric & Oscar, Hex, Ziva, Felix & Marmalade - although visitors won't really see them around much. 
Eric 
Mildred |
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Hex
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| Chickens |
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