" it may not be a palace but at least it has Walls "

Having worked a nine day stint without a day off, a day at home today was heavily.
I have now moved away from the infamous caravan and am living in the beautiful Coleshill. I am lodger to some one who is really quite "Steiner". She is in the middle of a separation and in the word of one of her friends "it may be a madhouse but these are lovely people and its a good deal better than THAT caravan" . The house is very nice but vitally has (drum role please) running hot water, a bed, and a cooker that works!
My landlady runs an organic farm and box scheme and has said I am welcome to all the fruit and veg I need. For a veggie those are very welcome words! I walked through the gardens are beautiful as well as organic.

Work this week has been epic although the days have been much shorter as two horses have been in Pau and a couple more have been turned away for the winter. However this does not equate to a normal day instead we have been cleaning under the rubber matting in the stables. A seriously gross job. I have tided the feed area, sorted and folded the rugs and powered though a mountain of washing as well as all the normal stuff.
I spent my first day grooming for Zoe last Sunday, which I think was a gentle introduction compared to what it may be to groom for Paul. However it all went well, it's like competing without the riding. The most stressful thing about the day was the presence of Mannie or Inonothing the 2010 badminton winner. He was there as a companion but I got a bit paranoid about leaving the lorry. This was so much so that the entire car park witnessed me sprinting knocked kneed to portaloos for a wee. Not my finest moment but horses were still there when I got back to the lorry.
Through out the whole portaloo fiasco all I could think about was the claus in my contract stating I am financially liable for 'any losses and damages' caused to the Tapner property . Well I reckoned I'd have been better getting several degrees from Edinbrough than having to pay back those losses and damages.

The weather is getting colder and I'm seriously pleased to be in a house. The rats at the yard are ever present in their droppings and one of the remaining caravaners (not the troll) confirmed my biggest fear.. There were rats in the van!!!
Although the troll continues to be frosty at best I have made at least one friend. He is terribly good looking and very loyal. His name is farmer and he is a CRAP at catching vermin he is also a terrier! But at least he says 'goodmorning' and is much better house trained.

Love to you all

While the cats away the rats and mice can play

It's only been a week and a few days but already the caravan existence feels like a lifetime. I'm currently sitting in a lovely coffee shop, enjoying the warmth and nice smells thoroughly out staying my welcome.

The Tapners (Paul and George) haven't featured that much in my time here as they have been away competing, this week at Boekelo and last weekend somewhere else. Having said this I have a semi lesson/assessment from both of them. Paul jumping and George dressageing. I don't think I showed either Uno or me at our best, however considering that I was in the dreadful state of head cold at the time I think it could have been worse! I could have fallen off! (touching wood as I type) Having said this I have witnessed a potential Olympic athlete singing along to LMFAO's 'I'm sexy and I know it) with a very suspicious head bob/dance enroute to the gallops. Must admit I wasn't really sure how to take this. Galloping it's self was good, although a squint must be adopted by lowest in the pecking order , place at the back, so as not to be blinded by clods of rubber and sand. I learnt from experience leading to me spluttering and blinking wildly at speed so as to gain composure before the end of the gallop.

Despite a large dog presence and a resident cat, named simply 'tom cat', there seems to be a horrific vermin problem. The other event barn found themselves in the midst of a swarm of large rats on opening one of their metal trunks. We also arrived one morning to find a huge grey carcass in the middle of the Barn between the rows of stables trapped under a feed bowel! It seems Carlo ( a horse on box rest) killed it. He is my hero. I am slightly concerned as we have a large hole in our shower up which I'm sure the vermin could venture.

The work is hard and the riding seems fairly sparse for the time being. Whether with time there will be more I can most tell but for the most part it's mucking out and tacking up for 12 hours. The caravan leaves much to be desired and issues are becoming more and more obvious as my time progresses. The standards of cleanliness of the other working pupil are almost non existent and it took me almost 2 hours to cook tray of brownies in the oven! For these and many more reasons I am looking for some where new to live because I don't think I could function in any colder weather without some where warm and dry to relax!

The most shocking thing I guess has not been the work or the hours or the fact that the system is designed to make the newbie feel very much the bottom of the pecking order but that the staff appear to be expected to work 10 of 12 hours a day for less than minimum wage with put so much as a ten minute break for lunch. I think physical labour require fuel and without that I'm not surprised that staff seem to burn out relatively quickly. Not only this but at the end of the day there isn't even a comfy bed to sleep in or loo that can be got to with negotiating several puddles, poos and farming equipment!