My morning routine for looking after the ponies...

This routine does change depending on the weather and the seasons. We don't have great turnout, it looks immaculate at the moment and the ponies are going out there during the day.

We're going to be riding this morning, so I have bought pony AKA Charlemagne in. She's in the sand school at night at the moment when the weather is not too bad, when it's really horrific she's in during the night as well.

I'm going to put Biscuit and Cassie into the sand school just for an hour or so. They can eat their hay out there and then I'll get them in to ride because we are riding a bit later this morning. After we've ridden, they will go out into the paddocks.

I have to keep them separate since Charlemagne can be a little bit of a Minx and has the nasty habit of kicking, so I keep Cassie and Biscuit together. They work really well, and they enjoy each other's company. So, they are out in the sand school during the day when it's wet, full-on winter and then Charlemagne's in during the day and that's how I'm rotating it and managing it.

I could have the ponies out all winter, but the paddocks would be completely and utterly destroyed, and you risk mud fever and problems like that, so actually over the years I've worked out it's just not worth it. We're really lucky to have a full-sized sand school, so they spend their day or night in there.

Our ponies are older, so we're a maturing yard should we say! Therefore, I need to carefully manage them and make sure that they don't have too much grass. Also, if there's a heavy frost, the sugar content in the grass is really, really high as the frost is defrosting. That's why I still have them in at night at the moment. Two of the ponies, Charlemagne and Biscuit both have Cushing’s, so I have to be very careful.

Cassie and Biscuit will stay out in the sand school until we're ready to ride, happily sharing their hay. I just find it easier to put them in here rather than turning them out into the paddocks, since then they might be a little bit tricky to catch. They'll stay here for an hour and then we'll take them out for a nice ride.

Biscuit is particularly filthy and his stable always has loads of muck to take out. He treads it round as well, which is not ideal.

Cassie is a real creature of habit. She pees as soon as I bring her into the stable at night and she pees the moment she hears me coming up in the morning, always in the same corner. So, I leave the bedding up in the opposite corner since it's dry up there and I want the area she pees in to dry out during the day.

In the evening I put the bedding down, do their water, make sure it's fresh and clean, give them hay and supper and a rug change if the weather has been warmer and I've taken off their rugs during the day. I put a nice cosy rug on them at night because the temperature is dropping, and I want them to stay comfortable and warm.

Tackling the muck heap definitely gets your heart rate going and it keeps me fit too! I get up there pretty much every day and squash it down. The muck heap can't be emptied until the ground is dry enough for the tractor to come across, all the way across the fields, so it has to last us!

So that is my morning routine with the ponies. It takes me about an hour, and I love the time actually, quietly up here on my own. The children do help, and I do encourage them to get involved as much as possible, but actually I love listening to an audiobook or a podcast and just having a bit of quiet time for me in the mornings.

I find the horse-world can be pretty opinionated, but this is how I do our morning routine and how it works for us. Obviously, when the weather gets better and they'll be out overnight, it will save time mucking out. In the evenings I muck out the sand school and paddocks, do their hay, water, feed and rug change. It's really important to take the rugs off and check them - I found a tick on Charlemagne yesterday so keep a good eye on them and take their rugs off, give them a brush and some attention. They love it, and it's how you bond with them as well!

Thank you so much for joining me this week. I hope you found that interesting, wishing you a fabulous weekend and I will see you again next week!

Love, Charlie x