An experiment

Here is the start of an experiment:-

Tales of a Boy

     I do not really need an introduction. I have fair, blonde hair that curls around my face (a delightful tool for getting vital attention from my family and random strangers), big blue eyes and a cheeky smile. My name is George and I live at home with my mummy, daddy, big brothers and wonderful big sister. Our house is a zoo; not an actual one, but it is quite close. I live with five dogs, two horses, two guinea pigs and a hamster. We also get visits from squirrels, foxes, rabbits, owls and bats. My big brother says I have to try and make friends with the animals because then, if I ever get lonely, they will look after me.

     My favourite animal is my biggest horse, Haffy. She has a beautiful golden glow, especially in the summer, and when she sees me trampling down the grassy path with my green wellington boots on, she whinnies hello. You are probably wondering how I know she is saying hello. Well, here is where I shall let you into a little secret, you see I understand the language of animals; horses, dogs, snakes, whales, even cats, although I am not so keen on them myself (bad experience in a bath once). This is how I know that my animals are my friends, and this is how I know all of their secrets.

      The summer sunshine always leaves the grass so long; I usually end up swimming through it to get to my horses in their leafy paddocks. Haffy and Izzy find this rather amusing. I have asked my daddy if I can ride my little digger down to the field, but he always says, “That’s what you have legs for. Don’t be so lazy.” Daddies never understand that sometimes our little legs get tired and our faces hot and bothered with all the work we have to do.

Time for a little story-telling

After a little thought, I have decided that this blog would be the perfect place for me to road test a few stories I have running around my head. These stories would focus on the lives of two little boys who have a wonderful and imaginative life whilst being best friends with their horse and their pony. It might be possible to include their friendships with other animals but the main focus will be the pony and the horse. 

I will begin to blog these stories next week and I look forward to your response and your opinions. In the meantime please take a look at my twitter page:- http://twitter.com/#!/D_RebeccaH

'Just have a little Patience'

     In the famous (perhaps) words of Take That, I begin my latest instalment of my blog. England has turned into a country where the cities are places of fear, Cher Lloyd has managed to secure number one in the charts, our animals are entering important chapters in their lives and Luke has still not uttered a word! It is a time for great patience. England will get back to normality, the best selling single will be almost decent again, our animals will reach their potential and Luke will talk.
     I know it has been a while since I last posted a blog and this has been down to a number of factors; horse shows, babysitting and work experience. I have also been waiting for a good subject to talk about. I like to have a basis to my posts so they do not just sound like someone rambling (although they often do descend into this), so its important to me that I decide on a theme that I can write about. Patience, I feel, is a good topic to base my threads of ideas on because it is so important to a happy life. I have found recently that just by having some patience I have finally been made Features Editor of my student newspaper, FLEX, and our Welshie, Megan, has finally come into season which means our hopes for a litter out of her are once more ignited. I have also played the long game in terms of gaining work experience and I have managed to land four days at an excellent PR Company in Leicester at the end of August. Life is truly full of surprises; they just take a while to hit you.

Helgen Easter Surprise (Ruby) has already begun her ringcraft and obedience training. We took her to the Haflinger Breed Show where she met lots of new people, made new doggy friends and helped Kusse to drink out of her bucket! She is a lovely puppy and we are all very excited to watch her grow up. She can already sit, lie down and leave things. We're now working with her co-owners to perfect her stand ready to make her show debut. Ben loves looking after her and spent most of his time at the show teaching her to walk next to him. This photo is of Ben and Ruby after a hard day looking after the adults and the horse!! In time he will show her in the ring and help look after her puppies. He will just need patience.

The Breed Show saw Kusse (Limerick Sligo) become RDA Champion for the first time. She was also placed second in her breed class. This years was extremely important as Hannah was under pressure to show fellow Haffy owners that Kusse was not out of control in the show ring. Kusse behaved impeccably and we were all very proud of Hannah's achievements with her. With a little patience, Hannah will one day, hopefully, gain champion status in other classes such as the ridden classes. Only time will tell.

I find it scary, sometimes, to acknowledge that without knowing it, I have been waiting for a certain point in my life. Whenever I reach these points, I look back and realise how far I've come and how fast the time has gone, when it once seemed such a long time to wait. Going to the Breed Show this year was one of those moments. Last year Luke was only about a month old and very tiny. This year he is walking, cooing and desperate to hold Kusse's lead rope as much as possible. We are currently all waiting for him to start talking properly as he mostly just makes sounds at the minute and points to whatever he wants. The scary thing is, we all know that the moment will come and when it does we will wish that we could rewind time again. I find time moves so fast, without patience we just get caught up and miss out on the joys of day to day living. Perhaps then, we should stick to the idea of living for the present more rather than constantly living for the future because the future will arrive whether we're ready or not.

Patience is hope; hope for a better future and a good life. Despite the sadness that is occurring in the world, it is important to hang onto the idea that with patience, things do change. As this photo shows, the joys of life are in the simple things we do and cherishing these gives us the chance to enjoy the present. Do what you can whilst you can because life is too short. And if you can make someone elses life better whilst making your life extraordinary then do it. After all, kindness is what makes us human. It is also what makes us happy.

On another note, Helgen would like to introduce you all to our newest additions:- Ginnie and Minnie, our Guinea Pigs.

One down, four to go...

I arrived home on Thursday just in time for Luke's first birthday, which was on Friday. He is now one years old. How time flies!! We attended Three Counties where Izzy was placed 4th out of 6 in a strong class. We are so proud of how well she's doing. However, when it came to loading her, she was a total nightmare. A few bruises and several hours later, we managed to get her loaded.

Coming home to find the puppies have completely grown up was a bizarre thing. The last time I saw them they were a few days old, now they're going to their new homes. As I type this, they're beating each other up in their pen. Playful banter :D All of the puppies except for one have been sold now and are making their way to their new homes this week. Spot went today and we have been told that his new name will be Walter (Wally). Soo cute!! Sally is also going to her new home this afternoon. Then Twinkle goes on Tuesday and Dash on Friday. It's very exciting to see them embark on their new lives.

 The puppies went outside yesterday to play and loved it. They are amazing escape artists though! Me and Ben were constantly chasing after rogue puppies. This photo shows the puppies playing together. One of them even looks like its flying!

However, after a long time playing, a good sleep was in order. The puppies seem to have a pattern of sleeping through most of the day and then waking up and barking the house down at around 10pm. Crazy! They are soo well behaved though. I am very proud of them. This morning me and Hannah groomed Spot before he went to his new home and he just sat in my arms and let Hannah trim his feet and his ears.

The puppies have also now been vaccinated, wormed and micro-chipped. The puppy pack that mum has put together this year is brilliant. It includes a copy of Debbie Connolly's book Better Dog Behaviour which can also be found here:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Better-Dog-Behaviour-Debbie-Connolly/dp/0716022745/ref=cm_rdp_product

We always aim to try to sell our puppies to the best homes possible and I believe we have truly succeeded in doing this this year. Good luck to our new puppies and their owners!!

Some days you've just got to keep smiling :)

 There are days when you wonder how it felt to be truly happy and to just smile and smile, but I think on these days its important to remember the simple things in life. Here at Helgen, we have a constant reminder of how simple life can be before the dreaded complications rear their ugly heads.

The picture to the left shows Ben (7) try to feed Kusse some grass. Through his eyes, the world is very clear. He only really cares about his three meals a day, playing with the animals, winning, going to school and playing with his siblings. His little phrases and the way he can make everyone laugh show his innocent genius. By bringing him up with such a hectic life, I hope he will make the most of every opportunity and learn to value life.

So for those days when things get on top of you, remember the simple things in life and the things that make you happy :)

And take a leaf out of Luke's book and keep smiling!!

'And I can't stop the reels from turning....'

 New Puppy Pictures

Once again, I have added a whole collection of new puppy photos to our website. The link above will take you straight there, so theres no getting lost in cyberspace! I would also like to mention that if any of you keen readers wanted to get in touch with me or anyone else in the Helgen clan, you can email us by clicking here.

Now to begin.

The title of this post I feel sums up the feeling of time slipping through our fingers. We cannot stop it, no matter how hard we try. Indeed, it doesn't matter how much we try to soak up every second and store it away in our memory, the moment will pass and we shall never see it again.  The quote is actually from a song by the Friendly Fires called Blue Cassette and it can be found on their new album Pala. I find their music exhilarating and definitely worthy of a few dance moves. However, beneath the sounds of the summer, lies a collection of words that form some beautiful, heartfelt lyrics. I would definitely recommend a listen.

Living by the beach certainly has its qualities. I've already been sea swimming twice in the last week and, despite it being only May, it wasn't too cold. Theres something very therapeutic and relaxing about walking along the coast even when its windy or raining. In some respects, I often find that this adds to the atmosphere. Certainly from a photographer's perspective, bad weather usually creates the most intriguing shots. 

I particularly like this shot.

Falmouth is not the prettiest seaside town in Cornwall, but theres still a sense of tranquility as you walk to Pendennis Point and look out to the English Channel. I find if you can just block out the docks then it is rather lovely and at night, they pretty much disappear. The best part of the summer term is the time we're given to just explore and enjoy Cornwall. I'm very excited about the next few weeks! But then again, as much I love to spend time down here, I can't wait to get home. Time really is a strange concept. I guess, really, we would all just like to be able to pause and rewind it. Then we could race to the best moments before reliving past to make sure we got as much out of it as we could.

I love this photo. It just sums up my younger brothers. Luke (the one in red) will be a year old on the 17th June whilst Ben is 7. The grin that Luke is pulling, and Ben is imitating, is his favourite pose for the camera. They are so good with the puppies considering how young they are. Luke will literally walk to the pen and just sit and watch them with occasional outbursts of laughter. I think its important to Luke and Ben to be raised around animals. I think it makes them understand the world better. This is the third litter that Ben's lived with and so although he still obsesses over them, he is used to them being around. But Luke? He's only just started walking round the house, and now there are puppies that can run around too...it must be very strange for him.

The puppies now have names. 

We always give them our own nicknames mostly just so we can identify them but its also makes the process just that little bit more magical. The Famous Five are:-

1. Sally
2. Twinkle
3. Speckle
4. Spot
5. Dash

All five can now get out of their pen quite easily which has resulted in extra board being put up. The trouble is that Amber still needs to get to them which is why Josie has just literally took her eyes off them for two or three seconds to suddenly find a puppy has trekked over the entire dining room. Its quite sweet really but highly annoying. With this new found freedom, the puppies have begun to show their personalities although I am always cautious about stereotyping the puppies into categories as they often change again when they get to about 6/7 weeks old. But for now, we have a laid back dog in the form of Spot, a trouble called Dash, some terrible twins who go by the names of Sally and Twinkle and a quiet bitch called Speckle. They have now all got a few teeth and are on 4 meals of Pro Plan Puppy a day.

For me, time is ticking away now. I will see them in a few weeks but by then they will be getting ready to go to their new homes. I suppose it is a good job we don't have control over time, it would just make life ten times more complicated than it already is. However, i've always believed that it doesn't matter how busy your life is or how complicated it can get, if you just stop every now and then you will see some remarkable things. Our house never stops, ever. We've had friends to stay who have simply got lost in the midst of it all. And yet, the other day for about 15 minutes everyone stopped to catch a glimpse of the fox that had curled up on our lawn and fell asleep. Its these little moments that make life beautiful, that make photography interesting, that make time standstill.

The Famous Five

New puppy pictures

The link above shows beautiful shots of our puppies growing up very fast!!

I have heard reports that they are now adept at escaping from their puppy pen to the extent that they've been found hiding underneath the table at least 4 times now. The Famous Five are truly living up to their name :D

We have now registered the puppies with the Kennel Club under the following kennel names:-

Helgen Mr Minster

Helgen Windsor

Helgen Button and Bows

Helgen Confetti

Helgen Easter Surprise

The puppies have also been given temporary pet names so that we can begin to look at individual personalities and conformation. They were weighed on the 9th May and these were their weights:-

boys-1100g(2lbs 4oz) and 980 (2lbs 1oz)
girls-910g (2lbs),1050g (2lbs 3oz),980g (2lbs 1oz)
The puppies are doing amazingly well; they now all have their eyes and ears open. Mum brought our whippet and our youngest Dobermann, Crystal, in to see them yesterday and apparently they adored them. Crystal has always been a very maternal bitch and she was licking them through the pen bars. There were a few times we found one of the dogs out of Ambers last litter sleeping with Crystal when he was a puppy. I always find it sweet how much our dogs love having puppies around.

Mum's going to wean them next week as they will be 3 weeks old. This is always a fun process as it involves putting a tray of lactol and mashed up puppy food. Watching them wade through the tray marvelling at their sticky paws is always quite amusing. It usually takes them a good 5 minutes to realise that they can actually eat the strange stuff that is now stuck to their bodies. Amber also loves this process as she gets to eat the leftovers whilst the puppies bound back to her for milk. The last time we had a litter of puppies, Ben was only 5. This time we have an 11 month old called Luke who is probably going to wonder why Mummy has allowed the puppies to smear themselves with food when he's not allowed to!

In a few weeks they will be truly bounding round their living quarters and wanting to inspect the garden, but for now, I think the entire house is quite thankful for quiet, content puppies whose only troublesome streak is finding places to hide in the dining room.

After having a brief conversation with my mum over the phone today, I also found out that our Dartmoor pony, Izzy, got placed 3rd out of 5 today in her showing class. She is only a year old and we have high hopes for her.
Pictures of Izzy :)
Pictures of us!

The summer is certainly on its way and with a busy show season and watching puppies grow up, its going to be very busy here at Helgen!

A Life In Two Parts

Life in Cornwall has its advantages but there are times when you feel like you are missing out on something very important.
The photo on the left sums up this feeling. It shows my littlest brother Luke and one of our puppies. His face is one of amazement and surprise, you can almost hear him say "Mummy, look! It's a puppy. Can I play with it?". I guess at these words and thoughts seeing as I am 300 miles away and he can't actually speak yet. These photo's offer me a chance to take part in his life, my family's life and the animal's lives. I can see what I can only imagine from my Cornish coastal town.
It is interesting then to note that, to our puppy owners and people that enquire about our horses and dogs, this is all they see too. Maybe that is why I felt it was so important to create this blog and to connect to you guys out there.
Selling puppies is always strange as it is me who usually deals with the enquiries and begins the initial contact. So when I have to say that actually I won't be around for this stage and that stage, I do feel a sadness. I am missing out on the puppies growth and meeting their potential mummys and daddys. This was particularly prominent with Amber's last litter as I spent 6 weeks checking they were feeding, going to the toilet and just generally cooing over their little black paws and noses, when all of a sudden I had to leave to go to University. They were truly a remarkable litter and seeing photo's of them now in their homes fills me with pride and joy.

Bringing puppies into the world is one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I don't think I will ever grow tired of the excitement and joy they bring :) I only hope that next time I shall get to spend more time with them.
I mean, look at that face!

First Day at the School of Blogging

Heyy cyberspace and anyone that might be reading this!!

It's been on the cards for a while as I've been trying to think of ways to connect to fellow dog and horse lovers out there and finally I decided a blog was the best thing. It allows people to see whats happening at the Hadfield Zoo which is especially useful if you're thinking of buying a puppy from us. It also takes the pressure off our news section on our website which will now only be used for short statements; this is where you can get the full story!

So sit back and enjoy :)

Becca
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