On Wednesday, we had a routine visit from the vet, a feed order delivered and we had a lovely family arrived for a stopover in their campervan, en route to the ferryport at Cairnryan. The children seemed to enjoy their visit, especially when they got to see the adders sunbathing by their den.
Friday saw us creating another wildlife habitat, which now has the ecoarts hobbit standing by its entrance. What might make its home in here is anyone's guess. I'd love to see hedgehogs at Frugaldom but there have been no sightings so far. This weekend we are hosting a meet and greet at 2pm on Saturday and will do the same again on Sunday for anyone interested in getting more involved at Frugaldom. We will be accepting applications from potential volunteers who would like to pick-a-project and then get stuck in to make it great. From creating new wildlife habitats to mucking out pony shelters, herb gardening, creating a forest food garden, composting, tree planting and fence painting, there's something for everyone. We hope to recruit a few more members to the supporters group, Friends of Frugaldom, and find some pony sponsors. The ponies and goats can never have too much attention. Funds raised here will contribute towards upgrading the pony and goat accommodation.
We have already installed several new scratching and grooming areas and we need to keep working on improving the drainage on the tracks. The latter means plenty of ditch digging and clearing, barrowing of drainage stone and giving the animals a variety of surfaces for walking over to help keep their hooves healthy.
We don't shoe any of our ponies, nor do we lock them in stables. They have freedom to move around 24 hours a day, all year round. They have access to hay or haylage constantly. They live on a fairly frugal version of what's known as a paddock paradise track system. Our feed bill is over £500 per month, plus extra for the supplements recommended by our equine nutritionist but it's worth it to see the animals flourish in a more natural environment. We plant herbs and shrubs that are horse safe and have a fast developing willow growing programme that is part of the browsing fodder for the ponies and goats. They all love willow.
If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. We love sharing news of what we do here, be it about the ponies, the goats, the artwork or the woodland and nature projects.
Thank you for taking the time to read this rather lengthy update and for helping us to raise £770 so far of the £1,000 Spring target on our GoFundMe page.
Frugaldom is registered with Social Enterprise Scotland and is a Dumfries & Galloway Council licensed Animal Welfare Establishment, licence no. 040522 Our overnight campervan stopover site is a CAMpRA accredited, Motorhome fun Certificated Location.