Because of the heavy snowfall that we had and the fact that we live on a hill with about 3 miles of ungritted track, we were stranded at home! This meant that we couldn't see to the Redbrook horses (the other horses at Pilstone and Pentre Farm were seen to by Scarlett, Anthea and Nick which we are so grateful for!). Luckily there is a back way to the field but it would have taken at least hours to walk and with the extra time the yard took, we would never have had that much time before dark! This meant that Flicker and Phoenix were dragged out of bed, their legs oiled and their feet packed with Silverfeet so that the snow, which was still falling thick and fast, didn't get stuck to them! Then they led a rescue mission to the Redbrook field to get the ponies down there checked, fed and watered! The ponies were amazingly brave and didn't flinch, spook or worry about a single thing, even when they had to push through and under branches laden with snow and tread carefully down steep slopes. The 10km ride took a several hours as the tracks were so thick with snow that the branches were weighed down to the floor and made for very slow riding. We stopped in the Barn at the field and the ponies had a biscuit of hay while the other horses were sorted out. We ended up getting back home by about 5pm which meant the ponies were riding in the dark (thank god for the whiteout or we may have ended up stranded at the field)! Again, despite the dark and treacherous conditions, the ponies slogged on without a worry! This gives us high hopes for our charity ride from John O' Groats to Land's End next year as these two and Amadeus will be taking part! They will need to be as dependable and steady as they were when we needed them this weekend and we're grateful for this test of just how reliable we can expect them to be!