As I write this, out of the window I can see a fallow doe feeding her fawn.

Born in June or July, the fawn is a month younger than our foals. The fallow deer come much closer to the house this time of year to forage for apples in the orchard.

Legendary horseman Monty Roberts said in a recent documentary that he learned a lot about horses by watching the deer. I’m enjoying doing the same - deer are ‘fight or flight’ to the max.

The first frosts have sharpened the mornings this week and have coincided with our mares and foals coming in. The grass came to an end about three weeks earlier than last year which is always a bit of a worry; grazing seasons here in Fermanagh seem to be trimmed either side over the last 10 years.

The foals have all developed great winter coats, I like to see a healthy, shiny winter teddy bear coat on the babies, nice bright eyes and mischief in their step.

The autumn grass, though less nutrient dense, can still contain quite a bit of sugar when the nights are cold and the days are sunny.

Abrupt transition to hay or other forage can cause problems such as colic so we start supplementing with hay in the field a few weeks before horses move from the pasture to the paddock and stable. The change from pasture to stable also means less exercise which can also cause bother such as constipation.

One of the things I’m militant about is making sure our horses get enough exercise in the autumn and winter, especially during this transition period. Daily turn-out for as long as possible has been a good ingredient for gut health and we always keep a keen eye over the period of change.

Installing a small all-weather paddock will help with the winter turn-out burden. Our budget didn’t stretch to bespoke drainage layers or geotextile fabric, without the option of TAMS or an equivalent up here in Fermanagh.

The purse did stretch to a hardcore base layer, covered with small stones and bark. I’m a bit nervous to see how the drainage works – so far so good though.

Warming the cockles this week was the fantastic performance by Dag Albert’s Agria Petinsure Irish Eventing Team who finished the season on a spectacular high winning the FEI Eventing Nations Cup series in Boekelo.

Aoife Clark, Susie Berry, Pádraig McCarthy and Austin O’Connor clinched gold beating the USA who took silver and Germany who claimed bronze. Finishes as impressive as that get the heart pumping for the 2025 season.