Getting ready

This morning I had booked the second of two practice runs with a horse transport lorry. Milly is due to move to her new home next Thursday. As she hasn't travelled in a lorry or horse box for over three years, I've been keen to give her a chance to get used to the whole process before the 90 minute journey to her new yard.  Last time she was moved in a lorry (2017), she was so anxious that she tried to rear once she was inside... not an experience I want to repeat. Half a ton of levitating horse... No. Not again.
Anyway: today at least, careful preparation paid off. I brought her in well before the lorry was due, and gave her some feed with a liquid sedative mixed into it (just a mild dose, as advised by the vet - enough to take the edge off any anxiety). Then she had time to sniff around the ramp and lorry before we asked her to step inside. I'd placed a couple of familiar objects at intervals on the ramp, and there was another bucket of feed inside too. After a minute's hesitation, she stepped slowly and calmly up the ramp. We were able to settle her inside and close the door without causing any tense reactions. Then Fran (the driver) took us on a short trip around the village and back. Milly managed all this without getting worked up. Result! Now we just have to hope that we can repeat the process next Thursday, without difficulties. Much as I know that this move is in Milly's best interests, it's still difficult to let go.
After we'd done the whole process, I walked Milly back out to the field, and then spent a short while watching the swallows and martins in the farmyard. Second broods have fledged recently, and now there are crowds of birds swooping and diving around the farm buildings.  The youngest are still pestering their parents for food, and time is short - they must be away soon, with enough under their belts to make the long journey South.