Who let the cows out? Moo, moo, moo moo! Will Pip be caught out, and will Matt or Justin bowl a maiden over? Discuss The Archers here

[PseudoBadger]

'Ello pusscat!
I am eagerly anticipating Pip's downfall.

See what came in the post today!

Back on topic , I had wanted to like Tom again... righteous indignation is ok but he is just being nasty now

Agree though, loved the pony scenes and especially Linda

Don't worry - Harrison is leading the investigation into who dumped the ponies so I'm sure it will all be cleared up the end of the week (the culprits will probably be arrested at a garden party under the stolen bunting).

I also love the idea of the injured pony becoming a replacement for Bartleby. I'm just hoping the Grundy bad luck doesn't result in Ed taking the flack for keeping quiet about the escaped cows when it eventually comes out that he knew all along.

I love this thread how many other threads on MN would go from Mrs Ant. her afghans, to Mrs Honeyman of Trumpton? Oh yes I loved it and the voiceover on it soo much BRING iT BACK!!!

I'm not one for violence but someone needs to slap Tom Archer.

Ref. Alaistair's reluctance to treat the poor injured pony, was he thinking about putting it to sleep?

YY re Bartleby Mk2 - Anisha is going to tell Joe that Bartleby has reached the end of the line when she sees him, isn't she?

Tom, please shut up. Looks like we're heading for Broomfield bankruptcy, which will have knock on effects for the Grundys too. Tom is just be nasty now & I'm surprised that Tony is going along with it.

There's a woman near us who is constantly being towed around the streets by three short-legged little brown dogs.

I referred to them as Mitzi, Daphne and Lulu without thinking the other day. DD looked utterly baffled, but DH knew what I meant.

Isn't Brookfield pretty loaded though? Surely the farm business is a long way off bankruptcy?

Oh, Imbroglio, I really do hope we get a revelation via Ed. I've found the way this story is panning out for Pip very unsatisfactory. I'm not particularly proud of the vengeful streak it's revealed in me, but there you go. The Brookfield Archers are just awful!

Oddly enough, I've just finished Jonathan Franzen's Purity, with a lead character called Pip. Also deeply flawed and struggling towards adulthood, but someone you root for. The difference being that Franzen can write and we don't have a dire vocal performance inflicted on us!

Pip is 24 isn't she! Why are young people these days treated as children until they get to their thirties?

The Tom thing is stupid - David has offered to pay all their costs - why should he pay more than that? It's the compensation culture gorn mad!!

I always said Kirsty could do better! A leopard doesn't change his spots and neither will Tom

Mind boggling at the thought of Anisha telling Joe that Bartalby's had it" "Shall I call the Huntsman or will you?"

And yes to Pip being infantilized. She's 24 and has a degree in agriculture ffs!

I think the worst thing about the babying of Pip is that she herself clearly thinks she's a baby too. When I was 24 I happened to be living at home (but had a job and car etc) and if I had done such a monumental fuckup that massively financially and emotionally impacted the family business, and made my parents' name mud in the area, I'd have been cringing and tiptoeing around for months. I'd have also gone to the chief people and admitted my fault, to spare my parents' wrongful embarrassment. Not whinged and whined at my mum about not yet forgiving me like a three year old. God! Does she not get it at all?

Bankruptcy is a long way off, but the problem at Broomfield is the lack of liquid assets. Their yields are down and they're already having to pay £18k for the tractor repair, so their cash flow will be a bit ropey. David is promising to compensate everyone without calculating how much they will claim. He's also going to have a big IBR bill of his own. I suppose Ruth may still have some cash from Heather, but they might have to borrow. Neither Josh nor Pip are self-sufficient, so if funds are tight, the Grundys will be the first to go.

Do we think it's significant that no figures have been mentioned yet? Where is Dairyfarmerswife to give us a rough estimate? I have no idea at the moment what David's offer of compensation means for Brookfield - I'm slightly surprised he's just been happily trotting out the "Whatever it is we'll pay it" without having any indication what that might mean. Nor have he and Ruth discussed any upper limit about what they might be able to afford.

But Ruth is loaded! There was a house and a life insurance pay out- it was mega bucks.

There was some mention of the cost of vaccination when Brookfield first had IBR - and before it was known the other herds had it. I think it was around £2K for all their cattle. Then there would be vet call-out fees, and the cost of dead cattle. It's going to be similar to the cost of the tractor, if not lots more.

I'm not surprised they aren't giving exact figures, though - it's been mentioned many times that Ambridge finances are usually a bit vague (all Helen's legal fees, how the Grundys are always so broke, how can Brookfield afford to employ all of them, etc, etc.)

I think they are signposting financial woes for Brookfield without being specific, though. I think David is relying on good will, for Tony and Brian to submit reasonable costs, and if David says, "That's more than expected, can we pay the rest after harvest," he'LL expect them to agree. He's not expecting to factor in Tom being an utter git, despite enough evidence in his own family that the next generation are not all kindly and collaborative to their neighbouring farmers, whether or not they are family.

Also, David might mention that it would be reasonable for Pip to use some of last year's profit for the compensation, given it's all her fault, and then he'll find out about Pip not telling him and Ruth colluding with that.

Tom is being a total git, but the real cost does include the fact that the value of the infected cows as breeding stock has been slashed. If they don't get compensation then Tony's retirement hobby farming (which is how Tom sees it, keeps Tony occupied and out of his way) would cost Bridge Farm a lot of money.

Tom is being a total git, but the real cost does include the fact that the value of the infected cows as breeding stock has been slashed.

I agree, and I suspect David hasn't really thought through just what the costs will be. Nonetheless, Tom could be saying, "Dad, is that including the replacement costs, and the list profits through not having breeding stick, because we should be including that," rather than, "Sue, sue, sue! " He's likely to upset Tony the way he''s going on, which he does seem to care about more than he does Brookfield (which is fair enough.) It's not a good starting position for negotiating, because there's nowhere to go. You'd think Tom might have learnt something from his many cock-ups over the years, and Tony could be hinting as such to him.

Ppeatfruit, yes Alastair was reluctant because of the possibility of the broken leg.

Broken legs are very difficult to treat in equines because of the problems in immobilising them. Physiologically, horses need to stand. Even if the break does mend, you can get supplementary problems like laminitis, which if severe enough can kill. There was a super-successful American racehorse not too long ago who recovered from the broken leg but succumbed to laminitis.

Treating horses with broken legs is down to economics, because it's phenomenally expensive, and whether or not there's a chance the break might actually mend.

Just found a very good Grauniad article which sums it up: here

I was surprised that such neglected ponies were so easy to catch and box. Unless it's leg was so bad it had no energy for resistance?

Shula is hugely experienced with horses, of course - I liked the way she took charge of the situation.