Who can resist a foal? Who can resist a black (beauty) foal? Who can resist a black Friesian X Warmblood foal? Well, not me!
Django has given me the best three years of horse ownership in many years. Being a part of every step in the process, and knowing the good and the bad was all on you with no excuses, has been challenging, motivating and rewarding. Now we are in the early stages of backing, with little and often being the key, it will be amazing to have someone to get the groundwork started with again.
Daisy is currently seven months old, quite unhandled and will likely reach 16.2hh (I am suspecting bigger, but can we say a little prayer she doesn’t reach that high?). So far we have achieved being able to get a head collar on, building a relationship to stroke around her neck and face, starting to lead, and she can now be caught from the field.
Over the next few weeks I will work on being able to confidently touch her all over, so I can pick up her feet for the farrier’s visit as a priority, and over winter we will work on tying up, leading and loading into my lorry. This will all set the foundations for spring, when we can start doing small trips to friends’ yards, and getting her first taste of the wider world she will have to face one day!
She has been in a separate field with a friend’s young mare as a field companion, as I wanted introductions to my bigger geldings to be slow and safe. I hope in the new year she will be ready to go in with them, and I’ll have my herd back together and the babies will stop trashing my summer grazing.
Welcome to the madhouse, Daisy!
With things getting off to a rocky start – I think I read this is the worst rainfall in over 50 years! – what better pick-me-up than the “Fred & Rowena Cook: A Life After Racing” rehoming service contacting me about the most precious four-year-old gelding, who was looking for a new home straight from the British Racing School (BRS)?
The trio have been keeping me busy these past few weeks: Freya has had a saddle fitting, Bob’s had a lesson and Autumn’s been out with a new friend exploring lanes not too far from our yard.
Diva (Melland Queen of Scots) usually gets her summer coat quite early compared to other horses and ponies, but this year she has been holding onto hers for a lot longer.
Is it spring yet? It’s been teasing us the last few days, going from a few dry days when I could walk across most of the field and it felt like spring, to heavy downpours, including hail, which reverted the field back to a quagmire. I didn’t let it put me off too much, though, and I’ve now managed to get all three horses back into work! Eek!