around the yard. It was lovely to see her again but she did look extremely
swollen & sore. She is a fan of purples & lilacs (like you, hen) but we did say
it was a bit extreme to get the facial colouring too !
I don't know how long she will be off for, but she was bright & bubbly & said
she is dying to pick her nose to remove all the clotted blood from the inside.
Another new girl started today, a Kiwi called Naomi.
I am prone to making snap judgments, I know, but, having said that,
they do usually turn out right. She seems to have the one speed, slow.
She is also very complacent around the horses, particularly the colts.
I suspect, like Agnes & Bronwen, she will have a rude awakening when
she sees a couple of them 'in action'.
We were told today, that next week, we will be allocated our own individual
horses to prepare for the sales. This means the one person will be solely
responsible for the care & turn-out of 4 or 5 particular horses.
I am looking forward to it, I think it will feel quite rewarding to watch their
progress from one month to the next.
I have already been told I will be caring for a filly called 'What Can I Say?'
or 'Watties' for short. She is a bay filly with a white star & I really like her.
She is classed as a bit of a problem filly & has played everyone up on occasion,
except, oddly enough, me. I don't claim to have any special power over her,
I just aim to be very quiet with her.
When some of the horses muck about, a sharp slap brings them into line.
With her, it has just the opposite effect, she is likely to pull back & scare
herself. The more scared she becomes, the more dangerous she is,
as she tries to evade the person in her proximity.
I have found the best method for dealing with her when she is bad,
is just a harsh tone of voice. She is such a sensitive filly, it is usually enough.
I am hoping I will be allocated my favourite filly 'Fiddle Dee Dee'. I haven't seen
much of her lately, as there is always a rush to groom her 1st, as one of the
easier fillies.
'You don't call, you never write'
The fillies who aren't much fun are Vasadanya, Nothing Less, who deliberately
crushed me in her box, necessitating in my rescue by Trina ; In My Time, who
tries to kick every time her feet are picked out & Stormy Alley who thinks
its a wheeze to point her quarters at you wherever you walk in the box.
From the colts, I would like to be given either Talaga, Ransom Bay, Sneetch,
Kape Dancer or Real Success. All have their off-days but are, by & large, amenable.
The ones I wouldn't be rushing for are Hula Lei who seems to dislike everyone
& thinks nothing of charging, purely if you enter his box. Clinique (whose
lovely Mum is the mare I gave back-rubs to when she was just about to foal.)
Classy Liz who explodes from the box whenever he is led anywhere or Miss Paris
who has bitten every part of my anatomy so far (including my lady-bumps). Ow.
I am happy to relate a very cute story, which started as a sad one on Saturday
morning, but looks like it will have a happy outcome.
A mare called Barossa Babe foaled in the early hours of Saturday morning.
She had THE most gorgeous foal I think I have seen so far. She is a chestnut
filly with a perfectly symmetrical white blaze, extending from forehead to nostrils
& 4 long white, knee-high stockings.
The mare sustained internal damage during the foaling & could not be saved.
We have been bottle-feeding the foal ever since. Everyone is very fond of
her as she is such a sociable little animal. Kylie has christened her Lily (the filly)
She is very composed & hasn't yet seemed to miss her dam, but needless to
say, we all find it very sad that she has no Mum.
Today, a foster mare was found for her. Mum had lost her own foal at 6 hours
old & so she arrived, from another stud, accompanied by the skin of the dead foal.
This was draped over Lily & secured in a very eye-catching fashion with
the ubiquitous, bright blue baler twine. Any part of Lily not covered by the skin
ie, face, feet was daubed in Deep Heat (anything strong-smelling to disguise
the foal's own smell can be used)
Mum & Lily are currently segregated, albeit in the same box, by a large gate.
At intervals, the foal is allowed to suckle from the mare whilst a helper holds
the mare to guard against any attack upon the foal.
Today, I was lucky enough to witness the 2nd time Lily was allowed to feed.
She tottered out from behind the gate & made a determined beeline for
the udder. She sucked with gusto & our hearts were in our mouths as Mum
turned around to examine the foal with interest.
After sniffing the skin, she gave it a gentle lick & turned back to face the
front. I don't care that Millie has seen it all before, I thought it was one of
the most touching things I have seen & told him so. Lily will not be allowed
full,unguarded access to Mum until tomorrow, but the signs are promising.
Lily is a bit smaller than the dead foal so the skin hangs off her.
I thought of mums everywhere ...
'You'll grow into it ...'
The other arresting thing about her appearance is that she now has
4 ears & 2 tails. I know that sounds grotesque but I assure you, the effect is
heart-breakingly gorgeous, for whilst her own ears are upright, the 'spare
pair' sit at a 90 degree angle, resembling handlebars.
I am reminded of those romper suits which you can buy for toddlers, should
you wish to pretend your child is a lamb or a bunny (perfectly understandable).
Eric & I went to collect a young Saddleback boar yesterday to 'entertain'
the lady pigs. At the moment he is only half their size. When released
into the girls' enclosure he provoked a frenzied melee. I won't
describe what they were trying to do to him, as this won't make it
past the Police firewall system, suffice it to say, they weren't behaving
as young ladies should.
The gilts charged around after him, taking turns at trying to mount him
whilst he ran, as fast as his little legs would carry him, around the enclosure.
He wore a look of quiet desperation. The whole cavalcade resembled
an estrogen-fuelled piggy freight-train.
Eric was thinking of segregating them, for the boar's safety until he went to
feed them this morning. Initially, the boar was nowhere to be seen. Once
all the girls had exited their sleeping quarters, the boar was apparent,
having been happily tucked up in beesies with them.
Well, time marches on & I am struggling to keep the old mince-pies open
so I will bid you all goodnight,
Cx
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