If only it had rained this much two months ago - It would have been a very different season if it had! It has poured almost every day for ten days. Good for the grass, crops and garden though so I'm not complaining. The downside has been that the mares aren't coming into season as we would have liked. We have managed to get both Dove and Dream covered by Falco, a stallion that was based in France and came to the UK in 2018. He has had grade one winners on the flat and over jumps. A lovely young couple in Boston are standing him and we wanted to give them a chance as most of the stallions are owned by big studs and the little people don't get a look in.
We had a little 'mishap' with Burrows Spring who came back into season really well after the sad loss of her foal and she was taken by Doug to see a stallion (Dartmouth) in one of the bigger studs in Shropshire. Neil, her owner had done a lot of research to find the right stallion and had decided that Dartmouth was the perfect match for her. The mating went well and Burrows Spring was loaded back onto the lorry. The stallion owner asked Doug if he wanted to see the other stallions to decide whether we wanted to use one of them on Popaway. Doug agreed and the owner got a stallion out and said "This is Dartmouth" - Doug said, "it's not as I've just seen Dartmouth as he served the mare" at this point the owner (who shall remain nameless) went white as he realised his mistake - all the paperwork had been done and it was written on the board with the correct stallion but for whatever reason the wrong stallion came out - He was also bay, and there was no way Doug would have known that it wasn't the right one. Needless to say there was a bit of panic on as we tried to get hold of Neil to see if the wrong stallion (Scorpion) would do. Sadly they were too closely related and the pregnancy could not continue so Doug had to leave her at the stud to start again. At least it was discovered in time before it was too late.
Tik and Jess were supposed to be synchronised so that they could both go to Ireland together to see Elusive Pimpernel but with the weather turning so cold Jess stopped cycling altogether and Tik came on much more quickly than expected so she had to be whizzed off back to Shropshire to see Telescope, a nice young stallion that is supposed to be up and coming.. So now we are waiting for Popaway and Jess to come into season, and if we are lucky they will come on together to make the trip to Ireland worth while. The vet is coming on Monday and we will know then.
In the meantime the foals are giving us so much joy - They are just gorgeous and all have their own personalities. There is nothing I enjoy more than to stand and watch them playing in the evenings.
I will add some photos onto the blog tomorrow as supper is waiting!
We had a little 'mishap' with Burrows Spring who came back into season really well after the sad loss of her foal and she was taken by Doug to see a stallion (Dartmouth) in one of the bigger studs in Shropshire. Neil, her owner had done a lot of research to find the right stallion and had decided that Dartmouth was the perfect match for her. The mating went well and Burrows Spring was loaded back onto the lorry. The stallion owner asked Doug if he wanted to see the other stallions to decide whether we wanted to use one of them on Popaway. Doug agreed and the owner got a stallion out and said "This is Dartmouth" - Doug said, "it's not as I've just seen Dartmouth as he served the mare" at this point the owner (who shall remain nameless) went white as he realised his mistake - all the paperwork had been done and it was written on the board with the correct stallion but for whatever reason the wrong stallion came out - He was also bay, and there was no way Doug would have known that it wasn't the right one. Needless to say there was a bit of panic on as we tried to get hold of Neil to see if the wrong stallion (Scorpion) would do. Sadly they were too closely related and the pregnancy could not continue so Doug had to leave her at the stud to start again. At least it was discovered in time before it was too late.
Tik and Jess were supposed to be synchronised so that they could both go to Ireland together to see Elusive Pimpernel but with the weather turning so cold Jess stopped cycling altogether and Tik came on much more quickly than expected so she had to be whizzed off back to Shropshire to see Telescope, a nice young stallion that is supposed to be up and coming.. So now we are waiting for Popaway and Jess to come into season, and if we are lucky they will come on together to make the trip to Ireland worth while. The vet is coming on Monday and we will know then.
In the meantime the foals are giving us so much joy - They are just gorgeous and all have their own personalities. There is nothing I enjoy more than to stand and watch them playing in the evenings.
I will add some photos onto the blog tomorrow as supper is waiting!
