Belle's News

Belles thirty three day scan - just click to enlarge.

Good news today!! Belle has held her pregnancy to thirty three days and the foetus now has a heartbeat. Please all cross your fingers and toes but our vet says it is a very large foal for its age at the moment. Will fate give us a colt - such a long way to go.

The doctor kindly gave me some anti biotic for a chest infection after my last breathless performance on Danni and today was a bit better, although I lacked energy to inspire him. He loves cantering and whisks around doing his thing. Charles tells me his halts from canter are looking better and his departs are definitely more precise and filled with impulsion but i had an eye on improving the angle of the right shoulder in today and as we had splurged with an hours school hire, was also able to spend time plodding relentlessly sideways trying to improve his right to left half pass. Once I had managed to lighten his left shoulder he came much lighter from my leg and celebrated with a few Polo's before going home. The light rain that had dogged the morning turned from sporadic drizzle into a heavy downpour in the afternoon so we brought in Diva, Belle and Dolly earlier than usual and they were very happy to settle with their tea and hearty haynets. Diva has been practicing "natural weaning" for the last couple of weeks that left Dolly quite miserable and I'm not sure wasn't instigated by Belle. Usually i move the foal into the next box at night a with a chatterbox when the time comes but at the moment we lack enough boxes so Diva made her own arrangements. Now Dolly has accepted Diva's space she is now allowed to feed at the maternal haynet once more but as Charles said "food was definitely the tool she used to disciplining her" The new boxes are waiting, bedded down now though, so in the next couple of days Dolly will have her own space at last and Lizzie and April will come back to the main yard to wait fro their foals - well it saves Charles sleeping in the field! Lizzie and April are no bodies fools though and had already installed themselves in their field shelter out of the weather tonight to wait for their super - they are just going to hate changing stables, still they can always go in the field shelter in the daytime!