Diva and Amie today

Diva and Amie



Amie showing off her blue greay adult colour


Morning turnout




Mum, Diva loves her stable

We are still waiting to get Diva in foal this year but a scan today shown ONE three point eight follicle and so we are optimistic that Danni may be able to cover her by Tuesday. Danni is feeling very optimistic too!

Amie is slowly shedding her baby fur to display a sleek blue grey adult coat - the only grey (so far) of the little family but things can change very rapidly with horses but at the moment Annie is very nearly black and of course Archie is distinctly chestnut but all a capable of suddenly changing their colour. Sootty my twenty three year old Holstein, was the darkest black when we bought him at four and a half months old and is now snowy white, flecked with brown freckles.

Diva is the most lovely, kind mare and i hope to ride her this winter if she doesn't get in foal as Sootty is less than impressed by too much exercise these days although he enjoys a walk out most days - just not too far!

Danilon and A.I.

Danilon meets Maddonna at Trenarth Equestian and A.I. Centre


A relaxed and unhurried collection by Mel Hennah with Charles holding Dani

We've had a busy week with the mares staying in in the mornings to wait to be scanned by the vet and the happy news is that Lizzie's pregnancy has progressed to a heartbeat and Bell has been blood tested and is still in foal. Diva on the other hand, passed her after birth easily after foaling but then needed a lot of anti biotics to cleanse and so we missed covering her on her foaling heat. She was ovuplanted and inseminated on a large follicle on her next cycle, which is about the point that the 2% chance came back to haunt us and a second follicle continued to develop to the point that it may become cystic and interfere with the development (or not) of her next pregnancy. Her first scan was inconclusive so we must wait until Monday for a firm decision on her progress.

Divas foal Amie is turning a beautiful blue grey and is showing signs of making friends with Dolly- Divas yearling filly

Which brings me to little April our newest mum. As she was quite foal proud we decided to return to Trenarth AI Centre to collect from Danilon instead of a live covering with her young foal at foot ( or should I say underfoot).

http://www.trenerthequestrian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=34&Itemid=75

We are hoping to move her foaling date forward a touch in the year as poor Archie (another name change) will only be ready to wean at Christmas.

April with her colt foal by Danilon with the evening sun coming through the sky light

Dani loaded and travelled like a pro and quietly waited in the lorry for his appointment - leading the lady in the next lorry to ask if he was in there? He understood exactly what was wanted of him without fuss and we were soon on our way home...........in time for tea in fact job done. April cuddled her little foal to her throughout the insemination procedure so now we must wait with the curious optimism of anyone who keeps horses :-for the next step on the dressage ladder, the next foal or even that a newly bathed horse couldn't possibly roll in that patch of mud.................well perhaps next time who knows

The Orange gentleman now one week old - Charles thinks Archie for a stable name

Always room for a little bit more milk - April is doing him well and he's putting on weight

Perhaps Artimis April's foal

Yesterday the weather stayed enchanted for the little chestnut colt to go back out to the field with his mum April. We thought long and hard about whether to put April out alone in our separate maternity paddock or let her return to her usual field with Lizzie her best friend. Eventually we decided the usual field with Lizzie had the most shelter and everybody "knew" each other anyway from the day before.


April nuzzling her foal - Dani's first colt


April - always a good doer is blooming with motherhood



Annie's short term memory can't be all that good though.........!! because she was very curious about her little half brother.








The mares and their foals moved away up the hill for the day





Annie was convinced that the camera was for her perhaps she doesn't realise she is mid molt!

Annie:- Holstein Pre cross - she's nearly as big as her dam Lizzie

Today is a different story though with torrential rain beating down since breakfast time so the little group didn't spend long in the field before we ferried them still dripping back into the stables. The chestnut colt plunging in Charles's grip like a slippery electric eel with April nickering constant encouragement beside him until he had settled to march resolutely back to his nice dry stable.

Annie didn't want to be caught and leave her special mum April so wasn't too popular as we slipped and dripped down the field (in fact Annie seems to prefer April's company to her own mothers and up until now has enjoyed having mum with her milk bar and an adoring Aunt to look after her - still April seems happy to be the permanent baby sitter for the group leaving Lizzie free to relax and graze. )

Dani's chestnut colt foal

Well I dare say they (the pictures) all look all the same to you but isn't he gorgeous?

We thought we'd bring the mares in early tonight as there was a storm brewing and when we reached April and Lizzie's field, Lizzie called but didn't come.............. and there tucked in the far sheltered corner at of the the field April had tucked her most precious colt foal about fifty yards from her lifetime companion Lizzie who was discreetly on guard. The little colt had been safely delivered and dried by mum, Charles guided him in as i led April down to the stables and mum was son tucking into her supper Phew - what a day!!

The infra red camera that I have been watching night after night now shows mother and son quietly resting as the gail gathers outside.

Dani and PMG

Dani set off across the valley for three days of intense training with Peter Madison Greenwell , once again this weekend. The weather prove fickle after the long dry spell but couldn't damp an inspirational course with Peter and we managed to dodge the showers.

The devil is in the detail so they say an so it proved for he course. The first day was spent refining the shoulder in and traver with emphasis on a soft a fluid bend to the left before progressing to half pass.

For the second day we had a double session to give Peter enough time to work independently with Dani - helping him with his half pass and addressing the issue of Dani sometimes dropping his back as he enters the movement with a complex exercise ..........i carefully wrote the whole thing down when I got home! Before progressing with Dani's flying changes. Dani felt wonderful when Peter hopped off and said "Your turn" happily I only had to do simple trot canter transitions with an emphasis on FORWARDNESS.

Peter felt that we too might try a flying change the next day as the changes of rein had progressed through a given number of strides to one step the day before. Alas as Peter predicted Rome wasn't built in a day but we explored the building blocks of the movement and I grasped the significance of the inside leg to ask the hind leg to change as well (whoops!)Peter hopes to establish Dani further in August and we have so much to work on in the mean time that I'm sure the time will fly. Thank you Peter

Our vet came to scan yesterday and found Lizzie's pregnancy to be progressing well and Diva ready to cover today.............meanwhile April is expanding still by the day so Sooty has given up his big box for her and we once again have a full stable. Dani is looking optimistic!

A2% chance

Lizzie with her filly foal Annie in her day stable



Sharing Mums corn




Leading out to the field notice her curly tail with the white hairs




OK so stopping to pose for the camera

Well the vet said that Lizzie had a 4.7 follicle and was ready to cover and Lizzie said B***** off" and nuzzled her foal to her. So in view of her strongly held opinion it was obvious that some lateral thinking was called far and so Dani went off to Trenerth Equestrian for the night to meet Madonna. http://www.trenerthequestrian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=34&Itemid=75

As Mel said "He took an immediate shine to Madonna - we didn't even have to show him a mare" and Mel arrived with the semen the next day and we collected Danni later wearing a very smug expression. Unfortunately Lizzie had been scanned earlier in the morning by our vet and the follicle had gone BUT there was a slim chance that the second follicle forming could continue to develop, so as we had the semen.................! Well Lizzie was scanned again today and is fifteen days in foal! meaning Danni's semen must have waited patiently for two days before bingo - the 2% chance!

Lizzie's foal Annie has continued to grow and lives out at night now coming in through the heat of the day and pushing mum for her share of Spillers Stud mix and is now led in and out to the field in her new foal sized head collar.

April is nearing her time now and proceeding in a stately fashion with a filling udder and dreamy look in her eyes as the ever energetic Annie cavorts and leaps about the field secure with her two mums.

Danni has anothe PMG course this weekend and the delicious prospect of another assignation with Diva - what a busy life he has.