Monday, October 6, 2008

Busy Week:

Haven't posted for a week or so....been FRANTIC!


Had EQUINE STUD SOLUTIONS for a 2-day course here last week. I have had several enquiries from both North and South Islands, for fresh chilled semen to JK Rodin. He has never been 'collected' from, so we needed to teach him all about the 'phantom' and the AV unit. It was a pretty big ask of ESS to train a 23 yr old stallion, who has always performed 'live cover'. We had a really full-on 48 hours...
















The ESS unit was really well set up, with constant hot water for the several different AV units, a pretty comprehensive little lab unit, complete with incubation, refrigeration, multiple microscopes and computer linkups - very impressive! The phantom was easy to set up and very stable, although Rodin was pretty aware that it was lacking in some of his basic requirements for lovin'! We alternated between using the phantom and 'live cover' ground collection, as I had a couple of lovely quiet broodies who stand like rock.

















Jessie was very brave - diving in at the crucial point in time to grab the Old Boy's 'old boy' and wrestling the bugger into the AV unit! At first, Rodin appeared to be completely horrified at the interference - and rightly so! But libido won over common sense and finally Jess managed to get the AV on without the massive RETREAT! Full marks to Rodin too. He is such a lovely kind stallion to handle, nobody was ever in any danger, although he pulled some pretty pissed off faces at me during the whole process! The last act for day 2 was for me to have a go at getting the AV 'on'. I was a bit nervous....he is a VERY big boy and I know that Jessie is as strong as an ox (although obviously WAY prettier!) and I was going to be gutted if I couldn't keep up. But I was off the hook as soon as I picked the bloody AV up. There was no way I could lift and manoeuvre it with one hand, it was just too heavy when full for my pathetic wrists. So Jessie dived in (again, bless her).


We used 'Ducky' for the last serve. She is a darling wee mare and was on day 4-ish of oestrus so quite irresistible to our aged romancer. Unfortunately, too irresistible. With one fell swoop, he thrust aside the much tired-of AV and went straight for the money shot!!!




















Had to laugh. Cunning old bugger!

Still, really pleased with our achievements for the 2 days. We achieved so much in so little time - and my confidence level with teasing and serving has soared. It was great to have such a professional team, Keith and Jessie, who were calm and confident every step of the way. They knew just when to push ahead, and when to retreat. And I have to say that after 48 hours being handled by Keith, Rodin is being far more respectful to me! I can confidently stand in the corner of the large yard with a cycling mare 20 feet away, and ask him to "stand", and he won't move a muscle. Brilliant!


Since then, I have successfully served 5 out of 6 mares in the last 4 days. The little darlings all came on at once (handy) and I have been running faster that a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! I was so pleased to see Rodin had been eating all of his dinners....til I saw the bl**dy rams licking the bowl clean this morning. Rodin standing back and watching them bemusedly. Anyone got suggestions for boosting his appetite? And what about hanging feed bins? Which are the best?

Pet quota has gone up by one. Lavenderlilac cow has been joined by Hugo moo. Very dehydrated, cute little orphan bully boy. Have jabbed him with some drugs, got electrolytes into him and fingers crossed he will start to at least smell better soon!

OK. Fingers falling off. Til next time:)

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