Pony Porn and the New Teaser!

Today was the day we designed the 'wee collector'.

We need quantities of mares urine to use for semen collection....the old boy simply won't produce it just because we need it! So the urine from a cycling mare is used to 'tempt' the stallion onto the phantom where he is fooled into service.

So out came an old cover, an empty calphos container, a handful of foam and some zippy clips. As you can see by the pic, we attach the receptacle to the back of the cover. Diagonally seemed to work quite well, as the corner fitted snugly between Duckies butt cheeks! I partially filled the container with lightweight foam rubber, which stopped the 'wee' bouncing out again and also cut down on the noise:) Ducky very kindly filed the container, and now I have the dubious task of freezing into cubes....don't ask for ice and a slice when you drink at our place!!!!

Also, the teaser. Check him out! That's my uber-Red! What a charming, seductive gentleman he is: Just like his old man! He showed me a new side of himself today - and he is going to take the pressure off Rodin this season by doing a little bit of the teasing for him. I was very impressed with his attitude, and no, won't take it for granted. I will only be able to continue to use Red as long as he can stay calm and collected and pretty much disaffected by the job!

All in all, a great horse day. Mares are looking fab, Penny getting closer to foaling. Will serve Sassy tomorrow and see how we go:)

Penny's Bagging Up!

Oh. My. God.

What a rack! She is due on or around the 2nd of October. Very grumpy with Rodin (but it IS all his fault) and a little stand-offish with Cuddles. Gorgeous weather to foal in right now....but we all know that means squat when push comes to PUSH. Lots of glorious green grass underfoot says we couldn't have got that DOLS better (Date Of Last Service).

Got an email from a client with a mare in Wairoa today to let me know she had foaled successfully a HUGE chesnut 'something'! Out of a Gizzy-bred Chesnut mare, 'Red' (another one) so will update the sex on that as it comes to hand. (It's a colt:)

Had a lovely mutual grooming with the 3 TB's. Ducky lying down with her head in my lap, Lady having a smooch against my back and Sassy (yes, SASSY!) snuggling up too. Very irresponsible teenagy type horse-love going on....oh for a camera! So nice to sit in dry grass in the sun, bit like summer:) I have to organise Ducky to be un-caslicked and then I guess, we are all go for the start of the love-fest. Rodin will be so pleased!

Is CHESNUT or CHESTNUT?!

Thats The Way It Goes...

It's 22 C degrees in the shade. In September. How cool is that!

Redman is a lucky lucky horse. So far, he has seen the dentist, had a couple of sessions of physio, a gorgeous new set of shoes and a new rug. Meanwhile, I am fighting with a wisdom tooth, a stiff neck and leaky gumboots.
Red is going through an active growth phase...which has made him 'ride' a little unevenly this week. We have been lungeing for a few days now and yesterday I thought he was twisting a bit at the canter - well today he is really not happy. A combination of things? Growth spurt, physio and blacksmith changing his balance behind? I must try to upload a quick video one of these days:) Greg was horrified to have to trot him out for me this morning. (Greg dishes quite badly with his near fore....) "What do you mean...AGAIN!" was something I was hearing too much of. "JUST BLOODY TROT - AND TRY TO GO IN A STRAIGHT LINE" was the reply from the top of the driveway. I guess if he needs to have a few weeks off, it means Rococo will get a look-in.

Lambs have all been in for another drench. Some of them are flirting with mint sauce.....HUGE! The calving has had a couple of hiccups: a dead set of twins (and a live set), a couple of Dr. Toyota jobs (3 actually, nil survival for calves) and 2 with navel-ill. One was brought in to me, Lavenderlilacow; a gorgeous but huge heifer calf that was/is the most peculiar shade of gray, hence the stylish but completely impractical name. 3 days of penicillin and she's as right as rain. Bit of a shame we missed doing the other one - but we didn't realise how treatable it was and to be fair, weren't sure about the diagnosis. Sounds harsh, but there are over 300 cows out there.... and at least Greg is willing to bring me the sick ones to have a go with.

The farm is looking amazing. Lush green growth everywhere, trees in blossom and leaf-burst. The vineyard probably needs a look-in....we are pretending it's not there so we don't have to crap ourselves at the thought of frost-fighting too early! I cannot believe the temperature outside today. I must start a new diet so I can wear shorts without making birds fall out of trees...

Red Has a Dentist Appointment

The Inside Story on RG RedMan

....This made me want to run inside and grab him a toothbrush!

We checked Red's teeth out first, and as he was only done 8 months ago, there wasn't a lot of concern. However, Gary was worried he had found a sliver of bone/tooth embedded in a gum right at the back...after a bit of poking and pulling, discovered it was another tooth erupting!

We headed up to the yards to 'do' Rodin and Cuddles. Rodin was happy enough to be prodded and poked, but Cuddles wasn't thrilled. (I know how she feels). Just before her turn, the weight of the rainwater on the macrocarpa branches got too heavy for the old trees, and with a huaring great crunch, down they came. The world might as well have been ending as far as old Cuddles was concerned and she performed passage and piaffe with enough zing to put Blue Hors Matine to shame! I was a bit gutted I had left my camera in the car - but it was raining fairly steadily and I was wet through. Would have been great to catch her antics on film. Not to mention the ginormous tooth that popped out into Gary's hand as he was doing the prelim exam! That explains the nasty breath she has had of late! A visit well needed!

Time Flies....

....even when you're not having fun! Have had some lovely hacking for the past week, ground to a halt with risen clinches and the desperate need for my Uber-Farrier to appear with tools in hand. Thanks to Trade Me I now have a set of alligator clinchers to deal with the risen nails...but they need to be pulled ultimately and I am not risking lameness due to bad management.

Michele on Reilly and me on Red, had a wicked mid-week hack over the farm, down the gorge and into the redwoods. There were a couple of logs laying about, just begging to be bounced over - which we did. The boys enjoyed it and managed to keep us on our toes with their party-attitude antics....gotta love that spring grass! The following day we took them both for a short stretch-out over the farm, but they were again on their toes and bouncy, keeping the challenges coming. With the rain and warmer temperatures, the grass is really coming away thick and fast. They all seem to be on rocket fuel and it can be pretty hard on the wobbly bits!

We finished drenching ALL the lambs in 1 day last week. With 3 of us mustering different paddocks at once, it made for some pretty tense rendezvous at the yards! The only major cock-up was with the closest mob, directly across the road from the sheep yards. It should have taken about 15 mins to muster them over, but ended up taking over an hour. The lambs were all jacked up on spring grass and broke repeatedly, driving both man and dogs to despair! Between 6-10 of the little feckers took off up the road and didn't stop for nearly 2kms! You'd have to wonder where the hell they thought they were going....

Calving is in full swing. Lots of wee mookies bouncing around now, and with minimal problems...touch wood. Without a doubt, a huge improvement on last season. I may have to go rescue a bobby calf for a pet this year?

I have the dentist (horse) coming today. We are going to check Red, Rodin and Cuddles. Red has a wolf tooth that may require some work. Rody is just a check-up and Cuddels....well....that could be a major. I must try and remember to take the camera....

Good 'Horse Day'

A gorgeous sunny day just begging for some horse action, sums it up perfectly. I brought 2 broodies in from out the back, JK Glamour Girl and JK My Penny. Penny is due to foal on or around 2 October, and looking great. Glamour Girl (aka 'Cuddles') is an antique and just needs a little extra love! They are in with Rodin now, as they are a good 'family unit' and can stay out of trouble together. The 3 TB's, Duckie, Lady and Sassy can stay out the back for another few weeks yet: I like to see their coats through before I start any serious teasing and they are all still woolly and wild.
THEN:! It was RG Rococo's turn for some much needed attention. He hasn't been touched for far too long and boy was he happy for the session! I brought him over to the round arena and did some leading/tying-up followed by a good grooming session and a bit of maintenance. What a lovely natured colt. He is now officially 2 years old (real time is November) and feeling his 'oats'. I am in a bit of a quandary as to how I am going to manage 2 entires this season....maybe more yarding and stables etc etc etc. He was very well behaved and I am looking forward to another session with him this week.
Everybody had their rugs off for a couple of hours and got some much needed sun on their backs. Gawd...I know how good that feels! The only downside was that with this poxy flu, I don't feel like riding at all, and Red NEEDS the work! Oh, for a body-double....

RedMans Big Day Out

I am so proud of my youngster, RG RedMan, after we attended a local Training Comp. during the weekend. We entered the Saturday 'Ride and Review' test 0.3. He warmed up well on the lunge, listening to all verbal commands in spite of several whizzy youngsters flying about! He was a little 'bouncy' and fresh when I got on board, but settled quickly and gave me the confidence to at least Enter at 'A'.

I am learning (albeit slowly) that this horse is REALLY sensitive....and my usual heavy thuggish way of riding needs a lot of work! But he is also very forgiving and when I get the buttons pushed the right way - WOW!

I wasn't prepared to do the canter-work in this test, as we are both a little too unbalanced, but we are working on this at home. He was a little fussy with the bridle, hand-related (!) and some rhythm was lost through this, but all in all, pretty good. We ended up with a score of 58% and some nice judge comments.

Day two was tests 0.1 and 0.2. Nice and easy, no canter. The day before had taken the sting out, and Red warmed up quickly and kindly. We were 2nd to ride in the first test which went beautifully! Good rhythm, less fussy, good impulsion....all the boxes being ticked! We scored really well and ended up in 2nd place! So proud of him!
The second test was an hour and a half later, in steady drizzle with a few 'surface issues'. A lot of riders worried about slipping on the rapidly-turning-to-slush grass. We warmed up with some trot-work and lots of up-down transitions, which I am still a bit ham-fisted with and need to learn to use more seat and legs! Red was knackered! I had to squeeze every last drop out of him, and he rose to the challenge, finishing on a very credible 75% in second place again! I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!!!!!!! He is easily the nicest horse I have ever sat on (apart from his daddy of course) and I just can't wait til our next 'outing'. Two blue ribbons. Yay!