I can safely say that this last week has been the hardest one to get anything done on or off the yard! I cannot stop wasting my time watching Delphi (Quixotic) and her new foal.
Delphi ended up staying at Oakham Vet Hospital as she needed a bit of, well, tidying up after foaling. We had to wait until Thursday last week to stitch her up as she was a bit swollen, but it was very quick and she seems a lot more comfortable now.
Matt Hecking and everyone at Oakham were so caring with both mare and foal, and did let me go visit her whenever I wanted, which was probably more than was necessary. I therefore had no problem waiting until after the weekend to bring them home, as I was away competing at Aske Horse Trials.
Crunchie did a great steady double clear (right) to prepare for Barbury CIC2* this weekend.
Purdey had one silly fence down showjumping and flew the cross-country course. I was trying a new, stronger bit cross-country which gave me so much more control that I killed her canter on a turn to the fifth fence and had a stop! It was silly, but the bit was great the rest of the way round.
Holly did a lovely dressage and showjumping, followed by a cheeky stop cross-country, so she is off to cross-country school at Somerford this week.
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Back to the foal though! Thank you all for name suggestions on my blog last week. While there were some beautiful suggestions (although Peter was never going to win!), I have gone with a name from where I grew up in Utah. I learned to ride in the Rocky Mountains, and there are lots of ski resorts dotted around, so I have named her after one.
Her name is Alta, which I think suits her very well, as she doesn’t seem quiet and meek enough to be called something like Rose or Callisto! I did love the suggestion of Rosinate, someone obviously did their Don Quixote homework.
It’s just amazing how a foal’s personality comes out straight away and Alta is so like her mum in so many ways. She loves a scratch and is just as demanding as Delphi was in her younger days! I cannot wait to put her back in-foal again, which we will attempt next month with the help of Oakham Stud Services. Now we just need to pick a daddy…
Lauren
Full report of Aske in the current issue of H&H magazine (4 July, 2013)
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Event rider Lauren Shannon blogged on Horseandhound.co.uk from June 2011 until September 2014. Born in Brighton, she lived in America from the age of three to 16, returning to the UK to go to university after she finished school. After university she worked for Mark and Tanya Kyle before setting up her own yard in Leicestershire. Her best result to date was finishing 9th at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with her top horse, Zero Flight.
