Lauren Shannon’s eventing blog: welcoming Quixotic’s new foal
Well, it’s definitely been an interesting week so far and we are only half way through.
I wasn’t eventing last weekend, as I went to the wedding of one of my best friends, Charlotte Castle, in Lincolnshire. It was nice to catch up with friends and have a weekend off the yard for a change.
The only issue this threw up was that it was only two weeks until Delphi’s (my former four-star ride Quixotic) foaling date. We are also away competing the next two weekends, so we decided to take the very rotund mare to Oakham Vet Hospital and let their amazing stud service watch over her.
I wasn’t keen to drop her off, purely because she is rarely away from us at the yard and I didn’t think anything would happen for ages anyway. Silly me, as Delphi proved me wrong on Monday night this week by having a gorgeous filly foal by Cevin Z!
Delphi seemed a bit in shock after giving birth and got up quickly, heading toward the back of her stable. However, when she turned around and realised there was a foal on the floor, she went into good-mum overdrive.
The foal, once she found her feet, was running round the stable and it was all Delphi could do to keep up! She definitely has a lot of attitude, just like her mother, so I can’t wait to get her out in the big, bad world.
A foal arriving does slightly rearrange your plans for the first 24 hours or so, as I didn’t end up taking all the mares showjumping on Tuesday before they head to Aske Horse Trials this weekend. Crunchie (Kilcannon Watlings Crunch), Holly (Riffala Du Buisson) and Quality Purdey all had dressage lessons on Monday, and I will jump them today and Friday before making the trip up for the intermediate and the novice classes on Saturday.
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I am then teaching students at Purston Manor on Sunday, so it looks like Delphi and baby will probably come home after the weekend.
The only thing I have not been able to do is name the poor filly. She is so boisterous and brave, but I’m not very good at naming animals (case in point being my dog Baxter — named after a dog in the film Anchorman as I have no imagination) and I’ve not heard one that I think suits her yet. I figure we’ve got a while to work that one out, although suggestions from Twitter with names like Commando or Naked are not making the short list!
Lauren
Any suggestions for the name of Delphi’s foal? Use the comments box below to tell us your ideas.
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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.