Bayfield has managed to find room in it’s budget to home two ‘previously disadvantaged’ little Buckskin crossbreed foals. Rising costs have taken their toll on horses countrywide…
Sarah’s two boys, Espresso and James Blond, will be looking after Valentino at Hennops River Farm with Chrystelle, and Nelson will be with me at home… along with Napoleon, Mia, Lucy, Tiger and Frankie.
Valentino – Buckskin Tobiano Colt
Nelson – Buckskin Colt
Thanks to the relentless rising cost of keeping horses, I can only afford to have one horse… Napoleon is in fact the only horse I actually own.
I’ve finally manged to find Delilah a wonderful new home where she shares a field with another filly named Raven. Her new owner has promised to keep me updated… this is a picture of her on her first day at her new home.
Delilah with Raven - her new friend at her new home
We did our first (and hopefully only) breeding in October last year. It was fairly stressful because we didn’t know what to do, but thankfully Napoleon and Mia did! She hasn’t shown any signs of coming into season since then, so I think it’s safe to say that we can expect a little one around 25th September this year. Exciting huh!
Sarah (Mia’s owner), is madly hoping for a cremello and so am I, not because I particularly like cremellos, but because I’d like to see her try to keep it clean! No, I do like cremellos, and there’s a 25% chance of getting one. Unfortunately there’s also the same chance of a chestnut and a 50% chance it’ll be Palomino… yes, that’s half a chance!
The golden boy - Napoleon
The lucky lady - Mia Farrow
Yes, this is a little late, but Lucy finally had her long awaited foal 3 months ago, and I finally got around to telling you about it. It’s a champagne! … oh, and it’s a boy!
Sarah is overjoyed, he is everything she’s hoped for. He’s a gold champagne with 3 longish socks and a blaze 🙂 Just what she ordered! At the moment his eyes are still bright blue, but they’ll fade to greenish gray and then to light brown. We’re hoping they’ll defy nature and stay blue (but they won’t).
He’s a delightful little boy who is very easygoing and very tolerant, just like his mom. He is not cheeky at all and has already had several baths… which have set the precedent for years to come. With white legs, mane and tail, bathing will be a weekly occurence as long as Sarah is in charge of his appearance.
James Blond - 1 Day Old
Sadly, we lost Raining Gold at 3 weeks old.
We believe he died from Tetnus which, as a result from further investigation, was possible because the dam did not pass on any antibodies to the foal… so he had no immune system. This is a rare disorder of the mare and she should not be bred again.
Raining Gold was a very very special boy to Chrystelle and all of us, and is missed hugely.
Raining Gold - 1 Day Old
Vanilla is temporarily at Bayfield as she is ‘in transit’. Chrystelle bought her on behalf of someone else and she will move to her new home once the stables have been built and the paddocks are ready. She is Lucy and Delilah’s sister so we consider her to be part of the family 🙂
She surprised us with an early foal on the 4th and I believe the new owner’s son has named him Bullet, so … mmm. He’s a beautiful gold champagne like his father (and grandfather).
Bullet and Vanilla with old Coyote in the background
It’s just Lucy to go now… she’s really keeping us waiting. She’s so huge it must be any day now. She lied to us about 4 weeks ago when she pretended to be in labour for 2 days, but it all came to nothing! Any day now…
Of our 3 very heavy mares, Rain Maker pipped everyone to new foal day with a gorgeous Palomino colt foal on 19th Sept. With a bay Appaloosa mare and a buckskin stallion, there was only a 6.25% chance of a solid Palomino foal… I think that was the nicest of all the options, but I’m a little biased. His name is Raining Gold and he’s very very cute, and so big and strong for such a young fella.
It's Raining Gold at Bayfield ...
Well, empty stables never stay empty for long at Bayfield. Captain and ‘The Blade’ haven’t been gone very long and we’ve already filled the gap with Napoleon, an 8 year old, 15.2hh palomino part Saddlebred stallion.
So far he has been very well behaved, and I’ll consider keeping him an entire as long as he keeps behaving himself!
Napoleon arrived on Friday 29th July 2011…
Napoleon arrives...
Unloading Napoleon
At his new home
There’s nothing I love more than a horse-viewing road trip into the middle of nowhere…, so last Friday, Sarah and I set off for Warmbaths to see a 15hh roan mare named Surprise! She turned out to be everything the owners promised and more. That was definitely a Surprise 😉
Unfortunately the sale fell through and we won’t be seeing Surprise again, but I thought I’d post some pics of her anyway, as she is so nice.
The pleasant Surprise
If the date of birth is not known (as is common with horses in the middle of nowhere), the best way to go about aging a horse in my opinion, is to take a video of the teeth for thorough inspection in the comfort of your own home.
We decided on 8yrs old...
Sarah tries Surprise under saddle.
Sarah tragically lost Painted Lilo to African Horse Sickness last week Wenesday, just after we nearly lost Mia, his mother. Mia has recovered nicely, but there is a very large gap in the field where little Lilo used to be.
Painted Lilo died from AHS
About AHS : African horse sickness (AHS) is a highly infectious non-contagious, insect born viral disease affecting all species of Equines. It is endemic to the African continent, and is characterised by respiratory and circulatory damage, accompanied by fever and loss of appetite. The disease has a mortality rate of 70-90%. It occurs mostly in the warm, rainy season when midges are plentiful, and disappears after frost, when the midges die. AHS has been declared a state controlled disease and horse owners are required by law to vaccinate at least once a year, but the vaccine does not give 100% immunity.
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