Nice sort of update...

The two girls have actually gained a bit of weight each - Bell about 30kg and Steph about 10. They will be going into winter with good smooth covering. By official winter, I hope to get about 10 more onto Bell and hopefully 5-6 onto Steph. It isn't that Steph doesn't get as much as Bell or anything, it is just that her body is so thrifty it only uses what it needs and passes out the rest.

I let them grow their winter coats well before I start rugging them regularly, so they have a bit more warmth. Usually it is not too cold, even at night, till late May/June. If the temperatures drop I will put them on if they need them - I have even been know to go out at midnight because the temperatures dropped more than I estimated.

I will have to get Steph a new rug this year. Last two years I had sewn an acrylic blanket into a hessian light rug, but after the weather last summer, I am expecting it to be much colder this year. We hardly had any hot weather this past summer.

In winter when they have their meals, I add warm water to it. I think it is especially important for older mares. So much of them has gone into their babies, that sometimes the warming isn't as good as it should be. They seem to love the warm food, anyhow, and it is no extra bother.

During the time I will be off with my operation and recovery my grandsons will continue to care for the mares, with supervision by my partner in Bell.

We could have done with a bit more rain here for getting the last strands of grass going into winter, but it doesn't seem to be going to happen.

Stephanique Information

The imported purebred Arabian mare SH Stephanique is alive and well and living with me. She will be 28 in March 2011. As such, as being "old" she is well cared for and will never be attempted to breed from again.

She has access to water 24/7 which is cleaned and refreshed every day - about 60 litres and there will be more available in the next few weeks when we get one or both of the baths fixed.

She has two meals per day, morning and night. This food consists of dairy meal, lucerne chaff and either Economix or equestrian pellets. She gets bran sometimes with her food and safflower oil (about 1/4 cup) to help soothe her stomach. She will eat almost anything and I believe that this is what is causing her to occassionally have "stomach aches". If she lies down and/or is showing early signs of colic my vet is contacted. He is available 24/7 and is a horse specialist. He keeps current with everything as he is the District Vet for the AJC so TB's can be registered.

She is on a worming and farrier routine that is normal for any horse.

She has freedom to walk the entire property (6.5 acres) as we keep the gate closed. We have three stables, a large shelter and an overhang from a shed for shelter which she can and does choose as she wants. We have many large and shady trees on the property. She has a fly veil and is sprayed for flies every few days during the warmer months - as the weather requires.

She is treated like a pet with the TB mare I have here. She gets carrots and/or apples every single day. There is almost always someone here on the property all day every day. I personally check on her several times a day including a thorough inspection of her body and under her hooves. Nicks and scratches that draw blood are treated with antiseptic and anything that would require stitches would mean a call to the vet. So far (touch wood) she has not cut herself that badly.

Any enquiries regarding her and her treatment you can PM me through my profile.

Long time between bets ...

Not much is happening with the two girls. They have settled into their usual routine, which mostly consists of sporadic grazing, loafing and dozing, and a mad dash at dinner time. Bell can be very bossy at feeding time, as she is Boss Cocky, but they have settled down into it. They have taken to mutual grooming, which has been a while getting to, but I take it as a good sign.

The funniest thing is when they loose each other and go tearing around in opposite directions trying to find each other. Neighing and nickering. Often we have to go out, and hold one and call the other. Usually it is Steph who wanders off and Bell doing the searching.

We might be getting another mare soon, and I shall try to blog more often. I still think of breeding Bell, but I will just have to wait and see what happens this year.

A new horse ....

SH Stephanique joined the creatures and animals of Unicorn farm back in July. She came down from Allyndah Arabians at Tyndale. She is a lovely chestnut purebred Arabian Mare. She is about 26 years old, no longer breeding but a beautiful, gracious animal to have around. She is in optimal health for a horse, and especially one of her age. She is mostly a companion for Her Ladyship the ex-racehorse, but she is an entity in her own right.

A Passing ....

Secret Savings (imp USA) 1991 - 2009

The sire of our first foal, who we called Goldie, had to be put down.  His name was Secret Savings and he won the Doncaster back in 1997 and smashed a couple of course records in his racing days in Australia.  It wasn't much of a surprise that Goldie smashed her maiden in class record time, but it was nice that she did so.  

I do not know any of the details, but apparently he had laminitis a very painful condition in the horse's hooves.  He would have been 17 years old and a painless end is what he would have deserved.  He was owned by HH Nassar Lothar, from the Middle East at Emirates Park.  

We are sad he is gone, he sired some terrific horses, including our Goldie (racing name Zelotti).

...Sooky ...

Her ladyship, the ex race horses, aka, Bell, is a softie at heart.

Last Saturday, she had a hair or dust in one eye. I washed it with water, and opened it up to have a look incase there was something embedded in the ball. There wasn't. She rubbed it on me a fair bit and on her knee. At one stage she lay down and tried rubbing it on the grass. I let it weep, knowing it would eventually wash away, but if I thought she was in pain or it was worse, I would have called the Vet.

She stood around with me all day, just complaining about her eye and wanting cuddles and soft talking to. A couple of times I fiddled with her mane, because she likes it. After a couple of hours, the eye had flushed whatever had been in it and she was okay. But she still stayed close to me until her dinner time.

Most days now, when I am home, I give her rubs with the rubber curry to get rid of her fur. She is in full shed now and itchy as anything. A good rub seems to help this.

Pelage ....

Moulting, shedding, major itching ....

Her Ladyship the ex-racehorse is in full shed. Hair is literally falling off her. We use a brush and curry comb on her almost everyday to help get rid of it. But almost any tree, branch, thing sticking out, including barbed wire is fair game for a shedding horse.

Itching is the worst thing about shedding, and you really need to be careful what your horses use to scratch themselves with. On warmer days a warm bath followed by a vigorous towelling down can help. Her Ladyship also uses an old woodchip pile to roll in. Literally dives into it. You can see her scratching her back. She so loves it.

Some people will clip at this time of the year, but the shedding is still going to happen, and there isn't much you can do about it. Just watch where it is being done. Keep an antiseptic spray nearby and check the old bod out for cuts and scratches.