Stubborn but cute

Saffy, the world’s boldest and cutest foal, is now 9 months old. She is a wonderful girl but certainly has the Welsh streak of stubbornness (that’s the Welsh pony streak, not the Welsh people!). Saffy is totally at ease with humans although is somewhat wary of the farrier.

She accepts a foal halter and I’m currently schooling her with the lead rope. Then I’ll begin working with her using on-the-ground games to teach her how to reverse, come towards me, flex, move sideways, touch unfamiliar objects. So far, she seems to be unafraid of most things – I can hurl her halter around her head and she doesn’t flinch; I can drop something suddenly next to her and she stands her ground. Saffy is very affectionate too and loves nothing better than a vigorous groom whilst standing in the sun. Awesome foal!

Saffy with her mum, Karma (in background).

New coat

The world’s boldest foal, Saffy, seems to have missed me whilst I was away in Sweden. Oh and after Sweden, we took a week’s holiday in Nelson and surrounding areas. I’ll tell you all about this in a future post.

Spring is definitely here. It was even (well, almost) warm today and I decided to groom all the horses. This is usually a mammoth task since I have five horses but today’s groom was super-mammoth because they are shedding their thick winter coats. It’s actually pretty good exercise for me since you need to get in there and REALLY groom with a variety of tools. For the horse, Spring grooming is all part of a healthy grooming regimen since it not only removes dirt and mud but also helps increase circulation and distribute natural skin oils.

I use a number of curry combs, brushes and a shedding blade. I collect my tools a bit like a surgeon puts together all the surgical knives, ready to carry out an operation.The Winter coat doesn’t come off all in one go; I’ll have to be at this grooming business regularly over the next few weeks to help the moulting process. Some horse owners leave their horses to moult naturally but I think that can be a bit tough on a horse. There’s a lot of itching associated with moulting and the natural process takes some time. As the weather warms up, you don’t really want your horse out there in the sun with bits of thick Winter coat on the body.

So I get out there and enjoy a few hours of vigorous grooming. Hair flies everywhere let me tell you. I also use grooming as an opportunity to train Saffy in natural horsemanship. Our new game is to play lasso with her foal halter. I swing it around wildly above and around her head. There’s a lot of whooshing sounds going on. This is a great way to desensitize your horse – because when you’re out riding, branches and twigs can smack a horse in the face or body and you don’t want your horse to get spooked and bolt.

Playing with Saffy like this gets her used to things touching her. I gently wrapped the halter around her legs, belly and face. And I’m talking very gently. As the halter swung around her head and in front of her face and eyes, Saffy didn’t flinch. Not one little bit. Saffy is a Welsh girl and Welsh ponies are sturdy stock. But I reckon I have the world’s boldest and bravest foal on my hands.

Saffy stands with the remains of her Winter coat around her.

Whilst Miss Rosie looks on; pondering why Saffy’s hair is lying all over the ground!

Zeph hearts Saffy

Zeph hearts Latte of course but he also has a thing for cute wee Saffy, the foal. Mabel and her babies now have a huge goat-proof fenced area, so Zeph doesn’t always see Latte every day. But he does see Saffy every day and they seem to really get on well.

The other day, Saffy was basking in the sun. We’ve had a couple of stunning weeks of sunny, warm days and the horses love to sleep in the sun or just stand soaking up the rays. I went into the paddock to spend some time with Saffy, only to find Zeph in there already.

They were both sitting down a short distance from each other and just staring off into space. By the time I whisked my iPhone out, Zeph had turned his head away from Saffy because he heard a noise from the house. Before this though, he and Saffy were facing each other and just sharing time together. Way too cute!

What’s in the purple bucket?

Saffy is the most awesome foal. Bold and curious. I’ve been schooling her since her first week of life. She now accepts me draping myself all over her and rubbing her belly vigorously. She has no problems with me lifting up all four hooves. And she loves nothing more than a good groom in the sun (followed by inspection of the grooming brush).

She’s now eating hay and grass. But what irks her mum, Karma, is that she likes to scoff some broodmare mix. When Karma gets her food, Saffy usually dives right into the bucket. And when Karma gets some hay, little Saffy likes to sleep on top of it, forcing her mum to eat around the edges. Karma is the dream mum – she’s eternally patient with her foal.

Meanwhile, Rosie is totally fixated on Saffy. She hangs around outside the paddock and just stares at the foal. Saffy’s a little wary of such a big horse but goes with Karma to the fence to sniff noses. Karma and Rosie are BFFs so no doubt Karma is telling Saffy not to worry.

Ah good, that human waiter has delivered mum's food. Let me have a look at tonight's menu. (That's Rosie outside the paddock, obsessed).

While Mum's checking out the hay, I'll scoff more food.

Yummo!

What? No more left?

Hey you! Human waiter! Can I get some more of this broodmare mix?

Hello? Didn't you hear me? I said I want more!

Father and daughter

Let me tell you about Muff (or Muffy as I tend to call him). Muff is the father of Karma’s foal, Saffy, and is the sweetest boy. He’s very well-behaved and just a delight to work with. He’d rather I didn’t tell you this (because he’s supposed to be a tough stallion) but he’s a little bit afraid of everything, including his own shadow. The only thing he isn’t really afraid of is me.

We have a close bond. In fact, I have a close bond with all my horses but the relationship is naturally different with each one. With Muff, it’s all about cuddles, chin strokes and neck massages. He LOVES nothing better than five minutes of scratches, hugs and pats from me. He follows me around the paddock as I’m mucking out or doing something with the fences. He manoeuvres himself into position – close proximity but not too close (after all, he’s a tough stallion and has to keep up appearances). Then he looks at me with these huge eyes and takes a step forward. This is the signal that he’s ready to be admired and pampered.

Each day, Saffy is looking more and more like Muffy. She has Karma’s considerable high rear-end but she has Muff’s face, eyes and dun colouring. I’m now training Saffy using clicker training; like they use to train dolphins. Foals need to be schooled from the very beginning. They need to understand what is and is not acceptable behaviour.

So far so good. I call Saffy over to me and when she touches her nose to the target (usually my hand or a lead rope), I make a clicking sound with my tongue and she receives a good scratch around the ears or neck. I’ve read that people reward the foal or horse by giving them treats. I don’t want to do that for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Welsh ponies have a tendency towards weight issues. So using food treats probably isn’t too smart. And secondly, I don’t want Saffy to associate me solely with food. I want her to know that if she behaves well, she receives lots of cuddles and pats. And that a horse/human relationship can be based on good behaviour, lots of fun and loving attention.

She’s a sweet foal. Most of her time is spent guzzling from mum, sleeping flat out on the green grass or running around in circles like a mad thing. And speaking of mum – Karma is the dream mother now that she has the hang of the feeding business. At first, when Saffy ran around, you’d find Karma looking a little alarmed and she’d run after Saffy. Now, she just lets Saffy run and run because she has realised it’s just her foal finding her legs and being a spirited young horse.

I’m also seeing how Karma is teaching her foal. When Karma gets her broodmare mix, Saffy often wants to inspect the bucket or put her hooves in it. Karma tolerates this for a bit, then her ears go back and she looks like she’s about to bite Saffy. You can see that Saffy is being told by her mum when I’m eating don’t bother me. Learn some manners young lady.

My sweet boy, Muff.

Muff doesn't have a skin disease - it's the reflection from my diamante iPhone cover!

Don't you think I look like my Dad? And look - this is my first taste of grass!!

I’ve got my Mum’s rear-end though.

I'm just too cute for words!

Mum and I now know what we're doing when it comes to feeding.

Cute overload

You don’t need your daily sugar fix. Just check out this post. We’ve been introducing Karma, our new pony, to some of the larger horses. Not Harold just yet though. Karma and Lily have adjacent paddocks and they appear to be very good friends but Karma is an inquisitive pony and she’s been watching Skye, who’s in a paddock on the other side of her. Skye is a mare, about 7 years old I think, and 14.2 hands high.

The other day, Skye was being led past Karma’s paddock and we thought we’d take Karma to the stables too so she could meet a horse other than Lily. Into adjacent stables they both went. Karma was a little anxious at first about being in the smaller confined space of a stable but she settled down once Skype appeared next door. And then….the cutest thing. Karma, the ever bold pony, reached up to sniff Skye. Skye neighed and tried to establish dominance as the older mare and larger horse – but she couldn’t resist a cute pony all over her and eventually succumbed.

Let me check out this blonde looking horse.

Mmmm....smells like a horse to me; tastes like one too.

I like Skye. I think I'll give her a big pony hug and then she won't be able to resist me.