Cause for Celebration!

Half sisters to Batgirl and Veil of Night sharing breakfast
in the summer.

I can't believe its a month since I wrote a post! Very lazy of me but we are getting very busy now preparing yearlings for the sales. We have four going this year to Tattersalls October Sale and they take up most of the day. I don't have the luxury of a horse walker so they have to be exercised individually and then have a couple of hours out in the paddock if weather permits. I will post photos of them next week if we get a sunny day.



The race course has been a happy place during the last month with much cause for a glass of bubbly! Cometh (Larry's filly bred and reared here) has won her last two starts and is improving with every race. Batgirl won for her connections at Beverley House Stables great for us as her yearling half sister by Beat Hollow is going to the sales. That was her second win this season. Veil of Night won on the 27th August at Ffos Las it was very exciting to win with a home bred filly at our local racecourse.

Devon

It was lovely to have a couple of days off with family in Devon. Once the sales preparation of the yearlings begins in earnest there is not much spare time. On the way home we visited Killerton a National Trust property. I must say we found the house to be a bit gloomy but we had a nice lunch and the gardens and views were spectacular. The photograph below is of a lace cap hydrangea that I thought was very pretty.

Champagne Still On Ice

Well Friday brought a bit of cheer on the racecourse but no result worthy of a champagne celebration. Swingle finished 5th and ran proper race showing plenty of early speed she just did not quite get home. The trip might have been a bit too far but probably the ground was on the slow side, she tried hard and a win looks a distince possibilty if all goes well. Rhythmn Stick our other runner on Friday made a good effort of it despite a very unlucky run when he got stopped by a horse that slowed down in front of him when on the rails. Despite this and his total inexperience he got going again all be it too late. They both showed promise so it wasn't a total disaster.

Swingle

Swingle as a yearling summer 2008
Well we still haven't managed the champagne but may be edging closer to the bottle! Swingle ran a very "green " race at Chepstow but once she got the hang of it and decided to run in a straight line she did make some late headway. Since then she has been working well at home and has an entry for a maiden race at Nottingham on Friday afternoon. I went to watch her at Chepstow and I was absolutely delighted with the way she had progressed physically since buying her in July. I wont be able to go and watch her run at Nottingham because I will be in Devon for a couple of days but I will be in a betting shop to watch on TV!

No Champagne yet!

Well no champagne so far! Batgirl was a creditable 3rd but may be found the ground a little fast and Veil of Night was last not creditable at all in fact very disappointing but in mitigation she did spread a shoe on a hind foot during the race which more than likely upset her action. She also got a bit warm in the preliminaries which is not something she has done before. Newbury was a buzzy place for a 2yr old yesterday with Arab and pony racing taking place besides the normal card. Anyway she has come home in one piece and the run is best forgotten as it was too bad to be true. Tomorrow Swingle makes her debut and we are not sure what to expect but the word is quite hopeful from Derek (trainer) and we are looking forward to seeing her run.

Anticipation!

Batgirl's and Veil of Night's halfsisters

sharing breakfast.


Over the next few days we should have three runners two that are still owned by us and one that is now owned elsewhere. All of them have shown some ability Veil of Night and Batgirl have won and Swingle, recently bought back by us, has shown good work at home. It is the most exciting experience to own and or breed a racehorse that has ability. For most owners and breeders just the knowledge that their pride enjoy might win is amazing but the adrenalin rush created by a win is extremely addictive! I have been addicted all my life as my father owned the odd National Hunt horse and we were regular visitors to tracks from Bangor 0n Dee to Cheltenham as children. The anticipation of the next few days is accute, lets hope it all ends with a glass of champagne.

No more spots!

The pony foals have all changed their coats to grey so no more spots!

Sid

This is Sid enjoying life at the grand old age of 12. He still comes on the morning and evening walk although going at his own pace. He has a sit down from time to time and surveys the scene preferring to let the younger members of the pack do the hard work however if something interesting comes to light he's quick to join in.

Runners

Lettering's half sister by Pastoral Pursuits

Well yes its raining again today! The forecast looks better for later next week and so we should be able to finish painting the outside of the house. Three of us put two coats on the front yesterday and it does look very smart. The gable ends are high so I shall have to organise some scaffolding when the weather looks settled again. At this time of the year its always a race to get all the maintenance jobs done before the horses have to come in again. We pressure wash and paint the stables, creosote the paddock rails and mend any damage along the way.

It wont be long before the yearlings are in at night for their sales preparation, they usually come in about ten weeks before the sale and are gradually introduced to walking and lunge work. Its enjoyable seeing them change from rather pudgy field loungers to well muscled and shiny mini racehorses. I like to strike a happy balance for them between work and play so they all go out in the paddock for a few hours every day even during the build up to the sales.

This week there are two runners for us one a filly called Lettering enterd for FFos Las on Tuesday and the other is Cometh enterd for Lingfield on Wednesday. Lettering is another filly that failed to sell at the yearling sales she is working quite nicely so hopefully she will run ok although there are no great expectations for her first outing. Cometh will be running for the second time and has also worked ok recently she belongs to Larry who is going to watch her it would be great if she could put up a good performance.

Winners!

The weather has been very windy and wet for the last few days and so it was good to walk round this morning and find the mares grazing in the middle of the field and the foals lying down in relative comfort.

It has been a very good week on the racecourse for us. On Saturday 10th July Batgirl ran at Nottingham over 6f and won very nicely. It was great for her owner Tony Fordham as it was his first ever winner. She is trained by John Berry at Beverley House Stables in Newmarket. It was also Serriera's first winner. Batgirl is her second foal and is by Mark of Esteem, she also has a yearling filly by Beat Hollow that goes to Tattersalls sale in October and is currently in foal to Halling. Our second winner was yesterday and that was Veil of Night, a filly that we failed to sell last year. She is not very big but has a gutsy attitude to life, she is trained by Derek Haydn Jones at Pontypridd. Her dam is Tenebrae who has an Avonbridge yearling filly and a Three Valleys filly foal. Veil of Night is by Val Royal now sadly dead but an underated stallion that sired the 2000 guineas winner Cockney Rebel who is now standing in Newmarket at the National Stud where his father also stood. Its lovely when all the hard work pays off horses are such a long term investment both in terms of time and money so its really important to celebrate the good days and we did!

Janos

I ended the day with a walk across the fields with the dog at about 22.00 hours it was still light, mild and not the slightest breeze. Janos (pictured I did manage to find a photo after all!) is a great companion and friend. I am so lucky to live in such a wonderful place.

Routine Stuff

What an idiot! I left my camera behind (which I didn't use at the time) when I was in Newmarket so my blogging is not going to be illustrated until next week when I go back for a few days so I will just have to try and make my text interesting!

All has been routine since I got home we had the farrier last Thursday to trim the yearlings feet we try to do them about every 5 weeks. I used to get them done every 4 weeks but times are a bit tight financially so I have made small savings where I can without jeopardising the horses welfare. The yearling sales last year were difficult we sold 2 out of 4 offered and I have 7 to go this year which may prove a challenge. For the last two years we have had mainly fillies and this makes selling all the more difficult as commercially colts will always have the edge.

The unsold fillies from last year are in training which is a big risk and expense but I am a believer in supporting my own stock after all if I don't think they are worth training why would anybody else think so! The first one to bite the dust so to speak is "Shot Silk" she has run twice and despite showing a good turn of foot at home (she's been in training with Nick Littmoden) she has been disappointing on race days. She is very light on pedigree so she will have to go and do another job. Luckily she 's a nice strong good looking filly and someone will be able to retrain her I'm sure. Veil of Night by Val Royal out of Tenebrae that is in training with Derek Haydn Jones at Pontypridd is a much better filly she has been 4th twice and she will run at Nottingham next Saturday all being well. He also has "Lettering" by Iceman out of Calligraphy she has not run yet as she did not go into training until March reports of her work are good so far.

The two fillies we sold last year were both really nice horses . The Haafhd filly out of Divina Mia is with Stuart Williams and I called to see her last week. I thought she had done exceptionally well since I last saw her, she has developed a very strong top line with a good hind quarter. Stuart thinks she will be ready to run in about a month. She has been named "Apple Dumpling". The other filly a Bahamian Bounty out of Serriera has been named "Tribouley" but I have not been able to get an update on her.

Today I have just been doing routine stuff I wormed the yearlings and moved them onto a fresh field, then had to bring in some ponies that were getting too fat always a problem at this time of year. The recent rain has flushed the grass, very welcome for the thoroughbreds and the sheep but not so good for native ponies. They will be in a yard during the day and out on a bare paddock at night for the next few weeks so that they don't get laminitis. I already have one old mare in who is very prone to bad feet and she has been in for a while.

A good time

I have been away for a couple of days so the blog has remained at a standstill. I went to Newmarket to attend the AGM and Awards Dinner for the TBA. It was a very good 48 hours with an interesting seminar following on from the AGM. Full marks to all those at The TBA who worked hard to put on a very well organised event.

The awards dinner was preceded by a champagne reception at Banstead Manor Stud which featured a stallion parade. It was a perfect evening with glorious weather. The stallions all looked amazing after the exertions of the covering season behaving extremely well in front of a large audience. Sadly I forgot my camera so there are no photos.

Debut

Friday 25th June is a big day for "Cometh" also known as "Pixie" at home! She makes her debut at Newmarket in the 6.00 pm European Breeders Fund Fillies Maiden. The photo was taken last October and she has since developed into a proper racehorse. She is owned and bred by my partner Larry and we will all be cheering her on.

Successful Day

The Thoroughbred Breeders Association Welsh Regional Day went very well last Monday and we all enjoyed our visit to Tim Vaughan's Pant Wilkin Stables. It was helped along by glorious weather but Tim made the day with his hospitality answering numerous questions and telling us how he had come so far in such a short time. The yard has been developed from scratch and now has barns for 80 horses plus a spectacular wood chip gallop. About 30 members and guests attended and we finished with an excellent lunch at The Aubrey Arms conveniently situated just up the road from the stables on the way back to the M4. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I have no photos!

Growing

Its lovely to see the young horses developing at this time of year. During the last two summers its been very hard for them to thrive with the continual rain. This year it's been drier and fortunately we 've had just enough rain to keep the grass growing so conditions are perfect and the yearlings (fillies illustrated middle picture)) are growing and altering visibly every day. The top photo is the filly ex And Toto Too by Three Valleys and the bottom photo is the filly ex Serriera by Beat Hollow.

Good News!

Good news at last! Redwing's foal seems much better today and the vet was quite happy with him we just have to keep up the antibiotics for another coupke of days and hopefully he will be ok. The vet also scanned Kiruna the mare that was AId to a Connemara stallion 15 days ago and to everyones delight she came up in foal. She will be checked again next Tuesday to make sure that she hasn't conceived twins.

On Monday the Welsh region of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association has its annual regional day. This year we are going to visit Tim Vaughan the National Hunt trainer and then on to the The Aubrey Arms for lunch. Everyone that breeds Thoroughbreds should be a member of this Association the staff and the council work very hard in support of the breeding industry often for little thanks. There is no rule that says breeders have to be a member as is the case with many breed societies which means that those who are not members benefit from many initiatives off the subscritions of those that are. The recent lifting of the ban on the export of breeding stock between the UK and India is a case in point. Anyway I'm looking forward to the day and to meeting up with members and friends. If you are interested in finding out more about the above association please follow the link to their web site.

Fingers Crossed

Unfortunately our new pony foal is not very well today he seems to be running a temperature and looks a bit uncomfortable. The good news is that he is still sucking and is fairly bright in himself. He has been started on a course of antibiotics and the vet will check him tomorrow. Fingers crossed he'll be on the mend by then.

All in all it hasn't been the best couple of days we had three runners at various race courses and they all disappointed! That of course is quite normal when you are involved in racing the good days are few and should be treasured. There is such huge expectation and excitement when horses race from owners and trainers but also from breeders years of work go into the production of each horse and so many things can go wrong along the way. That of course makes winning all the more exciting and once hooked on the adrenalin rush its very hard to give up! Anyway there hasn't been much adrenalin this week never mind there is always next time.

Royal Ascot continues to be a great spectacle and I always like the Gold Cup. Yeats was such a great stayer that this year was going to struggle to compete with the emotion of his 4 timer last year anyway it succeeded in some part as the battle to the line by Rite of Passage was a tremendous performance.

First time out

The new foal went out into the paddock today and he's very sweet. Redwing seems to have taken to motherhood quite well and is letting him feed properly she was a bit ticklish to start with and pulled a few faces every time he went to suck but that has passed. It was a lovely sunny day and they have enjoyed being out.

Winter Feed

At last the haylage is baled and its a good crop with 20 more bales from less acreage than last year. Andrew is carting it in already and by tomorrow it will all be stacked on the yard. There will be more to make later but its a relief to know that we already have nearly enough to feed the animals for the whole winter.

Motherhood

Well of course it was bound to happen Redwing took us by surprise and foaled yesterday while I was away. As a first time mother she was not too impressed to begin with but has settled into motherhood now. She has a colt by Heniarth Question a bit small but that's normal for first foals. They have been in the stable today but I will post a photo tomorrow when they go out to the paddock.

Shot Silk was disappointing on Saturday she started quite well but tailed off I think first time nerves got the better of her so we hope for a better effort next time.

The haylage was not baled on Sunday as it started to rain but it wasn't too bad so having had a dry day today we should be able to bale tomorrow. A little rain wont have done too much damage.

Midwife

Poor Redwing still hasn't foaled and doesn't look very imminent yet. This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago and the bump is even closer to the ground now. Anyway I hope she hangs on for a couple of days as I'm away and its her first foal. Andrew may have to be midwife!

The haylage is cut and weather permitting will be baled and wrapped on Sunday its always a big relief to get the first cut done early. We lost a field last year with the bad weather in July which left us a bit short at the end of the winter.

Sadly Christine who has worked for us for 5 years will be leaving in October to go travelling. We will miss her and will think of her in the sunshine when we are mucking out in the depths of winter!

"exactly what it says on the tin"

These Aquiligea by my back door have been fantastic this year so easy to grow once established they seed themselves and are great vaue the bees love them as well.

Janos is my walking companion he is an Hungarian Wire Haired Vizsla. A lively good natured dog he lives in the house with me and a Jack Russell called Teg. He is a year old now and has been easy to train very willing to please. I did a lot of research into the breed before I bought him and apart from being over height for breed standard (he is big!) he is "exactly what it says on the tin".

Today I've decided to offer Foxglove for sale. She's 4 and I had been keeping her because I didn't have another daughter out of her mother Jonquil but now Jonquil has a filly foal by Polaris Starbright and its time for Foxglove to lead a more productive life under saddle. She's by Tawny Owl who did very well in ridden classes and his half brother Little Owl continues to fly the flag having qualified for the Royal International this year. So she is bred for the job and I hope I can find her a good home where she will realise her full potential.

Racing news is encouraging. I thought that Batgirl ran well yesterday she finished strongly and went past a few horses to finish midfield. Shot Silk runs on Saturday for the first time she will probably need the run to gain experience but we are really looking forward to it. Her mother Sable 'n Silk was the first horse that I bred and raced on my own. She managed to win at 2 but seemed to retire herself after that! I gave her to Andrew to breed from and she had 2 live foals before we had to put her down before Christmas with severe foot problems. Shot Silk is the first race horse Andrew has bred so its a big day on Saturday.

"Inside out" leaves

On Wednesday Batgirl runs at Yarmouth this is a photo of her taken as a yearling. She will be trying 6furlongs for the first time her dam Serriera raced in France over a longer trip but she has been showing a lot of speed at home so fingers crossed for her and connections. Serriera doesn't have a foal this year but she has a nice yearling filly by Beat Hollow and is in foal to Halling.

Its been a wet and windy day today with the leaves on the trees blown "inside out" a sure sign of unsettled weather. Not much fun for the stock but we did need some rain for the grass and the garden. We are on our own water supply here so we are also dependent on the water table being at a good level.

Feet and more feet

Today has been a foot trimming day both for sheep and ponies. I started off with ponies the farrier arrived at about 10.00, we had 6 to do one was Jonquil pictured above she's been a bit prone to laminitis and her feet grow very quickly. I think she started having trouble with her feet because I showed her a lot as a youngster and ponies need to carry a fair bit of condition to stand out in the ring. Its stupid really because it doesn't do them any good in the long run and its one of the reasons that I have stopped showing almost completely. I think the harm is done in the youngstock classes later on when they are in ridden classes they are probably fitter. Anyway she is fine most of the time and I'm pleased with her foal its coming on very well.

After lunch I was drafted in to help Andrew with the sheep we have about 160 ewes with lambs and some of the lambs have become lame due in part to blisters caused by long wet grass its a condition know as scald. Anyway we caught the lame ones sprayed their feet and injected them with long acting antibiotic. Andrew also trimmed up some of the ewe's feet and clipped the dirty wool from their tails a pretty comprehensive overhaul!
Tinshu ran a very honest race again yesterday finishing third. She really needs a strongly run 10 furlongs and the slow early pace did not do her any favours.
I did enjoy the Oaks and the Derby (I was allowed time off from the sheep to watch!) its always nice to see an undervalued sales horse win and Snow Fairy certainly put all the so called experts in their place!
Now I'm off for a shower and a glass of wine - bliss.

A busy morning

The yearling fillies enjoying life.

A hectic morning this morning our vet was booked for 9.00 to AI a thoroughbred mare and before the knowledgeable of you out there gasp in horror (for the uninformed AI is illegal in the TB stud book) the insemination was to a Connemara. The mare in question has been a bit disappointing as a breeder of race horses so I have given her to my son and his girlfriend to breed a competition horse. Oh how I wish we could AI all the TB mares! No more trips up the motorway in the horse box (well a lot fewer anyway) it would be bliss. Back to this morning once the mare was finished with we then micro chipped the last TB foal, Tenebrae's filly who was definitely not impressed and needed a strong man to restrain her luckily there was one on hand! That done we loaded up Teal (Welsh Mountain) for a quick trip down the road to be covered by my friends stallion Forlan Honey Wizard.

Unfortunately Rhythm Stick isn't going to run on Saturday but it wont be long now before he makes his debut. Tinshu runs tomorrow at Doncaster she is the 4yr old out of Ring of Esteem, who has a striking Sakhee filly this year. Tinshu is amazingly consistent and fingers crossed she will be in the money again tomorrow.

Tractor at Home

You might think that a tractor is a common site on any farm or stud and you'ld be right in most cases. Its different here however because we run a fencing contracting business which means that this tractor is only here when I have managed to persuade Andrew to renew some of our own fence lines. So today was a good day because at long last the tractor is at home!

Not in the Derby!

Today we had a vets visit to check one TB mare (B Beautiful) for pregnancy at 21 days from service thankfully all was well and we will look again in a weeks time to make sure there is a heartbeat. Her foal (top) this year is a filly by Tiger Hill.

The next photo down is of Tenebrae's foal by Three Valleys a sweet filly with a kind nature she was not keen to pose for a photo! We like to keep them relaxed!

The group photo is Forever Loved (scratching) and Calligraphy
together with Calligraphys filly by Pastoral Pursuits she was born on 2nd Feb. I was told today that Calligraphy's 2yr old called Lettering will race for the first time in about two weeks.

Last but not least is Flash who is the star of my first photo on the blog. He is growing into a handsome chap. His 3 yr old half brother by Whipper called Rhythm Stick will hopefully run next Saturday (not in the Derby!) depending on how he works tomorrow.

"White" sheep in the family

I had a lovely walk around the animals today helped by the fact that the sun was shining and I didn't find any problems. The horses and ponies all looked content and the May blossom is just coming out which is very late even for our upland farm a reflection of the hard weather we had earlier in the year. I came upon a bunch of our sheep sleeping in the shade they seemed to have a "white" sheep in their family!

Photos of Pony Foals

I took these on my regular morning walk the weather is a bit better today but still cool.

These three foals are all fillies by Polaris Starbright

This is the new arrival he is the only colt so far and the first colt that Queenie has had. This year we seem to be specialising in white markings! Fortunately I think all these foals will go grey and the white will not be so noticeable. Its odd because mine don't usually throw so much. I certainly wont be doing their passports just yet the vet would have a fit if he had to draw every bit of white!

New Foal

After a very wet and windy night the rain is passing thank goodness. One of the Welsh Mountain pony mares foaled in the night (they seem to wait for it to rain!) and she has a lovely colt by the stallion Heniarth Question. The mare's name is Pantycoed Queen of Hearts (Queenie) and this is her 4th foal. When the sun comes out I will take a photo of him.

Its a lovely time of year now as all the horses and ponies are out in the fields enjoying the new grass. We are all free from cleaning out stables and have time to relax. The breeding season is coming to an end for the horses and just beginning for the ponies. The thoroughbreds need to be born early in the year to maximise their growth for racing. There are 6 thoroughbred foals this year and 4 pony foals with 1 more still to be born.

Foal born 13/2/10

This is Forever Loved having just given birth to her colt (male) foal earlier this year. He wont get his proper name until he is going to race but we have called him Flash as a nickname because his father is called Echo of Light.

The Beginning

Welcome to our stud. We breed Thoroughbred race horses and Welsh Mountain ponies and I hope to give you an insight into our working year, together with all the ups and downs of racing and breeding.