Friesians of Camelot

Last weekend I made a few plans to get away…… But some times you just have to go with it. It seemed at every turn, I hit a road block. First my friend couldn’t leave till late Fri., then we had a funeral Saturday, but alas the plan became….. O.K. We will leave Sat after the funeral service.
Then Saturday morning arrived.
In a fog of early morning blur. I stumbled thru the barn feeding hay into everyone’s stalls. Once everyone was contently munching on their first course of the morning, I glanced into Durkje’s stall.
My first response was, that can’t be right. There are eight legs in that stall not just four.
You see Durkje was not due to foal for another 2 1/2 weeks. She showed no signs. With only 1/2 of of her milk in…there in her stall… kept well hidden on the other side of her mother… was a very beautiful little filly. Although she shows signs of being premature, she is a fighter and is growing stronger ever day.
Meet PETITE just hours old

Meet Petite 4 days old

This is the young mans first day outside. The reason I am calling him the young man is because I haven’t quite found the right name for him. Since he was born in 2013, according to the KFPS his name must start with one of the following letters P Q R S. hummmm and a Friesian name would be best. I have my work cut out for me.

We are very very excited. Durkje is only one week away from coming to her new home. For the last 2 weeks she has been in quarantine at Cornell university. Jennifer and the wonderful people at Cornell have taken great care of Durkje. Here a few pictures they sent. Thank you Cornell….

I attended my first combined driving day. There is so much to learn. I can’t learn fast enough and I can’t get enough.
The driving Dressage event is a very detailed class, that tests the flexibility, transitions and control of the horse. Here is a picture of a competitor in the dressage class. In the back ground you can catch a glimpse of the obstacle course. Cross country portion happens tomorrow. Cones on Sunday.

Sunset at the Florida Horse Park.

Guess who’s coming?
While in the Netherlands we toured many Friesian horse farms. There were many great horses that we would have loved to bring home. Then we met the provisional crown Mare, Durkje. She is a beautifull mare with a tremendous walk. Durkje is a 4 year old mare expecting her foal in April.
Durkje will catch a flight in the next week or so. I can’t wait!
Meet Durkje.

While in The Netherlands we had the opportunity to tour the stallion barn at De Nieuwe Heuvel before it was put into quarantine. This is an amazing brick building that houses at least a dozen of the top Friesian stallions in the Netherlands. The stallions are all exercised and groomed daily. Each stall has an underground manure deposit in the corner. It is a side door located under the feed tub. The manure is pitched out of the stall thru the door and is deposited outside the building by a underground tack. There is no cross contamination within the stallions.
In order to freeze and ship semen they have many restrictions and guidelines. They can’t risk any outside diseases etc.

Wouldn’t you love a barn that looks like his!

With foaling season rapidly approaching, I was reminded of a sad time that had a happy ending.
A few years ago I had a mare named Camelot Mistress Sydney. Syd, for short. Sydney has had some amazing babies for me. She produced many red ribbon winners, (red being first here in Canada).
That year Sydney lost her foal, while foaling the umbilical cord detached prematurely creating a lack of oxygen to the foal. Consequently the foal was not breathing when it was born.
Approximately 10 days later my veterinarian called asking if Sydney might be the kind of mare to raise an orphan foal. At that point we had nothing to loose. Sydney loves her babies, all babies in fact, as she often would let other mares foals nurse off of her while out to pasture together.
The oxytocin shots brought her milk back in and at the first nicker from that foal Sydney went into a tail spin. All she wanted was that foal in her stall. We slowly introduced the two. The foals owners were very skeptical. I can understand their hesitation, You see the Belgian mare weighed 2200 lbs. Their foal was a standardbred, weighing only about 50 lbs.
Once again out of a sad experience can come joy.

Just a small comparison. This mare was so careful around this foal. Even with the difference in their hooves she never stepped on him.

Ahhhhh those cool December mornings. I took these pictures a week ago when I thought winter was just beginning. Today we hit a high of 11 degrees Celsius. Sweater weather! For the health of both horses and humans I wish it would get cold and stay cold.
When you look at the picture of my Friesian mare in the field, you will notice the ball of fire in the trees. It was early in the morning and the sun was just starting to peek over the edge.
As it rose, it got bigger and brighter and resembled a very large ball of fire.

It always amazes me how observant horses are. While the boys worked on the water bowl situation, actually making sure the heaters are working in the water bowls. Winter is descending upon us fast.
From the top of the hill, the mares lurked in the shadows, quietly observing the boys in the mud.