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Each to their own…..

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There is no doubt at the present moment we seem to be just “living”, ensuring the horses are properly cared for and that seems to be about it!

 

 

 

 

 

Every night there is a prime moment that makes me smile, as I drive in to the yard and see this!

 

Yes, I would like to think they are waiting for me….but in reality I know they are waiting for their dinner!

I do not get them in because they are waiting, in fact I don’t get them in until one or two of them “take a walk”……Personally I don’t like to give them routine, mainly because my life style doesn’t allow it. I believe a horse can be stress free with minimal anxiety when they can only expect the unexpected but there are some horses that thrive on routine! Each to their own……

 

 

ONWARDS and UPWARDS…….

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Since the arrival of Blu we have been very busy, against the daylight hours of work and school runs we have now completed the weaning of Ben and Blanc, introduced Blu to the herd and put closure to the awful sad loss of our beloved Easter, lost due to colic on the 13th November 2015.

Moving forward it was essential to isolate Blu on his arrival, not only ensuring he didn’t develop any health issues but allowing him to recover from his journey and slowly introduce him to our routine, feed / forage and the herd.

Prior to his arrival Ben and Blanc were weaned…..

Taking the weanling’s to another field locally meant they were out of sight and ear shot depending on the direction of the wind. It was unbelievably uncomplicated and stress free….Two’s company as they say!

When the time was right, over a period of a week we put Blu in an adjacent field to the girls, not a lot happened but after a little showing off the novelty wore thin everyone was able to say hello over the fence.

 

                                      

 

Back in the weanling field we introduced Blu to Ben and Blanc. The three “B’s”,  Blu, Ben and Blanc quickly became “three peas in a pod”. They say “threes a crowd” and it was Blu who soon stamped his authority and became “top dog”. Although he is smaller, he is nearly sixteen weeks older than Ben and has the advantage of his developed social skills coming from a larger herd.

    

After they settled and the pecking order established, it was time to take a walk down the lane to the big field.

 Head collars on and off we went…….

Catori, PP and Evee were stabled and the three youngsters were let loose.

No running around as they were content grazing….

    

Until O’Deer!

This time it was Blanc that “sparked off”, let’s just say they all stretched their legs…… at least Blu realised where his boundary was? Obviously an essential element before being introduced to the rest of the herd.


 


      

     One lap of the field and they settled and they were all left wondering what was Blanc’s problem?

Until next time the deer appears……..

One thing I am certain about, we don’t introduce a youngster albeit a stranger ie. Blu to an established heard if at ALL possible, limiting the damage of any accidents we introduced one by one. Although long-winded it seems to be the safest way in my opinion. There is no doubt the introduction of a strange horse is an upset for all concerned, I always fear the worse and will ensure to the best of my ability safety comes first. None of the horses have shoes on but a kick in the wrong place can have devastating consequences. The ground is dangerous with surface water making it slippery, running around building up a sweat in the cold weather is not ideal either.

Being a weekend, I had plenty of time to “watch”, early on a wet Saturday morning we introduced Evee to the babies…. Evee is at the bottom of the pecking order amongst Catori and PP, allowing her to show her character with the babies was let’s say “different”. She just stood on her hind legs a few times screaming….No running about just standing tall, making it quite clear she was the boss and it worked. What she didn’t know was it was a temporary position.

                                           

When all settled it was PP’s turn to be introduced.

Blu certainly gave the wrong impression to PP,  I cannot even suggest what he was thinking but PP was very happy to meet him (maybe she thought it was Easter from a distance) but with one sniff of the new arrival she established her thoughts and chased him off….Blu knows were he stands with PP now!

    

Again, as the rest of the herd were now bored, they ignored all the goings on and grazed but constantly checked their surroundings. By the time Catori was introduced, the dominant mare that keeps all in order, nobody was bothered. True to form she came into the field showing her dominance, head down, ears back and spinning around but no body was interested, Blu was quick to work this out and one look from Catori established a distance between them.

The horses have redefined their hierarchy, they are well covered for the winter, have thick dirty coats but are safe, happy and relaxed. Our Foundation Appaloosa’s have freedom, they are “friends” and their physical and mental well-being catered for, now we can move “ONWARDS and UPWARDS”.

The future is Blu with Redheart…….

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Redheart Appaloosa Stud is enhancing the Foundation Appaloosa Blood line with every generation born. With a view to improving it, it is essential we introduce higher Foundation Blood to move forward.
  
Concentrated on the mating of DREA Bluhawks Pataha (90.625% FAHR) and DREA Fire Frangelica (95.3125% FAHR) at the Double Forest Ranch (DFR) in Switzerland owned by Dr Franz & Daniela Renggli. Both are 100% FPD giving rise to a GAP 5 foal over 90% FAHR. These horses were imported by DFR from the well-known American Foundation Breeder Milton Decker at Decker’s Red Eagle Appaloosas. These horses have some serious old Foundation blood lines and I quote “This is some of the very best Foundation blood we have been fortunate enough to collect and breed on from” Milton Decker.
Frangelica delivered a healthy black snow cap colt, now named DFR Patahas Redheart, aka Blu. Needles to say we did not hesitate to secure a sale for this new born….and later we found out he is homozygous for PATN1, BONUS!
                      
    
Photographs courtesy of Daniela Renggli
 
It’s been a crazy 10 months at Redheart’s, despite the show season, despite the foaling season and then organising our trip to collect Blu,ensuring all fell into place has been a headache worth having.
 
Our family adventure was organised, departing Friday 23rd October to collect Blu. Travelling from Dover to Calais then heading for Reims, Nancy and the Swiss / French border at Basel. The trip coincided with my 40th birthday, one birthday venture I will never forget. My mother and her husband Kevin drove their own car and their gift for my birthday was to book some kind of accommodation near DFR.
 We set of during the evening to Dover, ensuring we missed the heavy burden of M25 traffic, not only a Friday but the start of the School Holidays. This was perfect, I drove and despite my fear of six lanes, I owned the motorway and our journey was unbelievably uncomplicated.
 
The crossing from Dover to Calais was very smooth and my children were so excited on top deck, too much Titanic viewing I guess? Departing from the docks at Calais we slept in the lorry at the first service station to catch up on some sleep, continuing our journey at sun rise.
 
Not realising our Sat Nav did not update to drive in the EU, relying on the map, our route was changed when we realised we had missed an exit at Nancy and we found ourselves not too far from Strasbourg, not Epinal. This was my error as Antony was driving and taking full directions from me….Oops! 
Although, this meant a wonderful scenic route via the tunnels through the mountains heading towards Colmar via another Sunset…. None the less we eventually found our way to Sissach when Mum and Kevin took the lead to the Hotel they had booked.
A few pictures en route…
 
 
 The route to the Bad Ramsach Hotel was through some very narrow lanes that were nearly vertical, in the dark the approach was lit by small road side lamps which gave the “WOW” factor when the hotel came in to view. An amazing birthday treat…..I really do have the best mum! It was too dark to capture an image but this photo was taken the following evening.
The food was just divine, the accommodation was excellent and the swimming pool was the ideal way to relax. The night was cut short after dinner as not one of us could keep our eyes open except the children of course who had slept pretty much the whole journey and at this point were on a high….
 
The views from and around the hotel were breath taking….
  
 
After an early breakfast, we walked the hotel grounds before heading off to Double Forest Ranch, only 20 minutes away!!!
 
Again, relying on the good old map…..DFR was literally over the other side of the Mountain…ok large Hill, but it was like a mountain. Do you think we could get there? With very little reception it was difficult to stay in contact with Franz. We managed to bypass DFR on several occasions, over two hours later we arrived with the aid of Franz waving in the distant field…….  It is so funny now but at the time I can tell you the pressure was rising in the lorry..…with sheer frustration we kept by passing villages that were not on the map?

The entrance to DFR

 
 
Our eventual arrival at DFR was met with open arms from Franz and Daniella, they made us feel so welcome and our time at their ranch was just awesome. We met all the horses, enjoyed the gorgeous views, made a big fuss of Blu and his parents. Enjoyed lunch and a good old chin wag about Foundation Appaloosa……
                                  
                           

DREA Fire Frangelica

  

DREA Bluhawks Pataha

We left the lorry at the Ranch as Franz very kindly offered to drive us back to the hotel and collect us in the morning. This really exceeding our expectations of hospitality but given our current record of getting lost I think he was so right to do so.
 
Back at the hotel we made the most of the spa facilities, enjoyed the evening meal and planned in detail our route home (the original planned route) ensuring NO missed exits, although expensive the most direct routes were using the toll roads or “vignette” to ensure Blu’s first journey in a horse box was as pleasant as possible given the fact we were travelling across country, up and down dale…..
 
Up early, Franz was there to collect us….we had breakfast at DFR and sorted paper work. The lorry was in position and Daniella and Franz went to get Blu, straight up the ramp, no hesitation, no panicking, no neighing for his friends as he just munched away at his hay and we all said our goodbyes. 
 
Pataha and Frangelica both came to the fence as we started the lorry……a little surreal….of all the horses it was Blu’s parents that came to say goodbye to their little lad, off to another country! 
 
“Be a good boy and you will always be well looked after” …………….“Go and sow your Swiss oats my son”
 
The journey back to Calais was as planned, schedule stops were made for rest and to check Blu. With adlib hay, water and the whole box to him self he travelled loose in comfort. Here’s a few more pictures of route out of Switzerland and across France.
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There were some moments I will treasure…
 
The relief that our old lorry made the 2,325KM round trip with no problems.  Driving on the “wrong” or “right” side of the road, depending on how you view this subject but for me although totally wrong felt right. The moment I saw the hotel….I was prepared to sleep in the lorry but knew mum was sorting a bed and breakfast out or similar, a fantastic memory of my 40th. The long pause from Pataha when he wanted to meet me….a stranger in his paddock of girls where stallions are in charge and protective, a pure gentleman. Driving through the sun rises and sunsets and the most important the moment when Blu walked down the ramp into a Redheart Appaloosa stable…..we did it!
This picture was taken from that car that continued to follow us!
A sense of reassurance and support as always 
Courtesy of my mother.
The future is Blu with Redheart…….