the good the bad and the annoying

I had a good weekend, a good weekend in horrible wet, muddy conditions. My eventing horse Jet, and i won our competition, the last one before the national three-day event, next week. So pretty damn happy about that. I cannot even describe what a rush it is to cross country on that horse.

But as it always seems, you cannot enjoy a moments celebration around here without something ruining it. Just as i watched the results go up on the scoreboard, my mother rang to inform of the latest disaster on the farm.

Matai, the stallion has been nothing but angelic since his arrival from the wild. We have had no problems with him trying to get to mares, or breed or anything like that. Until this weekend, when i wasn't here.

I thought id left him somewhere stallion proof and safe, behind good fencing. Apparently my mother though, didn't quite get around to checking him on Saturday, and by Sunday morning she noticed he had pushed ( or a gate had been left open) a gate open, gone across the fence in the next paddock that was down, through a creek, over another fence ( although there was some flood damaged places where he could have just stepped over), up a very steep hill and through dense bush, and arrived in the paddock, with my lovely Thoroughbred broodmares, foals, Fern, and my dressage mare. Where he was spotted hanging around a very in season bay mare.

Fantastic. Although, i love Matai dearly, i don't not want any mix breed babies of his. Especially not from mares I'm saving to breed to lovely sport horse stallions in the spring.

But apparently he was a good boy, coming down the hill with the mares, and allowing himself to be caught and quietly led away, from the females, who were acting like low class tramps and doing there best to distract and entice him back.

Him and his paddock mate were then transferred to the stables to await my homecoming later that night. I was not happy to be having to deal with a rogue stallion, after a long weekend in the mud, and a four hour drive home. Especially after he ruined my joy at wining!

But as i walked up to the barn, i heard this little voice call out from the darkness, the same welcoming note which he always gives me. His head silhouetted in the darkness and ears pricked forward in greeting. It was hard to stay mad, after all he probably thought he'd been doing a fantastic job of doing just what a stallion should. instead he got a hug in the darkness, and a whispered scolding in his ear, as he stood and snuffled the back of my shirt.

Part of me thinks this is always the way, just a few days ago, i was telling the vet what a great little stallion he was, and how we had no problems with him trying to get to mares. I'm eating my own words right about now. next Tuesday, we will be having another vet come out, to administer a little injection to all the trampy mares, to ensure there will be not little Matai's running around next year. There will also be some serious thinking by me as to whether one little stallions testicles still need to be attached to his little brown body for much longer....

To be honest, Matai is not very big, and all my mares are very large, Fern apparently stayed well away from him, probably her wild instincts kicking into play there, so i doubt any successful breeding actually took place, but better to be safe than sorry i think