ONE YEAR ANNIVERSAry

Wow without being to cliche " look how time flies", its been a year since the wild ponies first arrived in my stockyards, and what a year it has been. The skinny, hairy, scrawny creatures are hardly recognisable anymore. They have come along way, but i cant help feeling a little disappointed. I feel i could have done a lot more with them. Matai could be almost ready for a ridden career in the competition ring, and should be jumping etc by now. Well Fern it was a bit hard as shes been a mum up until the last few weeks. But i really feel the little wild stallion given his intelligence and trainable nature, and the fact he grown into a strong young horse could have been doing a lot more. But alas, the time to do this has eluded me, in fact i have been so busy i almost missed the fact that it had been a year since they got here. I had my competitions with by other horses, then all the other jobs on the farm, the horses i ride for other people, lesson to teach, basically all the stuff that earns me a living came first, the wild horses fell to the bottom of a very long list of things to do.

So here we are, 3 fantastic and fat wild horses, that are anything but wild. They are friendly, well adjusted social and happy horses. The only thing that now marks them as being from the wild, is the stallion long flowing 'wild' mane, his thick black hair that can not be tamed. So although im not quite where i saw myself being at this point my wild horses and I have still come along way.

So i thought being their 1 year anniversary i would do a profile on each horse, where they have come from, where they are now, and the changes that have occurred.

Starting tonight with Fern.

She wasn't the skin & bones case that the little brown stallion was. She came off the truck in pretty good condition. Although her big wormy/baby belly was deceptive, as she still had slightly jutting hip bones, and a neck that seemed to stick straight skywards out of her chest. But she definitely was a good strong sturdy and sensible girl, who happily tucked into her hay net on arrival, and shes been eating ever since.

The first time in our paddocks... she was a shaggy creature, suspicious and withdrawn in nature

But it has not been a completely smooth journey, there have been setbacks along the way. Fern came with a set of some of the worst hooves i have seen, a year later there is only 1 hole in a back foot that has not quite grown out completly , that remains of the cracked & brittle claws she had on arrival.

Then there was the night we came home to find my little grey pony hanging up side down in a fence....this cut on her front leg,the result of that. But this too has healed, only the faintest thin scar remains to show for that story.

Finally things with Fern started to changes, as did the seasons. With Spring she lost her winter woollies, and grew wider and wider and wider, as we watched and watched, waiting for the time when the foal would make an appearance. Finally when we thought she may just in fact pop,we had Sonny. This would have to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life, to have a once wild animal, walk up to me in the moonlight, and deliver her baby literally at my feet.

Fern was such an amazing motherand milk producer, that Sonny grew and grew into the fattest and healthiest foal we have ever raised, who just oozes vitality. She has been the most protective and loving mother, who showed true grief and heartbreak at the weaning and separation from her boy.

Yet time is still ticking away and Fern continues to change. She has been saddled and will soon be ridden, without the burden of a baby to care for, her anxiety and worries are gone, she is suddenly more carefree, sand chooses to interact more wiht both human and horses, and has become a bit of a smoochy social creature. The first horse waiting to be caught each morning, tucking into her feed and leaning into her daily grooming sessions, Fern is finally relishing in the life that domestication has given her.