 |
|
April 2007 Report
|
April was a quiet month for the horses but the Preserve was threatened by fire several times. Though favorable winds turned most of the fires away a large section in the eastern part of the Conservation Area was burned.
The mares remain enigmatic and if there are no births between now and the fall we are planning to hold a health clinic. There will be more news on this as it develops.
The stallion area is closer to completion, all the needed posts have been cut and driven in, isolators installed and the fence has been strung. The final work is clearing the bush from under the fence line, a run of about two and a half miles which can only be done with a chain saw, machetes and weed whackers. Our two men have done a truly heroic job getting the area ready. We have left occasional treats near one end of the new area where hoof prints and manure have been seen, and the treats have been disappearing so we're hopeful that getting the stallions in will be fairly easy.
It's always illuminating to watch the horses' reactions to visitors. On one occasion they literally turned their backs on and walked away from one group. Yet for another group Mare Acamar, the most aloof of the mares, dropped to the ground and rolled around in total abandon. A sign of great trust.
We hope that we will soon be reporting on the activities of the three outside stallions, once they come in to their new/old home. We are especially looking forward to greeting Hadar, well into his 20's and turning quite grey. He's proof that the horses can live long lives. His mare Hamal died in her mid 20's. These two horses had the least exposure to the farm environment. Being perhaps 10 years old or more before the horses spent more time on the farm and more like 15-18 years old before hurricane Floyd drove the horses onto the farm full time. so they had a healthy, more normal start than horses born after them.
|
|
|
|
