The New Year has started off well. A grant from the Lyford Cay Foundation enabled us to buy much needed fence upgrades, some new tools and most importantly, two portable systems for the mini pastures.

It used to take nearly four and sometimes five days to put in a mini pasture; each wooden post had to have a hole dug for it (hard work in the rocky ground) and often the men had to make several tries before a post could be buried deep enough. Since the pastures are changed frequently, the ropes were simply wrapped around the posts and could not be electrified. We’ve mentioned before how Mare Acamar would put her neck under the lowest rope and just lift it and its posts out of the ground so she could graze on the other side when she felt the pasture was not up to her standards.

That has changed. The portable fencing uses plastic step-in posts and heavy galvanized steel posts with specially shaped ends for driving into the ground. Two tools, a driver and a puller, make setting and removing the posts much easier. Rather than rope, three strands of electrified tape are used which flutter in the slightest breeze and provide a highly visible reminder that the fence is there, and the fence is hot. So far, Acamar has respected the new fence.

There have been no recent Stallion treks but we hope to go looking again in February. We are also closing in on coordinating the recent arrival of a vet in Grand Bahama who has worked with the horses before with our vet in the U.S. We hope to begin the first phase of the long overdue health checks soon.

February is going to be busy, we have many tours and visits scheduled, continuing upgrades to the fence and gates, and other projects around the Preserve.