Quixall Crossett

On Tuesday, April 17th, Going Pop produced a gorgeous colt foal for us. He is a chestnut like his sire, our stallion Salty Behaviour, although a little lighter in colour. He has a prominent white star on his forehead. It was an easy birth, and mare and foal are doing very well.

Although this is Poppy's first foal, she is a natural mother. She was immediately attentive to the little fella's needs and has been absolutely perfect with him ever since. As soon as he lies down to rest in the box, she watches over him, and when she thinks he has had enough relaxing, she taps him with her front foot to get him to stand up again. Were she a human Mum, I would say that she is genuinely proud of her little chap.

He has been strong from the start, and can be quite independent-minded for his age. He is very well put together, not overlong in the back, and should develop into a balanced horse with good conformation. He takes everything in his stride, and is now letting us tickle him as we aim to gain his trust and give him confidence in us.

Our other broodmare, Mountain Willow, is now showing the first signs of bagging up, so we should have further news on the breeding front in another 7 - 10 days time.

At about 04-00am on the 23rd of May, Willow gave us a big colt foal. He is a light-chestnut in colour, with a small white star on his forehead. He is, in fact, quite similar to Poppy's little chap, who has a large white star.

The birth was easy. He was well presented and there were no problems. Ted and Joy had foreseen that it would be a big foal, and the vet had been to the farm to "cut" Willow to ensure that she didn't damage herself when giving birth.

She certainly hung on till the last minute. Every time we checked her for the week before the birth, we were telling her to, "Lie down!! Deliver!! Give birth!! You'll feel better for it, you know!!" and similar words of encouragement.

Even on the day of his birth, Willow's colt was only about 1 inch shorter than Poppy's, when he staggered unsteadily to his feet. He is going to be a big lad!! Within an hour he was trying to suckle, and Willow was fussing over him. She is slightly more protective of her foal than Poppy, and you just have to watch her if you are in the box with them. The colt initially seemed to be able to concentrate on only one thing at a time, so when he started to suckle, he forgot to keep his balance, and kept falling against Mum. He then had to stop feeding to get his precarious balance back.

The foal has the most enormous hocks, so from the back it looks like he will be a Grand National type, rather than the 2000 Guineas winner we assumed he would be. Still, it is impossible to tell with horses. It only takes one horse to make fools out of a lot of people.

One thing is certain, though. However much time he needs to develop, he will get it and more besides. I have always said that if I am to be re-incarnated as a racehorse, I will only come back if I can be one of Ted and Joy's.