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She was so tiny and SO PINK! Everything about her was pink - skin, hair, mane and tail, hooves, eyes, whiskers. All pink. |
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And not shy either. Dumb wasn't fazed about the gawking two-legged
creatures that were clustered around her foal, as long as the two legs
continued to bring food. The foal just looked at the two legged creatures
with a perplexed, bewildered expression. |
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So Dumb and her little foal called "Willow" (yes, I am a Buffy fan) ventured out to the paddock. |
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By 2 weeks of age, all the pinkness was gone, and she was a proper palomino. |
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by six weeks, she had become more independant, exploring
by herself and finding things to investigate. Here she is,
carefully applying a mud pack - grrr |
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Dumb had qualified for the 2000 Royal Melbourne Horse show.
I decided that if both she and Willow could cope with being seperated
for short periods and if Dumb was holding weight, then I would take her.
So at only two months old, Willow attended her first Royal Show.
Will stayed in the stable while Dumb was worked, or in a class. In
between each class, Dumb went back to the box to be with Willow.
Willow (who was halter broken by this stage) even came up to the
exercise area on a lead line to watch her mother work. We got so many comments
like "gee that foal is quiet" and "did that palomino really come
out of that bay mare" etc. Will was such an angel. Dumb did well too - a fourth and a fifth. |
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By 4 months of age, some smutting started to appear in Willow's coat -
courtesey of her father's smutting genes. I was initially disapointed as
she wouldn't be able to pass PA/APHA (palomino registry) classification, but the thought of her turning
her father's colour was also very appealing .... |
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By 7 months of age, she looked like some kind of freaky yellow buffalo.
Seriously, her coat was so long and her head so out of proportion,
we were querying Cushing's disease! And she was SO FILTHY as the mud
would just clump in her 3 inch coat (I'm not exagerating -
her body hair was three inches long!). Thankfully, her winter coats have not been as bad since .... |
