(That’s 10 months since we have moved into our forever home, not Jo’s inability to realise that September is the ninth month)
Well, the weekly updates were going well for a while, until I stopped doing them. I think I ran out of things to say each week as most weeks are “worked from my home office” and that’s mostly it. Saying that, actually a lot has happened since my last update. Maybe I can convince myself do at the very least do monthly updates? No promises, but I will really try!
We welcomed two new arrivals to our family – Olympus Liberty Bell (Bellatjie) and Netherfield Dickens (Moose)! And we completed our stables, so all the horses are finally home!
Bellatjie is a six year old “farm horse,” we were told that she has some Clydesdale in her breeding and she is out of a beautiful, athletic thoroughbred mare. She is about 15.2 ½ hh and is sweet as anything. She was a very special surprise for Schotia, as Bellatjie is officially her first horse! When the twins came to us for their last school holiday, we told them that we had gotten a new horse, Moose and went to Pondarosa so they could meet him. While they were saying hi to Akira, I pointed out the new horse across the isle to Schotia telling her to go and say hi. Schotia thought the new horse was quite adorable and kept asking what her name was and who’s horse she was. Right on Bellatjie’s stall was a name sign saying “Bellatjie, Owned by Schotia Worth” so we pointed the sign out to her and told her to read it. She just kept reading only “Bellatjie” and skipping over the rest. After some convincing, she read the whole sign and immediately broke down in tears of joy realising that this was HER horse. It was a very sweet moment.
We booked a couple of riding lessons with Rene at Pondarosa so Schotia could get to know her new partner under the guidance of an incredible coach, and the two bonded so well!
Bellatjie is a very sweet and very people oriented mare – she just loves all of the attention! She is an easy going riding horse, but still is young and is not particularly “schooled” which I think will be a great experience for Schotia learning with Bellatjie since most of Schotia’s riding experience has been on well-trained school ponies that already know all the right “buttons.” But Bellatjie is extremely safe, and if she is uncertain of anything simply just stops moving until she understands what you are asking for her. I think they are going to be the perfect partners! And bonus, now we have a horse I can ride until Moose and Akira are old enough.
Moose. He is a big moose, hehe, but such an absolute honey! Moose is Koda’s half-brother, with the same sire. After heartbreakingly losing Koda, I just knew I had to have another Fancy That baby. With the stud shutting down and the breeder retired, I was worried that it might not happen. Luckily for us, Carole had one last Fancy That baby, her last one and she was overjoyed that we wanted him! Moose is not as tall as Koda, but he is built like a brick house and being half shire may yet still surprise us in height as they can continue to grow up until they are eight years old. He is only turning three in November and is already standing at 16.3 hh! He also has extraordinary thoroughbred lines in him being out of an AP Arrow mare he boasts both Secretariat and Seattle Slew in his pedigree. But all those fancy names aside, he is just an absolute easy-going sweetheart in every way. He is so gentle and just wants to be loved. I have already fallen head over heels for him!
And of course an update on miss Akira, she too is doing great! Her and Bellatjie bonded instantly while they were both still at Pondarosa and our little herd is so perfect. She is absolutely growing like a weed too! Akira just turn two a few weeks ago is already standing at 15.3 ½ hh. Her breeder predicted she would mature to about 16.1 – 16.2 hh, but at this rate she looks like she might be tracking more for that 16.3, possibly even 17 hh size (our vet is convinced she is going to hit that size). Between her awkward giraffe growth spurts, she is really turning into such a stunning girl! She has hit a bit of a teenager wall lately though and has been testing everyone trying to find where she stands in the world leading to us needing some serious talks about how she is not allowed to swing her butt and try to kick at people the same way she can within her herd. She is also extremely clever! I love watching her progress and change nearly daily!
Sjoe, okay this has turned into a bit of a blog just about the horses. Sorry about that, but they’re kind of one of the main things of my day every day. Other than horse news, Ellery, Cole and I have been busy building a raptor release enclosure. We recently had MTPA (the provincial authority on tourism and wildlife) out to do a property inspection since we have wildlife here. During that process we started chatting about rehab permits and licences and both Ellery and I got placed on permits for assisting with rehabbed wildlife for Mpumalanga. After chatting with our friends at the Dullstroom Raptor Centre, we got the plans and have started building our own soft release enclosure. The plan is when there are small raptors such as owls, hawks and small eagles that we will bring them here and start a slow release back to the wild giving them time to adjust before opening up the hatch and letting them out into the world. We’re also hoping to receive in some other critters that are ready to be returned back to the wild, giving them the safe space to call Induli Khaya home. Also on our never-ending to-do list is we want to build and set up owl nest boxes, bat boxes and beehives around the property to encourage our local pest terminators and pollinators to take up and keep residency here.
I think that is all for now… Ellery is currently on his way back from Hoedspruit picking up the twins for a long weekend and I am really looking forward to having them all home. Their next big school holiday break is not until December over Christmas, so even though this one is only four days long its going to be wonderful! Schotia and I are planning to attend a horsemanship clinic this weekend, and I am sure Orion will be eager to get in on the building of the raptor enclosure!
I’ll try to aim for at least a monthly update going forward!
adventureiswild.com 