“Yet again, I’ve let nearly a month lapse between blogs... but, it’s been a busy start to the season (my brain is so stallion-obsessed at the moment, I just typed ‘semen’ instead of ‘season’).

We currently have ten stallions in residence... a real mixture: literally all shapes and sizes from 12.2hh show ponies to 17.3hh show jumpers. So far this season we have exported semen to Sweden, Italy, Germany, France, Ireland and Belgium, as well as numerous shipments around the UK, of course. The amount of paperwork involved is pretty astronomical and I’m about to invest in some more filing cabinets to cope with the mountains of disease testing certificates and ‘Intra-Community Trade Animal Health Certificates’ (ITAHCs for short).

We had our first foal born at the stud at the end of March – a TB filly called Natalie. The mare was very thoughtful and foaled down at 8.30pm, and foal was up and drinking and membranes fully passed by 11pm. Of the visiting mares in to foal, Fabienne is the next due to drop. She has been teasing us for a few days, but I’m fairly certain she will foal tonight. I will let you know next time if I was right...

The stud mares to be bred by AI are coming in thick and fast too... sires chosen by our clients so far include Stravinsky, Jaguar Mail, Benetton Dream, Hohenstein, Brookfarm Chorister (that’s the 12.2hh pony in at the moment), Grafenstolz, Indien de Here, Baloubet du Rouet, and Commanche Ace, among others. AI gives you such an amazing choice of sires; a truly worldwide choice that UK breeders are really taking advantage of, making this is an exciting time for British Breeding.

The six dogs have totally taken over the house, with the Jack Russells in charge and the older, bigger dogs taking a more subservient role. I have no idea how the little sods manage it! We made a beautiful rabbit stew last night, only for the pot to break open in the oven and spill the stew all over inside of the oven and the floor... the JRs were very grateful for that though. We ordered a curry in the end!

Anyway, that’s my little bit of blogging time over. We have two more AI mares arriving shortly, and a few visitors lined up to meet the resident stallions, so I better get on!”