Some sad news.  Domino was found dead in her field last week.  She was 23.  She was discovered on the 10th July 2014 lying down with her head between her forelegs and it is thought she may have had a heart attack.  We shall never know the real cause of course but it's nice to think that she didn't suffer - at least for very long.

Domino had been at the Dunlewey Trekking yard in Co Donegal ever since Rose Cottage Riding School closed in 2011 at the expiry of its lease.  There she had been able to maintain her 'standards' of (almost) always having grazing with sea views and I am sure she had managed to get her way with those at the yard just as she had when at Malin.  It always took quite a while to get her to realise what life was really all about!

The picture here shows her doing what she enjoyed most - eating!  There are more pictures of Domino enjoying life at http://www.malinriding.com and some too at http://www.ppowers.com. The malinriding website is being kept open for a little longer but some time in 2015 it will be closed down.  However an image of it will be maintained at ppowers.com so it will be possible to peruse the whole site as it was when closed down.

Catching up on lost time...

Well, I haven't really been a very active blogger up to now (just two since 2005!) but at least here is a follow up to the last one about the birth of little Patrick, the foal produced by my former horse Domino and a coloured Irish stallion. On the far left is a picture of him about two days old. and then on the immediate left is 'little' Patrick in June 2010! He is a handsome colt with very unusual colouring. He has his mothers blaze and stars (though they are merged!), his mother's knees and he seems to have his mother's obsession with mints, carrots and apples too. Domino is about 16.3hh but the Sire was shorter so Patrick is about 15+hh. He hasn't been 'broken-in' yet but that might soon start now that he's over three - as this picture shows he certainly likes to see what's going on whenever humans appear. Up to now he has been kept sharing a field with foals of a similar age and they have simply been learning how to be horses. That is always a good approach.

Update on Domino

Well, since the last post about Domino a lot has happened. She recovered well from her punctured hoof and was returned to her field. That was a sight to see. As soon as the lead rope was removed she forced the gate open and galloped up the field on a slope too and circled all the other horses in the school herd. Those she didn't circle all came up from all over the field and they stayed like that for several minutes clearly welcoming her back. A lovely sight.

However that was also a bit sad too because by then I had already taken the decision to sell Domino because I wasn't riding enough and she was being used less and less in the school. She was in effect simply eating her head off in the field and not getting enough exercise or training. So this fantastic display of horse friendship was going to be broken up by me.

I pondered all this and had hoped to sell to a lady who also rode at the same yard but she was getting married and couldn't afford to keep her at the time. Then I heard in the summer of 2005 that Kate, the ex manageress of the yard, who by then had moved to Co Donegal and started her own riding stables in Malin, needed a horse like Domino. So, the deal was done and on 20th August 2005 - a very sad day - Domino went on the journey of her life to a new life in Ireland.

She went in the most enormous articulated horse box along with two other horses that Kate was buying from others in the UK. It took her two days to get there with overnight stops at Carlisle and Omagh but she made it OK. I went over to check that all was well and of course it was. Domino recognised Kate straight away and also knew the horses she had taken to Ireland when she had moved so the transition was perfect. Domino even has a sea view when grazing!!

Well, last summer Kate decided to cover Domino with her own piebald stallion and today 3rd June 2007 the result of that union was born!!

At around 7:30 this morning Domino gave birth to a colt. He's also piebald and has four white legs and a white blaze (just like his Mum). There should be pics available in a short while after I have been over there to see Mum and son. Watch this space...

Domino has a puncture

My horse Domino has a puncture (rear left hoof) and is currently being kept on the yard. She's bored out of her skull so I get a good welcome when I call to see her with carrots, apple and some mints. Used the opportunity to groom her a bit today too and trim her mane, tail and forlock so she looks a bit smarter. Also managed to locate her Wug which as happens had disappeared. Found it in a different part of the yard so am suspicious that it may have been on another horse...!