“Great blog this month. Here is a scenario. At the school gala, grandma is quietly and very secretly handing people little slip of paper with an address on it. In the dead of night a trail of unlit push bikes (with baskets on the front no less) are observed heading to and from this suburban address, avoiding the roads, stopping behind trees when a car comes, etc. Some suspicious person calls the police. They come and stop one of the bike riding ‘suspects’. “Please madam, would you show me what is under the tea towel in your basket?” And there, for all to see and smell, is some freshly baked biscuits
Mmmmmmmm----- haven’t we turned the clock back to the prohibition days!!!!!!!! Just replaced the grog with fresh, wholesome, healthy food!”
And subsequently we saw an article in the NZ Herald by Kate Wilkinson the Food Safety Minister where she reiterated, “that the Food Bill does not affect people growing or making food for their own consumption, or giving it away or swapping it with friends or neighbours.” Apparently the legislation was designed to be “…flexible, to promote innovation and minimize red tape and bureaucracy for producers…” That just has the feel of a Tui Yeah Right billboard doesn’t it?
Changing the subject to a more sombre note, on Waitangi weekend we had to euthanize one of our mares, Wickcliffe Blessington (Bliss). It certainly was not an easy decision and of course the hardest part was watching her foal come to grips with the fact that her mother was not going to get up again.
Bliss was an Irish Hunter mare. Her full brother, Wickcliffe Brannigan is a top Grand Prix show jumper. We bred both and they carried important thoroughbred and Irish Draught bloodlines. Their dam carried the old fashioned thoroughbred Battle Wagon / Head Hunter lines. Their sire was the grand Irish Draught, Kingsway Diamond.
To many of you reading this, those names won’t mean much however in many ways they represent our philosophy in breeding a New Zealand sport horse type. They are old fashioned names but in the case of Kingsway Diamond, still a strong and current influence in sport horses, especially 3 day eventing and showjumping. The thoroughbred lines will only resonate with those who know something of thoroughbreds in New Zealand and who have been around for a while. It is the ‘type’ of thoroughbred that was a significant influence in the helcian days of NZ’s success in eventing on the international stage. They were tough both physically and mentally. They were courageous and they usually had something of an attitude.
Head Hunter was by name and nature. I recall in chat with a union adversary a few years back discovering a common interest in horses. I had mentioned the breeding of a mare we had and he was excited to know anyone knew the name of Head Hunter. His father had stood the Stallion when he was but a boy and he dreaded going into the stable to feed this horse…Head Hunter would quite literally have your head if he could.
The dam represents another part of our life. She was given to us by dear friends. And both Bliss and Brannigan were bred from a service to Kingsway Diamond, given to us by a great horseman, the late Dr John Hernon. John was an Irish vet who married a New Zealand Nurse and came back to NZ to live and practice. The services were a trade for the use of another of our mares to breed.
John was something akin to sport horse royalty in NZ. He was a big man. A well respected horseman, vet and gentleman. His major claim to fame was that for the two John Wayne western films shot in Ireland, he and his brother were the stunt doubles for John Wayne. He was from County Wicklow, not far from the Blessington Lakes.
For some reason John took a shine to us…perhaps we shared the same passion and belief in the Irish horse. Whatever the reason, we felt privileged with the friendship. John unfortunately got cancer a few years back and after a while his wife was unable to manage their horses, so they all came our way until we were able to find homes for them. His beloved Mooncoin stayed with us with John competing her. We visited the village of Mooncoin in Ireland a couple of years ago.
Brannigan was sold as a colt at 2 years of age to a young fella. He had a dream and had been looking for several years for the right colt to compete as a sport horse and eventually establish a breeding operation. We were hesitant because we had never heard of him in equestrian circles. I don’t know what it was exactly, but he won us over and a great partnership between the two began.
Unfortunately Brannigan could not be kept as a stallion because as such he could not be kept with other horses. But in this was a significant sign. As a youngster he was put in a paddock with a couple of wise older mares to learn his place and some manners. However Brannigan would not back down. He had to be rescued from the paddock because even when ‘beaten’ he would not submit and would have been killed standing his ground. He was gelded and the chance of continuing his blood line lost.
Blessington was a heavier horse than her brother with an excellent nature and we were keen to keep her for breeding. Although we held on to Blessington for a while longer, we had too many horses and eventually she went to a new owner who had her broken in and was going to ride her. We are not sure of the circumstances or what happened exactly but discovered some time later that Bliss was languishing on a farm in the King Country. We had her collected and being too old to develop as a competitive sport horse, she came home as a broodmare. We tried for several seasons to get her in foal, firstly to the magnificent Holsteiner Lansing and when that failed, to Jody Heartstone’s Whisper. It seemed AI wasn’t going to work. So we looked for a local stallion for a natural service which resulted in the birth this season of Wickcliffe Berrigan. Bliss was a superb mother and we were making plans for sending her to either a thoroughbred or Holstiener stallion next season.
Berrigan was two months old when I went out to the paddock in the morning to feed the two mares and their foals and realised something was seriously wrong with her mother. The vet came quickly but not even surgery would save her and so we put her to sleep.
We left Berrigan with her for a while and when she seemed to come to terms with the death of her mother we moved her back into the paddock she had been sharing with the other mare and her foal. That other foal had stood by the fence watching her all the time they were separated. Berrigan then stood at the gate staring at her inert mother until a friend came with the digger to bury Blessington.
The mare and foal stood with Berrigan as did I, watching as Bliss was buried after which they all left for elsewhere in the paddock with Berrigan calling periodically. With her now rests the responsibility of carrying significant and important bloodlines and an even greater responsibility with us to nurture and grow her and give her every opportunity to be everything her noble ancestors would expect.
Of note is that we had the choice to put Blessington quietly to sleep to end her pain. The Vet didn’t tell us what to do. He gave us all the clinical observations and choices. I guess our experience and understanding had a lot to do with it, but we made the choice. You may understand why it was very tempting for us to spend great deal of money, prolong her agony, and subject to her to all sorts of pointless interventions hoping there was a very slim chance she would survive.
I sincerely hope that when that time comes in my life our society has matured to the extent that such a decision can be made for me.
Both my parents died of cancer. Mum nursed Dad at home for just over six months. There was a point in time when Dad could no longer get up or look after himself at all. He simply wasted away. Mum fought cancer for seven and a half years. When she got the diagnosis, she was remarkably understanding and organised. She got the news in October, was told to have a family gathering at Christmas and say good bye. She was organised and prepared.
The chemical cocktail certainly gave her a couple of years of good life and she was a model of determination and hope to all those around her. Unfortunately that cocktail had other effects. When she felt her independence and dignity slipping away she starved herself however we got her into care and long story short and sometime later, without any of the things so dear to her, she died calling angrily to be let go.
Dear God, if that time comes for me, don’t let what happened to my Mother and Father happen to me…think of me as a horse.
