7 week old filly foal Destiny is proving to be a really sweet and very feminine foal. She is smitten with our new colt Defender, and mothers him at every opportunity, even tolerating the occasional case of mistaken identity when he attempts to suckle her teats rather than his dam's!!!
I had a minor panic this morning when I first checked the horses and spotted Destiny's dam Inca grazing alone in the field. Not a foal in sight. I was convinced something awful had happened to Destiny overnight (we'd had quite a violent thunderstorm which lasted for several hours, and 7 week-old foals do not normally stray far from their dams) so I sprinted to the stable-block where I found a totally non-plussed Destiny standing watch over Defender, whilst he slept flat-out and snoring.
Dakota is not so impressed with her new baby brother. She finds him a bit boring because his dam Fiona will not allow him to join in with her speedy games. Instead, she had to content herself with human interaction and was fitted with her first headcollar. This was probably not Dakota's idea of a fun game (she prefers to throw adult-sized headcollars around the yard!) but she stood as still as a statue to have her headcollar slipped on, adjusted, and then removed. Clever Dakota.
Destiny, on the right, snuggling up to Defender :
Dakota wearing a headcollar for the first time :
