Debbie Dunbar ~ Equine Artist

I have some very talented friends.
My friend Debbie Dunbar, is a very well known Equine Artist.
A few weeks ago, Debbie happened to be looking through, some of my photographs and asked if she could use one to do a painting from.
I gave Debbie permission, to use any photographs that she wanted.
This morning look what appeared in my news feed, on Facebook.
I knew straight away, who that was looking back at me, handsome Colossus..
If you pop over to Debbie's blog, she takes you through the story of this painting.
I think its brilliant...

Busy...

I've been really busy the last few weeks, helping my friend Traci, with her West Wales Mini Extravaganza Blog. We went to the Show on Sunday and since then, we've been getting results for the show sorted.
I've just done a blog post on our Hericus Blog, if you'd like to see the pictures. It is quite photo heavy.

Harry, Courtney & Warrior, had a very good day. Well done Team Hericus, you should be very proud of yourselves.

Another Miniature Delivery..

Look what we found last night just before we were going to bed. We missed the actual birth by minutes as the Foal was still soaking wet, we think he was born at approx 11.30 - 11.45pm.
The first three pictures were taken last night, the rest I took early this morning. If you click on them, they should pop up bigger.
He seems full of Beans this morning and has been bouncing around the stable, like a little lamb!
He has the most beautiful colouring, Cream Dun with a darker Dorsal stripe.
You can only imagine the relief to have another live Foal. I've been having a cuddle this morning. He's gorgeous.
I think the Boys want to call him Demetrius, which means lover of the earth, given to the Earth goddess Demeter.
He's out in the field with his Mum Lemoney, at the moment, meeting his new play mate Dioynsus and soaking up the Sunshine. Ben's just gone up there with the Camera, so I'm looking forward to seeing what pictures he's able to get..

Artsplace Firelight - 2.5.2002 - 1.4.2011

Unfortunately our lovely Lil lost her battle yesterday.
Its been a very traumatic week for us all. Lil's gave birth on the early hours of Tuesday Morning and we found the Foal dead. Lil then became extremely ill and we have had the Vet here every day.
Her body just went into Toxic Shock, we tried everything to help her including intravenous antibiotics, pain killers, syringing Electro Light Solution into her and giving her injections of Penicillin. But by yesterday afternoon, I could see that she was in distress. So called the Vet out again and we agreed to let her go peacefully.
Thank you to everyone that sent messages of support this week, especially all my friends & family on facebook. We all really appreciated your kindness.
Lil will be greatly missed, as she was one of the most sweetest Pony's and we Loved her dearly..
Run Free Lil with your Baby.....

The Rainbow Bridge For Horses
Author Unknown


By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
when their time on earth is over and done.


For here, between this world and the next,
is a place where beloved creatures find rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
til The Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.


No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
for here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed.
Their bodies have healed with strength imbued.


They trot through the grass without even a care,
til one day they whinny and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes sharp and alert.
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the herd.


For just at that second, there's no room for remorse.
As they see each other...one person...one horse.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past
The time of their parting is over at last.


The sadness they felt while they were apart
has turned to joy once more in each heart.
They nuzzle with a love that will last forever.
And then, side-by-side, they cross over...together.

Oh What A Day....

Yesterday started quite well. Had a gas delivery at 7.30am, tank now filled ready for the colder evenings setting in. Derek arrived, took out the Log Burner in the boys sitting room, so that it wouldn't get damaged if anything came down the Chimney and sheeted out the boys sitting room, so no soot would get out of the chimney, into the room. He's put a large tank at the bottom of the Chimney, in the hearth, to catch any lose bricks and mortar. Thank goodness he has, cause you can hear all the crap, falling into the tank. Chris then arrived, and they both went up the scaffolding. They managed to get the Chimney pots down, with out breaking them. Not that there was much holding them in place. It's a miracle that the stack was still standing. just have a look at the bricks in the trailer, there was hardly any mortar left between them. I think it was literally standing on a wing and a prayer. We are going to reuse the bricks, when we eventually get round to doing the garden. They are Fire Bricks, so would be ideal for a Barbecue. While, that was going on I was on the phone sorting out my Hospital appointments. I am going in as a day patient on 21st October for my three yearly Colonoscopy, Bowel cancer runs in the family and I'm going into Morriston Hospital, Swansea on the 28th October for my double Angiogram. Then postie arrived with a Parcel, that I've been waiting for, and yes it is miniature, but more about that later.
Then Andrew arrived, he cuts our Hedges every year, so it was a case of moving ponies, into different fields away from the tractor and cutters. See the before and after pictures. (If you click on them they will pop up bigger). As this was all going on, we have a delivery from the builders merchant's, so the cars have to be moved, so that he can get the Lorry into the Stable Yard!. Talk about Manic. Then Mick said to me, "Deb, can you have a look at Magic, I think he's got conjunctivitis. As soon as I lifted his Mane, I knew it was far, far worse, then conjunctivitis and immediately came indoors and rang the vet. Who arrived about 20 minutes later and confirmed my worse fear's, that somehow Magic has managed to blind himself. The Vet thinks that he may have run into a stick on one of the Tree's. But however, he has done it, its perforated his eye and he is now blind on that side. The Vet gave him a local anesthesia, then flushed the eye out, he then applied antibiotic cream. We've also got Bute, Oral antibiotic's and antibiotic cream for his eye, to give him every day for a week. Then the vet is coming back to check on him. I have to say Magic, is not at all bothered and is still really perky, ear's forward and calling to the other's, but until some scar tissue has formed, he's on stable rest.
After I'd seen the vet off, I came indoors and the phone is ringing. It's Harry's teacher on his mobile phone. They are on the Coach, on the way back to School after playing Rugby against another school, at an away game. The first Words he said are "Mrs Wright, please don't be alarmed". Which I immediately was! Harry was playing Rugby, was tackled badly, which has injured his hip again. He can hardly walk, so no school for him for a few days. He's badly bruised, but there isn't anything broken. All in all it was one of them day's Manic from start to finish. Just hoping today is going to be a bit quieter.

Its Been Like Waiting For A Bus...

Like I said its been like waiting for a Bus and then two come along together.
Look what happened in our Stables in the early hours this morning...
Two beautiful little Souls came into the World..

Crap End To A Crap Week..

I was so excited earlier on this evening, one of the Mares was running milk, so we knew that a Foal was imminent. Nikki, was on the phone telling me all about today and how much she'd enjoyed KDF and I was telling her that we knew a Foal was going to be born tonight.
Unfortunately, much to the Mare's and my distress the Foal was dead. We tried to revive it, but it was still born.
As you can imagine what with having, to have Muffy put to sleep this week, this has really knocked me for six tonight. As Debie said, we have obviously hit the Good Luck Fairy with the Shitty Stick.
We have two Mares left to Foal, but I can't even get excited about it now. Until they are here safe and sound. So much for me having no stress. So you can see why its a crap end to a crap week for me.

So Sad...

Today is a very, very sad day.
We have had to have the Vet out to put Muffy, one of our Ponies (Barney's Mum) to sleep.
She's been very poorly over the last few weeks and has had a very rapid weight loss. We've tried everything, to get her well and to get her interested in eating and earlier this week we really thought we had cracked it and she'd started eating a little, with the help of the Vet giving her supplements, Vitamin injections and Antibiotics, blood tests and me picking buckets of grass for her and tempting her with any feed that we could get her to eat.
Unfortunately this morning, she went down and no amount of trying could get her to stand up. I checked her mouth and her gums, which were very white, so I came indoors and rang the Vet and he came straight away, we felt it was kinder for him to put her to sleep, then her just to lay there and fade away.

Here is the link to the poem below, which I've copied and pasted over onto my blog.
Rainbow Bridge or you can read it over on Hericus Blog..

The Rainbow Bridge For Horses Author Unknown

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill, is a lush, green meadow where time stands still. Where the friends of man and woman do run, when their time on earth is over and done. For here, between this world and the next, is a place where beloved creatures find rest. On this golden land, they wait and they play, til The Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day. No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness, for here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness. Their limbs are restored, their health renewed. Their bodies have healed with strength imbued. They trot through the grass without even a care, til one day they whinny and sniff at the air. All ears prick forward, eyes sharp and alert. Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the herd. For just at that second, there's no room for remorse. As they see each other...one person...one horse. So they run to each other, these friends from long past The time of their parting is over at last. The sadness they felt while they were apart has turned to joy once more in each heart. They nuzzle with a love that will last forever. And then, side-by-side, they cross over...together.

Hospital Today... Answers????

Well I'm finally off to the Hospital today, to see my Cardiologist for the results of my CT Scan. I should have seen her on the 16th April, but she got caught abroad in the Icelandic Volcano Fiasco. We then got a new appointment for 22nd June, but we complained and have now been given an earlier appointment.
I'm hoping that I will get some answers today, to this ongoing saga of all this water retention.
As I said before, I started off on 2mg of a water tablet and I'm now on 80mg.Which is not doing my Kidneys any favours and it means regular Blood Tests, my least favourite thing. I am so totally fed up with it and I really need to get back into shape as I can't get any of my clothes on. I'm living in Track Suit bottoms.
Mick has threatened to leave me at the Hospital, if they can't give us any answers. So if you don't hear from me, you know he has carried out his treat..LOL

We are still awaiting the arrival of this years Foals. The expectant Mum's are fit to burst and it could be any time now, so we are on full Foal alert. What's the betting, it will all happen while we are at the Hospital today. We also have a Sick Pony at the moment, who is getting round the clock care. I called the Vet out last week, as I was really worried that we were going to lose her. She's currently being dosed with antibiotics and a supplement to help with her appetite, as she'd gone right off her food. Which has to be given by Syringe. I'm pleased to say that she ate three large buckets of freshly picked Grass yesterday. Yes, I went and picked it for her. Her blood tests showed that she had, had an infection but she is now getting over it. Hopefully, she has now turned the corner. So has you can imagine, I'm keeping everything crossed, which is a good thing on these water tablets...LOL

Oh What A Night...

After the shock birth on the drive, last night. Mum and Baby were moved into a nice warm stable to do their bonding.
We made sure baby had his first drink and Pooh! (Yes you do have to check everything). Then went indoors to have a celebratory cup of tea. After about 30 minutes, we went back to check everything was OK and I wasn't happy with the look and behaviour of Muffy, who was stamping the ground, getting down, then up again. So called the emergency vet out. The poor girl had Colic and boy was she in a state. We walked her round and round the stable, waiting for the vet to arrive, the poor foal must have been so dizzy following its Mum. The vet arrived gave her a couple of jabs, checked all was well at the birth end and we stood with her and watched the medication take effect. Our Dutch Vet Wim is brilliant. By now it is Midnight!..
Saw the Vet off then came in for another cuppa and tried to catch up with some of your blogs. (I did try to leave comments on as many as possible!). Then back down the stable's at 1.30am to check all was well and baby was feeding. Finally at 3am, went to bed...
Muffy was perfectly fine at 7am morning and baby is up and about and feeding really well.
We noticed after he'd dried off in the stable last night, that he has a little lightening streak on his bottom, do we have another Harry Potter Fan in our midst? or was he kissed by the Angels?. Took these pictures this morning. If you click on them they will pop up bigger...
Our little chap hasn't got a name yet, but will have by this evening. Will try and update later, back down to the Stables now...xxx

Thank You Everybody..

Just wanted to say a very Big Thank you to everyone, that left comments on the last post and for all the wonderful emails you sent. It meant a great deal to all of us, that you were thinking of us. Cameo is completely fine and is quite happy grazing with the others. So hopefully no lasting effects on her.
After having such a sad start to the day on Thursday, our friends arrived from Kent in the afternoon and we ended up having a lovely weekend. They left on Sunday Morning. Then Harry went away with the school on Sunday afternoon, to do his half of the French exchange. He rang me last night to say that he had arrived safe and well and where was his phone charger!.. (Typical Boy).
We also had a meeting at the Riding school last night, about the Medieval Fun Day, which is being held on 15th August. Ben stayed at home on alert, in case anything happened while we were out.
Mick's parents are coming up today and we are busy fertilizing the fields, the weather is wonderful and the Sun is blazing.
There is still no movement with the other Mares, who are now overdue, so your guess is as good as mine as to when they will foal..
I'll update as soon as we have any news...

Beau.

Mick's just taken these Pictures of Beau and I just had to share them with you. This little boy is two weeks old today.
I wish the others would hurry up and arrive, then he'd have someone to play with...
What a handsome little boy he is...

Five Fat Puddings...

These are the five fat puddings that are keeping me awake at night.. They are all fit to burst. Five wide loads coming through...
From left to right are Cameo, Chrizzy, Evie, Lil and Muffy.. (if you click on the picture, it will pop up bigger).
I am currently walking around like a Zombie, that looks like it's been dragged through a hedge backwards. I said to Mick this morning that knowing my luck they will all give birth at once. I've got them all in the Garden and little paddock by the house, so I can keep an eye on them from the window's. Not that the plants are very happy about that, since the Ponies are eating all the new shoots!

Welcome...

A Big Welcome to another two followers they are:-
Dales Dreams who's blog is called Dales_Dreams, and is also a team member of Etsy Mini Makers. Dales Dreams also has an Etsy Shop.

Deborah Lugo who is from Brazil and who's blog is called Feitos Para Lembrar. Some lovely miniature creations on her blog. Make sure you go back and look at the older posts.

As always please go over and say Hi..

On the home front, still no movement with the expectant Mum's. The weather over the last couple of days has been awful, Rain and high winds. I think they are holding on for some warmer weather. Brought three of them in last night to warm up and dry out. We have another 2 Mares that hate being shut in, and get totally stressed so they stayed out, but we confined them to the garden so that we can see them from the House. If they Foal outside and the weather's bad we will bring them in. Once they've had their Foals they will be quite happy to come in, but until that happens they'd rather be outside come rain or shine.. I've put some more pictures of Beau over on my other blog Hericus, if you want to take a peek.

Update On Our New Arrival...

Please see go over to Hericus Blog for the update on our new arrival, Pictures and Video...

Watch Out Wide Load Coming Through....

This is the young Lady that is keeping us on tender hooks. She is absolutely fit to burst. These photo's which I've just taken to email to my friend Mary, just don't convey just how big she is. Enormous is a bit of an understatement.
It's definitely a case of Watch Out Wide Load Coming Through...LOL.

A Little Help Please... Baby Names..

As you all know by now we are awaiting the arrival of our first Miniature Shetland Foal of the season. We are expecting at least 7..Now I have a bit of a dilemma! The boys want to name the foals after the Greek Gods and Goddesses. Our prefix name is Hericus, which is Harry's name in Latin. Now to keep a track of what year we are on, we started with the letter "A", so had foals with the names of Apollo, Aphrodite and Archimedes.
This year we are on the letter "B", so need names beginning "B", but I'm having a really hard job finding any names. The only one I've been able to find is Bacchus.
So do any of you out there, know of any others beginning with "B"?..... Or any Latin names beginning with "B"?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The picture is of Hericus Athena our very first foal..

Video Clips..

I've just uploaded a couple of short video clips over on my Hericus Blog page of Apollo, that I took on Sunday, if any of you are interested.

Another 1-12th Miniature Horse Link.

After my last post, Jody from Mini Leaps and Bounds left a comment, pointing me to another Miniature Horse Pony Site called Rio Rondo Enterprises, they claim to have the most exclusive collection of Miniature items for Model Horses in the World.. Its well worth looking at, but I did notice they don't have any English Saddles!...
Also Jodi from Creager Studio's asked me how many Miniature Shetland Ponies we have here.
Well Jodi, in answer to your question we have 23, yes I did say 23! We are also expecting some Foals from our Mares in late April early May. If you'd like to see all my babies they are over on my other blog Hericus Miniature Shetland Stud. There are lots of pictures and some video of one of our babies being born last year. Have fun...

Miniature Horses & Ponies..

While I was reading through the March edition of Dollshouse World. I came across a couple of Sites, where you can buy Miniature Horse's and Ponies, in 1/12th Scale.
Now as everyone knows by now, my Miniature Shetland Ponies are the other great Love of my life, so I was quite interested in having a look at these sites. I can feel a Miniature Stable coming on.. Another one to add to the wish list.. LOL..
Here's the Links to the sites if any one is interested, Utterley Horses and Scale Farm..