The saga of Dylan's teeth (see H&H Spring 2002) reached crisis point in late October.  Additional dentistry throughout last summer had not cured his problem and it was finally decided that an operation was necessary to remove two teeth which were not only malformed but but showing signs of developing abscesses - ouch!  On November 11th  Richard had to take Dylan to an equine Hospital in Newmarket for the op - which was carried out over two days.  He was back by the end of the week none the worse for his ordeal, a little bit sore but eating well.  Richard brought back a trophy tooth a good 5 inches long!

Thanks to everybody for their generous support of our Race Evening which, at the last minute, we decided to dedicate to Dylan's dentistry (we'd been quoted anything up to £2000 depending on how complicated the op turned out to be).  Thankfully it didn't come to that, but we still didn't get much change out of £1000.

Incidentally, the Race Night was our best ever - a capacity crowd of just over 100 and a splendid £1600 raised for Dylan's teeth and our general Winter Funds.   We are very grateful to our Race Sponsors - Arthur Tomkinson, Barbara Branscombe, Ian Black of Meadowhead Sporting, Pearl Milton, Geoff Wright of  Rustall Coachworks, Hilary Dixon-Nuttall, Julia Ray, Frank Wilson, Joan Lester, Alison Webster & Mary Simms, Horse Owners, everyone who donated Raffle Prizes and everyone who came on the night and spent lots of money at the Tote!

Race Night this year is on Saturday November 8th.  Don't miss it!

Contrary to earlier reports (H&H Summer 2002) Apricot is not expecting, but Alice is.  A second round of scans turned the vet's original findings on their head!  All being well, we are expecting her to foal toward the middle of May.  If we're very lucky we may have a youngster to show off at the first Open Weekend.

We should also have some lambs by then.  Our Southdown ewes, acquired last year, have spent some time with the ram so we are eagerly awaiting the tinkle of tiny bleats.

Talking of new arrivals we have a new horse and are expecting three others later in the Spring.  Brunte, another Ardennes, has very kindly been given to us by Mike Stamp.  You may know the name as he's dad to Hamish and Ellie-May (Brunte that is).  He arrived last month and has settled in well.

Coming soon is Lawrence, an eleven year old. grey Shire gelding coming to us on loan from Brian Withers.  Hot on his heels will be Emma, a three year old Clydesdale, also on loan from her owners Scott & Laura Downie.  And last, but by no means least, we are expecting Scarlet back sometime soon.  Again she will be with us on loan.

Plenty of horses to look after, plus the sheep, plus the pigs, not forgetting Ebony the cow.
New Volunteers Welcome - and could anyone undertake some publicity for us this year?

We are aiming to fit in THREE Open Weekends this year - May 17th & 18th, July 26th & 27th, October 25th & 26th
so, as always, we hope to see as many members as possible, with their families and friends of course.

IN BRIEF

Some sad news now.  Our lovely Sam died suddenly from a heart attack just before Christmas.  Another bolt out of the blue and deeply distressing.  He wasn't that old (21) and hadn't been ill, so it was a great shock.  Sam was a smashing horse, handsome, well mannered and a skilled and willing worker.  We'll miss him terribly.

Boxer (29) has been poorly this winter and has lost quite a lot of weight for no apparent reason.  We had a major scare when he went down and couldn't get up again but the splendid Crowborough Animal Rescue Team hauled him to his feet and restored his circulation.  He's actually quite chipper and  is eating well so we'll see how he goes and hope that he puts on some weight once he gets his teeth into some fresh Spring grass.

Young  Ben, who went to Australia, has had a dramatic time. We received news of his safe arrival but he'd not long settled in when the terrible bush fires broke out in New South Wales and he had to be evacuated well out of harm's way.  Luckily he was able to go straight to the stud that he was eventually destined for so all is well.  QWe hope to get regular bulletins on his progress, though it will be a little time yet before he is expected to perform his stallion duties.

Monty & Dylan have completed their first assignment of the year - a week-long timber job for the National Trust at Gentle's Copse & Ludshott Common nr. Headley Down, Hants.  Together with Frankie Abbott and her Ardennes Jeton, Richard and a team of Trust volunteers were hauling softwood out of what is a rare ancient Oak Coppice.  The National Trust is restoring the coppice and felt that horse power would be more suitable in this particular environment.  The horses did a very efficient job.  We hope to do more of this kind of work, though the opportunities are a bit few & far between.

Ellie-May is thriving.  She was weaned in November, which brought a sigh of relief from everyone who had been on milk duty since June, and has spent the winter in the barn with half-brother Ivor (who has stayed with us for the time being).  The pair of them are quite boisterous and a bit mischievous but they'll settle down once they get out with the rest of the herd.

Thankfully we've had no other accidents or incidents with the rest of the horses who are all fine - with the exception of Jack who is showing signs of stiffness in his hind quarters.

DIARY

We've a pretty busy year ahead with plenty of engagements.  We hope to see lots of you as we are out & about.

ADOPTION SCHEME

We have a new administrator - thank you Brian White for offering to take over.  We apologise to everyone who has experienced an erratic 'service' with the scheme - we've always struggled to keep it running properly but things will improve from now on.

Don't forget that Members & Adopters are always welcome at Forge Wood Farm.

La Route du Poisson

We are working towards winning a place in the British Team taking part in the French Fish Race again this year.  Monty and Dylan are already in training and we'll possibly get another pair going.  The British Heavy Horse Driving Trials Club events (see the diary) are all geared towards testing potential team members so we'll be taking part in as many as we can - though not all as we have other committments.

HELP PLEASE

Baking  For the Open Days at Bignor Park (April 20th & 21st) we'd be very grateful for home-made cakes and other edibles to help raise funds.  Likewise for our Open Weekends.  Claire White does a fabulous job with the Tea Room, but with three weekends this year it would be nice to share the burden.

Car Parking  At the two SCHHA Events - Spring & Autumn - Trust volunteers direct the car parking.  Again, this is a fundraising activity for us so we'd appreciate any offers of help if you live in or around Harbridge & Rogate Hampshire..