News page

Autumn 2006

A lot has happened over the summer, here is just a taste of some of the things that have been keeping us busy!

We are really pleased with how Bill is coming along.   He served a few mares earlier in the year before being turned away to grow, develop and relax.   he's very good with his mares, quiet and polite, the equine equivalent of flowers and chocs!   We're now waiting to see if any of his three ladies are in-foal.

We hosted a Dales Camp in September where people and ponies stayed for instruction with the excellent sports psychologist, exhibitor, judge and instructor Claire Dale.   The weather was very kind to us, we all ate and drank very well, talked non-stop and learned a lot.

One of our Dales ponies, Biggles (Maidendale GJ), who is on loan to the Unicorn RDA (Riding for the Disabled) Centre, qualified for the national RDA finals in both the Working Horse/Pony and Dressage this summer.   Just before he was due to go, he scrubbed his mane out and, instead of the lovely, flowing Dales locks, was left with tufts.   A local hairdressers heard of his plight and supplied and fitted £700's worth of hair extensions so that he could look the part at the finals.   Unfortunately, he came home without any prizes, but did create a lot of media interest locally, even appearing on the TV news.   This was great publicity for the breed as they all talked about the Dales pony being famous for beautiful long manes.

Magic and Niamh as Hermione from Harry Potter, took first prize in the Fancy Dress, second M&M in-hand and got 2 clear round rosettes at their only show this summer.

April 2006

 We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our new stallion, Colliery Bill, a four year old son of Duke - Colliery Commando II.   Bill is Duke's double at that age, we are very pleased with him and grateful to his breeder - Mr Dennis Urwin - for letting us have him.   Bill is already broken to drive, we are hoping to adding riding to his skills, so he will be probably be restricted to covering just two or three mares in this, his first, season.   I'm sorry to say that the photos don't do him justice, we'll get some better ones taken and posted once he's settled in.

February 2006

We chose just about the worst week possible to set about planting 40 trees and 500 hedge plants, the ground was frozen and progress very slow.   We did the best we could and have now completed planting the whole of the northern boundary.   When finished and the plants grown (I don't even want to think about the thousands of plants we will have put in) we should end up with beautiful hedges of mixed, native species all around the farm.   We are using a mix of hawthorn, blackthorn (for the sloes!), guelder rose, dog rose, spindle tree, hazel and crab apple for the hedges.   The trees include English oak, walnut, hornbeam, wild cherry and rowan.

Our land is heavy clay and cannot take hooves over the winter if we want any grass for the following year, so all of the horses are now inside until the ground is dry, probably during March.   Our work-load is huge, but its a great opportunity to do some intensive handling and training with Madrigal.   One of the things I like to do is to teach youngsters to accept scary, noisy things by putting a tarpaulin or similar on the yard and putting the evening feed in the middle of it.   If they want to eat, they have to stand on the plastic.   I had a lovely big bag made from very crackly, strong plastic, so took it round to use.   As soon as Serenade spotted it going down on the floor, she ran over to stand on it, looking round at Madrigal as if to say "look, I've got her trained for this, if you stand on the plastic, she puts feed on it".   So, I put the feed in the middle and left them both happily munching.   Magic took the opportunity of going round the 3 feed buckets and eating what I'd given out in case no-one would go near the plastic.   I was passing much later and could hear the plastic crackling, so looked in.   There was Madrigal with the bag in her mouth, shaking it, then putting it down and standing on it to see if any more food appeared!

December 2005

Almost at the end of a frantically busy year for us and starting to get ready for Christmas.   The sloe gin, made at the beginning of October from a bumper crop, is almost ready - and that's about the only preparation we have made, so it's probably time to start.   Madrigal is unrecognisable from the tiny, delicate June newborn, she is a proper chunky monkey and very bold.   Anyone in the field where she is who is not giving her their full attention is liable to get a gentle nip on the back of the neck to remind them where she is and that she needs a scratch.

STOP PRESS - Dragoon will be looking for a new home in the new year - see the For Sale page for details.

Not a good day today  - the fox has got our poor Angel, the oldest of our Khaki Campbell ducks.   We only let them out under supervision, but he must have been desperate enough to come into the yard even though we were about.   We had brought Angel through a number of health problems, it seems such a pity that she had to go this way, but at least the end must have been quick.

June 2005

WELCOME to our latest arrival, a gorgeous filly foal by this year's Supreme Champion Dales stallion, Colliery Commando II (yep - our Duke!) out of Maidendale Serenade, our lovely mare by Hillcrest Prince.   Serenade is the last daughter of our very good mare Kexwith Black Bess whose pedigree includes the highly influential All Fours.

The filly, provisionally named Maidendale Madrigal, is a good, strong foal  with the promise of excellent bone and conformation.   She is black with a star and is eligible for registration in Section A of the Stud Book.

Madrigal will be retained to carry on these important bloodlines for Maidendale and we hope that she will also have a career in the show ring.   As Mum was a great ride and drive pony with a very good jump, before she retired to stud duties, we hope that Madrigal will go on to do the same.   This is her at just a few hours old.

At the beginning of June, I had the great pleasure of judging the Riding for the Disabled (RDA) classes at the Foresters Show.   The classes were for Best Rider (junior and senior), Tack and Turnout and Junior Handler.   I was incredibly impressed by the dedication and hard work put in by these riders and there were some very difficult decisions to be made to award the places;  I wished that I could have given every one of them a First.   It is great when RDA classes can be incorporated into a 'mainstream' show (this one had PUK qualifiers) to give the RDA riders an audience and to show people the high standards that riders and handlers with disabilities can reach. 

Seeing how those with physical or learning difficulties overcome their problems to achieve a higher standard than many an able-bodied rider - including me - can achieve, makes me feel very humble.

May 2005

A month with a lot happening, including the Dales Pony Society's Spring Show at Barnard Castle, Co. Durham.   If you want to see a lot of the best of the breed in a single day, then this is the place to be, starting with the stallions and those who hope to be - the colts - at 10am.   There's also classes for mares, youngstock and ridden ponies.   It's always the first Saturday in May, so took place on 7 May this year.   It certainly didn't feel like May on the showground with howling cold winds, rain and hail, but even so, it was a good day of meeting old friends and making new ones and seeing some wonderful ponies, all in the wonderful setting of Teesdale. 

 The winner of the senior stallion class and overall champion was our very own  Colliery Commando II - Duke to his friends, see his pictures (which don't do him justice) and that of one of his sons, our gorgeous part-bred 3 year old, Dragoon, on the Pony page.   Not only is he a beautiful pony, he has a stunning temperament which he passes to his stock.      It's good to see virtue being rewarded!

For those of you who missed the Spring Show, the Summer Show is on Saturday 6 August at Streatlam Farm, Barnard Castle, so put the date in your diary.   The DPS also runs Midlands and Southern shows, a Points competition and, at the end of August, a Performance Show.   Anyone interested can follow the links (on the links page) to the DPS website where the results of the Spring Show, and the details of all other shows, are published.

This month has also seen all of our poultry come back to full egg production and we are inundated.   We feel we have to eat eggs for almost every meal and no visitor is allowed to leave us without taking some with them.   It is wonderful to have such lovely, fresh produce at your own back door, and we feel very guilty about even thinking this, but......oh, for just a week without any eggs!

April 2005

We lost our lovely Border Collie, Belle, on Friday 15 April.   Belle was 15 years old, and had an inoperable cancer.   She became ill on Wednesday and there was nothing we could do other than have her put to sleep.    We were very lucky that she was only ill for two days and to have  had the great pleasure of her company for so long.   She was out for a hack with us on the previous Sunday, just the same as always, running along beside the horses, getting under their feet - she always felt it was their job to get out of her way and would never dream of moving for them.   She retained her happy, bouncy, puppyish joy in life right up to the end, but then she was glad to let go.   We miss her dreadfully.