(Left-Right) PEGGY, PATRICK AND POPPET

On the 13th May 2008, at Hockerwood farm near Upton, Nottinghamshire, one of the oldest shire mares, named Pandora, gave birth to a bay colt named Patrick in the early hours of the morning. Due to her old age, Pandora had been finding it difficult to stand up and so Patrick was born in a field at the back of the farm house. Fortunately, it was a very easy birth for Pandora as Patrick was not a very big foal and when Grandad, Geoff Robinson found him, just born, he was trying to stand up so Pandora was helped up and then Patrick could suckle. After a day or so we thought Pandora was not producing a sufficient amount of milk to feed Patrick, so Aunty Sarah and mum, Judith, had to rush off to Lincoln to buy some bags of powdered milk to help Pandora feed her son. A lot of maths had to be done to decide how much powder needed to be mixed with how many pints of water suitable for Patrick. Patrick, at first, did not like the idea of drinking milk out of a bottle but with a bit of bribery and a lot of patience Patrick was soon drinking from the bottle and his mum! Sadly, after 14 days with his mum, Pandora died. Patrick was put in a stable in the biggest shed, so that we could look after him. Since Patrick was born in the field, it was the first time he had been inside but, luckily, he settled in really well. One day when Aunty Sarah went to feed him she decided to offer the milk in a bucket with hope that he would drink from the bucket instead of a bottle – he did. As he was now relying on us to feed him it was vital that feeding times were set. These times were set every 2 hours except at nights when he had more milk for his last feed so to help him through the night. Patrick takes 22 pints of foster milk each day in 7 feeds also approximately 1lb of foal mix as hard food. When he was with his mother in the field, Patrick ran with his sister, Poppet and her foal, Peggy, as well as other mares and foals. Taking quite a big risk, Grandad and Aunty Sarah took Patrick out, for the day, in to the field he had been in before. As Poppet was grey – like his mum, Pandora – Patrick took a liking to her and stayed very close. Occasionally Grandad or Aunty Sarah would witness seeing Patrick sneaking a suckle from Poppet. Poppet, at first, was not very keen on feeding Patrick as well as her own foal Peggy but after a while she began to let him. Grandad is making sure that Poppet is being fed well so that neither she nor the foals lose condition; Poppet has also been tested in foal again for next year. Now after 2 month, Patrick suckles whenever he wants during the day and the whole family is doing great! It is expected to wean Patrick at about 4 months old along with the other foals which are being kept at Hockerwood farm.