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However, now he is growing up 'Lucky is rapidly becoming famous as a local celebrity in our area,
and he started off last week by making a personal appearance at our local shopping centre to raise money for Naomi House, a charity that looks after terminally ill children.

 Next stop... BLUE PETER!

 On Wednesday 28th February we all set off at 5 am for the CBBC studios at BBC tv centre in London with Lucky and Spiderman ( Shadel Going for Gold and Shadel Shades of Dreamtime ).

Neither colt was impressed at being got out of bed at that time in the morning ( the price of fame !) but were quite happy at the prospect of TWO breakfasts, one before setting off and another on arrival.  

With us were Fletcher and her mum Becky, Fletcher very excited at the prospect of being on tv.( Fletcher now owns Spiderman.) On arrival we left the boys having their second breakfast and went to have our own in the BBC canteen. (No famous faces around at that time of the morning !)  We then went to have a look at the location, the Blue Peter garden. Nowhere near as big as it looks on the tv, and even smaller when filled with tv equipment and staff as you can see below

Everyone had to be extremely quiet whilst they broadcast the weather report at 9am.......then it was our turn.  

The girls and boys then had a chance to meet Andy, the presenter, and have a run through the script to see where they were likely to have problems. It was at this point that Spiderman finally realised he was a boy and took a fancy to one of the two fillies that were also there! ( A bit of moving people and ponies around managed to solve that problem.) 

We had now gained quite a crowd of onlookers as apparently a lot of people at the studios had read Lucky's story on here and had wanted to meet him. It is amazing how many people are needed to make even a few minutes of live tv...(now we know where the licence fee goes !)

Below - Fletcher running through her lines with Andy and the crew

A break during filming. 'This Blue Peter grass is obviously far superior to what we have at home

Fletche and Lucky testing the Blue Peter carrots

 Everyone trying out the Blue Peter carrots. Even stars have to be bribed sometimes!

Filming underway. Aren't we all being good? ..apart from Lucky who is still chasing those carrots

Almost a camera each !!

'lucky and Spiderman being very good whilst the rest of the crew try to round up a reluctant star !!

Having caught one.....Andy then let go of the other one !!

With everything back under control....a chance for a break....and to get out of the mud ! 

Making even a short piece for tv takes a long time.... in fact it took almost four hours to shoot all the footage that they needed for just four minutes of airtime........ so there was an awful lot of standing about. The weather had been awful overnight, so the garden was very wet and muddy, but fortunately the rain stayed away during filming.  

Some light relief was provided by the other two horses who both decided, at different times, that a little exploration of the garden was necessary - without their handlers of course.  

One of the fillies was meant to be jumping......but she took exception to being asked to jump in the mud (and who can blame her ?) and made a beeline for the exit. The other took advantage of Andy not concentrating for a split second and just wandered off !!

Lucky, Spiderman and Fletcher were all totally professional throughout, and we all enjoyed a chance to visit Television Centre and see how a programme is made.  

Once filming was over, and all the footage checked we were able to come home. Lucky strutted all the way back to the trailer and is without doubt one of the biggest show offs we have ever owned ! He tells me that it is the last time he is working for carrots though !! Next time he wants ALL the credit !

One warm & sunny afternoon at the end of May this year Derek called me at work in a bit of a panic. 'Quick...I think she's started' - she being our little palomino mare Goldie.  As she was a first time foaler I was quickly on the scene, and sure enough Goldie had decided that the time was now right ( having kept us waiting for four weeks over her due date !) We had been keenly anticipating the birth of this foal as it was the first by our new stallion Alchemist and we were hoping for a palomino. 


Sure enough, with a bit of help from me our new arrival was soon wriggling and sneezing on the grass beside mum.  

Having seen him up on his feet and settled with mum, nursing and wobbling around like all newborns, we decided to leave them for a while to recover and get to know each other.  

We returned at eight o'clock that evening to find one very poorly foal and one very worried mum. It would appear that at some point during his birth he had suffered from oxygen depravation and was now a very sick little boy. Unable to nurse, barely able to stand unaided, and unable to recognise his mum. In fact a classic ' dummy' foal.   

The vet was called immediately, although we didn't hold out a lot of hope...........  We spent two hours tubing him to try and get some food into him, mum was an absolute angel allowing herself to be milked even though it was the first time anyone had ever attempted to do so. It was clear that she was as worried as we were.    

The vet left us at midnight with the words..' if he is still alive in the morning call me and I will come straight back' We tucked him up in a stable with his mum and went to catch a couple of hours sleep.  It was with great trepidation that we returned in the morning. He was still lying wrapped up in jumpers and rugs in the corner of the box and he was still alive!  ....  Just.                                                                                                                                                               
Back came the vet and he was given massive doses of antibiotics, and a blood plasma transfusion ( in case he had not received enough colostrum from his mum.) Two hours later the vet left again. This time saying ' it is all up to him now, there is nothing more I can do.'    

I then spent the next 72 hours sleeping ( joke) in the box next door to him and mum. Getting up every hour to milk the mare and feed the foal through a stomach tube that the vet had fitted to make feeding easier. ( One tip we all learned here is that the best stomach tube for a miniature foal is a catheter, much finer. More difficult to get in to place, but much less intrusive .)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Every couple of hours he was encouraged to try and stand and nurse for himself, but he just wasn't strong enough.  Then, after 48 hours, he got up by himself and started to wobble around the box. The weather was so warm that I was able to carry him outside and lay him on the grass, wrapped up in rugs, so that poor mum could get out and graze for a bit.              

    
By the end of the second day he was trying to nurse for himself, but still found it a great effort. For the next 24 hours we alternated between feeding him and encouraging him to feed himself. Goldie was an absolute star, frequently encouraging him to get up and move about.'

After 72 hours I had forgotten what sleep was !!! but our little man had finally decided that he did want to stay with us after all, and was busily making up for lost time at the milk bar !!  At this point I must offer heartfelt thanks to two of our closest friends...... Jodie at Caliko Stud , who drove all the way up from Dorset one morning, just to bring me a rug......... and Lindy at Golden Oak Stud who did the same, and was always on the end of the 'phone to see how we were getting on. They both knew how much this foal meant to us, not only because of his colour....but also because he was by far and away the smallest foal we have ever bred. 

From that point on he got stronger every day, rapidly becoming strong enough to rejoin the rest of the group with his mum. ( They too had been anxiously checking on his progress every day, coming down to the stables every morning to see mum and trying to get a good look at him.)  

Well, some stories have a happy ending, this one has two !! Two weeks ago we took him to his first show with his mum................. and he won his first red rosette !!!