Introducing Digger..... Just Born today 9/1/11

January is VERY early for a  baby foal to be born... but here he is. Born on the most beautiful day of the year so far.

Saying that, the ground was covered with a thick hard frost when he arrived this morning ... but both mum and baby are well.

Summer is a 15hh palomino Welsh section D mare. Digger's dad is a dun and white coloured cob called Castrol. This will be the only baby Castrol will sire as he "saw" the vet late last Spring.

Digger is going to be palomino just like his mum. Only time will tell if he is going to have any white leg markings.... since he has been born blessed with a thick furry coat to cope with the winter weather.

It's so lovely to have a new baby foal - especially when he is so friendly and Summer is so happy to have us all cuddle him (and her) too.

Last year, Summer had a little foal at the end of January. It died in a tragic accident when it fell in a pond and drowned. We were ALL heart broken - especially Summer.... and my husband who had to retrieve the little body from the pond to bury the next day. It should never have happened, but unfortunately, the day she foaled - I was in hospital with Oliver who was very sick with pneumonia. Had I been there, she would have been safely tucked up and in a stable with her baby instead of having got into the back field in the first place.

Because she had such bad luck, I vowed she would not lose another and let her have another baby. Summer is a total sweetheart and the proudest mummy. With much of the winter still to come, there is a lot of hard work on the way... but a lot of visitors and fun too !

I know this has absolutely no place on a food blog - but heck... it's not every day a new foal arrives :-)

I had every intention of baking and food blogging today. Instead, we spend much of the afternoon fetching more straw and foal cuddling !

Digger's father and mother - Castrol (left) and Summer (right). Summer 2010