Hay time, pollen and new recruits
As anyone who follows racing knows well, pollen can and often does affect racehorses for a time and at Sun Hill we too have our moments of frustration. If it’s not the bright yellow oil seed rape making trainer’s moan, it is good old tree and grass pollen. Personally some of our best years have come when we have been surrounded by glorious yellow fields while the horses here seem to have found the pollen from the grass and trees worse.
One solution offered up for humans suffering from hay fever and allergies to pollen is to eat a spoonful of honey produced within a mile or two of your home every day for some weeks before the pollen rears its ugly head and produces its pungent smell. This apparently builds up an immunity to the dreaded pollen and greatly reduces the effects of it. Hence we now have our own bee hives at Sun Hill, courtesy of a local bee keeper, they are situated in a quiet corner of the farm and tomorrow our first bucket load of honey will be delivered to the feed room. I had wanted to do this for some time but could not find a bee keeper easily, and I don’t know how long it will take to get into the horses systems and help any horses who are affected, it is also quite possible that by the time it works the worst of the pollen will be over anyway, but it will be an interesting and worthwhile exercise in any event.
It has also been “hay time” this week, with the bigger field in front of the yard now nicely cut, baled and taken off site while over at the farm in the village, two new recruits have arrived safely from “Goresbridge sales” in Ireland. George and I were due to attend but had so much going on at home we decided not to make the journey but instead mentioned to a couple of vendors who we trust implicitly that should they have a horse they recommend who was not making a good enough price then by all means do “send them over”.
Goresbridge has been a lucky sale for us, every year we have bought winners from there including “Willie the Whipper” who turned into a proper Black type horse.
Lot 10 is a lovely dark colt, and a son of new season sire “Society Rock” who breezed very well and who looks every inch a racehorse while lot 141 is the daughter of Mayson who is making a name for himself as a useful, tough genuine stallion. I am sure these two juveniles will soon find new owners.
Take a look at the breeze up on this link
http://www.irishhorse.com/bloodstock-sales/lot/bz010/