NAMING

Naming something - a pet, a child, a car (..just me?) is always a stressful experience. No one wants to pick a crap name, so i'm sure you'll understand the relief i felt that the responsibility of naming the foal did not lie with me.

It was, however, always a topic of discussion. Pre-birth, you have no idea what the foal will be like - colour, personality, height, gender, conformation - they're all unknown. One of the only foal-related discussion topics available is the naming and, in my opinion, the best names suit the foal's personality and are cleverly related back to the sire/dam.

Whilst brainstorming for ideas one day, Laura, my mom and I were discussing the idea of 'Willo The Wisp' (get it? Wisp...Whisper..?) when I realised I didn't actually know what a 'Wisp' was. The following exchange went something like this:

"A wisp? It's like a fairy or something, isn't it?"
"Really? A fairy?|
"Yeah, it's like a sprite"

And there you have it. Sprite.

My dad meeting Sprite for the first time at 30 hours old.

LABOUR, BIRTH & FIRST FEW HOURS

Laura dropped Whisper off at the stud on 11/02/13 when she was 322 days pregnant. This was so she could get all settled back there before she went into labour. Her due date came and passed with still no sign of the foal. At this point I was back at University in Oxford and constantly on edge in case I needed to jump into my Clio and drive back as quickly as possible so I didn't miss anything. As she became more and more overdue, I forced myself to put it to the back of my mind and focus on my work.

Laura and Whisper at 322 days pregnant

On 28th March, exactly a year and one day after Whisper was covered, I received a phone call from Laura telling me that Whisper had given birth at 8am that day. (Cue me throwing the contents of my wardrobe into a box and bolting out the door whilst simultaneously chugging caffeine drinks to keep me going after just 2 hours sleep the previous night!)

Apparently Whisper had 'bagged up' a little bit the previous night, so Phil (the owner of the stud) had been keeping a close eye on her since. He went off to do some other work and came back to check on her again a little while later, and the foal was just there. If you know Whisper, you'll know that sort of fuss-free behaviour is so typical of her. You have to laugh - even when birthing something she still stays true to character and doesn't make a big deal of it. "Yeah I just gave birth - and what?"

For the first few hours, Phil said she was a bit neurotic and she didn't quite understand what was going on - understandable! However, a while later she seemed to bond more with him, and became quite protective. (Basically, watch out for biting teeth and striking hooves if you dare try and take him from her!)

Whisper and the foal at 7 hours old

We arrived at the stud at 3pm and immediately rushed to see the foal. After congratulating a very proud-looking Whisper and telling her what a good job she'd done (yes, I do treat her like a person) I turned my attention to the ball of fluff on 4 very long and wobbly legs. I was surprised at how bold he was - stumbling his way straight over to us as soon as Whisper let him (she's a protective momma).

The foal at 7 hours old

Health-wise, Whisper was peachy. Like I said, she doesn't fuss. The only thing I will say is that I think her teats must have been a bit tender. Every time he went to suckle she let out a cross between a squeal and a grunt - but didn't lift her back leg or anything. What a trooper! The foal had some gunk in his eye and also had trouble passing droppings for the first 12 hours, but after everything got moving these issues seemed to resolve themselves. Phil text Laura the next day saying that he'd just seen the foal cantering laps of the stable with Whisper following him round. Being a tinker and annoying mom already, typical boy!

Tired baby - 7 hours old

THE DAM

Name:                 Liosas Whisper

Breed:                 Irish Sport Horse

Sire:                   Unknown

Dam:                  Unknown

Height:               14.1hh

Colour:               Dun

Year foaled:         1997

We bought whisper in 2005 from a little yard near Melton Mowbray. I show jumped her for the following four years with success up to national level. After out-growing her and deciding that she was too talented to waste, we attempted to sell her, but simply couldn't find the right person for her as she can sometimes be crazy tricky to ride. Exams then took over and unfortunately Whisper became a field pony / happy hacker and also had a brief spell on loan. Shortly after we took her back on, Laura, the manager of the livery yard where she is kept, expressed an interest in having her on loan as a broodmare. We gladly accepted as this meant we didn't have to pay for livery for the time being (get in!)

Whisper and I competing UKCR 2006

After choosing a stallion, we firstly tried artificial insemination as Whisper is quite a bit smaller than Chief and we didn't want to put her through any unnecessary discomfort, however this proved unsuccessful. Having tried and failed to put my other mare in foal previously, I'm going to tell you the truth and say I pretty much convinced myself that this wasn't going to happen either. I was pleasantly surprised when I was given the news that Whisper was pregnant from the first attempt at natural cover.

Whisper in the field 2010

THE SIRE

Name:          Bazaar's Chief
Breed:          Thoroughbred X (3/4)

Sire:             Bazaar's Exclusive (full pedigree here)

Dam:            Capatche

Height:         16hh

Colour:         Tobiano

Year foaled:  2004

"Chief has exceptional event horse breeding. His dam, grandam and great grandam have all produced sucessful horses from intermediate to 4* level. including Capuchin (placed Lexington , Badminton and Burghley), Capstan, Cappucino, Capulet, Caprice and Cap That.

Chief has had a very successful seasons eventing with Andrew Downes and is now competing at intermediate level. He has 64 FP points and 25 BE points, proving to be very consistent in all 3 phases.

Chiefs youngstock have gained BEF first premiums and had success in the show ring. His oldest have qaulified BYEH finals and been well placed in the BE4yo classes"

- Bazzar's Stud Website 

We chose Chief to sire the foal because of both his quality and exceptional temperament, which his offspring seem to inherit. We watched him show jump at Catton British Eventing, and thought he was so calm and collected, yet still had talent and a certain wow factor. Chief was 8 years old when Whisper's foal was conceived.

Bazaar's Chief

Whisper was covered naturally by Bazaar's Chief  on 27/03/12. A year and one day later (28/03/13) she gave birth at 8am to a little bay colt. Follow him as he grows.