Surprise foal's a showstopper
WHEN keen horsewoman Zoe Hooper took a chance and bought a mare “sight unseen,” her heart sank when it was walked from the horsebox near Ardersier a year ago.
The three-year-old Dutch warmblood sports horse, now named Leahvalla, was in far from good condition.
Miss Hooper (29) said: “She had come over from Holland to the south of England three months earlier, and was in a bit of a sorry state. She had a cut leg and needed to be sedated, and had no experience of being groomed.
“I worked away on her over the summer and eventually managed to ride her and take her to shows, although throughout the summer we struggled to get her to keep weight on.”
In July last year the farrier noticed a swollen udder and, fearing an infection, Miss Hooper, from King Street in Nairn, called the vet.
She said: “He examined her then laughed and said ‘Congratulations, you’re going to have a foal.’
“I could hardly believe it, especially when I phoned the previous owner and asked if Leahvalla could be in foal, and he said ‘Not at all.’
“The planned trip to the Highland Show was cancelled and with my niece Courtney Ross I slept in the car beside the field so that we could keep an eye on Leahvalla.
“We didn’t have long to wait, and 10 hours after the vet’s visit I walked down the field with a torch to check on her.
“I spotted what I thought was a baby deer, and that was when I first met Heartbreaker Out of the Blue.
“We named him Out of the Blue for obvious reasons because getting two for the price of one was a complete surprise.”
Since then mother and son have blossomed, and have been winning many prizes including at the Grantown Show and the Grass Sickness Charity Show (overall champion). They also saw success at the Caledonian Showing Championships at Howe, where they took overall third.
* Click here to read more news.
