I'd like to pay a little tribute to the New Forest pony stallion, Lovelyhill High-Jack who was put to sleep in Sweden yesterday. This stallion was out at Fritham for three years running and led to a beautiful collection of roan ponies in this area. Unfortunately, I never got a foal from him from Blue even though she tried very hard to engage him in kiss-chase. Nelly's foal, Peechay, was by High-Jack and he had his father's wonderful temperament.
I used to sit and observe High-Jack when he was out courting, and after covering a mare, he would come over to stand by me while he had his metaphorical cigarette, and he was always good mannered even when it was at the height of the breeding season. I have seen him turn away mares that were too young, or not in good enough condition to be covered, and he would always chase the optimistic Shetland mares away.
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| A lovelorn Blue chases after High-Jack |
One day I saw that he had been injured, possibly by another stallion who had crept into his area, and the wound on his bottom was quite deep. I phoned his owner, Kerry Dovey who agreed that I should bring him in, and he spent the afternoon whispering sweet nothings to Blue who I'd brought in to keep him company. He allowed me to clean up his wound while he waited for his lift home.
When he was sixteen, and no longer eligible for the stallion scheme, he was sold to Martin Larrson in Sweden, who kept him for breeding there. High-Jack was a good, old-fashioned looking stallion with a gorse-crunching jaw, who always looked stunning. He's had a good life.
