Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Candy, a fairly new member of the Twin Palms Riding Centre's equine entourage and a very sweet, little grey mare, managed to completely stun staff at the stables when she was found on Monday morning with a newborn!
No-one had any idea she was even pregnant. Being a bit on the thinner side when she arrived last year, she had filled out nicely in recent months and did fantastically during the summer.
From the start, Candy had adapted brilliantly to the life of a school pony and was much loved and very popular with all the young riders, especially Lucy Lunt-Bell who leases her.
Admittedly, through the summer with many people away, things had been pretty quiet for all of the ponies and Candy had obviously planned her pregnancy very well.
However, with summer over, everyone slowly returned, and Candy had started back to work as normal.
Lucy, back from her holiday, had been tending to and looking after her charge - riding her albeit not excessively. Our surprise mum was in fact happily cantering around the school paddock the night before the foal was born!
Candy's new arrival, the father of whom remains a mystery, though we have to concur he must have been a handsome horse, is a simply stunning little bay colt.
Completely unaware of his sensational arrival he has taken it all in his tiny stride - not quite the same for all of the other inhabitants, one of the older ponies was so upset by the new arrival he moved stable for two days to get over the shock.
Candy, it would appear, is a first time mum but has proved to be both protective and happy to nurture her newborn. The pair have been given a nice and quiet private roomy stable, a bit like a film stars trailer and are now quietly getting on with life.
The pair take walks every day and they have the freedom to roam and run around the paddocks in the quieter moments.
The foal is simply a joy to watch as he explores and finds something new in his life every day, so Too Hot To Trot will follow his progress as he grows from baby to youth to adult, and find out how this unexpected, but truly wonderful, surprise takes to his life in Bahrain.
Upcoming events
TWIN Palms Riding Centre is hosting a Curry and Quiz night tomorrow. This is open to all. The quiz will be in sections and cover a variety of topics, with a smattering of equine-related questions!
If you have every wondered about horse riding, come along and see what it's all about and meet the instructors in an informal and friendly gathering.
Contact Twin Palms on 39566809 to book or find out more details. This promises to be a popular event.
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ON Friday, October 8, both the Dilmun Stables and Twin Palms will host the first of this season's show jumping events, both in-house, as a result of glanders precautions.
Contact the respective stables for any further information.
