The Story of Hewey - part 8
Hewey becoming a real horse at last!
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Now that Hewey was actually drinking directly from Gloria life could practically get back to normal for his team of carers. Hewey and Gloria were still confined to the small 12’ x 24’ yard with the stable being accessible only to Hewey. We were still supplementing the milk to the tune of about 18 litres per day and Hewey had hard feed and hay available both inside the stable and out in the yard.
On the 31st of March we weighed and measured Hewey and Patch who were 11 and 6 weeks old respectively. Each weighed 110 kilograms but Patch was just under a hand taller measuring 11 hands and 1/2 inch to Heweys 10.1 hands. Interestingly their growth rates were tracking very similarly but Patch had a big head start!
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As Hewey was growing he worked his way through rugs sizes (slowly) in 3 inch increments. Even though it was summer and autumn he had been born with very little hair and so had been always rugged when it was even a bit on the cold side.
| The next few weeks were uneventful. However the day came when Hewey was 3 months old and was allowed out in a big yard for the day. It was the 12th of April. This yard was still only 15m x 30m but that was more than 3 times what he was used to. Patch was next door with his mum so they could actually run up and down the fence together, I’m sure just to stress the onlookers. Hewey did keep returning to me for reassurance though. |  |
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| Yet again as with previous routine changes Hewey had less milk (from me anyway) for the day with his consumption dropping from around 15-18 litre to 12 litres for the day. The following day it was back up to 18 litres. It was of course much better for Hewey to be out in the bigger yard for the day but it meant taking the milk out to him rather than leaving it in the stable. We brought them all back into the stables each night and they stayed in if the weather was inclement. |  |
| Hewey generally had 3 litres at a time in a bucket, 5 or 6 times a day with Gloria filling in the gaps. This routine was kept up for about another month until the middle of May when we decreased the amount of Wombaroo over two weeks to 8 litres per day in 4 feeds. In mid June we did the same thing to drop the bucket feeding to 4 litres a day and then again at the beginning of July we decreased it further to finally finish milk supplementation on the 6th of July! |  |
Gloria was of course still feeding Hewey and as she was not back in foal there was no rush to wean him. We weighed and measured both Hewey and Patch again on the 10th of May. Hewey was 156.5 kg and now 11.1hh and at the rump he was another 1 1/2 inch higher. Similarly Patch was 158kg, 12hh plus 2 inches at the rump.
When next we measured them on the 7th of July, they were both still croup high with Hewey measuring 11.3 1/2 (plus 2 1/2” behind) and Patch 13.1 (plus 2” behind).
| Once Hewey was off the bucket, he and Gloria could begin to share a paddock with Patch and Belle. This was again pretty momentous as he could really play with Patch. I did always feel a bit sorry for him though as Patch was always in charge even though their weights were pretty even. Gloria was the paddock boss though so that gave Hewey some extra privileges! Saffy and her mum Mary Poppins were in the paddock next door. The next event was the 29th of July when freeze branding took place. Hewey was now 197 days of age and even though he had clearly turned into a little horse was still used to being treated like a delicate little thing! |
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See how much taller Patch is!
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| On the 28th of August we moved the three mares and foals in together and Hewey spent his first ever night out of the stable. He was a bit stressed when we didn’t bring him in as had been the routine ('umm, excuse me, but haven't you forgotten something?') but he did get over it and of course he had a rug on! Saffy was even bigger and heavier than Patch so they all enjoyed quite a bit of rough play.
The following day we removed Mary Poppins and then on the 9th of September Belle followed. |
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That's MP in the background.
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Hewey was now 12.2 1/2 hh, Patch 14hh and Saffy 14.2hh. Gloria is always a very good aunty so she got the job of staying on and looking after the kids!
| We obviously had not hurried to wean Hewey as we were trying to give him the best chance of being a normal horse and Gloria wasn't pregnant. He still however had a fairly strong attachment to people, me in particular. He also had no concept of personal space as he had grown up literally sharing it. Aside from this though he was pretty well behaved for a bucket reared foal. However he continued to foal mouth people but not horses so despite our best efforts he was a little confused. |  |
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Hewey is ALWAYS in your face!
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| He was christened the ‘attack pony’ by some of our friends due to his unusual habit of cantering straight up to you head outstretched, 'foal mouthing' (showing and clacking his teeth) and practically ramming into you, no harm intended! Foal-mouthing is a show of submission that young horses make to adult horses, ie 'I'm just a baby, don't hurt me!' Hewey is the only horse we've seen do this towards humans! |  |
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Eventually of course it had to happen and on the 4th of October Hewey had his second weaning, this time from Gloria! Actually he wasn't much concerned as she walked down the lane but was when I walked in the opposite direction. I'm quite sure she was essentially regarded as the milk bar and a last resort protector if I wasn't around! On the 10th of November Saffy headed off to her new home in NSW leaving Patch and Hewey to continue growing up on their own.
| 12th of January 2006. Hewey was actually one year old. He had made it to 13.1 1/2 (Patch was 14.3 1/2) and was a healthy young chap! If one assumed that he was now 90% of his adult height he should grow to 14.3 1/2. If we were very hopeful and went with 80% as some 'rules of thumb' suggest, he should make 16.3. Using Patch as a guide though we had to stick to the 90%, or Patch would end up at 19 hands!! The following month on Patch’s birthday they were 13.2 1/2 and 15.1.
I would like to say that everything proceeded uneventfully from here on, but you all know horses. |
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Hewey gave us a big scare on April 6th when he had an episode of colic. After a couple of visits from our local vet the decision was made to head for Werribee Vet Hospital. Hewey had never been in the truck but he was used to going wherever we went so loading him was no drama. However he was not used to being left nor being able to see out so Richard had to travel with him while I drove. Fortunately we were able to avoid surgery and Hewey only had to spend one night away from home.
In mid June Hewey graduated from being a pony. He had made it to 14 hands and 1/8th of an inch!!
| Life did proceed normally for the next 6 or so months with Hewey and Patch being the best of mates even though they did play very rough at times. Shortly after he turned 2 years old, Hewey was 14.2 1/2 and Patch 16.1 1/2. Sadly Hewey just cannot catch up.
Hewey's next trip in the truck happened in late March 2007 when he had to ‘babysit’ Patch who had neither been in the float nor the truck. Hewey of course went straight on giving the lead to Patch who was somewhat more reluctant. |
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We had picked about the worst day possible but it was a veterinary matter so we could not plan for it. There were bush fires and road accidents all over the place with the weather going from stinking hot to thunderstorms. What should have been about a 4 hour round trip turned into an epic day. Both boys were very well behaved but when we finally got back home at 9:30pm, Patch would not come out of the truck! Hewey was in behind him but with great difficulty we managed to get the dividers and Hewey out past Patch who would not budge. Hewey would still go pretty much wherever I went so he happily went down the ramp then up again and down and half way etc trying to tempt Patch out. Hewey was completely unfazed and spent half the time part way up the ramp eating with Patch who eventually some 2 hours later left the truck!
| Once again life proceeded normally with the two boys sharing their paddock as happy two year old colts. However life had to change again when Patch went off to be broken in. He was 16.2 1/2 now and I did not fancy doing him myself! Hewey unaccustomed to being on his own did not see why he could not just walk right under the fence. After all, that was what he did in his early life to get into his stable. He did this a few times and so had to be confined to a yard to curb his wanderings. |  |
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This was just about the time that Equine Influenza hit the country so I ended up with a little more time on my hands. A good opportunity to start the next phase in Hewey’s life...