And I shall name thy foal...

It was an exciting day today, a day of new beginnings, the miracle of nature, fresh faces... and no, I wasn't returning home. I was witnessing a foal being born.

It happened when J and I were readying the horses for their day of work (and ours). I hear J call out to me several times, and when I look over I see Black Beauty, the heavily pregnant mare I mentioned in yesterday's blog, on the ground and pushing. Her water had already broken and by the time I ran down, camera in hand, the front legs were on their way out of the back end.

Trembling with excitement, I was already on the phone to the boss and by the time I hung up, the whole foal was out. Quickest birth ever! They say horses usually take 5 - 20 mins to give birth... oh, to be a horse! Then it was a matter of breaking through the birthing membrane, get some air and get it off the baby. We were under instruction not to touch it so we just stood and watched, warding off curious horses nearby.

The process wasn't entirely smooth. She had decided to give birth right on the fence line, so the baby fell out kinda half in the feeding paddock (with all the other horses in there) and half under the Tamaring tree we usually get guests to wait by to mount up. J ended up having to nudge the foal a little to get it more on one side, so the mum could lick her and start the imprinting process.

The boss arrived shortly, excited family in tow, and we watched as the foal got to her (we now realised it was a girl) feet within 15 mins of birth - again, horses are amazing - and stagger around her mum looking for the teat it desperately wanted to suckle, tongue hanging out to the side. I was like a proud mother, videotaping her first steps and brimming with smiles as all appeared healthy and well. J told me I could name her, even though he was the first to see the birth technically, so I spent the rest of the day deep in thought. The boss says something Spanish... I'm thinking Pimienta (Pepper), as once the foal dried you could see some small speckles of white on it.

Then we got back to work as we had a ride coming in any moment, the same Dutch St Maarten woman and her kids I had a while back, this time with a bunch of visiting Americans with her. J and I had to split the ride, an irritating affair in itself, let alone the fact we had to deal with this bitchy, pushy woman for the ride. Of course, I was assigned her and her kids, the "faster" ride.

After the recent changes and mounting paranoia re safety on our rides, everyone wore helmets and I firmly told them the ride would go as to the lowest standard rider in the group. After the dad of 2 kids who could ride said to me while I fixed his stirrups, "We're not going faster than a trot, are we?" then one of his daughters telling me she only just learnt to canter, I thought, nope definitely NOT going faster than a trot!

The ride was uneventful, we did a few short trots but in essence, what they'd paid for (heavily discounted, thanks to this woman) was a walking ride so anything more was actually just out of kindness on our part. The kids and the adults would have been fine not even running, but this woman and her kids were pushing for it faster. I was having none of it. At the end, the Americans tipped me but of course the woman didn't. Again. Actually didn't even hear her say thanks.

Straight after, I had 3 more locals, this time from the French side. They also had only paid for walking so that's what they got. J asked me after if they tipped, I told him they were still wandering around taking pictures of the foal, and shortly after one of the girls came and gave me a small tip. Smaller than what J said he got, actually, so either the girl was really annoyed I didn't let her take her helmet off, she didn't have much money on her or I was just a shit guide. Whatever.

With the internet still playing up at work (I wonder if they've done some kind of blocking or changed their plan), I had to go to Pineapple Pete's for a beer and a surf. A was chilled now that he'd heard from me, had been worrying his little head I'd been up to... well, I dunno really. Who knows what goes on in there. I'm not sure how many times I can reassure him I am really trustworthy but I guess it'll wear thin soon. As long as he cuts it out when we're together again...

I think I got a bit of sun today as my body feel dehydrated. And my lips are a bit swollen from the sun, even though I've been applying lip cream like it's going out of fashion. But at least I got a good lunch, a soup gifted to me by my old neighbour. Bailed on my Spanish bar plans tonight as I have to work tomorrow - there was a mistake on the schedule so it seems I'm not off anymore. But Tuesday I'm hoping to get to Loterie Farm for some ziplining and then to Grand Cass for this weekly fiesta thing. It's go go go around here!