Amazing Grace. Published in the IDHS (GB) year book.

They say "the Good die young" well I for one agree.

In June of this year I lost my RID mare Bright Alice to colic at the young age of six. Alice was at the vet collage for a week, and had treatment at home , we thought we had saved her as she seemed fit and well but on the morning of 18th June I found her dead in her stable.

I still miss her very much as she was very, very special and the kindest mare anyone could wish for.

Alice had three lovely foals Avanti Racey Gracie a three year old RID, whom I kept, Avanti Mr Malcolm a gelding sold to a friend and her last foal Avanti Gregarious Gloria who is five months old and whom I am also keeping. Gloria was just five weeks old when Alice died, so we set about caring for her, at first she was fed every two hours, day and night, so we slept in the horsebox in the field. We were very worried about her behaviour as everyone in the know told us, that if we could not find a foster mother for Gloria she would not know how to graze, groom or any other of the normal equine habits that foals learn from their dam.

We did not need to worry. The first day she was orphaned, we put her in the stable with Gracie for company, Gracie was always close to the foals as she is really only a baby herself, but at this time she showed what a wonderful sister she was. They clung to each other and soon became inseparable. Gracie raised Gloria as her own and although she could not feed her, she groomed, licked and guarded her 24 hours a day.

Gracie was still very close to Alice as they all lived in a little herd together so I suppose she felt the loss of Alice as greatly as Gloria did. We continued to feed Gloria every two hours up to 8 weeks of age, then we left her six hours through the night, from 8 to 12 weeks every three hours, 12 to 16 weeks every four hours and at the time of writing this article she is 5 months old and is getting two milk feeds, morning and evening, plus foal creep, and as she is living out adlib hay.

We got through 24 10 kilo sacks of foal milk, and Gloria has grown into a real cutie, and she appears to have her mother's kind temperament . I will always have a special place in my heart for my darling Alice, but she has left me the most wonderful fillies anyone could wish for, and although I though of Gracie as very special, I think most of you would agree, fostering her little sister she really is Gloria's Saving Grace, or even maybe Amazing Grace.