Horses

My horse, Beaux, was born in Waipukurau, his Father is Dad's Clydesdale, Willy. His mother is a jet black
thoroughbred called Belle.

He has a white stripe down his nose, calm look in his eyes and is quite lazy. He will turn two years old this October and is about 14 hands and 3 inches tall and still growing. Being a Clydesdale thoroughbred cross, he will probably grow quite big. He is brown and black in colour with a touch of white on his feet and nose.

Lately, Beaux has been sick. He had a temperature of 41 Celsius. All horses have a normal temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, so he was three degrees too high. Also, he developed diarrhoea, so Dad and I went to town and got him some injections. Thankfully, he got better.

Until I am bigger I'm not allowed alone in the paddock with Beaux because I could get kicked. We don't brush Beaux every day because we don't need to. He loves to eat and I have lots of fun riding him.

Did you know that horses can sleep standing up. Horses have the largest eyes of any known land animal. They are herbivores. Their hooves are made of keratin with a patch of skin called a frog on the inside of the leg is a thing called a chestnut.

And while we're at it, I'll tell you some Clydesdale facts. Believe it or not, they come from a place called Clydesdale. They were used in war, hauled beer, wine and logs. They have feathers on their feet. One called Toby is winning shows. His full name is Riverview Captain Tobias and he is Willy's son. Toby is Beaux' half brother.

I have loved horses since I have been able to understand the word horse.