FOURLANDS LIZZIE BROWN

Lizzie was advertised as a ‘3 year old filly, broken to ride and needing bringing on’. When I got her home I quickly discovered she had been sat on and backed, but by no means broken. She was happy to follow a lead pony, but not go forward by herself and very quickly learned to buck with a vertical twist! Lizzie was quite the thug when she was younger and very much an alpha Mare. She didn’t take kindly to lunging or schooling and would resist any attempts at making her work; friends of mine tried helping break her in, but quickly gave up as she was proving too dangerous. It once took me 45 attempts to mount her and when I finally did, she exploded!

I gave Lizzie time, space and security and in the end she proved that she was an amazingly versatile, fun and safe horse to ride. It took a while, but once she’d settled down I was able to take her to a few local shows, the beach, fun rides, we even herded sheep and cattle, rode bare back and I broke her to harness.

Lizzie was put to a Shire named Apollo with the hope of producing a foal but she did not seem to ‘catch’, or so we thought! we only became aware she was in foal 2 weeks before the birth. Unfortunately, her beautiful filly was born in the early hours of the morning with no one around and she slipped in the mud and hit her head on a rock. This caused a bleed and she died within a couple of hours. I was alerted by a dog walker and when I arrived at the field Lizzie led me to her foal then rested her head on my shoulder for a while. She was sad and confused but wanted me to reassure her; I left the foal for a couple of days so that Lizzie could say goodbye and accept that the foal had not lived.

For the 2nd foal Lizzie was put with Jasper, my stallion with premium Skeyton Matthew bloodlines. She was in foal during a horrific winter with a temperature average of -10 degrees and it snowed regularly. About 9 months into her pregnancy I came to feed her and Jasper but was only greeted by Jasper; Lizzie was on the other side of the field staring into the woods and looking noticeably thinner. She stayed at that spot for 24 hours and would not move – she just kept staring. I think she threw the foal due to the harsh weather conditions and it was carried away by foxes or a wild cat. I hadn’t realised that it is quite common for Shires to throw a foal if the circumstances aren’t conducive to protect the health of the mare.

Following advice of other breeders and vets I put Lizzie to Jasper again, to help her deal with the loss of 2 failed pregnancies. She was scanned at 6 weeks and confirmed in foal and as her pregnancy progressed I moved her closer to home in order to monitor her much more frequently. The pregnancy went well and she gave birth to the handsome (but naughty) Boston-Louie.

Lizzie hadn’t been ridden during her pregnancies so she’d effectively had 3 years off, once Boston was weaned I hopped on and she took to hacking again happily and without issue. To be honest I think she was glad of the break from stallions, pregnancies and foals! After having foals and looking after other members of the herd she seems to have calmed down and is far more laid back. She has handed the reins of responsibility to Dulce and Queenie while she takes a back seat and enjoys life at a much less stressful pace. Lizzie is so well behaved and trustworthy that complete novices can ride her and feel safe and I regularly hack bareback, a far cry from the Lizzie I bought all those years ago.

Lizzie was in foal once again in 2021 to Jasper and bore a stunning skewbald colt, Tom Thumb. She was such a dedicated, loving mum as always but sadly Tom Thumb passed away at 6 weeks after catching a chill due to a freak rain storm, This chill developed into pneumonia even though we treated it within hours of noticing and heartbreakingly Tom Thumb passed away a few hours later. The heartbreak will never leave but Lizzie owes me absolutely nothing and can now have a life of fun, relaxation and doing exactly what she pleases. I could not have asked for a better mum to a foal but life has not dealt Lizzie a fair hand so it’s my responsibility to make sure she suffers no further loss.