A local dressage riding school in Thurleigh had double cause for celebration on Coronation Day, with the birth of an American miniature horse foal, appropriately named after the new King.
The foal has been crowned ‘Champagne Charlie’ by the owners of Thurleigh Equestrian Centre to commemorate the date of his birth.
Although they knew the foal was expected to arrive over the bank holiday weekend, the Centre’s owners couldn’t be sure of the exact date.
Beth Maloney, the owner of Thurleigh Equestrian Centre, near Bedford, was getting ready for the final evening checks on the yard on Saturday night and discovered the surprise arrival.
It seemed that ‘mum’, the Centre’s American miniature mare Champagne on Ice’ (or ‘Ice’ as she’s affectionately known on the yard), had already given birth to her little foal.
“My husband Simon and I had set up a make-shift paddock in our back garden so we could keep a watchful eye on mum as she was very close to her due date and having checked all the horses on the main yard, did a final check to see if she was alright,” said Beth.
“As it was dark, we struggled to see where mum was, but out of the darkness, we spotted the newborn foal standing next her. We had to do a double take as suddenly I could see two horses in the garden.
“When we went into the garden, the foal was up and walking around already. It looked like she had been born around 15 to 20 minutes before at 10pm”.
The couple had been watching the Coronation throughout the day, so immediately thought a fitting tribute would be to name him after the new King, with a nod to the little one’s mum, Champagne on Ice.
“That night both mum and Charlie were brought into a warm and comfortable stable, just to make sure all was well,” said Beth.
“The next day, both were given their own little paddock from where they could bond in a little peace and quiet.
“This is Champagne on Ice’s third foal, but the first sired by our own superstar American miniature stallion, Costa. We have five American miniature horses on site now, and they are fantastic companions to our ‘big’ horses, who are ridden by our clients, and love playing with the minis.”
Beth told the Bedford Independent that Charlie and Ice will stay in their own paddock for a while, before joining the rest of the Centre’s miniatures out in the field.
“Ice will now have a well-earned break, and we are just over the moon that ‘Charlie’ is the latest addition to the Thurleigh Equestrian Centre family.”
