4 March 2026
Winnie Is Home!!
Yes, you heard correctly. Her Royal Highness has returned and has settled back into ruling her kingdom perfectly. It’s as if she never left!
Soo weaning.. how did it go?! If I’m honest, I think I was more emotional about it than either of them were!
We started gradually. First step was moving out of their luxury foaling suite and into some adjacent stables with grilled partitions. Initially with Winnie going in three times a day to let her suckle. Then we reduced to twice a day for a few days, then once, before eventually moving Winnie further down the row so Etty could begin adjusting to a bit more independence.
Safe to say Winnie was pretty pleased to not to have a small shadow attached 24/7, completely unbothered by the woke process.I think she would have happily weaned months ago! Etty, on the other hand, understandably had a few moments. Slightly shouty at times, a little box walking, and briefly considering whether digging her way under the partition might be a viable plan. The concrete floor proving to be somewhat problematic in her attempts to tunnel her way back to mum.
But overall, she has genuinely taken it all in her stride. She’s been eating well, interested in everything going on around her, and nowhere near as stressed as some can be during weaning. Lots of yummy feeds and scratches definitely helped!
I think one of my favourite updates has to be when Winnie was popped out for a bit. Instead of the dramatic calling match you might expect, Etty barely lifted her head… meanwhile the same couldn’t be said for several of the neighbouring horses who caused quite a ruckus! Our queen doth find admirers wherever she goes.
I’m so proud of how both of them handled it. Weaning is so important but it all went so smoothly, very grateful to the whole team at Hill View Stud for making the transition as stress free as possible for my two girls.
Of course, we couldn’t have everything go perfectly…
Whilst we successfully weaned Etty, we also rather successfully “unweaned” Maple.
Despite only knowing Winnie for a few months before she went to stud, Maple 100% remembered her. The moment she realised Her Majesty had returned, she spent the next few days climbing the stable walls, screaming for her attention, and dragging me to the horse walker just to stand and watch Winnie go round and round like some slightly unhinged fan club president.
And in true regal fashion? She has yet to utter a word to Maple. She has absolutely no time for the common rabble.
The crown has been reclaimed, court is in order, and peace has one again been restored (ish).
Long live the Queen 🍊
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