Island on the Edge by Anne Cholawo

Author:Anne Cholawo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Birlinn

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Thundering hooves

Tex still had his two Highland ponies. One was called Blondie, a golden long-maned beauty of a creature, gentle and co-operative. The other was Rowan, dark, graceful and glossy-coated with a mind of her own.

In theory they were working animals and Tex even had a small pony cart built to navigate the rough and narrow track between Soay House and the south end of the island. The path was too steep and uneven to risk taking the cart as far as the harbour. However, Tex and Biddy spent months trying to level and widen the more accessible part of the track. I tended to think it was more for fun than any real practical purpose – there was only half a mile of safely usable track anyway. Still, it was rather lovely to see the cart trundling along even though it had to be unwedged from some obstacle or other every few hundred yards.

Originally, Rowan had been earmarked for the role of draught animal. She was the bigger and stronger pony, but she turned out to be too self-willed and flighty to train so little Blondie got the job instead. She performed admirably and with good will. In fact, Blondie was so willing that Tex made panniers for her so she could pick up deliveries from the harbour or wood for the fire in the Ceilidh Hall.

On the whole they were both spoilt rotten and enjoyed a status higher than mere human islanders. Many a time there was a line of commandeered residents carrying bales of hay and bags of feed up the beach while a pair of curious ponies idly looked on. However, two ponies were not enough. Tex dreamed of having his own pedigree herd.

I went with him and Biddy in Petros to Rum where Tex not only persuaded the head ranger to have Rowan served by their resident stallion but also to sell him one of their mares too. Rowan duly made the journey in Petros to be served and went on to produce her first foal. Sadly, despite the best care and attention – Tex and Biddy sat with her all night – there was something very wrong with the little foal. I went down early that morning, itching to find out if the birth had been a success. I had never seen a newborn foal before, but there was clearly something dreadfully amiss with this little colt. His head seemed far too large for his fragile body. He stumbled about as if he were blind and would not take Rowan’s teat. In desperation Tex milked Rowan and tried to feed the foal himself, but by the end of the day the poor thing had died. Rowan seemed to sense that something was wrong with her foal and although she appeared depressed for a day or two she soon recovered.

Tex was very upset by the loss of his first foal but this sad failure only seemed to make him more determined. We soon had a new young mare from Rum to join Blondie and Rowan.

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