2023

Just one home-bred foal for us in 2023.  Welcome to :-

CorleyOak In Your Dreams (Bambi)

Sire: Auric Tattoo
Dam: Shallowater India
d.o.b. 26.05.23

Bambi got her registered name as she appeared two weeks early, her dam having shown no signs whatsoever of an imminent birth, while we were all asleep and the day two of us were off to Magaluf to stay at the Dreams Hotel.  It seemed appropriate.  Indie took to motherhood like a complete natural and it was one of the easiest births we've been fortunate to enjoy.  Bambi is the complete double of her sire, Sonny (Auric Tattoo) and is the granddaughter of our beloved Bob.

2022

CorleyOak Midnight Blues (Blue)

Sire: Auric Tattoo
Dam: CorleyOak Silver Moonstone
d.o.b. 16.05.22

At 11.00 p.m. on Monday 16th May, our buckskin roan mare, Jewel, gave birth to a super buckskin roan colt. We have named him "CorleyOak Midnight Blues" as by midnight he gave us the blues by not suckling from his Mum!
Blue has matured into a cheeky two year old.  He has been sold to a lovely family home and will be heading off there in the summer.

We had to milk the colostrum from his dam. He had no suckling reflex so we had to syringe the colostrum onto his tongue and persuade him to swallow it, hour after hour, until we felt he had taken a sufficient amount He bottle fed for a further 24 hours but then started to feed from his dam on his own. Relief! As a consequence, he is super-friendly and just wants to play with everyone!

Blue was sold recently to a fantastic family home and is settling in well.

CorleyOak Starlight (Star)

Sire: Auric Tattoo
Dam: CorleyOak Spotlight
d.o.b. 19.05.22

We also had considerable drama with Topsy, dam of Star. Topsy went into labour at 12.28 a.m. but became extremely distressed and there was little progress, so after 50 minutes we summoned the emergency vet. Foal delivered safely but the mare retained her placenta which we had to remove manually that morning. All's well that ends well! Star is a little bit shy, but will soon come round like her playmate, Blue. Star got her name as she is a clone of her dam, CorleyOak Spotlight, and she was born under the stars and has a lovely star on her face.

2021

No foals expected but we did buy and licence a new stallion who ran with two of our mares in May/June 2021, so we're hoping for good news in 2022.

2019 & 2020

No foals expected for a couple of years. We have taken a break since losing our Bob and the trauma of Sparkle's early days - see below

2018

"We are only expecting one foal this year.  Kelsey of Brindister is in foal to our stallion, Bob, and is due at any moment. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well for her this time and that she has a lovely foal in May/June. She is a natural brood mare and great mother so this time we hope she has a healthy foal to lavish attention on".

OMG!! Well - we did hope for a smooth ride this time (see above) but it was not to be! Our beautiful Sparkle was born at 4.30 a.m. on Friday 8th June. She took two hours to get to her feet which was worrying in itself and although she appeared to be suckling from her Mum, Kelsey, we had our suspicions that all was not well. VERY long story short.... it became clear that she had "maladjusted foal syndrome" as a result of some sort of sepsis, followed by the dreaded "joint ill". On Sunday, 10th June, we rushed her to the Three Counties Equine Hospital near Malvern. By the time we arrived, she was in a state of collapse and very seriously ill. However, the excellent vets there managed to save her life, although it was a roller coaster of ups and downs for a time!

Above is little Sparkle receiving emergency veterinary care at Three Counties Equine Hospital.... her life was hanging in the balance 

Above is the recovering Sparkle having a good rest in her straw bed. To the right is a picture of Sparkle in our garden, suckling from her Mum, Kelsey. It was at this point after days of treatment we finally dared to hope that she might make it.

Below is Sparkle, strutting her stuff at the National Foal of the Year Show!

2017

We were eagerly awaiting the arrival of three foals this year from Kelsey of Brindister, Pinglewood Pandora and Isle of Mona Fflam - expected in that order, but unfortunately things didn't work out as we'd hoped.......

Sadly, Kelsey foaled prematurely in March with no warning whatsoever and her lovely palomino filly was still-born.

Then on Wednesday 26th April, Socks (Pinglewood Pandora) suffered a horrible foaling with the foal presenting with one leg forward, one back and his head under his belly!! We were with her from the very start and she received prompt emergency veterinary attention but at one point we feared we would lose both mare and foal! Socks' palomino colt (named Andy after our vet, Andrea, who resusitated him at birth) was traumatised and exhausted but we milked Socks' colostrum which he readily took and then we bottle fed him for almost three days. Even though he regularly took plenty of milk, sadly he just wasn't strong enough to survive and he passed away peacefully in a bed of straw in the early hours of Friday 28th April. We were all gutted, for him but especially for his Mum who was devoted to him. Socks had a retained placenta so needed a lot of veterinary attention, but she is fine now, thank goodness.

CorleyOak Band of Gold (Andy) - also known as "Amazing Andy"

Sire: CorleyOak Easter Bobby Dazzler
Dam: Pinglewood Pandora
d.o.b. 26.04.17

R.I.P. Gorgeous little man.....

On Thursday 27th April at 9.30 p.m. Isle of Mona Fflam presented us with a stunning black filly, who was up and nursing in no time. She is absolutely lovely and was the silver lining to our cloudy days, hence her name. Fflam also had a retained placenta but also received prompt veterinary attention and is fit and well now, if rather "foal proud"!

CorleyOak Every Cloud (Bailey)

Sire: Isle of Mona Sherlock
Dam: Isle of Mona Fflam

d.o.b. 27th April 2017

The filly was born in the evening, just as we were starting to fear that we were about to lose Andy. She was the silver lining to our black cloud of a week. We couldn't call her "Silver Lining" for obvious reasons, so she became CorleyOak Every Cloud. Her field name is Bailey. She is a very strong-willed young lady who expressed very obvious views about being halter trained. She will be going to the National Foal of the Year Show in November!

2016

Edern Misty Morn (Misty) produced a huge black tobiano filly in 15 minutes flat at 10.15 p.m on Monday 30th May

CorleyOak Spotlight (Topsy)

Sire Edern Pennant
Dam: Edern Misty Morn

Misty foaled on our lawn, between 10.02 and 10.17 p.m. One minute she was grazing peacefully, the next there was a foal standing next to her! Unfortunately, poor CorleyOak Spotlight (Topsy) had a difficult start. Her dam's "bag" was so full and rigid she was unable to suckle properly even though she tried really hard. We tube and bottle fed her, but she didn't get sufficient colostrum, so our vets gave her a plasma infusion to give her enough antibodies to prevent infection - quite an ordeal for a day old foal. She then had a long sleep to recover but subsequently it seemed to give her the boost she needed to get going and (fingers crossed) she's doing just fine now.

Topsy resembled at black-faced sheep when she was first born! We're struggling to get an up to date picture, as every time we try, all we get is a curious nose pushed into the camera! Topsy is super friendly, very inquisitive soul. She has a lot of bone and can gallop like the wind, so either her nose is in the camera or she has taken off like a racehorse!!

Fairy Calypso (Calypso) had a lovely bay/bay dun filly in the very early hours on Sunday 8th May 2016

CorleyOak Dark Secret (Cocoa)

Sire: CorleyOak Easter Bobby Dazzler
Dam: Fairy Calypso

Meet CorleyOak Dark Secret (Cocoa). We couldn't tell at first if the filly was bay or bay dun. Actually, we still can't! She had a very dark, shadowy mark over her rump (hence her name). We thought we'd be able to tell exactly what colour she is when her foal coat changed. Looking at the picture on the right, which is Cocoa at 4 months of age, we think she is buckskin! (Check out those highlights). No sign of the typical dun markings! Whatever colour she is, we're thrilled with her. She is really well put together and has fantastic free movement, not to mention her pretty face and friendly character.

Update! Cocoa is now a two year old and signs are that she might be dun after all. When she loses her winter coat we might know for sure!

2015

Kelsey of Brindister (Kelsey) gave birth to a large and very sturdy chestnut filly at 5.00 a.m. on Monday, 11th May

CorleyOak Amba Sunrise (Amba)

Sire: Edern Wil Sam
Dam: Kelsey of Brindister

This is "AMBA" (CorleyOak Amba Sunrise) ..... on the right just a few minutes after a pretty difficult foaling, so she was a little wobbly and to the left a couple of weeks later, with the latest picture of her far left at the National Foal of the Year Show! She is now much stockier and is losing her bright amber coat. It seems she will be liver chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail, like her dam, Kelsey!

Mardlebrook Joyful (Joy) gave birth to a stunning smokey black colt in the early hours of Saturday, 18th April.

CorleyOak Flash Alan (Alan)

Sire: CorleyOak Easter Bobby Dazzler
Dam: Mardlebrook Joyful

Above is Alan at the British National Foal of the Year Show. He is "smokey black" - i.e. he carries the cream gene. He has four white feet and a flash of white in his mane. He is just adorable.....

Below is looking Alan looking a bit sleepy just a few hours old and to the right Alan again at three weeks of age........

2014

CorleyOak Gladiator (Max) - Best miniature colt at the British National Foal of the Year Show (BNFOY) 30th November 2014.

Max has just been sold to a super home, where hopefully, he'll spend a lot of time in the show ring. Sadly, we do not have enough land to keep too many colts!

CORLEYOAK PEARLESCENT (Pearl)

d.o.b. 28.05.14

Palomino filly

Sire: CorleyOak Easter Bobby Dazzler
Dam: Pinglewood Olivia

Beautiful Pearl was born at 9.30 p.m. while we were checking her mother on the cctv camera. The white sac was still intact so we had to break it so that she could breathe. She was a bit wobbly at first but once she found the milk bar she swiftly found her strength. She is only a few hours old in the above picture but already wanting to be let out to play with Jewel on the other side of the gate.

This is the latest picture of Pearl - growing rapidly..... and the image of her sire (Bob - see stallion page)

CORLEYOAK SILVER MOONSTONE (Jewel)

d.o.b. 24.05.14

Brown buckskin filly

Sire: Kerswell Legacy
Dam: Collytown Charisma

Jewel was a blue/black/purple colour when born - like the Amethyst on the left!

"Jewel" as she is known was born in the early hours, out in a wet and windy field, approximately three weeks sooner than expected and the day BEFORE we were due to bring her dam home to keep an eye on! However, she was strong and feisty and although no doubt glad of the comfort of a straw bed, did not seem troubled by her introduction to the world! It was a horrible day with torrential rain and howling wind. The Landrover and trailer were at Shropshire County Show, so Jewel and her Mum had to take refuge in the farmer's potato shed until they could be picked up and brought home later that day.

She appears to be carrying the creme gene so is genetically a buckskin. She has beautiful blue/grey eyes, common in buckskins at birth (will darken later from experience).  We won't know until later on when she sheds her foal coat exactly what shade of buckskin she is. She may also roan out as her sire (Kerswell Legacy) is a roan.

Below, on our summer grazing, Jewel is strong, feisty and very curious - the bravest of the three foals and happy to come over for some fuss. Here she is below, with her dam, Charisma, in the background... We were going to have CorleyOak Amethyst as the "official" name for Jewel as she was blue/black when born.  However, she has since changed to a light buckskin and has also roaned out, so we had to scratch our heads a bit! She is even lighter than in the picture below now, being a sort of browny/sandy roan colour! The only jewel we can find fitting that description is "Moonstone", so CorleyOak Moonstone she is!!

Now Jewel is more like this colour - a moonstone (left) - or perhaps even a silver moonstone (see picture to the right, below)?

Or is she going to change colour still further?!!! She will be microchipped and registered shortly so we'll have to make our minds up! (Jewel ended up being called "CorleyOak Silver Moonstone" !!! If she changes colour again, it's too late!!)

CORLEYOAK GLADIATOR (Max) 

d.o.b. 27.04.14

Brown buckskin filly

Sire: Milday Yes Sir
Dam: Oldaport Gladys

Max has gone from strength to strength in his showing career, winning a huge class at the Royal Welsh in 2016! He is also a driving pony!

Max is an absolute imp! He is brave and bold and into everything - especially shoe laces. We can't get a good picture because he won't keep still long enough and has to get his nose into the camera! He is beautifully marked and can gallop like the wind! He is none too keen on our attempts to lead him in a headcollar and does a pretty convincing mule impression, but we'll get there slowly but surely.

Max, short for "Maximus", the name of the gladiator in the film of the same name, came into the world in 17 minutes flat and was standing up and nudging his dam for a drink within minutes. He is a very large colt with a tremendous amount of bone (check out those hocks!) and a lot of attitude. Maximus is also Latin for "biggest", so he is well named as he is probably the biggest foal we've bred to date! Better picture to follow, but he has one white stocking on his near fore, a sock on his off fore and one sock on his off hind, plus a white splodge on his offside.

We're proud to say that Max was placed first in the miniature shetland colt class at the British National Foal of the Year Show on 30th November 2014!

Last updated: 22.10.24