Te Akau Friday Update

David writes:

Last Thursday, just eight days ago, we were in a drought.  The farm looked so dry, the dams  were showing the effects of the worst drought since I went farming in 1979.

My fertiliser was all applied but of course that doesn't have any impact at all without rain.  THEN mid morning on Thursday last week the skies opened and nice, soft, warm rain (does he sound excited by this? - Ed) came and over Easter we had 90mls.  The drought was starting to break, the fertiliser was washed in and the rapid transformation to green had begun.

Then yesterday we had another 65 mls of rain and the drought here is certainly over!  The farm is so green it is hard to describe and the best part is that it is still so warm that the grass is really growing and we are going to head into winter with great reserves of feed.

This week we sent another four yearlings into the stable who had completed their breaking in process and they will now be in the stable for two weeks for the next stage of their learning.

We sent our Pins colt out of Petit Verdot, an Iffraaj filly out of Naturo, a Minstrel Court filly out of Pinstinct and an Encosta de Lago filly from Chasing Mammon - four really nice yearlings.  This morning we have 16 yearlings to ride and four to drive.

Today we have owners coming for lunch who also happen to be long standing friends - so after showing them their horses, we will put some lamb on the weber and enjoy a nice afternoon.  I have bluff oysters as an entree and we will be keeping an eye on the Avondale races!

Tomorrow we will all be going to Te Rapa for the Cambridge Jockey Club meeting - Karyn is looking forward to attending as a racegoer as, although the races are at Te Rapa, it is the Cambridge club's meeting, not the Waikato Racing Club.  We have some good chances in the next week and Matt Cameron will be at Te Rapa tomorrow - we are so pleased to welcome him back!

Finally today - it is ANZAC Day - lest we forget the great sacrifices of our brave men and women.