Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[dik9]

http://www.packardbell.co.uk/products/notebooks/easynote-xs/easynote-xs20-006---coming-soon/productsheet-PC02F00501-1256.html I just purchased one of these Tom, Got 30 gig and Windows XP, if it's memory with a small screen you are after? Will tell you if it's any good after i have roadtested it for a while, but initially looks great for me.

[RED-DOG]

http://www.packardbell.co.uk/products/notebooks/easynote-xs/easynote-xs20-006---coming-soon/productsheet-PC02F00501-1256.html I just purchased one of these Tom, Got 30 gig and Windows XP, if it's memory with a small screen you are after? Will tell you if it's any good after i have roadtested it for a while, but initially looks great for me.

can't see a price dik, how much?

[dik9]

From New £349 @ PC World but from reading many reviews I expect a few to be on Ebay quite soon, doesn't suit a lot of people as they bought as a gimmick and expect it to have the power of a quad core tower system??

[RED-DOG]

I arrived back at the paddock. I can still remember the scene in minute detail, it’s as if I’m looking at it now as I write.

Goolie John and raggy back Jack’s Jimmy were sitting on the gate, swinging their legs and casting long shadows. The sun, which was just beginning to slip below the horizon, had painted the sky an ethereal red, and made their faces glow like children in the firelight. They were talking loudly, but as I approached, they fell silent.

I looked over the gate. Henry’s mare was standing about 20 yards away, tail swishing, head down, tugging at the grass. No sign of distress, she seemed at peace with the world. I turned my attention to the foal.

He was standing a couple of feet in front of his mother and looking towards us, which was unusual because newborn foals like to stand really close to their mothers flank. That way, they are close to the milk bar, and any would be attacker has to come within kicking range of the mare’s powerful hind legs. This foal however, didn’t seem to care for convention. Even at this tender age, with his rubbery legs and his umbilical cord not yet dry beneath him, it was as if he knew that he had just been given the gift of life and was determined to experience it to the full. He didn’t want to miss anything.

Really, instead of trying to describe him to you in detail, I should just tell you that he was beautiful and leave it at that, but any fool could see that he was beautiful, what I need to do is try to make you understand why he was so special.

Every Gypsy horse breeder and dealer strives towards an example that comes as close to perfect (By our standards) as possible. Absolute perfection is of course impossible. Even the very best could have a tail that sat slightly higher, or a head that was a fraction smaller and so on. Well this colt was as close to perfect as I could possibly imagine. Of course I knew that as he grew he could change for the worse, but he was so far ahead of anything I had ever seen before that it seemed impossible.

His back was so short that I could span it with one hand. My thumb on his whithers and my little finger on his tail. His double mane would eventually cascade down to both shoulders, but at the moment he wore it sticky up, punk rocker style. His neck was thick and bowed, so that his tiny rocking horse head sat close to his broad chest. His ‘too long for his body’ foal’s legs were already showing good bone and the makings of  massive ‘manhole cover’ hooves.

I was totally captivated by him. Afraid of being blinded by my own bias, I tried to be objective. Surely he must have some faults? With the help of John and Jimmy, I managed to get hold of him. He was amazingly strong, and yet surprisingly calm as I held him in my arms. I looked carefully for any sign of abnormality or deformity, but all I found was a tiny patch of pure white on the inside of his foreleg. This little patch of white proved that he carried the right genes to sire black and white offspring. I knew from his bloodlines that he carried those genes, but lots of the old horsemen won’t use a stallion that has no white at all. Far from being a fault, this tiny white patch was a huge bonus.

Reluctantly, I let him go back to his mam and set about searching the field for the mare’s afterbirth. It’s very important in horses that they “Cleanse” properly. A cow can have a piece of rotting placenta inside it for ages with no ill affects; the same thing will kill a horse stone dead overnight. I found the afterbirth and stretched it out on the grass. Once I was satisfied that it was all there, I just left it where it was. By morning it would be gone, the fox that would eat it was probably only a few feet away, waiting for us to leave.

I rolled a cigarette and sat on the grass for a while in the dying light. I was in a sort of daze. The others sat down beside me and Goolie John said “I won’t beat about the bush Tom, how much do you want for him?”

The going rate for your average black colt at that time was about £50, “I won’t sell him” I replied. “I’ve got £300 for him if you make him lucky” He persisted. I shook my head, “No Thanks”

Eventually, John offered me £500. An amazing price for a day old black colt. When I refused he said “OK, I’m out, but I wish you all the luck in the world with him” I thanked him kindly for his offer.

“Are you sure you’re out John?” Asked Jimmy. “I don’t want to tread on your toes.” John said that he was, and with protocol observed, Jimmy tried very hard to buy the foal for himself. Before we left the field, he had made me an offer of £1000.

£I000 was an incredible offer. I don’t know how I managed to turn him down. I did know one thing though. Henry’s mare, the ugliest mare in the universe, had given birth to a legend.



I’m sorry. I intended this to be the last instalment of this story, but if I’m telling it, I have to tell it all.

Bear with me.

[Rod Paradise]

Tom, we'll bear with you (impatiently), please tell the whole story, I'm loving it.

[MANTIS01]

Anna Sewell has already revealed how it all finishes.

[kinboshi]

I’m sorry. I intended this to be the last instalment of this story, but if I’m telling it, I have to tell it all.

Bear with me.

[boldie]

Tom, we'll bear with you (impatiently), please tell the whole story, I'm loving it.

what he said.

[boldie]

I’m sorry. I intended this to be the last instalment of this story, but if I’m telling it, I have to tell it all.

Bear with me.

lol..we should have that as one of the smiley things and call it the reddog

[AndrewT]

Anna Sewell has already revealed how it all finishes.

Dur durrrrrrrrrr (bmm bmm). Dur dur dur dur dur dur dur durrrrrrr dur (bmm bmm).

Etc.

[Tonji]

The whole story & nothing but the whole story. Top Stuff Red 

[hans47]

I don't know why but I am proud that you kept the foal and that is a great tale! Can't stop smiling

[sovietsong]

Great stuff, i wonder what happens next!

[Rod Paradise]

Red, in no way do I want to delay the story, but what do Gypsies do with their horses to have them worth so much?

Is it money from the gig racing? (think that's the right term) - I occaisionally see an unused section of dual carriageway near me used for this. Or is it a tradition to keep them and show them at the horse fairs etc?

[Karabiner]

Red, in no way do I want to delay the story, but what do Gypsies do with their horses to have them worth so much?

Is it money from the gig racing? (think that's the right term) - I occaisionally see an unused section of dual carriageway near me used for this. Or is it a tradition to keep them and show them at the horse fairs etc?

I believe that Tom said that they are used as a form of currency amongst Gypsies.