THEY WILL ASK thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: "Whatever of your wealth you spend shall [first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do, verily, God has full knowledge thereof." - Al-Baqarah (2:215)
Malaysia Flag Pictures, Images and Photos

Sunday 2 August 2009

Rainy day at the horse farm

horses

2nd August 2009, National Stud Farm, Tg. Rambutan - The Buddies Annual Family Day.

We had some of the children of our PLHIV families asking their parents why we were having our family day at Tg. Rambutan. One boy even asked his mother, "Kita pergi sana buat apa mak? Gi tengok orang gila ke?"

I guess the town is more known for its mental hospital... some don't even know of the existence of the National Stud Farm there.

Oh well, it rained rather heavily in the morning...

rainy morning

... so we were stuck under the tents eating up our breakfast of nasi lemak, while one of the vets explained to us about the farm and the horses.

When the sky cleared, the scenery was beautiful...

horse farm

We were then allowed to touch and feed the horses at the nearby stables...

feeding horseHere... you can eat all you want. I don't eat this vege...

Then came the demo on how they replace the horse shoe. The horses get new pairs of shoes every 4 weeks.

horse shoe 1First, take off the old shoe...

horse shoe 2Then, adjust the new shoe so it will fit nicely...

horse shoe 3Then fix the new shoe...

horse shoe 4There... all done! Imported shoes some more... jealous or not??

Then group by group, we were allowed to take pictures with the horse(yep, the one with the new shoe). Here's a group of our volunteers with their pose...

volunteers & horse

We were then brought for a tour around the farm in an Executive Coach.

Errrmm... I mean this executive coach. Classy don't you think?The executive coach with some happy pelarians on board...

It rained on and off during the tour, so we brought along our umbrellas on the executive coach.

We were lucky as there were some newborns at the farm... during the tour, we saw at close range some colts and fillies less than a week old... a few just 1 or 2 days old.

newborn Sorry, can't remember if this one's a colt or a filly.

sleeping babyAnd this baby here was sleeping and didn't even realise there were some kaypoh visitors around.

This proud stallion here is the father to many of the horses born in this farm.

stallion

And oh, we were even shown where these horses mate!

honeymoon suite The honeymoon suite...

After the tour, we were brought back to the tent for lunch. We were entertained by the balloon man during lunch.

balloon man This guy also did some magic tricks much to the amusement of the kids and adults alike.

After filling up our tummies with food glorious food, it was game time! (right timing, huh?) Sorry folks, no pics here ok? Suffice to say, all the children got some gifts and prizes to bring home.

After the games, came the moment most were looking forward to... the horse ride! Two horses were made available, one white horse meant only for the younger and smaller kids, while the other horse for the bigger children and the adults. I was busy going left and right making sure I got pictures of every single person who got onto the horses.

I can't show you pics of the PLHIVs and their families, so here's all I can show you...

horse dung The horse dung, freshly delivered while someone was taking his/her turn for the horse ride!

It then rained again right before tea time. Ngam ngam just in time for everybody to get the experience of getting onto a horse (which wasn't easy I tell you... tertonggeng-tonggeng!).

The rain subsided a bit after tea, so yep, we did manage to take a group photo before we headed home. And oh, we also got a souvenir each from the National Stud Farm.

Okay people, that's all I've got to share with you... Opah Pi the koboi tua wants to go home now... giddy-up horsey...

horse ride

16 comments:

ray said...

Komen Pak Malim, kucing ray yg alim.

Saya suka tengok gambar kuda, kata Pak Malim yg mengada-ngada.

Naz in Norway said...

New shoes every four weeks. Wah! lumayan dong :)
Opah Pi naik kuda...caya la!

Pi Bani said...

Pak Malim,
Tunggang kuda lagi best, kata Pi Bani sambil memakai vest.

Pi Bani said...

Naz,
Yes, new shoes every 4 weeks. Kalau dia simpan semua kasut lama, dah kalah Imelda Marcos! But no, the old shoes are sold off to the besi buruk collector...

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

hey, that looks fun. but if only there were a mare and a stalion getting it on, that'd be more educational for the kids. eh, true what? telling them about the birds and the bees couldnt get any easier for the parents...hehehehe...

Pi Bani said...

Kerp,
Wrong timing lah for that... it's not mating season. Most of the mak-mak kuda baru lepas beranak! Our visit there kebetulan time kuda-kuda betina dok kat maternity ward... ;)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
The mares have confinement period? Massage etc?
This cat is so jealous! I was imagining Zorro coming to whisk you off and ride into the sunset...aaah...how romantic, then next week honeymoon in Bali. purrfect...

Pi Bani said...

Cat-in-Sydney,
Confinement?? Just about one month after delivery they are brought to the "honeymoon suite" again, then get pregnant for 11 months, then beranak again... and the cycle goes on. Where got time for confinement meh?

And oh, am taking the flight to Bali... not riding a horse... ;)

Anonymous said...

Pi,

Untung jadi kuda.... eh?

I get a new pair of shoe only once a year. I'll ensure my shoe dah koyak rabak, baru I humbankan kat tong.

BTW, what was the number tagged on the kuda you were riding on?

Raf

Daphne Ling said...

HI Kak Pi,

Oh, I miss the horseys at the Riding for the Disabled (RDA) program! Such majestic animals they are.

Eh, the little gift the horse left behind is tiny! Some are like berlambak-lambak (I know, wrong adjective, but I can't think of any other word right now)...;)

Pi Bani said...

Raf,
When it comes to dapat kasut baru, untunglah jadi kuda at this farm. But the females kena beranak every year I tell you! Tak ke sengsara tu???

Number? What number? Yang ada nampak on the saddle tu is the Stud Farm punya logo.

Pi Bani said...

Daphne,
Doesn't matter lah tiny or not. At least our group of people, most of whom were first timers at coming that close to a horse did learn lots of things about horses... including horse dung!

mamasita said...

hahahahaha..ada jugak the most priceless photo tu! Great job..I mean kuda yang bagi momento tu!

What a lovely 'honeymoon suite'! haha

Ooohh..you look so giddy gorgeous posing on the horsey!

Pi Bani said...

Mamasita,
Ye lah, kalau kuda tu tak tinggalkan souvenir depan mata we all, memang takde lah priceless photo tu. But actually I've got a more priceless photo, tapi nak letak kat blog ni, macam obscene le pulak. You see, the stallion somehow got excited & berlakulah erection depan mata we all... and I, being the photographer for the day tanpa berlengah took a photo of "it". Ingat nak letak dalam blog, tapi bila tengok balik gambar tu, the photo was SO clear, nanti my blog kena tukar rating pulak... hehehe...

Anonymous said...

TQ for the interesting info re the National Stud Farm.
Admire what you are doing for mankind.
Cheers...lizzbelle

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