When Cricket gave birth to Kayo, she was pretty excited. In fact, it was her throaty nickering amplified over the baby monitor that woke Julie. He was a fine looking fellow, but she would have felt the same no matter what.

In the first weeks, Cricket and Kayo had to tolerate a lot – Kayo had little plastic shoes glued on to his hind feet to support his lax tendons. Cricket became a little testy – in fact, she reacted to visitors by pinning her ears and lunging over the stall door.

It was Mitch who pointed out to me that she couldn't read your body language through the door – and in fact she was fine if you entered the stall (I suspect this insight came via Julie). I had never really thought about that – from the point of view of a stalled horse, we are talking heads.

Anyway, the shoes and the tendon issues meant staying in the foaling stall for over three weeks. Kayo did his best to exercise in the small area, but he also took plenty of naps.

So when a few hours of paddock turnout finally begain, there was a lot of stored up energy.

I do mean a lot. Kayo was a little hellion, and with his mother as his only playmate, she bore the brunt of his energy.

There were body slams...

And more.....

And kicks...

And nips....

All endured by Cricket over and over again. This is Kayo's routine. Every day.

Cricket still loves Kayo. I guess that's the point of Mother's Day. Who else would put up with all that?