10/10/2026
🌸 OFFICIALLY INTRODUCING… 🌸
KYABRA PARK MOCKINJAY
“Primrose” 🌷
AMPS Registered Mare
Sire: Collandie Park Monarch
Dam: Toy Image Cha Cha
Primrose joined our motley crew back in May as a little birthday present to myself and a new addition to our miniature pony breeding program.
And what a journey this little mare has had!
Prim made the long trip up from Victoria, travelling for several days with Crown Transport before arriving at Bathurst Royal as a little “plus one” in the stables. From there, she hitched a ride with a friend of mine back from Bathurst Royal, enjoyed a short stopover at Secretheart Stockhorses, and then made the final leg of her journey back towards Arcadia, where yet another wonderful friend collected her and delivered her home to me.
It was quite the adventure for such a little pony, but she took the entire ordeal completely in her stride. Not a fuss, not a worry. Just happy to go along for the ride.
Unfortunately, what followed over the next few months was a little less straightforward.
When Prim arrived, she was carrying a thick, fluffy coat that concealed a fairly light condition. I decided to give her a full-body clip so I could properly assess her weight and closely monitor her progress as we worked on building her back up.
And that’s when our troubles began.
After clipping her, I pulled out some warm rugs to keep her comfortable. Not long afterwards, I noticed her violently throwing herself against the stable walls, desperately scratching and clearly very uncomfortable.
Initially, I thought she might have been irritated by the clipping or bathing process, so I gave her a medicated bath to soothe her skin.
But the following day, I discovered large, angry welts appearing across her body.
Over the next few days, these welts began to necrotise, with the affected skin eventually sloughing away and leaving awful open wounds.
It was suspected that Prim had been bitten by a white-tailed spider hiding in one of her rugs.
My vet came out, attended to her wounds, performed her dental work, vaccinations and prescribed a course of antibiotics. What followed was weeks of cleaning, treating and carefully monitoring some truly horrible wounds while trying to keep her comfortable.
All the while, we were still working on improving her overall health, nutrition and body condition.
Just when it seemed we were finally turning a corner, Prim decided to throw another spanner in the works.
Colic. 🤦🏽♀️
Thankfully, it was a relatively mild episode, although she became incredibly dull and listless. With some pain relief and careful monitoring, she eventually came good.
Then, as winter settled in, we encountered yet another hurdle.
Stringhalt.
For several months, Prim struggled with intermittent stringhalt symptoms. Thankfully, these gradually improved, and as the weeks passed, she continued gaining weight and looking healthier.
By this point, I figured the poor little mare had endured quite enough poking, prodding, bathing, clipping, medicating and general human interference to last her a lifetime.
So, for the remainder of winter, we simply left her alone to be a paddock bum.
No expectations. No pressure. Just good food, plenty of rest and time to recover.
And slowly but surely, she began to blossom. 🌷
Primrose is a funny little character.
She’s fiercely independent, absolutely stands her ground and isn’t particularly interested in being everyone’s best friend. She’s certainly not the type to come running across the paddock demanding affection.
But when she decides she likes you, she’s as sweet as pie.
Everything is very much on Primrose’s terms, and I wouldn’t have her any other way.
When I originally purchased her, I had high hopes of getting her into the show ring this season. But between her health challenges and life doing what life does best, those plans were repeatedly pushed aside.
Until this weekend.
I finally found a spare moment to give this little mare the makeover she deserved.
A full-body clip, a beautifully tidied mane, some colour through her mane, forelock and tail, and a little spit and polish…
And WOW. 😍
Underneath all that winter fluff was the beautiful little mare we’d known was there all along.
She’s come such a long way from the pony who arrived back in May, and seeing her looking healthy, shiny and full of herself has made every frustrating setback worthwhile.
Unfortunately, the wounds from her spider bites have left some fairly significant scarring. We’re hopeful that as her summer coat grows through, some of those scars will become less noticeable.
But scars or no scars, I think she’s absolutely beautiful.
And now for the exciting part…
Primrose is quite possibly carrying a little surprise! 🍼🐴
She’s suspected to be in foal to our gorgeous stallion, Ambaura Royal Command, and is booked for a pregnancy check next week.
So, fingers crossed, we might just have a very exciting little arrival to look forward to!
And MAYBE, just maybe, if everything goes to plan, we might even squeeze in a show or two before she gets too heavily pregnant.
Although, given Primrose’s track record of throwing unexpected adventures our way, I’m not making any promises! 😂
Welcome to the family, Primrose. 🌸
You certainly haven’t made your first few months with us boring, but we’re so glad you’re here.
Here’s to a much happier, healthier chapter for our beautiful little mare. ❤️
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