Reflections of Foaling Season 2006 - The Twins Part 16

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Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
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Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15

When the reporter arrived, the twins were laying in a corner of the stall wrapped up in each other. He was not a horse person and had no idea this was not the usual position for sleeping foals. I apologized for interrupting him explaining I had to have a picture of the sight before one of them got up. I tried to maneuver into a position I could get a good shot as the reported asked questions trying to understand what was unusual about it.

It was an odd interview. I got the impression that while the reporter needed to ask me questions so he could write a story, he wasn’t really much interested in his subject. Because I’ve written most of my life I was concerned about the type of questions he was asking and how this story was going to come across. I found myself wishing I’d not done press releases in the first place. While the television story had turned out great and actually aired over many parts of the country, the reporter and the photographer had both been familiar with horses. It wasn’t looking like the newspaper article would go the same way.

Most of the interview the twins slept in their tangled up pile which was ok because the cameraman wasn’t coming to do pictures until later. The reporter asked some general type questions about horses but didn’t seem to be all that interested in the specifics associated with the twins.

Just about the time I thought we were finished Surprise raised her head and spotted company. She leapt to her feet, with Trouble in hot pursuit, and charged the door where the reporter was standing. My heart sank as I envisioned her running straight through him and knocking him down on her way out the door. That wouldn’t look good in the press for sure. I could just see it “Wild, Crazy Arabian Horse Flattens Reporter“ plastered across the front page. Thankfully, Surprise was more interested in meeting this new person than escaping. She put on the brakes right at the door. Trouble rear-ended her but neither of them bumped into the reporter although I ‘m pretty sure they were closer than he was comfortable with. This inspired the reporter with a few more questions and then he was gone and I was a little worried.

Things went better with the photographer. The day was overcast but not raining. He was excited about photographing the horses. He took some pictures in the stall and then we lead the mare and the twins out to a paddock so he could get pictures of them loose.

The trip from the stall to the paddock was anything but smooth. Lindsay lead the mare and I took both twins. Trouble and Surprise tried to turn me into a May pole wrapping the lead ropes around me and there was Surprise’s usual temper tantrum because she wasn’t getting her way but we did finally reach our destination. The photographer snapped pictures the whole way and I probably would have worried about more “Wild Arabian Horse” headlines if I hadn’t had my hands full.

Finally we reached the paddock and turned the Arabian mare and her twin foals loose. This was the first time they had been out of the stall here on our farm. Surprise headed for the gate. The filly did not want to be closed in and the pansies in the yard looked more appealing than the grass. We cut her off and closed them in. She showed her displeasure with her usual shake of her head and then went skipping off to join her mother and brother.

To the photographer’s delight, the Arabian horses strutted around the paddock with the camera clicking away. The horses put on quite a show and the photographer kept on shooting until they finally stopped to graze. The twins didn’t stop for long before they assumed trotting around and playing tag. Well, at least I knew the pictures were going to be good and the twins looked wonderful. Other than their size you couldn’t really tell they weren’t normal foals.

Later that day, the reporting called telling me the story would run the next day. We made arrangements to get some copies and I dreaded how it would turn out. But to my surprise, the seemingly uninterested reporter did a good job of writing about the horses AND the twins made a headliner window on the front page. The story appeared on the front of the living section.
Rare Twin Foals Born in Graham.

If only Dr Gillette were right, the twins would grow up normally but it wasn’t to be that simple. There were still more chapters to be written in the story of these miracle foals.

To be continued....

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