This month's BetaVet Under The Radar unsung hero is Anna Miles. Anna is a woman of many talents who not only serves on our Council but also runs the South Island Foster Foal Service free of charge. We caught up with this busy lady who devotes so much of her time to our industry.
Explain your many roles and what it is you do with the SIFFS (South Island Foster Foal Service)?
My husband Michael and I run an agistment and spelling farm (Pear Tree Farm) in the middle of the South Island and I am establishing my own business (Equine Mementos) making jewellery and keepsakes using horsehair. I am employed by Otago Racing and Gallop South in the lower Canterbury and Otago regions as Clerk of Scales on race days. I have served on the committee of the CMWO NZTBA Branch for a few years and now hold the position of the Southern Region Representative on the NZTBA Council. I am also an Independent Trustee on the NZ Equine Education Trust. My role with the South Island Foster Foal Service is that of sole co-ordinator.
Tell us about a typical day for you during your off season and then your on-season with SIFFS?
During the off season, we do plenty of weaning for other people. From March onwards, our boxes are generally full of the next crop of foals who are learning the ropes.
Throughout the breeding season, I switch on the phone about 7am and keep my fingers crossed that it won’t make a noise! Unfortunately this dream is not a reality and I will spend time during the day speaking with mare and foal owners to understand their needs and help them through the fostering process. I will also be in touch with stud masters and vets to alert them of the current needs. I log all texts, calls and details on the laptop so I can easily access them when a suitable mare is offered or a foal requires a new mum. I am fortunate to work for myself which means I am able to balance the SIFFS needs with running Pear Tree Farm and working in my jewelry studio in the afternoons.
What is your favourite part of running the SIFFS?
There are two favs for me. The first is obviously successful fosterings but the second fav part is actually the foster phone not ringing.
What difficulties does the SIFFS and your role face?
The South Island is a large geographic area which can lead to difficulties with transporting horses in a timely manner. We don’t generally like to move orphan foals around if we can avoid it, which means that mares often will need to travel large distances to link up with a foal. Long travel times can be stressful to a mare who has recently foaled or lost her own foal and this can impact on her milk production and sometimes on her mental frame of mind when it comes to accepting an orphan.
Being the sole co-ordinator means that there is no break during the season for me. It can be very tough mentally dealing with loss and grief regularly. Michael is hugely supportive and helps me alot in processing the emotional side of the SIFFS role.
What is something that most people don’t know but you think should know, about the SIFFS?
SIFFS is a volunteer run service that is administered through the CMWO NZTBA and was initially set up and run by Mike Perkins for 10 years. I took over from Mike and this is my sixth season as co-ordinator. It is a free service in the South Island and is open to all breeds of horses and ponies and operates from 1st August to 31st January each season. We go a bit longer in the South due to the large population of standardbreds who tend to foal down slightly later in the season.
What is one piece of advice you would give someone requiring the service in future?
It is an amazing time saver to get all the information about a mare being offered or a foal requiring a new mother with a text or a message. Your name, location, facilities available, experience of those involved, your vet’s name, age of mare/foal, breed, foaling history and health status is so helpful for me to be able to log easily.
Finish this sentence - The best thing about the thoroughbred breeding industry is…definitely the horses and the people but the horses are number one for me. I love seeing super racehorses retire as stallions. I admire the wonderful mares who produce beautiful foals each year. And then the foals themselves - they hold all our hopes and dreams and keep us smiling
