Diary of Radar
© Lydia May, 2026. Image: Todd River Downs Radar and his fellow travelers arrive in NSW, Angela Tiede, 20 December 2025
Note for the record: TRD Radar was one of the six pre purchased horses from a private venture and was allocated by the contractors as the closest match to Lydia’s preferences at the time of trapping.
December 21st 2025 first visit to yearling colt Radar from the new arrivals from the Northern Territory.
December 29th picked the little bay colt up on a stock trailer he had a very uneventful ride home and calmly unloaded into the stock yards.
Image: Angela Tiede. All other images provided by Lydia May.
December 30th he was very inquisitive and interested in watching children, especially toddlers spraying water pistols.
January 2nd 2026 officially decided on his name ‘Radar’. After having a few days down time to settle in watching me poo pick and deliver hay he had his first handling lesson, ending with nose pats.
January 3rd more handling, he allowed body pats and front legs to be picked up.
January 4th picking up all four feet, I have been constantly impressed at how willing and easy he has been to work with.
January 9th we had a heat wave come through and the cattle yards didn’t provide enough shade so I made the decision to put him out in a bigger paddock with the other horses he had been slowly introduced to via the fence over the past few days.
I put him out thinking it would take me a long time to catch him again but avoiding the heat was a priority.
To my surprise the next day I went up to him the paddock with a handful of hay, he was wary but allowed himself be caught out in the open paddock.
February 19th was a big day of firsts with a visit from both the dentist and the farrier. The dentist placed his age between 12 – 14 months which fitted in with his estimated age of 12 months during capture in December. Since then, he has continued to move steadily forward in his handling: he’s done a few short float trips and has been learning about the benefits of rugs in the snowy mountains.
Radar has taken domestic life in his stride, his personality is generally calm and willing, a testament to the breeding of the TRD horses.
