ITS A GIRL!

Woohoo! Daya finally had a cute little filly this morning. I didn't get to see it though... sneaky old mare. She showed absolutely NO signs last night when I left the barn. Its ok though, both are healthy. Baby is eating well and Daya acts only slightly peeved when I approach her or the baby. So far she is being a great momma. No if I can only keep the in-laws out of the barn... I wonder if they would think twice if I guarded the stall with a dressage whip. *insert evil giggle*

And now the moment you have been waiting for... Pics!

I will also post a link to youtube later today once I get some video!

We have wax!

Yay! Daya started waxing up a little on Saturday, just small beads but this morning it is full blown. I also noticed Sunday she started dripping milk a little. A foggy white color so I know we are getting closer. This morning it looked like pure colostrum. She also has a huge shelf of edema on her belly since Saturday night. I have been giving her time off, just letting her hang out and do her own thing for the past two weeks but tonight I may hand walk her around the barn a little.

As for "Katie" the new mare, I have had her in the round pen and she is doing well. She catches on fast and has turned into little miss attitude (but in a good way). It is a challenge to keep her tuned into me but that will get better with time. My farrier Mike came out last week and worked on her hooves. She did great but her hooves are in less than ideal condition. She has no heel, flared on the back and one of her front feet is bigger than the rest due to not being trimmed/balanced and her hoof wall spreading out as a result of trying to compensate for it. Nothing major that will cause her lameness but it erks me that her previous owner has so many horses and doesn't keep them on a regular trimming schedule. On the bright side Mike did say she has incredibly tough soles and her frogs look wonderful considering she has no heel.

I have also saddled her up and taken her for a few rides in the round pen. She needs work but is so gentle and willing. I've been trying different bits and hackamore on her because the pallet/roof of her mouth is the lowest Ive ever seen. She is very stiff, doesn't like giving her face to you when asked and has no idea about leg pressure or responding to your seat. She also will not walk forward with a gentle squeeze. You literally have to kick! Poor girl, I can only imagine how many times she had a beginner kick the crap out of her because they didn't know any better. (Oh and did I mention they let beginners ride her in a tomb thumb! grrr No wonder she is so stiff and braces against the bit.) My farrier also said he used to do a few of her previous owners horses a few years ago and that 9 times out of 10 they were always "ridden hard a put away wet"! Not anymore, my barn must feel like staying at the Ritz for my two gals compared to their old homes.

I also need help naming this girl. She is really laid back and LOVES water. The water hose is her favorite thing ever and she will play with it nonstop if you let her. Cant think of anything....

A long blog about my hectic week! (w/ pics!)

What a week its been so far. It all started with an email from an old high school friend Elaine. She sent me a message asking me if I knew of anyone interested in an AQHA buckskin yearling and sent me some pics. Boy was he a cutie! I honestly thought about it but ended up sending her a reply saying there is no way I want to deal with 2 unbroken horses and a foal on the way and that if I bought anymore horses it would have to be a husband horse that anyone could ride. Well, wouldn't you know she had one! An 11 yr old QH/ Standardbred cross mare that was bomb proof and used as a backup trail horse for family and friends that didn't have much experience. Here is the kicker... Elaine also added that if I wanted her she was FREE! She had to many horses and needed to lighten her work load. Well I was sold without even looking at her but Elaine told me to back my saddle bags and come take her for a test ride at Zaleski State Forest for the Relay for Life trail ride.

So I did. I pulled into the Zaleski Horse Camp at 11, saddled up and headed out with Elaine and her family on a 2 hour trail ride. I was a little hesitant to ride once I saw the mare. She was a tad underweight! I checked her over though and her back looked fine so I threw some extra pads on her and made sure she was comfortable with my weight on her on a warm up trail. She did great so we headed out to meet the group of riders waiting for us. Everything was going great until we got about 2 miles down the trail and Elaines Aunt's horse spooked! Bad! I'm still not sure what happened, all I could see was a horses belly rearing up and going backwards. Needless to say her Aunt couldn't get out of the saddle fast enough and had all 1100 lbs of her horse land on her and rolling down a steep bank. We all scrambled to get to her, kept her talking and still. She complained of leg and back pain so an ambulance was called. They came out on the trail with 4wheelers pulling a stretcher on a trailer and a helicopter waiting for her at the end of the trail. We were all very shook up but were relieved to hear that she had no broken bones or permanent damage after many x-rays.

I came home that night and talked about everything with hubby. I wanted that mare! lol The only problem I had was getting her home. The project trailer still needs 1 floor board replaced and there is no way I was hauling in it until it was fixed. That's when I got a small smirk from hubby. He knows I hate that trailer and told me if I could find one I like for under $6,000 we could go pick it up by the end of the week. I got right on it and found a Sundowner 4 horse slant load with an aluminum ramp that I LOVE! (He loves it because he can fit his 4-wheelers in the back and as much camping gear as his little desires!) So Tuesday we drove 4 hours one way to pick it up, fought traffic for 4 hours home through rush hour and 3 big cities with crazy freeway exits. My nerves are still shot and I wasn't the one driving. That sucker is huge and its going to be awhile before I feel safe hauling by myself.

So I called Elaine when we got home and set up a time to pick up my new mare Wednesday night. Everything went well. She loaded herself and patiently nibbled her hay net while I closed her divider and tied her in. When we got home I she unloaded fine and started getting antsy while calling for her former pasture buddy's. She is a little herd bound but not bad at all once you get her attention on you. I put her in the round pen for a few minutes to let her sniff around and let her nerves settle. She is going to need a lot of round pen time. She has no idea about moving hindquarters over, backing up or looking for a cue to stop when you have her going around the pen. She loves standing right over your shoulder ALL the time and actually tried to push me out of the way when I was taking her to her new stall. No big deal really but I'm all about ground manners and my own personal space! Now time for pics...

Here she is!

(Not usually one to braid a horse's mane but it wont stay on the right side! lol)

Previous name was Katie... Any new name ideas?

She really needs come weight and muscle tone.

And of course Daya, very pregnant and very unhappy about it!
She does seem to get enjoyment out of taking it out on the new mare. Shessh! That is one moody appy.

Poor girl. She acts miserable! Her back legs have been swelling if I dont make her walk in the roundpen everyday but she loves having cold water sprayed on them afterwards.
Maybe my next blog will have foal pics!

This and that

Everything has been pretty quite at the barn this week. I've had to put Daya in the round pen a few times to keep her attitude in check! She hasn't really bagged up much more but her hindquarters continue to change. She has also been defecating a lot more than usual so stall cleaning has been fun! lol

I also wanted to share a little tidbit my farrier passed along to me. I have been battling thrush this spring in Daya's feet and nothing has been helping. He told me to stop waisting money on the name brand thrush products and pick up a bottle of Lysol Brand Concentrate. You don't have to dilute it and it kills all the germs/bacteria causing the problem. Ive used it for a few days now and I can already tell a difference! Plus its only about $6 a bottle.

Here is a funny little list I received in an email and thought I would share it. Some of them are pretty funny if you''ve ever had a spooky horse...

Top 11 Spookey Things
A horse's point of view

11. Squirrels:
Killer rodents that can attack from below, the side or ABOVE


10. Blowing Paper:
"At any moment it could whip up into our faces, covering our noses. We could suffocate. And don't try to tell us you'd do CPR."

9. Barking Dogs:
"What? You've never read Steven King's CUJO?"

8. Puddles of Water:
"Quicksand."

7. Trash Cans:
"They've been known to swallow horses and transport them into another dimension."

6. Babies and Li'l Kids:
"Long lost tribe of horse-eating pygmies."

5. Plaid Horse Blankets:
"Hey, when was the last time you wore plaid? It adds 100 lbs."

4. Ropes and Hoses on the Ground:
"Dreaded North American Trail Snakes."

3. Ponies:
"Cute, cleaver, hardy. They want to take over the world."

2. Windy Days:
"Two Words: impending tornado."

1. Carts and Wagons:
"Look. You put a human on our backs, we can always buck them off. But hitching a horse to a wheeled object? It's just not right."

2 Grumpy Girls...

No foal yet but Daya and I are both becoming impatient. She is moody and uncomfortable. I'm just chomping at the bit to get this baby on the ground. She is mushy from her tail head down, her whole butt and private parts look saggy , bagging up but very slowly, big veins popping out on her belly, and even her pelvic ligaments have relaxed. We are getting closer. I was hoping she would have waxed up by now but knowing her she is going to hold out till the cows come home!

Its been very boring at the barn... Watching Daya get ready to foal has been like watching water boil, So today I took some pics and even got a video clip of the baby moving! There is also a picture at the bottom that shows the condition of her teeth... kinda gross so beware!

If you watch her udder area you will see a little bump closer to the end...

Daya's teeth! I finally took a picture of them... Her left front is chipped the worst and third from the left is split. I dont even want to imagine what she got hit with or how hard the blow was to leave her teeth like this. My vet said I would have to look into a dental specialist as she got older. Im truly hoping she will still be able to somewhat graze when she gets up in her senior years,

Its almost foaling time....

It has been an amazing month so far. The weather has been warm and breezy, the barn yard is slowly drying up and Daya has been loving it. She enjoyed being pampered yesterday as I sprayed a white vinegar mix on her stained spots, sponged her down with some whitening shampoo and sprayed her off. Its beyond me how to get the yellow look out of her tail... but I was very happy with the end result (Of course I didn't have my camera with me!).

She has done really well with being saddled everyday. I've had her cinched up about 10 times now, no bucking, not even a single crow hop. She still gets fidgety and unsure sometimes when I first start cinching her up but it is all still new to her so this is expected. She is really handling everything very well, especially with her being so sensitive to things. The only problem areas I'm having is getting her used to my foot touching her belly as I put my foot in the stirrup. We are taking baby steps though and she is doing a really good so far.

I do have some great updates as far as foaling! Daya's belly dropped last week and started bagging up Sunday night. The area around her tail head is mushy, her vulva is dropping a little and this morning I noticed a subtle change in the muscles around her hindquarters. I'm thinking her cervix is starting to open up! Hoping to have a foal on the ground within a week!

She hasn't bagged up very much but everything else is pointing towards dropping this foal!

3/8/10 Update

The weather has been nice, Daya's belly is getting huge, and we have been working really hard on more ground and saddle work the last few days. I've been getting her accustomed to a saddle being put on her back (no cinches yet... I've seen her in action before! lol) and she is doing great. I've only done this for 2 days and she literally fell asleep with boredom today. I’m taking that as a good sign! I also introduced her to a tarp today. She was goofy for about 2 minutes and then started trotting over it like she had been doing it for years.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com