Update

It's been about two weeks since I last wrote anything - I've been reading blogs on how to blog - scary some of the suggestions! Others make you realize you're very boring, so why bother - lol!

Oh well, soldier on!

It's hot, the grass is shriveling up, the horses are almost completely shed out (belly hair is almost gone), so they're looking sleek and shiny. Everyone's a bit chunky, except for Flash - he's proving to be the hardest to keep weight on, but no one is skinny here!!!

I finally ventured on the forums again (SHG) today. It's the first time I've been on any online horse related forum since last Fall. I definitely needed the break. Getting to cynical about some of the people in the Mini industry!

Other things -

We've had the farrier out again and he's coming again on June 5th. Hopefully we'll be caught up, as the foals need to be done.

Our fly predators are out, not seeing a drastic reduction in flies yet, but putting them out monthly should help. I want to get the fly traps up too.

We have baby pools that need to be filled for the horses to. The boys have been making their own mud wallow, as they pull the water lose from their bucket every day or so, but the mares do enjoy the afternoon squirting and rolling. If they'd only not break sprinklers - lol!!!

Another mare loss -
Sad news, we lost one of our mares, Wesco Farms Ravishing Ruby, was found dead in the a.m. when we went out to feed. She was (we thought) a healthy three year old, as she hasn't been ill, no sign of struggle/colic/nothing, in good flesh, eating the day before fine, so ?? We're at a loss as to why she died, but I don't necropsy as 9/10 they'll tell me it's inconclusive and I still have a dead horse. We just hope she didn't suffer and is in a better place now.

It is a bit weird though, usually we lose a foal to some foaling issue, dystocia, etc., but this year all were born easily and have been very robust/healthy, so odd to lose a mare.

Speaking of foaling -
We're done - yeah! Two more colts to finish out with five fillies, four colts for 2009. I'm pleased with what the stallions sired and these foals will have to fill our cute baby mode as I don't plan to breed until 2010 or 2011.

I seriously need to reduce our herd number, so can't see continuing to breed until that is accomplished. As picky as I am about selling, it will likely take two years to get the numbers down - lol! It would be nice to be able to just sell to anyone that shows up with $$, but I'm not that way. There's no guarantees on a good home, but if I get a bad vibe from a potential buyer, or the questions aren't answered, etc., it's a no go! So, it will be a slow process!

Enough of that!

The foals are doing great, I wish I had pasture cam's so I could watch them play. April, Zydeco and Vanna look like three stuffed animals cavorting about. Very cute, little shorties!

April and Zydeco

Almost forgot the new foals!!!

These two will be in the grey zone of 'who's your Daddy' as they fall in the time when Ringo jumped the fence. We DNA/PQ all foals as a matter of course anyway. It will be interesting to see who Daddy will be though!

I'm guessing Ringo on this one out of Miss (Las Doradas Miss America Pie). Her and her son are already sold and will be going to their new home Saturday, so we do not have a name for him yet. Wesco Farms fillin the blank! Handsome colt though.

This guy, based on color, I'm assuming will be a Frenchie foal. It will be interesting to see the results! Dam is Valentina (Wesco Farms Brazen Beauty Toy4Me). As Val is a bay pinto and Frenchie is a dilute/silver (we think), it's more likely he's the sire than the blue roan Ringo! As I was listening to the soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire when thinking up names - he's got the great one of Jai Ho! That's the song they're playing at the end which loosely translates to Hallelujah (how I feel with foaling season over!), so Wesco Farms Jai Ho it is!

Thursday prep work

Moved the boys down from their pasture to the two adjacent to the house - tomorrow is trim/deworm/clean up day!  It's suppose to be in the high 90s to 100 so we'll see how motivated we are in the clean up department! 

I'm hoping to at least put bridle paths and clean up heads a bit as we need new photos for registration and the sales page.  

The yearling boys are a wild bunch, fortunately they travel in a pack so get one moving they'll all go!  McLuvin is still very friendly and always looking at them like 'What's your problem?'  Rohan has adopted the boys as his herd and he moves them around like a stallion with mares.  Herd dynamics are so interesting to watch ... the Jan Goudall in me!

Ringo could see them on the other side of the house, so his knickers are in a knot!  He actually is very social and enjoys being with the boys, but Mr. Fence Jumper, it borders on pointless to put him out with them at all.

Missy and Val still have not foaled - probably waiting for the extreme heat wave we're having this weekend.  We're getting fans set up tomorrow just in case and the swimming pools will be out by Saturday too.

The foals are all doing well.  I'm very please with the overall look quality that Bonus Bucks, Frenchie and Ringo have sired - wish Frenchie and Ringo's were a few inches shorter, but they're foals are nice!

We only had one bit of diarrhea with Surprise at foal heat.  We'll see if Una's filly has it (she didn't get Foal Response or mom dewormed the first 12 hours).  I'm doing an non-scientific test if Foal Response and deworming with Ivermectin on the mares helps prevent foal heat or not.  Twila/Surprise was the one foal we found dried and although we gave them the combo, we're not sure how old she was, so . . .

I really need to carve out time to get caught up on paperwork, it keeps falling further behind.  Nine years I was always on time or early, year ten I've fallen apart in that department!  Oh well, nothing that's not fixable - just extra fees to get it all in order!  I have a three week break from being a taxi coming up, so hopefully will get caught up on the outstanding backlog of papers!

I'm going to be very glad when the boys are all done tomorrow, right now I'm dreading it though - lol!!!

New foal!!

Another filly - yeah!  And a total surprise one at that - 

Wesco Farms Count Your Blessings BR

 

This is Ringo's first foal (Wesco Farms BuckeRowdyroo:  Little Kings Bagheera Buckeroo x NFC Rowdys Lil Chiclet), and he apparently made good on my promise last year that I would breed him to two mares with his fence jumping twice last summer to get in with these mares.  

Una (Wesco Farms Bella Luna: Las Doradas American Eagle x Las Doradas Etoile de Mar) and he have always had a moon over the fence thing going on, so not surprised she was the one he covered!  Hopefully the only one!   She apparently didn't listen when I told her she could be done foaling last year with her son Shaman.

I have two more mares that we're watching that will now go on the 'who's your Daddy testing' list. The other nine mares were not bred back last year, but will be suspect and thoroughly checked and watched for the next two weeks.   Well Ringo's June 19 & 23 fence visits from last year extend my foaling season.   

 

As for Miss Una, she apparently hid being pregnant very well (versus Cajun who now looks 'un-pregnant' again) and did a fine job foaling out too!  

Mother's Day a.m., Frank ran an errand and came home said all the horses were up on the hill - should have been a sign go see what theyr'e doing as they only congregate on top with a birth or some other exciting event.  As a Mother's Day present my daughter fed the horses for me, so apparently either missed the little stranger or Una didn't come down with the rest of the herd and someone miscounted!  

I was totally spoiled for Mother's Day (slept in, no chores, breakast made by my hubby, my son washed my car in/out, flowers, chocolates and letters from the kids - great day!), there was no indication the horses were doing anything out of the ordinary.  We rarely see them during the day at this time of year as once they go back out they only come down in the evening for water, so didn't suspect a thing!

 

So today when I'm out feeding I notice Una, Annie and this little black stranger.  Annie came down to eat and Una made her way down once the rest were busy with their piles.  So we caught her (thinking she'd just had it), but this was a very robust I'm-not-just-born foal!  We locked them up and she's been doing laps racing around, very independent little girl!  All legs (a definite B mini) the Shetland blood is showing in this cross - lol!  Otherwise a nice looking foal.  Doesn't have the big bug eyes I like, but otherwise well put together.

 

What bothers me - I've been sleepless for weeks watching the wrong horses - lol!!  I've been watching Missy (Una's half-sister) for a week sure she's having it, but no!! 

There is comedy in this somewhere, right?  

  

Just another Monday

Started off this morning by finding Ringo - my raptor ala Jurrasic Park fence tester - had in his vigerous fence testing way found another spot in the fence and was out cavorting with the mares.  This time he had a pack of followers, with Deva kicking everyone away from him.  Not much good it did as he zeroed in on LeeLee and even my yelling and Deva's kicking was going to stop him from doing the deed! 

We don't know how long he was out, or if he had a busy morning or not, but there goes my plans for no foaling season next year and a new stallion report is in order!

Well at least it should be a nice cross if it took as Ringo is our Buckeroo grandson (also a Rowdy grandson) and LeeLee is a daughter of World Champion Senior Stallion Little Kings Bay Ablaze on top and heavy Johnstons/Gold Melody Boy on the bottom.  I just looked at Ringo's webpage and had to cringe - awful photos of him! Oh well that's not surprising seeing how poorly I man a camera!

I guess Ringo's repeated in/over/under fence testing along with yesterday Ivan getting into the stallion pasture - missed his friends now that he's a gelding? LOL!  Being chased across 20 acres of hills changed his mind on that!  Anyway, this seems to be a clear indication we need to redo all our fences!  

Well if the economy stays on track (ie horses keep selling/DH stays employed) we'll be getting Lindeman back out to refabric the perimeter in a couple spots and do something about the deplorable interior fences that are in major need.

Ugh, I dread that bill!  

Website

Other fun - worked on our website today adding pedigree info to the foals pages, and photos.  I really need to delete alot of the information on there or combine it so it's not so unwieldy.  It's out of date in some sections, and just a plain mess in others - but nine years of it growing and adding, it was bound to happen!   So, I'm plugging away at it, between everything else that needs attendance.  It will likely take awhile as I could do it on the laptop while doing all the waiting I do (a teenage daughter that doesn't drive yet!), so maybe it will get done sooner than I think!

Mares & Foals

The mares & foals are doing well.  If it doesn't rain tomorrow I'm going to try and get some new photos of the foals.  I'm very happy with what Bonus Bucks and Frenchie sired and the mares are all doing excellent jobs in the mother department.  We've only had one foal heat diarrhea with Surprise (oh so lovely on a light colored horse).  She was the one that received Foal Response the latest, instead of right after foaling (well when they're ready to stand that is!).  So far we've been pleased with this product.  It may be actually doing nothing, but we've had very robust healthy foals with a minimum of foal diarrhea since we started using it.

Note to self - order hay!  I generally write this down and forget until we're down to the last four-five bales.  We're truly luck Higby's is sooooo good at getting hay to us in a timely manner.

Regular stuff

Had the farrier out, the gentleman with the backhoe and on the phone with two potential buyers so fairly normal day!

Lady was laid to rest next to Shakira and Tangerine (my only adult minis we've lost so far) in their valley.  It far from our house/well (anything actually), but somewhere we go by daily.  

Farrier visit

My farrier (Tomas Hererra - if you're in the Sacramento are he's awesome) was out.  As we'd had Lady pass, the three foals, Ringo needing more running room - the boys we intended to trim turned into trimming mares instead.  I had bribed my son to help (money speaks to starving college students), so all I had to do was help catch and deworm - yea 3 hours of sleep I'm cool with not standing around holding horses for the farrier!  Especially as I had my son working and Tomas was feeling good he did 17 minis versus our usually 12-14.  We're a bit behind with weather and health issues this year, so some were getting awful looking.  

I decide too, that as my son was here, its a good time to do Cajun - catching her requires a catch pen and two people as I've seen her knock a full grown mini mare off her feet trying to get away - she's a nightmare trim - I would post photos of how we tie her (for her safety and ours) but PETA would like be picketing me - she's that bad!  You have to cross tie Cajun and tie up one foot to get near her back legs, even then she'll try to sit like a mule if she can or lean on you - it's oh so NOT fun!

Fortunately Tomas deals well with her and isn't resentful about having to trim her.  He does alot of petting and talking to her, while she does alot of glaring back and sending out hate body language messages!  Tomas is very good with the minis, never abusive which I've seen in the past (part of her problem the guy that trimmed her as a foal I found out!)  We've tried bribing her with carrots, treats, etc., I've even had Bonnie Fogg read this mare and its just her personality.  She doesn't care for humans and lets you know it!

After she was trimmed, I said goodbye to Tomas and told him I'd see him in two weeks and went to feed the rest of the herd.

Peanut

I think we may have a great home for Peanut - yeah.  I wonderful family that does not want to breed is considering her and we're thinking it might be a good fit.  Peanut is one of those mares that just doesn't do it for me on the conformation scale and I don't want her ending up in a breeding program just because she's small and buckskin, so this seems like it might be an ideal situation.

I think it's naptime again.  Three more weeks . . .