Good weather and Mini fun

We've been experiencing unseasonably warm weather - mid to high 60's for over a week now.  And I'm thoroughly enjoying the sun and lack of mud!

I do feel for the rest of the USA seeing the awful snow and ice storms passing through and the resulting damage. I can't imagine having to deal with ice to that degree - did that for a few years when I lived in Indiana - but didn't have horses!

The horses have been keeping me on my toes though, and I am looking for work for them as fence stress testers!  I swear the little @%%^ angels can make holes and gates in about anything!  Last week I had six horses in with the mares/foals pasture, and apparently the hog panel clips that hold cattle/hog panels together hadn't been tested on Mini determination!  So, I let them all out on the hill.  The mares that have been locked up for months (they think they're suffering on an acre or so of pasture) took the babies on a tour.  They're all safely locked up again after a few days of romping on the hills.


Unfortunately two of the rescues we got back a couple of months ago are NOT interested in being locked up!  I had to go find Celena and Baroness, I guess a few years of small pens at the previous owners was enough for them.  I can't entice those two down off the hill even for hay.  Fortunately we do have a season creek that runs through the property, and they seem perfectly content to wander around out there.  I would just like more groceries in Celena, she's still very very thin, although her belly is getting her normal layer of fat on it!


We finally have Leelee separated from Bruiser, much to her dismay. Her almost yearling son, is finally getting weaned - yeah!  She's not happy about it at all, but it's time. At the beginning of March he and Bambam will be moved into a separate pasture waiting for Binks to get old enough to wean. (Did I say NO MORE Fall foals?  I really really mean it!!!)


Ray, one of our first foals and pet gelding, coliced last week. No idea why, but it was two days to get him to pass poop and get the gas out.  You could here the gurgling in his gut of air moving around.  He's still confined in the backyard, but he's deflated and has been fine for a week, so time to go back out!

McLuvin, escape artist extraordinaire, was out in the orchard yesterday grazing away on knee high grass.  He'd made a McLuvin size hole in the fence and was having a private party.  Fence being refabriced this week, to McLuvin proof it.  He's on my short list to get into UCD for gelding.  Fortunately he's easy to catch as he's so people oriented.  You call him and he'll come, plus like his mom, grab a handful of mane and he'll walk along like a perfect gentleman.


The farrier is out Wednesday, so hopefully I can finally get registration photos done of Topper.  We're mud free, he's wooly but at least we can see his markings without the mud color adding to the fun.


That was last weeks fun - lol!  It's never dull....

Update...

I've been down sick with the flu or cold or whatever is going around Northern California.  Knocked me out for a few weeks, now I'm just dodging bronchitis or pneumonia.  So, updates are late and time with the horses has been minimal.  Yea for teenagers.

 GENERAL STUFF

Tomas was out, so the boys all were trimmed.  Glad that is out of the way, but we didn't get photos taken as planned.  The guys are still down here near the house (may summer here as they can't jump out!), so we'll get photo's taken.  My outstanding paperwork is really bugging me so - good, bad or indifferent the photos are being taken and submitted!

I know I mentioned the website will be moving to a new host in the next month, so it will be down for about a week.  I will be posting updates here and the sales list can be emailed to anyone in need during that time.

 

THE RINGO BOYS

Two down, couple more to go....

Ringo's boys are growing up (very few photos taken of #2 as I was down with the flu) but here is Kiega and little brother (the name Bruiser keeps roaming through my head) out in the field.

Carbon copy or what?  Matched blue roan driving team - rofl!!!   Actually they look more alike than in person, give Bruiser a few weeks to catch up to Kiega and they'll be hard to tell apart!

Now that he's a few weeks old LeeLee has stopped hovering and he's off with Kiega playing most of the day.

 

 
GETTING CLOSE
Baybee is on deck and with no cover date, we're watching her progress daily.  Not much of a bag but the foal is definitely getting into position.  Maiden mare, hope she won't be a hysterical one.

She's been in with ET since Kiega was little and watched Bruiser from birth so hopefully something has been absorped!  Baybee (Wesco Farms LM Buena Babyee Blues) is Callita's only daughter she had for me, lots of boys but very few daughters, so Baybee is definitely on my short list!

Although, I still kick myself for not calling Baybee - Got Milk.  Love her blue eyes and she has her sire's (Grosshill's Littlemans Anticipation) generous mane.

So, April will be mare watch and paperwork fun!  I know I have some outstanding phone calls to return, and need to get on that now that I have a voice again!

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.