Baby Budha Belly

Mariah has been separated from her mother for a few weeks now and is doing great.  All the other horses in that herd just adore her, except for Tabby, and she’s got the biggest mares in the herd as her bestest buddies.  That’s Matilda on the left and Eve on the right.

 

Matilda just loves her little shadow and lets Mariah follow her everywhere.

 

Eve also loves the little tyke and will lay her ears back at Tabby if she gets too close.  Eve is a live and let kind of gal on the bottom of the totem pole, so for her to lay her ears back at someone takes a lot of gumption.

 

But really… what’s not to love?

 

There’s a 14 day Tabby update over on Rescue Recoveries for you to check out!

Hay, hay, and yet more hay

In the past week and a half, three different people have called me to donate hay.  The first had lost her last horse and didn’t want anymore.  She had about 130 bales in her barn and was looking for a place to donate it.  It took two trips, but it’s in our barn now. 

The second was a very nice couple that live about 6 miles away.  I’ve never met them before, but they called me up last week and wanted to “come out and just see what you’re about”.  So they came out a few days ago, met all the horses and we traded stories (they currently have six horses, one of them a rescue), then they said they wanted to donate a bunch of hay, but first needed to make sure I was nothing like the “so-called rescue” an hour down the road.  Apparently, I’m not.  170 bales delivered by them over the last two days now sits in our barn. 

The third is a friend of mine that is also fostering two horses and adopted Shortcake, Ginger, and Huey.  She and her husband bale their own hay and they were offered a new farm to bale this year.  I went down today while they were baling and now 82 more bales are sitting on the truck and trailer waiting for tomorrow to be introduced to our barn.  They offered more hay, but my barn is full!

 

Even though I feed round bales, I still like to have the barn full of square bales in the event that the weather is so bad that I can’t get to my round bale supplier.  I should have put “fill barn with hay” on my project list just so I’d have something to cross off!

 

I also got some training done yesterday and Mariah really wanted to hinder help!  So go check it out over on the new blog!

Sketches and Eve

I’ve been practicing saying NO.  I have, really.  People call me and want me to take their young and healthy horses just because they don’t want them anymore and don’t want to take them to auction.  I have been saying NO and getting quite good at it!  I know I can’t save them all.  Even my super powers have limits, no matter how much I hate to admit it.  My goal is to be below 25 horses before this winter simply because we still don’t have a tractor and feeding those round bales physically kills me in the mud and snow, so saying NO when I already have 44 horses is a must. 

So would someone please tell me why I couldn’t say no when I got a call from an older gentleman who has been diagnosed with cancer and will no longer be able to care for his two Thoroughbred broodmares once the chemo and radiation treatments start???  Probably because I have a soft spot for TBs (especially the older broodmares) and watched both of my grandfathers die from lung cancer.  Good enough excuse?

Like the Holly herd from last year, these two girls came with big thick folders that included every piece of paper ever accumulated on them, including their Jockey Club registrations.  They are current on their vaccinations and worming schedule, but their feet need a trim.  If only they all came in like this!

Summer Sketches is a 1992 chestnut mare by Cure the Blues, out of Host of Angels.  I have to stick her to be sure, but she seems to be about 15.2h tall.   Since we already had girl named Summer, I suppose we’ll call this lady Sketches.  She’s got something funky going on under her chin, but the owner said the vet had removed it once and it just came back.  It is not a tumor and his vet didn’t know what it was.   Hmmm.   Sounds like a job for Super Doc!  At least it doesn’t seem to hinder her chewing or bother her in any way.

 

 

Evening Stardrift (Eve) is a 1997 dark bay mare by Fly So Free, out of Enchanted Acorn.  Um, enchanted acorn?  Nevermind.  Eve is ginormous, standing around 16.3h, possibly even 17h.  She wasn’t really interested in standing still for me yesterday -- too many other horses to see and sniff.  I was like a big annoying horse fly that wouldn’t leave her alone and kept pointing a silly black thing at her. 

 

 

Neither of the mares have been ridden since coming off the track years ago, so I’ll give them some time to settle in then get on them for evaluation.  They are both sound in the pasture and I just love riding those old broodmares.  They are usually so laid back and willing to please.  And I have to admit, I can’t wait to get on Eve!  I can just picture her jumping a hunter course or doing flying changes down the diagonal…

Ahem.  Sorry, I’m back from dreamland now.  The two girls have hooked up with the Dallas/Bo/Sapphire crew this morning and are munching on a hay roll a good ways from the rest of the herd.  When they first arrived yesterday, Matilda came down to meet them and I think she was a little surprised to see Eve was taller than her!

 

Don’t worry girl, your place in the herd as Sky’s girlfriend isn’t in any danger.

Comparisons

Since I see the horses over at the quarantine twice a day, I haven’t really noticed big improvements.  I mean, sure, it’s obvious that Matilda has gained weight, but I had no idea it was this big of a change until I started comparing pictures.

This is her on 4/11 – the day she was seized.

 

These pictures were taken just a couple of days later on 4/13.

 

 

 

These were taken on 4/29, just 18 days after she was removed from Fairmont.

 

 

It’s not just weight gain, either.  Look at the difference in her attitude!   On the 13th she looked so miserable and defeated, but on the 29th she’s bright-eyed and curious.  She now knows that humans = food and that’s something to look forward to.

The changes in just 16 days are amazing!  Funny what a little grain, grass, and grooming will do for a horse.  :)

Sleeping In

I wish I could.  Every morning when I arrive at the quarantine farm I’m greeted by something like this.  The horses don’t even bother to rise until they see me come in the gate.

 

Approaching them with the camera doesn’t even wake some of them up.

 

Awake, but not ready to roll out of “bed” yet.

 

Apollo was not amused at having his slumber in the sun disturbed. 

 

Matlida and Sierra jumped up as soon as they saw me get out of the truck.  THE FOOD LADY IS HERE!!!!

 

Matilda is getting so much better!  I no longer have to trap her in a corner with a bucket of food in my hand just to catch her.  Tonight she lost her halter and followed me around the pasture while I looked for it.  When I found it, she let me put it back on her then followed me back to the barn for dinner!  Progress!  And… the big news… Matilda has been in serious heat the past couple of days, which means she’s probably NOT preggers!    I say “probably not” because when Semi was pregnant with Kita she still acted like she was in season whenever something upset her.  So I’m not getting my hopes too high yet, but I am optimistic.  She’s been trying desperately to get Chester to “help” her out, but the poor guy doesn’t have a clue what to do for her. 

Their quarantine period will be over next weekend so these five will be moving here to the farm.  Dahlia and Matilda will be going into the quarantine paddock after I move Willow and Kita back in with the main herd.  Willow’s foal will also be a month old next weekend (and I still haven’t blogged about her… so sorry!), so she should be more than ready to assimilate into the herd.  Apollo, Chester, and Sierra will also go in with the main herd. 

Molly, Lakota, and Genesis should be headed off to their new homes soon and have I mentioned the really bad news?  I mean, the horribly awful news that I don’t even want to discuss?  Maverick has a new home waiting for him to go on a couple of trail rides, which is why he wasn’t on the list of potential horses to take to Farm Days.  The day he leaves, I’ll be holding a sob fest here on the farm if you’d like to attend.  Free admission, just BYOK (Bring Your Own Kleenex).

More Updates on the Fairmont Horses

Anne’s daughter, Emily, came over and took some pictures of everyone on Saturday and you know how I like to share. 

Don Juan is very much bald at this point but his hair is beginning to grow back and he feels as soft as velvet right now.   He’s upset about being apart from his women, but he’ll just have to get over it. 

 

Once I started grooming Chester the hair came out in great greasy gobs.  The poor guy was such a mess from the lice that he scratched himself bloody in places.  His hair is just now starting to grow back and he’d stand still for hours if someone would just rub and scratch him.

 

Sierra has done a complete 180 degree turn since yesterday.  It’s like someone just flipped a switch on her and now she seeks out attention and loves to just stand there and be petted.  She’s gained a lot of weight since being separated from Don Juan and is looking great.  I had thought she was a younger horse but I got a look at her teeth tonight and she looks to be around 15. 

 

Matilda is also learning to trust and spent a good 15 minutes being petted and adored by teeny boppers tonight.  At first her eyes were wide and she was as tense as a board, but after the first twenty or so cookies she began to relax, lower her head, and willingly get closer to people for more cookies. 

 

Peppermint and Tootsie… because how could I not include those two?  Peppermint is slowly gaining weight on Equine Senior feed and is now producing more milk for the munchkin.  Tootsie is growing up fast and has become quite the character!  She’s so small that she loses mom easily when coming or going out of the barn.  She just sees a set of legs and follows them… even if they belong to humans or the big horses!  She loves people and will often stray from mom to play with the humans. 

 

Shortcake has still not foaled and she’s not producing milk at all.  However, Blondie’s bag was HUGE today so she may foal before Shortcake.

And this… this is how you tell your Ivermectin is working as it should.  See all those little red things in there?  Those would be worms. 

  

For days after worming everyone with the first dose of Ivermectin, the “land mines” were FULL of bot larvae and threadworms.   I wormed a second time yesterday and I've only seen a few worms so far.  I’ll worm again in a month with Safeguard, as Doc suggested.

Introductions – the sequel

Matilda is a Percheron or Percheron cross mare and looks like she’s preggers.  Of course.  She’s also terrified of humans, but we were able to catch her tonight and get her wormed.  Then Glenn took her out and hand grazed her in the grass for awhile and she seemed to calm down a bit.    She’s a bit on the thin side, with very little muscle along her top line, and is also covered in lice.  She’s rubbed herself bloody in places, so we also got her dusted with powder tonight.  She thought the canister of lice powder was going to eat her, but we got the job done eventually.

 

Kincaid was the last to be caught and put on the trailer.  He was also the toughest!  We thought he was going to break his leg at one point when he reared up and got it caught in a cattle panel.  It was bent at the knee with the sole of his hoof facing up.  He couldn’t move far since he was pinned against the fence, but every time one of the deputies tried to reach in and cut the cattle panel with bolt cutters, he’d try to bite them. 

 

Chip is one of the mini studs.  He’s very much in charge of the mini herd and was doing battle with Don Juan before we got them rustled up and in the trailer.  He seems to think he’s 10 foot tall and bullet proof when it comes to the bigger stallion. 

 

Little Rusty is also a stud.  He’s also the one that wants to play, play, and play some more!  He’s getting friendlier every day and he just wanted me to scratch is neck for hours tonight. 

 

Ginger is just a cutie patootie.  She really wants to be friendly, but just can’t make up her mind.  She’s fine as long as she’s getting treats or food, but without incentive she really doesn’t want to have much to do with us.

 

 

This little pregnant cutie has got to be one of my favorites.  I call her Shortcake.  She’s another that doesn’t think humans are worth the attention unless there’s food to be had.

 

More to come tomorrow.  Time for a nice hot shower, some Tylenol PM, and hopefully, some very deep and uninterrupted sleep!