Meghan and Tabby Finally Go Home

Whew!  It seems like forever ago that Emilee and Mikayla fell in love with those girls and now their dreams are finally true!  Their parents finally found the time to get some pasture cleared and the electric fence up and the girls went to their new home tonight.

Let me tell you, it was traumatic… for Classy and Kita that is.  Since Sadie has been in the quarantine pasture for a few weeks, Kita has buddied up with Meghan recently and the two have become joined at the hip.  Kita kept trying to get in front of Glenn when he as leading the other two to the gate in an attempt to stop him and practically ran him over a couple of times.   Once Glenn had Tabby and Meghan out of the gate, Kita and Classy raced each other around the pasture kicking up their heels in frustration. 

Meghan and Tabby just followed Glenn and quietly loaded into the trailer without a fuss. 

When they got to their new home, they unloaded, looked around at all the grass, and completely forgot that they were once enemies.

 

Yup, they’re going to absolutely hate their new home.  Can’t you tell?  I mean, just look at all that icky grass they have to eat their way through!  What a tough life they’ll lead.

 

 

Emilee has been away visiting family for a few weeks and returns home on Wednesday.  She doesn’t know yet that her horse is waiting for her just a few steps away from her bedroom.  I wish I could be there to see the look on her face when she gets home!

Equine Photo Overkill

I have a new volunteer and her name is Amy. She’s 18 and wants to be a vet. She has long blonde hair, legs up to her neck, and if I was half as beautiful when I was that age I would have been dangerous. Glenn is not allowed to meet her.

Amy loves horses. So much so that she wants to smell like them. All the time. Except for the beautiful part, she reminds me a lot of me at that age.

Amy’s mom has an awesome camera, even better than my new toy. She even knows how to use hers, unlike someone else I know. They both came out on Thursday morning to take pictures of the horses in the rain. Not only that, she took one hundred and fifty pictures! And I thought I was crazy for taking 50 pictures of a rabbit!

Well yeah, ok. Maybe that really was crazy.

So here are the ones that I really liked. Yes, there are a lot of Kita pictures. So sue me.

Somebody help me, these mares are nothing but trouble, especially with Willow in the lead.

Beet pulp nose. Kind of like a milk mustache, but even cuter.

Oddly, out of all of those pictures I didn’t see Jewel, Duchess, Maggie, Marbles, Frisky, or Kenzie. She did get a couple of pics of Ellie, but they were very far off. It turns out Ellie was terrified of the umbrella. Did you know umbrellas can eat small ponies? I didn’t either, but it must be true!

More Spa Fun

To continue with the spa theme from yesterday, most of the horses gave themselves mud baths today. I think their complexions are already starting to improve.

Gentry and Jewel are the cleanest horses in the herd. I should also mention that Jewel has declared herself Queen of the Little People. As she's become more secure about herself she's also become more dominant. She's now the boss over Meghan, Willow, Radar, Sadie, and Indy. I just hope she's smart enough to stop there and not try to challenge the Brat Pack!

After the mud baths, there were many naps to be had. Check out the droopy bottom lip on Jewel -- much lower and she'll be tripping on it.

Hunter was in this position for almost an hour. Talk about a relaxed and secure pony. I hope Radar isn't supposed to be standing guard because he's failing miserably at alertness.

Is that drool?

Even Princess Kita got down and dirty in the mud. This is one mare that HATES getting dirty, but a girl's got to get her beauty sleep somehow.

Please forgive my ripped and way too big jeans. They were Glenn's. There was no way I was wearing my freshly laundered flannel-lined jeans to kneel in the mud. That would have just been wrong.

Sadie

Glenn and I got 300 bales of hay in two different trips this weekend. It wasn't fun. I don't want to talk about it except to tell you that I couldn't lift my arms over my head yesterday. And to say that maybe, one of these days, we'll be able to pickup a load of hay and bring it home without losing any on the road, getting the trailer stuck in the barn, or having the tractor die in the middle of the barn door.

One of these days.

Anne was here Saturday morning for Sadie's big day of being let loose with the rest of the herd. Meghan wanted to become friends immediately and pursued Sadie with perky ears and earnest interest in her well-being. Everyone else wanted to eat Sadie for breakfast.

Anne was the only one bright enough to remember her camera that day, so these are her pictures. Please ignore the junk behind Sadie -- that's our neighbor's place, and that junk is part of the gauntlet we have to ride to get to the wonderful trails beyond.



Poor Sadie is still gimpy even on bute. I've got some B-L Solution (Buteless) on order, which is a herbal mixture for pain relief and arthritis that I've used on Junior with good results in the past. Hopefully, that will help her feel and move better.

Meghan is excited because she has a new friend. Semi is anxious because Sadie is yet another mare that will want Junior's attention.




This is the first time I've ever seen Meghan trot like this. What a cutie!




After all the Sadie excitement, we caught Jewel in deep thought.

"Someday soon, this will all be mine!"





"Once Semi, Junior, Kita, Classy, Megalia, Tabby, Dolly, Willow, Meghan, and Radar are gone I'll rule the roost and all that pasture will be mine Mine MINE!"



"Or not."




On another note, Emily is head over heels in love with Meghan and definitely wants to adopt her and the foal next year. Her sister, Mikayla, fell instantly in love with Tabby, who now looks black with her winter coat coming in. They understand that Tabby isn't broke to saddle yet, but are hoping I can have her kid ready by Spring next year. I think if I can find the time to start working with her more, she'll be easy enough to train considering her history and personality.


The girls also want to ride in the local Christmas parade this year and represent Horse Haven Holler by passing out flyers, wearing our logo, etc. I think this is a most excellent idea! Willow is certainly parade-worthy and one of them can ride her in the parade. Semi would be my next choice, as she used to be an Amish cart horse and is totally bomb-proof. But she hasn't been ridden in a long time as she's been enjoying her semi-retirement. Hmmm... I'll have to put some thought into this and come up with the perfect horse for them to ride. Even though both girls will be led by an adult, it would still be a good idea to have a steady mount to rely on to get them through the parade safely. Anastasia has offered up either Joe or Keisha the Couch as mounts as well, so it might end up being Keisha and Willow in the parade. What fun!

Some days you feel like a nut

And some days you feel like a complete fool instead.

For the past couple of months I've been slowly riding Meghan, trying to get some pounds off of her, build her stamina, and get her fit. We still haven't cantered. It's just been trot uphill, walk downhill, round and round in circles, bend, flex, a trail ride here and there, etc. etc. The mare just kept gaining weight. I was feeding her very little on her "diet", they were all wormed when they got here, and there was simply no reason why she wasn't losing weight and getting fit. Yesterday I went to get her out of the field for some grooming and trimming. As we were walking down the hill she kept stopping and I'd look back to see if something were wrong. Every time I looked back I'd see that huge swaying belly. When I got to the bottom of the hill I stopped short and quickly adopted the famous deer in the headlight look. A memory of something the woman at the last 'rescue' had said came floating up from the recesses of my brain: "we didn't geld Chief right away, we waited a few months". DING DING DING DING!!!

Self-mocking ensued for a few minutes, then I shared my light bulb moment with Glenn. Then the cursing really got started and we had a few choice things to say once again about where these horses had come from. Meghan stood quietly behind me with this look on her face that said "What's the big deal, all you had to do was ask me. Can I have more food now?"

We're pretty sure Chief is the daddy-to-be. Which means not only with this foal be conformationally (new word, call websters) challenged, but it'll be tiny. I'm hoping there are some big horse genes in Chief and he's just small because of his starved childhood. He's certainly got a big enough head that doesn't match his small frame. I had originally hoped that he'd grow into his head, but gave up on that notion already. I *think* Chief was gelded in March of this year. So at the latest we could be expecting a baby in January-February next year. If I'm wrong about Chief's genes we could end up with something smaller than Zeus.

Now our quarantine paddock plans have turned into our nursery plans, Meghan has been temporarily removed from the available horse list on the web site, we've got a date with the vet next week, and we're way too young to be grandparents. Thor has still not fessed up to the whereabouts of the camera, so I don't have pics of Meghan and Chief for you. Maybe tomorrow? And maybe as the estimated date arrives we'll do a guess that birth date and time contest. Or a name that foal contest. Or a guess how many hours of sleep WVFarmgirl has gotten while on foal watch contest?

I've reached my limit

We brought home four more horses in the rain yesterday. Yes, they were from the same rescue. All three of Dolly's daughter's: Classy, Baby, Meg, and a TB gelding named Indy. This is it until some leave. No more. The pastures are full, more hay is on the way for winter, and I've got plenty to keep me busy from now until 2028.

Baby is a 13yo dark seal bay and she's definitely the alpha mare of the three. She came home with Indy yesterday and protected him from all the other horses, even though he really didn't need protection. Today she herds around her mother and sisters and chases away any other horses that come near. Glenn fell in love with her right off the bat and proclaimed her as his new mare. "We're not adopting her out, she's MINE." Well OK then. And he's decided to name her after one of my coworkers that he likes to flirt with, Tabatha. Tabby for short. Yuck. No offense, Tab.


Classy fits her name to a T. She's a big, beautiful bay and has a ton of class. The other three loaded reluctantly on the trailer yesterday, but Classy didn't even bother to take a sniff and just marched right on. When turned out once they got here she had a huge trot, her tail was straight in the air and her head was high. She was friendly towards all the others and her reunion with her dam was like a quick peck on the cheek. She seemed very regal indeed! This morning she discovered treats and put all the royal class aside to beg for more treats like a kid in a candy store. She's also in love with Junior and nuzzles him over the fence. Semi is less than pleased.


Megalia is a 19yo bay mare. She's the only lame one out of the bunch that came home yesterday. She's got a puffy tendon that isn't sensitive to palpitation, but was making her gimp around a bit yesterday. But they'd all been locked in their stalls for about 24 hours because of the rain and she seems a lot better today. The swelling is gone and I haven't seen her gimpy at all.


A lot of people have inquired about Indy since I started taking in these horses. When I first saw him a month ago standing in his stall, dripping sweat, thin as a rail, and hanging his head in the corner I thought to myself that this is a horse that really didn't care if he lived or died. He had no interest in the humans standing outside his stall looking in and no interest in the hay a couple feet away. I didn't take him then because I was concerned that with his history of founder he'd have trouble on all the pasture I have. When I went back to look at him yesterday he had put on weight, he was inhaling his breakfast, and he was friendly and inquisitive. Surprisingly, he trotted off sound when he got off the trailer yesterday. We'll be working on those feet tomorrow!

Last Saturday saw the first ride on Meghan. Anne came over and we took Meghan and Willow out for an hour trail ride. While I was tacking up Meghan she was sweet, in my pocket, and acting like she was ready to ride. Once the bit was in her mouth she was a panic-stricken wild thing, flinging her head and trying madly to push it out with her tongue. Once I took the bridle off she was back to normal. Hmm.. she'll be going to the vet to get her teeth checked, but I believe this is probably a fear reaction from some bad experiences. I put a halter on her instead, and hooked some reins to the sides. When I was ready to mount she was also tense, wide-eyed, and acting like she was ready to explode. Once I sat down easy in the saddle and she realized I didn't have spurs, she gave a big sigh and relaxed.


She continued to impress both Anne and myself during the trail ride. She was OK in the lead or behind Willow. She didn't spook once, even though there was plenty to spook at. To get to the trails we have to ride through our neighbor's junked cars and piles of tires and she was a champ through it all. She was point and go, no hesitation, ears forward, loving every minute. Log across the trail? No worries, she found a way around it. She never took a bad step and I never had to pull her back. The whole ride was at a walk, except for a couple of very short trots here and there. Her only problem was on the way home when she was tired and didn't want to trot anymore. If I squeezed her forward she'd swing her head around and bite at my foot. She'd trot on her own if Willow got too far ahead, but she didn't want it to be my idea. And I didn't want it to be hers. So we've got that to work on still, but I think she'll be ready for adoption in no time.

Pictures of the newbies tomorrow once the camera battery is charged again.