Saturday's outing and more Theo cuteness

 Theo is into everything. Including his mama's senior ration. 

Ummm Theo, there's more in the pan than on the ground!

Once he figured out how to bend his legs to get his nose down closer he happily nibbled up some ration.  And then he discovered that he only had to bend one leg. 

We went to the Horse Expo yesterday, and I managed to find a new jacket that is hip length and western, as well as a wild rag that is bigger than the ones I have so will be easier to tie the buckaroo knot in.  

Not my photo, borrowed from Pintarest

It's a little dressier than the square knot. Next on my list is finding a nice scarf slide. 

We also watched one session of the Colt Starting challenge, we saw Glen Stewart working with a grey mare. Too busy watching for photos. It was pretty much like all the other colt starting competitions. I don't think I would send him a colt to start, he's too into the Parelli stuff but it was interesting . 

Some Gussie stuff

 With all the attention focused on Theo lately, I figured I'd better give Gussie some blog time. 

The horse dentist came out and did her teeth, she definitely needed doing. I like that he doesn't sedate or restrict the horse from moving, and only uses power tools if he has to remove something that would take too long to hand rasp. 

She was very good for him. It did take her a day or so to get used to her new mouth. 

Since my last ride was a while ago, I do have an excuse other than foal watch. Not so much an excuse as a reason- I am having a major issue with a torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder- and me being left handed, it really limits my ability to do anything that requires any extension of my arm, especially lifting the saddle onto a 15.2  plus hand high mare. That last ride I managed to get her saddled but then it all got worse. I was beginning to get healed up so I figured I would try again. Which may or may not have been a brilliant idea! 

I led her through Velvet's pen to see how Velvet would react to having another mare in the vicinity of her foal. She did herd Theo away, but I think in a few days I will be able to turn them out together, as Theo is getting more independent and Velvet isn't getting too excited about him being away from her. 

Then saddling her, Gussie stepped away from me a couple of times but I did manage to get her standing still and got her saddled. (Ouch.)

In the round pen, I checked to see if she was with me or thinking about her herd- and got some beautiful connection. I love it when you can ask them to step forward with a merest suggestion and then get the foot to stop in mid action and ask them to reverse direction- and they do! Yay Gussie! 

My purpose for this ride was to check fence- I always like to ride with purpose- on the 15 acres that we fenced off one side with electric tape. It was down again and I wanted to see how much repair would be needed. 

We may have to replace the whole bottom strand, it has several week spots. 

It's such a joy to ride a solid free moving horse! The rest of the fenceline was all intact so we headed back.

 This pasture has a lot of old grass that is laid over, we should harrow it if we can find someone with a big set of harrows. We will fix that fence next week and then I want to turn Beamer out on it for a few hours a day- he will love exploring it! 

The jury is out on whether or not Gussie is in foal, remember we did breed her to Beamer after she foaled last summer, but I am starting to think she's open, 

It is really hard to tell with her though until she's about 2 months away from foaling- and she hasn't come into heat yet this year. She would be due mid to late August. 

Speaking of foals.... can't go away without a cute Theo photo!

That white chin!

Wordless Wednesday

 

2 days old

 Theo is thriving and quite entertaining. I can see his pen from my dining room window, and it's fun to watch him ripping around, loping circles around his mama, and then sleeping soundly to recharge for the next bout.

This way...

and that way...

He has nice straight legs, no weird swirls, and is definitely black, not roan. 

We fixed up the barn by removing a gate that divided it into 2 stalls that could trap him, and they are using it well, which is nice because it is still stupid windy, gusts up to 30 mph (50 km). I can feed them in there and not have the hay blow over to the neighbours!

Theo drinks a bit of water when his mama does. 

Like most foals, he has a very curious nature. It's fun to watch him explore the world. He will have to stay in this pen until we get the other pens cleaned, which will be happening later this week. So I get to have my morning entertainment with my morning coffee as I watch him zooming in and out of the barn and all around the pen. Velvet has stopped being obsessed with his every movement; she will stand and watch without following now. She also has taken to pinning her ears at Gussie and not worrying about where Gussie is, which is good because now Gussie goes out to the pasture to graze instead of hanging out at the fence. 

Those red tufts in his ears though!

Named

 You know I don't like a day to go by without naming my foals. With most of them, I already have a name picked out- and if this would have been a filly, that would have been the case. However, something told me to wait until the birth to choose the name for this foal. 

So, in my search for a name, I looked up who the saint of the day was. I like to incorporate my faith into all that I do, so that seemed the right thing to do. Well- the saint of the day was St. Theodore, in fact there were two St. Theodores whose memory was commemorated on that day- one was a hermit who wore a hair shirt.... need I look any further? The second deciding factor is that Ted's full name is Theodore, and as a tribute to all that he does for me and my horses, I asked him if he minded that I name this colt after him- I think he was pleased. So Theo is the name I chose. Theo Peppy will be his registered name, as all Beamer's foals have either Peppy or Midnight in their names. 

Theo is having fun exploring his pen- and himself apparently- and leading his mama on a merry chase. I watched yesterday as he loped around the pen, and Velvet trotted after him, clearly worried about his independence! 

What's the cat looking at? 

Theo had to live through a very cold windy day in his first 24 hours. I can't put Velvet in the barn and close her in- she has to be able to see at least her friend Gussie. So we are doing a little modification on the barn to make it safe and will leave the door wide open so that mama and baby can come and go as they please, as we are supposed to get wet weather today and tomorrow.

Although, yes I was hoping for a blue roan filly, I am very pleased with this little guy! He's going to be fun!

The special one

 Did anyone see the halo around the moon early Thursday morning? I saw it on my foal checks at midnight, and again at 4 am. It was rather spectacular. I thought to myself that it was a good sign for a special day. Of course, no foal Thursday! 

But- early Saturday morning, we welcomed this beauty into the world. 

Black....

Colt (of course!)

Velvet was quite restless and I thought she wasn't going to foal until I left so at around 2 am I packed up and headed back to the house. I woke at 5 am and there he was- so I think she foaled within a half hour of me leaving, as he was standing, dry, nursing and pooping. 

He has diagonal socks, a teeny star, a snip on his nose and white on his chin. 

Right hind

Left front

And for the derpy photo of the day....

Those whiskers!

He looks so much like Beamer! Even the way he holds his ears is like daddy. 

His mama loves him

Velvet is protective of him but not aggressive. She lets us touch him for exactly x amount of time then herds him away. 

So cute!

The blog contest winner is my sister, M who picked just about everything perfectly. Thank you to everyone who played along, it made the waiting so much easier. 

Spring is springing

 The robins came back on eclipse day, and there are many birds gracing us with their tweets and twitters and song and honks and quacks. The snow only remains in the deeply shaded areas, and the grass is greening on the lawn. The farmers have uncovered the beehives and we are getting buzzed by hungry and thirsty honey bees. We could use some dandelions for them, but they haven't shown their little yellow faces yet. It is still below freezing by a degree or 3 at night. 

The only thing missing, Velvet, is a foal!

Release the hostage, please. 

I have been on foal watch the last few days. She had some wax, and then it went away yesterday. Maybe not true wax then? Her fluid is very sticky, but her udder could be fuller- however, given her age etc. she may not get right full until baby is on it's way. 

The coyotes serenade anywhere from 1 am to 3 am as they make their rounds. So far, they are not coming close enough to be worrisome. 

As far as foaling guesses go, Linda, Frank and M are eligible to try again!

Eclipse day

 The eclipse was almost a non event in this corner of the world- unless you had a telescope like my sister and her husband have. They watched through it and sent me this photo, which is rather cool as the sun looks like the moon but the moon is the dark shadow. 

Photo credit to Frank!

I sat outside in the sun during the eclipse and the coolest thing happened- right at noon, when the eclipse was getting underway, 4 swans flew directly above me, about 30 feet up, with the sun shining through their wings- huge wings at that! I felt very blessed and thankful for such a beautiful moment. I didn't have my phone camera on but a few minutes later did get a snapshot of a pair of  them flying by but a little further away. 

I knew they were in the area as we saw a bunch of them, along with ducks and geese in a field on the way to town. Again, just a cell phone photo. 

While on the subject of wildlife.....

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things is not quite the same...

It's rare to see white tail deer and muleys together. This doe seemed curious, and the muleys were rather suspicious of her. She eventually went back to her little herd .

The river was interesting today. This morning, it was all calm and smooth flowing- worthy of trying for a reflection shot. 

Or two

Late this afternoon it was completely different. 

Velvet is still hanging in there, and my rules are that anyone whose guess has passed can put in a new guess. So far, that is Frank and Leslie. 

I'm still thinking of names....

Sunday Silence

 

Progress

 The snow finally melted enough for me to get to work putting the straw down in the foaling pen. We had a lovely 6 ft. high bale of clean oat straw delivered ,

The ground is still a bit wet, but at least it isn't frozen, that moisture will soon sink into the sandy soil here. 

All set up!  Velvet got a little worried at one point, she had a nap in that lovely straw bed and when she woke up she couldn't see the other horses, so I brought Gussie up so that she is right across the fence from her, then all was well in her world. 

And none too soon.... look at that belly and how it is now V shaped; the foal has dropped bum low, which they have to do to get in foaling position. 

Compare this photo below:

to this one from  3 weeks ago:

Her bag isn't quite full yet, so we do have a bit of a wait yet! 333 days today and counting. 

Waiting and waiting

I was getting a bit grumpy about still having snow on the ground here - guess I'm still in Creston mode, because I looked back at my photos of this time last year.... and guess what, it's about the same! So I guess I have to just suck it up, this too shall pass. It is melting, especially today and tomorrow, but there is a week of unsettled weather in the forecast with some of that S word in it. My point being, that with Velvet getting closer to foaling I am of course hoping for lovely weather! She is at 330 days today. Her milk is coming in well, and she is getting loose in the tail area. 

I have her separated from the other mares now, but not yet in the foaling pen. She seems to be quite content to have her hay all to herself! I have the foaling pen all set up, just waiting for the last of the snow to melt in it so I can put down some straw for bedding/foaling. I don't want to put it on top of the snow if I don't have to, as it will insulate the snow and it won't disappear for a while. 

The mares are all shedding like crazy; I groomed them yesterday and today it will be Beamer's turn. 

Easter Sunday was lovely day here, after Church I spent some time with the horses and even had some sit in the sun with Thumper quality kitty time. A good day to reflect on all that Easter means to us. 

And, although nothing is growing outside yet, I do have an Easter flower blooming indoors. 

My so called Thanksgiving cactus which likes to bloom around Christmas and Easter, came through for me, and opened up on Sunday! There are actually 2 plants in that pot, the other one is pink and it's opening up too, but it is very fitting that the white one bloomed for Easter Sunday. 

And Ted bought us carnations too, so we do have some spring type cheer going on indoors at least. 

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend. Ted spent Saturday with his family while I stayed home to work on the foaling pen. Priorities, right? 😁

If you haven't already, be sure to get your guess in on the foaling contest. All the information is on this post: 

https://rideagoodhorse.blogspot.com/2024/03/at-last.html

You can enter there or on this post.