Leo Leads

 When I call the horses up for their morning feed, lately it has been Leo who is first to respond. This photo reminds me of the Biblical verse, " and a little child shall lead them."

Then this afternoon, I called them in from the pasture and they came in with the exact same order. Leo, Dally, Velvet and Tuffy bringing up the rear.

This is a change from previous when it was Velvet who initiated the exodus. It is interesting to watch the herd dynamics change as the colts take on new roles. 

So far, I am really liking Leo. He does look small and scruffy next to Tuffy, but I am reminded of how small and scruffy Beamer looked at the same age. People thought he wouldn't amount to much... boy were they wrong. 

He is quiet and calm, but can have a bit of red-headitude if he doesn't understand what I am asking, mostly when I want him to move away from me or come to me. Apparently his personal space is more important to him at this point- but we are working on that! He is quiet in the herd and stays out of trouble. Good boy, Leo!

Progress

 Autumn is in full swing, with frosty nights, clear skies and migrating geese. All my garden is pulled now, freezer has carrots, peas, potatoes and raspberries for winter dinners and we filled the suet feeder for the birds. The gladiola bulbs are pulled and drying, ready for storing until next spring. 

The mornings are crisp and cold, which means less flies- yay-  and the colts are eager to come up off the pasture for their morning feed .

The baby boys get haltered and brought in to the foaling pen for breakfast so they can eat in peace.

This is how I put their lead ropes up, keeps them from dragging on the ground and it also prepares them for the eventual feel of the cinch. 

I now have them all together on the 15 acre pasture 24/7 and it is working well. 

Tuffy is officially listed for sale now. He really needs to go to a working home that needs a good minded solid built colt. He will be 16 hh, way too big for me!

Leo is getting worked with a little more, he does trailer load from before but needed a reminder that he doesn't need his mama to go in the trailer, and the bucket of feed is a good incentive. Once he is in I can walk away and he just stays in there to eat. 

Tuffy is doing great with standing tied. There isn't really a lot more for me to do with him other than keeping up with his feet, until next spring. If he isn't sold by then he will get more exposure to different objects and learn some ground work to prepare him for eventual saddling and ground driving later on. 

Fall has arrived

 And right on cue with the equinox. Seems that one day the leaves were just starting to turn, then- boom- full out fall colours.

And gorgeous sunrises!

 I have been pulling my gardens; the peas are done, potatoes and carrots are half pulled, and the flower beds don't have much left. 

That  really tall sunflower produced a large head that is still hanging in there. The poppies are done and now I wait for the seed heads to dry out so that I can harvest the seeds, some for eating and some for next year planting. 

Still on the to do list is pull the gladiolas and prepare them for the winter; dig up the rest of the potatoes and the carrots. I decided to cut up and freeze the carrots.

My niece gave me some green tomatoes so I was able to make my green tomato mincemeat, as my one tomato plant didn't work out. Yay! Mincemeat tarts for the winter! 

The baby boys are doing really well. We didn't do the photo shoot but I did get some cute cell phone photos. 

Dogs spotted!

I started them on turnout, now that Leo is doing well with haltering and leading. First just the two little barn pens which got them all excited to have room to run.

Leo only ran because Tuffy did. He seems to have a very calm disposition. 

Cant wait until he fills out and grows up! 

I opened up the larger grazing pasture for them today; it has rope hotwire  on two sides and I want Leo to get used to that before I combine the herd on the big 15 acre pasture that has the flat hotwire tape on the long side.

There was no zooming, just nose to the ground and chowing down. 

This is bow hunting season and my niece bow hunts so I had to send her this photo of an early morning visitor.

Mule deer bucks are on a draw here, not open season, so hopefully she will be able to get drawn next year and he will still be around. 

I had some troubles with blogger, it wasn't updating my feed so I missed a bunch of your posts for a few days but it seems to be sorted out now. It also is telling me it will be deleting some of my older videos. I am opting not to put videos on my blog for now because it is such a pain to have to upload them to you tube first, and I really dislike the you tube advertising they stick on there. 

One week

 Today is one week since Leo arrived . We have made good progress and I am quite happy with him. 

I can catch him easily in the barn; I make it a good experience by haltering him then leaving him alone to eat his feed. I can pick up all 4 feet,although we have a way to go before I can hold them long enough to clean them and trim them. 

I can lead him fairly well too, last two days I have led him out of the barn.

That was the first day: today he was much better and willing. Tuffy was still in the barn eating so it is nice that he isnt emotionally dependant on Tuffy. Speaking of Tuffy, he has gotten used to not being with the mares and is ok with them being far away and out of sight. He is behaving himself with Leo now and it is so cute to see them hanging out together and being buddies. 

Including synchronized nap time!

I am planning a photo shoot this weekend so I will share the cuteness in a couple days!

Leo is a good boy

 So far, Leo has been easy to get along with. He seems to have a quiet mind and hasn't been emotional about being weaned. It really helps that he is with Tuffy who is so easy. I gave them a few days to settle into their relationship/routine before asking anything of Leo, other than touching him all over and running my hand down his legs  

The boys are getting along pretty good, although Tuffy has let Leo know that he is #1.  

They have their own feed spots in the barn, but do also eat out of the same pile. 

Tuffy is so huge compared to little Leo!

Yesterday I introduced Leo to the start of halter breaking. A little bit of pressure and release with a big soft rope, only working for a couple minutes so that he got the idea as the basis for the next phase....

Putting a halter on him. He didn't like it going over his nose but only backed up a couple of steps then stood quietly while I slipped it on and tied it then removed the neck rope.

 A short little session was enough, we will build on this every day until he is leading. I feel that it is really helpful that Tuffy is there with his calm presence. 

Leo was dewormed the day before he arrived and he did have a wormload, so hopefully he will soon start to get a shine to him and put weight on.  He is loving his Purina Maternity ration . I still have both boys together in my foaling pen until Leo is a bit more halter broke so they are getting good hay too. The herd dynamics have settled down; now the mares can go way out in the pasture without the boys getting upset. 

It's all about good management and keeping things going smoothly!

He is here!

 Leo was delivered this morning! I had the foal pen all prepped for him, and put Tuffy in with him at first. 

They got along ok at first, but Leo was a bit much for Tuffy: he was pacing non stop and calling out. Disturbed Tuffy's peace! So I put Tuffy back with the mares until Leo eventually calmed down. 

Pacing... that square on his shoulder is where the breeders freeze branded him

Calling...

Pacing....

I put hay for the mares close to the foal pen and locked them out of the pasture so they would be close to the boys.  This afternoon, Tuffy went back in with Leo and they got along much better since Leo calmed down. 

Leo is not halter broke yet so that will be where I will start with him. One day at a time, with day one being to see if I can touch him. 

Ah that's the spot! 

Butt scratches are always a good place to start.

He let me move up his back and eventually around his head and poll.

Good boy, Leo!

They got along much better. 

There is quite a size difference! 

Tuffy is 5 weeks older than Leo. They are both growing in their winter fur. They will have access to the barn, foal ration twice a day and and all the hay they can eat. Leo hasn't quite figured out the foal ration but he will. 

Dally is quite attentive to him, she seems to love foals so I hope when she has her own she will be a good mama.

Here is hoping they have a good night!

Winter pasture

 My handy niece and her partner came out last weekend to help out us old folks get our winter pasture set up. We had to remove the bottom strand of hot tape that had gotten beat up with all the storms and replace it with new tape. All 700 ft. of it. There was a lot of swamp grass grown up over 6 ft. tall along one section that we had to stomp down and drive over to flatten; the weed whacker was not powerful enough to remove it all. We got it done! The horses were happy to get turned out on that 15 acres, as their grazing pens were getting a bit low. Velvet has been on the 15 before, so she led the way through the 4 ft. gate and the others followed. Room to run, you would think, but eating was more important! They did do a bit of zooming the first day and they still have access to their auto waterer and shelter, so when the bugs get to be too much, or if a rain storm comes along, they lope on back to the shelter. 

Tuffy did lose a bit of weight at weaning but it is coming back. 

Took the Nikon out today and tried for some decent photos. 

Normally I would edit a bit, but my old computer is having a moment and won't let me so these are straight out of the camera. 

Velvet, who was first out, went off to the far end, (can you see her?) while Tuffy and Dally stayed closer to the entrance. 

Those weeds are Canada Thistle and stinging nettle, both of which horses will eat in moderation. We have plans to spray this field next spring. 

Dally wandered off to see what Velvet was eating, and Tuffy stayed munching on his patch. 

He was keeping an eye on them, but when they went out of sight, he galloped up to the corner, whinnying and they came a-running at his call.... good mares!

This will be their winter pasture, at least until the snow starts covering the hotwire tape which is about 2 ft. off the ground for the bottom strand. 

Once the Leo colt gets here in a few days, he will be penned up with Tuffy so they can buddy up and be friends before I turn them out together to pasture with the mares. Can't wait!

True colors and updates

 Tuffy is starting to show his true color

Around the eyes is the first place to show grey. 

He has his mama's pretty face too

His muzzle is greying too. It will be fun to see his changes over time. 

He continues to be adorable and fun. 

He prefers to get in the trailer without his mama, she takes up a lot of room. 

Tuffy, however, is huge! He is now over 48 inches at the hip- over 12 hh now. 

 Now for the update....

Anyone recognize this mare?

That is Midnight Mesa, with her first foal! The sire is a very well bred reiner, and that little colt looks the part. 

Mesa sure looks like Beamer now that she has matured. One of the reasons I sold her was that she looked too small for me, but she sure has chunked up and I wouldn't hesitate to ride her. 

I came up with names for the colt I am buying, his barn name will be Leo ( of course) and his registered name will be DLH Jetaway Leo.  They haven't handled him much yet, so he will likely be a blank slate for me in September. We are pulling hair for his DNA test including color, but I am pretty sure he will be sorrel and not palomino. If you look around his eyes, that dark red is starting to show his true color. 

I do love me a bright sorrel horse!