Today was Dally's ultrasound to see if she is in foal.
And yes that is a confirmed pregnancy ! Now, I have no idea how to interpret an ultrasound but I sure would like to learn.
I got another photo of the Leo colt sent to me
He sure is put together nice. I am still struggling to find a registered name for him. I will be going to see him by the end of the month, so hopefully one of the names I am mulling over will stand out for me when I see him next.
The first "first" is not one I wanted to see. Tuffy managed to get an owwy. He had bright blood on his pastern; a small tear from who knows what. I rinsed it ( blood still flowing) and applied Schreiners solution and once the blood slowed down, put Manuka honey on it.
If you dont like to see wound photos skip the next image. But I do post them here for easy reference for me.
No idea what he snagged it on.
Second first: This morning's session was an introduction to the horse trailer. First he had to be led beside his mama, which went quite well. Led them out of their familiar pen, then into the round pen where I turned them loose while I went to get the ration for Happy. I do like to lead them beside their mama when they are going to a strange environment. The round pen is all grass, no sand, so they enjoyed grazing.
I set the feed tub on the pallet bridge wanting Tuffy to be ok with new objects and hopefully put a foot on it. Bonus- he has started to eat with mama, which is Purina's mare/foal ration. He loves it, whereas he wouldn't eat the Step I for mares and foals. I think it is a bit softer.
I finally got his dna panel test results as well as his registration completed. He is officially Jess Tuff Enuff, and is 6 panel clean.
I may yet do the roan test on him, but there is no need to test for grey as it is clearly seen coming in around his eyes.
So I can now catch him anywhere- out in the field, in the barn or shelter, no problems. I think he expects it every time he sees me. I will give him a few days to heal up before I mess with his feet again, don't want him to associate picking up his feet with pain; but he is doing very well with allowing me to put the foot down instead of pulling it away.
What a good colt!!!
The mornings are peaceful, every morning they are laying down, sometimes with one standing guard but not today.
With the help of my husband, who always supports my crazy horse dreams.
You will recall that last year, I bred Gussie to a palomino stallion who carried a lot of Leo blood (my favorite) and although she checked in foal, she didn't carry it long.
I had the option of buying a stud colt by that stallion instead of breeding back to him. The lady who had the stallion had a mare in foal to the Leo stud, and since she threw a colt and not the filly she wanted, she offered him to me.
Ted and I went to see him today, and since I couldn't fault the colt, we are buying him.
Such unique markings! We aren't sure yet if he will be palomino, so are sending in for a dna color test to be sure.
He will be great company for Tuffy once we bring him home in September!
Yesterday, while his mama had her ration out in the pen instead of in the barn, Tuffy decided to stay in the barn. So I caught him in there and asked him for a few steps each direction. He was a bit uncertain because he couldn't see his mama, but trusted me enough that he complied. I only gave it about a minute, that was enough.
Today, I closed up the barn and while the mares had their breakfast, I walked up to Tuffy and caught him.
No problem!Leading was also no problem.
Tuffy will be a month old on Monday. We will continue daily catching and short walks and start introducing him to thing that make him aware of where his feet are, like poles, and soon a tarp and the pallet platform.
Good boy, Tuffy!
I think it is about 10 days into our short halter lessons. Over that span Tuffy did really well, building on each lesson without resistance; I think only twice he walked away from me when I went to catch him, but it was only a few steps. For the last week I have been able to walk up to him and halter him right away. He is a very smart and willing colt. There were a couple of days where I helped him understand to move his hip over by touching his hip while I brought his head around but by the third time he understood. Then we progressed to asking for 1 step forward, reverting to a sidweays step as needed. The next day I asked him to follow me forward, and he did, a bit hesitant at first. And then today.....
Success! Next will be catching and leading him when he's out in the foaling pen and not in the confines of the barn.
We have heavy rains right now so that may be a couple of days away yet, but I am sure happy with his progress, and his willingness.
Here are some photos from before the rain hit
She is very patient with him and enjoys his company, with minimal reprimanding due to his antics. What a wonderful mare she is.
We are almost a week into Tuffy's halter lessons. Every morning I bring him and Happy into the little barn, and while she eats, he gets his lesson. The max time is about 5 minutes, I only ask for a little bit every day. I have been working on letting him feel me take the slack out of the lead rope, then wait for him to find out how to give himself slack. He did the usual try to get away, I followed and he thought about it for a while. Some colts get really panicky at this point, but he just kind of stopped by his mama and thought about things.
Next day, just a bit of give and take with the lead rope to get him used to the feel.
Yesterday I worked on that right side, and he was ok with me being there. I got some nice soft neck bends on both sides.
Today I started asking him to move his feet while haltered. I stand by his hip, take the slack out, then use my other hand to gently put some pressure on his hip; when he steps away with his hind feet, it automatically gets him facing me and the result is the pressure on the rope and on his hip go away. Smart boy figured that out pretty quick!
Next up will be getting to figure out that the rope around his hip means the same thing. But that is for another day. Love his "thinking face" in this photo as I let him feel the rope around his hip!
Tomorrow I haul Dally to the stallion, (Belle's son, Scooter).
First up, Tuffy now has his registered name. Sire is Jess Too Blue, so I used Jess from him. And dam is DFBit of Sugar Frost, so instead of "a bit" I went with Enuff and his name is Jess Tuff Enuff!
And he really lives up to his name. Thinks he is tough but is actually rather sweet.
I make a point of touching him all over every day; each leg, his head, ears and face, even under his belly and play with his tail.
Over the last week, his mama has finally relaxed and let him visit with the other mares without chasing them off, and has stopped protecting him from me.
