One rainy full moon night.....

Apparently mama Belle has a thing for a full moon on Good Friday.
For the second time, she gave me a beautiful colt, he was born around 4:30 am this morning on a foggy drizzly night. I heard Beamer calling and when I shone my flashlight out I could see the reflection of several pairs of eyes as all the mares lined up at the fenceline to watch, so I jumped up and checked- sure enough Belle was in labour with 2 little feet sticking out  and within 5 minutes he was drawing his first breath.
Everything went textbook! He had a good 10 minutes of just lying quietly before attempting to stand, allowing nutrients to still pass through the umbilical cord.
It took him a bit to figure out those very long legs, but Shayla and I gave him a boost and up he went and then stayed up for a long time. He was fairly quick to figure out nursing, and mama cleaned out perfectly too.

Although he was born out in the pen, we ushered him into the stall while he figured out nursing as the pen has a bit of a slope to it and was slick from the rain. But before long he ventured out and all the mares got to see him.

Mama Belle is just the best broodmare. She is quite ok with her foals being handled and she is protective of them around the other horses.

This  big boy is quite sure of himself and sturdy.

The name I had picked out I will save for a filly, so I'm still mulling over what to name him. (I was so sure it would be a filly!!!!)

Giving me the raspberry because I thought it would be a filly!

So- the winner of the foaling contest and proud new owner of a Diamond Lazy H Quarter Horses cap is my sister, M, who had a nearly perfect guess! Congratulations, sis! I'll get that in the mail to you on Tuesday.