Still in the Belley

The waiting continues. I have my spy camera to keep an eye on Belle when I am not at the barnyard.

The view from the spy cam

I have a bed of straw for her outside of the shelter to encourage her to foal out there, then after foaling I bed the shelter for mama and baby. The shelter can be closed up with a panel and gate as needed. She sleeps on the straw at night, with much groaning as her belly is huge right now. I still think not as big as she was with Eli, though.

Gussie is in heat, and Drifter is beside himself trying to figure out why she smells so good but doesn't know what to do about it. Lots of butt sniffing and lip curling but that's about all. I will separate them soon and on her next heat will see if we can help him figure it out. I think separating them will help, because Gussie is getting impatient with him and chases him off when he gets too pestery. She's like, Just hurry up will you!

It's ok Drifter, you'll figure it out eventually.

Meanwhile, the shelter for the mare pen is making progress; the main structure was moved in yesterday, but that's another post. It will be a week or so before it is finished and ready, as the roof needs to be framed in as well as the side walls, but here is a sneak peak :

All that cross bracing will be taken off, it was just to stabilize the structure for moving as Ted had to build it up by the shop so he could use the welder. This is 20 ft. long and 13 ft. wide, lots of room for the horses! The front is 12 ft high and the back wall is 8 ft. high, and it's all made out of rough cut lumber from a local mill, with the skids being recycled 6 inch gas line pipe.

I moved Gussie and Drifter into the pen that adjoins the foaling pen until this shelter is safe for them to use. 

Fun with Drifter

I had a little fun with my camera at feeding time yesterday. I told Drifter he had to work for his breakfast.....

In all 3 of these photos he is completely airborne. Can you tell what lead he is on in each of them?

Power take off

Full speed

Pretty boy!

Yes Drifter, you earned your breakfast

Watch time

Belle is exactly 11 months today, so it is officially foal watch time!
Can you say, sleepless nights?
And days where I will be vigilant and stick around... not that I'm going anywhere much these days except short sojourns to the grocery store on occasion.

Baby is still fairly active, Janice came for a visit a couple days ago and got to see and feel  it bumping and dancing around in there . This morning there were a couple of big movements too. So a few days to go, and who knows with Belle it could still be a couple of weeks!

Belle has been very peaceful  with this pregnancy, I think she is saving up her energy to be able to deal with this baby!
If you want in on the foaling contest, all the info is in this post: The Guessing Game  . You can leave your guess either there or on this post; all the guesses so far are listed on the sidebar to the right . Please include date and time, sex and colour choice.

Wordless Wednesday

The boys

I love working with young horses, and seeing how they improve with every work. Last time I roped Drifter's feet, he had quite a bit of resistance. The idea is, I pick up the foot with the rope, and when he isn't fighting it, I let the foot down to rest his toe on the ground. I work each leg until he repeatedly lets me pick it up and put it down without fighting. In this video you can see that the fuss is fairly minimal, which is a nice improvement over the first time.

He's doing really well with longeing too. I bit him up every time now, and he is getting really consistent in how he carries himself. And he always picks up the correct lead, and balances himself well. This is not a clumsy horse at all, he is quite athletic.

After hand grazing the mares, and turning Beamer out in the round pen, the afternoon was so beautiful that I decided to take Beamer for a little ride instead of just putting him back in his pen. 

His knee still causes him to walk stiffly  so I only go for occasional short rides on him just to keep him mentally happy. We went down to the dyke to look at the river, winding our way through the bush to get there. (Bareback)

He walks out so eagerly! And he has such a nice back for bareback riding. I may take him out more often. 

We stood quietly for a while, just listening to the river before resuming the ride back home.

Meanwhile.....

Baby-in-the-belly is growing, and not moving around as much now. Belle's bag still has some room to fill up more. As of today. April 13, she is 322 days, so it's a viable foal now. Next Sunday will be a full 11 months from her breeding date, so that's when I will start foal watch. 

If you want to put in a guess for the foaling contest, all the info is in this post: The Guessing Game. You can leave a comment there or on this post; all the current guesses are listed on the sidebar for you to look at.

Riding day 19

Driftin' along

Little Drifter isn't so little any more. He is just over 15.1 hh at the hip, and his front end is catching up  (slowly) at 14.2 and a half. That does make some of the groundwork more challenging when I have to reach over him to work with the rope or to rein him from the ground.
He got to stand tied for a while yesterday, while I had to supervise stacking a straw delivery (bedding for foaling!) No pulling back, but did paw a little bit, then just stood quietly.

He looks really white right now as he sheds but there are hints of darker palomino where he has nicks and scrapes. All that white on the ground is from many times grooming him as he sheds- I think the birds are using it for their nests.
Saddled up and in the round pen , no more shenanigans, just got right down to work. I did tie the reins back a bit, just enough for him to feel the bit.

Once we were done with that, I did some more rope work with him. This is where it's getting hard to reach over him as I swing the rope over his right side as I would do if I was in the saddle.

Round pen work can get boring for an active minded colt, but he handles it well. After this I saddled Gussie, and ponied him down onto the dyke and around past the neighbours, the same route I took when I was leading him last week. He was not perfect, in that he does get a little nippy still and I have to bop him when he does that but I think a lot of it is excitement at getting out; a few long trails ponying should fix that. He needs a few wet saddle blankets even if he isn't getting ridden! And Gussie is just a rock star, she handles it well.

Yes, I am a rock star!

Riding day 18

Riding the flats

Ah spring! How I love these first glorious days of warm weather. You can practically hear the grass grow and the buds opening, and the birdsong lifts my spirits.
Especially when it's on my first real trail ride of the year (where I haul somewhere to ride, as opposed to out the back gate).
Called on a couple of friends for some socially distanced exercise for us and the horses. Nothing spectacular, except the view,

as always, best viewed when framed between those fuzzy Gussie ears! It was just a backroad ride, down on the flats, a good outing for some out of shape horses.

and one very busy and happy dog, Millie.

We rode for two hours, which was enough for the oldest horse in the group, the bay mare Kit who is 20 this year. This was her first outing.

We rode past a pen of weaned calves that got the dog and Allie, the palomino mare, quite excited when the calves spooked at the horses and milled around.
All in all a lovely ride with good company!

If you haven't put your guess in yet for the foaling contest- what are you waiting for! The info is in this post: The Guessing Game to help you make an educated guess.
Riding day 17

The moon and keeping busy

The pink moon a-rising wasn't pink.

But it was spectacular! Why do they call it the pink moon I wonder.

I finally got Drifter out and ponied him; he was fresh and pestiferous but not bad except for one attempt to nip Gussie on her neck which earned him a bop on the nose with the end of the lead rope.

I am going to work him in the round pen before I try ponying him again- get his brain engaged before taking him out on the trail. Gussie was solid, any other mare would have gotten really pissy with him. I strive for relaxed rides!
The swallows are back building their nest in the bird house attached to the foaling shelter.

They are not at all concerned about Belle being in there, and don't seem to be bothered much by me either.

It's so nice to hear and see them again! I'm loving all the birdsong, and the fact that it's light out at 5:30 am when Merle wants to go out for his morning business.
I've been keeping busy, yesterday was pruning the blackberry bushes, and pulling out one that has awful thorns; it was taking over the garden, whereas the 3 bushes that don't have thorns are very well behaved and keep to their own space.

Garden work will be on the agenda for the next week, getting the beds tilled and topped up and ready for spring planting. The peas will be going in first.

The grass is really coming in now, and the horses are loving their hand grazing time.

Beamer gets some time in the round pen to graze and move around- not much grass in there but enough for him this early in the season.

Last year we had two cases of mild grass colic- Sassy and Beamer- so I am being extra cautious this year.

If you haven't put your guess in yet for the foaling contest- what are you waiting for! The info is in this post: The Guessing Game  to help you make an educated guess. You can leave a comment on this post or on the original one.  I am thinking up a prize that can be easily sanitized for those who are concerned about that, as we all should be at this time.
Current guesses are listed on the top of the sidebar to the right.

Riding day 16

The guessing game

It's time for your guesses!

 Baby is growing and Belle looks like a balloon on toothpicks.

Breeding date was May 19 2019

As of today, Belle is 314 days along. Given her average of 352 days gestation that puts her estimated due date at May 6. However, nothing is ever written in stone with mares!  Her shortest was 347 days (Nitro) and her longest was 362 (Eli) Edited to correct her estimated due date.... my math skills are lacking!
Colour choices will be :

As you can see, it's pretty even across the board. Her history shows pretty equal between bay(brown) and smoky black, so I think it's high time for either a true black or a buckskin! (one can only hope!)
So fire away with your guess - please include, colt or filly, date, time and colour choice.
I will start a list on the sidebar once the comments roll in.

Solo for me

Yesterday we had a welcome break in the weather so it was back in the saddle for me! Speaking of saddle, I fixed this one up with saddle strings the other day. I ordered the D tabs from Tandy  that fit under the conchos  and took saddle strings off my little saddle with the broken tree, so now I can tie gear on the back of my saddle if I wish.
I am a confidant rider, and riding alone suits me just fine, so this new normal of isolation and physical distancing fits me. Of course, that's because I have my girl Gussie, who I love right to little horsey bits! When I finally get to riding Drifter I will need a riding partner for safety's sake. An experienced horse like Gussie will be just perfect for him to buddy with on the trails and build his own confidence.
So here are the sights and sounds of solitude that fill my heart: the creak of saddle leather, hoofbeats and the forest with all its magic.

I actually started the ride with going down the road to the mailbox and on the way back dropped down to the woods.

The mountain was really dominating, this cell phone photo doesn't do it justice.

The fresh snow covered the mountain but not the valley bottom. We had to do our routine check on the river level, which is slowly rising. Slow is good because it means no floods.

Gussie could hear the horses back home from here. She doesn't call out to them but she does listen.

Today it's trying to  snow but we have good weather coming up so I'm thinking I might take her down to the flats and see if we can get to  Duck Lake  which is aptly named.

Riding day 15

A good read

This is a link to a post by Mark Rashid's wife, Crissy McDonald: https://crissimcdonald.com/2020/03/29/shedding-a-heavy-coat/

April comes in like a lion

March came in like a lamb and went out like a lion here.

Snow clouds rolling in

We got pelted with corn snow and wind, not enough to call it a storm, more like a squall. (what a funny word that is!) I opened up the foaling pens again for the horses so they could have shelter, as Ted is still in the beginning stages of building the new shelter. He is welding brackets onto 6 inch steel pipe; these brackets will hold 3 laminated 2X6 rough cut boards that will be the uprights- 12 ft. high at the front and 8 ft high at the back. It will be a 3 sided shelter, 20 ft. long and I can't wait for it to be done!

April 1st rolled in with a blustery morning. Totally socked in to the east....

Mountain? What mountain?

but there is a glimmer of blue sky and sunshine to the west. Looks like the first part of April will be unsettled. At least we aren't as cold as Alberta! 

My horse time these last few days consists of feeding twice a day and brushing the mud off them.

The squall didn't amount to much on the ground

Stay tuned, foaling contest coming up soon!