The race is on

Yes it's Kentucky Derby weekend, but the race I mean is between Belle and Jayne! They are both at about the same stage even though Jayne was bred 18 days later than Belle. 

Jayne's previous owner checked but thinks she threw out the paperwork on Jayne's breeding dates, but said she thinks she went early. So with Belle always going long, they could well foal very close to the same day. 

Cdncowgirl, Aurora, Frank and Grey Horse Matters, you are all eligible to put in another guess as your date picked has passed for Jayne's foal. Feel free to leave a new guess in the comments on this post.

Whatcha lookin' at, Jayne?  When I rolled out of bed at a quarter to 6 this morning, I could see the horses staring off towards the pond area. Something had their undivided attention. So I took a look- and grabbed my camera and zoomed in to the max and managed to get a photo... sorry about the focus being a bit off, but this was worth it....

Yup it's an elk! I think a young bull but I couldn't be sure. The horses watched that area for about 10 minutes. There may have been another one following this one. So now we know we have deer, elk and moose on the farm- and lets not forget the bears, who haven't quite come on the property yet but I have seen their tracks a quarter mile away.

I finally got the design for the contest prize. It is a 9 x 4 zippered case, with our logo on one side and a picture of Beamer  and our brand on the other side. These photos are just a design mock up, not the actual cases. It will be about 4 weeks before I get them. Hope whoever wins likes them!

Pink Moon

The pink Moon was not so pink, rather a more golden hue. Last night in my foal watch cabin, I woke up around 11:30 to the moon shining in my window.

Not the best photo as you can see I moved when the shutter clicked but it shows the colour the moonglow put in the clouds. I hopped out of my comfy cot to check on Jayne and get more moon shots.

The clouds were rolling across the moon, and in the next photo....

it looks like God's eye, keeping watch with me.

Later around 4 am the moon was still up and worthy of another attempt at a good clear just-past-full moon.

Or two....

Foal watch continues, both here and in Alberta. It looks like Jayne and Belle are at about the same stage in gestation so it will be interesting to see who foals first!

Getting close!

Jayne giving us her opinion of being heavy in foal. 

She is progressing rapidly- getting quite loose behind and is letting down not-quite-milk.

And Beamer is... well just being Beamer!

He does love his turnout time!

Cdncowgirl over at Home on the Range blog is planning to ressurect the Sunday Stills challenge. I'm in! Here is the post where you can let her know if you want to participate. 

Who's the boss?

Since I have the horses separated at night now, Beamer has started showing off in the mornings when I turn them out together. He is perfectly mannered as I lead him to and into the pen, but once he is loose, he heads for Jayne, just a talkin' away and posturing... silly boy! 

He threw in some fancy moves too 😎

She doesn't look very impressed, so he had to bust a move or two....

Oh hey, Jayne looka here!

Nope. Not impressed. 

Look how tall I am!

Oh look, grass!

But I can balance on one foot!

Yeah..... whatever!

And off she went in search of the longest grass 😋

Jayne is now over the 320 days, and I have begun my camp out foal watch as of this evening. My "cabin" project is at what builders call the lock down stage- Door and windows are in and the back wall is all closed up... which may give you a clue as to what it is that we are remodeling into a cabin!

I have my cot set up in there and here is a teaser as to what my view is:

Ted had just cut the opening for the last window, and it looks directly into the shelter in the foaling pen.

Jayne still has a way to go, but I want her to get used to me popping out to check on her in the middle of the night. 

Shayla sent me a nice photo of Belle, who is now at 339 days.

The mare in the background is Shayla's mare Concho, who is in foal to Drifter's sire and should foal a little bit after Belle. They seem to have buddied up, much to Gussie's dismay. But she has Shayla's mare Rose to be her buddy now. Seems the pregnant mares want to hang out together.

If you haven't entered the foaling contest yet, click here for the post with all the information.

I will have something made locally to give away and will show you what it is as soon as I get it.

Making do

Johnny the Generator got a workout the last couple of days. 

We had a windstorm rip through the area on Sunday, which knocked the power out around 5:30 pm. We just got power back last night at 9:15, so 52 hours without power. We were able to keep our fridge and freezer running, and used water from the rain barrel for flushing the toilet. 

All cooking was done on the wood stove or the bbq. 

Morning coffee always tastes better from my old stainless steel coffee pot, and my 50 year old hand grinder works great for grinding up the coffee beans. 

Sausages and eggs and fresh coffee for breakfast!

For light, it was candles, 

and a solar light borrowed from the yard.

It got me thinking about how things were before all the modern conveniences became commonplace. I'm sure some of my blog readers can relate to cold rooms instead of fridges, no central heating, food that was canned instead of frozen, and over all a simpler lifestyle that was geared to survival and not entertainment as it is now. It was kinda nice to not  have tv for a couple of days- I caught up on my reading.

I think I need to stock up on some essentials like kerosene for my lamps, and store more jugs of boiled water as we used up the 3 that I had. Repurposed milk jugs come in handy!

That being said, it sure is nice to have things back to normal and not have to listen to the generator droning on for hours!

Speaking of old things, we recently had this old tractor given to us; it is a 1942 Ford, either an 8N or 9N. Very handy for cleaning the pens and harrowing and a myriad of other tasks!

We had the use of this tractor years ago, and the fellow who owns it is getting on in years and has another tractor so he gave us this one. We are grateful!

Whassat?

What has the horses all curious?

This morning, there was something afoot in the neighbourhood.

Jayne giving it a thorough inspection.. You never know if it eats horses!

Not sure yet...

Then Jayne says, it's ok....

It's only bacon seeds.

But we will keep an eye on them just in case!

The neighbours brought home 5 piglets last night. The horses are separated at night now, with Jayne in the foaling pen, so she didn't realize what was going on until this morning. 

Off topic

You may have noticed that I have made a point of not commenting on any posts that say anything about the vaccines that are being touted as safe.I am going out on a limb here, because I think this needs to be considered. Many of you have taken or plan to get the Covid vaccines. Have you thoroughly informed yourself of the risks involved? I urge you to read this- and then we will get back to our normal equine posts!

https://www.primarydoctor.org/covidvaccine

and then read this about things that have proven to actually be effective and safe. 

https://www.primarydoctor.org/covid-19-is-a-lack-of-nutrients

I will be turning off comments on this post. But I hope you all read these links.

Boyz R Bratz

So says Jayne.

He's up to no good, I just know it.

That's close enough! 

Back off buster!

Smarten up or I will kick!

Who me? Bwahahaha!

You're no fun, Jayne

Don't forget to enter the foaling contest! Click on this link for all the info!

Guess what....

Yup it's guessing time again!

The mares are nicely bagged up, so it's time to start up the foaling contest. 

Belle was bred to Beamer on May 19 last year, and with her history of averaging around 350 days she should foal anywhere from May 1st  (347 days, that was how long it took Nitro to hit the ground) to May 16 (362 days, that was Eli). 

Shayla sent this photo today; she is carrying low again

You know the rules: Put your guess in for date, time, colour and gender, and I will start a list on the sidebar to the right so you can review other people's guesses. 

Belle is homozygous black and carries the cream dilute gene so the colour choices for Belle's foal are: 

25.00% -	Black
25.00% -	Smoky Black
25.00% -	Bay
25.00% -	Buckskin

Next is Jayne, she was bred on June 6th to Beamer last year. I don't know her foaling history other than this is her 7th foal. She started bagging up at the beginning of April and just started getting soft in the tailhead area, but with April 22 as the 320th day (that's the minimum gestation for a viable foal) I have a feeling she won't make it to her guesstimated foaling date of May 15; she may go earlier than that.

Where she goes, he goes!

The colour choices for Jayne are:

50.00% -	Red (Chestnut/Sorrel)
25.00% -	Black
25.00% -	Bay

I would like one just like you, Jayne!

Dandelions, Tess and Jayne updates.

Sure is feeling like spring now! Today we had big thunderheads build and got a bit of hail. Then the sun came out and  warmed everything up.

I found our first dandelions 😊

My garden beds are all prepared and ready, except for one that needs more dirt in it. I have taken our galvanized stock water tanks and turned them into raised beds as they are now full of pin holes and won't hold water. Can't wait to start planting! Actually, I can start peas now and a couple of others that like to have a cold start.

Took a trip to the big town and had a visit with J, who owns Kali,a daughter of Tess. It was nice to see the dogs together for what may be the last time.

See how Tess is leaning to the right? She is taking the weight off her left leg as she is very lame. The vet says she has either a bone infection or a bone tumour on her humerus bone, between her elbow and the point of her shoulder.. She has a hard swelling there that is very tender to touch. We have her on meds that seem to be helping. We are taking it day by day and praying for healing.

So far she is still a happy dog, and that makes me happy.

I have been keeping a close eye on Jayne, as I don't know her foaling history. Her 320 days, which is the length of gestation where a foal is deemed viable, is April 22; 2 weeks from now. She started getting a bag last week.

She normally has a rather large udder when it's dry but it has started filling. She also has thickened milk veins all along her belly. In a week or so I will start separating her from Beamer at night, into the foaling pen so that she will get used to having her own safe space for foaling.

Today I finally got a video of the baby bumping! 

I'm getting pretty excited to see this one! I am at a loss for a barn name for it/her though. I'll have to wait until after foaling I think.

Stay tuned for the foaling contests! Yes, plural, because Belle will be included.

Noisy visitor

Not horse related- just wanted to share our noisy neighbour. This is one of a pair of Northern Flickers who live here. They are always hammering on the house and shop looking for bugs to eat.

It was clinging to the window….

and going rat-a-tat-tat . I didn't want to move and scare it off. Pretty neat that he was only 3 ft. away but outside. They are quite the industrious bird. They have pecked several holes in Ted's shop on their hunt for bugs. I'd rather have birds than bugs!

Good Friday

Yes, it was.