Guess again

 Aurora and Leslie, you can put in another guess on the foaling contest, Ms. Happy is still packing her wide load. 

Those of you who haven't entered but would like to, go to this post for details: Foaling Contest

No little extra feet this morning...

Her udder is filling up and baby is shifting a bit so hopefully it wont be too much longer! 

She sure is an easy mare to be around, so I am hoping the baby gets her good mind, size and bone. 

Those of you who follow our page on Facebook will see that Shayla has a Percheron mare who had twins, a colt and a filly. The filly was a bit smaller but not by much. However she has an interesting problem that I have never heard of before but apparently can be common in twins; she couldn't figure out how to get her hind end under her to stand up. So she was assisted by Shayla or her husband and  after 5 days of that she has finally got it all sorted and is getting to her feet without issues! 

She is the one with the star

It is always a worry when there are twins so we are all happy that this set is on the way to being healthy  and happy! Mama is a good mama too. 

So far

 If you haven't entered the foaling contest yet, go to this post to read the details

No foal so far.... 

Did you see that one of the horses entered in the Kentucky Derby is named So Happy and is ridden by 60 year old Mike Smith? Guess who my pick to win is!

It would make me So Happy  if my Happy foaled on Derby day! Coyote Belle's last foal by Beamer was born on Derby day (and named Derby) . He is really doing well with his owner, the same one who owns Rio. 

Since I have no foal yet to show off, here are some of the other sights around the farm. 

First butterfly having a drink of water from the leaky hose

Shy ladybug

Feral cat Boris, who is probably the daddy of most of the Siamese type kittens

Camo deer- all that snow is gone now.

 

The first robin from a couple weeks ago

Goose steppin' on the ice- that ice too is all gone now

I do have some exciting news to share, but not quite yet. I will keep you in the dark for another week or so! 

This weekend we have the Horse Expo in Red Deer and I intend to go tomorrow and catch the demos by Warwick Schiller - and maybe do some shopping at the huge trade fair. 

Foaling contest time!

 Now that Happy is in the safe zone it is time to start the guessing game.

 

Here are the facts:

1st day bred was May 26 last year. Mares typically go 11 months and a week before or after  that , unless like Belle they go closer to a year. Since I have no history on Happy's previous gestation I cant advise on that. 

As far as color goes we know that there is a 50% chance of grey, however since grey horses are not born grey, we are going to take that out of the equation  and just take guesses on what the base color of the foal will be.  

Happy was born bay roan, so she carries a copy of black, a copy of roan and most likely a copy of red as she has had red based foals, and she carries a copy of agouti, which is the modifier that makes the color black turn to bay.  

The sire of this foal is sorrel, and he may also carry a copy of agouti which is not expressed on a red horse. 

So here is a chart with percentages of color possibilities:

So put your guess in -

~Colt or filly

~Date and time

~ color 

If the mare doesn't foal on your guess, you may put a second guess in. I will pin the guesses on a list on my sidebar so you can choose a combination that nobody else has. Family members can each put in their own guess. 

Then here is what I have for the winner....

A note pad and a list pad with my original drawing of my beloved Beamer peering out at you. 

Oh Gussie

 We all know that red mares have no qualms about showing their displeasure in any given situation. Gussie makes me laugh with her so expressive face. Case in point: 

Me: 

Gussie, stand back while I fill your feed tub. 

Gussie:

No. I don't have to. 

Me: 

Oh yes you do. I have my stick here that sez so. 

Gussie:

I hate you. Gimme my grain.  (She has been listening to Carmen..)

She has the best snarky face ever! 

She has been rather lazy lately, may just be her age but she spends a lot of time sleeping standing up. Still no lying down to sleep. 

Such a tired eye

It has been a long time since I have seen her being energetic. This is mostly her day:

Her lack of true sleep has me hesitant to ride her anymore; I have seen her collapse on several occasions. I may do just a few rambles around the fields on her but her mountain days are over. 

I should get Dally home in about a month. I am hoping that she will be good to ride and will have her assessed when she gets here. 

Beautiful day!

 Since my photos from yesterday were rather poor, I brought out the real camera (Nikon ) and took advantage of a day that actually feels like spring. Most of the snow is gone, except for shaded areas and places that snowdrifts built up. I tried river shots of the Common Goldeneye duck but my focus was off. I did, however manage to capture the mating pair of geese as they flew overhead. 

Love that blue sky and the snow eating south wind we have today. I inspected my flower gardens, and the shoots in my previous post are tulips that my niece gave me last year, and I planted the bulbs last summer after the flowers died. Also surviving the long cold winter are dianthus and at least 1 of my 2 irises. Still waiting to see if the butterfly flower, roses, and clematis made it. 

Happy is doing great- baby has stopped bouncing around, so has probably grown enough to take up most of the room. Her udder isn't quite full but it is getting there!

If you look behind the curve of her jaw, that is the melanoma. It doesn't seem to be bothering her at all; not sensitive to touch and she doesn't react at all when I touch it. So hopefully it will just lie dormant for a long time. 

Cell phone photo

Happy is 21 this year and she looks great. As far as I can find out, this is her 13th foal. Previous owners say she has no trouble foaling, so hopefully that will be true for this one too. 

If you are wondering about that funny looking mark on her side....

it is a patch of hair  in her original color, bay. I think it looks like a cross or an arrow. Or both! 

Stay tuned, I will do the foaling contest post in a day or 2. 

Sunday Silence (aka it's time to start using my real camera!)

 

Wide load

 Saturday the 11th will be Happy's safe zone of 320 days since breeding so after that we will be on foal watch. 

And none too soon apparently!

I checked her udder, it isn't quite full yet but it is rapidly getting there  

I expect her to go around two or three more weeks but this has been a weird year for foaling. Some going way early and some going over a year. So I am not taking anything for granted. We will start the foaling contest next week sometime. 

Sunday Silence

 

Enough already

 April came in white. Started snowing/raining last night, and this system is supposed to last all day. Enough above freezing to make it snow but warm enough that it's melting on the vehicles but not on the frozen ground.

My footsteps on the walk way this morning, to and from the barn. It was bare yesterday.

My garden containers, a long way from being able to plant. 

The mares have settled into their new routine. Their hay bale is on the other side of that shelter; they only go in there to eat but don't hang out in there. They are currently standing out in the weather in their favourite spot in the winter pasture. 

Happy also has free roaming in and out of the barn, I put most of her hay in there and one flake on the lee side of the barn- and that is where she prefers to be, probably because she can see the other horses from there. 

She too is currently hanging out in the weather, unconcerned with getting wet. All the mares are still sporting their winter coats, guess they knew something we didn't. 

I found this beauty in Walmart and couldn't resist adding a splash of color to this greyness that is hanging in there.

Wordless Wednesday