One week

 Today is one week since Leo arrived . We have made good progress and I am quite happy with him. 

I can catch him easily in the barn; I make it a good experience by haltering him then leaving him alone to eat his feed. I can pick up all 4 feet,although we have a way to go before I can hold them long enough to clean them and trim them. 

I can lead him fairly well too, last two days I have led him out of the barn.

That was the first day: today he was much better and willing. Tuffy was still in the barn eating so it is nice that he isnt emotionally dependant on Tuffy. Speaking of Tuffy, he has gotten used to not being with the mares and is ok with them being far away and out of sight. He is behaving himself with Leo now and it is so cute to see them hanging out together and being buddies. 

Including synchronized nap time!

I am planning a photo shoot this weekend so I will share the cuteness in a couple days!

Leo is a good boy

 So far, Leo has been easy to get along with. He seems to have a quiet mind and hasn't been emotional about being weaned. It really helps that he is with Tuffy who is so easy. I gave them a few days to settle into their relationship/routine before asking anything of Leo, other than touching him all over and running my hand down his legs  

The boys are getting along pretty good, although Tuffy has let Leo know that he is #1.  

They have their own feed spots in the barn, but do also eat out of the same pile. 

Tuffy is so huge compared to little Leo!

Yesterday I introduced Leo to the start of halter breaking. A little bit of pressure and release with a big soft rope, only working for a couple minutes so that he got the idea as the basis for the next phase....

Putting a halter on him. He didn't like it going over his nose but only backed up a couple of steps then stood quietly while I slipped it on and tied it then removed the neck rope.

 A short little session was enough, we will build on this every day until he is leading. I feel that it is really helpful that Tuffy is there with his calm presence. 

Leo was dewormed the day before he arrived and he did have a wormload, so hopefully he will soon start to get a shine to him and put weight on.  He is loving his Purina Maternity ration . I still have both boys together in my foaling pen until Leo is a bit more halter broke so they are getting good hay too. The herd dynamics have settled down; now the mares can go way out in the pasture without the boys getting upset. 

It's all about good management and keeping things going smoothly!

He is here!

 Leo was delivered this morning! I had the foal pen all prepped for him, and put Tuffy in with him at first. 

They got along ok at first, but Leo was a bit much for Tuffy: he was pacing non stop and calling out. Disturbed Tuffy's peace! So I put Tuffy back with the mares until Leo eventually calmed down. 

Pacing... that square on his shoulder is where the breeders freeze branded him

Calling...

Pacing....

I put hay for the mares close to the foal pen and locked them out of the pasture so they would be close to the boys.  This afternoon, Tuffy went back in with Leo and they got along much better since Leo calmed down. 

Leo is not halter broke yet so that will be where I will start with him. One day at a time, with day one being to see if I can touch him. 

Ah that's the spot! 

Butt scratches are always a good place to start.

He let me move up his back and eventually around his head and poll.

Good boy, Leo!

They got along much better. 

There is quite a size difference! 

Tuffy is 5 weeks older than Leo. They are both growing in their winter fur. They will have access to the barn, foal ration twice a day and and all the hay they can eat. Leo hasn't quite figured out the foal ration but he will. 

Dally is quite attentive to him, she seems to love foals so I hope when she has her own she will be a good mama.

Here is hoping they have a good night!

Winter pasture

 My handy niece and her partner came out last weekend to help out us old folks get our winter pasture set up. We had to remove the bottom strand of hot tape that had gotten beat up with all the storms and replace it with new tape. All 700 ft. of it. There was a lot of swamp grass grown up over 6 ft. tall along one section that we had to stomp down and drive over to flatten; the weed whacker was not powerful enough to remove it all. We got it done! The horses were happy to get turned out on that 15 acres, as their grazing pens were getting a bit low. Velvet has been on the 15 before, so she led the way through the 4 ft. gate and the others followed. Room to run, you would think, but eating was more important! They did do a bit of zooming the first day and they still have access to their auto waterer and shelter, so when the bugs get to be too much, or if a rain storm comes along, they lope on back to the shelter. 

Tuffy did lose a bit of weight at weaning but it is coming back. 

Took the Nikon out today and tried for some decent photos. 

Normally I would edit a bit, but my old computer is having a moment and won't let me so these are straight out of the camera. 

Velvet, who was first out, went off to the far end, (can you see her?) while Tuffy and Dally stayed closer to the entrance. 

Those weeds are Canada Thistle and stinging nettle, both of which horses will eat in moderation. We have plans to spray this field next spring. 

Dally wandered off to see what Velvet was eating, and Tuffy stayed munching on his patch. 

He was keeping an eye on them, but when they went out of sight, he galloped up to the corner, whinnying and they came a-running at his call.... good mares!

This will be their winter pasture, at least until the snow starts covering the hotwire tape which is about 2 ft. off the ground for the bottom strand. 

Once the Leo colt gets here in a few days, he will be penned up with Tuffy so they can buddy up and be friends before I turn them out together to pasture with the mares. Can't wait!

Weaned and another update

 I made the decision to wean Tuffy at 3 months, a full month earlier than I normally do. He was so independent and more bonded to Velvet than his mama, and was rarely nursing so I figured it would work. Also, Happy was pretty much not concerned about him. I think she was glad to hand him over to Velvet. Happy is now at Shayla's, with the herd that Gussie is in. Not having a foal at side over there will help her to gain weight for the winter while there is still lots of lush grass. 

Tuffy and his step moms

I have him on Purina Maternity feed, twice a day. He loves it!

He is holding his weight well. I took the opportunity of feeding time to start working on his feet .  He wasn't sure about it so I had Ted come and hold him while I nipped and rasped.

After the first foot, he was much better with the second one; in true Tuffy fashion he had to figure out what I wanted, then he was ok with it. I started the back feet today, got one done, no halter, while he ate, and will do the second one tomorrow. 

His shedding pattern is interesting. 

Black areas and pale areas but cute all over!

I plan to get his hernia dealt with in early October. This is my first foal with a hernia that needs intervention; it means hauling him to the vet for sedation and stitching  I hope at 5 months old he will be able to handle that; I want to get it done before it tries to close on its own and pinches off his intestines. 

Easily visible in this photo

Found a post the other day on Dally's full brother, we called him Boe but they changed it to Willy. They had him helping to sort bulls out of the  cow herd recently and put this photo on Fb. 

Always nice to get good reports on horses we bred!

That in between stage

 Tuffy is really shedding his foal coat now. He is very growthy too being 12. 3 hh at the hip and just under 12.2 at the wither.

He is still a good boy and is learning to come when he is called. His feet are a work in progress, I need Ted to hold him while I work with them as he tends to walk away, or if it is his fronts he will kneel when I pick up the foot. That could be a good thing when he gets to be 16hh!

That red tail though! 

It will eventually shed all the red out but it's pretty cute for now. 

We are near the tail end of summer here; the geese are starting to flock up, waiting for harvest time so they can glean the grain fields. 

My heart goes out to all the folks who are affected by the fires west of us in B. C. where fire is still raging in the Okanagan as well as down in Washington State in and around Spokane. So far our area is good, we get a lot of thunderstorms that are keeping things wetter than usual here. 

Good boy Tuffy! 

A new to me variety of poppy, I love it! Growing amid the cosmos and snapdragons. 

My raspberries are producing great this year, and Ted built a cage for them to keep the deer out- they had already snacked on the new canes.

We will line the bottom half with chicken wire to keep nosy deer noses out!

I made some raspberry jam; sugar free, sweetened with honey. We have a honey farm not far from us and I stocked up on honey for the winter. My veggie garden is doing great too- I am getting enough peas to last the winter, and the carrots and potatoes will soon be ready. I think I will freeze the carrots, I don't have any luck storing them. 

Sunday Silence

 

Wild weather

 The start of summer has been a bit tumultuous around here. Starting with a Monsoon season then turning into multiple warnings for severe thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes.  None of which hit here! 

A tornado did touch down at Rocky Mountain House, which is a 45 minute drive west of us. The clouds that day were quite ominous from our vantage point. 

All is well that ends well though!  The system moved off to the north east of us. What we did get was very strong north wind about an hour later, I thought for sure we would lose some trees, in fact I could hear a tall old spruce tree cracking as I was watching out of our only north facing window in the bathroom. Thought for sure that old giant was going to come down, but it stood strong. 

Now we have rain and smoke.... always something!  But at least it has cooled off. 

We have a lot of cliff swallows that have congregated here- they are very welcome because ever since they arrived, the mosquito population has been decimated- yay! 

This is just a very few of them, the rest were reeling around the sky snacking on bugs. 

My flower gardens are thriving, this is my Jacmani clematis which last year had only a handful of flowers. 

The veggie garden is yielding carrots and peas now  and the potato plants are flowering. That is actually all I planted this year, I still have enough green beans in the freezer from last year. I did plant a tomato that I picked up for 3 bucks, it may or may not have fruit before frost time. 

Tuffy is growing and thriving too! 

Thumper intrigues him. 

Today was vet day, Happy came up open, no foal, so come mid August she will go live with Shayla and I will wean Tuffy early. Vet said wait and see until after weaning on how his hernia is, we hope it will close on its own. 

Meanwhile, the little herd gets to enjoy summer. I will wait until end of August to start working with Dally. 

A horse of a different color

 Speaking of color changes, Tuffy is quite rapidly going grey now. 

His sorrel coal has faded from the intense shade he was born with to a washed out red as the grey pokes through. 

This was then....

And this is now....

He has also grown in the last two weeks; he is now 12.2 hh at the hip and sure has filled out. In fact, one of the ladies at the breeding farm thought he was a draft cross!

Since he has haltering, leading and trailer  loading figured out, it is time for me to get serious about working with his feet, which will soon need a trim.