I made a halter for Sparkle last night, and here she is modeling it for you. She is starting to lead well-I have to halter and lead her every day to go to their turn-out area.
This halter should fit her for a few months. (Little cuteness!) We had a little snow but it should be melted off by noon.
She is still on limited turnout, and she is getting stronger every day, and cuter by the minute!
Say so long to Sassy, she has been sold to a good home. They plan on eventually team penning on her, which is a perfect fit! Their 2 year old son thinks she will be his, but he'll have to fight mom for her.
I thought about cropping Belle out, but I like the perspective better with her in it. This one is my screen saver right now.
It was such a beautiful day yesterday, warm and sunny. It was time for first turnout for mom and baby. I have a small area to use that is good for limited turnout, which is what Sparkle requires until her hind legs get stronger. She really enjoyed all the sights and sounds, and was trying to munch on hay, checked out the salt block, and performed a little.
All of which is tiring,
( photo credit WJ )but not for long, as there are so many things a girl has to check out!
(She has Beamer's eyes!) Of course, she was closely supervised by Coyote Belle, who won't let her out of her sight.
(photo credit WJ)
Coyote Belle is proving to be a good mom, she's very protective of her little darling. I should be able to get better pictures tomorrow when I turn them out into the bigger shelter- the pens are still a little too muddy for baby- she needs to get a little stronger in her back legs before she gets any major turnout.
I's all tuckered out....
Mom standing guard, and Marble supervising; lights out!
Dusty Devoe! Yup, that's right, Coyote Belle FINALLY foaled at 2:45 AM- we have a filly! It was a long labour, she couldn't get the head and shoulders out so after almost an hour, I decided to step in and help by holding traction on the legs, and then the head and shoulders came out; she stood up and out came little filly! Poor little thing, first thing that happens to her is getting plunked on the ground. It only took her a few minutes to stand up and motor around though, she is a determined rascal. I did have to get a halter on Coyote Belle so she would allow that first drink, but baby needed no help in that department, she was hungry! The light was really poor for my little camera, so no video yet, later today I will get better photos.
It's going to take her a couple of days to strengthen those back legs, and longer than that to figure out what colour she will be. Right now she looks brown, but most likely she'll be the same as her mom, kinda smokey brown/black. Not a lick of white on her!
"I hear someone is interested in having me for their very own!"
This photo was taken yesterday while we were waiting for the farrier. (I subsequently adjusted the knots in the halter so that it fits her better!) Isn't that snow disgusting! She is in heat right now, but even so was good for the farrier, who says she has really nice feet. Actually, he says all my horses have good feet, which is nice to hear. As you can see by the picture, Sassy tends more to the running side of her pedigree, she isn't the chunky type. She has a lot of speed, so I hope she has a career in speed events; she has a lot of cow breeding too, which makes her a perfect candidate for Working Cowhorse. She is two months away from her second birthday, so she has a lot of growing and filling out to do; it's a good thing she still has some of that winter hair too!
Still no foal; keep an eye on this post (Foaling Contest Continued) for details as to who is still in the running for the prize, and it's still open to those who had a guess in but the date has passed. There are still about a dozen guesses left that could win! Coyote Belle was really cranky this morning when I turned her out, and she is just starting to wax. I think she's close!
Chickory was perfect for the farrier, I was really proud of her! You'd never know that it was only her second trim. She still looks like a wooly mammoth, but she is growing like a weed- oh, wait, weeds aren't growing here yet; nothing is growing here yet, just horses!
I'm going to the Mane Event in Red Deer next weekend; hope to watch Al Dunning's clinic and take in the Trainer's Challenge. If any of you bloggers are going, email me and I'll give you my cell number so we can meet up!
There was actually bare ground in Beamer's pen yesterday; this is what he had to put up with this morning at 7 AM. However, the weather is supposed to get nice and warm over the next few days, so all this will melt in no time.
I'm pretty sure he was trying to figure out if he could leap over to the bird feeder full of sunflower seeds. Cute little rascal! I'll put some peanuts out for him in the morning.
UPDATE: Also eligible to "second guess" now are:
Linda,
Angie
Dusty Devoe,
Jan's Place
There are many aspects of animal care, and everyone's unfavorite job is waste management- so this part of "husbandry" went to my husband!
and miss Marble does a mighty fine job of that! But my favorite part of animal husbandry is raising and selling good looking, good quality horses, like this mare; I sold her as a 4 year old. (her dam was a sister to Beamer)
On northward to Radium Hot Springs, the road winds through these rock cuts:
On past the Hot Springs are some gorgeous red rock bluffs:
Then on up towards the Columbia Icefields there are so many breathtaking mountains that a person could spend days with a camera. This is the Bow Glacier, which feeds the Bow River that supplies water for all of the Calgary area:
I could see snow storms sweeping up the valleys between the mountains, but didn't have to drive through any snow.
Just when you think you've seen the most beautiful one, around the next corner is another! If I could figure out how to add music to blogger videos, I'd put this little video to How Great Thou Art.
Back down through the mountains and home again, I'm still on foal watch, which means that Nuzzling Muzzles and Gtyyup are out! But since there are a lot of times left, lets do this: if your guess is up, you can guess again- just look through the comments (go to the link on my sidebar, it's the quickest). So keep checking; I'll post as soon as baby is born!
