If the rest of the 2005 foaling season is as easy and good as our first foaling of the year, I'll be tickled pink. Mind you, I didn't ask  her due date when I bought Claudia's Upset and was surprised to discover she was due the end of January. I bought her 2004 HBF Iron Man filly first and then was offered her back in foal to him so immediately said yes.

But she is such an accommodating mare, she bagged steadily, waxed up on the morning of Feb 2nd and foaled that night at 8.30 pm in the barn with the heat on. Like his mom, Bradley was also user friendly, he found the faucets, had a poop, a pee in short order and I was in bed before midnight. No treks thru the mud, no struggling  up the hill. Just a lovely, textbook foaling.

The weather turned ugly so Bradley didn't get out till the following Monday complete with a bright red Big D Blanket that was already too small when I put it on him.

He's now outside all day long without clothes, has always gone and slept in the shelter or on moms hay. Come 5:30 he is waiting at the gate to come in. Runs up the hill, slides to a stop, into the barn and into HIS stall where we've already hung him his own oat pail. We haven't decided on his registered name yet. He's for sale, will be double registered with AQHA and APHA + eligible for NSBA and Oregon Triple Crown Futurity Program.

Bradley whose registered name will be Set In My Irons has been sold to Diane Magdalin of Vernon, BC. Diane has decided to switch from halter horses to riders and thought that Bradley would be a great start to her new program. He’ll make the trek to BC in early June once he’s been weaned.

Thanks to the generosity of Celeste Holm, owner of HBF Iron Man and Robin Degraff who stands him, Teddys Sparkle is being bred to him for a 2006 foal. You can see him at www.honeybearfarm.com. We are so pleased with our Gray kids out of Claudia and looking forward to this cross in 2006.

Update - April 16th, 2005

Photo of Fedex By Money taken at 3 months of age
Also photo of Miss Mad Money (Fedex By Money's Dam)

Bradley was enjoying being the only foal on the place but that ended when Miss Mad Money who was due March 19th decided to foal on the 31st of March outside with no signs. We left for the city at 11 am and came home at 4 pm ----- Money, surrounded by the other senior citizens had her filly, Fiona outside in the sunshine and nice weather. When we got home, Fiona was bouncing around, dry, figured out how to drink and poop and was very good about following mom to the barn. She ended up in the vet clinic for a day when we found lying flat out dead looking one night ---- she had some sort of tummy upset and quit eating but had returned to being her normal whirling dirvish self. Bradley just looks at her in amazement. Her TB sire is The Fed and her registered name will be Fedex My Money.

Well, I've learned this year that the mares sure aren't reading the same books I did. According to my calculations, next up to foal should have been The Pleasures Mine but no, Sparkle decided to jump to the front of the line, waxed up for days before having a lovely minimal colt by CF Heat Wave at 3 am on April 6th right in the middle of my extremely painful gall bladder attack. Big, minimal, lots of legs under I was happy. They went out on Saturday on the front lawn for the first time to see the world and I found him dead Sunday morning in the stall. So he was here very briefly and I never even got a picture of him to remember him.

Miss Solis Te and I began our yearly ritual of trying to outwit one another on foaling locations. With big gobs of wax I let her loose in the yard, thinking she would immediately lie down in the sun on the front lawn and foal. Nope - she made a million miles in her gibbled gait up and down the driveway trying to choose the right spot most of the day. So back in the barn she went under the camera and for the second year in a row foaled inside at 12.20 am on Tuesday, April 12th a really lovely sorrel filly who we should call the Whirling Dirvish - she is never still. Her barn name is Finesse .

The Pleasures Mine, aka Minnie just couldn't wait to move into the foaling stall and when I went out to feed the next morning surprised us with a cute, minimal overo colt with tiny tipped in ears. He was just dry and figuring out the milk bar at 6 am. He has 4 high stocking, face white, one blue eye and has eyeliner developing around it.

So foaling is going pretty well, in the barn, decent hours - mares are cleaning easily, life is good except for the gall bladder and the weather which of course never co-operates totally. We could rename the place mud hollow, between the snow melting, the frost coming out of the ground and the odd shot of rain.

Wed, April 14th out I go to feed, it blew hard and rained most of the night but the sun is coming up and is warm. Down the hill I go to feed the young horses and mares, look over to the right and in the hay shed corral is this tiny black ace looking back at me. I near fell down. Iknowimfancy, the lovely big black mare I bought in Michigan foaled over 2 weeks early as she was due on April 30th. Back up the hill in the muck for Bruce, throw a horse out of the barn to make room for Fancy. So, down the hill we go in the mud, capture Fancy and her black fiily and struggle UP THE HILL in the mud to the barn. Fancy was smart enough to foal in the shelter out of the wind and weather and then cleaned outside. So Satin was dry, hardly any mud on her. She is just too cute, star with a squiggle of white down her tiny face.

Iknowimfancy gave us a lovely black Radical Rodder filly that we're thrilled with. Then Diane Chilton RRs owner called to say she forgot to upgrade her to full white papers so together we got that done which means her filly will also have white papers. She is bred to HBF Iron Man for a 2006 foal that will be double registered.

Foal Update: May 15th, 2005

My gall bladder continued to act up regardless of the drugs prescribed by the doctor and of course Murplys Law also had to play a role in the next lot of foals being born.

Ashley, our Encountered mare is a maiden mare, kinda silly but a real people oriented mare – she wanted to come in on Friday night the 15th of April but had absolutely no signs of impending birth and wasn’t due for a week so ignored her and left her outside.

Discovered her and her new filly who she had tucked away on a dry patch by a brush pile at 6.30 on Saturday morning and in spite of all the mud around, both were clean and dry. So began the struggle thru the mud and up the hill yet again. Ashley flattened me once and I walked out of my boot and fell once in the muck. But, persevered and got both of them tucked away in the barn and I’m sure if Ashley could talk she would tell me “ I told you, I wanted in the barn for a reason.” Her new girl has to be named Mary-Kate of course. She is little, but mighty, just enough white to accent her short back and tiny little head. Ashley crossed on Rowdy works well. I headed for bed and pills, in too much pain to count how many trips up the hill in the mud this made for this year.

The Wild Child, another of Sparkles friends decided she too should foal and was dripping milk on Sat morning, April 16th so she was moved into the foaling stall under the camera. At 1 pm she had a huge lethal white colt. I was here alone and was devastated. Help arrived in the form of Lorne Winther who brought Sparkle home. They had taken her as a nurse mare but she fretted and quit eating on them (hadn’t left the farm in over 10 years. So Lorne unloaded her, loaded up The Wild Child and her colt to replace her and promised to deal with the colt for me. So The Wild Child in spite of her name is a replacement mom and doing a super job of it for one of Winthers foals. She will be bred to Mac Myers which should be a very interesting cross with her performance bloodlines and his speed pedigree. You can see Myers at www.wintherquarterhorses.com.

Beverly who is Sparkle’s long time friend decided she too would foal in the midst of a gall bladder attack at 2 am on Wed. April 20th. She was in the barn, under the camera so much nicer and easier for all of us. She is such a good mom, pushed out her colored filly with ease, cleaned right away. This filly by Rowdy is her biggest and loudest foal to date and shows no signs of going gray that I can see. Didn’t get to see or do much with her as I headed off to the hospital that day.

Between Beverly foaling and the next mare due, I headed off to the hospital, a bright neon yellow color, had an endoscopy followed by removal of my gall bladder. HURRAY!! I keep referring to it as colic surgery. LOL.

 

Smooth Angie, one of older senior citizens at age 25 was living with Illusion and Chickie, bagging nicely, falling away behind – I saw her standing with them about 4.00 pm on Sunday May 1st as I walked down to play with the foals. Spent a half hour with the kidlets and headed back up the hill to the house. Noticed Angie and Chickie had disappeared. Found Angie down in front of the shelter, front feet already out with Chickie offering moral support. Too late to get her in the barn so I too stood by and watched her foal a lovely, elegant solid bay colt, almost a twin to Briggs of two years ago. Now, she had to go in the barn and I’m on a do nothing regimen per the doctor. Thankfully Michelle who is doing chores arrives and we get them tucked away in the barn without no slave labour on my part.

Winston has been sold to Brittnay Thomas of Spokane Wash where he will join his full brother Briggs. Briggs just placed 3rd in a tought 2 yr old HUS Futurity with Brittnay.

 

Sculpted With Love aka Carrie was due on April 16th, been in the barn at night for quite awhile is doing nothing. On Friday, the 13 of May I have the vet out for other things and have him check her out as she is at 372 days.. His observations were “bag isn’t full yet, she is not that soft behind and I can stick my hand inside and say hello but won’t make things happen any faster”. She’ll foal when she is ready. Lovely!!

Put her out on Saturday morning and she races off to the far side of the hayshed corral where there is some grass and she can see the mares and foals across the fence. Been doing that for days. I go to town, come back, look out and think I see Ashley and Mary Kate on the wrong side of the fence, then see them where they belong and realize Carrie has finally foaled. Street, the big TB mare is with her and driving her nuts. Go down and she has a really cute fairly loud colored filly by Pentium Power, a double reg stallion in Idaho. And the fun begins, Street doesn’t want to be caught – short version – we turned her in with mares and foals and then tricked her into a pen. Gave Carrie some hay and water and let her and the filly be quiet while we did chores and had supper. By then, Hannah and Spirit discovered her and were busy milling around checking out the new foal. This trip up the hill didn’t involve mud thank goodness, just two tired people and two tired horses. Anyone who believes you have to have a lot of body white to get color needs to look closely at this mare and foal. Carrie is a QH with some ticking on her barrel and I think she carries the rabicano gene as her QH yearling has a lot of ticking. The sire is a minimal overo. Filly also has two blue eyes and is a cutie, well worth the long wait.

We have 4 more mares to foal, Spirit the white Puchilingui daughter should be next, she has been hiding away by herself the last couple of days. Then our other TB mare, Royal Burgandy, the first of June and last but not least, Miss Sizzle Chick, at the tender age of 27 is due the end of July.

Update: August 1, 2005

Well it seems like foaling season here has gone on forever.
Royal Burgandy, our big TB mare was due June 6 and decided she liked being in foal and hung on to her colt until June 26th when she had an easy birth. Gator was up and exploring right away. "Gator's" arrival was very low key, no signs of impending birth, he was just there in the morning. Long legged bay colt by Rowdy Ruckus I first called him Fergus but he is fascinated with our gator - meets me at the gate, trots along side of it, then explores every crevice, every day. So we changed his name to reflect his obsession and it suits him. Going to be a big boy when he matures. Registered name will be Rowdy Royalty.

Turns out Street is not in foal so one less foal to anticipate so just leaves Spirit, the Puchilingui daugher and Chickie to go later this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

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