Gypsy had a boy!

Early Thursday morning, I found this handsome little feller in the pasture. I was trying to jinx her into foaling before I left town to go camping, so I left her out by herself almost. It worked!








Think he looks like daddy He sure got his markings--you can see all that white from a mile away. Baby boy has two hind white socks though--the blaze sure is similar



Now lets hope he can show like daddy. You can see these pics and more at his site peptotaz.com

Two of a kind

Does anyone else see the resemblance between these two?

Gypsy is due Friday. So far I see no action other than general discomfort, and it is beautiful outside, so that is where she is. Maybe she will trick me--but nowhere better to foal than a big open pasture, so if she does she does. No big deal.

In other news, I took Squeak and Cash to the vet this morning, ostensibly to confirm they both need to be bred. Neither did. Typical. I go back Wednesday.

That is going to be a very long day, as Sly is having a very distinguished guest on Wednesday evening. I am not saying who yet, as I do not want to jinx anything, but suffice it to say that it is a HUGE honor for him. He is very excited. Oh who am I kidding. If a herd of jackass girls came to visit, he would be thrilled---he is first and foremost a man. They are not known for their ability to distinguish these things.

Also maybe Wednesday nite, if not earlier, the baby boy is having a specialist farrier come tend to his squirrelly legs. I am doing anything and everything possible to avoid surgical intervention, but I have no idea if it will work. Certainly, the opinions on what to do with a wonky legged foal are all over the place, and each opinion is persuasive when I hear it. It is overwhelming, especially since so many of the opinions are diametrically opposed to each other. One way or the other, we will get this little feller lined out. We are lucky to have so many really experienced professionals to help us along.

What else? Surely there is something to tell.

Guess not!

The poop post

I am not sure if you have noticed it, but bodily functions take up a lot of my time. Not my bodily functions, but those of my animals. This is Gypsy's filly, Baby Poops-A-Lot, aka Poop Butt Baby. She has been pooping non-stop for twelve days--she took one day off where we thought she was not pooping, but it was a trick. You can see in the top pic that her hiney is scalded, but it had been covered in poop. In fact, she had poop all down her legs, her tail was wet with it--she has been an all around mess.

A bout of a day or two of the runs is normal in babies around ten days old. Most shake it off, some don't. Babies this young can go downhill in a hurry, so you have to get it stopped. That requires four times a day doctoring. You can imagine how easy that is. To get that done, baby and mama have been stalled, which makes baby stir crazy. Gypsy has been an angel though. You have to keep pooper away from other babies, in case there is something in there that is catching, which you usually cannot know until it is too late. For example, the state lab gave me poop results last year, two days after the baby was dead from it--five days after being hand-delivered a sample.
Today is the second day that we believe baby to be poop free. So she got let out to run for a while tonight--we put her in a different pasture than normal as Gypsy thinks she is funny lately, and will not always come in when I tell her to. She is more catchable in this pasture. This is the first time she has been in a pasture with the older foals.
I promise she does not have crooked front legs--she was standing goofy.
I hope I am not jinxing it, but I think we may have this beat. And thank goodness, I am not up for another loss, and I really like this baby. I think she has a pretty pretty head, which is not always a given for Pepto-bred horses. And when it is not covered in poop, I lover her butt too.
I hope this means we will be graduating from pooping names to a big girl name.

Gratuitous baby pics

Look at that baby face on Spike--something about him just gets me right in the heart. I think it is those big eyes always following me. I love him.
This big boy went on his first field trip this weekend. He accompanied his mother to the vet an hour away so she could be inseminated--Barry said he hopped right up in the trailer like a big boy. It always cracks me up to see a little bitty squirt made that big leap. I hated to miss it, but not as much as I hated to get up that early--besides I was still sick.
Today it did not rain for a long enough time that I could take some pics. So I did. I always take the pics of the babies in this pasture because there is so much more grass here than the other where the first three babies are. That is kind of crappy. I should do them next.
Cash's baby girl, China, is very much a busy body. She licked my camera lens.
This picture cracks me up, because she looks like an oompa loompa. Just goes to show what happens when you shoot DOWN on a baby horse instead of even with them. She is not really an oompa loompa at all.
Pretty round little girl, isnt she? I like her.
Today I was trying to get shots of the little roan butted girl, but in looking at them on the computer I realize both she and her mama were so dirty, you could not see much.
Not bad shape for about 11 days old is it?
Gypsy was on a tear, which made for fun pics--too bad she was not clean so I could see that pretty coat gleam like it normally does.
She has the tiniest little head-kind of triangle shaped.
It amazes me that Gypsy keeps getting herself into photos where she looks nice. All of her life I have struggled to get decent photos of her and she is the most unphotogenic horse in the world. I can never do her justice. Lately though, these decent shots keep popping up. I love it.

You might think I did nothing this weekend except take pictures. That is kind of close, as I am still recovering from this flu that has kicked my ass. I did manage to get the oil changed in the car--which was over due--and the place lost my keys. It took them an hour to find them. They were sorry, but I saw no evidence of it--how bout a free oil change, or something up in here? Tacky people.

Today, I tried very hard to mow the yard. Nothing went right. First, I got stuck in the mud and had to come ask Barry to get me out. On the way back out to get it out, I was carrying a glass of water, and slipped in the mud, and looked like a cartoon as all the water flew up in the air and landed on my head. I think that was Barry's highlight of the weekend.

We got the mower out, I mowed maybe 15 minutes, and the stinking belt burned in two. That means I have to order a new one, and then wait for it to be put on. Why do I have to wait? Because at the least, Barry got a one-week extension at his work--they have a job to do near Lake of the Ozarks this week, so that is where he will be. I will gladly give up having the yard look right to get another week's work under his belt. WOO HOO! And if it gets bad enough, I can have dad bring his mower out to let me use it maybe. He likes to mow as much as I do.

After that went wrong, I was trying to do something else house-related--I have no idea what. It involved coming up the garage steps, while not wearing shoes. That is not strange. I must have miscalculated though, as I barely got my toes on the step, so of course, my foot ripped down the step and I not only tore up the bottom of my foot, I fell on my face into the house.

That was Barry's second best moment of the day. About that time, he asked me if I had been drinking. I had not, but maybe it would have helped.

I should have just stayed home, but I never learn, do I? I went to the farm to check my mares. Ask me how many are overdue. Go ahead. Ask me. Not one. Not two. We are on number three. Foxy is at 349 days. At 346 I decided that she did not have enough milk, so she got two days of domperidone. I should have left well enough alone, because now she looks like she is going to explode and keeps giving me the evil eye. I can hardly blame her, she looks like she could nurse the entire farm, and yet does not appear to be even considering foaling. She got to spend the afternoon out playing.

Snap is at about 344, and has completely forgotten she was ever bred. I have not even brought her in off the pasture yet. She will be the one to trick me. Diablo is due now, and looks like she is having an elephant, as usual. Squeak is at 319 today, and since last nite, her udder has really gotten massive, and she all of a sudden looks ready to roll. She better hang on a bit though, for her own good. I do not think she is imminent.

Looks like I will be spending time in the trailer at the farm this week, doesn't it? That is okay, I kind of miss it.

What else has happened? Ah, I tried to update my website and screwed it up, so I have to beg someone to help me. I hate that, but better I not look like a fool on the interwebz, huh?

This week, I have a deadline on an important case to meet. I had been subpoenaed for a horse appraisal case but I just got the call that it is off--that is good. Except of course, I had already done some prep--I should have known better.

I went to the gym and did a short workout-- I still cannot get cardio without hacking like I am dying, so it is good I found that out today when there were not many people there. I finally am making some more progress on the weight--I had been jacking around with the same 5 pounds for 3 weeks--put it on, take it off, put some of it on, blah blah blah. Today, I broke the barrier again, and am down as low as I have been since I started this game. I am amazed considering that I have been way too self-indulgent since the traumas of this week started. That inspires me to get my shit together again--go me!

I was even inspired to take shorts out of the drawer and pack them in a box. I figure if they are two sizes too big, that it is safe to do it. I won't get rid of them yet, just in case, but I need room for things that fit. I got to wear a large shirt to the movies Saturday nite, and it looked good. Even with my belt, my pants were falling off--so I guess I need to go through the jeans and do the same thing. Woo hoo! go me!

Surprise-no RAIN!

Today's rain prediction was off by about twelve hours, I guess. Thank goodness though, as it let us catch up on so much that has needed to be done but cannot be when it is always raining. I got both yards mowed--which is about 3 or 4 hours of mowing. That helped repair the back yard where Sly, Fonzie and Twist have torn it all to hell where they kept coming into it over the last week while we had a fence malfunction. There was not really much to mow as they have been working on it so much, but it does look way better. There were many piles of horse poop on the back porch, which is always charming. I know it as Sly though, as there is evidence that he stood in one place for a long time, or repeatedly and pooped on his own poop--since it is by the window, I know it was him, as he always likes to come look for me at the back door. My boy loves me.

Barry got the new jump wires on the gates, so that problem of the malfunctioning fence should be resolved. He also cut down a bunch of irritating little saplings, which for some reason makes a huge difference in how things look.

The rest of the day was spent working at the farm.

Poor Gypsy is fighting having this baby. She has been stalled with little turnout lately, as I knew she would spit this child out in the mud given the opportunity.
She got to go out for a while today, and she did not even appreciate it. She spent most of the day looking at me, over the fence, while I did everything else.
She even looks depressed to me. She has gone six days later than she did last year, which was her maiden year. So she is 346 days today. No wonder she is miserable. I am so excited to see this baby --so she is not the only impatient one.
I also was able to give some baths, since it was 75 degrees. It does not show up in the pics, but Sly was almost metallic after getting the winter dirt out of his coat. He did not even get a thorough bath, but a basic scrubbing.
He is such a pretty boy. I think he is wondering why he has not been to the farm to see his ladies, and I have not broken it to him that he may not be seeing many of them this year at all. I have turned down outside requests and am considering giving most of his ladies the year off and only using our outside breedings.

Twist got a bath too--and he changed shades at least 6 times from filthy to his almost white color.
Grandpa has evidently forgotten what the point of hay is. He has been staying in the bull shed area and forgetting to go out to the round bale. I think he is trying to avoid trudging through the mud, and who can blame him for that? And it does not really matter since he is on Senior anyway, but it seems sad to me. Late afternoon, Barry suggested we throw him out with Gypsy in that pasture, to perhaps get her moving instead of standing at the gate looking pathetic. That would have worked great except he really likes grass, so he did not move very much, other than to roll and move to different sections. He was very excited to get real grass again.

Looks pretty good for a 29 year old man, doesn't he?

Also while at the farm, we had to chase down Haida Girl to Regumate her in anticipation of her upcoming breeding to Sophisticated Catt, and her recent episode of stalling has clearly made her half a loon. She was having so much fun out in the pasture that we stopped what we were doing to watch her put on a show. I don't know that I know many horses more athletic than that one, but of course, she quit when I got out the camera. Aries had to have her Lutalyse shot in anticipation of Dr M's visit on Tuesday, also to have her bred to Sophisticated Catt.

While out there, we got some shots of other random folks, including Melody's little girl, who is awful darn cute. I do not know however what the llama impression is she is doing here.

And no, she still does not have a name. I am leaning toward calling her Bijou, which was one of Lorna's early suggestions. It has grown on me, and then someone else suggested it, so maybe it is meant to be.

Two young men, Reno and Uno were captured and dewormed and told some unfortunate news. They too will be seeing the vet on Tuesday, for the brain surgery most young men need. I love me some mass gelding day, and it has been four years since I have had many to do all together. Two is not so much, but it is more than one so it qualifies for "mass gelding day". Uno in particular is a really nice colt, put together so nicely, and has a great attitude. I hope to get him out for some pics tomorrow, if we get a break in the rain. If things go right this week, they will see the farrier as well.

Cash had her foot dressing changed. I think the abcess is settling again, as she seemed a little ouchy today. I will have that addressed again on Tuesday as well, if this round of treatment does not draw it out. This one is taking a lot longer than usual, for some reason. She got to go out with her baby girl last nite, and we left her diaper full of iccthammol on her and turned her loose. Man did she have a good time. She looked ridiculous, running balls to the wall while wearing a baby diaper and duct tape on her foot, but whatever. She was only out for a few hours, but it did her good to get to buck and carry on and play with her little girl. Hopefully, soon, that will be her full-time status.

Barry started getting the big horse trailer ready, in anticipation of our big trail ride with some internet crazies, and Headleys and Jodi next week. The weather has stabilized enough that he could fill the water tanks, which will make life much nicer for me when I have to stay there with Gypsy this week. Although, God willing, she will spit this child out tonight, so I can really keep the doc busy when he is here Tuesday morning.

It has been a long day, but we got so much done, it was very satisfying. I have been sinning nonstop on the food and drink since Thursday nite, so I am back on the wagon tomorrow. I am at 29 pounds down which is pretty dang good. I already need a new hole in my new belt. My trainer had to cancel Friday, so I feel like I have not done anything, even though I certainly have. I am already addicted to that.

It is almost time for Saturday Night Live, so it is time to push post on this one.

But let's call this my first post for Camera Critters
How did I not know this was going on?

Scenes from a Spring Sunday

China's first turnout was Sunday afternoon. Look at that precious little face, could she be cuter?
Babies are so funny, they can go from zero to 60 in a heartbeat. Cash was very protective of her for her time out--she tried to keep her in the corner so no one could look at her.
But that was kind of pointless. There is no coralling a new baby who is figuring out how fast her legs can go.
Cash can chase with the best of them though--she was right on her tail as I got the second shot off.

I will have more pics of them soon. While she was out for her turnout, we discovered that she had some gastrointestinal issues of the sort that means something--not normal funny baby poop. That has had me on edge, the vet on consult and the fighting commencing to medicate her. Babies can turn from healthy healthy like she obviously is, to the verge of death in the matter of an hour, but it is also a very bad idea to use antibiotics when they are not warranted. While I could tell anyone else what to do in the same situation, I rely so much on Dr M to tell me when and how to start a particular treatment, because I know I am paranoid and looking for problems that may not be there. He told me exactly what I knew he would and I think I may have it under control. I so hope I am not jinxing anything by saying it out loud. She is still nursing and still feels good, so cross your fingers that we have avoided a potential disaster.
Also on Sunday, I fetched horses out of the back pasture that need to be up off of the fescue grass that is popping up--that was Diablo and Snap. It did not take D long to find someone to boss around, and I thought this pic was funny as it shows their pregnant bellies. Diablo on the left is due May 15--Gypsy on the right is due April 14. She is way bigger in real life than this photo shows.
I knew D would win that stand off--they looked like two studs posturing at each other. It was just a matter of time til one of them cracked.
This is Voodoo, he is supposed to go to training any day. However, in fetching him from the back pasture, it became apparent to me that the new hay SUCKS. They have been on it about three weeks and they all look terrible. This tends to happen as the new grass is springing up, but normally our hay is so good that they maintain better than this. OK, they stay fat. Our horses are always fat unless there is a reason like they are 150. But Voodoo here has lost his butt, a bunch of width in his chest--he just does not look good. In fact, Phoenix, the two year old filly that is the spitting image of him, has been in a different pasture for the last month, eating different stuff, and she has passed him in size, hands down. Voodoo is normally pretty thick, so this broke my heart.

I know we will get them all back in shape, and I knew it was bound to happen eventually--that we would end up with hay that does not do what it should--but it still makes me feel terrible.
On a good note, look at Tango's leg---the healing is amazing. You can see where the new baby fine hair is growing in--none of that skin was there even two weeks ago. The open area over her knee was as big as the palm of my hand, and now we have just a bit of scabbing, no swelling, not proud flesh to speak of--it looks really good. And she has still never been off on it at all. We must have some sort of special healing vibes around our place for these weird ugly should-be-catastrophic injuries, as they have all turned out so well over the years.

So that was part of my day yesterday, a sunny afternoon, good sun for pics, good things to take pics of and only the one crappy matter of the hay causing the horses to not look so good. Of course, that is the one thing I am obsessing about.

I should be able to get China back out in a few days as soon as I know she is going to be all right, so I can get some more pics. She is absolutely darling. Full of piss and vinegar, but darling

Name this baby--a deadline

It is time to get these babies registered. Echo's are due this weekend, but I am too embarrassed at how bad her current pics are to show them to anyone I do not have to. Shiloh got her first leading lesson tonite after work, and she did so beautifully, we were able to get some good pics of her.
Now I just need to get her named. We call her Shiloh but that does not have to be part of the registered name. Her sire is Slydun Haida, by Haidas Sugar Doc and out of Double Play Sandy by High Brow Hickory. Shiloh's dam is High Brow Gypsy (High Brow Hickory x Cardanita x Peponita).

I like cute names and it does not have to represent her pedigree--that just seems to happen around here. Bring on the ideas!
I just love this one, she has been so easy to do everything to--like her leading lesson tonight. Once I got her out of her stall, there were few if any problems, and by the end of her photo session, she acted like she had been doing it all her life.
She is a sweet baby, too, and very personable. I think she is my favorite of this year's foal crop.

Scenes from a Monday

Big action this weekend, I guess--Madison got her hair cut. She has great hair and it was getting really long, I had no idea she was thinking of cutting it. She had it pulled up when I got there, but took it down right away to show me. Barry had told me that she cut it, but I had no idea it would be so cute.
I was surprised to see how much it curled up just from putting in a few layers. I love it.
Next up is what appears to be our only storm damage. A big ol honking tree down on one section of our round bales.
I do not know how many of them are under there, perhaps thirty. I am so grateful that we do not have any more damage than that, although I have not checked the back pasture very closely to make sure the run-in sheds still have their rooves. Roofs? Rooves? That looks crazy.

Speaking of crazy, Bocephus is growing his hair back--can you see that short black halo around him? That is not out of focus photo, but his hair growing back in--it is about an inch long all over, and it actually is pretty soft. He kind of looks like a roly poly porcupine--the next time some fool asks me if he is a pig, I think I will tell them that he is a porcupine instead and see what kind of reaction I get. It is amazing the difference a week can make in a pig's recovery--he is running and playing and generally being his old piggy self

Tonight, Gypsy made a funky face. Her child, and Aries' child, run together, along with Snap's. Clearly they are ready to be weaned as they had removed themselves from the front pasture and gone to the middle one to see other babies, and the mamas could not have cared less. Good news, they will get their wish on Thursday.

I also found that not all the tadpoles were done in --I found this dude in Thor's pool. Better there than in mine, says me.
I did get most of the yard mowed here at the house. I still have the backyard to do, which will be some tough going as it is so thick, and then I have the farm to do. I like being caught up, so I hope to knock all that out by Wednesday.

Now I really should eat a vegetable or go to bed. I am tired enough, but restless, so I guess I will just sit in this chair and waste time for a while. I would hate to accidentally do something logical like catch up on my sleep so it is easier to get up early to take Simba to the vet in the morning.

Speaking of which, Slater's xrays did not tell us much today. They had an Xray malfunction, so as soon as that is fixed, he will have them done again. I am cautiously optimistic based on the vet's thoughts, although she was quick to remind me that osteosarcoma is quite possible considering his breed and age. Bone cancer is a biggie on Danes. As far as the softer lump on his chest, she is confident that it is merely a fatty tumor.

Now, if Simba can get a good report about whatever is up with her girl parts (which were removed more than 6 years ago when we adopted her), and perhaps a little something something for the stiffness setting in, I will feel like we dodged a huge bullet.

Cross your fingers!