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!

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