Tired

Short night long day makes for a very tired person. Church was really good today and even though I didn't get much sleep last night I had no trouble listening. Dave Obergfel had the morning service and Craig Stickling had the afternoon service. Peoria is so blessed by our ministers. We stopped at Sam's on the way home to buy dog food and dinner. As soon as we were back Mark dropped me off at the barn to check on Mytross and her colt. The colt is doing very well. Mytross finally delivered her placenta.  Both Mytross and Kenna the cow needed more water, these nursing mom's drink tremendous amounts of water.
David and Stephanie came for dinner with little month old Israel.

He gave me a big smile today. So much fun to play with the babies.

We headed over to the playground where a big group had gathered for the usual volleyball games and visiting.

Heading to bed now even before it gets dark, that bed is really going to feel good tonight!

It's a Boy!

Mytross had a big colt this morning at 4:30am. He is black with one white sock on his back hoof. His sire is Valiant, this boy is going to be HUGE!
Pictures below taken after his delicious breakfast.

After that hard work of finding the milk bar and filling the tummy Mytross and her colt are ready for a nap. 

 Mytross lays down first, he isn't sure if he is really done eating, check out his tongue.

He thinks he is going to climb on his mama for a nap but it just doesn't work out.

 He walks around the other side and flops down in the soft hay.

Both at rest

 After a good 20 minute nap Mytross is ready to get back up.

He is a big strong black colt. We are very thankful for his safe arrival.

A Bust

Rhoda and I had plans to drive to Bradford, IL where a barn garage sale was suppose to open at 8:00am and in the ad was the sentence, all must go. Listed was a lot of tack. I picked her up as she is house sitting out that way, we arrived at 7:50am. There were already customers coming out but no one had anything in their hands. When we walked in we saw why. The prices were WAY out of line. Used halters were listed at $10.00 each and the saddles were very expensive, so much so that asking if they would negotiate couldn't bring the price low enough. We did ask on one saddle but the owner wasn't really willing to negotiate. Obviously all didn't have to go, we didn't see anyone buy anything. By the time I arrived home Mark and John were out working on the dam installing an 8 inch siphoning system for the pond. They worked all morning and finished the installation.

Beth and Jackie came in to visit while the guys were out working. Beth is John's wife and Jackie their daughter. Instead of visiting they got right to work and helped get the house cleaned up in time for lunch. It started pouring down rain right after lunch.
When the rain stopped the mares were turned loose in the field. They all went running to the back of the pond which drove Evan crazy. He so wanted to be with them.

He was running back and forth then would stand like a stature staring at them.

Below are a few pictures of the 3 foals starting with Lola's flashy colt by Valiant.

 Followed by Eliza's colt by Raven

 and Ribbon's filly by Raven.

Eliza's colt was such a tease, he went from horse to horse irritating them then running. He ran up to Ribbon's filly and nipped her on the neck.

 When she reacted he acted like he was such a big bad stud.

 He ran over to Oksana and jumped on her neck. They are not hugging below, he is teasing his sister by slamming his neck up on hers. Oksana is so gentle with him she doesn't react at all.

 Then he ran over and tried the same thing with Ribbon's filly. She didn't stand for it like Oksana.

He is a typical boy, just can't quit teasing the girls. He would have teased Lola's colt but she wouldn't let him any where near him. Lola kept him separate from the other horses.

 He would just stand there and stare at the silly antics of the other 2. It won't take long before he joins in.

We have 3 foals here, 3 foals at Middle Grove with 7 mares still to foal. Mytross is due any day, Clair, Jewel and Cor are due in August then Sangria, Bunni and Sally are all due around the middle of September.

Snake Attack

Diane and I took Hadassah and her colt Solomon out to Middle Grove. We wanted to check on a couple of mares. Thankfully Karin's 4 wheeler was out there, the herd was a long way and it would have been a long tiring hike. The picture below is what we saw when we finally found them at the far end of the property.

Lounging under the trees near the water. They are all curious when a person or 4 wheeler arrives. Diane brought out the fly spray and Lilypony came right over to check it out.

Scarlet, Ella's filly by Evan also came up. She is such a pretty filly and will be quite a bit taller than her mom.

She is almost 3 months old and not that much smaller than Ella.

Sangria, Lily and Rosalie were very content under the canopy of trees drowsy in the cool of the morning.

Funny how those 2 mares have been friends for years. Middle Grove must have gotten more rain than Hanna City. Ebby was waiting for Diane at the barn when we arrived back. She jumps on the golf cart for the ride home.

After the trailer was unhooked I went in to check on Emily's calf. It is doing great, Kenna is being a very good mom.

 She was so funny, running and bucking in the stall. They want out but that's not going to happen till Emily gets home.

There wasn't much going on at the barn today with the big group gone to Current River. Mom, Diane and I spent a couple of hours floating on the lake watching the kingfisher's fish. Diane took me home with her golf cart since mine no longer can be charged. We rolled right past this huge black snake thinking it was a stick. Ebby got out of the cart to check it out, she was wise and stayed out of strike distance.

Ebby is standing by the end of the tail in the picture 

but since that doesn't really show how long this snake is I took a close up of the tail.

The snake was pretty impressive following Ebby with it's head.

When I went to go inside Darcy and Emma came running out, Emma ran right up to the snake probably thinking it was a stick or toy and she got bit.

 Below is her reaction. She was shocked and yelped like a puppy then started barking and foaming at the mouth at that scary stick thing. 

Darcy came running to see why she was crying and also got bit. She was pretty upset with the snake.

She had a bit of skin gone and a drop of blood on her nose. The wound is circled, isn't it awful! We should probably run her to the vet...or not.

I'm tired this evening. Mark is out working on concrete, the stalls were cleaned, the cow and Mytross fed and watered and now I'm ready to rest!

 God paints the clouds in the evening sky and this evening the sunset was spectacular. The first view was the clouds all purple and pink making the stark treeline stand out.

The second shot was just as the sun was going below the horizon. Mark and I walked out to the end of the field to watch. The clouds changed from delicate pink and purple to gold and red.

Show Practice

Rhoda came this afternoon to work on games practice with Ayanna and Indy. With Emily gone she had double the work today. Below she is asking Ayanna to bow then lay down to make it an easy mount.

She had them practice barrel racing, bending poles, flag race and today introduced jumping for the first time.

Now that doesn't look like much of a jump but we were pleased she actually popped over it instead of plowing through the jump. Ayanna is so funny, when Rhoda is done working her she places her on the tarp.

Ayanna knows she doesn't have to work as long as she stays on the tarp. So she will play with the tarp but stays connected to it.

Indy did very well today, most improved over yesterday's wiggles. Indy was having trouble staying straight on the flag race yesterday, sometimes knocking over the barrel. Today was excellent.

Once these girls were put away Rhoda was going to work Cookie and Missy, went to the cabin field to find them missing. She knew someone was out riding them because Sally was left by herself and not too happy. Shelby and Cody Waibel had come for a trail ride. After the ride Rhoda taught them the show games. Both mares did wonderful. Mark arrived home and helped move bales. The middle paddock and Lola's paddock got a new bale. We were glad for the air conditioning today, we were really hot when it was time to come in for a late dinner.