Mares and Foals at Middle Grove

After the walk today Oksana was brought over from the cabin field for the trip to Middle Grove. Ayanna and Foxy have ultrasounds scheduled for Friday morning and tomorrow is Berean day so this was the only day that worked out for this trip. The gooseneck trailer was unhooked and the stock trailer hooked up to the truck so I could drive in to Middle Grove instead of parking on the road. Karin was picked up in Farmington and came out with me. The camera was also taken so I could get some updated pictures of the foals for the website even though I can't update the website right now, hopefully Phil will get that up and running soon. The foals were all doing well out there, all were content and happy. Below is Anna and her filly by Valiant named  Delilah and behind Anna is Wicktoria and Bethany. Bethany is a year old Evan daughter out of an Appaloosa mare.

 Easter Bonnet was glad to see us and came right up for attention. She is really a pretty filly. 

 Ella has the youngest colt out there but he is doing fine. Galena is grazing behind Ella. 

 Below left to right is Lola's filly Easter Bonnet, then Flynn, Zalena's colt by Evan, then Zalena. 

 Below Karin is walking up to the herd. Flynn was taking a nap in the middle of the herd. The foals are all very relaxed and feel completely safe. 

Foxy and Ayanna were loaded up in the front of the trailer. Below Karin is getting ready to put the halter on Foxy while Foxy was checking out Lola's filly Easter Bonnet. If you would like to see the rest of today's pictures from there click HERE. 

Once these two were loaded we checked out Roxanne's leg and decided she'd better come back for more antibiotics and more hosing. Her leg was a little more swollen than it should be. Rosaleigh's udder was checked, and is already starting to fill up. She isn't due until July 7th but since she will be a first time mom, I wanted her home for observation.  Karin was dropped back off at the Library on the way back to Hanna City. As soon as I got home  Foxy and Ayanna were put in the short shelter paddock. Now that these 2 traveled together they are bonded. Roxanne and Rosaleigh were left in the trailer until a bale got moved into Ribbon's old paddock. A gate needed to be put in at the back before they could be taken out of the trailer and put in the paddock. 

Madeira, the new Andalusian mare was teased and showed big. I thought she was showing on Monday and was for sure showing on Tuesday so today was the day for the first cover. She is a maiden mare and the first thing she did after tying her to the breeding stand was to throw herself backward. Thankfully nothing broke but when I brought Valiant up she did it again and this time broke one of the lead ropes. The other held and the halter held. Valiant was put away, a new stronger lead rope put on the breeding stand and then Mike was called. He said he could be here in a half hour giving me time to put another round bale in the middle paddock and remove the bale holder in the far paddock. Eliza and her colt were put in the stall and grained. When Mike arrived Madeira was tied again and this time I twitched her while Mike brought Valiant up. Even with the twitch she threw herself backward kind of dragging me over the breeding stand but the ropes and twitch held. She then stood while Valiant got the job done. Valiant was taken over to the wash stand and instead of standing quietly Madeira threw herself backward again, breaking another lead rope but thankfully the other held. So it would have been nice to know that Madeira doesn't tie and that was probably a question I should have asked before we bought her. bummer. 

We start tying the foals at a young age so we don't have this problem when they get big and strong. 

Tonight David Obergfel had the service at church. Mom, Diane and Ruth came with Mark and I. It was good to be there, the service was on Nehemiah and the building of the wall.  We just need to keep at it, this job the Lord has asked us to do. Even if it is just picking up stones and placing them one at a time on the wall. 

A funny message came in from a lady that bred her mare to Evan last year. Below is the picture she sent:

That wasn't the funny part, just read what she wrote:

I'm not going to lie. I was pretty unimpressed with my Evan baby to begin with. She was aloof and extremely sassy. But in the past two weeks I really started to work with her and I've completely changed my mind. She learned how to lead in 5 short lessons. She picks up all four feet and even had a visit with the farrier on Monday. The farrier breeds horses and was extremely impressed with how well she did (he said she did better than his 2 year olds). Today she got her first bath and stood calmly for the whole thing soaking up all the attention. The people I board with have bred horses for 20+ years and they are impressed with her confirmation and how quickly she picks things up. I made the horrible mistake of selling her (she leaves at weaning) so I'm definitely bring back my mare next spring for a repeat breeding and I won't be making the mistake of selling next time!

We actually tell people that an Evan foal is more work in the beginning than a Valiant baby. They aren't terrible and usually learn quickly,  but I laughed when she wrote SASSY, that is exactly the right word to describe an Evan baby.