Maybe Tonight

It was really cold this morning, 28 degrees with a real feel of 22 but mom came on the walk anyway. The wind wasn't blowing hard for the walk, that came later.  After the walk Oksana was teased and covered by Evan then the trailer was hooked up and I drove to Middle Grove to pick up Sangria and Irish. Sangria was needed as we wanted another good riding horse here and Irish is due in 2 weeks with her first foal. When I got back Karin had just finished a trail ride with Faith and Berlica on the Walkers, Sally, Missy and Cookie. Sangria was put in with them and Irish was put in with Soul who was in the pasture.  I went in to warm up. The temperature at Middle Grove was only 39 degrees (according to the Farmington bank) with a STIFF wind. The horses were no where in sight. I hiked up to the round pen, no horses, up the next plateau and again no horses. I walked all the way to the lake believing they must have gotten into the winter pasture when I saw one solitary horse way to the left below and out of the wind. It was Tori and following her was Madiera and then the rest of the horses all started coming out of the woods. Sangria and Irish were pretty close to each other so Sangria was haltered first and tied up while Irish was haltered. They led pretty well together although Sangria was very forward and Irish very slow. Sangria called out every few minutes just hoping the herd would follow but I was very glad they didn't. At the bottom Irish decided she wasn't going any farther so she was tied to a tree and Sangria taken to the trailer and loaded then I went back for Irish. This time she practically ran to the trailer. She did not like being alone. A bit later I had someone ask to see pictures of Irish as they really want a black and white foal and missed out on Lola's filly. Irish was taken into the stall so her mane and forelock could be brushed out. Most of her was clean but her leg feather and tail are stained, it is just too cold to wash them today. She was taken out to the round pen for a few pictures. The wind was blowing so hard her mane wouldn't stay down.

 It is crazy the amount of feather this Gypsy has. Usually the stallions have the thick feather that covers the hooves but Irish's covers her hooves completely. Too bad they are all white. Those legs and that tail is going to take a LOT of shampoo and a lot of effort to get all that hair back to white.

Irish was bred to Valiant and we are hoping for a beautiful black and white spotted Gypsian foal.  We know it will have a lot of hair! Oksana and Indy were left in the pond pasture today. They will be locked off of that tomorrow but it was nice to give them some time to graze today. They were up by the fence so I took a couple pictures. The two boys were playing together.

As soon as they saw me though they all came to the fence. Below is Oksan's colt by Evan. He was checking out Pax who was on the other side of the fence.

Spark and Rhonda stopped by with a birthday gift and I must say it was the most unusual gift but as Rhonda said, "it is essential."

Now that toilet paper will probably never be used unless we are desperate. 

Mom invited Philip, Mark and I for dinner tonight. She escaped the house and Ruth took her shopping for the first time since her fall. After supper Lola and Soul were brought into the stalls and Soul's milk checked. It has turned from yellow to white. I drew some and took it into the house for testing and is testing between 250 and 300 giving her about a 65% chance of delivering tonight. The stall was made ready and the monitor turned on. We have 4 guests coming in tonight who would love to be able to see this birth so I hope she does deliver. She is standing quietly right now.