Blossoms

 I went out early to check the two pregnant mares udders and out to the field for grazing. Rosaleigh was very glad to get out on the field. She is also showing she is closer to delivery than Star Temple. 

Below is her udder.

Star Temple had lots of burrs in her tail so I took some time to get those out and brush her tail.

She has quite a thick tail. She also has some in her mane and forelock but didn't want to stand for those. She was very content to graze. I just realized the picture above shows the new barn (now almost 4 years old) and below shows the indoor arena and the stall barn. 

As she is a maiden mare her udder isn't very swollen at all. She still has a thick winter coat.

That coat is coming off in handfuls. The birds will be glad they like to use that hair for their nests.

About the time that I finished with the mares it was time to be at mom's house. Ruth couldn't come on the walk today, she was babysitting grandchildren. About then Sarah sent 3 pictures. I was really confused as I could tell the background wasn't from this area.

It turned out she was in Bluffton at Bill and Bethany's house, staying there for a couple days to get one of their dogs bred to a stud dog less than an hour away from Bethany's house. Nice that she had somewhere to stay for the 2 days needed.

Mom's flowering crab apple tree has exploded with beautiful blossoms.

It is more protected than our redbud tree which is just now starting to blossom.

Mark graded the roads again today. We had a quarter inch of rain last night so perfect time to get this done.

The stalls needed to be cleaned from last night and since Rosaleigh is getting close we must get them ready for foaling. I spent a couple hours getting them done today.

Tomorrow I'll get them thickly bedded, 2 water buckets each and fresh hay. Praying for a safe and successful start to our foaling season. Last year our very first mare to foal was Tatiana. She was put in the stall on a Sunday morning as I could see she was close. I checked the foaling camera's right after the first service and saw she was down pushing but no legs were coming out. I called Karin who ran over to the barn. She confirmed this was not a normal birth. I called the emergency vet clinic number. Tatiana needed to have an emergency C section. The foal died just before Dr. Hoerr was able to get him out then Tatiana died the next day. We not only lost 2 purebred Friesians we ended up with huge vet bills. Almost always things progress perfectly but in the 24 years Horsemeister has been in business and hundreds of foals we have had 3 C sections and only one of them was successful. I admit to praying for Rosaleigh as I was taking her out to the field.