Blizzardy weather

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but inside is so delightful.

While Daddy and baby Wren doze...

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

We are having some blizzardy weather here in Wisconsin. While snow makes farm chores difficult, it is so pretty. It's the weekend, so my honey was home and more than happy to watch the baby while she napped, giving me a chance to get outside and play in the snow.


I went to visit the horses. While they have a barn available to them, they prefer to stand out exposed to the weather. If it gets really harsh, they just stand behind some brush or a hill to block the wind.

They have a nice insulative layer of snow.

During the winter and in dim light Chico and Cody look almost identical (Cody left, Chico right)


Sassy and Pumpkin have pretty much been accepted into the herd. Kachina is delighted because she is no longer the low horse on the totem pole. Both Pumpkin and Sassy are at the bottom. Kachina is the horse that I most often see pestering them and using her new-found power to move them around.

Kachina and Catlow rest, butts to the wind.


Catlow is unimpressed with the storm.

Kachina has icicles hanging from the whiskers around her eyes. They don't seem to bother her.

Growing baby

Wren is getting so big! And she's becoming more fun every day. She will be 3 months old exactly on Christmas Eve.

There are now seven equines in my pasture! AHHHH!

On Sunday after Thanksgiving, we turned Pumpkin (pony mule) and her friend Sassy (paint/appaloosa) out with my horses. Pumpkin was originally adopted to be a guard animal to protect calves from coyotes and wolves. She started out not being protective at all but progressed to being too protective. She was with the first calf heifers and started stealing the new calves from their young mommas. She managed to break the bond between one pair and Todd spent a whole week trying to get the cow to accept her calf back. He had to pen them up and actually chase the cow into a chute and maneuver the calf to his mom to allow the calf to suckle several times a day. The cow eventually rebonded with her calf. Needless to say, Todd is not too pleased with the mule. He tried putting her with the bull but she kicks him in the head and steals the grain he needs to keep his energy up to breed cows. Todd is tired of maneuvering around the two, so they'll spend the winter with mine. Next spring we'll return Pumpkin to the rescue (they made me signn a paper saying she'd go back to them if we didn't want her anymore). Sassy is for sale. Todd's nephew is no longer interested in his horse (he got a motorcycle last summer) so I'll probably take the initiative to get her sold. She is a 5-year old grade mare who has only been trail ridden by a teenage girl before she sold her to Todd's nephew last summer.

We kept the two in the mustang pen overnight to let the horses get used to eachother through the panels. Then we turned them out. I blocked 4 of my herd out in the big pasture and left Cody (boss mare) in to meet the newcomers and put them in their place (this has always worked very well before). Pumpkin is a little animal with big attitude. She thinks she can bully anyone into getting her way. She's really good with people, but a bully around cows and now we'll see how she is with horses. Sassy is just a follower. She was never socialized with other horses. She was kept alone from weanling stage through this summer as a 5 year old. Pumkin is her first equine friend and she follows her everywhere.



My horses realize something is up. Cody is on this side of the fence and Kachina is on the other side of the fence.


As Pumpkin and Sassy head out where the other horses are, the herd of 4 scatters and Cody really wants to scatter with them. She runs out into the other pasture along the fenceline to stay close to them and get away from the newcomers.


Cody really wanted to be with the other horses. I think the mule's fearless attitude, combined with the fact that there were two of them and only one of her left her feeling very vulnerable.


Ghost watches the goings-on from a safe place.


And there goes Pumpkin, exploring her new place, with Sassy hot on her heals...I wasn't worried about Sassy ganging up on Cody, she's a big chicken with other horses.


Cody watches, horrified as they get closer.


Seriously, the mule is fearless. If she wants to go somewhere, she goes and expects everyone to get out of her way...like bowling pins reacting to a bowling ball! Cody is freaked.


Here, you can see Cody has joined the others. She ended up running up into the woods, then made a decision and went through the fence to be with her buddies. Meanwhile, Pumpkin and Sassy head out to explore other parts of the pasture. Don't worry, Cody is fine. The two strands of hotwire snapped easily as she went through...normally she has great respect for the fence.


As they go out of sight, Kachina can't stand not being able to gawk at them, so she goes trotting with a purpose, through the gate (which I now opened) to check them out more. But she doesn't go near them, she comes around so that she can stare at her buddies.


Cody and Chico look for the newbies...doesn't Cody look freaked out?


Griffin and Catlow look for the newbies and hope that Kachina doesn't fall prey to the evil mule.


Then Pumpkin decides to head out into the big pasture where all the other horses are...I don't think she went to meet them, rather to explore her new territory. She didn't pay much attention to them. Sassy, hot on her heels...

Kachina watches with fascination...she's still separated from the others by a fence, but now she's safe from the mule and new horse.



At this point, there are now two distractions for my horses. Griffin and Cody are staring at the mule and horse, while Catlow and Chico are staring at the turkeys who have discovered the pasture and are foraging up near the house.


Cody, with Chico's help, confronts the mule and tries to run her off.


They succeed. I noticed that as time went on, the two geldings were the ones running the newbies away from the herd, while the mares stayed together and stayed out of it. Normally, my mares put the newbies in their place...but they've never faced a mule before.


Sassy must also have some arab in her; that tail stayed curled over her back anytime she got near the other horses.


Fearless Pumpkin leads Sassy to check out the turkeys.


Kachina can't decide who is scarier...the turkeys or the new horses.


The geldings stand guard.


The mares stand back.


The herd decides to take action.


I wanted them to all meet in the big pasture because there is no place for anyone to get caught and ganged up on. It's just big open space. The only danger here then is someone gets up to much speed and can't stop when they encounter a fence...thankfully that didn't happen here. My fences are very well marked so that the mustangs could see it well when I first turned them out.


Pumpkin and Sassy take flight.


My horses (minus Kachina who hasn't managed to get up the courage to come through the gate to meet them because it means walking toward the turkeys eventhough they are far far away) stand and watch the newbies. I think their colors are beautiful in the fall sun with the dead grass as a backdrop.


They seemed to be doing well, so I left them to get to know eachother better. Later, I watched them from the house. Pumpkin was grazing in the middle of the pasture, fairly close to the herd, while Sassy was standing in the far corner near the house watching them...everytime she got anywhere near the herd, Griffin would jump in and run her off...really run her off. He was running her full speed up the fenceline. Funny that Pumpkin was allowed to grazed closer to them. They did chase her off, but halfheartedly and they seemed to mostly ignore her. I wonder if Sassy is outcast because of her spots...Griffin is from a herd where all the horses are solid colored...no white.


Monday morning all 7 critters are upright, although they are segregating themselves. The pasture is big enough so this works out just fine.


This morning they are getting along even better, though Sassy is still an outcast...I think that's a combination of Griffin chasing her off and Sassy not knowing how to defend herself.


I think I'll have to go back in my pic files and post some about when Sassy first met Pumpkin...very entertaining!

Happy Halloween!

Wren is just over 5 weeks old for her first Halloween!

4 weeks old!

Wren will be 4 weeks old tomorrow! I'm going to take her in and get her weighed. She seems like she has grown quite a bit. Every day her eyes are wider and she's more aware of her world.


She's even smiling already!


My mom got some video of her cooing after I gave her a shower (we don't do baths...I just bring her in the shower with me and she likes it. She stays warmer that way.)

birth announcement

Todd and I would like to announce the birth of our daughter, Wren Kathryn. She was born at 11:27pm on Friday September 24th, 2010. She weighed 8 lbs and 10 oz and was 21 inches long. She is absolutely perfect and is the light of our lives. I can't even describe how it feels to be a mother and hold this tiny person in my arms. Todd and I are overwhelmed with this new experience and can't believe how fullfilled we feel. It really is such a special thing. I could go on and on, but I'll just share some pictures of our precious girl.

Our family


Wren sleeping


Wren asking to be fed


I had a long labor (27 hours of active labor, plus the 13 hours of light painless labor leading up to that), but we made it through and it was all worth it! She really is just perfect. And I feel pretty good already, just 5 days later.

I can already see that I am going to be quite consumed with her, but I don't mind. I will still try to get out there and ride this fall when I feel able too, but if not, I won't feel guilty about it. I still will get a chance to mess with my horses, but right now, I have a new priority. And she is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And this is all coming from a woman who used to never want to have children! But then I met a man with whom I knew I wanted to share this special experience with, and the rest is history! It is wonderful. We are cherishing it!

pregnancy update

Well, as of today, I am one week past my due date. But stats say that first time mothers on average give birth 8 days past their due date. So technically, that means I'm not late yet! Last week I was discouraged because after my exam, the doctor said baby was not descended yet and my cervix was still closed. A few days ago, I began to feel some differences...the top of my stomach seemed lower and I was getting some nerve pains on the inside of my left leg throughout the day (instead of just in the evening). And sure enough, today, the doctor said baby is descended and I am 2 cm dilated! Yay! Things are moving along! I was secretly starting to fear that I just wouldn't go into labor at all. I have an appointment to be induced on Sept 24th, but I really just want to go into labor naturally because I am going to do it without pain meds (hopefully). Everyone I've spoken to that has been induced said it is very painful and contractions come unnaturally intense. I feel like I can handle the pain if it is natural, but if it is artificially induced, I fear I won't be able to handle it both physically and psychologically. I made the choice to do no pain meds because of the risks involved for the baby when you use them. Even epidurals carry some risks, and babies are not as aware at birth as their unmedicated counterparts. Plus, I don't want someone sticking a needle into my spine. Ick! Women have been giving birth for thousands of years without pain meds. I can handle it. Birth is a natural process! After all the stuff I've read, I do understand that risks to the baby increase when you get past 42 weeks, but I worry that most doctors are too induction happy...Someone I know just had a baby yesterday - she was induced and was 13 days past her due date. However, when the baby was born, they measured her to be at 38 weeks! So clearly someone was not ready yet! Can you imagine how bad it would be if they tried to induce earlier? I also know someone else who had a baby 3.5 weeks late, back in the days when they didn't induce. Her baby was 10lbs, a girl, and definitely more aware than the average newborn, indicating that she was more than ready to come out...and her labor was the easiest of her 3 kids, she said. Her other babies (one before and one after) were only 7 lbs, but both were much longer labors. So, it is perfectly possible to deliver a healthy baby past the estimated due date without interventions. After all, they say 40 weeks, plus or minus 2 weeks!

Another farrier visit

The farrier came out again today. This is the third time he's worked on my horses this summer. The first time, the wild ones gave him a little trouble on their right hind, but eventually we got them all trimmed. The second time, we skipped their hind feet and just did their fronts, since it was super muddy in the paddock, and I didn't feel like struggling with them in my pregnant state. They were very good for their fronts. This time, I was worried, because it was really windy and chilly (about 60 degrees, but we've been used to 80-90 degrees and high humidity just two weeks ago!). It was so windy it was whipping acorns off the oak trees and they were rattling off the tin roof of the shed. But when I called the horses in from the pasture, they all came, ate some oats, and then stood calmly looking at me, despite the wind. Griffin even approached me and I haltered him right away! Kachina too. Sometimes even the "tame" ones get a little snorty about getting caught (that was how it was last time), but it was almost as though they all wanted to be caught and scratched on today. Perhaps it's the lack of flies...they don't have that frantic fly bitten feeling. I really was surprised, especially since once, when the farrier was working on Kachina, an acorn bounced off the roof and hit her in the head! She hardly reacted!

The tame ones were probably the most difficult to work on today because they were so relaxed that they just didn't want to stand up and support their own weight. They were really leaning on the farrier, and I had to keep poking at them to get them to stand up. Perhaps it's the extra couple hundred pounds they've all gained over the summer. I feel awful about the weight they've gained, but so far, no one has been "sick" from it and they'll likely lose it this winter. It's easier to ration them over the winter. With all the rain we've had this summer, the pastures (and our lawn too) have grown like crazy and there has been no shortage of graze! I'd consider Chico to be the fattest out of them all. He's very very round. I'll have to get some pictures of him. The only ones that are not fat are Cody (only because she just got back from training), Griffin and Kachina. I think Griffin is not fat because he's still growing, and Kachina just is too high strung to put on a lot of weight.

The two wild ones actually did very very well today. Both of them are still a little bit worse about their hind feet, but if the farrier just stands and lets them get used to him being back there (sometimes it's just really hard to have a human back by your butt), then they'll stand still. They each took the "bad" hoof (the right hind) away from him only once, and then let him finish with it no problem. I'd call that extremely good! All the other feet he was able to hold up until he was done without a problem. This would be great for a nice day, but to have this on a day with high winds! Awesome! I was pleased with them! Especially since I really have not done a thing with them at all this summer. A few weeks ago, I did bring them all in again for fly spray (which they accept very well because they do understand it makes icky flies go away).

Spending time with them like I did today really makes me anxious to get out and work with them again. I really can't do it yet though, and I am glad I've taken time off. It gave them a chance to just settle, and it's kept me from overdoing it. Just holding 5 horses (and having to maneuver the two wild ones into position and convince them that they COULD hold still while the farrier approached) has left me very sore. I was fine while working with them, but right now, my hips are so achey! Changing positions from sitting to standing/walking are the worse! I'm currently only 3 days away from my due date and very anxious to get my body back! I just want the aches and pains to go away! I know it will take time after baby comes, but at least I know I should be feeling better every day instead of worse!