Baby girl is growing!

Here are some of my favorite recent pictures of Wren. She'll be 5 months old next week! She's sitting up unaided, eating some solid foods (she's loved every veggie that she's tried), she rolled over from her back to her belly at 4 months old, she "talks", and she giggles at just about everything!

Little mule

These are the pictures that the rescue has on their website. I'm not exactly certain when they were taken, but by the looks of the trees and grass, I'd say late spring/early summer. We brought her home in April of 2010, so the pictures might be from summer 2009, and I guess her poor condition then could be due to her previous situation. However, she had difficulty shedding out and looked rough for a couple months after we got her last spring, which would be a year after the rescue pics. I'll be interested to see how she looks this spring. I know the rescue said they had her at least a year before we got her. She'll be 5 years old this summer.



This picture shows her shortly after we got her in spring. She is still not shed out, but she doesn't look as bad as I remember her being. It was probably mostly the rough coat that made her look in such poor condition and it was rough because it was old dull winter hair.


The following picture is her later in the summer. She'd shed out by then and was looking pretty glossy.


I guess the real test will be to see how she sheds out this spring.

Snowshoeing with the little monster

We have had a very cold winter. I'd say it's been colder than average with highs only in the teens and even single digits more often than not. And we've also gotten quite a bit more snow than usual (added on to a summer with way more rain than usual - multiple storms that dumped 7-8 inches of rain at once). It's been a crazy year to say the least, especially given that we have a new addition to our family to add to that! Since it's been so cold, baby and I have been house bound. When the highs suddenly went from single digits the day before to almost 50 degrees today, we HAD to get outside! We decided to go snowshoeing around our place. We started out carrying baby in a wrap, but she became upset when she couldn't see well. Everytime she looked to the side, her hood would occlude her vision. So we ended up pulling her out of the wrap and carrying her. The conditions were absolutely perfect for snowshoeing! The snow had settled just enough that we only sank in about 4-5 inches (on top of another couple feet of snow).


Our path took us along the horse pasture, right past the area where I always watch them loafing.


They all of course came to investigate! Doesn't little Pumpkin look in fabulous condition? Granted, she also has lots of winter fluff, but she looks in great proportion compared to the big bellied, thin bodied animal that came to us. And you might think that I'm horrible, but I don't worm my horses constantly. I think that they can build up a bit of resistance to the parasites themselves. I've decided to only worm in the fall after the ground freezes so that they can have a winter parasite free.


Cody and Chico look so cute, but would you have guessed she had her ears laid back at him the moment before I snapped this photo?


Griffin is one handsome boy.


His zebra striping really stands out. He'll be 4 years old this spring, and I plan to really start working with him this summer, now that I'm no longer pregnant. I'll have to get someone to watch the little monster while I do that, but I really want to get back out and on my horses this year.


The lineup of horses. They are currently standing in their usual loafing spot. You can see how packed down they have the snow, although they are still standing on close to 2 feet of packed snow! Our house is visible in the background. I love to be able to see them from there during the day.


Kachina is also in good condition, although her slim build and high energy temperament prevent her from looking fat like some of the others. Kachina will be 5 this year, but she still looks and acts like a baby.


Kachina is interested in the little monster in Todd's arms. This picture shows how high the snow is. The top strand of wire is usually level with the base of the horses' necks when there is no snow.


My little monster is the cutest little girl in the world. She is now 4.5 months old and getting so active! In a future post, I'll show some of my favorite pics of her.



After we got to the top of the hill, I took over carrying the monster for Todd. She gets heavy! She weighs about 19 lbs now! She's thrived!


Jasper has a hard time in the snow as well. Him and Sage sink much more than we do, since they aren't wearing snow shoes. He doesn't care though. He's high energy enough that this barely wore him out...although I was wore out and had to take a nice long nap with my baby when we got home. Neither of us are used to all this fresh air!

wild dreams

The horses spend lots of time out in the big pasture, even with the several feet of snow. Most of the time they are just loafing out here...


...but they also spend a lot of time digging through the snow for grass.


They have a feeder full of second crop alfalfa grass mix, but yet still they dig.


Are they lacking some minerals, even with two different kinds of mineral salt blocks?


Or are they listening to their wild hearts and keeping up their snow digging expertise just in case they return to the wild someday?


This of couse wouldn't apply to the 3 domestic born horses.


But even they must be wild in their dreams.


Even the tiniest member of the herd.


Her face bears the evidence of her grass hunting, even though she must have the most difficult time of all digging with her tiny hooves.

Brisk

It was a cold day again, but the temps actually reached the teens today! Still, the horses basked broadside in the sun and their breath was visible in the crisp air.

This is the view that I see most often of my horses. I can use my telephoto lens to capture them in the field. When I give them water at night, it's usually dusk and I don't bring my camera, so I have no pics of them then.

The horses love to loaf down along the fenceline next to the neigbor's pasture. People say that a horse won't pick their head up from a bale of hay even when they are full, but I don't see that with these guys. They have good quality grass/alfalfa mix in their feeder all the time, along with two trace mineral salt licks (one with selenium and one without). They do spent a lot of time eating, but I watch them loafing down here for several hours every day. Sometimes they sleep (some lay down), and sometimes they dig through the snow to graze on grass beneath. It's hilarious to watch Pumpkin dig into the snow to graze because the snow is just about to her belly in some places, and she buries her head to her ears! Sometimes when I greet them at the feeder, Pumpkin still has snow stuck all over her face!

Todd and I were discussing Pumpkin the other day and I don't think we will send her back to the rescue. She has potential in other areas beside cow guarding and I think I'll try to make time to work with her this summer. She's a good size for a kid and she's pretty fearless so she may make a good kids horse...but then again, she's also bull-headed so she may be difficult for a child to control. We'll see!

I have reservations about sending her back to the rescue anyway. My opinion of the rescue is that the woman running it is only a step or two above being an animal hoarder. She had dogs chained to trees, running loose (the neighbor apparently shot one of her pregnant dogs when it was running loose through his field), goats, and tons of horses. The horses were all in good condition weight-wise, but now that I look back at Pumpkin when we got her and compare her condition to how she is now...The rescue had her for about a year before we adopted her, so her condition when we picked her up last spring was due to the rescue's treatment. Last spring, she had a very dull, rough, scruffy winter coat and it took her well into the summer to shed that coat. Once she completely shed, she was lovely and shiny. And now, her winter coat is just thick and luxurious. It is a dark chestnut color. We'll see how her coat looks this spring as she sheds, but I think that she'll have an easier time shedding and her coat won't look so rough as it does. We'll see. I think that rescue was a little overcommitted and couldn't keep each animal in top condition. They had 30+ horses and had to feed hay year round because they didn't have enough pasture for them.

Happy New Year!

It's Baby New Year!



I hope 2011 is just as rewarding as 2010!

In 2010, I completed my first year of vet school with straight A's, I got married, and I had a baby! I think we were quite blessed in 2010.

In 2011, I anticipate a much more challenging time as I head back to my second year of vet school in the fall after a year break to be with my baby. I think that taking classes and having to be away from my baby for days at a time will be the hardest thing I have ever done. I already am not sure how I'll be able to swing it. If I had to go back right this very minute, there is no way I could leave her yet. She is just way to dependent on me and she would not cope well with Momma being gone. I really hope that by next fall, when she is a year old, that she will be a bit more independent of me, although I know she will still need me a lot (and I'll need her!). See, my husband and I live 2 hours from the school, so I'll have to stay in an apartment near school during the week. Some evenings, Todd will be able to come down, bring baby, and stay with me down there, but only after the ground freezes and they are not busy at work anymore.

In 2011, I am also planning a party to celebrate our marriage last year. We will celebrate on our 1 year anniversary. With being pregnant last year, I didn't much feel like partying, but I definitely will this next summer!

Merry Christmas!

And Happy Holidays!

My baby was 3 months old on Christmas Eve.


I am so blessed.

Snow circles

No, I didn't lunge a horse out there! After the last big snow, I looked out over the pasture one morning and saw that the horses had made a perfect circle in the snow. They did this as a group through the knee deep snow!

Sassy meets Pumpkin

Here is the 'Sassy and Pumpkin Meet' post, as promised.

Remember, we got Pumpkin in the Spring to serve as a guard animal. Todd had some problems with coyotes in the past and thought a guard animal would be something to try. Usually, donkeys are used with cows, but I also know that mules can be pretty fearless protectors. I found Pumpkin through a rescue. She was a 4 year old pony mule. The rescuer said that she chased dogs in the pasture, so we decided to give it a try.

Unfortunately, Pumpkin did not take to the cows. She stood on the hill along the fenceline, calling to the horses (mine) that she could see across the valley. She ignored the cows, unless they were in her way. In that case, she pinned her ears and the cows scattered. They were scared to death of tiny Pumpkin, even though they were much larger.

Todd's nephew had a horse that he had lost interest in. He'd just gotten her that spring from a friend of his who was planning to attend college the next fall. But then, he also got a motorcycle and the horse fell on the back burner. The horse, Sassy, was a 5 year old paint/appaloosa mare who'd only been trail ridden previously. She is super friendly with people, but had been kept alone since her previous owner acquired her as a weanling. Sassy didn't have any social skills. She had been standing alone in a little pasture for most of the spring and summer and her pasture was getting rather eaten down, so Todd's nephew decided to turn her out with the cows and Pumpkin.

I thought that Pumpkin would be delighted to have an equine friend, but boy was I wrong! She saw Sassy as an intruder. She ran a couple of circles around Sassy, then promptly rounded up her cows and drove the painted intruder away from them!
If you look closely in this picture, you can see Sassy standing at the gate begging to be let out, while Pumpkin stands guard in her cow herd.



The tiny little mule had shed out into a lovely shiny chestnut color over the summer.


When I entered the pasture, Sassy followed me, looking for some security. I walked up the hill away from the cows.


Pumpkin watches from within her cow herd. Click the picture to see it bigger if you can't pick her head out!


Pumpkin decides to come up and see what's going on.


She sniffs the intruder's poo.


Then she sets chase after Sassy! Sassy runs for her life! This picture captures Sassy's stance well. It's almost as though she doesn't know how to run. She sort of "stots" like a mule deer.


Sassy runs right through the cow herd!


Pumpkin returns to the center of her herd, while Sassy must stand outcast.


Pumpkin comes again to check Sassy out and perhaps give her another talking to.


Sassy watches, prepared to run.


Within a week, these two were best friends. Pumpkin was definitely the boss of the two-some. This was the start of Pumpkin taking the protector role in the herd. Unfortunately, she took that role too far. She was with the cows that were about to have their first calves. Most of Todd's cows calve in the fall (to sell during that time when the demand is higher due to lower supply), but he always has the first calf heifers calve earlier so that their calves have a bit more substance to them going into winter. So, as summer went on, the heifers started having their calves. Pumpkin decided that the calves were hers. Some of them, she tried to steal from their mothers. I watched her do it. She would basically walk alongside the calf, circling around it and blocking it from its mother. The calf would start following her. If the mother tried to intervene, Pumpkin pinned her ears and even kicked the cow! The cows gave up. Probably if she'd been with the more experienced cows, she would not have gotten away with this. She had to eventually be removed from the pasture with her pal, Sassy, to prevent any further problems.

Pumpkin is a very interesting little animal. I remember when we visited the rescue, she was in heat. She displayed and teased the horses and managed to convince a gelding to mount her! It was kinda funny because she is so little. So, Pumpkin displays very intense heats, even though she is a mule, and is therefore sterile. There must be something in her that wants a baby so bad. I bet she would be a fantastic nanny to a foal that lost a mother...if she could be made to lactate.

Now, Sassy and Pumpkin are integrated into my herd. Pumpkin is no longer the queen of the pasture, but she doesn't seem to mind so much. I think she likes being with the other horses.