Thursday, July 5, 2012

New Foal!

We had our second (and last) foal of the season on July 3rd.  Astra (also known as Addie), had a very large, lovely palomino colt with tons of chrome.  I'd been checking on her every hour or so and when I checked at 4 am she was thoughtful and at 5:30 he was up and nursing.  It's amazing how those legs fit inside her, but it sure explains why she had been so miserable the last week.  His back is up to my waist and when he puts his neck down, it reaches to his knees.  His legs are almost as long as Mom's so I expect that he will be around 16 hands.  It's so fun to see them figuring out those long, long legs and when they start skittering across the arena or pasture, it's hard not to laugh.  He seems to be very calm and bold and Addie is being an excellent mother.

July 3rd was quite cold, so he got the 'hot wheels' blanket and a heat lamp, but today (July 5th) it looks as if summer has arrived.  The sun woke everyone (including horses) up around 6 am and there isn't a cloud in the sky.  I suspect that Addie and Sparky (his barn name in honor of the 4th of July) will get to go out into the pasture today.  Paddy will be very happy that there is another little boy to play with (not quite yet, but soon).

Sparky 2 days old

Monica has been taking some great photos of him and I'm sure there will be many more.  There are more on my Cascade Gold Facebook page too.

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