Photoshoots!

Monica and I (Monica Bretherton) did two photoshoots in the past week or so.  Now is the perfect time, with the horses being sleek and shiny and the light staying until reasonably late.  Monica always takes nice photos.

These are of Rocket (barn name still!) 2014 purebred colt by Salam out of Tulah.  Rocket is almost 6 weeks now and is really a nice colt.  Stallion prospect, Fakir Pelvan line.  For sale, $5000, sale pending!

This is Sabyr, aka Stanley, 2013 Salam x Aishet.  Sabyr is just over a year old, and is obviously still growing (look at that butt!).  He's a bit over 15 hands right now and should mature 15.2 or 15.3 at least.  Excellent sport prospect.  $4500

Both boys are lovely horses with bright futures ahead of them!

More Foal Photos!

I've been slacking in the photography department, sad to say.  But, yesterday, my friend Wendy came out to visit so I took a few cellphone photos of her and Rocket.  He's in the 'I'm so curious and fingers are great for getting spots I can't get" stage. 

He continues to grow (like a weed) and is such a nice boy!  Too bad he came out the wrong sex, but as he's a colt, he is for sale.

Photos from August 10, 2014, Rocket asking Wendy for 'scritches'.

 

More Foal Photos

The sport around here lately has been 'Taking Rocket Photos'.  While I'm not very talented in that department, Angela Davenport and Monica Bretherton have taken some really nice ones.

Here are a few:

Two days old in the arena, Angela Davenport photo

Whispering secrets in my ear - Monica Bretherton photo

Enjoying his first day in the pasture, Monica Bretherton photo

 

He really enjoyed the running around, Monica Bretherton photo

One of my favorite photos, Monica Bretherton photo

And, one more for good measure.  Monica Bretherton photo

 

There are a whole bunch more on my Cascade Gold Facebook page.  Rocket is for sale (He's not a filly, sadly!)

 

 

 

 

Better than Christmas!

To me, the week before a mare foals is better than Christmas.  "Why?" you might ask. 

This is Tulah, Durkkhal x Malikat, here on a foal lease from Kelsey Kempfert.  She is due July 9th, but could foal anytime in the next few weeks.

Well, after doing this for almost 30 years (which is kind of amazing in itself), I've found that the week before the mare foals is full of lovely speculation...that foal is the right sex, the right color, has perfect conformation and is as healthy as can be.

Once she's in labor, the tension heightens;  "Will it be a colt or a filly?"  "Will it be buckskin/palomino/with lots of chrome?"  "Will the delivery be easy?". 

As the hours fly by and the dead of night approaches, some of your foaling buddies give up and go home.  Some stay.

This was a few years ago, from Monica's blog, Horsebytes, http://blog.seattlepi.com/horsebytes/ during foalwatch for Cady (a boarder), I think.  Note the helpful dogs as lap warmers.

 

Then, the excitement begins!  Usually a foaling is over within minutes after the water breaks.

 



 



Annie and one of her foals from the Horsebytes blog.  Maybe in 2010?  Is it a filly?

 

 

No, a nice colt. The foal gets up and greets the world, Christmas has come and all is as it should be.

 

This photo is from 2010, from the Horsebytes story "The Foaling Moon" http://blog.seattlepi.com/horsebytes/2010/06/02/the-foaling-moon/

 This is Miras, Annie's 2010 foal by Murgab.

 

The wait is over!

Aya had her foal at 3:30 in the morning early Saturday. She had a little wax when I checked her at 9 am and started having regular contractions around 2 or 3. Monica and I settled in and watched her pace the arena, stop and swish her tail, stomp her feet and bite her belly. Around 10 pm, I went in to get some sleep and Monica woke me up about 3:20 with the news "her water just broke".

It was a textbook delivery (the best kind), and as the baby was coming out, I could see it was buckskin. Maybe this time I'd get my buckskin filly! Then, the foal was all the way out and I could tell she was a he. Lovely little buckskin ...colt. He has two hind stockings and one little triangle on the front leg. Lots of get up and go, very friendly.

I have a dog blanket on him, as it's quite windy and chilly and he doesn't have much body fat. He's wearing my son's dog's blanket, which has flames shooting down the sides. I was calling him "Speed Racer" today, as he zoomed around the arena with mom.

I think we have a name for him. My friend Cindy found the word "Merdan", which means courageous. It works as I wanted a M name in honor of his sire, Metman. It seems to fit him too. He marches right up and says hello. Of course, that is much too formal for a barn name. We've been calling him Paddy, as he was born on St. Patrick's day.

There are some photos on Monica's blog and on Facebook under the Cascade Gold page. Monica's blog is http://blog.seattlepi.com/horsebytes/

Sooner or later I'll get a decent camera, but not today.

Youngsters!

Monica and I have been doing some conditioning to get ready for our first endurance ride of the year, which is on March 31st. This will be Danny's (Madgan) first ride, although he did spend the night at a ride last year. We'll be doing the 25 mile limited distance ride and expect to finish towards the back of the pack - no racing for us! Danny is getting the lion's share of the work these days, as he is coming six and really blossoming. Andre is the distant second, although he's showing improvement with every ride. The other youngsters would like to be on the roster, but there is only so much time during the day. Scooter (Miras) and Reggie (Sazanda) get their 5 minutes a day of grooming and ground manners, which is really all they need right now. Mahri would LOVE to get even 5 minutes - she and Slari get a few minutes and a good scratch every now and again. Once our competition year starts, we'll cut back on our conditioning rides, so we can work more with the younger horses. Goshen is getting some arena time with Monica - he's lunging with the saddle and bridle on, has been long-lined and is generally learning how things go. We'll probably back him sometime this summer and let him get the idea that people sit on him.

Aya (Aishet) is due to foal within the next few weeks, so we'll have a new baby to play with also.

They are all keeping us busy, but that is ok - it's a lot of fun.

Weaners

Reggie this summer, Monica Bretherton photo

It's that time of year...weaning time. I'm actually a bit late this year, as Reggie was born in June and is now almost exactly 6 months old. But, there was no rush and while his mom is certainly ready, his Aunt Addie was not! Annie and Reggie have been out with Addie, who is very involved in Reggie's upbringing. Annie has enough experience that she lays down the rules and then doesn't worry too much. Addie though...well...if she was a human, no doubt she'd be considered a 'helicopter' mom. She herds Reggie around, watches over him while he sleeps (which is cute) and is very, very aware of his every move. This wouldn't be so bad, except that I usually put whatever youngster is closest in age in with the almost weanling (if there aren't two babies that year), so they can hang out together, play and keep each other company. It usually works very well. I tried that with Scooter this year, figuring that as he was Annie's 2010 baby, it would be a no-brainer. Nope. Annie was pretty much ok with the idea but Addie was SURE that Scooter did drugs and watched online porn. Poor kid. First time I turned him out with the other three, Reggie comes trotting up to him, all ready for a buddy. Addie noticed and came charging over, teeth bared, ears back. Scooter, being a reasonable young man, ran as fast as he could in the other direction. Addie cut Reggie away from Scooter's terrible influence and drove him back to his mother's side. Annie watched this entire performance, but didn't really move. She's ready to be done with the whole colt thing this year.

So, I left Scooter out there, hoping Addie would realize he was a good kid. He tried to talk to Reggie a few times, but was emphatically driven off. He stood as far from Addie as he could until I brought him in.

We tried the next day. Same drill.

And the next.

So, I decided to change the game and put Reggie out by himself, next to Annie and Addie. No problem. Addie even left the fenceline with Annie. I guess if Scooter isn't there, then it's ok.

I'll keep them separated but next to each other for a day or so, then start moving them farther and farther apart, until one day, Reggie and Scooter will be happily playing boy games, without female supervision. At that point, Reggie is a 'weaner' (weanling) and will start to learn all the things that a well brought up youngster needs to know.

Annie's foal is finally here.

Top Photo by Julie Villeneuve, bottom by Larry Brader

Annie foaled last night around 9:30 pm. She had been in labor since around 6 pm the previous evening, so I'm sure she was very happy to be done. I know I was, as I was on foal watch the entire time. I did get some sleep, just woke up every 2 hours to check on her the first night. She was in the arena, which has lights and is in easy view of my bedroom window, so I just look out at night and can see what is happening. Salam had to come up to the big barn too - he usually hangs out in the lower barn, with a nice big paddock and a pasture out front, but he and Annie couldn't stand to be apart, so he has been hanging out, anxiously watching her. Funny thing is, as soon as she foaled, she had zero interest in him anymore, as another handsome black stud has captured her fancy. I hope he understands.

Monica had been here all night Tuesday and back and forth on Wednesday, but had to head out before the big event. Julie was here part of the night on Tuesday and came back Wednesday and got to see the foaling. Kay (one of the boarders) came by Wednesday night and got to see her first foaling.

Annie of course, was a total pro. She's done this 9 times before, so was very businesslike. She had the foal up within 15 minutes, manuevered him into nursing position and expelled the placenta with no fuss. The little guy was running around within an hour and appears healthy and friendly. I think he might be black, but now that he's dry he almost looks like a mousey black, sort of grayish black. We'll have to wait and see what he turns out to be, I guess. He has a bit of chrome - 2 hind socks and a front stocking, along with a tiny star and snip. Very dashing. No name yet, although I think his barn name might end up as 'Reggie'. We'll see if it sticks.

Enough nattering on - I can tell I'm still tired, but I really should get some work done instead of sitting in front of my computer!