One week old

It is amazing the differance a week can make in a foal! When "Buckwheat" was born last weekend, we did not get in to imprint him. But, by being with him every day, and spending time in there, talking to him, and just hanging out at the stall, he surely has changed is attitude towards people! Instead of running from you now, he runs up to us for his scratches and pets. He is getting handled all over, and is even looking forward to us coming to visit. He sure is a nice little guy, with lots of curiosity and spunk!

Yesterday was his first day out in the yard. I let mom out to get to some of the nice green grass that she has been longing for, and boy, did she enjoy herself! Buckwheat was all over the place, being a true explorer! He was able to run around, kick up his heels and just enjoy being outside the stall. He's such a hoot to watch, and wants to get into everything. He's going to make someone a very nice horse one day, and will be a joy to handle.

They got a full stall clean-out yesterday, which took about 2 hours (mainly because it was hot, even for evening hours, and I wasn't about to kill myself doing it). During this time is when they were out in the yard. Buckwheat was running all around, and charging back into the stall and doing a sliding stop, only to turn around and charge back out. He got a few nice looking bucks and jumps in yesterday as well. He finally decided he wanted to know what I was doing, and came into the stall to visit while I was cleaning. Of course, I had my back to him when he entered, so he decided to check out my back pockets!

He is such a sneaky little guy, and lippy too! He likes to have his chin / nose tickled, and even allowed me to kiss him on the nose a couple of times yesterday. It won't be much longer before he is ready to start on grain, and then there will be no stopping him! He wasn't so sure about the new grass thing though. As he is munching on hay now, he just doesn't have it yet to eat fresh grass. A couple more days, and he will have it down to a t, I'm sure.

It is also almost time to put him and mom out to pasture. I have to mark the fencing good first, to make sure he doesn't go charging into it, like he almost did a couple of times yesterday.

We have a baby!

We are now officially off foal watch. We had a big, smokey black, stud colt this morning! Mom and baby are both doing well. Little Guy is up and running around, and is active as all get-out! Even in the heat, he doesn't seem to slow down. Mom is doing well, eating and drinking, and keeping a close eye on her little boy. More photos coming in the very near future!

Official Foal Watch

Tonight begins my first official night of foal watch. We have one mare that is ready to foal out at any time. She is waxing, her backside is VERY soft, and she just has that "look" about her. It is currently just after 2 AM, and no baby as of yet. I worry about this girl, as she was bred to a big horse, and she is little, she is also a maiden mare.

I've done all I know to make her feel safe, and comfortable. I've laid down fresh shavings for her, she has plenty of water, and I am keeping an eye on her. Our two other "mamma's" that are out in the field behind the barn, are at the fence, talking to her. It is rare that these two mares leave the herd. Speically Mystyfied, as she has a yearling out with her (but not with her tonight). Mystyfied does NOT leave her baby, and had a fit over the weekend, when I pulled Thunder in and kept her in a stall all weekend. So, this is another sign that tells me something is up, and that the little one is due within the next 24 hours.

I'll keep you posted, and will post pictures as soon as I can! For now, please keep this mare and foal in your prayers and that all goes well with this birth. I'm back off to the barn, to sit quietly in the dark and keep my ear open for whatever may come our way! I'm taking my coffee pot and some coffee, and my creamer with me, so not sure when I will be back down!

Star under saddle

This is the first time I got to see Star under saddle, and I wasn't even present at the time. Leslie was nice enough to take videos and show me when I got off work. Tomorrow we will be taking her to the trails with Ace, April and Cisco. April and Cisco are our main riding horses. Star is being broke so that I will have a replacement ride when I breed April and she is no longer able to go on the rides with me. Star will also be my daughters ride while I can ride April.

Leslie and Ace

Leslie is doing great with Ace. After her accident, she was nervous about getting on a horse again. With the change in Ace's attitude since coming here, we feel that he will be good for her. We feel that he will take care of her, and teach her to trust again, and she will do the same for him. This is one of those true happy stories that makes being in the horse world so wonderful! Watch Leslie and Ace interact, and you will see what I mean.

Ace ~ 10 days later!

Ace has been doing awesome here. Unfortunately, I don't have as much video as I would like, as a lot of the work is done in the evenings, while I am at my day job. But, he has been taken down the road a little piece, without any trouble. He is going back and forth across the creek without any trouble now. Tomorrow we will see how he does on the trails. Here is one video of Ace being worked with. The only true downfalls I see with him so far, is that his tongue always hangs out to the left when he has a bit in his mouth, and he does not respond well to the left turn signal. Not sure why he does this, if anybody has any ideas, I would love to hear them!

New horse in training

We have a new horse here at Cloud 9 Ranch. He comes to us by way of our trainer. Ace is a 5 year old Tennessee Walking horse that came to us from a show barn. Fortunately for us, the previous owners didn't think he had what it will take to become a top performer. We see much more in Ace then just a show horse. But, he needs a lot of love, patience and understanding.

Ace has been stall kept, and is not very familiar with pasture living. He is currently on 1-2 hours a day turnout, where he gets to run around, munch on some grass and enjoy being able to stretch his legs. This also allows us to work with him being caught while out to pasture, and a few other "bugs" he has.

He is not very fond of water, so we are currently working with him on crossing a small creek in the field. I wish I had gotten videos of what he was like two days ago, as there is already a major difference in him. He still doesn't like to cross the creek, but he is definately getting better. We feel that with some time and a little more work, we will have him crossing creeks without hesitation.

This video from today shows how much he is willing to do for us, and how quickly horses learn to trust and love us. Of course, cookies helped a little in this situation! LOL