What's new

Haven't posted in a while. Went to New York City for the weekend with my family, which was lots of fun! Only bad part is that my memory card got stuck in my brothers laptop...boo...so...no pics until I buy a new one. Although I might attempt surgery on it tonight to get it out, as there are some good pics from the job conference on there. Came back and it is the last week of my summer job! As I am writing this it is my 2nd last day of work. Then I get a week off before I go back to school. Yay! Well...yay until probably around Thanksgiving, then I won't be so thrilled.

I got my final exam schedule yesterday. I only have 3 exams. Whoot!! However, running true to form, I am once again here until the very last day of the exam period. Like I have been for the last 6 semesters. *sigh*. At least I have a decent schedule though, better than some of the ones I have had. One on the first day, one on the last, and one in the beginning of the 2nd week. So at least they are spread out.

The breeder went on vacation for a week or so. So I have little-red-flower-girl at my house. And she is not so little any more. She has packed the weight on which is awesome. She has gone from me being able to hold her in one hand when she was born, to now I cannot even wrap my hand/fingers around her tummy. Her eyes are open, and she is adorable. She is starting to respond to me when I call her "Pup-pup-puppy!!" Totally adorable. She is also starting to get a handle on those little legs of hers. Shadow is getting to be a better mom. She loves her puppy. I suppose that it is a nice gentle introduction to motherhood for her. We'll see how she handles the next litter.

Taking the Red Mare and the Pretty Black Mare to the special riding horse only auction in a week or so. Should be good for them, since no one is really using them at our barn. They both have the potential to be decent show horses, and they are just chilling in the field costing money. So...we'll see what happens there, but it means that I am going to have to start riding them both at least a few times before we go down. Will be much easier when I have the week off next week!

That's all for now I suppose.

Missing something...

Last night was little red-flower-girl's 4th day of life...
So it was time for tail-docking and dew-claw removal...

I get to the farm, after dropping off my laptop for a hard-drive upgrade, and am greeted by an ecstatic Shadow. I think that she really misses me as much as I miss her!

All of the instruments had to be sterilized, so while we are waiting, I made Shadow lie down and feed her puppy. Little red girl has become a voracious eater, and she wiggles around alot. She is much stronger than she was on Sunday, so we aren't really worried about her any more. She has nearly mastered the art of nursing, even travelling from source to source when one runs dry. She is a feisty little puppy, and she is up a little bit in weight which is awesome, because she wasn't really gaining there for the first few days. She is now not quite so ribby, and she has a little belly on her.

So we docked her tail, and removed her dew claws, and she hardly cried. And after that we took her back into the puppy room, and put her next to Shadow, and she immediately started to nurse again. Which is great! She was not in pain hardly at all, and it was nice that she just got on with her life immediately.

Then she went back to sleep. In the whelping box. Under the heat lamp, because her mother is too much of a "queen" to lie in there with her.

We are thinking about re-breeding Shadow to Baron, but Baron's owner is going to get him checked first, to make sure that he is producing viable sperm before we do that. We are probably going to breed her on her next heat, since this pregnancy wouldn't have taken too much out of her. And we *might* be getting some new blood in which is double line-bred back to Scarlett's dad (one of the foundation bitches of the breeder's line, and Shadow's grandma), which could potentially be AWESOME. But...we have to see first.

Forward

So yesterday I had to go out to the farm to ride Pretty Bay Mare for some potential buyers. So I get there, and we finish tacking her up, take her out to the round-pen to warm up, and she was pretty good.

From there I started riding out to the riding ring, which involved riding through the big turnout field where the herd was. The big, pushy gelding (BPG) (palomino on left) started doing what he does best, which is getting right into your space. Just as I thought I was out of the way of him, he comes up behind PBM and tries to bite her on the butt! So long story short, PBM flips out, does a shoulder drop and turn to get away from him, (which I probably would have sat in a Western saddle, but alas, was riding English, which I don't do anymore), and I come off! Tried to hold onto the reins from my seat on the ground, but she pulls and pulls because BPG is still in our space, and I end up with rein burn on my left hand (and today I have a bruise up my right forearm, which I have to assume is from the fall). However, I am not in pain, which is good, as last few falls have not been pretty.

After that, PBM was a good girl, and even jumped a few little X-rails over painted poles that she has never seen before. She has some pretty good rider trust and is willing, just a little unsure. The prospective buyer (PB) got on her and was cantering her both ways over the cross-rail, and only got one run-out, which is pretty good, considering PBM is not trained to jump!

Until Obnoxious Buckskin Colt (OBC) came along that is... (pics to come)

OBC decided that he would whinny for PBM even though they are not friends. Thus PBM decided to go herd bound and started talking back to him, and overall started to act up. However, she still worked through it fairly well for the PB.

Definitely a Thoroughbred (or TB cross, though I would go with purebred), NOT the QH-cross that she was sold to us as! Will post some before and after pics. Pics shown in this post are of PBM in July 2009. We bought her from someone that rescued her from the stockyards, then stuck her out with a bunch of weanlings. When we got her she was at least 200 lbs underweight, all tucked up and full of lice. Joy! Anywhoo, she looks much better now, and is starting to get some muscle from running around the field with the herd.

Then PB went to say goodbye to farm owner who owns PBM, and thank her, and what did Shadow do? That's right, she jumped in their car. So I have to pull her out of the car, because of course she doesn't want to get out, and then I make her go inside to see her puppy! To the left are the lead mare and gelding (Lovely Chestnut Gelding (LCG) and Appy Boss Mare (ABM)). Maybe BPG did his dumb thing because these two were in the barn? Or maybe it wouldn't have made a difference.

Then...I got to go out for dinner. Sure was a crazy 2 hours or so at the barn!

All by herself...

So, Shadow finally had her *puppies* on Sunday evening. I was kind of disappointed because she ignored all of the whispers I have been telling her all along throughout the pregnancy. Instead of lots of puppies, with some big, strapping boys to choose from (for my new show male), she gave me one little girl.

I am still happy though because it was touch-and-go there for a little while with the little red-flower-girl (named for her bead colour), but she seems strong and healthy as of yesterday, and she is starting to get the hang of nursing by herself. We were worried for a while because it was a long time for the little girl to be in the birth canal, since Shadow gave up pushing (b/c it hurt!), and little girl was breach (backwards). We couldn't even break the sack to help her breath. Rough start when you almost drown on your way out into the big world.

Shadow is hating the whelping box, and much prefers to be in the bed with her puppy, which is sometimes dangerous for flower-girl as Shadow gets very into cleaning her and has nearly licked her right off the bed a few times now. However, she does love her puppy now that she is here and we hope that her milk stays in despite having only one little puppy to feed. The alternative is quite a bit of work!

Anyways here are some pics of little red-flower-girl, for anyone who is interested. This is my first blog, and I thought I would try Weimies, since they seem to be the things most constant right now. Although I will blog about the horses as well, and what ever else I feel like.