Maiden Mares UHHHH!!!

I have been gone for a bit so I owe a couple of blogs!!

Coming with the spring also comes those anxious days awaiting new foals!!! On our ranch here we have a maiden mare who was due to foal March 10th....As the month of March neared we moved Lacy to her own paddock as she is nervous enough around the other mares we definitely did not want her foaling around them. Lacy is such a kind and gentle mare, and is at the bottom of the herd chain. So we moved her for her safety and that of the new foal. As the month wore on she kept showing signs of labor then they would subside.. I know that she was definitely hindering the labor because she didn't know what to make of the pain. Well her due date came and went and the foal became less and less active. So finally last Monday we had the Vet out to check her and she was not dilated at all and when the Vet palpated her she got very little movement. So we waited a few days and had the Vet out again and this time it was a day that she was in "active labor again" so there was no need for palpating as the Vet could see that the foal had dropped quite a bit. So another time to sit and wait....

This past Friday Hubby and I went on a short road trip to visit some friends and when we returned at 12:25 am March 21st as we were driving down our cedar lined drive we seen Lacy laying on the ground. Right away we knew she must be delivering because this mare never lays down, so I jumped out of the truck as Hubby was slowly creeping down the drive and I run to her to see a beautiful foal just born laying with her mama!!! I was thrilled and stunned for a couple of reasons. Lacy is a loud Overo Bay paint and here lies this SOLID colored foal with a white face!! I couldn't believe it, I honestly expected some crazy color LOL!! Although it doesn't matter because I was thrilled to have a live foal!! I then ran in grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. My next surprise came when I zoomed in on her underside to see what sex it was and when reviewing the picture it was a girl!! The reason why this shocked me was because I fully expected a colt because before we bought this mare the previous owner had a sonogram and was told it was a colt... Well soon my joy turned to frustration when Lacy wouldn't let the foal get near her. I was afraid this would happen as her milk sack was engorged and very sensitive. It took Angel (new foal) 2 hours to finally stand and stay up and when she found her mama and searched for those teats mama squealed and pinned her ears and took off running!!! AHHH!!! So then this poor little filly is now running around the paddock chasing her mama and she ends up at the fence line where all of the nosey mares are watching the action. One of my really good mares was about to jump the fence she was so distraught over this baby not with her mama. So I finally haltered the mare and made her stand to let the foal suckle so all of this was a few hours time and I finally decided Lacy was giving in and I could go to bed in peace.

This is one tired Mama!!!



She is so sweet!!!



Yep this was the obvious answer to her sex...




So much to my delight when I awoke after my few hours of sleep Lacy was still letting the foal nurse, but she doesn't have that full maternal instinct cause she doesn't care where her foal is 90% of the time. But at least she is alive and healthy!!!

This was to cute!!! She is definitely tired!!!



Beautiful Mama and Angel



My DD has been anxiously awaiting the birth of this foal and she was out of town with her Nana so they had to bring her out Saturday to see her. She has such a touch with foals they all love her!!! And she loves them even more :~)


My DD giving some love to Angel XOXO



And she was sure to give Lacy some kisses too :)



Angel observing her new friend!!

Spring Break!!!

Wow what can I say....Wow is right....What a day!!! I am loving Spring Break with my kiddo's and their friends!! Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting J's new girlfriend!!! I just love her, she is a really great girl!!! It is so nice to be able to say that again..It's been a while since he has had a girl that is so great!! They really seem to get along good so that makes me happy :~)

DD is having a great Spring Break too. She got to have her super cool older cousin DS over to spend 2 nights. They had alot of fun playing with the horses and riding the 4 wheeler. Today DD had soccor practice so she was loving that. And the best part for her was her BFF Tay-Tay was back from her family ski trip so she got to come home with us tonight!! I just love having these girls together, they are soooo funny!!! Just the 2 of them is like a whole bus load of cheer leaders they are so loud:) So we went and did a little shopping and they made some spa stuff tonight then topped off the night with one of my favorite facial masks. They were pretty giggly when they looked in the mirror LOL!!

This is the picture that they wanted for their "Friends" frame!!

While we wait.....

Well we are having pretty much uneventful times around here...DD and I have been spending alot of time outside waiting for Lacy to have her foal. Last night we spent about 3 hours watching her thinking she would lay down anytime....Nope, wrong...Hubby says because we are expecting it now it'll happen in about 2 weeks LOL!! Better not!! So while on our journey of waiting we decided we needed to take some pictures of something, so we'll share these with you. We have quite a time entertaining ourselves :~) Also today is my Momma's Birthday!! So Happy Birthday Mom, Love you!!!!



DD Marching over from playing some soccor by herself...



DD thinking she's pretty funny; She says Ha Ha you didn't even know what I was doing!



My pretty mud boots my mommy got me :) DD told me to take a picture of them..Told you we were BORED!!



Had to take the glasses off the glare was too much!! What's wrong with my eye??



The beautiful sunsetting in the clouds...

Runaway Steer???

So here on the ranch today it was pretty quiet...I did some work on my new business, got some things I have been waiting for!!! My sister-in-law and my niece came over after the kids got out of school today so we could talk "business"... So the girls went out to Midnight's temporary pen because Hubby has apparently told DD that she needs to go out when she gets home from school and brush her steer. The hope is that he will begin to trust her more and the whole halter/lead breaking will be easier...Well that is not what happened today...When DD and her cousin went out there and climbed the railings to get in with Midnight he apparently freaked out and decided he needed to get away from these girls at all cost. So what did he do?? He jumped into the HUGE water troft and jumped out on the other side where I have my Geldings. This is a replay of DD and Cousin when they came in; DD-UMMM we we we were uh uh trying to uh uh Midnight he jumped into the the....All at the same time Cousin is saying in a much louder voice; uh ahhh ohhh Midnight...we didn't...ahhh....he's with...Then me; GIRL'S ONE AT A TIME PLEASE!!!!!!! So we find out that Midnight thinks its ok to swim in the troft...NOT!!! So DD calls Hubby to find out what he wants her to do, so her and cousin go out and try to lure him back...Well that wasn't necessary because he just jumped into the troft and went back to his side...Crisis averted!! So we thought...not even 2 minutes later he has jumped back through the tank and is with the horses again AHHH!!!!!! Of course these things always happen while Hubby is gone....Meanwhile at the top of our hill where my Mares are and one who is expected to foal is in an area all to herself, well my SIL and I where watching her and we have decided that she is in labor!!! She is in a great amount of pain, as she is walking in such a way that resembles having (pardon my candor) a cob up her rear LOL!!!!

So hopefully soon I will have beautiful baby pictures to post!! Nothing is greater than having babies:)

Today

Not a whole lot for today but we did have our meeting tonight!!! We have learned some great things and will have great things to offer soon!!! I'm so excited, I wish it would move along a little faster LOL!!

Busy day

So today was a great day here on our ranch!! Hubby decided today was the day for halter breaking DD's steer that she will show at the 4H Fair in August. We got the steer about a month to a month and a half ago and he has never been halter broke but has been handled. So early this morning Hubby and DD loaded Midnight up in the trailer to go weigh him. When we got him he was 800 lbs, today's weight was 900 lbs!!! Then they put him in the cattle chute and got his halter on him.

He was left tied to the railing for a couple of hours to get used to it all. And then we went back out and DD did some warming up to him to try and teach him not to be afraid of us. She did a great job, with some Hubby assist as well.






Then they led him around the pen a bit. He was trying to restrain at first and then finally he gave in. So he did good considering this was his first time. So then DD and Hubby did some more loving and scratching on him, which he really loves!!







J came out and he is such a great help for us, he came over and did an evaluation of him and believes that he will show pretty well at the fair. He says he has a couple of flaws that may be corrected by fair time and that the judges don't pay much attention to one flaw that he seen. So overall he gives Midnight a passing grade!! It is so awesome to me that my 14 year old son is so knowledgeable about livestock, it's great!!








We finished our day with a run to town to get some much needed sports equipment for the kids' sports. Tomorrow is a big day!!! My sister-in-law and I have a meeting with a Regional Manager who is very paramount to our business success!!!

Girl's Day!!

So today was our official "Girl's Day", DD had been waiting for weeks to do this!! So we went to lunch with some friends at this awesome place called Mongolian Cafe?? I think?? I don't know/care what the name is the food was great!! Then it was off to the mall for some much needed shopping time, we got some great stuff:) We love to shop!! Then we went to the movies and saw Confessions of a Shopaholic, fabulous movie!! It was so hilarious, then we went to Hobby Lobby and back to the movie theater for dinner and a malt then another show LOL!! This time we saw Mall Cop, it was somewhat funny. I was a little disapointed because Kevin James is so funny and this movie didn't do him justice. But I will still watch it again cause Hubby wants to see it... So that is the jist of our fabulous day!!



J went to Bull Riding Clinic this morning, and there apparently was SNOW on the ground and it was 14 degrees with a wind chill of like zero!!! So Hubby got a little upset about that because we were told that they would go to an indoor arena if the weather was bad...Well when Hubby asked they kind of blew him off and was a little upset because this clinic wasn't cheap and it is seeming that they haven't done alot of what was promised...So he took J and they left....No more Bull Clinic there, however he has some great gear that Hubby bought him and we will try and find him another clinic to do!!