Amanda's Good News

Good news for Amanda!

Earlier in my broodmares post I related the histories of two of the farm's thoroughbred broodmares, Amanda and Lottie and how they were given last chances to produce something or it was curtains for them. Well, for Amanda, anyway, she has finally managed to earn her keep, barely. Here she is pictured with her first baby and the only filly of the year, Chrissy (short for Crystal and Kayli. Amanda is Amanda and Kelly, the mares in that line always have two names.)

Chrissy is the foal that almost wasn't, several times. In reading the past post you learn what a hellatious time it was trying to get Amanda in foal, last year she finally catches but the ultrasound reveals twins - the kiss of death for a Thoroughbred. One of the babies must be eliminated for the other to have a chance. The day of the procedure the vet finds that that Amanda has taken care of it herself and is working on the other. The remaining embryo looks barely viable and the vet begins making plans with my in-laws (who own her) to wait for the inevitable and decide what to do with her next year.

On top of that, three weeks later I went out to feed the horses and Amanda was barely hobbling on the most swollen, infected leg I'd ever seen. Her front leg from pastern to shoulder was so bad I couldn't wrap my hands around her cannon bone and have my fingers touch. The vet had to drain her leg and put her on antibiotics three times a day for a week that said in big red letters on each syringe "Do not give to pregnant or breeding animals." Our vet said that if that mutated embryo was still around, this would finish it off.

Well, the leg healed and time went on, the other broodmares grew fat though Amanda stayed as trim and spry as ever. Then the month before her due date, we noticed she was just a little thick around the middle, and then, early, but not too early, out came Chrissy. This is not the happy ending however. When she came out, Amanda said "no thank you." This was the only baby we've ever had to bottle feed because the mother rejected it. When Amanda finally came around, I'm sure Jodi, my mother-in-law was ready to retire as nursemaid.

Then finally, at three days old Chrissy just decided to get sick and die, as foals sometimes do. It took a quick vet arrival, some quick thinking with Jodi's natural exhuberance where the horses are concerned, and some touch and go hours before Chrissy decided to make it. She is now big and sassy enough to hold her own with the boys.

So that's the story of Amanda's amazing baby, a miracle if there ever was one. Isn't this the perfect story behind the underdog Triple Crown winner that becomes a national hero and Disney makes a movie about it starring Dakota Fanning? Here's to hoping, keep the name Crystal and Kayli in mind when the Derby rolls around in about three years.

Adios

Here's a quick sad note. Lyph ran his second race and finished second which is good, but it was a claiming race and he got claimed, which means sold. The trainer didn't think it would happen or he wouldn't have entered him, but this kind of thing happens, racehorses are always a gamble. So now he's gone, we'll try to keep track of him, though.

Derby won her race and to date has never been beat by another mare.

Two for the Track

Just a quick update, this past weekend my husband, Todd( or TJ Thompson to you My Space fans), his mom and I made the drive across the state to Boise to watch Derby Cat- who has racked up quite a few track accomplishments and Northern Lyph( we just call him Lyph) run in his first ever race.

He is out of the same mare as Derby, grand-daughter of Seattle Slew, my favorite riding horse in her pre-broodmare days and famous for her surly, sometimes dangerous attitude. This, she passed on flawlessly to Derby, who was even throwing an ear pinned tantrum when we went back to see her before her race. Lyph, however, is pretty much a giant Basset Hound. Every one who sees him wants to buy him but Jodi will never sell. When he's done racing she'll keep him for a riding horse.

When I think of him, I think of Jodi in the doorway of the barn, she throws the lead over his neck and turns away. Like any horse, Lyph turns to leave. He slowly ambles down the long driveway, going slower all the time as he repeatedly looks back to see if any one is trying to catch him. I ask Jodi if I should grab him before he gets away and she just laughs. With good reason. Within ten minutes he's standing in the doorway of the barn looking hangdog with hurt feelings that nobody bothered to try to catch him.

I never saw a more laid back pair, and him a thoroughbred! Well I don't know how long he'll stay a racehorse, Jodi said she thought he looked sad in his stall before the race. He's also lost about 400lbs since she was in charge of his diet, and around here, horses are kept fat and happy. At the very least happy. If she doesn't think he just loves racing, he'll come home.

On the other hand, it was amazing, Lyph's race was a mirror image of Derby's first race. He broke way last and finished 4th out of 10. If the rest of his career is anything like his sister's, he may stay on the track a while yet.

Derby's race went fairly well considering a couple factors, she finished 3rd, which is her second to worst finish, I think, in almost 10 races, but it was against competition so fierce the trainer very nearly scratched her out of the race. The only reason he 'sacrificed' it was so that she wouldn't be on the 'out list' for the next race. So it was still fairly respectable.

So that was this weekend at the races. We don't get to watch every time they run but we all love to be involved when we can. I'll keep this post, well, posted if anything else exciting happens.

Lawn Mowers

Well summer is on the way and with it, fast growing grass and bugs. The bugs aren't too bad this year, we have a small spread that's easy to keep on top of standing water and the like, and this year I've been ordering fly predators- those tiny nocturnal wasps that destroy fly larve. They do a good job and I don't have to do a thing except spread each new batch when they show up in the mail every 6 weeks. I haven't even bought fly spray yet this year.

As for the grass, well, my solution to that is turning the horses out onto the lawn for a few hours a day to eat down the weeds around the house and keep the yard mowed down so my husband doesn't have to do as much. Nice of me huh? Well, for some reason people going up the street shoot off some strange looks, as if they've never seen horses in a yard before. They're kinda just like big dogs aren't they? Granted picking up poop is a slightly bigger task but other wise I don't see the big deal. It's saving me on hay, which can get spendy, they're fenced in after all, and they're very friendly. Here are Tickles and Tuff enjoying the lawn.

Ofcourse since folks have discovered this last fact, there have been increasing numbers of families out for an evening stroll that stop by to visit our yard pets. Many times they come bearing treats. I swear, I was just starting to get somewhere with Tickles's diet and now she's getting rolly polly again. Not nearly as bad as last year, but I'm going to have to watch her. I certainly don't want to tarnish neighborhood goodwill by rejecting their offerings.

Anyway, my next big project is baths with mane and tail shampoos which is always a long, wet, dirty process the results of witch last about 3 minutes until they can find a filthy place to roll. Why do I bother? Because I'm a horse owner, which makes me not only a glutten for punishment but a sucker for lost causes and a genius for finding the hardest ways to accomplish things.

That Which Doesn't Kill Us...

My horses are country horses. They have lived thier lives in pastures surrounded by other horses, cows, dogs, wide open views, the occasional pickup truck... Now we live in town. We haven't put up a fence between our backyard and the front yet, and so the horses can see it all. The street, kids yelling and riding bikes, delivery trucks and neihgbors filling the street with party guests, construction crews, lawn mowers and bar b ques.

There is always something to look at, better than standing in a stall all day. And always something new for them to think about, which I think is a good thing. Now on our street, everyone has between 3/4 and 1 acre, some of our nieghbors use that space for a couple horses or cows, some collect derlict vehicles, some run thier snow machines or 4-wheelers. All good opportunities for horses to think. The way to make them calm, reliable, 'bomb proof' horses, is to expose them to as much as possible, thier seeing that these things don't kill them literally makes them stronger. Mentally anyway, so I don't hesitate to let them experience life.

Bubbles was a fun one, little girls blowing bubbles probably doesn't happen much in the wild.

A trash can knocked over and rolling down the street in the wind- Tuff's expression plainly said:
'Didn't I hear somewhere that trash cans eat horses? I'm sure I heard that!'

This morning it was a marathon bike race. They were used to 4 or 5 kids on bikes but dozens and dozens of brightly colored racers was apparently highly unsettling. By the end, they were fine with it which is a relief, 'cause can you really call you horse 'bomb proof' until you've taken him to a triatholon?

That Time of Year

Boy, I guess I've taken a break from my blog for a while, haven't I? Well, I've been busy. First of all, the weather suddenly became glorious and I just can't stand to be indoors during the first really nice days in spring.

Tickles and Tuff have shed out beautifully and are looking good. We've been clearing the pasture and planting grass and building and repairing fences. All the Thouroughbred foals have arrived and are healthy. Derby Cat won another race yesterday, it was simulcast but our local track was having satillite problems and we missed it. We did remember to bet on her this time though and made some $$. The second of our horses has his first race next month. Fingers crossed.

And my 6 year old learned how to ride her bike with no training wheels. That was exciting! Though I don't know why, she's been riding her horse with no training wheels since she was 2.

Anyway, I'm so glad that winter is gone again. I'm formulating plans for my horses for this year. I always like to set goals and list steps to get there, I may or may not get there, in fact I usually get side tracked, or off on tangents or find some hidden talent one of them posesses and change direction completely. That's how I got into jumping with Tickles, my plan had been barrel racing, but I just couldn't get her interested. I was messing around with her bareback one day and there was a small cross-rail set up for a horse I was working earlier and popped her over it to test her reaction. Well, suffice to say we decided to go a different direction.

But that's how it goes with horses, with kids, with life! Things don't always turn out the way you plan but they often do turn out.

The Spring Tease

We've had a few "spring teaser" days, as I call them - warm sunny weather - where all the mud almost thinks about drying out. Of course, it's all very short-lived and the rain and mud are always just around the corner. But I'm getting hopeful!

For now, my anti-mud device is my own invention: sheets of plywood. You see, I don't like horse feeders. I don't believe the health risks are worth feeding in a hay rack that requires a horse to eat with its head up. Horses are designed to eat off the ground. I've used feeders designed with this in mind, but they're so enclosed - I wouldn't want to eat with my head down a dark hole! Inhalation of dust aside, horses are too easy to sneak up on when they can't see their surroundings. So, I don't use them anymore.

A horse's long head is designed to eat off the ground and still have a field of vision.

The problem mud creates is where to feed the horses. The rest of the year I can throw hay on grassy areas or at least in a large water trough that can't easily be tipped. But throwing it in the mud is gross. It gets wasted when mashed down and even with a trough, the ground around it is turned to soup by the next day. I don't like my horses standing around in soup.

So, I've layed out sheets of smooth plywood over about 20 square feet. Stall mats would work too, but my husband gets the plywood free from work. My horses can stand with their feet dry and eat off a flat surface o the ground; and basically, no hay gets wasted. On windy days a trough on the boards can keep the hay from blowing away, and I don't worry about them breathing in dust on windy days.

So, just because my babies are pasture-bound during the "spring tease" doesn't mean they have to eat with their hooves stuck in the mud.