Horses are way more work than parrots

[ShreddedOakAviary]

Just venting my worry and excitement, the worry is that our pinto Cisco has two strange lumps on his belly (vet coming tomorrow). The excitement is that my mare is due around June 2nd though it appears she is gonna foal a little early (I've started my vigil if sleeping out with her. So in the meantime I am praying for Cisco and hoping it is something treatable

 

[RescueMe]

Hopefully they are bug bite reactions. Good luck with your mare, I remember the up all nighters. Better you than me! My filly is 3 this year.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

The lumps are huge, hard, and have not changed in a week. He is a horse with a lot of weird allergic skin reactions (I call him the bubble boy horse). He has colic 4 times in the past, he requires certain fly sprays and shampoos, if he inhales too much rag weed pollen he coughs.... hence "bubble boy horse". If he wasn't such a loved family member I may have gotten rid of him by now, but he is my husband's horse. We only have two "light" horse, him and a mustang... we don't even like light horses (we love those two and that's it). Then we have our favored breed horses (shires, friesian, and drums). Oddly though dolled value never dictates our favorite horses... (or birds), Cisco was the first horse we bought when we bought this farm, he was the first horse I ever trained by myself... he has stood more than once for an hour while I cried into his mane... He lays down on cue, he gives kisses, he drives and rides, chases cows, and calls to us daily when he sees us. He is the horse you can dismount and leave somewhere not tied while you run off to open a gate or chase a cow and he stands and waits... he is our first and he's barely 5. (Why we deal with so many freak allergic reactions and such.

 

[RescueMe]

Aww, I have a grumpy 29yo that is allergic to flies and is bald in the summer no matter what. I love her no matter what. I work with a bunch of friesans and gypsies, my friends show them. I'm a warmblood girl, but I have fallen for a friesan that of course I can't afford. He is amazing, and has allergies so he has no mane (my favorite kind, lol) I hope your guy is ok ans some simple steroids are the cure.

 

[KatherineI]

Almost every time you post, you make me miss horses!! Gosh do I miss riding and having a horse I loved being able to take my frustrations out while mucking a stall, or having quiet reflection while grooming. The gentle hum of a barn, the smell of the hay, cedar and leather....

I hope Cisco is gonna be alright but YAY on a new foal! Do you have an in-barn room with video feed? I've been riding horses since I was 6 months old (seriously, ask my Mom) and I've never been to a birth Good luck!

 

[luvmytooo]

I miss my girl too. Had her over 24 years .
I hope it's allergies. My girl had lumps and bumps over the years , I can definitely understand the worry. Good luck with your soon to be momma !
Can't wait to see those pictures !!!!!!!!! And of your new bird pairs too
I had a horse before my last one that was a unbeleivable ground tier.
You can leave him for hours and he wouldnt move , such a good boy

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

To tell the truth I didn't want the mare in the first place (especially not pregnant), but my husband bought her so we had a matching team. Generally I won't do something until I have done a lot of research first. I hate doing things half way. So I got blindsided with a pregnant mare while I know next to nothing about foaling. The only good part is she's done this by herself 7 times before, so maybe she'll teach me. I hate feeling unprepared. I wasn't planning on breeding any of our mares until next year and I was only gonna breed the Friesian. I don't usually mind learning something in a rush, unless it is regarding an animal and then I stress to no end since lives are relying on me to know if something is wrong, how to quickly react in the case of an emergency, etc. So, here goes nothing I guess. I did have my vet out to look her over twice, I notified him of her estimated foaling date, I do have the tetanus toxoid and the foal oral vaccines he wants me to administer shortly after birth. He explained how to give an enema to the foal if needed (and when it may be needed), he told me how to see if all the placenta is out, he gave me a layout of what will happen in what order and how long is too long for any particular stage... and then he told me odds are I would just come outside one morning and be greeted by an extra horse.

 

[KatherineI]

From my experience, except in Thoroughbred barns, coming out one morning and finding a new baby is usually how it goes A fellow 4-H-er when I was young, had a Veterinarian Father who also trained both Standardbred racers, and Thoroughbreds, and had an extensive breeding program (not to mention a training track that we got to ride on when not in use - how cool is that?!?!). They had 3 dorm-style "rooms" in what used to be the hayloft; a cot with pillows, blankets, etc, a small table with 2 televisions for video feed so that you could see one particular stall of your choosing on the one, up close, and then the other had 4-6 "block" video feeds of the other stalls, much like a closed-circuit security set-up (it probably was, lol). When it was foaling season, they would rotate which people would be there. Someone was usually assigned a particular mare and they would check on her periodically throughout the night. Whoever was there would often help even if it wasn't "their" mare. Once their mare had delivered, they would be "released" and the next person would take over their dorm. It was like a well oiled machine. I don't know if that's the norm for racing barns, or just this particular farm, as all the paint farms that bred that I was involved with didn't do it that way.

Good luck!! I'm sure everything will be fine and you'll do great.

 

[RescueMe]

he told me odds are I would just come outside one morning and be greeted by an extra horse.

All precautions and effort taken this is exactly what happens. I have had the joy of looking out the window to a beautiful new baby, and the disappointment of missing the baby's birth. I'm sure that things will go quickly and easily. Any questions you have, feel free ask.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

Well, she is dragging out my agonizing wait... still hasn't foaled. Despite having ALL the signa of imminent foaling for the past week. Ugh. On a side note Ciscos lumps just eventually disappeared. He did colic again a couple weeks ago and the vet is baffled as usual as to what causes it. Ugh.

 

[GiosMom]

Keep us posted on the new baby foal. My Gio keeps asking me if the baby horse was born yet....post pictures. I love sharing with him....bestbof luck!

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

We named our new Shire filly Hofpars Hobby Holly (Holly for short). She is black with 3 high whites one irregular white, and a large irregular blaze. This is her with my husband and son. She is 9 weeks old in this photo.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

Just a few days old.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

12 hours old.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

30 minutes old.

 

[Molcan2]

Oh, she is soooo beautiful! I love the blaze. I have always wanted either a shire or clydes, maybe one day. Congrats, shes really pretty.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

This is me with her half brother (my personal riding and believe it or not cattle worki g horse) He still has 3 more years to grow. Different sires, but he and holly are from the same dam. Our bay mare Athena. Athena and Atlas are both bay with 4 whites and a blaze and we drive them as a team. Holly will be the oddball in more than one way. Our bays are only about 18hh the last time I measured. Holly will be closer to 19.2 or more. (Her sire is an even 20hands. So... she will have to pull the single cart aline since we don't have and won't have a horse to match...lol (oh did I.mention we also decided to keep her?)

 

[luvmytooo]

OMG !!!! I WANT HER !!!! REALLY , I SERIOUSLY NEED HER , lololol.
She is sooo freakin cure
What in the world is it like to canter on one of those darlings ?

 

[Molcan2]

Yes she would def be the odd ball out, lol. Im not surprised that you guys are keeping her! I got my mare and gelding as a set when he was 3mos old. I wasnt supposed to keep him (they picked the sire soley to get him paint proven - fools. Confirmation should always come first). Twelve years later I still have both of them. Thanks for the update, havent heard from you in a while, though i imagine you have been quite busy!

 

[Molcan2]

Oh and my gelding, the horse i had hoped to be min of 16 hands, only matured at 14.3 hands. He is still a fantastic jumper and has tons of personality.