Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I'm invisible

The foal was born early Sunday morning and I spent all day Sunday watching over them and showing them off to friends and relatives all the way into Sunday night. My mom even drove down from Angelfire to see the new little one.

Lisa, my mom, and I finally had those strawberry daiquiris to celebrate. When I finally crashed around 10:30 PM, boy, I was tired! I must have been up over 40 hours!!

Well, Monday morning, I arose fairly early, around 6:30, and felt sort of refreshed. I had to go to school and run some errands so I left for town around 11:00. My daughter came out an hour or so later to see the filly.

I was sitting in class and I had a text on my phone from my daughter. She wrote, "Important, call me!" I left class and called her. She told me she and her friend had gone to the barn to see Annie and the filly and the filly was not there!

She was missing!!!

I couldn't believe it! The filly was only one day old! What could have happened to her? I had visions of her falling into the water barrel and drowning.

My mom went to get Lisa and her boys to help search and my daughter and her friend kept looking around the entire neighborhood.

Where could a tiny foal have gone to? They told me that Annie was standing silent in her stall. Scout and Nadia were interested and watching but they always do that.

I was trying to stay calm because I was 30 miles away and there was nothing I could do. I suggested that she had laid down and rolled under the paddock rails and to look all over in the barn.

My daughter called me back and said that they had found her. Lisa's boys found her standing in the stall next to Annie's, as if nothing had happened at all. But, she wasn't there when they first looked. And they didn't see her in the barn when they looked.


Where did she go?

I guess that she really did roll under the rails and because they were almost together Annie didn't get frantic. Or maybe she was getting tired of her newborn? Do horses get postpartum depression? Poor thing, she was still having huge contractions. Only Annie knows the real story.

My daughter had the huge chore of leading the filly out and around the barn to Annie's stall.

Whew! I give her enormous credit for a job well done. She wrapped her arms around the little body and kind of tugged her along, with the filly getting frantic at this point because they were heading away from her mama.

I did some research on Arabian coat color and I found some interesting facts. It is universally believed that the original horse was a drab little dun-colored fellow with a bay-type coat that could vary slightly as a camouflage measure according to the area in which he lived. I think Annie's filly has an invisibility cloak.

Today, at three days old, Lisa and I turned Mom and baby out in the big arena for some leg stretching. The little one was jumping two strides sideways yesterday. She was so cute, backing up to the fence and bolting down the paddock, wheeling around and running back. She definitely has her daddy's cutting horse moves and her mommy's racing blood. We decided she needed a bigger area to stretch out in and that Annie probably could use the outing too.



I have decided on her formal name. I think I will call her Kaheema Fantastka after her parents and grandparents. Her mother is Fantastyk Gal and her grandmother is Fantastka. Her father is Kakhem Sahib and her grandfather is Khemosabi.
I was going to call her Kheema for short but I have changed my mind. It reminds me too much of cancer (my husband died of pancreatic cancer) and the word, chemotherapy. Watching her run around and frolic so much, I decided that her barn name had to be special. I googled Arabic words for fast or quick and I came up with a common word for "let's go" or "hurry up".

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to introduce Yalla!



I'm invisible - song: Conversation Piece, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen extras

18 comments:

Unknown said...

"Or maybe she was getting tired of her newborn? Do horses get postpartum depression?" Give her a few weeks and mum will be going "Sure you take her for a wile!"

Shes so cute. Her pasterns seem to be fixing themselves already. Best thing for that is lots and lots of movement.

I love your Nadia. She reminds me so much of my dear old Naigen.

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Welcome Yalla!! a beautiful name for a beautiful foal! Love the action shots.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Hah! I loved this post, story and photos!
Yalla! Let's go! Perfect name for a horse with invisible wings....hmmm...maybe she had flown over everyone's heads when she went missing?
lol!


~Lisa

allhorsestuff said...

Oh Gorgeous shots of mare and filly foal! Yalla, that is perfect!She is so very special...just love her color too!
Kac

The Pink Geranium or Jan's Place said...

We are QH and Paint people, and are lala over that little baby of yours.. I had to call my husband in to look at her pix, we say her on Lisa's blog.. You lucky girl you!

cdncowgirl said...

Love the new pics, she's quite a cutie! Great barn name too :)

Paint Girl said...

Lovin' the pictures of Yalla! Love the name. She is such a beautiful little thing!
I would have been in such a panic about that phone call, a one day old foal missing? Yikes! I am so happy that she was found safe and sound, and not far from her mom!

lytha said...

hey, i'll have to tell my friend the arabic meaning of this name, because he named his daughter that. in german the spelling is different, but is it pronounced like "allah"?

i've heard so many stories of mares having their foals *through* a fence, i'm glad you were there for the birth so that couldn't happen.

~lytha

TxFarmhouse said...

Welcome Yalla! You have a beautiful addition to your family. Congratulations.

Grey Horse Matters said...

I'm glad you found Yalla, that must have been a real scare when she was missing. She's adorable and so full of energy. Hope Annie is feeling better now,

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

I know what you mean about the Khemo / Kheema names. Yalla is cute. Annie looks so happy to be a mommy in all the pictures I've seen.

Andrea said...

Those pictures are so great. That is one super cute girl. She is beautiful. I love her name Yalla. Perfect!

jane augenstein said...

Welcome beautiful Yalla!!!
What a sweet little girl you have, you are so lucky! Glad she was found and is OK. Love the pictures!!!
~Jane and Gilly~

Unknown said...

We were in a "Yallah" for her to get here.

I'm sure I'm messing that up.

She's so cute!

The Wades said...

Yalla looks so precious. I bet you all were scared!! I just love a happy ending.

Carolynn Anctil said...

She's gorgeous and sounds like a handful! Where could she have gone, I wonder? I love the photos of Annie with her little girl. So sweet! :o))

CTG Ponies said...

Holy cow, look at the legs on her!!

Tammy Vasa said...

Love the last picture of Yalla! And glad you found her! What a scare!