Happy Birthday, Yalla!

Yalla! FantastyKheema arrived about 3:40 AM on June 14th, 2009 and this time Lisa (my neighbor) and I were fortunate enough to witness the entire birthing process, following a week of sleeping in the barn. See here for our adventures and pictures. Also, LaughingOrcaRanch.blogspot.com has an excellent write up and pictures of the events leading up to and following her birth, as well. see here.

She has now matured to a solid four year old and is saddled and ready to go. (I know, the saddle pad is waaaay too long for her short back.) I've only managed a half dozen rides or so, and many of them were bareback, but she is coming along nicely. She has a lot of attitude but she's smart and quick to learn...and quick on her feet too!

As with Scout, however, she didn't grow as tall as I'd hoped.  Actually, this picture is from last year. I was certain I had more recent ones. I can't find any right now so I'll just have to take some this afternoon when the sun is better.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to my beautiful little fireball with a brain, Yalla!

Let's go!!

Happy Birthday Scout!

It was around 4:30 in the morning on June 13, 1995, still dark outside, and I couldn't sleep.  I had heard Beighley pacing around in her pen much of the previous night and was anxious to see if her surprise had been delivered. I went outside and in the predawn light I saw a long shooting star go across the sky. I thought, 'that's a good sign.'

As I neared Beighley's pen, I could just make out a little shape at her side. The little fella was dry and running around her when I went over to them. I thought to myself, 'what a gorgeous blanket!' I saw a red foal with a perfect white blanket, big white blaze, and white stockings. Then I noticed more white on the belly and neck. Oh my, that's a colorful horse!

I love his unique coloring, although he is certainly not registerable in any breed. And he never grew very big, topping barely 14.2 on his best days.

He's goofy and loveable and he's the token "boy" in the barn.

Happy Birthday, my boy, Scout!!!

Keep a photograph

Here are some newish pictures of Yalla! She is almost 4 months old. She has one white near front foot, actually a half coronet, and the rest of her legs are black.

She's got racing blood, maybe I should train her to be a racehorse!

These last two photos were taken today. I think she changes color a little bit every day! Notice how the hair of the stripe on her back is raised. ;)

Keep a photograph - song: An Occasional Dream, artist: David Bowie, album: Space Oddity

She got a turned up nose

Here's Yalla! tonight waiting to be fed...

She got a turned up nose - song: Blue Jean, artist: David Bowie, album: Tonight

Oh you Pretty Thing

My baby is growing up! Yalla! is now three months old! Annie now allows Scout and Nadia to mingle with Yalla! freely. No more standing in the middle of the arena while Annie and Yalla! run and wander around them. Notice Yalla! behind Nadia? That must be what it looked like when Nadia had a foal, many years ago.Here's Annie and Yalla! This is one of my favorite pictures of them together.

Of course, Yalla! is still full of energy. The first photo below was taken about two weeks ago. Notice the coloring changes in the next photo which was taken a few days ago.

I also gave her a lesson in leading. She readily took the halter when I brought it up to her nose and pulled it up and over her poll and then buckled the poll strap. She doesn't like things coming up over her eyes, I've noticed.

She is leading very well. She still stops quite often but she willingly walks forward again. I am working on leading her from either side. The halter that I thought would never fit her is now on it's last hole. I need to buy a yearling halter that I'm sure is going to be too big. lol.

I love giving her big body hugs and she loves getting them. She is so fuzzy now that I can leave a handprint in her fur. When I rub her neck and body, I see little white hairs fall out. Interesting! Is that the baby coat coming out, I hope?

Oh you Pretty Thing - song: Pretty Thing, artist: Tin Machine, album Tin Machine

touch my pretty little feet

Yalla! had her feet trimmed for the first time today!

I hadn't fed the horses yet when my shoer showed up. He is notoriously early rather than late as is the custom of most of the farriers I've known. So I gave them all a quick feeding of grain and soaked beet pulp figuring that would hold their appetites while they got their feet trimmed.

Since Yalla! doesn't really eat much, I thought we could start with her. I took in the halter, hoping that she wouldn't give me much trouble putting it on. I found out that if I try to slide it up over her ears she fights me more than if I just unbuckle the poll strap and bring it up from under her head. She came right over and took the halter really well this morning. Since it was so muddy around, we decided to just trim her right in the stall with Annie.

She chewed a lot and once she pulled back rearing when he was working on her back foot but the shoer was very patient and quiet. I brought her forward and she settled right down. I held her next to her mama and a few times she even backed into Annie. Annie was very good and patient. I believe that because Annie is an older mare, she is much more patient with her foal than some mares. There was a time when I would have been very worried about backing into Annie's hind end because she used to kick a lot.

Since Yalla! was the very first horse to be trimmed, I was rather proud that she behaved as well as she did. I often work with her, picking up her feet but I don't hold them long.

He said her feet were good and strong and that they had grown more than he expected for her 10 weeks. He cut away almost all of her newborn baby hoof. Awwww...

She was very curious about all the tools

And she watched intently as he trimmed her mama's feet.

She even tried to nurse a few times while Annie was getting her feet done but I wouldn't let her. That's just plain unfair to Annie! Yalla! can wait. I think she wanted to nurse for security rather than hunger.

Since I didn't have my camera on me, these were taken with the cell phone so you'll have to excuse the poor quality.

I asked about how her legs seem to turn out slightly and he said that was normal for foals. It's called a foal stance so that they can nurse. He said her legs would start straightening out in time. (There's always something to worry about, isn't there?)

touch my pretty little feet - song: Chilly Down, artist: David Bowie, album: Labyrinth

thing that she enjoys

Here's Yalla! eating her morning grain. What a piggy she is! She smacks her lips, chews with her mouth open, and grunts a lot. She even paws while she's eating as if she can't get enough. You can't even hear Annie eating in the background.

She still nurses too.While I was feeding them the other day I noticed a lump/knot on Annie's back leg. I don't know what happened but I figured it might feel good to get some liniment on it. Notice the strange pattern of veins to the front of it.So I pulled out the ol' jug of horse liniment. I love the smell of liniment, don't you?

I soaked a wash cloth and lightly rubbed the knot. It must have felt good because I've never seen a horse react like she did. She loves to be rubbed and scratched and she has lots of G spots. She is about the most sensual mare I know. She rolled her upper lip down and closed her eyes and swayed back and forth, almost pushing me over with her rocking. I wish I could have gotten a picture of her. Maybe they should include horse liniment in the kama sutra oils.Maybe if I keep massaging it the knot will go away. Liniment tends to bring warmth and thus, blood, to any pained areas so maybe it will help heal it. I don't know, but she sure enjoys it. Hmmm, I wonder if I should throw some liniment in a bucket of water and give her an all over rubdown. I'll bet she'd LOVE it.




Thing that she enjoys - song: Criminal World, artist: David Bowie, album: Let's Dance

And then I'll lead her on the ground

I am working on halter and lead training my little filly, Yalla! She has doubled in size since birth so I need for her to be extremely manageable because I don't want to get hurt by her. She is still a little resistant about haltering, but every time I put it on, I see improvement. She throws her head up and down right when I am getting the halter on and, because it's so heavy, I worry about the brass fittings hitting her. I guess the more I do it, the better she'll accept it. I have had to adjust the halter out two holes now since I first started putting it on her.

When I have a butt rope on her, she leads like a charm, even if I don't use it, but if I take it off, she refuses to budge! Any ideas? Hopefully, this will work itself out. Meanwhile, I guess I'll lead her two handed. lol

This photo was a few weeks ago, before she really started darkening up on her back.

My how she's changed since that photo! Yalla! is almost two months old! She's over two hundred pounds now and her upper body is turning chocolate brown. She's getting wild markings now- goggles around her eyes and her muzzle is all bare. Every scrape mark grows in with black or chocolate brown hair. Even her belly is turning chocolatey. Her dorsal stripe is blending more into her coat too. Notice the blackish tint to her backside and forearms in the next photo? She has a fifty percent chance of being gray or not gray and right now I'm betting on her being a dark horse.

Isn't she funny looking though? Now I know why they shave the foal's head and neck to the chest, so that it blends in better. I think her scraped knees are funny too, just like a kid!

I decided to bling up Annie's and Yalla!'s halters. I bought some rhinestone Christmas ribbon and glued it to their halters. I only put the ribbon across the nose and on the cheek pieces because of the adjustable straps on the poll, throat, and under the nose. It was so easy but I think it turned out kind of neat.

Notice how Yalla's mane is still standing straight up with a just few curls here and there. You can see in this picture how she needs her halter adjusted down again. Just think, I wondered if she'd ever grow big enough to wear it! hahaha!

Hmmm, Annie has dark bald spots on her face just like Yalla! Crazy! Her halter is decorated with the same ribbon as Yalla!'s but the rhinestones catch the light differently all the time. Here's a photo from last week. She pulled the fly mask off a few minutes later. Oh well! But you can just about make out how much she's nicked up and changing colors.I don't see Yalla! napping so much any more but I did catch her laying down today. She has always preferred to lay in manure piles and she's still doing it. She thought about getting up when I walked up to her but I sat down next to her (not in the manure, though) and gently pulled her head down. She closed her eyes and slept with her head in my lap.

And then I'll lead her on the ground -song: Don't bring me down, artist: David Bowie covering The Pretty Things, album: Pinups

I'm chameleon

Yalla! is starting to change color. But is seems to be concentrating on one side of her back. It's beginning to appear grayish smoky brown in certain light. It looks like an overlong saddle blanket mark. Isn't it strange?The other side hasn't changed from the light brown that it's always been. She looks mangy here, doesn't she?

All of her many scraps are turning black - it's either skin or black hair, depending on the location.She has lost all the hair around her eyes and muzzle now and her skin is all black there too. Is she going to turn all dark like her daddy? Or will she shed out to gray in the next year or two like her mom? I wonder.

I'm chameleon - song: The Bewlay Brothers, artist: David Bowie, album: Space Oddity