Cookie had a romance with Scotch Bar Man in June and we are happy to announce today’s ultrasound showed she is indeed in foal. So we will be expecting a large bundle of joy in mid-May of next year. Scotch has really nice conformation and a great temperament. He is also homozygous for black/tobiano so we are expecting a dark colored, colored foal. If you followed the story of Cookie losing her foal last year then raising a “foster son” for 6 months you will understand how happy, yet anxious we are about this new foal. We’ll keep you posted.

After two years and lots of patience one of our little foster mares, Spice, has been adopted along with another one of her acquaintances from Spirit Horse Equine Rescue, Copper. She arrived frightened of everything (including people), a scrawny youngster and left as a beautiful, outgoing, confident mare. I was so proud of her when she got right into the horse trailer to leave. We will really miss her but she has a great opportunity to help others as she is being adopted by someone who does Life Coaching and Equine Assisted Coaching. Her “sister” Sugar is still here and actually is doing just fine without her. Hopefully she’ll come out of her shell more as time goes on but she has always been more cautious/wary than Spice so she may end up being a “permanent foster” here.

It’s been quite a summer having both a litter of puppies and a foal to watch grow up and become more independent. Foster has been here since May 3rd. He has been eating grain and hay on his own, drinking water from buckets and nursing less. He leads fairly well and stands for grooming and the farrier. Lately at times he and Cookie would even be a pasture apart from each other (but a gate opened in between) and they were fine not being right by each other. Foster also had become good friends with my gelding, Nick.

Seeing how he was getting more independent his owners felt it was time to wean him and take him back home. On Friday we loaded Cookie in their trailer and in a short time Foster jumped in with her and they were off to Foster’s owners’ farm. Cookie stayed there with him all weekend to help him with his transition and tonight she came back home, her job done. She didn’t have a problem leaving there but now she has been galloping all over our pastures whinnying and looking for him. Nick was calling for him (and probably Cookie) Friday night until quite late so Nick had to wean from Foster, too.

I know it will get better with time but right now we are all sad to have come to an end of life with Foster. Fortunately he is only 5 miles away and we can visit him. Plus through this experience we have made new friends. Maybe some day we will have a foal of our own to raise here. Thanks to Foster our experience with raising him has eased the pain of our loss of our own foal for both Cookie and ourselves and we’ve learned a lot.

If you hadn’t read the story about Foster the original post is here: http://dunnsmarshlabs.com/bbfarmblog/2010/05/foster-story-about-a-foal/

Sugar and Spice, our foster ponies/mini horses, would love to have permanent homes. They enjoy attention and both come up to the fence immediately when people come to visit. Spice can be haltered and lead around, stands nicely for the farrier and can be touched pretty much anywhere if you move slowly.

Sugar is gaining more confidence but still hasn’t had the halter actually fastened on her, I can slip it over her nose but that’s it so far. She is very bright and will take direction from me without being haltered including getting on the pedestal which is pretty amazing considering how fearful she was a year ago.

The best thing for them would be to go to a home with patience who does not put pressure on them. They can be separated and adopted separately (which actually might be best). They do fine with regular sized horses as well as with our mini donkeys so they could be a pasture mate for a lonesome horse.

They are very easy keepers. All they require is a thin flake of hay each evening right now and a few hours of pasture during the day (they cannot be on a rich pasture 24/7 as they could develop issues such as founder or colic besides getting too fat).

They are able to be stalled but they prefer being outside so we have a “dry lot” with a run in shed for them. Even in the winter last year they preferred being out there and only were in the barn in the most bitter weather. They would make a wonderful project for a 4H member.
They are available through Spirit Horse Equine Rescue but contact me if you have questions about them.

Foster, the foal that our mare Cookie is fostering, will be 2 months old tomorrow! Cookie is doing a wonderful job mothering/raising him and he is huge now. When he first came to us he could literally walk right under Cookie’s belly. He is about 6 or 7 inches taller now.

Foster is like a clean slate waiting to be written on. He is very curious and has to taste almost anything that is in his environment. His owners come often and Foster has been introduced to many things over the last few weeks — having a halter put on and learning to be led around and walk nicely, having a towel draped and rubbed over him, having his feet picked up and cleaned, being brushed, moving away from pressure, doing a little circling, eating small amounts of grain, grass and hay, etc. He will be here until he is weaned. The timing will be whatever is best for him. IN the meantime we are really enjoying him.

Our two little foster horses, Sugar and Spice, have been with us for one year now and we have made good progress with them, especially with Spice. Today the farrier that trims the horses for Spirit Horse Equine Rescue, Stacy, came out to trim Spice. Spice was a very good girl and let Stacy trim all 4 of her hooves in about 15 minutes! Sugar is still not at the point where we can pick up and clean her hooves and Stacy said they actually look fine right now so no hurry. I don’t want to traumatize her by tranquilizing her and risk ruining the bit of trust she does have in us so we will be patient and keep working with her with the goal of having her trimmed sometime this summer.

Our paint mare, Cookie, was due to foal in late April/early May. We had originally planned the breeding 2 years ago and last year she was bred to a handsome Quarter Horse stallion, Obviously Wincredible. We were so excited when the first and then later a second ultrasound showed she was indeed expecting and thoughts of our pending new arrival are what helped us get through the long winter and Kent’s recovery from his heart attack.

As the first possible due date arrived we started checking on Cookie late at night, in the middle of the night, early in the a.m., had friends stopping by, etc. We could feel and then see the foal moving. He would get hiccoughs which shook Cookie’s whole body and made me laugh. We were so eager to finally meet him. Foal watch continued for two weeks. Early the morning of May 3rd we went down to the barn, opened the door to Cookie’s stall and there he was, a big perfect stud colt, no movement, no breathing, still damp and warm. I tried to get him breathing but no luck. Cookie was nudging him and would even touch him with her foot gently as if to wake him up. We were stunned to say the least. This just wasn’t happening after all our waiting. We called the vet who came out and said the foal may have been in the birth canal too long (because he was so big) and the cord compressed too long depriving him of oxygen. At least Cookie was basically fine except for a few small tears from the delivery. We and Cookie were heartbroken. The vet kindly suggested we move the foal outside where Cookie would be spending the day so she could grieve for him. Cookie would not leave his side and occasionally would nudge him. We were in tears.

I called a couple of people who had been helping us watch over Cookie during the day while we were at work. Shortly after that one of them got a call from a neighbor whose mare was rejecting (and trying to harm) her 4 day old foal. She had to be caught and tied up in order to let him nurse even for a short time but now she wouldn’t let them catch her. That friend suggested they call us. When I got a call asking if we would consider letting our mare foster a rejected foal I was still numb from our loss but how could I say no? So they brought the foal over.

Somehow I managed to think through how to introduce this foal to Cookie so she would accept it. I had my husband and one of the other foal’s owners carry Cookie’s dead foal out the barnyard gate and out of her sight. Once he was out there they rubbed towels on him then rubbed them on the live foal. After that they brought the live foal back through that same gate. I was holding on to Cookie. She must have heard or smelled the foal coming as she picked up her head and started whinnying as they came around the corner. I wish I could know her exact thoughts at the moment. I wonder if she thought they had revived her foal yet I think when she smelled him she knew he wasn’t hers but made the choice to accept him. He was the same color and sex as her deceased foal but even at 4 days of age he was smaller. I held onto her while he tried to nurse. He was a bit afraid of her since his own mom had bit him and picked him up by his back and flung him against a wall but once he tasted her milk he became more confident. I rubbed his back then rubbed his scent on Cookie’s nose. After that as far as she was concerned he was her foal. When she accepted him and let him nurse we all had tears streaming down our faces. This was going to be a healing thing for us and Cookie.

After a few days (and a few suggestions from my Facebook friends) the foal was named “Foster”. He is growing and thriving. His owners come over daily to visit and we are starting to halter him and teach him to lead by walking him behind Cookie. That is a 3 person job right now but getting better! He already has 4 teeth with 3 more (including a molar) coming in so he is already nibbling small amounts of grass, hay and grain.
I still have periods of tears when I spend time with him and Cookie but I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and have to accept that this was meant to be. I am glad I have a foal to watch grow and to be around even if it is for just a few months. Something good has come out of a very sad event.

I know I haven’t updated about our little foster horses in quite some time. The last couple of months progress had seemed to be slower with the two foster mares but now, in looking back, having to put them in a stall most nights since December has further helped socialize them. They have gotten used to a routine and gotten to watch the other horses and mini donkeys being handled by us. They have gotten used to all sorts of different noises and activities while inside and we’ve been able to go in the stall with them and touch/brush them more.

Two weekends ago it was a bit warmer out and my husband and I each took one of the fosters to work with. He took Sugar, the least confident of the two, into the stall and just hung out with her. He had a halter and lead rope with him and played with having her touch it and giving her treats when she did.

I took Spice, the bolder of the two, who I have been able to halter now, into another stall. I worked on teaching Spice to be tied and it went really well. She basically showed no resistance to being tied, even stepped on the rope and did not freak out. I was able to brush her and touch her all over her body and legs and even pick up her front feet and for the first time actually clean out those hooves. Then I led her out of the barn and walked around with her. Because she was doing so well I asked Kent to try walking her as he hasn’t handled her much and to my surprise she did great.

The next weekend I played with her a bit more and decided to start doing more of the Parelli 7 games with her. A good description of what these games are can be found here. Well little Spice has made huge strides in the past 2 weeks. She now moves sideways with slight pressure, has learned the “yo yo game” where you ask the horse to back away from you then come back to you and the “circle game”. She even trotted on the circling a bit and tonight we tried “the squeeze game” for the very first time — success! Tonight in the pasture she walked up to me and let me put the halter on her then lead her around the pasture even with the other horses present.

The “polite and passive persistence practiced in the proper position” (a Pat Parelli quote) has really paid off with this little horse. Yes, we could have lasso’d her, tied her to a post and forced her to accept our attention but doing it a more natural way has built her confidence and eased her fears. She is doing well enough that an adopter could take her and move on from here with her nicely. Sugar will take a bit more time but she does seek attention, allows some touching/brushing and nicely takes treats so eventually she will come around.

I went to “Savvy Support Club” at the Horse First Farm last night. This is held once a month and a chance for people who work with their horses using Natural Horse Training methods to meet and share information. Last night there was a speaker, Anke Johnson, who was to speak on “Squashing Fear and Building Confidence”. The talk was not at all what I expected but I took a lot away from it. Anke is a life coach but as she said, she can’t motivate any of us to do anything, it has to come from within and what she does is help people find for themselves what motivates them.

Things We Fear

Anke had us draw a large circle then divide it into 8 pieces (like a pie) then label each piece on the outer circle with something that we fear.
She then had us rate each area with where we are from zero to 10 with zero being the worst. Examples for me on the circle were “fear of injury”, “fear of not being in shape” enough to ride better, “not enough time” to do what I need then what I want, “losing skills/forward progress” with my horse due to winter weather and not enough time , etc. She then pointed out how if you improve even one baby step in one area you will see progress in the other. Note that at least two of my pieces of the pie related to “not enough time”.

Then she asked people how much time they could give this week to make one small step in just one of those areas. She asked one person how long it would take to make one small step where she wanted to improve (riding bridleless at a canter was her goal). She said she needed 2 hours this week to work on it. Anke asked her if she could divide this time into 30 min. slots but she felt that 30 min. was not enough time to catch and groom her horse let alone ride him. Anke then asked her how she could make that easier. After thinking she said if one of the workers on the farm would leave her horse in his stall she would have saved time by not having to catch him. Anke then asked her when she would work on this goal and made her pick a day and time. She then asked her to have a support person that would help her achieve her goal and someone to hold her responsible for taking this time with her horse. She then is to e-mail or call that person and say “I did it”.

Finding Time

I started to relate this to my lack of time when she asked me if I had 5 min. three times per day to work on one of my goals. When I hesitated and said maybe 5 min. twice a day she said she could see that would be too big of a step for this week. She assigned me to take 5 minutes 3 times in the next week and by next Thursday I am to e-mail her and tell her that I did it. Neat system and although I can’t afford her classes or coaching I am definitely going to try to break things down in my life to smaller steps so they don’t look so impossible.

Anke also mentioned that often with time management issues it is procrastination or not prioritizing. I know my biggest issue is time management and it affects everything I do which causes me stress. Finding a few extra minutes is not easy so when I find them it is a blessing and I want to make the most of them. So this a.m. the class I attend on Friday a.m.s was cancelled. I have a 40 min. drive each way to get there. I now have an extra 2 hours and 20 min. in my morning! I already have the barn cleaned, the hay thrown down from the hay mow to the stalls (enough for the next week!), was able to work with grooming the foster horses a little bit, another row of snow and ice chipped off my patio/deck area and my weekly blog post written (one of my goals is to write more often) and now I have the hot tub open and running waiting for me to finish this post as a special treat for myself (it is a “balmy” 30 degrees out today but no wind and the tub is well over one hundred degrees). Wow I feel great and it is only 10 a.m.!!

So where can you find some “stolen moments” to catch up on something in your life or do something you really want to? I hope you have success in finding some this week.

Our part of Wisconsin got totally shut down by a huge blizzard that started 12/8 and went through yesterday. All schools and the university were closed, all government offices were closed, the clinic I work at was closed. We were totally stranded due to huge drifts in our driveway until someone could come last night to plow us out.

My a.m. started when I tried to turn the dogs out about 7 a.m. and could not open either of our doors to the outside due to huge drifts (which you will see in the photos). We finally had to take out a pane of glass on the storm door so I could climb through it to the other side, shovel out around the door and let the dogs out. The snow is extremely heavy and wet so I could only get it shoveled out enough to open the door wide enough for us to squeeze through. My husband, Kent, can do NO shoveling as unfortunately Kent had a heart attack last Friday so we aren’t going to be shovelled out for quite some time I’m afraid.

To get to the barn I had to walk on the edge of the fence due to hip deep drifts and since no gates would open had to climb over the fence. Walking through the hip deep drifts was too strenuous for Kent right now so he managed to get into the hay mow (which is level by our driveway) then I lowered the stairs so he could climb down into the barn. We had to kick snow out of the way to slide open one side of the barn door.

Here are some photos from the farm showing the amount of snow we are dealing with.

Now the sky is a magnificent shade of blue today and the winds have started dying down but it is only zero out with wind chills in the minus 20s so winter has hit us hard in a very short period of time.