LOL!! Oh dear you lot always manage to make me laugh!! I texted Cathy telling her to check that there were no chickens/baby piglets/small boys reported missing - no, all present and correct!!
With the pics of her laying down, Cathy happened to be watching and saw her give a couple of minor 'jerks' so she rushed out of the lorrry - just in case! - but Nutty was just dreaming. So Cathy grabbed the camera for the pics, yes she may look huge but you can just see that there isn't any bag. By this time in ALL her past pregnancies Nutty always has a huge bag and that plus her normal huge size makes her seem to 'hobble' walk during the last week, even causing her to occasionally catch/lock her left stifle as she turns to the right. No sign of either a bag nor any stifle problems so far this year???
Cassie, regarding tails most of the folk here will be horrified to learn that we do NOTHING!! All our horses live as near a totally natural life as possible - they are scruffy, dirty, greasy in general and their manes and tails are usually a tangled mess. The only ones that receive 'attention' are any that might be going to show and those mares who 'come in' on that month before foaling and the month or so afterwards. I do go round twice a year and chop off the ends of tails to a couple of inches above ground level. This year it has been the turn of the 7 mares over with Cathy and she has been hand picking out their manes and tails for them. They dont get groomed as we dont want to upset the balance of natural grease etc in their coats as they will soon go back to living the 'natural' life again, but as you can see from Nutty's coat, they do 'gleam' with natural health during the summer months. Cathy does do the odd scratch with a hairbrush along their backs/spines if she catches them having difficulty in 'reaching' an itchy spot - big tummies do get in the way of a good scratch sometimes! LOL!!
Nutty has an allergy to a special midge/fly/bug during August every year if allowed to live near a pond. She will rub her mane and the top of her tail like mad, no matter what we try to put on her, anti midge stuff wise. But by the end of August she has stopped and it all grows back again ready for the next August and none of her children have inherited the problem - thank goodness!!
None of the other mares seem to be developing any udder, so it looks that, unless they are all going to go well over time, little Vee is the only one who is going to produce a baby for us. She is the 'last' on our list to foal and is actually due (on her dates) next weekend, which is causing us a little concern, not from the foaling side of things, but from the 'companionship' side. We were so hoping that there would be a second foal to keep Vee's company for a while. The other two are now a month old and well ahead in their development, plus the fact that Vee can be a bit of 'protective' Momma and she and Narcotics have a love/hate relationship. I can see Vee's foal wandering too near to Narcotics when it is a couple of weeks old and Vee racing in to challenge Narcotics!! Or Wizz or Foxy will want to meet up with the new baby only to find that they are met with a small bay whirlwind of aggression for their trouble!! It will all take a bit of careful watching and management to get them all settled down again. Blessed are the brood mares! LOL!!
Have a great day my friends.
With the pics of her laying down, Cathy happened to be watching and saw her give a couple of minor 'jerks' so she rushed out of the lorrry - just in case! - but Nutty was just dreaming. So Cathy grabbed the camera for the pics, yes she may look huge but you can just see that there isn't any bag. By this time in ALL her past pregnancies Nutty always has a huge bag and that plus her normal huge size makes her seem to 'hobble' walk during the last week, even causing her to occasionally catch/lock her left stifle as she turns to the right. No sign of either a bag nor any stifle problems so far this year???
Cassie, regarding tails most of the folk here will be horrified to learn that we do NOTHING!! All our horses live as near a totally natural life as possible - they are scruffy, dirty, greasy in general and their manes and tails are usually a tangled mess. The only ones that receive 'attention' are any that might be going to show and those mares who 'come in' on that month before foaling and the month or so afterwards. I do go round twice a year and chop off the ends of tails to a couple of inches above ground level. This year it has been the turn of the 7 mares over with Cathy and she has been hand picking out their manes and tails for them. They dont get groomed as we dont want to upset the balance of natural grease etc in their coats as they will soon go back to living the 'natural' life again, but as you can see from Nutty's coat, they do 'gleam' with natural health during the summer months. Cathy does do the odd scratch with a hairbrush along their backs/spines if she catches them having difficulty in 'reaching' an itchy spot - big tummies do get in the way of a good scratch sometimes! LOL!!
Nutty has an allergy to a special midge/fly/bug during August every year if allowed to live near a pond. She will rub her mane and the top of her tail like mad, no matter what we try to put on her, anti midge stuff wise. But by the end of August she has stopped and it all grows back again ready for the next August and none of her children have inherited the problem - thank goodness!!
None of the other mares seem to be developing any udder, so it looks that, unless they are all going to go well over time, little Vee is the only one who is going to produce a baby for us. She is the 'last' on our list to foal and is actually due (on her dates) next weekend, which is causing us a little concern, not from the foaling side of things, but from the 'companionship' side. We were so hoping that there would be a second foal to keep Vee's company for a while. The other two are now a month old and well ahead in their development, plus the fact that Vee can be a bit of 'protective' Momma and she and Narcotics have a love/hate relationship. I can see Vee's foal wandering too near to Narcotics when it is a couple of weeks old and Vee racing in to challenge Narcotics!! Or Wizz or Foxy will want to meet up with the new baby only to find that they are met with a small bay whirlwind of aggression for their trouble!! It will all take a bit of careful watching and management to get them all settled down again. Blessed are the brood mares! LOL!!
Have a great day my friends.
ray
