Oh how one forgets in 4 short years! Bringing baby home

[wingnut]

On Saturday, I brought home my new weanling filly. She's doing very well all things considered. I generally go out 4 or 5 times a day and spend a few minutes talking with her, rubbing her all over, doing some short walks on lead. In the morning, she's let out of her stall while 3 (of 4) of my mares are in their stalls eating their morning grain (which I restarted this week as part of my "winter care" process).

I'm getting quite the workout out with my own patience! You'd think that I'd remember how these things work after only 4 years since my last weanling came home. As a result, I find myself trying to remember what I did back then. Things like:

• should I be letting her out so soon? she did run toward me after being in the dry lot for a couple of hours while the mares were in the pasture. She didn't come *to* me and I had to follow her into a stall to be able to get a lead/halter on her.
• This led me to think maybe I want her to be a tad lonely so that when *I* come out, she's happy to see me.
• Eating grain is hit or miss. She's eating plenty of hay and drinking adequate water. I'm so used to my girls devouring their grain.

I haven't been able to get any nice pics of her but I know if I don't share, I'll hear about it...LOL!

Under that fuzzy coat, the hair is very dark. Her mane seems to be black except for where its sun bleached. Her tail is multi-colored, thick and long! Her eyes are not a deep, dark brown...but with a lightness to them. Hard to describe. I simply adore that head and those little ears. Watching her move when she's trotting around and that tail is a flagging up high is the stuff dreams are made of.

I'd love to see pics of horses who looked like this as a weanling to see what they grew up to look like! Please share! Help me get through the wait until spring when I can get a good look for myself.

ETA: I forgot to tell her name! Well her barn name, anyway. I'm calling her Ginger for now. Still working on her registration name. Feel free to make suggestions (name must include White Tails and Bonus)

And here's another pic I took this afternoon:

 

[MyMiniGal]

She has a very cute face! Love her head and ears. Congratulations!

 

[targetsmom]

Congrats! She is adorable! Love the head. Not eating her grain would be a red flag to me that she should be treated for ulcers. If you don't have Ulcergard you can get generic Ranitidine at Wall-Mart and treat with that. If you have alfalfa in any form, I would suggest that too. Feeding her hay as often as you can will help too.

If you are keeping her in to isolate her because she is new, I am not sure that will be too effective if the horses are all sharing the same space anyway. She may be happier (less stressed) if she can be turned out with at least one other mini. I always start with the lowest in rank and go from there.

 

[MiniNHF]

Cant wait to see her "un-furry"

I love being around the younger ones, reminds me of when I had young TB babies running around.

Dont really have any "furry" pictures when he was younger, but here is a baby weanling and adult pictures of my boy to give you an idea of what they grow up to. Ive seen some that turn out completely different then what they were as babies and in a good way, but especially color wise

/monthly_01_2013/post-44792-0-21601600-1359657188.jpg

/monthly_01_2013/post-44792-0-14249800-1359657133.jpg

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

I would let them out as much as possible. It help strengthen muscles and ligaments which is important for development.

 

[Carolyn R]

Y'ep, she's a cutie. I ditto on the hay, alfalfa, some grazing if possible and the generic ulcer meds. IMHO, skip the grain for a couple weeks, if she has the alfalfa (soaked preferably) and the other grass and hay accessible, she will be fine for 2-3 weeks till she settles in.

 

[wingnut]

Thanks everyone. The hay I use is an alfalfa grass mix. I have alfalfa cubes that I can soak an add. I'm also going to ask my husband to help me put up our small round pen. It's too small for training (need more panels) but would be good to allow grazing. And I'll talk to my vet about her recommendations for a stomach soother/ulcer med.

I thought I'd give it another couple of days before I put her with my mare who's at the herd bottom. I may try tomorrow for a few minutes to see how it goes.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

When introducing a new horse I always try to let them share a fence line for a bit to let them work out some of the pecking order issues without anyone getting hurt. If you wanted to make the intro a bit slower you could maybe use the panels from your small round pen to make a small pen attached to the pasture. Just a thought. She sure a cute little tyke, congratulations.