Double Birthdays!

Two years ago today, I took the plunge and brought home this gal:

My lovely Abby, rescued from a terrible situation in Beech Grove, Indiana. (Abbs was one of the nineteen neglected horses on the property where she was found; sadly, one horse was too far gone to survive and had to be euthanized.)

 Since then she's enjoyed an easy life of carrots, candy canes, fresh grass, and the ever popular, um, er, how to say it politely...  "backside" rub.

As we were hauling her from the Indiana Horse Rescue in Frankfort, my cell phone rang. This little cutie had just been born!

Corinne, Kyle and Ashley's daughter.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Corinne!!

We have the quads who were born this year, but I have always thought of Corinne and Abby as "the doubles."

Such a Good Mama & a Name

Dolly may be a first time mom, but she sure is a good one!

Gingersnap now has a real name - Sultana's Surprise. Very fitting considering where Tim was when she was born and the fact that she was a month early!

Sunny Saturday

It was a warm, sunny Saturday, so I took my mother out to meet Gingersnap this morning. Dolly brought her baby right up to the fence as soon as she saw me.

 She has the oddest little spots of red on her chest.

Dolly was quite interested in the candy canes I had in my pocket, to the point where I had some problems getting pictures as she would thrust her nose in front of the camera.

We ran into Tim while we visited the horses. He was very pleased with the baby, and confirmed a couple of things that I had suspected - that Ginger is small and doesn't cavort and run around as much as a new foal should. Certainly part of being born too early. Still, she seems healthy otherwise and is doing well.

"Mom!! She's Touching Me!"

I touched Gingersnap for the first time yesterday!

Since mares can be protective of their babies, I approached Dolly cautiously and with treats in my hand. I love how her foal is watching me, too!

Carefully I reached out my hand. Dolly didn't seem to mind, but you can tell by her ears that Gingersnap is very aware that I am close behind her.

 Contact!

I could feel her muscles bunch under my hand as soon as she felt my touch.

And she quickly moved out of my reach. I didn't follow her or try to touch her again - there's plenty of time to get to know her!

Gingersnap's Second Day

Tim asked me to check on Dolly's baby today, something I was glad to do. Someone had moved mama and daughter to the indoor arena.

Why, hello!

Investigating her environment (including Mom's manure!)

Such a cutie pie!

Surprise in the Stable!

Yesterday Loni surprised me with this picture of Dolly's foal, a foal who is nearly a month early!

Isn't she cute? And such an unusual color - red dun? A silver gene manifesting itself? That red mane with the lighter coat color is unusual.

Apparently, Dolly gave birth out in the pasture yesterday afternoon and Alice Louks (who lives by the old barn) saw the foal and called Loni in a panic to let her know the baby had been born.

Napping in the shelter of mama's legs.

I love this shot of her just after she's nursed.

Tim's out of town - in Oman meeting with the Sultan of Oman as part of his work as an entymologist. He wasn't expecting a foal to arrive while he was gone, so it was a bit of a scramble around the barn yesterday afternoon.

Brandon Keene and Travis Horton rounded up Dolly and her baby and got them into the new barn and a clean stall, away from the other horses and the colder weather that had returned.

I can't wait to hear what Tim names her. In the meantime, I am calling her Gingersnap due to that red color.

Doubly Thoughtful Students

I had a surprise when I unlocked and opened my classroom door this morning - a piece of paper had been shoved underneath it and was lying on the carpet.

 It was from three girls who had been in my room the past two years and are now sixth graders at East Tipp. (I think they must've been in the building the previous evening for kindergarten registration.)

Dear Mrs. Isenbarger,

We really miss you over here at East Tipp! Thank you for all you've done for us and to prepare us for middle school. We miss our classmates and buddies. We really miss classics on Friday. I wish we could see you when the 5th graders came to visit! I think we are speaking for all the former multiagers.  Please continue to do what you have been. Please tell the class we said "hi." Is it all right if we come and visit our buddies?

Thank you!
Sophie A.
Jessica G.
Emily P.

They want to visit their buddies? Wow. The buddies will LOVE that. I spoke with Mrs. Fields about their request and she is going to work with Mr. Buss, East Tipp's principal, to see if it can be arranged. These girls will be so happy! (And so will their buddies.)

And then, just before Math, I got a second dose of thoughtfulness, this time from my current students. TM (the gal who has already gifted me with two model horses from her collection), LW, and AD approached me with huge smiles  and obviously concealing something behind their backs.

A book on horse breeds from the Hershey book fair! (And actually, I had just bought the same book to send to Trinity!) These three kiddos pooled their money to buy me a book, and tailored it to an out-of-school interest I have. 

Talk about sweet and thoughtful children. Lucky me to have them in my classroom.

A Crabby Abby

I love my mare, but I am not blind to the fact that she is sassy and that she can be a bit of a diva. And I freely admit that I contributed to the diva aspect - she always gets the best and most treats of the herd. (She also gets the first and the last treat. Yep. Diva.)

This morning Lisa and I went out early to the barn for a visit before church. Hokey was in a far part of the pasture away from the other horses, and did not seem to want to walk around the old barn and come up. Instead, he stayed at the far gate and looked pathetic.

It worked.

Lisa took pity on him and walked down the lane to ensure he, too, got a carrot.

Naturally, Abby followed the food.

 She tagged along, right at Lisa's left hip.

 Hopeful that Lisa might slip her something to nibble.

 Then Diablo decided that maybe Abby had the right idea.

 And she followed a ways.

Before deciding it wasn't worth the slog through the mud and turning around and coming back by me.

Leaving Abby once again as the first in line for treats.

 But, wait!! Lisa slipped under the fence away from Abby!

 No longer able to be in range of the treats, Abby turned back.

 She was not happy about missing out on "her" rightful treats.

 Not only are her ears back, look at those nostrils! They're also pulled back in disgust.

A good nip on Diablo's flank further indicated her crabbiness.

But she wasn't crabby for much longer. Lisa returned and before we headed back to the car, everyone got one last nibble. 

Except for Abby. 

She got two.