Belle's New Horse

My friend Belle has bought her first horse! And after a lot of looking, it turned out to be one that was very close to home. 

Sultanna.

It made sense when I thought about it. Belle's kids had absolutely fallen in love with Sultanna and the feeling was very much returned. Sultanna was so gentle with them and enjoyed their company.

She is the perfect "first horse" for someone. And so Tim agreed to sell Sultanna to Belle.

He has been helping not only Belle but also the kids learn how to care for a horse and to ride. They have learned to longe her and to tack and untack her safely. The indoor arena is getting heavy daily use right now, something that I know makes Tim happy. (He has always loved it when people come out to the barn.)

Belle and her kids have even gone on some rides through the pastures with Tim on Eazy, Belle on Sultanna, and one of the kids riding Hokey. (Boy, were the kids excited to tell me about THAT!)

It's a win-win situation for everyone, and I am thrilled for Sultanna, for Belle and her family, and for Tim (and me) that Sultanna is still around and not going anywhere.

Was I surprised? I sure was. But in retrospect, it's perfect.

Sultanna's Back

 Sultanna is back home! She visited her boyfriend for over three months; hopefully we will have a baby on the ground next spring.

I'd been running errands and had just gotten my Covid and flu shots, and since it was a lovely day, decided to head out to the barn.

With only three horses on the property, Tim has had to mow the pastures. I've been with him twelve years and only once do I remember him ever mowing them. A telltale sign that there are not many horses in the pastures at the moment.

Those mowed pastures were far more accessible for me, but I'd forgotten to bring my walker and just walking from my car to the gate was difficult. Maybe I will try to visit Abby's grave this weekend.

Sultanna poked her head out of the old barn when I whistled, but she simply stood there and watched me. No nicker of greeting, no trotting up, nothing. Just standing in the barn door.

I probably should not have been surprised. As the lead mare, everyone followed Abby. And she always came up to see me and so the rest came along, too. Without her there, neither Sultanna, Hokey, or Easy were interested in seeing me.

Not gonna lie, I was more than a little crushed. I'd hoped Sultanna would've been happy to see me, maybe even whinnied, and come up for a visit. But in retrospect, why should she? At Tim's request, I only gave his horses treats on occasion. They got scritchings and pettings, but rarely anything to eat. There really was not a lot of motivation for them to come up to the gate.

I shed some tears as I drove home, but I also thought a lot about how bonded Abby had been to me, from our very first encounter until our last days together. She was always happy to see me, and she enjoyed the people I sometimes brought out with me (especially the Pony Pals.) Not once did she ever pin her ears at me, kick or threaten to, or show anything except, "I'm glad you're here!"

How very lucky I was to have her.

I Got Sultanna & Two Socks!

My Vintage Club Poppy and Ollie shipped on November 25, the day after Thanksgiving. Day after day, though, I got this message when I checked the tracking for them.

Finally after twelve days and no changes in status, I called Breyer and asked if they would check on my order. Their explanation didn't make sense to me, but I was just out of the hospital and still recovering from those high doses of IV meds and a little muddled.

A box appeared the very next day - Poppy and Ollie were finally here! I was hoping for the alabaster set (it was a gambler's choice) but the models on the box were all bay, the color I really did not care for.

When I pulled them out of the box, I could see through the bubble wrap that clearly these were not alabaster. I was a little disappointed, but were they bay or were they palomino?

So. Hard. To. Tell!

PALOMINO! And I instantly fell in love - they were beautiful in that colorway.

And when I turned the foal around to inspect her face,

that star on her forehead looked just like Two Socks'!

So, of course they have been named Sultanna and Two Socks!

Christmas Card of the Day

Friesians!

A Saturday Learning Trip

Teacher Daughter Lisa recently recently invited her students and their families to join her at the barn for a voluntary Saturday learning trip.  She wanted them to look at the horses and Tim's vehicle collection to learn about animal adaptations as part of a larger unit she was teaching.

Tim and I came out to help. He wrangled the horses for her and I was asked to greet families as they arrived, show them where to park, and direct them into the tack room.

Lisa said she expected only eight to ten families to come - it was a Saturday during the holidays and very cold outside. Easy peasy! I figured I'd be back inside the new barn where it was warm very soon. Hahahahahahahaha! Was I ever wrong!

 

Sixteen cars and trucks later,

I had double parked as many cars as I could and then had to park the last couple of cars on the lane!

After waiting around to be sure there were no more stragglers, I finally went inside to find the tackroom portion of the tour was done and that they were in the arena looking at the horses.

Lisa had let Tim choose who to bring up for the demonstration; Sultanna and Two Socks were perfect.

Sultanna was very patient and gentle throughout and not at all upset at being separated from the rest of the herd. (Judging by the neighing coming from the pasture, we could not say the same about them!)

My favorite part was when Tim put mom and daughter head to tail and then swished Sultanna's tail by hand to show how they kept flies off each other in the summer.

Most of the children and their families had never been around a horse before and they were riveted. 

The girl holding Two Socks is Tim's granddaughter. Her other grandmother, Shirley, was a friend of mine when I was in 4-H and she still is riding and showing Quarter Horses.

With two sets of horsey grandparents, Leibelee has already gotten a lot of hands-on horsey experience and Tim told me that she and Two Socks have a special bond. It showed.

At the end of this segment of the lesson, Lisa invited the children to give the horses a small treat. She and Tim helped those who were shy. Sultanna and Two Socks were rock stars with the kids. 

Just as I didn't get any photos of the tackroom discussion, I didn't get any of the vehicle tour. (I did hear Tim loudly offer to put any students who had late or missing homework into the jail wagon. A few of the kids voluntarily took him up on that!)

The last part of the  learning trip was to go outside and see who had been whinnying all that time we were in the new barn.

Lisa had saved some treats for Abby, Hokey, and Dolly, and some of the kids who had hung back inside felt a little braver with a fence between them and the horses and stepped up to hand out a treat or two.

It may have been cold, but it was absolutely the best morning. Tim was so happy afterwards - he loves to have people come out to the barn and invited Lisa to do it again next year. He even had ideas on things he has and could bring out that would show other adaptations.

You may be wondering, why not just take a field trip during a school day? Unfortunately, there is a severe bus driver shortage in Indiana and so field trips are limited in the number that you can take, when you can take them, where you can go, and how long they can last as a result. 

So, Lisa did some adapting herself by giving up a Saturday morning during the holiday season so that her students would have such a unique learning opportunity.

Christmas Card of the Day

A little bit of a nod to Sultanna and Two Socks!

"I've Never Seen a Horse"

Think back to the first time you saw a horse in real life (if you can - I can't!)  Do you remember how you felt? The awe, the joy, the surprise at the size, and more?

I discovered that a young man who goes to our church had never, ever seen a horse and invited him to come out and meet Abby.

This is him seeing a horse for the very first time in his life.

 

And this is me, enjoying showing him the horses.

When they came out to the barn they were still in church clothes, but they didn't mind the chance at getting a little dirty in order to see the herd.

He was so excited and took a lot of selfies with Sultanna.

She figured out real fast who was holding the carrot bag, too. 

Tim was working in the old barn and came out to visit for a while. (He loves to have folks come out and see the horses.)

It was a lovely evening and I was thrilled to introduce someone to his first horse. They were gentle and friendly - the perfect group of horses to meet when you have never seen one before.

(Many thanks to Craig who took all those photos for me.)

Bonus Post - Mama & Baby

Bonus post! A photo of Sultanna and Two Socks that I took yesterday.

We Have a Name!

 Sultanna's filly has a name!

I think Tim was a little disappointed that I didn't get the reference to the film, Dances with Wolves

but he explained that it was the name of the wolf that befriends Daniel Day Lewis.

Two Socks, it is! (That's Tim looking her over.)

Returning to Normal

Life at the barn is settling down and and beginning to return to normal. Tim is home and thrilled with Sultanna's baby, and I think we are both relieved that this foal is healthy and thriving.

She continues to be a very bold girl - look at how she pushes her way up and nudges me twice in that video. 

During their time together, Abby and Dolly have become more friendly. (Doesn't Dolly have the coolest facial markings?)

Hokey is back in with Abby and Dolly, and yesterday while I was out in the field visiting with the mares, he was hanging out at the gate watching Sultanna and Sweet Girl.

I made sure to spend a little time with him and he enjoyed a really good neck scritching.

For those wondering, Abby's eye is fine; the antibiotic ointment did the trick and I see no weeping down her face, redness, or cloudiness in her eye.

She's herd alpha (here she is warning Dolly away from me as she comes up to visit) although with Sultanna in another pasture and unable to back her up, Hokey may rise to the alpha position.

As soon as we have an official name for Sultanna's filly, I will let ya'll know. 

Stay 'tooned!

Sweet Girl Day 3

Several of you have mentioned that you are suddenly unable to post comments on blog entries. I am having trouble with that myself and am working on the problem - I suspect Blogger changed something in an update. Stay 'tooned! 

On to the baby pics! Today's pics are from Dolly's owner and model horse hobbyist, Kelsey Kramer. The photos I took are not nearly as good as Kelsey's - thanks for letting me use them.

The "grandmares" would really like a chance to love on their new little grandfilly.

Afternoon snack.

She is starting to fill out and grow already.

Soft noses together.

Sweet Girl seems to be bold and inquisitive. Listen to her mama nicker at her as she canters towards Kelsey..

I'll head out to the barn in just a bit for the morning check. Can't wait to see this little sweetie again. 

She has my heart.

Sweet Girl's Second Day

Sweet Girl's second day of life started off snowy and chilly.  (That's April in Indiana - temps in the 80s are expected later this week.)

Sultanna, Sweet Girl, and Hokey were out in the pasture when I arrived early in the morning.

Like the old barn and the loafing shed, the blue barn can be opened to allow the horses to come and go as they wish.  I could tell that it had been used overnight.

Hokey has been told to keep his distance, and that continued on into the foal's second day.

During my afternoon visit, Sultanna continued to tell him to stay away.

She even took her baby to the far side of the pasture when Hokey strayed closer than Sultanna was comfortable with.

When Snickerdoodle, Sultanna's brother was born, Tim invited Lisa's students to come up with a name for him and Snickerdoodle was the winning name. Lisa sent Tim another list for this baby yesterday.

The list she sent was heavily influenced by a book the class is reading together. No name has been given yet, but in the meantime, I am calling her Sweet Girl.

More baby pics to come, so stay 'tooned!