Gracie's Mini Mommas' To Be Page- All done foaling! Five Healthy Foals!!

[Sandy B]

So here we go. SInce we do not have high speed service(only a wireless card) I can not add a live web cam, so I will have to use pictures instead. We have 5 mini mares dues to foal beginning with a 340 Due Date on April 25th until the last one due June 1. They are all bred to our AMHA 30.5" bay pinto homozygous tobiano stud Samis Zky Captain(SKY) who is sired by Alamos Buckaroos High Hat and out of Samis Sids Spirit Of The Dance who is sired by Lucky Four Rebels Regalaire.

The first mare due is a AMHA 13 year old 34" palomino mare- Lonesome Doves Fancy (FANCY) who is sired by Trios Manilla and out of Codys Lil Orphan Annie. Her last breeding date was 5/21/11, with a 340 due date of 4/25/12.

This mare has been shaping up slowly and as I would expect as normal, except now the last few days, she is bagging up a lot more quickly and her vulva has elongated and softened. We have a lot of tail switching the last 36 hours as well. However when I belly clipped her yesterday, I found that she had lice. Never in 35 years have I ever had a horse with lice. It looks like the "chewing" type of lice and even though it says its does not really work well, I gave her and her stall buddy Ivermectrin and today I bought a Topical application that is safe for lactating animals. You apply it like Frontline for dogs. So I am not sure if the tail swishing is from itching or baby discomfort.

 

[Sandy B]

More from Fancy

 

[Sandy B]

The second Mare due is AMHA 12 year old Silver Bay(I believe) Tobiano mare Sierras Electra 500 (LEXI) who is sired by Brewers Dynamo Fortune 500 and out of Firewalkers Fancy Girl who is by Willowbrooks Firewalker. Her last breeding date was 5/22/11, so her 340 due date is 4/26/12. She is the one who has been making up fast, udder wise and got her milk in (appeared like skim milk). Then a day later the skim milk once again turned to almost clear. Her bottom has yet to relax and she is still very round appearing to me. This mare might be a maiden. She is the only one expecting this year that has not had a foal before that I know of.

Here is Lexi

 

[Sandy B]

LEXI

 

[vickie gee]

Hooray, you made it here. And as told to you on the main forum you will feel so welcome. Glad you posted pictures. It will spare you a lot of hounding.

:whistling

You are gonna have some laughs here as well. You can read through some of the posts and THAT will be obvious. So just remember we are only quirky, not to be confused with crazy.

Most importantly you are going to get support, opinions, encouragement, and advise.

You won't hear a lot from me as my two mares have already foaled. I check in occasionally, but I am up at 3:45 to feed my horses and get ready to drive 30 minutes to be at work by 6:00. Also this time of the year I have opportunity to make overtime money so I have very little time for computer BUT some of these gals will be posting frequently.

You can go back to my threads NO TIME TO MARE STARE and FAITH'S THREAD and see that I did not have mare stare. There are others that do not either but the important thing is that you are part of a group that will show total support for you and the foaling at your place and you are going to have some fun in the wait.

 

[targetsmom]

Beautiful mares!! I notice you are using 340 days to calculate due dates, which is standard for big horses. But there is an excellent article on the Stars Miniatures Website, based on years of careful study and accurate breeding/ovulation dates that suggests 320 days might be a better date to used for miniatures. I used 320 days for the due dates for ours after reading that article. That change would move your girls' due dates up about 3 weeks.

 

[Liz k]

Hi Sandy you`ll love it here....I`ve had 4 babys here and still have 2 more and couldnt do it without the help of these Ladies soooooooo rest assured your mares are under good eyes..didnt see a link posted do you have them up on cam? if not I will follow thread to check on them.....Once again WELCOME

 

[Sandy B]

First of all, I love a sense of humor and I absolutely love quirky behavior, so I should fit right in

Secondly, since I heard that mini mares can foal as early as 300 days and it be considered normal, I am starting my foal patrol at about 285 days. My own observations from the main page seem that as On Target said, the normal range for these lil girls is 320-330 for sure. So 320 days for the two girl on watch would be April 6th and 7th and honestly, the way these two girls are making up (in comparison to my big horses), I would say we are 5-7 days away

I am happy to hear any thoughts on the pictures I posted already. Also any bloodline advise on these mares and others as I ad them is much appreciated as I do not know much about bloodlines at all in the mini world, just a few of the foundation ones.

 

[Sandy B]

Hi Sandy you`ll love it here....I`ve had 4 babys here and still have 2 more and couldnt do it without the help of these Ladies soooooooo rest assured your mares are under good eyes..didnt see a link posted do you have them up on cam? if not I will follow thread to check on them.....Once again WELCOME

Thank you! Congrats on your babies and I hope things go well for the remaining two. Unfortunately I do not have high speed internet service and have to use a wireless card so I can not run a live web cam and will have to use pictures instead.

 

[targetsmom]

I guess I should introduce myself more properly - Target was my big horse, so the farm is named after him - and I am Mary. If you have a quirky sense of humor then read page 16 or so of the On Target thread that relates our antics from last night and how helpful these folks are!!!

I don't recognize any of your bloodlines but that doesn't mean much because often they only appear on the pedigree. I do recognize some of the farm names such as Alamos, Lucky Four, and Samis. For example, our mare Toffee is Alamos Sirs Toffee Snow: she is a daughter of Cross Countrys Call Me Sir, a Lazy N Redboy son and a national champion in halter and liberty. Our gray mare Mira (Jones Call Me Blue Admiration) is actually her "cousin" being sired by another son of Redboy, Cross Country Call Me Awesome. You would never know it from their names though. I really like the conformation of your mares, so I wouldn't worry so much about the bloodlines.

A good book for mini bloodlines is Miniature Horse Stallions by Pat Elder. There is another one on mares but the stallion one is more useful I think.

 

[Sandy B]

Thank you Castle Rock! I loved hearing what you said as that was my thoughts as well. I am a quick learner, most of the time

Here is a picture of Samis Zky Captain. He is homozygous for Tobiano and has 2 crystal blue eyes. I probably should test him for splash too. He is 5 this year and we have also taught him to drive although we have only done it a few times. Gracie has done all the work with him. He has the most incredible disposition and Gracie can handle him completely herself.

 

[Sandy B]

Oh, he is beautiful!!! What a nice neck, markings and movement, too! These should be some very nice babies!!!!!! Oh, and Cassie will just love hearing he has blue eyes!

I'm Diane, by the way. I'm so old I just expect everyone should just "know" my name!

My children remind me that when God said, "let there be light," he turned to me so I could flip the switch!

LMBO!!! Too funny Diane!!!

And Thank you! We think our lil boy is pretty special. One of these days I will have to get a good head shot to show his baby blues.

 

[chandab]

Oh, he is beautiful!!! What a nice neck, markings and movement, too! These should be some very nice babies!!!!!! Oh, and Cassie will just love hearing he has blue eyes!

I'm Diane, by the way. I'm so old I just expect everyone should just "know" my name!

My children remind me that when God said, "let there be light," he turned to me so I could flip the switch!

Florida is just too far from Montana, but Diane you are a hoot and one lady I'd like to meet in person.

 

[Eagle]

My children remind me that when God said, "let there be light," he turned to me so I could flip the switch!

:rofl What great kids you have Diane

Sandy they are both looking good and I would say about 2 weeks away, so ladies the bets are on

I agree with Diane that Fancy doesn't look quite as ready as Lexi. They are both gorgeous and these foals are going to amazing.

Yes testing milk is fun and easy and really helps, Diane and I use Foal-Time strips and I think they are well worth the money.

I can't really help you with blood lines because I am in Italy so we have different lines here.

Congrats on teaching your boy to drive, you and Gracie are quite some team

Renee

 

[targetsmom]

Sandy - Your stallion is gorgeous!! And what a great job Gracie has done teaching him to drive. I am also drooling over the "homozygous for tobiano and 2 blue eyes" part.

And Diane, for the record, I am also "old".....whatever that means.

Mary

 

[LittleBittyBritches]

Very pretty girls and one handsome stallion! They are both cooking away! Wont be too long

 

[Sandy B]

Thank you ladies for the kind words. Our kids may not be as modern looking as they could be, the type drizzled in Arab clothing, but we think they are pretty special and they sure are athletic and have wonderful dispositions. Gracie's mare herd just about has one of every color. It looks like a rainbow out there

. I think all she needs is a bay, a roan, solid white and a apply to complete the color wheel.

So last night, Lexi had some sort of a reaction to the Lice Spot On I applied late yesterday afternoon. It was a Pyrmethrin (sp?) based product. The poor girl was scratching her mane and tail like crazy (it was applied along mane, back, dock & face). She only seemed bothered on her mane and tail. This was the girl I couldn't really find lice on, but she is dark in most those areas where you would see the lice, so I am not sure if she had an allergic reaction or it was the lice reacting or ????? Fancy had no problems with the product. Lexi does seem much better this morning and none of this stopped her from eating, she loves to eat

Well, since 320 days for the girls is Good Friday and Saturday, Gracie and I are hoping for a Good Friday baby and a Easter Sunday baby

 

[Eagle]

That reaction is normal, I think it is the lice running

my stallion started throwing himself on the floor and rolling and then he was rubbing on the trees, poor guy was in real distress the first day. After 3 days you could just read in his face how happy his was that it was all over and there were no more lice

 

[Sandy B]

That reaction is normal, I think it is the lice running

my stallion started throwing himself on the floor and rolling and then he was rubbing on the trees, poor guy was in real distress the first day. After 3 days you could just read in his face how happy his was that it was all over and there were no more lice

Poor things! Well that is good to know or maybe not as now I am itching. They both did not sleep well last night which means neither did I... This morning it looked like they had both stuck their hooves in a light socket.

 

[Eagle]

I know it isn't nice but it is great that you caught them before they foaled, we wouldn't want your new clean babies getting lice