Grants Pass Auction Minis - Katya - colt born June 22

[Evelynk2000]

OK! You asked for it and here it is! Today was a perfect picture day:



Katya was sound asleep when I decided to put her halter on and take her to the huge patch of clover. This is my personal favorite of all the pictures. Can we say "beached whale?"

:rofl



I'm busy! Don't bother me.



OMG! That feels so good!



Broad as a barn, and proud of it! Move over so I can get the clover!



Beached whale again.



Tickly bits; niece says she's starting to fill, but true to form, I stuck my hand under there for a feel, and it hasn't changed much.

Tried several times to upload the Hooha picture (what post would be complete without one???), but it wouldn't work. Oh, well, suffice it to say it's still speckly and hasn't changed much.

I really enjoyed spending time on the ground with all the ladies. When I first sat down, Katya was laying down, Smokey was laying next to her, and Bridie was nuzzling my neck and rubbing noses with me. It was wonderful! Clear proof we've done well with trust.

 

Awwwww, let the poor momma rest! Getting her beauty sleep and putting those eyelashes on baby -- ALONG WITH SPOTS PLEASE!!!

Yes, I'd say you've done wonderfully with trust!

 

[AnnaC]

Those are the times I love too - when my girls were in at nights at foaling time, they would never get up from their sleepy time as I trotted in and out of the stalls poo picking and keeping them all clean and tidy just in case they decded to foal that night. You have done really well to gain their trust and you are now reaping the rewards

That is a lovely foal tummy there and I think her udder has filled!

 

[Evelynk2000]

So glad to hear there might be progress. She's such a sweety. We have a monster of a gelding watching them all! He's amazing and over 30 years old. I fully expect to hear him trumpeting any change in her.

Not that anyone could hear him, of course!

 

You'll just have to keep us posted on his trumpeting!!!

Keep it coming -- she sounds like she's moving forward nicely!

 

[Evelynk2000]

Good morning, wise auntie-folk. Question here:

Katya is an airfern. Bless her heart, she only has to sniff the air to take in calories. She's got signs of previous founder in her neck, and now she's starting to store fat down her back. My niece has cut her Mare & Foal feed down significantly, and we feed hay in nets to slow them down. I don't want my mama to founder again, but Katya still needs nourishment for the alien inside her. Niece has a supplement she will be giving Katya to offset the lessening of the Mare & Foal feed. Any suggestions for other things we can do?

 

GREAT observations!!!!

Let's hear what she's getting now, and perhaps we can suggest some adjustments to help her stay sound while carrying this little one.

 

[Eagle]

Yes, can you tell us what and how much she is getting exactly. oh and of course a few pics to see how the airfern is progressing

 

[Crystallos]

She gets 2-3 flakes orchard/timothy hay shared with two other minis. It has a lot of thick stems, so they pick through it and leave quite a bit behind. It was the only hay we could find in the middle of winter without fescue in it. The hay we grow ourselves has endophyte fescue in it, courtesy of a neighboring field.

She was getting three cups of Purina Mini/Pony, then cut back to two cups when she started getting cresty and now down to 1/2 cup just to get her in the stall at night and make her happy. I followed the directions for a 300-400 pound mare in late gestation. (She's 36", btw.) The weight was three cups even. I plan on setting up a feeder so they can have Nature's Essentials 12:12 free choice. Katya has started grazing the low lying oak leaves this spring. There is also a blush of grass in their pen.

 

[Evelynk2000]

Good morning, all. We didn't get a response to our feed/air fern query, so I thought I'd ask again. See the post from Crystallos for feed routine. It's becoming apparent that Katya needs something, since she's trying to graze on oak leaves. I've been told my routine with Katya is to include a daily 15 minute walk, since she's getting almost no exercise aside from chewing and breathing. I'll try for pictures today when I visit.

 

Sorry, I meant to say that the Purina Free Balance 12:12 should help quite a bit. I would also suggest just taking a scoop or half a scoop and putting over what grain she gets. It will likely introduce her to it, and you'll know she's getting the benefit of it.

You might try some alfalfa or alfalfa mix cubes -- to add to her feed dish. This will give her the benefit of the protein and you can monitor how much she gets and make adjustments accordingly.

How about a new picture of our air fern?

 

[Eagle]

Sorry Evelyn I don't know how Crystallos post slipped by without us noticing, that isn't like us to not reply

I think her new plan sounds just perfect and I wouldn't worry about her eating the leaves, it is not as if she is starving to death, mine will eat the leaves if they fall in their paddock too.

 

[Evelynk2000]

Katya's not grazing the leaves that have fallen off the trees. She's reaching up to try to get them straight off the tree. Just using common sense about animals, it seems to me that she's finding what she needs from them that isn't in her normal feed.

I've been physically challenged by the amount of moisture in the air (89%), so that I'm unable to walk her as my niece thinks should be done. Doesn't make me feel better, believe me, because I recognize the positive effect of movement on all creatures. I will make an effort soon to wander around with her in places where she won't be encouraged to graze, but at this point, that's not a possibility. Unfortunately, the areas where there is no forage are also the areas with crushed gravel, which is NOT pleasant on her stressed feet. I can walk her in her enclosure, of course, but she's going to resist more there, since that's where she spends all her time. I'm chattering on here, waiting for the pictures from my cell to load. I thought technology would aid us, not frustrate us more!

Katya's back today:



Well, to continue the chatter while I wait for pictures to come from my phone to my inbox: I'm selling my TB mare. I took her to a poker ride on a day when I was particularly puny feeling, and came to the realization that no matter how much I love this horse, she's too much for me. My barn owner is helping me sell her, hopefully as a lesson horse. She would excel at that and have a job, which she desperately needs. I don't have the energy for her. Gee, now I get to look for a trail horse.

Oh, Joy! Here's another one! Sorry if it's a bit blurry, but it shows the fat down her back:



Side shot:



Hope someone can help us limit her intake, but still fill her nutritional needs!

 

[chandab]

Just thought I'd share a picture of my porker the day she foaled, and then again later in the summer after she raised her foal.

here's Caddy the day she foaled:



And, later in the summer:



She has had some hoof problems, not exactly sure when they started (mostly can't remember), but I know the weight when she was pregnant didn't help.

Here she is a couple years later, right before I got my act together and got her on an appropriate diet to help her lose weight. She's still pudgy, but a healthier pudgy.



I mostly have to keep her on a dry lot and give her a low volume feed (one that gives her the necessary vit/min is a small amount) and grass hay. Sometimes I slip, and she gets a bit heavy, but overall, she's pretty healthy. [i don't have any more recent pics of her while she's shed out and at a good weight. I only seem to have woolie pics.]

 

[Evelynk2000]

I love it! ". . . a healthier pudgy"! Caddy is built a lot like Katya: broad in the back, long body, etc. We all worry endlessly about our babies, don't we? I know that spring is a challenging time for airferns, since they really don't need all that sugar and stuff. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I'll keep an eye on her. So will niece. I'd LOVE for this to be done and a foal to be on the ground running her crazy!

Caddy is gorgeous! Love her dapples!

 

[Eagle]

Judging by the size of her back and neck I would reduce her food right down as Crystallos is doing and just give her the Purina Free Balance 12:12. How much space do they have to walk around in all day/night?

 

[chandab]

I love it! ". . . a healthier pudgy"! Caddy is built a lot like Katya: broad in the back, long body, etc. We all worry endlessly about our babies, don't we? I know that spring is a challenging time for airferns, since they really don't need all that sugar and stuff. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I'll keep an eye on her. So will niece. I'd LOVE for this to be done and a foal to be on the ground running her crazy!

Caddy is gorgeous! Love her dapples!

I'll try to get some shed off pics in the near future, so you can see her at a healthier weight, otherwise this is all I have:

 

[Evelynk2000]

Oh, she's just LOVELY! And a furball, to boot.

OK. I took her walkies today and ended up in a tug of war with my sister's pug:



Katya was a little disturbed that the green stuff was within inches of her nose! Photo courtesy of Crystallos.

A couple of comparison pictures:



Her neck is pudgy and has lost the little bit of flop that it had.



Good side shot of her today.



You can see the stretched skin of her bag, waiting for filling. Talk about an experienced mare! And something about the angle of this shot gives her more of a belly, or at least I think it does. It's substantial, to say the least.

The enclosure the 3 minis live in is approximately 50' x 130', light dusting of nibbly grass, evergreen trees along one side, large oak in the middle, so lots of shade for the ladies, but not much grass. It's big enough that they can run if they are so inclined.

 

Such a pretty lady!!

 

[dutchhollow]

I have been following this since it started, but looking back is hard, has she been confirmed by us? (ultrasound)