Patty is starting to get big

Ahhhhhh....what a lovely picture!!!

 

[lkblazin]

So cute. What a perfect group. I love peanuts hair

 

[Kim P]

Thanks!

I don't remember whose thread I read about that was talking about cleaning between their teats. Patty has been scratching something fierce. She never has a thick coat to shed. For some reason while I was brushing her, I remembered reading that thread. That poor momma! I cleaned out black stuff that looked like weather insulator strips. That was nasty and stinky. I do believe the gal was happy I remembered that thread!

 

Good job!!!

 

[lkblazin]

Lol I'm sure her lip was going crazy. My girls are pretty clean down there.

 

[paintponylvr]

About 1/2 of our mares will stretch out a bit, spread their legs and then as you "itch" and remove the "gunkies" (smegma or a type of wax) they will raise their necks, stretch their heads out with their muzzles up and then curl their lips. They love getting itched "there"... even if they are already clean.

Don't have a pic of one of the ponies doing it - but this is about right ...

Good for you for remembering!!

 

[chandab]

Baby wipes work pretty good for that job, my girls love it (all but one) when I clean down there for them. [i keep baby wipes in the barn for clean-ups, great for "washing" hands while at the barn with no water (good in the summer anyway, winter they freeze).]

 

[Kim P]

When she was pregnant she hated for me to get near her bag. Today she did not move! Lol. I don't know what made me remember. I guess bc she has been scratching everywhere and she does not have that much hair to shed. She has been about to rub the fence wire down. After I cleaned her, she was enjoying her graze! Thanks to whomevers thread that was on!

 

[Kim P]

I was reading the thread about bathing, so I thought I would attempt to bathe mine again. They acted like idiots last year. I only gave Patty a bath. She did really well. I just put some warm soapy dawn water in a roasting pan and slowly put it in her with her brush and a rag. I got her mane wet and added some dawn and lathered it up, tail too. I washed her all over. More or less a sponge bath. I have two extra long hoses rolled on the porch so there was a good bit of warm water in it. I just turned it on enough to give me a little more than a trickle and rinsed her really good. It was a rather slow bath! She started getting antsy at the end and was trying to eat my deck. I have never seen her do that, so I hurried and moved her to another spot and used the rake to get the water off and brushed her mane and tail really good. She feels so good now! Her mane has never felt so soft! I got all that embedded dirt off her back.

I will only be able to bathe one horse a day but at least they will get bathed! I will see how well the others do eventually.

 

[Kim P]

And then......

 

[lkblazin]

Lol! Kim great pics. She looks great and was obviously thanking you with that roll

 

At least yours can roll on that beautiful grass. Mine always rolled in their dry lots, and the work for the bath almost felt useless. But I knew they were happy and enjoying the roll!!

 

[Kim P]

Yes she did not get too dirty. I am glad she rolled in the grass and not the sand or iron ore!

 

[Kim P]

I am loving our little Annabelle. We are having a small issue though. She likes to nip you. I really think she is just trying to suckle on everything. She is doing just fine. Growing so fast. She is quite the character. The farrier was out today and she nipped him a few times. I thought it was something they all did. Not quite sure how to stop her. I just keep telling her no and moving her mouth away or holding it. She really nibbles on everything. I thought it was bc she was teething. She has learned her name. She is quite playful. She is almost as big as little old Peanut. They are buddies. Patty is such a good momma. I don't know how she can let her nurse. Those little teeth can really pinch if she gets you in the right place. I feel for Patty. They are all looking good. Peanut still has a little more shedding to do. Annabelle has done a little shedding on her face. Looks kind of funny. Patty is just beautiful and shiny! Wishbone looks good too. He still has some shedding to do also but you can't tell from just looking at him. I have not been on much lately. There has been a lot going on. My father in law died last week. He had been sick for a long time. I hate he never got to see Annabelle. He just loved for me to take my little horses over to his house to play. I told him all about her. He really could not see well, but I tried to show him pics of her on my iPad.

 

[chandab]

Sorry about your loss.

Glad to hear Annabelle is doing well (except for the nipping).

I know it's probably not the best way, but it's my automatic reaction, so when mine bite, they get smacked (usually it's a backhand, it's a reflex) with a firm "quit" (I try not to use no as it sounds too much like whoa); it seems to work for me.

When my colts were born 3 years ago, the second one to come became a kicker early on, and he kicked me pretty much daily for 2 weeks straight, and it stopped just about as fast as it started. He was so quick there was little I could do about it anyway (I honestly don't recall if I tried anything or not; probably did try to kick him back a few times, if it wasn't a fly by kicking).

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Sorry for your loss Kim.

Thanks for the Annabelle update too. Chanda is spot on and I would do the same. A firm voice works well. My colt now 7yo did the same thing , it didn't last too long though.

Sounds like everyone's out of their winter woollies and enjoying some sunshine

 

[paintponylvr]

Also, on the nipping, 2 other things you can do. When she acts "nippy" keep an eye on her. When she gets 2 mouthy, preferably before she does nip, take a hold of her chin whiskers and pull. It's irritating and she'll "forget" what she was going to do.

The other thing, if you are down where she is, keep a limb in her way... basically, you still have to pay attention to where she is at all times. Then you block her teeth as she reaches. Don't go out of your way to "hit" her but a bump will make her think she's run into something and again, she should "forget"... If she's persistent, than really use your voice and even a knee to bump her mouth. Works well. Can be hard to develop that "6th sense" of where the foal is - but it's in yours and your families' best interest...

The main thing is paying attention - even when you just want to love on her. Consistency is the thing. Some mares let their foals just "get away w/ everything" (biting, chewing, pawing, kicking, climbing on them) and that carries over to the 2 leggers in the foals' life. It is hard for a foal to understand that that is not allowed! But it's not and never should be.

I personally also don't allow hand feeding of our ponies/minis. They seem to have a lot more of an issue (than larger horses) with telling what is the treat and what is the hand - especially when a little hand smells/tastes the same as the treat (until a finger is removed! and yes, I've seen this happen 2 times with minis!!). We put treats directly on a pile of hay or in a bucket most of the time. Now that I don't have small children around most of the time - I AM working with some mature ponies with treats - but it's very limited and it's only w/ a couple of special cases of MATURE ponies - not the young ones...

 

[Kim P]

Thanks . Well I guess we really have 2 issues. She is a kicker too. She has not kicked me but I see her kick her momma if she want let her nurse. If Patty tells her no then she backs her butt up to her and kicks her and runs off. She loves to run around the yard and buck too. I just think it is sweet when she plays like that. All the horses love her and protect her. Remember this is my first so I don't know much. I assumed they all were nippers. We spend a lot of time with her so I feel we will get this stopped. Patty does let her nurse plenty. I think this baby is going to be a handful of mischief! I really don't have any bad behavior in my horses except that Wishbone is still skittish and we are working on that still. Annabelle is going to show us what all we have to learn. Lol

We have always hand fed our ponies with no problems. But you are so right. The kids are not going to be allowed to hand feed Miss Annabelle.

 

[Magic Marker Minis]

We have two miniature colts and a miniature filly. Also a big colt. They are all nippy. They have to taste everything. We tap there shoulder and redirect them. Are foals also kick at mom when she doesn't hold still. As long as the foal is not kicking you, leave it up to the mom to discipline her over the kicking. Our big colt and one of the mini colts rear up on their moms. If mom doesn't like it, she will let her baby know.

 

[lkblazin]

Very sorry Kim for your loss. As for your nipper, all babies go through it. Just make sure to correct her