I really hadn't publicly mentioned any of our recent losses, but while Carol and I were in NY babysitting our grandson we lost
Little America's 007 Rowdy Tornado. My helper went out to feed and he was laying in the pasture near the feeders.
A couple of days later he found
Little America's What a Dream floating in one of our ponds.
The next day he found a 26" yearling, Little America's Struttin' Mr Beads, hung in a gate leading into the foaling barn.
Then the day we got home, I gave my help the day off and I found a filly, Little America's Star Boogie, that he had been treating for a respiratory infection, dead in her stall.
Then, just a few days later we started having dog attacks in the back pasture which is eighty-five acres in size and had 148 mares wintered there. Most of them were not too terribly damaged, and actually none were killed, but one had to be put down because of the extent of her damage and she was in foal and went into shock. Two others died two days after being attacked when they went into labor and shock.
Roy's Toy Snippet's Barbie Doll
Brandywine Pistol's Cherry Wine
Harrell's Nikers to Me
After the second attack in two days, we started bringing up the mares to the barn and front pasture every night, and putting back in the big pasture during the day. Five nights we were unable to get a good count and missed from three to five mares in the pasture, and three of those nights, we had a mare attacked each time. A total of ten mares have been attacked, but none for the past month, but we can't continue putting them all together once we start our breeding program. We are fairly confident that the attacks in the back are the work of one dog, perhaps two young ones, because the damage is taking off ears, damage to hocks, and damage to vulvas. However, in our stallion pasture we are fairly certain that the damage to Too Incredible and also to a 23" yearling, Dipstick, who was sold, is the work of coyotes. I awoke one Sunday morning and saw something out the window of our upstairs bedroom standing over a horse. It looked like a horse, but when I got on my glasses, I saw that it was a coyote, bigger than our smallest horses, with another watching only yards away. When I got out, I found that it was Too Incredible and he was completely gutted. The very next day, we found less than 200 feet from our house, Dipstick, also gutted completely. We now bring all the stallions into the foaling barn lot at night with lights on them.
Little America's Too Incredible
Little America's W T Dipstick
I hadn't posted any of this because I really didn't want anyone to even know about it. Some will be very helpful, some will think that we are just uncaring, some will want to understand. I just want to get through it.
For those of you who think you have ideas for us, we already have six guard dogs, plus seven babies just born yesterday. We have seven llamas, we have six miniature donkeys, one Shetland mule, three full size mules, three guns, two animal control officers, one coyote trapper, and a full time employee who always carries a gun. NO, we cannot afford the estimated $40,000 plus to replace the fences on two sides of our property.
Sorry this is so long, but guess after two months just needed to vent.
