Born 10 December just before 1.30am. Up and drinking very quickly.
Supermodel legs (*swoon*), amazing personality. Very bold, very chilled, very easy going.
Indy is quite foal proud, but who wouldn't be if this was what you were looking after...
Friday, December 11, 2015
New arrival
She's HERE!
Born 10 December just before 1.30am. Up and drinking very quickly.
Supermodel legs (*swoon*), amazing personality. Very bold, very chilled, very easy going.
Indy is quite foal proud, but who wouldn't be if this was what you were looking after...
Born 10 December just before 1.30am. Up and drinking very quickly.
Supermodel legs (*swoon*), amazing personality. Very bold, very chilled, very easy going.
Indy is quite foal proud, but who wouldn't be if this was what you were looking after...
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Being blown off the side of a hill
I am housesitting for one of my trimming clients. When she asked me to housesit her 3 dogs and 3 horses, she suggested I bring my horses along as well! It means I only have to drive to and from work (50-odd kms each way) rather than the 150+ km triangle of here to work to home and back here again. So my horses are on the side of a hill... huge change from our flat paddocks. They seem to love charging up and down the hill at speed, and don't mind the sheep, lambs, donkeys and pigs next door.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to take Scarlett to a neighbouring farm for a ride. I didn't take Indy along as she is brewing an abscess and limping a bit, and I didn't know the farm at all so wasn't sure about the ground or race condition.
That's Indy, as seen from the highest paddock Scarlett and I rode through (pink arrow in the middle of the picture).
As it turned out, the races were lovely and paddocks in really good shape so today I wanted to take both horses.... Not to be!
Between me taking the top photo from the top of the hill and walking down to catch them, it started raining sideways in gusts and there was even a little hail, not that you can tell from the photo!
I abandoned my ride plans, and it stayed fine until I went out to feed... sigh! The girls are looking really good though, they don't seem to mind the absolutely atrocious weather we've had for the past ten days (good time to be on holiday in the South Pacific).
Yesterday I was lucky enough to take Scarlett to a neighbouring farm for a ride. I didn't take Indy along as she is brewing an abscess and limping a bit, and I didn't know the farm at all so wasn't sure about the ground or race condition.
That's Indy, as seen from the highest paddock Scarlett and I rode through (pink arrow in the middle of the picture).
As it turned out, the races were lovely and paddocks in really good shape so today I wanted to take both horses.... Not to be!
Between me taking the top photo from the top of the hill and walking down to catch them, it started raining sideways in gusts and there was even a little hail, not that you can tell from the photo!
I abandoned my ride plans, and it stayed fine until I went out to feed... sigh! The girls are looking really good though, they don't seem to mind the absolutely atrocious weather we've had for the past ten days (good time to be on holiday in the South Pacific).
Sunday, August 16, 2015
T minus 4 months
Time flies, and despite saying I would take heaps of photos, regularly, every time I get halfway out to the paddock I realise I haven't taken my camera. Or it's raining. Or I'm so laden with hay and feeds that I can't possibly balance a camera on top of the precarious stack... Ok, I'm slack, that too.
Here is Indy at 222 days, which is pretty much 2/3 of the way through her pregnancy. She has not continued to expand at the rapid rate she was initially (thankfully!) but is definitely looking more and more broodmare-ish as time goes on. She's starting to develop a bit of a waddle and I see uneven wear in her feet when I trim her (she seems to be taking a more "legs out to brace" stance). She also doesn't find it as easy to keep her legs up for trimming for a long time, so needs frequent breaks... It's totally fine, I just notice her 'asking' for a break to shift her weight around, when she never used to do that.
Here is Indy at 222 days, which is pretty much 2/3 of the way through her pregnancy. She has not continued to expand at the rapid rate she was initially (thankfully!) but is definitely looking more and more broodmare-ish as time goes on. She's starting to develop a bit of a waddle and I see uneven wear in her feet when I trim her (she seems to be taking a more "legs out to brace" stance). She also doesn't find it as easy to keep her legs up for trimming for a long time, so needs frequent breaks... It's totally fine, I just notice her 'asking' for a break to shift her weight around, when she never used to do that.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Adventures
Today the ponies and I went on an adventure. Instead of crossing the main road at the Tamahere Interchange to head around the 10km loop, we turned left, towards Matangi. This meant we had to go under the main highway and up the footpath on the side of Tauwhare Road. We turned left again at the top of the hill for a good long trot along Woodcock and Windmill Roads.
Here's the underpass on our way home:
Here's the underpass on our way home:
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Photo update!
A couple of photos, taken one day after the last post. I would have taken more but my phone chose that moment to run out of battery!
I will start taking photos at more regular intervals now to track Indy's progress as she approaches the second half of her pregnancy.
This was only the second day I had fed hay - to date the horses have been eating grass only. They were starting to get a bit hungry and had done a good job of trimming all the trees and bushes they could reach over the fence (oops!) so have now been moved. My horses are getting a token feed once or twice a week to get their BioHelp "Equine Supreme," oats and hemp pellets (complete protein),
I will start taking photos at more regular intervals now to track Indy's progress as she approaches the second half of her pregnancy.
This was only the second day I had fed hay - to date the horses have been eating grass only. They were starting to get a bit hungry and had done a good job of trimming all the trees and bushes they could reach over the fence (oops!) so have now been moved. My horses are getting a token feed once or twice a week to get their BioHelp "Equine Supreme," oats and hemp pellets (complete protein),
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Pregnancy progress
It has been a while! Indy has essentially been turned out. During summer I was getting a fair bit of groundwork in, and since daylight savings ended she's lucky if she gets 10 minutes of groundwork a week plus a couple of apples and cuddles!
Way back on 24 March I took her to the vets for another scan. Usually this is done at 40 to 42 days and confirms the foetus has a heartbeat. In consultation with my vet, we decided to delay this scan to 60+ days;
- If she was going to lose it by 40 days, we wouldn't gain anything by knowing then. It was already too late to re-breed, and if the pregnancy lasts more than 40 days the mare won't cycle again that season.
- If she was going to lose it between 40 and 60+ days, it would have been all the more disappointing, as we would have known it was still there at 40.
- If it was still there at 60+ days, it would have been there at 40 ;)
- I wanted to have a go at deciding the sex of the foal, which can be done after 60-65 days.
It was also nice to not have to throw yet another $50 or $60 at a thing that might not be there at all, or might come out upside down, back to front, with five legs and two heads, or not breathing. Who, me... cynical?! ;)
In any case, the scan was delayed a bit to accommodate my vet's holiday, at 77 days, or 11 weeks on the dot.
I got to see the head, the spine, the heart (beating! woohoo!), the shoulders, the pelvis, four legs, and - perhaps most importantly! - two white blobs around the pelvic area. One would be scrotum, which means two is ovaries. Babiche wasn't 100% sure as the little beastie was hiding a bit, but will be very surprised if it pops out as a colt.
That was all very exciting... Of course I'm VERY happy it's most likely a little filly, but the important things were all present and accounted for (heartbeat, legs, head, etc).
The "
Indy is now a little more than a third of the way through her pregnancy (128 days today). Her expected due date is 9-15 December.
Her foal is between the size of a small kitten and a rabbit, having surpassed the size of a hamster at 60 days and a chipmunk at 80. It is approximately 20-25cm long and 1.5-2kg in weight.
Indy, meanwhile, is already the size of a small bus.
Way back on 24 March I took her to the vets for another scan. Usually this is done at 40 to 42 days and confirms the foetus has a heartbeat. In consultation with my vet, we decided to delay this scan to 60+ days;
- If she was going to lose it by 40 days, we wouldn't gain anything by knowing then. It was already too late to re-breed, and if the pregnancy lasts more than 40 days the mare won't cycle again that season.
- If she was going to lose it between 40 and 60+ days, it would have been all the more disappointing, as we would have known it was still there at 40.
- If it was still there at 60+ days, it would have been there at 40 ;)
- I wanted to have a go at deciding the sex of the foal, which can be done after 60-65 days.
It was also nice to not have to throw yet another $50 or $60 at a thing that might not be there at all, or might come out upside down, back to front, with five legs and two heads, or not breathing. Who, me... cynical?! ;)
In any case, the scan was delayed a bit to accommodate my vet's holiday, at 77 days, or 11 weeks on the dot.
I got to see the head, the spine, the heart (beating! woohoo!), the shoulders, the pelvis, four legs, and - perhaps most importantly! - two white blobs around the pelvic area. One would be scrotum, which means two is ovaries. Babiche wasn't 100% sure as the little beastie was hiding a bit, but will be very surprised if it pops out as a colt.
That was all very exciting... Of course I'm VERY happy it's most likely a little filly, but the important things were all present and accounted for (heartbeat, legs, head, etc).
The "
Indy is now a little more than a third of the way through her pregnancy (128 days today). Her expected due date is 9-15 December.
Her foal is between the size of a small kitten and a rabbit, having surpassed the size of a hamster at 60 days and a chipmunk at 80. It is approximately 20-25cm long and 1.5-2kg in weight.
Indy, meanwhile, is already the size of a small bus.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Squeeeee!!!
We have a blob!
And only ONE blob, so no need to pinch a twin!
Now it's a not-so-anxious wait for the next scan. the vet has suggested either 40 or 60-65 days, the latter to sex. Both aren't totally required, as if it is gone by 60-odd days, it will probably have disappeared before 40. Very pragmatic - if it's going to pop out, it'll pop out, according to Babiche ;)
Now it's a not-so-anxious wait for the next scan. the vet has suggested either 40 or 60-65 days, the latter to sex. Both aren't totally required, as if it is gone by 60-odd days, it will probably have disappeared before 40. Very pragmatic - if it's going to pop out, it'll pop out, according to Babiche ;)
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
D-day tomorrow!
Two weeks of waiting is nearly up... I have to hitch the horse float up tonight and get an hour of work off tomorrow afternoon, so I can get to the clinic for a 4.30pm appointment.
Fingers crossed! Indy has been super grumpy while out and about, frequently making faces and putting her ears back at Pav (who she is often incredibly friendly with) and Billy, and threatening to kick them if they get too close to her. I'm hoping the out-of-character behaviour is indicative of her being in foal.
Fingers crossed! Indy has been super grumpy while out and about, frequently making faces and putting her ears back at Pav (who she is often incredibly friendly with) and Billy, and threatening to kick them if they get too close to her. I'm hoping the out-of-character behaviour is indicative of her being in foal.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
On track!
The only time I could see the vet today without leaving Indy at Hannah's (with the resulting two trips to drop off and pick up) was 7am. Fine by me! She was a right tart to catch, preferring to race around the paddock and rark the grazer up, even after I got oats and Scarlett was hanging out eating them!
NORTY!
Indy hasn't been a pain to catch for the float for a while now, but I'd decided not to take Scarlett along, which may have been what set her off. Loaded up perfectly though and travelled well on the short trip to the clinic.
The scan confirmed she has ovulated and there is absolutely no sign of fluid. We have done everything we can do to ensure she gets in foal this time around, and Indy's done her bit too.
The 15-day scan will be Wednesday 21 January.
FINGERS CROSSED!
NORTY!
Indy hasn't been a pain to catch for the float for a while now, but I'd decided not to take Scarlett along, which may have been what set her off. Loaded up perfectly though and travelled well on the short trip to the clinic.
The scan confirmed she has ovulated and there is absolutely no sign of fluid. We have done everything we can do to ensure she gets in foal this time around, and Indy's done her bit too.
The 15-day scan will be Wednesday 21 January.
FINGERS CROSSED!
Monday, January 5, 2015
A little girl waits...
I couldn't resist that title!
I ordered another dose of semen yesterday, to be sent today, so that Indy could be inseminated after I got home from work and took her to the vet clinic. I still hadn't heard when it would be sent at 11am, so I feel like I spent much of the day waiting to be sure it would actually arrive! In the end it was sent to the stallion owner's partner (I am unsure whether it went on a plane or a courier) and arrived at 3pm. I expect there were several people wanting semen so they did a combined delivery to save costs. Sean picked it up as he's not at work this week, and I thought it would help get us to the vet sooner if I didn't have to detour into Matangi on my way to Cambridge.
The vet sorted Indy out and has recommended a scan in two days to ensure Indy has ovulated and to check for fluid (it is relatively common that mares react to the semen itself, and relatively uncommon, but possible, that they react to the extender used). She may treat for fluid anyway, especially if there is any doubt, as this is our last shot at a foal for the season (Campion was only going to be collected for one month due to his competition schedule). It is also getting very late in the season for a foal.
And so, a little girl waits, again....... (haha!)
I ordered another dose of semen yesterday, to be sent today, so that Indy could be inseminated after I got home from work and took her to the vet clinic. I still hadn't heard when it would be sent at 11am, so I feel like I spent much of the day waiting to be sure it would actually arrive! In the end it was sent to the stallion owner's partner (I am unsure whether it went on a plane or a courier) and arrived at 3pm. I expect there were several people wanting semen so they did a combined delivery to save costs. Sean picked it up as he's not at work this week, and I thought it would help get us to the vet sooner if I didn't have to detour into Matangi on my way to Cambridge.
The vet sorted Indy out and has recommended a scan in two days to ensure Indy has ovulated and to check for fluid (it is relatively common that mares react to the semen itself, and relatively uncommon, but possible, that they react to the extender used). She may treat for fluid anyway, especially if there is any doubt, as this is our last shot at a foal for the season (Campion was only going to be collected for one month due to his competition schedule). It is also getting very late in the season for a foal.
And so, a little girl waits, again....... (haha!)
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