My Gorgeous Filly

I really wish I could get some good pictures of Filly, but the little darling would rather pester me than pose for a photo session. She just keeps trying to show me her double swirls & big brown eyes.

She's growing into a very lovely yearling. She's finally overcome her rough start & is continuing to thrive. She's at last caught up with her filly friend Blondi &, although 3 months younger, Filly is now the same size. Her growth & size measurements give me the estimate that she'll be about 15 hands with good bone & substance. She's going to be the perfect size for me because she's my perfect Filly.

Miracles Do Happen

As I sit here this morning, I think back on that morning one year ago when I was on foal watch in the cold dark before sunrise. I was waiting for a very health compromised mare to foal. I sat beside the stall knowing that everyone believed the mare not only wouldn't survive, but neither would the foal. It had been a long month nursing the mare along, hoping for a miracle.

Sometime before the earliest sounds of the new day began, the mare went into labor. I waited, & waited, & waited. Finally 2 little feet & a nose poked through. Then the mare stopped having contractions. She lay still, panting, but no more contractions. I waited some more. I did all those things I was taught to stimulate contractions, but nothing helped. The clock was ticking & I could feel the sick panic wanting to set in. I'd seen foals pulled before, but always with chains & multiple people. I was alone. I can remember pulling, begging, pleading, & pulling some more. I don't know how long I pulled because time really does seem to stand still. And then all of a sudden I was falling backwards with a foal half in my arms. A beautiful chestnut filly took her first breath as I pulled her clear & removed the sac from her face. A miracle had occurred.

The months that followed were tough & many times I thought I would lose my precious filly. But she proved to be a tough little girl with a very strong will. Today she grows more gorgeous as each day passes. She runs the pasture, playing with her filly friend. She greets me at the gate & follows along as I walk her pasture. she's a perfect (well almost perfect) lady with the manners many grown horses will never have. She's the little love of my life & I enjoy her every day. She brightens my world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FILLY!!!! I love you!

Grey Girl Says Good-Bye

Thursday the 4th was a sad, yet happy day. Grey Girl was going to her forever home. I had always known she wasn't staying with me & that she was going to a really good friend of mine, but that didn't make parting any easier.

I'd become quite attached to Grey Girl, aka Baby Dearest. She was born at a time when I was consumed with saving Filly & I wasn't ready for another foal to be born. Then when she was born it was obvious that she too had contracted tendons so I ended up treating TWO fillies. Thankfully GG's contraction resolved with minimal treatment. In her first few weeks I was so busy with Filly that I wasn't able to spend time with GG. As Filly progressed & I knew I wasn't going to lose her, I started to spend much needed time with GG. At first she wanted nothing to do with me, preferring to run & hide behind Mommy Dearest. I'll never forget how strong she was at just a few weeks old, dragging me around the stall when I tried to halter her for the first time. We both ended up on the ground, me sprawled on top holding her down while I managed to get the halter on. Oh was she mad, a spitfire through & through. Then came the day when I was able to scratch her butt when she wasn't looking. That must have felt pretty darned good because she started looking for me to give scratches. It wasn't long before she was following me everywhere, demanding attention even when it meant pushing through the herd to reach me. GG became the most loving filly, a real pocket-pony, the first to greet me at the gate. She's grown into a gorgeous, elegant, lovely moving filly with that "look at me" attitude.

As the day got closer to GG's leaving I had a lot of second thoughts, battling with myself to keep her. She fills such a warm spot in my heart & the light touches of her nose on mine always make me smile. Even as my friend pulled into my drive I wondered if I could really let GG go. I knew I would miss her tremendously, but I also knew my friend would love her & do right by her. Plans for the near future will have GG in the showring, prancing before the judges & I'm sure she'll bring home many ribbons. Once mature she'll travel the trails with my friend. She was such a brave filly getting into the trailer & my eyes were wet as she left my drive. I love you Grey Girl & can't wait to follow your updates. Good luck in the showring.

Later Thursday I spent quite a bit of time hugging & snuggling my face into the very furry Filly. I always knew I wasn't going to keep both fillies, & there was never any question that Filly will remain with me for life. She & I will both miss GG but I know that letting GG go with my friend was the right thing to do. Someday I on Filly & my friend on GG will ride together & reminisce about my year with the fillies.

The Yearlings Have Arrived

New Year's Day is the day when most horses are considered to turn another year older. So while Filly & her friends, Grey Girl & Blondi, are 8 months, 6 months & 11 months respectively, they are now YEARLINGS! Their older friend is my now 3 yr old, future riding horse & trail partner. Horses are so lucky, they have two birthdays of special treats every year. New Year's Day brought buckets of warm mash with carrots, & I hear a birthday party is in the planning stages for Filly's really big day in May. It's hard to believe that the ups & downs of 2009 are finally behind us. 2010 brings in a new year that I hope proves to be all fun times & adventures for the new yearlings.

A Brief Update

Thanks Phaedra96 for asking about my girls. I'm glad you've enjoyed reading about Filly, Mama, & their friends.

While it's a few years off, Filly will one day be my #1 trail horse. Dare I hope endurance horse? She's quietly bold & not much bothers her. I expect her to be a very easy horse to start under saddle once she's mature. Because she's had such a rough start in life, I plan to give her plenty of time to catch up & finish maturing before I begin to think of starting her. She requires more groceries & special care than the others right now because she's trying to grow & catch up at the same time. She's going to be a big girl as she's already the same size as Blondi, who's 3 months older with the same sized parents. I have to admit that Filly is near & dear to my heart & she can do no wrong. Well maybe when she bit me she did wrong, but I've already forgiven her.

Grey Girl will also someday be a trail horse. In the meantime she will most likely go to a few shows to strut her stuff. She's very flashy & is a gorgeous mover. She has that WOW factor that people notice. She's lively & her eyes just sparkle. She's the first to greet me when I go in the pasture & she demands attention. I still feel guilty for not giving her much attention in her first month or so, but I was so consumed with saving Filly that I was overwhelmed & not ready for another foal. GG & I make up for lost time now & she's just a little love. There are times when I can be caught blowing softly on her muzzle while she blows on me.

Mama has never picked up beyond where she was when Filly was weaned. She will always require special care & probably never gain a body condition beyond 3+. But while she'll always be an extremely hard keeper & thinner than normal, she has a gorgeous coat & a sparkle in her eye now. She's handling the winter weather a LOT better than she did our summer heat. Her health issues make it hard for her to regulate her body temperature so she has to be monitored closely. She'll always require extra TLC, but she's worth the effort.

Mommy Dearest is doing fine. She's fat, happy & running with her herd on 20 acres. Fortunately she had no health issues other than being a little under fed when she came to me.

2009 sure was a tough year for the mommas & fillies. Here's hoping 2010 is much kinder to us all.

Furballs & Mudballs & Naughty, Naughty Filly

Gosh, the fillies are sure growing up. It's hard to believe they'll soon be considered yearlings. Where has time gone?

Filly is doing so good that I can sometimes forget how difficult her first few months were. She must have known what was in store for winter because she's been a furball since early fall. She's unbelievably furry, looking like a woolly mammoth. It's fun to run my fingers in her coat & bury my nose in her soft fur, much to her displeasure because I'm sure she thinks this human is crazy. She was definitely prepared for the week of freezing temperatures that we recently had. Even in the early morning freeze she was warm under that wooly coat. Grey Girl is a little woolly, but no where near as woolly as Filly. GG is such a little cutie, fuzzy like a puffball. She's always bright eyed, loving, & curious. In some ways she's now the boldest of the fillies. When something spooks or startles the fillies, she's the first to investigate. She's really changed from being Baby Dearest. She's now the low filly on the pecking order & the first to meet me at the gate for scritches & petting. Blondi must not have gotten word that winter is almost here. She's slick & shiny, still wearing her summer coat. Her coat is a little thicker than it was, but she's certainly not a furball or fuzzy. She's now the Boss of the Babies & never lets the others forget her new found status. Filly & GG give way at feeding time. Blondi is the most reserved with people but once she knows someone, she likes to drape herself over their shoulder. She's the most in-you-pocket of the fillies.

After the freeze, the rains came & now I have mudballs in my pasture. All that wonderful woolliness of Filly is now caked with mud. The poor curry can hardly get the mud scraped off. Most of the time she looks like a mad mudhen, going around with her ears flopped back as if in disgust at her muddy condition. GG is also a little mudball but her mud is easily knocked off. Blondi of course can't be a mudball because she's too slick & short coated. I also think she's the prissy one who stays in their shelter out of the rain.

Oh was Filly naughty a few nights ago. It was time for dinner & all their buckets of goodies were ready. As I bent over to pour a bucket into a feed pan, I felt teeth hit my head & my hair being pulled. WHAT?! I was shocked that Filly had tried to bite my head. Luckily for me her teeth didn't clamp or I'm be missing a chunk of hair. Or maybe I should say lucky for Filly! I'm not sure if she was aiming for me, or if she thought I was one of the other fillies getting into her feed pan (it was dark after all), but either way her behavior was unacceptable. I stood up shouting & flailing my arms, scattering everyone. I had 3 wide-eyed fillies standing in front of me wondering at the madness before them. Time for fillies to learn about MY space. It's been very peaceful at feeding time since then. The fillies aren't allowed at the feed pans until I step away. They are respecting the new rule & I'm sure it's because they don't want to see the Dark Side shouting & flailing again.

Last Sunday the trimmers were out. Filly & GG were due for trims and they were both very well behaved. GG is learning to stand & pick up her feet really well. She's a bit stubborn but learns quick & complies once she realizes behaving gets her scritches. At times Filly is like a little old horse, wise to the ways of life. Her trimmer said she behaves better than most adult horses she trims. I guess Filly isn't always naughty (wink).

From the fillies & me, Happy Holidays everyone!

Never a Dull Moment

Yesterday was trimming day for Grey Girl & Blondi. Their trimmer has more patience than anyone can imagine & was very good with the naughty fillies. So many thanks Trimmer, you did an awesome job with the little darlings.

Grey Girl was stubborn & clamped her lips tight. When pawing her feet away didn't get her loose, she tried to rear & jump. When that didn't work, she finally threw herself onto the ground. Neither CMK nor Trimmer let go & GG discovered that she wasn't going to win the battle. She at last decided to stand like a good girl. Of course she was still mad & let it be known by the ugly faces she gave everyone. Her feet sure looked nice when Trimmer was done.

Next it was time for Blondi's trim & she was very naughty. Yesterday wasn't a good day for her & she had a few melt-down moments. She stood like an angel for her left front foot but all her other feet were off limits. She fretted herself into a light sweat & bounced around with wild eyes. CMK wondered if it was because she remembered Trimmer helping give her a vaccination 2 weeks ago (remember when CMK got knocked in the head & everyone saw stars?). Blondi was tense & it took a lot of quiet petting & patience to convince her that it wasn't the first time her feet had been touched. When she finally realized no one was going to hurt her (read that as poke her with a needle), she relaxed & all her feet got trimmed. She has such nice feet.

Filly, Filly, Filly... Sometimes CMK wonders if Filly will be the cause of a mental breakdown. Surely she makes for some nervous moments. While Grey Girl was getting her trim, Filly was wondering around the stall looking for any stray morsel to eat. She was cleaning all the buckets & licking up every gram of flavor. The next thing CMK & Trimmer saw was Filly's head stuck in a bucket. It was tied to the wall & Filly had the handle over her ear. She pulled back & luckily froze when she reached the end of the tie. As soon as Trimmer put a hand on her, she stopped moving & waited to be saved. After it was all over she was very subdued & tucked her head into CMK to be hugged & petted. It sure is a good thing she's a calm, sensible filly. After she was hugged & kissed & fawned over, she went right back to checking out the buckets. Silly Filly!

And rest assured, the buckets will no longer be tied to the wall. In fact, buckets with handles will no longer be used as feed buckets. Geesh, there's never a dull moment when working with the fillies.