Thursday Evening

The mares and babies are enjoying the warm weather and the spring grass.  Alexa and I were visiting with them in the pasture and I got a few pictures.

 

 

 

Karma is slowly progressing but it looks like she will keep us waiting a few more days.  Her calcium test is at four squares (5 is the max) and her pH is still high.  We are checking her morning and evening and I'll update you with any changes.

Saturday

As many of you know, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful mare Rosa this week.  She was one of the three original mares that we imported from England as was very special to all of us. We will miss her very much but know that she is now pain free and running in green fields.

 

Thanks you so much for all the messages and prayers.  We appreciate you all so much.

Karma is our last mare due to foal this year and her due date is April 13th.  We are watching her closely for changes and will keep you updated on her progress.

Tuesday Night Update

Evenstar foaled a beautiful filly around 4:45 AM yesterday morning.  It took Evenstar a while to pass the plancenta  but she finally did and is doing great now.  Her filly is just beautiful and is so sweet and friendly.  I took a few pictures while they were outside today.  She loved being out and would run and play, nurse , take a nap and then start all over. 

 
I hope to get new pictures of all the foals in the next week.

Karma will be our last mare to foal this year.  Her due date is April 13th so we should start to see her making changes soon.  I'll keep you updated on her progress.

Sunday Night Update

Evenstar is showing signs that she is getting close. Her calcium milk test is at the max and her pH has dropped to 6.3.  Her bag is very tight and her milk is turning white.

We will be watching her very closely.  I hope you can join us as we welcome her foal.

It has been a beautiful Easter day here. I hope you all had a great day.  Happy Easter.

Update On Midnite's Colt

Midnite's colt is doing great.  He is drinking from a bowl and getting plenty of milk.  He does not have a strong enough sucking reflex to nurse from Midnite but can drink easily from a bowl.  We have been milking Midnite and feeding him with her milk and we are now starting to mix her milk with milk replacer.  We will gradually add more milk replacer as he gets used to the different taste and then switch him to all formula.  He is a beautiful, healthy colt and is such a sweetie. Once he is completely on the formula we will teach him to drink from an automatic feeder and he can have milk free choice.  Minite is a wonderful mother and will take great care of him just as she would a foal that was nursing.

We have raised several bucket babies and they have all thrived on the formula.  Yes, it is more work for us but absolutely worth all the effort.  I'll get some new pictures of him soon.  He and Midnite are on the cams 24/7 right now and will be until they start going outside.

Friday Afternoon Update

Midnite has made some fast changes.  Her pH is down to 6.2 this afternoon.  We will be watching her very closely.  I'll probably check her again tonight.  It is now a matter of when she decides the time is right.

I captured this picture last night from the cams.

Thursday Update

Midnite is making more changes. I tested her this morning and she is now at the max on her calcim test and her pH has started dropping.  Her Ph level had been above 8 and it is now at 6.9.  I will test her again this evening to see if it has dropped further. 

It seems like is was such a short time ago that Midnite was born. 


Midnite as a baby

Her dam was our beautiful mare Joanie and we were so excited when Midnite was born. 



Over the years she has given us such beautiful foals and we are looking forward to seeing what this year brings.

I'll update you again tonight if there are any changes in her tests.

We are having more thunderstorms today and have even had hail twice today.  Surely we will dry out one day!

Monday Night Update

We finally had a rain-free day with lots of sunshine.  The babies were really feeling good and it was so much fun to watch them run and play. 

Midnite's bag is slightly larger tonight.  No changes in her tests but I am able to see some subtle changes in her body.  Evenstar and Karma are just enjoying the extra attention and have not started making changes yet.

I'll keep you updated.  Have a good week.

Saturday Evening Update

We have had a mix of sunshine and rain here today.  Hopefully all the rain has moved out of our area and we will start to see things dry up a little. We have some dirty horses right now.

Midnite is starting to make some changes.  Her bag has really increased in size over the last couple of days and she is testing four squares on her calcium test.  Her pH has not dropped but I will be testing her nightly for any changes. 

I'll keep you updated. 

Evenstar

Meet Evenstar

Evenstar is our official greeter. She loves everyone and is always happy to meet visitors.  It doesn’t matter if she has never met you, if you give her a little attention and a few rubs, she will follow right along with you for more. 

She is a beautiful mare that always gives us outstanding foals with lots of color and personality.   She is once again in foal by Prince Charming which is a combination that we love.  We’re anxious to see their foal this year. 

 

 

Evenstar is on the cams each night and is showing signs that she is getting close to foaling.  See our Sunday night update for details.

Evenstar's Previous Foals

Thursday Morning

Wow, what a wet mess everything is here on the farm.  We are much more fortunate than so many people who have their homes and businesses flooded. Our house and the areas where we have the horses are in no danger and all have shelters with dry hay when they want to go there.  Some of the pastures are completely flooded but we have moved all the horses from those areas.  I took a few pictures around here yesterday. 
This is BlackJack's summer pasture.

 

The beautiful stream that runs through our property now looks like a raging river and the wooded area behind our house is completely flooded.

It's still raining this morning and the forecast is for rain through Sunday.  I suppose we will dry out one day.

I hope you are all having a good week. I'll post updates on the mares as we see changes.

The mares were brought inside early today due to rain and thunderstorms in our area.  We have very heavy rains forecast for the next few days with flash flooding forecast. They are saying our area could get as much as tweleve inches of rain over the next three days.  The horses are all on higher ground so no problems with flooding, just lots of mud.  I will probably keep Midnite, Karma and Evenstar inside until this ugly weather passes.
 
Sorry I have not posted in the last few days. My husband had a really bad fall and is pretty banged up.  He was checked out thoroughly at the hospital and thankfully has no broken bones. 
 
There are no big changes in any of the mares. We still have some time to go on all of them.

You may here some peeping on the barn audio.  Alexa has a baby goose and a baby duck in an empty stall in the barn.  They are as cute as can be but can sometimes we very noisy.

Hope you all have a good week. I'll keep you updated on any changes.

Midnite

Meet Midnite

 

Midnite is a stunning mare that was born here on our farm and we are so proud to have her here.  I often tell people that Midnite is my “go to” mare if I want to take pictures and don’t have time for lots of grooming.  Being solid black, with a little brushing, she is camera ready. 

 

Midnite’s dam was Joanie, one of the first three mares we imported from England. Her sire is Prince Charming. We lost Joanie to colic two years ago and being able to carry on her bloodlines through Midnite is a blessing.  We  kept Midnite's  2013 filly, Legacy, and she will be joining our broodmares when she is older. 

 

She has given us six outstanding foals and we are excited to see what this year will bring.  She is in foal by Casanova and is due  4/02/16. We will have her on the cams each night.

 

Midnite's Previous Foals

 

We are now bringing the last three mares to foal this year in the stalls each night.  Midnite, Evenstar and Karma will be on the foaling cams beginning tonight. I'll be posting updates on each of them nightly.

Thurday Afternoon Update

It felt so good last night to get in bed and know that all the babies were safely snuggled in with their moms and they were all doing so well.  For so many nights we have watched and waited for this first group of four foals to arrive. We are so pleased with all of them and are having so much fun watching them play and discover new things each day.

Karisma's foal is doing great.  He had some trouble deciding where the milk came from but he has it all figured out now and is a doll.  Alexa was spending time with him today and he was loving it. 
 
The mares and babies will be in the barn at night and we will have the cams on when they are inside.  I hope to have another outside cam installed soon so you will be able to watch them playing during the day.
 
I will have pictures of all the foals that I'll be posting soon.  We're going to try to take advantage of this short break before the last three mares are due to foal and get some pictures and videos while they are playing and when we are working with each one of them.

 

Thanks to each of you who have been so wonderful about helping us watch the mares. 

Kari had a colt

Kari picked a wonderful time to foal at 8:55 this morning. She had a big, beautiful colt

 



They both seem to be doing good.  We're waiting for the baby to nurse and for Kari to pass the placenta. 

Once again Alexa did a great job of assisting in the foaling.

Tuesday Evening Update

Jordan blessed us with a flashy colt early this morning.  She foaled very quickly and without any problems.  We have named her colt Freelands Simply Bodacious and we are thrilled with him.  He was born at 318 days and all is good.

Today is Karisma's due date and she seems to be ready.  She is testing the max on her calcium test, her pH is at 6.2 and her rump muscles are loose.  I was just in the barn with her and told her that she needs to foal before midnight so she will be on schedule.  We will see if she listened.

We'll be watching her very closely.  Hope you can join us.

Monday Night Update

 A full moon is rising and we have two girls that could foal at anytime.  Both have full, tight bags and are testing the max on their calcium strip test.  Jordan's pH has dropped to 6.0 (the lowest my strips will read) and Kari is as 6.2.  I would be great to have two new babies in the barn by morning.  We will just have to watch them very closely and see what they do.

Thanks for watching with us. 

Replay of Polly foaling

Here is a link to the replay of Pollyanne foaling. 

Replay of Polly foaling

Sunday Evening Update

Pollyanne delivered a big, beautiful black colt just before 3:00 AM.  He and Polly are both doing good.  I will have the replay soon and will post it.

Jordan and Kari are both looking close.  Jordan's pH is now at 6.2 and Kari's is 6.3.  We will be watching them closely and hoping to see two more healthy, bouncing babies in the barn very soon.

 
 

Saturday Evening Update

The mares are back in their stalls for the night and I just did the milk strips test on them.  There is no real change in the test.  All three are at the max on calcium tests. Jordan and Polly are at 6.3 on pH and Kari is at 6.7 on pH.  Polly and Jordan both have wax.

We will be watching them very closely and I'll let you know if I start seeing more changes.

I hope you can join us as we welcome the precious new foals.

Saturday Morning Update

It could get very interesting in the barn soon.  All three of the mares are testing the max on their calcium tests.  Jordan now has wax and her pH is still at 6.3.  Pollyanne's pH has dropped to 6.3 and Kari's pH has dropped to 6.7.

I am going to let them out for some exercise and fresh air but we will be keeping a close eye on them and will bring them in if we see anything happening.

I will test them again when we bring them in and will update you again this evening.

Have a great Saturday.

Friday Evening Update

The mares are inside and on the cams. Jordan is the same as this morning, 6.3 pH and max on calcium test.  We will just need to watch her very closely.  She could hold off a day or so or could foal tonight. 

Polly is now testing the max on her calcium test but her pH has not dropped.

Kari is testing 4.5 on her calcium test and her pH has not dropped.

It's wait and watch time here on the farm!

Thanks for helping us watch over the mares.  I'll update if I see any big changes happening.

Have a good night

Friday Updtae

It's a beautiful day here in Arkansas and the mares are enjoying some fresh air and sunshine. My friend Vickie is here from West Virginia and we have a good excuse to sit on the back porch and do nothing......after all,  we are watching mares.  Oh, and we are also eating the wonderful cake that she brought us. 

I checked Jordan this morning and her pH has dropped to 6.3.  Her calcium test is at the max and I will not be surprised if we see a baby from her tonight.  I'll check her again when we bring them back in the barn this afternoon and I'll update you on all of them then.  We will probably bring them inside a little earlier this evening.

I'll post another update tonight.  Have a good day.

Wednesday Evening Update

We are finally starting to see some changes in the mares.  Pollyanne and Karisma are both now testing four squares (out of a possible 5) on their calcium test.  Both still have high pH test.  Polly's rump muscles have really softened up today.  I expect that we will see some very big changes in both of them soon. 

Jordan is still hanging on with a calcium test at the max.  Her pH has not dropped further so we are hopeful she will just not change for a few days.  She is now at 312 days so every day she continues to carry her baby helps.

The vet and farrier came together yesterday to work on Rosa's hoof.  They got more drainage and fitted her with a hospital shoe.  She is still not putting weight on it today and the vet will be back tomorrow to check her again.  I keep watching her and hoping to see her putting some weight on that foot but it hasn't happened yet.  Hopefully soon.

It was a really nice day here and we had a grooming day with the horses. We braided tails on Polly, Kari and Jordan.  They all looked so nice when we finished but they will probably be messy again by tomorrow night. 

Have a good night.  I'll keep you updated on any changes with the mares.

Jordan

Meet Jordan

Jordan is a great mare with outstanding markings and a disposition that would be hard to beat.  She has such a sweet nature that it makes you want to give her a big hug every time you are around her.    

Jordan has consistently given us beautiful, people loving foals. She is once again in foal by Prince Charming .She is in the barn at night and on the cams .

Jordan's Previous Foals

Monday Night Update

Pollyanne, Karisma and Jordan

We are still waiting and watching.  They all seem to be in a holding pattern right now.  I am very happy that Jordan has not made any real changes in several days.  It is still a little early for her foal.  If she'll hold on a few more days I will feel much more comfortable about her. 

We're still fighting the battle of the  hoof abscess with Rosa. It has started to drain but she still doesn't want to put weight on it.  The vet will be back in the morning to check her again.  I am hoping she will feel better soon. 

I hope you will all have a great week. I'll keep you updated.

Saturday Night Update

Happy Saturday Everyone,

It was another nice day here, a little cooler but sunny and beautiful.  We took advantage of the nice weather to get a few projects done outside.

The vet was here this morning to check Rosa's hoof abscess.  She is still putting very little weight on it and it seemed to have stopped draining. He opened it up a little more and we are hoping this will give her some relief.  It's been a long process and I feel so bad for her. I know it has to be painful.  This is the first time I have ever had to deal with a hoof abscess and I will be so glad when we finally get her feeling better. 

Pollyanne and Karisma are both bagging up a little more each day.  Both are 3.5 on their calcium test and their pH is still high.  Jordan is 5 on her calcium test but her pH has not dropped.  So we wait and watch the girls and dream of precious new babies in the barn soon.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'll keep you updated.

Friday Night Update

No big changes in any of the mares tonight.  They all had a good day outside and seem to be resting quietly for now.  I'll keep you updated. 

Thursday Night Update

We have named Tara's colt "Freelands Fort Knox" and we will call him Knox.  He had  his first day outside today.  The weather was great and he had a ball running and jumping.  Tara was also happy to be outside.  I got a picture of her really kicking her heels up and enjoying herself.

 
Jordan, Polly and Karisma are all about the same tonight as last night.  Jordan's milk calcium test is the highest of the three. She is testing 4.5 out of a possible 5.  The pH is still high on all three. There is a post here on the blog explaining how we test the mares and what we watch for to determine when they are close to foaling.  I certainly hope that Jordan will hold on to her baby for awhile longer. 

Here are a few pictures of Knox today.

 
 
 
Tomorrow should be a really nice day and I'll try to get more pictures. 

Wednesday Night Update

It’s been a beautiful day in Arkansas.  I am hoping that tomorrow will be the same. I plan on letting Tara and her baby out for a day in the sunshine.  He is doing great and has been running and playing in the stall.  I got a screen shot of him using his mom as a headrest after one of his romps around the stall tonight. 

I brought Jordan in the barn tonight.  She is only at day 305 but she is starting to bag up and I would much rather have her where we can keep an eye on her.  I turned the isle cam around so we can see in the stall where she is and will probably put a camera in that stall in the next day or so. 

Pollyanne and Karisma are both holding on with no changes in either since yesterday.  I expect when they change it will be quickly.

Thanks for watching with us.  I’ll update again tomorrow.

Tuesday Update / A New Baby In The Barn

At 5:15 this morning Tara delivered a beautiful colt. Even though she was only 316 days along, he is strong and healthy. It took him a little while to decide to get the hang of nursing in the right place but once he did it once he had it. 

I am sorry that I did not get a  chance to send out text alerts.  In her normal fashion, she did the "stop, drop and foal " routine.  Alexa barely made it to the barn on time for the birth and I got there after he was out.

I have added a foaling replay to the site and will be sure to get lots of pictures of him as he unfolds.

I'll be checking the other mares tonight and will post an update after I check them.

Tara's Foaling Replay

Tested Polly and Kari. No changes tonight.  Both seem to be where they should be at this time.  Polly normally foals about ten days early but she may go longer this year. 

Monday Night Update

The mares had a relaxing day outside today.  If was very windy here but it didn't seem to bother them at all.  As long as they have their hay and can roam around they are happy girls.

Tara kept us all guessing last night.  She was very restless and acted like she was uncomfortable.  After watching her do this for several hours, she went back to her normal relaxed routine.  Her pH has dropped to 6.3 and her milk calcium test is at the max.  She is at the stage where she could foal at any time or could stay like this for awhile.  We'll just have to wait and watch.

Pollyanne and Karisma are both bagging up but are not showing signs of being close to foaling yet.

I'll keep you updated. 

Sunday Update

Sunday Update

Polly, Karisma and Tara are all progressing.  Their bags are filling and their bellies are huge.  It’s obvious that they enjoy taking a load off their feet and having some rest time in their stalls at night.

Right now Tara is the one that is looking closest to foaling. Her bag is full and tight , her tests show she is making changes and her rump muscles are softening. Last year she foaled at day 317 and she is now at day 314.  Will she repeat that pattern?  It’s just watch and wait now. I am going to move her to the largest foaling stall tonight since she appears to be the one closest to foaling.

Last Wednesday morning when Alexa went to feed she found that Windsong had foaled during the night.  She was less than 300 days and the foal did not survive.  It was a very sad day for us but we are thankful that Windsong is fine.

I’ll be posting regular updates on the mares each night.  Thanks to all of you who help us watch over them. 

Predicting Foaling

How We Predict When Foaling Is Near

The birth of a foal is an event that we always look forward to. We have foaled out over 200 mares here on our farm and no two births are the same. We learn something new from each birth.  I am not a veterinarian and in no way am I intending to give any type of medical advice.  I am simply sharing with you the things that I watch for  to help me determine when one of our mares is close to foaling.

The first thing that I can say is that regardless of what steps that a person takes, Mother Nature still has the upper hand on determining the actual onset of foaling. We can, however, help ourselves out in a number of ways to get a better idea when foaling is near.

All of our mares are hand bred so we know the date of each mare's last breeding.  We use 340 days from her last breeding to calculate a due date.

No amount of testing can take the place of knowing your mare and doing a hands on check of her several times a day. Mares, like humans, are individuals, and each will react to the approach of foaling in her own way. Mares tend to behave similarly from year to year, so keeping track of prior behavior and length of gestation also helps us make predictions.

We use two types of tests to help us determine the mare's readiness to foal. One is a measurement of the quantity of calcium present in the mare's milk and the other is the pH of the milk. When used together these two tests have been very helpful as indicators as to when a mare will foal.  Both tests require only a few drops of milk from the mare.

Milk Strips

We have been using milk test strips for years as part of our pre-foaling routine. As the mare gets closer to birth, the quantity of calcium in her milk increases. The milk strips measure the calcium level in the mares milk and gives us an idea how a mare is progressing.

PH Strips

We use narrow range PH strips to measure the Ph levels in the mare’s milk. Generally a mare's milk will test above pH 7 for a period of time before foaling and as she nears foaling the pH level will drop. When the milk is pH 6.6 or below she is getting close to foaling. Most of our mares foal within a matter of hours to a day when the pH level goes to 6.3 or below.

Signs we look for when checking our mares

Mare's udders filling with milk (often referred to as “bagging up”) and may start to leak.

Teats waxing or sealing over.

Muscles beside tail head softening.

The abdomen becoming increasingly pendulous ( often said to be forming a V)

Reddening of vaginal mucosa

Signs the mare is in the first stage of labor

RESTLESSNESS

The mare usually paces about the stall more than normal.  She may repeatedly look back at her flanks. She may walk circles in her stall.

PAWING/NEST BUILDING - She may spend time pawing at her bedding with one of her front legs. Mares will frequently stop their restless pacing and paw the stall bedding then begin pacing again.

FREQUENT, LOOSE BOWEL MOVEMENTS - Most mares have a number of bowel movements in the hours just prior to foaling. Generally these are rather loose and more the consistency of "cow pies". The mares also urinate frequently

LYING DOWN AND STANDING UP - Usually as the actual active phase of labor gets closer, the mares will lay down for short periods of time (seconds to a minute) then get up. She will move about a little and usually lay down again. She may lay flat out, on her side or may keep her head up. She may also roll.

YAWNING OR FLEHMEN DISPLAY - Many mares will repeatedly yawn or curl their upper lip in the flehmen display in the hours just preceding foaling.

Active labor

ACTIVE CONTRACTIONS BEGIN - The mare may actually lie down and begin the rhythmic contractions of labor. These are very characteristic in which the mare lies on her side. Her feet are extended and become rigid in a regular pattern of strong contractions.  Under "textbook" circumstances the mare may lie down and make a number of contractions, get up and pace the stall few times, lie down and have another series of contractions, then get to her feet again. This can occur several times in routine foalings. The culmination of this series of behaviors is that the "water breaks". Very shortly after the water breaks a clear, whitish bubble should appear which is the amniotic sack that is encasing the foal.  Two feet followed closely by a muzzle will be visible very soon and if all goes well the foal will be born in a matter of minutes.

To see a new foal enter the world  is one of life’s most exciting pleasures.  I hope you are able to be present as our 2016 foals take their  first breaths and we hear their first nickers.

Friday Night

It’s Friday night here on the farm and the mares are all snuggled in their stalls and ready for the night.  They are really relaxed at night and it’s not uncommon to see them all stretched out sound asleep.

 

 

It’s been a nice week here with mild temperatures which makes it great for getting some of the outside projects taken care of.  No matter how much you do, there always seems to be something else that needs to be done.  Fence fixers, weed whackers or poop scoopers are always welcome!

I hooked up the audio in the barn today. If you are watching the cams and want to listen to the barn sounds just click on the link on the page and leave the small pop up window open to receive the audio.

Hoping you all have a good weekend. 

Meet Alexa

 

 

 

 Those of you who have been watching our foaling cams for the past few years probably already feel like you know our granddaughter, Alexa.  She has been assisting the mares during foaling for several years and has now joined us here full time.

 

She is a dedicated young woman who loves the horses and especially enjoys working with the babies. She and her fiancé, Tyler, team together for many of the projects around the farm but Alexa is responsible for the day to day operations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 You will see her often on the cams. Whether it's feeding, checking mares, cleaning stalls, assisting in births or working with foals, we hope you enjoy watching the daily activity.

 

 

 

The horses love her and so do we.  We are very proud to have her with us