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

 

Tara

Meet Tara

We purchased Tara in 2008.  She was in foal with Karisma at that time and we kept Karisma in our herd of mares.  Tara is a big, heavy boned mare that has given us eight wonderful foals.  She has a great disposition and is a very good mom to her babies. This will be her third foal by BlackJack.  We were so pleased with the first two by him that we repeated the cross and she will once again have a BlackJack baby.

 

                                                                                                                          Tara and her 2014 filly, Roulette

 

 Tara is a mare that doesn’t seem to read the calendar very well when it comes to due dates.  She usually foals early and last year she surprised us with a beautiful, healthy filly three weeks early.  We are bringing her in the barn each evening and have her on the cams earlier this year.

 

 Tara's previous foals

 

Karisma

Meet Karisma

Karisma was born here on our farm in 2008.  We purchased her dam, Tara, when she was in foal with Karisma.  Shortly after she was born we decided to keep her to add to our breeding program.  She was such a sweet and loving filly and kept that same calm disposition as she matured into a beautiful mare. 

 

She is in foal by BlackJack with a due date of 2/23/16.  This will be her fourth foal and her second by Blackjack. She will be on our cams each night.  I hope you can watch with us as we wait for the arrival of her baby. 

 

 

 

 

If you are watching Kari on the cams you may notice that she loves to take nice long naps in her stall.  This picture was captured on the cams last year a few days before she foaled. 

Karisma’s Previous Foals

Pollyanne

Meet Pollyanne

 

 

Pollyanne was our very first Gypsy Vanner horse.  She was imported from England in 2004.  I will never forget how excited I was when I knew she was on the plane and headed to the US.  She landed in New York City and spent the required three day quarantine there. From New York she was transferred to Lexington Kentucky for her two week quarantine.  The morning she was to be delivered to Lexington the transport rig in was in a horrific wreck.  Several of the horses on the trailer with her were killed and others injured.  Polly was not injured but the vets in Kentucky kept a very close watch on her as she was in foal at the time.  She came to Arkansas after her quarantine and delivered a healthy colt that year.  We were so fortunate that she came though that without injuries.  I have a feeling people could have seen me smiling from a mile away as she stepped off that trailer at our farm. 

Polly is a big, heavy mare with a long thick mane and lots of feather.  She is calm, patient and loving. She has given us seven wonderful foals, all by Prince Charming.  Our stallion, BlackJack, is a son of Polly and Prince.  We are looking forward to the arrival of her 2016 foal in late February. She is in the barn and on the foaling cams each night.

 

 

Pollyanne’s Previous Foals

Welcome

Welcome To Our 2016 Foaling Season Blog

A new year has arrived and along with it comes foaling season at our farm. This will be our thirteenth year of breeding, foaling, raising and loving our Gypsy Vanner horses.

This is my favorite time of the year. After watching the news and dealing with the day to day business of running a house and farm, I can walk in the barn door, leave the real world behind and just enjoy being in my Happy Place.  I love watching the mares and being there when each of the new foals arrive. Foaling season can be stressful and tiring but this is overridden by the rewards involved.  There is no feeling like watching a foal transform from a wet, helpless little thing in the straw to a leggy, wobbling creature running around the stall, nursing and bonding with it's mother. Each foaling resulting in a healthy mare and foal is a resounding win.

Our foaling cams are now on. Pollyanne, Karisma and Tara are on the cams.The mares will be brought in each evening and will be on the stall cams. Unless the weather is bad or we feel that foaling is imminent, we let them out during the day for exercise and socialization.  They can be seen on our outside cams during the day. 

  We are looking forward to the birth of eight foals this year. In the next few days we will be introducing you to the expectant mares and stallions, giving updates on the mares progress and sharing with you some of the daily activities here on the farm.

We really enjoy sharing our horses with all of you and hope you can be with us via our live cams as we experience the miracle of birth.

Come Join Us In Our Happy Place