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Post by High Point Stable on Jun 26, 2012 0:45:54 GMT -5
My other thread here is a story-format thing of the past.. this will be Caleah's 'journal,' so to speak, complete with pictures!
Got a new horse last night.
I bought a very lovely weanling filly named SBE Through Time. She is a red dun frame overo Marwari filly. Marwaris are a very exotic, very rare breed of horse originating from and common to the Middle East. They are a very colorful, often gaited breed that is almost exclusively known for their spectacular ears.
I have often admired the ears on some of my standardbreds. As far as ears go, standardbreds have pretty unique ones; the dam of my chestnut filly has ears so long she very nearly looks like a mule. Thoroughbreds have much smaller ears than standardbreds; I have seen 'cute' ears on thoroughbreds, but never spectacular or amazing ears.
My new filly, however, has spectacular ears.
The Marwari's ears are famous because they turn in at the tips. Yes, yes, I know, Arabians have their famous 'tippy ears' too, but Marwari ears make Arabian ears look totally straight at the tips. I mean, look at the ears on this girl!
She was very homesick when she arrived. Since it was late in the evening, I had a groom put her in an empty stall in the broodmare barn, in hopes the presence of mares and foals near her age would help her settle in more easily. She remained restless for most of the night but finally laid down and slept only a couple short hours before dawn.
I let her sleep in. When she woke, I gave her some grain and a little hay but she was mostly uninterested; this was not surprising to me, as she was in a strange new place with lots of strange new people. I gave her some time to decide if she wanted to eat or not. When it became clear she wasn't going to, I went in and groomed her myself.
She is actually a very friendly filly. She was not entirely sure of me in the beginning, of course, but once she realized I knew where her itchy spots were - near her belly button and on her wither - she damn near melted and I'd guess she would follow me about anywhere at that point.
The filly leads well. I turned her out in the field with the other weanlings, but she had little interest in them. Her primary interest was in undoing my work.
I like her; as with all of my purchases, I question whether or not it was worth it to purchase such an exotic breed for eventing (as that is what I hope to do with her when she is old enough), but time will tell as it always does. I thought Radium was going to be a waste of time and money, too, but he turned out great.
Marwaris are supposed to be a fairly athletic breed, so I am hopeful she will do well as a show horse.. If she proves herself well enough, I may invest in a small herd of Marwaris. We will see.
For now, she is my eventing project.
Also, I hate my assistant sometimes.
-Caleah
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Post by Samantha Lou Goodwin on Jun 26, 2012 1:15:47 GMT -5
OMG! Another person with Marwaris!! Would you like to get the filly registered?
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Post by Eyelet@Equus on Jun 26, 2012 14:14:44 GMT -5
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Post by High Point Stable on Jun 26, 2012 14:32:03 GMT -5
Oh no! I have all those facial markings.. I wonder why they didn't show up? I'll reinstall her and the markings and hopefully they show up! Thankfully I more or less just played long enough to get some screenshots of her, I haven't invested any time into her yet..
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Post by Eyelet@Equus on Jun 26, 2012 14:34:02 GMT -5
^_^; I'm glad I caught that! I'll be sure to include all the custom markings in the same folder as the foals the next time. I must be losing my mind.
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Post by High Point Stable on Jul 1, 2012 1:38:16 GMT -5
I know.. it's been a pretty long time without an update. It's been busy here at High Point and I haven't had much time to write in here about my progress with my new Marwari filly - she's doing great, I'll get to that later - but I have a break now so I guess I'll throw an update out there about other things.
Our foal crop is due any day now.. but we already have one on the ground.
Two nights ago, I'm laying in bed sound asleep when I get a phone call. It's Melissa Dane, one of my foalwatchers. She just started watching last week, as Onyx was starting to bag up a week and a half ago. She was the only mare we thought would go so soon, so I expected Melissa to tell me Onyx was down and ready to go.
Nope.
"BOSS! KESTREL'S WATER JUST BROKE!" [/i][/size] Now, let me tell you that at five thirty in the morning, I do not welcome people shouting into my ear, even if it's through a phone. Not only was I a little annoyed by Melissa's loud voice in my ear, but her message - while it sounded genuine - was surprising and irritating. Kestrel had absolutely no bag and was the second to last mare due. "I see a sac!"Well, why didn't you say so earlier? I jumped out of bed and went down to the broodmare barn. By the time I ran out there, Kestrel was already half done with the job:[/blockquote] I will add that Kestrel is a maiden, too. Melissa said that she only circled around once and then got right to it, like she'd done it her whole life. She didn't need any help; I watched, and she got up, turned around, and with one almighty heave, her first foal was born.
I let Melissa towel the foal off, take care of the umbilical stump, and check the foal's gender. A chestnut filly with a couple white feet, a funny looking stripe, two blue eyes, and some white hairs around her tail. I'm calling her Mourning Dove. The filly stood within a half hour, but I had to give her colostrum from our stores to make sure she got enough. Kestrel's bag developed quite a bit in the hours before foaling but I wasn't confident it would be enough to give Dove the boost she needed. I had the vet out, he said the filly is in great shape and Kestrel did not retain any of the placenta, which is good. I had to give her a little banamine for cramping but she'll be fine.
Dove is cute, but I will be selling her. And so the foalwatch continues. As it stands, Onyx has waxed and is currently dripping milk steadily, Duchess has a couple beads of wax but is not what I'd consider properly waxed, Suspect has no wax but a full bag, and Stitches (new mare - her previous owner bred her to Picasso and then decided to give her to me) has a medium bag.
Have an outside mare coming in to foal in the next couple days, as well, in foal to Radium..
Onyx has been agitated tonight, lots of ears pinning, belly biting and kicking, tail swishing. Caught her rolling several times this evening and throughout the day.. ..shit, phone's ringing. hold on.
.....
Melissa called. Onyx is lathered in sweat and just had a good roll. Sounds like tonight is the night for her. I will try to update later - for now I have to get down to the barn.
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Post by chloebarlow on Jul 1, 2012 3:15:17 GMT -5
aww! what breed is she?
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Post by High Point Stable on Jul 1, 2012 11:52:43 GMT -5
Thoroughbred. July crop will be all thoroughbreds
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Post by High Point Stable on Jul 1, 2012 16:54:19 GMT -5
Let me preface this by saying: everyone is okay and in one piece.
Now that we have that out of the way, Onyx.
She had been showing signs of distress for the full day leading up to the birth of her foal. I was aware of her discomfort and had the vet on notice about it, and while he was unconcerned, at least he was aware that I would be calling in the event of complications.
Well, I had to call him. The foal was upside down with its head and one leg back and neither Melissa nor I could right it. By the time the vet arrived at the farm, Onyx was utterly exhausted and I had resigned myself to the idea the foal was not viable.
Dr. Illard worked his magic, though, got the foal's face and leg turned around and got that baby in the straw. Quite frankly, I wasn't even concerned with the foal. By this point Onyx was totally beat and I was more concerned for her; the good doctor, however, had not given up on the foal and in the time I spent fussing over Onyx, he had gotten the foal to take a breath and move. I vaguely remember hearing him say, "It's a boy!"
And then I turned and looked.
Oh. My. God.
Quite possibly the single biggest foal I've ever seen come out of a thoroughbred mare in my life. And what's more? Not only was the colt very much alive (and enormous), but he was almost completely, totally solid white. Almost.
Vet said the baby was at least 140lbs at birth. I have pictures from after the dust settled, so to speak.. This morning and today: I'm calling him War Dance. I figure something at least somewhat tribal is appropriate, given the fact that he has what is known as a medicine hat - the colored 'hat' over his ears. He has some black hairs in his forelock, so I'm guessing his base color is buckskin. I'm going to have him tested either way.
I know I've been saying I didn't want to keep any colts, but he's such a big, strong boy.. I might have to make an exception...
More photos later of the mares and foals, and an update on my new marwari!
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Post by High Point Stable on Jul 1, 2012 21:37:06 GMT -5
More pictures!
Kestrel and Onyx out together with their foals.. Kestrel wasn't pleased! But the kids couldn't care less. Dove and Warrior - that's what I've decided to call him - had a good play. We also had an outside mare foal here during the day. She is QMR Starlight Dancer, and she had a lovely, strong palomino colt by Radium. Textbook delivery.. she handled it like an old pro. I found some time at the end of the day to go ahead and do the inevitable.. start my filly. I've decided to call her Samay. It's the Hindi word for 'Time.' I was considering Kali, after the Hindu goddess, but that Hindu goddess is actually kind of a bitch and my filly is the total opposite. So no, no Kali. She is Samay.
I decided at the spur of the moment that I was going to ride her today.. she was great. We mostly just walked around; she got nervous and wanted to go more forward but I was able to get her to relax and once she relaxed, I hopped off and put her away for the night. The Marwari is a gaited breed and while that intrigues me, I plan to ride her in eventing.. I don't think dressage judges would smile upon her gaiting in the ring, so I have no intention of training her in that gait.
Anyway, pictures. I expect another foal to be born overnight.. But which one?
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Post by Eyelet@Equus on Jul 1, 2012 21:59:12 GMT -5
Looking good! she turned into a gorgeous mare!
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Post by High Point Stable on Jul 1, 2012 22:15:14 GMT -5
She looks even better now that she's got all her markings, too..
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Post by Eyelet@Equus on Jul 1, 2012 22:24:52 GMT -5
^^ i noticed that too!
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Ann Taylor
Approved Member
Straight thinking is the way to success.
Posts: 1,498
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Post by Ann Taylor on Jul 2, 2012 3:54:30 GMT -5
She grew up stunningly.
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Post by High Point Stable on Jul 2, 2012 15:25:56 GMT -5
Quick update before I go back out to the barn and take pictures for registration and sales ads.
This crop, we got: -3 colts -2 fillies
-1 buckskin -1 palomino -3 chestnut
-1 frame overo -1 LOUD dominant white -2 minimal heterozygous splash -1 homozygous splash
High Point will be retaining War Dance and Kahlo. Mourning Dove, Conviction, and Classic Art will be for sale.
Not going to lie, I'm a little disappointed that we only got one black-based foal out of this crop.. even the outside foal was palomino.
Note to self: buy more homozygous black mares.
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