Our time with Hope continues to fly by quickly. She will be 11 weeks on Monday. I had to look at what I last shared about her. She was 6 weeks old, wow time flies! A few things have changed with her, but the majority is the same.
We have not registered her yet. I picked favored available names a long time ago, but Brad wants to wait until Hope is a bit older and sheds out. I am still trying to get him to change his mind about ownership! Hope should really be his filly, but I guess she is ours :)
Of course Hope has grown. She's gotten stronger and continues to be curious. She hasn't gotten any sweeter, because I don't think that is possible. She is very (very) sweet! We truly hoped the personality trait would get passed down, and it has. It doesn't happen with all off spring. Just like human kids. The filly that was bred the same and born the year after Cierra, didn't get the sweetness passed down from their parents.
The second you stop giving Hope attention, she walks towards you asking for more. Hope just loves people, dogs, cats, being brushed, scratches and just about every interaction. Hope nickers when you walk into the barn and calls out at us across the pasture.
little outdoor whinny
June 2 (7 secs)
heading to the paddock
June 7
One thing that has changed is Cierra has started lunging at Hope in the stall. She doesn't want to share hay. We put two separate piles in their stall in addition to the hay bag, but it doesn't really help. Cierra is a very hungry mama, and has become a bit of a diva. She also continues to drink water like it's going out of style. All normal things. We feed and water them throughout the day. Cierra may be drying up some and/or Hope is consuming more. Brad thinks we may have to wean Hope a little early. Either way, weaning day is coming up fast. Yikes!
familiar scene at 6-6:30am every day
June 7
Hope has been a bit more trying in hand. Just normal baby stuff. Can't blame her for wanting to run, especially with Tank. I can barely hang onto her when she decides to pull away, or go all hi-ho. It was happening more frequently. I decided it would be better for Hope if Brad was the outdoor handler for now. Don't want her to get into tug & war. I still interact plenty and do shorter leading with her.
we dress fancy like
The biggest change with Hope is allowing touch. She rarely pulls away when we reach across her neck and has become really good about haltering. Hope only wears her halter while being led. The best part is I can wrap my arms around her now and give her a hug :)
not as stocky as the first two photos make her look
June 11
Hope at 9 weeks
June 11
Hard to believe I only used my good camera once to take photos of Hope in five weeks (above). I do not enjoy taking photos of her in the paddock. Besides the ugly panel background, she follows me too close. Hope does get turned out in the indoor in the evening. I need to remember to bring my camera to the barn!
Sleeping Beauty
June 14
I woke her up, can you tell lol
June 14
We feel extremely fortunate to have this beautiful sweet girl in our lives <3
10 comments:
I watched the video and thought’wow she’s being so good’ then whoops 😁 but she settled well. She’s going to be gorgeous when she’s all grown.
Don't worry about the background! No one is looking at panels or such, we are all looking at Sweet Hope.
Just like kids, she will try all of her shenanigans in the form of pulling away and whatnot.
It is funny you mentioned personality. Our Siera mule was sold to us because her older sister was taller. The older sister was also a royal B-tch. Siera is quite the opposite which is awesome.
Hope's color is amazing. So beautiful.
Take lots of photos!
It's normal for mares to start pushing their foals away around that 3 month mark. Belle usually starts at 2 months! By 4 months the foals should only be nursing from habit. I usually wean at 4 months but can wean earlier if the mare isn't thriving- not the case with you.
Has Brad considered riding Cierra and ponying Hope?
All the Facebook photos of foals by Hope's sire are showing gorgeous foals just like yours. You sure picked the right stallion to breed to.
Such a pretty girl!
Shirley, Brad does plan on riding Cierra after Hope is weaned. He plans to get her back in shape, and most likely show her lightly again. She will stay home and he will do her tune-up. Good practice for Hope in a few years!
As for ponying, he has ponied horses off Cierra. If you are asking about before Hope is weaned, no. The thought has never crossed our minds. I have suggested walking them in-hand down the wooded path closest to the barn. He is all about working horses slowly and feels Hope has enough exposure and surprises (dogs, cats, birds, wind etc) to process walking to/from the paddock.
Great idea tho! Maybe in the indoor arena, although she thinks of that space as her zoom zone. He reads my posts/comments, so he will see this :)
We ponied Tweed off of Foxy when he was a weanling and he pulled some interesting maneuvers. He reared up and got his feet over the reins, for one. My trainer had him that time. It was his first go round and he didn’t understand the new rules.
Also, I took lessons leading him because he was a stinker and could easily flip around, pull, kick, rear—and I didn’t feel comfortable handling those situations as he got older, bigger, and more full of himself. My trainer had me lead him like I was lunging him, with my left hand, rather than right, and my right hand held a crop / whip to make sure he stayed far enough away from my bubble. It made a huge difference.
She is definitely built like a brick house! I’m glad she has such a sweet personality. Sounds like she has melted your heart.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing your experience and reasoning, Linda. We have never heard of anyone ponying such young horses.
I would only do it off the mama horse. Tweed and Foxy were like that. The problem was, he treated her like he did in the pasture, jumping all over her.
I did pony my colts off Gussie, as Belle wasn't a riding horse. Gussie was very good with them. Definitely a safe place to pony for starters is a good idea. I used my dry pen until they got good at being led. It teaches them to be mannerly around other horses and that it's not all play when they are in close proximity with other horses.
Thanks Shirley! Good to know why it's helpful. Makes sense.
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