Cutest little foals in the world!

The foals are getting frisky! They're jumping, bucking, trotting, galloping, doing spins, sliding stops, roll overs - in general, practicing for the reining ring  :)  They're running circles around their mothers and driving the poor mares frantic with their inability to stay put. 

If you're trying to match up the family trees and see who is related to whom, here's the scoop.

Firefly has two brothers - Flashy (2) and Hutch (5)

 

Flashman - love the hair :)  

    

Hutch - Mr. Reliable. He will boldly go :)

Friendly - check out the cool marking on her butt - it looks like a very portly gentleman with a rather large nose. :)

  Carling has a full brother - Corona (3).

Frisco's foal, Firefly, has arrived.

So, this was the scoop last night - bagged up, waxed up, moaning and groaning.  But, she held out until everyone was gone today to have the foal.   And what an amazingly cute foal it is!  She was born in the field with her mother and sister in attendance. 

We named her Firefly - in the tradition of having the baby's barn name start with the first letter of the mom's name - so you know whose foal is whose.

She is very curious of people - and everything in general. 

 And she loves every living creature - including the two nests of barn kitties that are currently sharing her stall. In the far right, you can see a pile of furry black bodies and one ginger coloured bum sticking out on the left :)

He's he-ere!!!!

I'm pleased to introduce Connie's new foal - Carling.  We're sticking with the beer theme - for the moment anyway.  He has an older full brother named Corona :)  His sire's name is Slide Over Hollywood - a very handsome reining stallon who goes by the barn name "Jackson".

Carling was born early this morning in the field and was up and sucking and trotting by the time Chris and I were on the scene this morning.  We got them separated from the mare herd after much excitement and they are now happily installed in the run in. 

Carling is already practicing his canter, spins, sliding stops and roll backs.  His mother thinks he's very advanced.

All bagged up and nowhere to go :)

This is a picture of Connie.  She is certainly not a happy camper these days as she groans her way around the fields and barnyard wearing a perpetual 'Who did this to me?' expression. 
Hopefully, her little bundle of joy will make it all worthwhile. :)

In other news, Flashman is getting incredibly handsome - in fact, we may have to change his name to Fabio.  He was having an exceptionally good hair day today and the wind was blowing it just right. :)

Starsky the Wonder Horse

Every now and then, you get a 'forever' horse. One that's so much fun and so nice to be around that you feel like you just found your next best friend.

That's Starsky. He's a Paint Horse. Tobiano. He's about 15.1 hands.  He has the cutest little trot -  that my husband says is just walking with style - but it's sooooo comfortable that I don't care. :)

He doesn't do scary things when he's scared - he waits for direction - which is wonderful. 

If you follow our website  http://www.starviewfarm.com/, he has a full sister named Cheyenne who will start training this year.  She's a gorgeous medicine hat paint.  I can't wait to see what she's like.  She's very brave and very smart - but then, I always did have a soft spot for mares...

Wait for it....

It's really frustrating to wait around for foals.  You breed the mare, you carefully write down the dates and calculate the due date and then, obviously, the mares NEVER read it. ;)

We are waiting for Connie (QH mare) and Frisco (APHA mare) to have their little bundles of joy.  I'm betting it's two fillies.  We shall see.

The mares have started to bag up, but although they're due almost a month apart, they look to be at the same stage or pre-delivery readiness. 

This is a very fetching picture of Frisco from last month.

Spring is coming!

We had some absolutely beautiful sunshine here today and the mercury managed to creep above freezing, so the snow was melting a bit too - always a good sign that the snowbanks won't stay forever.  The horses were just waking up from their 2pm nap when I snapped some pictures. 
Cheyenne turned 2 this year and she LOVES to have her picture taken.  You have to sneak up on her and snap a bunch, because once she hears the shutter noise, she wants to get really close and horses nostrils aren't as cute as the whole horse...

Flashman has grown up to be a very handsome man with a mane to die for!  It has this wild kink in it.

Have a great week! 

Holy cold riding!

It's that time of year when you sacrifice the feeling in your fingers, nose and toes for some time in the saddle.  It's been pretty icy up this way too - which doesn't help whether you have two feet or four.  Here's some inspiration for the intrepid winter riders.

New year - new babies!

It's January of 2010 and the countdown to May has started. Conny (QH) and Frisco (Paint) will be having babies this year.

Conny was bred to Jackson (barn name for Slide Over Hollywood) a very talented reining stallion. We're looking forward to the first spins already :)

Frisco was bred to our stallion, Mojo (barn name for Smart Leo San Cita). This pairing has produced some of the sweetest horses you'll ever meet. If you're looking for a horse that acts like a dog - this is your lucky year :)

Subscribe to the blog to get the first pictures when the babies hit the ground. Happy trails!