New Baby!

We have a New Baby!

New baby colt that is… You didn’t think that I was having another baby did you? Ha! Twins are enough J

Our beautiful 5 year old Paint ‘Chona’ had her baby colt on April 22, 2013 at 6pm. First time Mom dropped the foal all by herself, she didn’t need help from my husband or the vet. Way to go Chona! I wouldn’t expect anything else from her, she is the most intelligent and gentle horse around. We got her when she was 8 months old and she thought she was a dog. She followed us around and let my then almost 2 year old twins run underneath her, around her and swing from her tail. I was terrified I am a city girl and rarely saw horses and was always told that you never go behind them. Yes, that is still the rule of thumb, Chona being the exception. Hopefully she will pass these traits onto her son.

It's hard to be a baby

Ok back to baby… His name is Hercules, yes Hercules it was better than ‘Botticelli’ the twins wanted. Botticelli- I know where did they get that you say? - A movie of course. It is a C rate cartoon that the damsel in distress has a white horse named Botticelli. So we settled for another movie character name Hercules. I think it suits him, he looks strong and beautiful. I know I am a proud Grandma.

Mama and baby

Hercules is black with a star and a white patch on one back foot. He looks nothing like his Mom who is brown with black patches on her legs and a blaze on her forehead. It is so funny how things don’t turn out like you think they will, Chona was mated with an all white Stallion. Where the heck did black come from- maybe the milkman? Hercules does however look just like a Stallion that died on our ranch about two years ago named ‘Cuervo’ a beautiful retired racehorse -reincarnation, maybe. We will have to wait and see if Hercules color changes, in the sunlight he has red highlights or if he continues to look like Cuervo. He is very gentle and not scared of all of the kids that come to the barn to see him. He nurses all of the time and will even try to nurse you fingers LOL.



Pita with Hercules



He is a dream come true for my daughter ‘Pita’, she is a very petite little girl and of course the biggest horse at the ranch was ‘hers’ Cuervo. When he passed away (old age) she was devastated. Since Cuervo was gone she had been trying to convince us to buy another horse. My husband took her and her twin to his friends Ranch a retired veterinarian from Mexico; the man now breeds and shows horses for a living. So Pita falls in love with a beautiful 2 year old Roan Stallion. She tells her Papi “I want this one, buy me this one”. Oh boy… So her Dad tells her to go and ask Don Ramon how much for the horse. Knowing full well that she is painfully shy and lets her twin sister talk for her, Pita grabs her twin ‘Mina’ by the hand and off they go. My husband just stood there grinning thinking when she got to the owner she wouldn’t speak. She surprised him, when she got to where Don Ramon was she stood really tall and said ‘How much for the horse?’ Humoring her he said ‘which one?’ She described the horse and Don Ramon told her “$10,000.00” she looked and him and said ‘that is too much for a horse I will give all the money in my bank, $10.00’ and back and forth they went. Both Don Ramon and my husband had to hatch a plan quick to discourage her because Don Ramon was losing fast. Needless to say she left that Ranch in tears and fits but she won. Don Ramon told her that she could come anytime and visit ‘Caramelo’ and she could be part owner but the horse was going to stay at his ranch. That placated her for a while, she still goes and visits and brushes him. She hasn’t ridden him yet because everyone is scared because he is a Stallion and Pita is a little thing… but if anyone can ride that horse it will be Pita. Caramelo loves her and knows who is boss.

So when Chona was in foal she told her Papi that the baby was hers with the same determination that she had negotiated joint ownership of ‘Caramelo’.  He of course wanted the baby for himself that is the reason that he wanted Chona pregnant. This time Pita won! Chona belongs to Mina and Hercules belongs to Pita. My husband and I are horseless… I’m ok with that I have enough mouths to feed and clean up after. J Besides I have my chickens.