Spring Ahead

As I write this it is nearly 8:00 am but it is really nearly 7:00 am. Which means that I lost an hour of sleep and I can tell it. I guess that I can gain it back in November but that is an awful long time to wait.

I really like Daylight Savings Time and think that it is a wonderful idea. I don't know why it is a good idea. It does seem to make the days longer but that is probably an optical illusion.

Morning gave us fits last night, she was restless and pawing in her stall. I got up and watched her for awhile to make sure that she wasn't going into labor but she was just shaking her head, pawing and generally making lots of noise.

I woke my husband up to ask if he had checked her utter and was she strutted? He got up and went out, then came back to bed and said that she is filling up but not strutted. She continued to raise cane, so he got up and watched her for awhile. I guess she is just feeling better and tired of being cooped up.

This is one disadvantage of living in the barn, mares in labor usually try not to wake you up but devious horses like Morning, sleep all day and keep you awake at night. I know that she needs some exercise and some sunshine but we really don't have a place to turn her out that isn't muddy and/or uneven ground, we are hoping that it dries out some this week.

We are so amazed at how quickly and well this injury is healing, every time we unwrap it we are so pleased, I just wish that I had taken pictures. The extensor tendon is still not healed, so she can't always control her foot and it knuckles under, so that she steps on the front of her ankle, then she totally panics but she panics over everything anyway.

This mare acts like there is danger all around her at all times, to the point of injuring herself over non-existent threats. She has never been mistreated while we have had her and the lady that had her before us bought her at auction and thought that she had been abused but I just think that it the way she is wired. I have been told that this is common in her bloodlines.

She has absolutely no redeeming quality other than she is black, beautiful, has an extremely smooth gait, is very pleasant to watch in the pasture, has good bloodlines and doesn't seem to pass her spirit on to her offspring but then we have only had one foal out of her. Handling this mare is a nightmare. I will try to get some pictures of her and her well healing injury when I can and post them on here.

Done My Part

If you read my "Doe's Secret Code of Honor" blog then you will understand this blog better.

Everything seems to be in place for both of my does to kid in the next couple of days. My house is in chaos (which is normal), my hair is tangled (new perm), laundry is piled up, my husband keeps saying, "Oh, they are no way near ready." and to top it all off, we have a winter storm watch for Friday and Saturday. I have done all that I can to make them kid early, the only thing that I haven't done is plan a trip.

It would have been so easy this year, just to put the two does in the foaling stall and have them right outside my door, maybe I haven't mentioned that we live in the barn. Anyway we live on one side of the barn and have a nice big foaling stall right across the aisle from our living room door. However since Morning had to go and get herself injured and with her being the first mare to foal this year, she has taken up permanent residence in that stall, so my goats will have to kid in the horse trailer.

Can you even believe it? We have been having warm, sunny days, Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, our horses have left their hay feeders in search of new grass and then we get a prediction of 6 inches of blowing and drifting snow for the next two days with lows down around 14º.

The good news is that it is suppose to be 49º on Monday, so maybe there is still hope. My does will both be good girls and wait until the weather warms up to kid, breaking their own code of honor. We will have to wait and see, but to be safe, I will continue the nightly checks.