Moonbeam has a filly!

The morning after returning from the Buck clinic (May 2 nd), I went out to feed the pintos and I noticed a strange little horse. I wondered where it came from because it was not there the night before.  I then realized that beautiful Moonbeam had her baby, much to my surprise, as I wasn't expecting the foal until June or August. Moonbeam turned two May 6th, since  horses gestate for eleven months  she was just a year + when she conceived. Before we knew she was already pregnant,  we had all the stallions she lives with gelded. Suki is the dad and he had a good time just before he was fixed!  Although, a young mare she is a very good mother and we have increased her feed so she has plenty of milk.

Her filly's name is Ceilo Luna which means Heaven/sky moon. She is just a few hours old in these photos and  is my grandson's horse - he chose her name and is very excited and can't wait to meet her!
She is already nibbling on alfalfa hay; runs, hops, bucks and is a pure delight to watch!

Update

It has been a few months since I have posted. My plan is/was to post more frequently but it has been an exceptionally busy time on many fronts.

The exciting news is that we have a new filly and the sadder news is that Little One was kicked out of the herd. Fortunately he has been found and is now being tended to.
The pintos in general have taken awhile to adjust to spending time over here and prefer to be over at their old home. Fortunately they have a guardian angel in our new neighbor who lets them be over on his land. Periodically I close the gate between the 2 properties so that they can acclimate to being here. Before the birth of the new filly the wind and the pintos managed to push open the gate and they spent almost 2 weeks at their old home. They finally started coming back here for treats after the filly was stronger.
Often we went over to check on everyone and to take photos. I am working on the pinto calendar for 2011 and a pinto book - many images that were taken during this time will be in them.
The horses were here for breakfast today and after they ate they ALL took a nap!

The arrow is pointing at the small filly, . On her left is her Mama, above the filly is Polka Dot and on the left is Thunder. Far right is Suki and far left are Sweetie and Lady.

Be sure to see the two new posts below about the new filly and Little One.

New Filly - Miss Moonbeam!

As of May 6th we have a new filly! She was quite a surprise because her mother, Mama (who is also Little One's mother)didn't look very big. I had begun to suspect she might be pregnant, but she has seemed round for the past two years, so it was hard to tell. Another mare, Polka Dot is definitly pregnant and has looked large for many months.

We asked our wonderful neighbor who allows the pintos to roam on his land - their old home - to name her.
He came up with the name Moonbeam.  She was so small when she was born, she may have even been premature, that I kept thinking of her as miss dainty.  So I added Miss to her name and when we need to call her with a shorter name - it is Missy.
She is a dear and is now a month old and holds her own with the big horses very well...even wants to eat alfalfa  squares with them out of the bowl!  Instead I just give her a few shavings. She is a little shy with me and sometimes curious, so even though I can touch her she is not quite ready to be touched a lot.

This my favorite photograph of her with her Mom- Mama.

As you can see she has an unusual white mark on her forehead.

When she was just 24 hours old she was so cute  trying to eat the grass...her legs were too long and she couldn't quite reach it!

Suki was very curious about the new filly and he was always around her the first few days.  She is just a few hours old here and Suki made it hard to photograph her alone as he was always with her!  I often find Suki, Miss Moonbeam and Mama hanging out together.