Rain at last!

As you have heard, California has been suffering from a bad drought this year.  The above photo was taken in January, unbelievable as the rainy season usually starts around November.  Fortunately we had water saved for the herd who lives with us (below) and Thunder's herd (above) was still able to find water on their property.

Finally green grass for all the horses as of February!!!  Very happy guys!  

Pintos and video

I have been wanting to shoot videos of the pintos for some time. Photography is my thing, not movies but I am experimenting with a video camera.  I have not set up editing software on my computer yet,  so here are   four short clips.  There is not a lot of action - just walking  horses.  Hopefully, as I learn more, the videos will improve!
The first one is of Chie, 6 months old,  walking with her mom, Polka Dot on a very windy day:

Some of the herd walking through Eucalyptus trees.

Suki, Sweetie, Moonbeam and her filly Ceilo Luna, three weeks old:

A short clip of Luna who is growing leaps and bounds:

A filly is born November 9th!

For many months we wondered whether or not Polka Dot was pregnant.  We had expected a birth around July  and since so many months went by we figured there would be no new foal as it is unusual for a horse to give birth so late in the season.  November 8th while feeding the herd I noticed that Polka Dot's udder was full of milk.  The next day a new filly arrived. We are so happy you are finally here! 

Her name is Chie (pronounced Chiyay) which means wisdom in Japanese.

She is about three days old in these photos. 

She looks so small here.

In the photos below she is five days old.

Chie  peeks behind her mother as the herd eats their grain.

FEEDING TIME FOR HERD

Originally only two horses would eat out of a bowl. Now all do except for Polka Dot and Splash. Polka Dot has always been shy and I have to throw the food down on the ground for her. Splash like her Mom is shy and even though she is now 2 months old she has only come near me a few times….two times I was able to feed her some shavings from the alfalfa squares.

Splash hangs outside the gate of the corral while the other pintos eat inside.
At Kathe’s suggestion I have been slowly changing their diet…now they get a mix of Timothy grass pellets and a few squares mixed with water and flax seed. Eating at the bench is at times chaotic and so tonight I went around the pen and put out piles of food for them on the ground. Of course the herd instinct kicked in and several horses had to eat at the same spot but little by little they each had a place and ate - of course Thunder went around and finished all the piles! The hope with this feeding method is to soon have a way to give Thunder and Lady only supplements added to their feed for arthritis but who knows if that will work out!