Monday, December 20, 2010

Finally!! "The News" :)

I've been hoping to share some exciting news with you guys but "stuff" keeps coming up.  Like the weather, the sewer pump going out, etc etc.  But today was a drama/stress free Sunday.  I was planning on taking the day off and only doing one thing (besides a load or two of laundry).  Partly to try to give my shoulder a rest (it's still pretty sore from last Sunday's escapades) and partly because with Christmas and New Year's both right around the corner it will be a few weeks before I have a day off to truly relax.
Thankfully nothing went wrong at home, trust me I was checking for water/sewer problems constantly!  I was prepared for some drama though.  Because The Thing I was planning had the potential for drama....
I was going to pick up my new babies!!

Octavius (sorrel) and Odin (grullo)
sorry for the poor quality of the pic, it was taken late this afternoon after we got home
In September Pie had agreed to buy me a weanling for our anniversary.  In the end we picked out two, one for me & one for Pie (ummm, yeah sure *eyeroll* lol) 
The first, and only, place we looked was Jaclin Quarter Horses, where Kimfer got her grey mare Isis.  I like how Isis has turned out, I like Jack & Linda, and I like what they're breeding for... good minded, athletic, USING horses, and it doesn't hurt that they're usually pretty darn good looking too.  ;)
So way back in September we spent our anniversary looking at babies.  Ooooh the babies... LOVE spending a day, even a rainy miserable one, in pastures checking out babies.  I knew that although I really want a nicely bred, papered mare that I would be looking at colts.  Mares just tend to bring out Voodoo's macho side so until the distant future its geldings only for us.  In the end I walked away with a short list of 5 colts.
Every year Jaclin names their foals after a different letter of the alphabet.  This year all the foals have barn names that start with O.
One of those 5 ended up being Octavius and Pie reallyreallyreally wanted him.  When Tavi got moved to the bottom of my short list he waited until I had narrowed it down more and then told me we were going to bring home 2 and 1 was going to be Tavi.
We went and visited a few times and I ended up being torn between 2, Odin and a liver chestnut named Oscar.  The last time we visited I just went with my gut and Odin it was.  Not sure why as Oscar was much more friendly that day.  Maybe Odin just seemed more quietly confident??
It took awhile for the colts to be weaned and ready to come home, and like I said there were other roadblocks.  But today was the day! 
Surprisingly there was NO drama at all.  Both colts are halter broke but not leading 100%, as Jack warned me, but they both led very nicely.  Even better they both loaded pretty darn good.  Octavius was in a trailer once so far, with his mama, to come to the main yard from a pasture some of the mares and foals were in.  Odin had been in the main yard his entire life so had never been in a trailer.  It took about 10-15 minutes to get them both loaded.  No drama, just patient and let them figure out its not a bad thing.
Kind of a neat thing, the mares were all loose in the yard where we were loading.  The 3 mares that stuck around were Oscar's mom (the one that was my 2nd pick) and Octavius's and Odin's moms!  It was pretty cute, almost like they were saying good bye to their babies :)
Unloading was even better.  I backed the truck and trailer into the barn/corral area and closed the gate (just in case they got spooked and pulled free, at least they'd still be contained)  When I opened the trailer door they were just standing side by side, facing the front (I had removed the divider and left them untied)  They let me come in and put their leadropes on with no fuss, then Odin turned around in front of Tavi so I got my mom to grab his lead rope.  Odin stepped out with both front feet, Tavi backed out so his hinds were on the ground and they both froze.  We talked to them for a minute and then they both just stepped the rest of the way out.
The closest we got to any drama was walking them down the alleyway to their pen.  I do think they were wondering what the HECK happened to Rootbeer and George to make them look so funny though as the colts were both really giving the pony and mini-donkey the eye lol  Add Voodoo and Applejack checking things out from their pen and Cessa giving all kindsa attitude about the new arrivals coming to live next door to her... I wouldn't have blamed the colts if they had acted up but they were such good boys!!  No pulling or jumping around, just a bit of high headedness and they froze up a couple times but every time we asked them to walk they did
I'm really looking forward to seeing how these boys develop! 

7 comments:

  1. How exciting! Well, if you were lacking in blog fodder before, you sure won't be now!

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  2. That is so exciting! Nothing beats a good working-bred QH - they look great, and so good for their arrival!

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  3. yaaa babies! Pretty nice looking ones too! They will be soo much fun!

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  4. Saaa-wwweeeettttt!

    Yay for you both. Nice, NIce selections. ;-)

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  5. WICKED COOL!!!!!! Love them babies! Nice booties ;)

    Hope they settle in perfectly. I'm looking forward to watching them grow up though LOTS OF PIX!!! (hint hint... muwhahaha)

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  6. Too cute! I want a baby now! Ok, I know better. I just think I do! Maybe when we move next summer...

    Enjoy your babies!

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  7. OH MY GOSH - Huge NEWS! That is so cool! i am looking forward to more pictures! Those two are real lookers you guys have a great eye for ponies! I love them both!!

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Wordless Wednesday ~ new trailer!