January 13, 2008 – Yummy wormer

Rory made me laugh last night. It's weanling worming time again so I took the syringe and bottle of wormer out to dose the boys. I did Rory first. Like last time I gave him a little bit and let him swallow, then a bit more. Rory seemed to like the taste! He got the syringe in his teeth and started sucking on it. I levered it out gently, fearing he'd chomp down too hard and break the syringe. He grabbed it again when I gave him a bit more. He's funny!

TOF didn't have any issue swallowing the wormer, but he didn't like having the syringe poked in his mouth and gave me the head wiggle, lift, drop, stretch, etc each time I went to give him a little more.

December 4, 2008 - Settling into the new routine



The other weanling, Rory and the foal-less mare



Rory has the standing stall business figured out now. He doesn't try to turn around any more. He's also discovered that he doesn't have to eat all of his dinner at once. He nibbles on grain, then hay, then back to the grain. It's cute.  He's getting a mix of developer and a touch of sweetfeed, but Rory doesn't seem too keen on the sweetfeed and picked out the developer first. I'm changing him over to developer alone.

I wormed them both the other night. They're really good. We have the bottle of liquid wormer so we can just use a syringe and give them what they need without messing with tube wormers. I didn't have a big enough syringe (ok I did, but it had a sharp edged tip so I didn't use it) so I had to go back for more. I'd just give a little bit at a time and they rolled it around and swallowed before I gave a bit more. Neither tried to spit it out though they weren't keen on having the syringe back in their mouths.  Good little weanlings!

They have two mares with them now. The foaless mare that was out with them and their moms as well as the pregnant mare. The foaless mare really seems to like the foals. Good thing since the preggie mare was too cool to even look at the little ones.

September 25, 2008 – More practice



Checking out the empty feed buckets



Rory got wormed again this week, and then promptly dumped his grain bucket all over the place.  He's just not that into grain yet.

I went out and groomed him last night and then did some walking and trotting in hand. Mum and the other mare and foal followed us around which made for some interesting action when we turned around. He does jump and canter and try to run off, but is very good about stopping when he reaches the end of the lead. I gave him lots of scritches as well, even after he dumped his grain bucket again.

He's still growing quickly. The crown on his halter is now out to the third hole without being huge (maybe my leather halter will fit him now).

I faxed in his entry into the breeder's show this weekend, and the CSH National Foal Championship. We'll see if he looks like a premium foal this weekend. I think he's still looking good, but I admit to being a lot biased. Everyone hope for a rain-free day for us on Sunday.

August 20, 2008 – A night of firsts!

Last night was a night for firsts for Rory! We went exploring a little bit on the way into the barn. We did our jog across the parking area, then came back and went down the hill. He put the brakes on briefly at the shadow on the ground, then trotted after me. We went into the barn and out the other door to look at the hay wagon (full of fresh hay), then came back into the barn to find mum happily eating without any concern for where he'd gone. Rory was a little unsure about the hay wagon, but he nosed the hay bale on the ground beside it.

I rasped his feet a tiny bit - he really didn't need much, all that running around he does is wearing them down nicely. He wiggled a little bit on a couple of feet when he felt the rasp, but wasn't bad at all.

I moved him into the next size of halter. It's on the tightest hole at the crown and the second tightest on the nose and is maybe a touch big around his cheek, but it's okay. This one is red and he looks just as cute in red as he did in the royal blue one. I did try my leather halter on again, but it's still too big for him so we will have to borrow a leather halter from his breeder for Saturday's show. I tried it on and it fits quite nicely. He looks good in black too.

He didn't mind the wormer at all. Good thing because he needed 15ccs and I only had a 12cc syringe. He stood and rolled his tongue around with great concentration and swallowed it all without dribbling a drop, and then accepted the second batch equally well. Good boy!

Of course he got lots of scritches.