New (part-time) job!

So, nobody gets excited about taking on a second job. Right? Especially one that you have to get up at 5:00 AM for, so that you can still work your regular 8 AM - 5 PM job?

Well, this kid right here does.

I was recently hired to halter-break and gentle 6 2012 AQHA foals, and I finally got to start yesterday. In the 108 degree heat. I'm pretty sure I almost fainted at least once, which is not a good thing to do around babies and their mamas. So, I scrapped the idea of going out after work and decided to get up early and go out when it was cooler (say, 85 degrees instead).

And it made a HUGE difference.

Now, on to more important stuff: the foals. I don't currently have the papers on the mares or the sires, but I think they're all pretty cow-bred. We have:

Eliza, blue roan filly, named after the ELIZAs that the lab has to run that are apparently a pain in the you-know-what (great). She's pretty outgoing and curious, but I hear she can be a big stinker. Her mama is Gloria, a blue roan mare (named after the hippo in Madagascar).

Prim, bay filly, named after Primrose in The Hunger Games. My favorite! She is sweet, very pretty, baby-doll head. She's a tiny bit timid, but in a good way, if that makes sense. Her dam is DJ, a bay mare. I'm not sure what she's named after, so I'm going to go with "Full House".

Glimmer, grulla filly, named after Glimmer (duh) in The Hunger Games. She has the narrowest face I think I've ever seen on a horse. She is very shy, but she will come up to you if you squat down. We made progress in that she will let us pet her neck now, if we move slowly and are not standing. Her dam is Marti, a grulla mare named after the zebra in Madagascar.

Catnip, sorrel filly, named after Katniss in The Hunger Games. She is my roommate's favorite. She is the most laid-back of the foals, and I've been able to halter her both days I've gone out. Not without her share of freak-outs, mind you- she has given me a few good rears- but generally, she has no fear of people and will follow you around, with or without the halter. Her dam is Julian, a sorrel mare (seeing a trend here?) named after the king lemur in Madagascar. Julian is also the most laid-back mare (ahh, we can breed for personality!), and the shortest (coincidence?).

Kit-Kat, liver chestnut filly, named because she is Catnip's little shadow. She was born premature, so she is the smallest, despite being one of the older ones. She is probably the second most laid-back, and even more so if Catnip is around. Her mama is very protective of her, however, so until she gets weaned, it's hard to do too much with her. Mama is Griffin, a bay mare (and my favorite of the broodmares). I don't know who/what she's named after. Perhaps an actual Griffin.

Kyle, bay colt (the one and only), named after a former grad student. He is the youngest and the most timid of all the babies. Getting him to come up to me today was a huge step for him, as he just has no interest in people. His dam is a sweet mare named MoJo (male hippo in Madagascar, poor thing) that reminds me of Chica, except she also has no real interest in people. Funny how that works!

I don't have tons of current pictures of them yet, but these are what I do have!

Baby Catnip!

Preemie Kit Kat and DJ

Griffin pushing baby Prim (and effectively moving me out of the way)

Gloria, in all her glory (har har)

(Sleepy) baby Eliza!

Foals and their mommas

Eliza, before losing her baby fuzz

A better look at Glimmer's markings, before losing her fuzz

Me getting swarmed by Glimmer and Prim, with Eliza doing a sneak attack from the back

Glimmer and my roommate

Double scratches for Catnip and Kit-Kat!

And, because I don't think there are enough pics, here are a couple of pictures of my guys:

My sweet girls

Ramses wants to know why you're watching him bathe

The cuddly Corgi and her amazingly patient big brother

On a final note, I got back to the house last night to find Fiona in her kennel with her collar stuck in her mouth- she had somehow gotten her bottom jaw hung up in it, probably because she was trying to chew it. She was freaking out, obviously, and had blood all over her paws from where the collar had been rubbing her gums. I too freaked out, managed to get the collar off her with only one moderate bite (didn't break the skin), and gave her a bath- and she was totally fine. But I guess I won't be crating her with her collar, anymore. Do they make break-away collars for Corgis??