So, this week was a little sad, in the sense that one baby and two broodmares left to go to their new home on Tuesday. One of the broodmares that left was Griffin, my favorite. With her went her baby, Kit Kat. The other mare that left was Julian, the dam of my roommate's foal, Katnip- meaning suddenly Katnip is now weaned.
Or that was the plan, at least.
What has happened instead is that Katnip has adopted Mojo as her new mama. Of course, Mojo won't let her nurse, but she has been wildly patient with her otherwise, letting her cling to her and Kyle like a little adopted child.
Here are a few pics from before they left:
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| Julian and Katnip on left, Griffin and Kit Kat on right |
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| Katnip sneaking up on the treats |
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| Can you tell they're related? |
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| "Sorry I broke the treat box. Except not really." |
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| "Hark. Something is amiss here." |
We originally believed Mojo and Kyle to be going with these ladies as well. So, after showering everyone with treats and well wishes, we tricked Julian into leaving the pasture without Katnip and ran Julian, Mojo, DJ, Kyle, and Kit Kat down to the waiting trailer. leaving a very stricken Katnip. It was pretty heart breaking. While the crew at the trailer did their thing, we moved Marti and Glimmer over with Katnip so she wasn't alone. We then found out that the chain of communication had missed us, and Mojo and Kyle weren't leaving after all. So, we had to go up and fetch the now panicking mare and foal and run them back to their pasture.
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| "Why won't everyone just leave me alone??" |
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| "As long as I have my mom, I'm good to go anywhere." |
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Before, Kyle had been getting braver:
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| Creeping closer... |
But afterward, he was like, heck no, you're not coming anywhere close to me!
Katnip was very grateful to see Mojo, as she and Kyle were the only ones from Katnip's group that returned. Marti and Glimmer didn't really give a hoot about her. Mojo seems to have taken her in, leaving everyone in a happier place.
Anyway! All of that aside, I am very excited that I have now haltered 3 of the remaining 5 babies. Katnip and Prim are now leading, and I finally got a halter calmly on Eliza this morning. She was SO GOOD! I got a halter on her earlier this week (unbuckled), and she flipped out, reared, and fell over backwards. Today, after a lot of patience and whispered sweet nothings, I got it on and off her face several times and then buckled it- with no issues. I'm very excited, as she is one of the ones that tends to... overreact.
So, the only ones I have not haltered are the two shy ones, Glimmer and Kyle. I'm happy to say that I'm now to the point where I can walk up to Glimmer and pet her without her running away, and I can even scratch her all over her body. I've been rubbing her with the leadrope a little, as well. Maybe sometime next week we'll get a halter on her.
Kyle hasn't really made much progress, but as he's the youngest and his mother tends to not really like people, I feel like there's not a whole lot that can be done with him until he's weaned, besides trying to get close to him and show him people aren't anything to be scared of.
For now, I'm just going to be excited about stuff like this!
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| "I'm a big kid now!" |
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