Baxter and Bullet
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Gus is our newest horse, and he is just laid back. Nothing bothers him, and he doesn't care where he is in the pecking order. He loves the babies, but like some people, he just doesn't show it. He's too much of a ranch horse to show them affection, but he is glad they are around. Good old Gus, sweet Sam, and classy Crickett keep an eye out for the boys.
We are proud of the boys' accomplishments these first six months. They were weaned from their mothers with no trouble at all. Baxter ended up going under the round pen and rubbed the hair off his face, exchanging it for the shape of a lucky seven. They both let us know that they could run with the bigger horses.
Volunteers are teaching them new things with their halters and how to lift up their feet without kicking anyone. They are smart, but best of all, they are just down right sweet and full of love.
As the weather gets cooler, their winter coats are coming on and they look like two cute little boys wearing sweaters. This will be their first winter, and we will watch them closely and treat them with tender loving care. Their mothers, Bits and Babe, are back to work at Mosaic TRAILS. Even though they come into contact with eachother daily, it seems they don't remember that those boys belong to them, adn the boys act the same way.
Happy 6-month birthday Baxter and Bullet!
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Mosaic Trails is proud to announce that we are the proud parents of two new little colts. Baxter was born on April 7, 2009 at 1:40 a.m. while it was a mild 27 degrees outside. His mother, Babe, and her boy Baxter are doing just fine. Bits also had a colt named Bullet that was born on April 13, 2009 at 7:10 a.m. when itwas a more reasonable 68 degrees. Bullet came by that name naturally as his mom shot him out like a bullet.
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Now you all know how babies are made and where they come from, but that is what makes this story a real story. It was a hot afternoon better known as a Mosaic Trails work day when it was discovered by Terry Wallace and Liz Jones of Mosaic TRAILS that one of the mares was developing a bag. Bits and Babe, beautiful Haflingers, were both purchased at the same time from an Amish Farm in Missouri nine months ago, so the discovery of both mares in this condition was a surprise. I was down in the field ready for work on the tractor when the two pulled up in the truck saying they needed to tell me something. I was afraid it was about the way I was driving the tractor.
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Much to my delight that was not the case. Jones told me Wallace had something to tell me. I looked into the truck at Wallace and she broke the news that Bits and Babe were going to be mothers. We hollered and danced around and celebrated for a long time until we realized that we had missed such an evolution in the mares. We all thought they were just eating too much and getting bigger by the day. We didn't think they had been exposed so we never thought we would be so lucky. I hate to tell you we had been cutting down on their feed a little because they were so fat.
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Jones and Wallace decided we better load those girls up and take them to the vet to get an official word on whether they really were pregnant or not. Jones and Wallace were 99 percent sure--they just needed the vet to confirm to them what they already knew and to tell us when we could expect the foals. You should have seen the people at the vet looking strange and laughing at us for not knowing. They are all friends and good people so I asked them if anyone has ever brought a horse in that far along to find out if she were pregnant. One of the girls said we were the first to do that. Guess what? They were about 10 months along and 11 months is how long it takes for a foal to develop! The vet said it could be any day or 30 days. We took the mares back to Mosaic with great excitement and anticipation.
Jones tracked the farmer down to find out who the horseshad been bred to and the farmer said he didn't know they had been. Then it dawned on him that the neighbor's buckskin quarter horse had gotten into his field for two days. It was just a colt so the farmer had no idea that it would result it Baxter and Bullet but we are glad it did. Babe, Baxter, Bits and Bullet reside now near Mosaic but on a beautiful piece of property thanks to the kindness of the Jordan family,where they can run, play, sun and sleep. Babe is a trusting mom, letting Baxter, a friendly and playful colt, do as he pleases and go where he wants.. Bits is a controlling and nervous mom so Bullet is still really shy. We will get him out of that by working with him and his mom. The future of Mosaic Trails looks bright with two new colts added to our family.
