One month old!

Izzy turned one month old yesterday (Thursday, April 28th, 2011) and I've officially had her for a month as of today :)

Here is the video I made for her to celebrate. I think we've decided on the show name "Wide Eyed Dreamer".

Thank you for all the supporters, you guys have been absolutely amazing. The support has definitely urged us to get through such an emotional and physically demanding task of raising an orphan foal.

Hello

Everything is going good, Izzy is getting stronger and healthier than ever. I hope everyone had an amazing weekend and had a good Easter with your family and friends.

My camera is broken, so hopefully I will be able to borrow one to continue doing the daily Izzy videos on youtube. The video setting works on and off, but it takes like 10 minutes through the filming to actually show up. Pictures are a dud (as you can tell, this picture < is from right when it started malfunctioning).

Izzy will be seen by a corrective farrier (Luna's farrier - he is amazing!) Tuesday, I should have pictures/videos from that because one of my parents will be taking the morning off. Her legs are getting a lot better, but this way he'll be able to catch anything now that may show up later. Not looking forward to two farrier bills now, but hopefully Izzy's will be a lot cheaper than Luna's. Hopefully he'll say her legs are straight enough to go out for more than 2-3 hours at a time, so that way she can be turned out with Luna during the day.

Happy Easter

We just wanted to say Happy Easter to everyone and thank you once again for all the support!

Today Isabel was turned out with Luna and everything went well. This picture was from yesterday when I introduced them again. Hopefully if things continue to go well and as Izzy gets bigger, I can let them out together for longer periods of time.

Izzy's Dad, Videos and Updates

So I wanted to post a picture of Izzy's sire, I haven't been able to find a picture of her dam though. I took some, but haven't been able to find them! I'll have to go back when there isn't bad weather. Her breeder is supposed to call me when she figures out Izzy's exact breeding, so then I can let you guys know what exactly she is ;) She's a mix of Appaloosa, Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse and Arab..but not sure how much. Her dad is quite the stud-muffin!

Here is the video from Wednesday (or maybe even Thursday)..she is such a little energy ball!

Izzy will be four weeks old on Monday, which is a huge deal. I can't believe it's almost been a month. It literally feels like I just got her last week! I guess that's because I've been running around and barely sleeping. Although, we've had a lot of help the last week :) Once it dries out, I'll take her out to the drive way so we can get a height on her and maybe calculate what she'll be when she's done growing.

I calculated how much it costs to feed her each day - $10-14. That's if she only eats two bottles a feeding, and goes two-three hours between feedings. We had a very generous donation of a 44lb bag of formula, that should last two weeks!

Pent up energy!

Today (Tuesday) was a good day. She had visitors this morning and turned into a little nutter, since it had been the first time she had been outside since yesterday afternoon.

Then she got to spend two hours outside. We worked on the tarp and leading. She was terrified of the tarp when it was on the ground, so I'm going to put it outside her stall when we go outside, so that she has one choice: go over the tarp to go outside. Then we'll try to make it a fun game outside. It's much easier when there are two people there, by yourself it can get a little overwhelming. Tomorrow (if the weather is good in the morning) we will load her on the trailer and feed her there. She's already getting stubborn about things, so I need to get all the basics and desensitizing done by the end of the month. Trailer loading is my big thing, since Luna doesn't load. In the next few days, I'll be making scary contraptions with pool noodles, balloons, streamers, flags and bandanas. Hopefully with all the big horses watching the baby, they'll realize what chickens they are! ;) I can only hope...

After we got done doing "work", she had over an hour to just be a baby. She enjoyed running, eating grass and helping me collect rocks from the pasture.

I promise I will have an online photo album up and running ASAP, for those who are not on Facebook. For those who are on Facebook, I promise to upload more on her fan page daily.

In the next month, I am going to try to do a fundraiser on Izzy's behalf to help raise money to geld these stallions so that no more mares can be put at risk. The situation where I got Izzy is not the best situation and something really needs to be done. A mare died a few weeks ago while foaling, mares are starting to be inbred and foals are not getting enough milk or are born with defects. I'll keep you guys posted on any fundraising we decide to do.

PS - For any donors who have not received their note and picture, please email me your mailing address at: equine.success@yahoo.com so I can get those to you right away!

Oooooh...and if you're interested in volunteering or taking a feeding/babysitting shift, email me at the above email address to set something up!

Three Weeks Old!

It's a miracle that she has made it this far, but she has had a ton of support, love and really good vets!

Lots of work today

Today we worked a lot on her training. We worked some more on picking up her feet because she's started getting frisky about her hind end. I sacked her out some, gave her a sponge bath this morning and then introduced her to the clippers. We'll be introducing her to the bag whip, trailer, tarps and streamers tomorrow and over the next few days. She seems to have a lot of fun with all of this, super curious and brave now.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and was safe in the bad weather. Izzy enjoyed quite the gorgeous day today, and even got to go into one of the other fields to run. She really enjoyed the change of scenery!

She'll be cranky this week with all the storms in the forecast, but hopefully she can get out a few times during the day. If she doesn't get to go outside, she is such a handful in the stall. I can't blame her though ;)

I am going to create a flickr or photobucket account and that will be attached somewhere on the blog in the next few days. I just want to have one place to upload the pictures for those of you who are not on her Facebook page. It's amazing to see her progress. Almost three weeks ago she was ribby, weak and could barely stand, let alone walk. Now look at her! She's starting to bulk up really quick and can really pack on the muscle.

Again, thank you to all the donors, volunteers and supporters. All of you are greatly appreciated! If you're interested in donating items or volunteering your time - please contact me at: equine.success@yahoo.com.

Enjoy your Spring Break!

Rainy Weather

It's another yucky day here, lots of rain and thunderstorms today. Yesterday was an awesome day for Izzy. She had a new babysitter, which she really took to, and she got to meet a new horse! At first she was terrified of him, but she put her big girl pants on and finally decided to be brave! By the end she was trotting along after him and not scared at all! Laddie was such a good sport and was very calm and quiet around a strange little thing.

We're going to start measuring her height to record her growth, now that she's going to be at week three in the next few days. That's a huge milestone and another big week. She's progressing constantly, it's amazing. She's stronger, feistier, hungrier and bigger every day. She's even almost the same size as one of the foals that was born on February 23rd. It's amazing what good nutrition and love can do!

Thanks again to all the donors and volunteers, each and every one of you are greatly appreciated!

Gorgeous Weather = Fun Day

Today was a gorgeous day, sunny and not too hot. Izzy sure enjoyed it! She played all morning, then again at noon. Afterwards, I decided to take a nap in the back of her stall on some horse blankets, just to keep her company. She can get a bit lonely sometimes and really loves having someone just around her while she sleeps. Let me tell you..that was the hardest she's slept in a long time! She was out for almost two hours. :)

Then her Auntie Tori (my sister) came to babysit and she played outside for a long time. She ran and ran, ate some grass and talked to the neighbor's horses. She sure loves all the attention! Later in the evening, while we were out riding, her "Old Man" came to play with her. She was so frisky and happy to be outside in the sun. I swear she's just happy to be alive.

No videos for today (I have one, but it's boring so I need to cut out parts of it). I'm trying to post a daily video of her on youtube, so you can search "Isabel, the Orphan Foal" and you should find something.

Feeder Success???

We got Izzy to drink out of the feeder. Took a few tries and some patience, but she finished her meal. We're going to continue feeding her with it and hopefully rig it so that she can eat on her own tomorrow. That'll make life so much easier!

Happy Baby

Hello, it's been a few days since I last made a post. Isabel is doing great, she's really feisty and loving life at the barn. The last two days have been really yucky here in Virginia, so she's been kept inside for the most part. It doesn't seem to phase her too much, Dover Saddlery donated a scented Jolly Ball and she has been very entertained while inside. (See video below)

She is no longer hungry every hour (thank goodness), she's eating about every hour and a half to two hours! I started working on the bucket with her (again), but nothing worked. I skipped two feedings this morning and put the bucket in around 12. She knows what a bucket is, she drinks water out of her big bucket and I showed it to her and she sniffed it a few times. I went back at two to check on her and she had thrown the bucket across the stall, spilling formula everywhere. I set up another bucket after trying to get her to drink from it; dipping her mouth in, putting the nipple in the milk (which she played with), and using the rag trick. Nothing worked and she ended up dumping the bucket all over me. It's quite expensive to keep wasting so much formula, so I decided to go ahead and get stuff to make a feeder to attach to the wall. We're going to go try that in the next hour, so hopefully I'll have a video or picture to share of that.

Other than the feeding issues, she is doing great. We're thrilled with her progress physically, and hope she continues to progress.

Thanks to all the wonderful donors,

I have written the last check out to pay her current vet bills!

(Donations can still be made for her medical fund or you can donate money for formula or medicine. She goes through one container every week to week and a half!)

Izzy is at the barn.

Izzy had a successful night and day at the barn. She is now two weeks old and going strong.

This is the entourage that went with Izzy when she moved. Thanks for all the support and donations!

Instead of making a separate post; I will post a few videos here:

The Big Move

Such a busy day for Isabel! After an afternoon filled with visitors, Izzy was lead down the trail to her new barn with an entourage. It took us two van trips to the barn to get all her stuff moved. How can a two week old accumulate so much? She seems to like her digs in the big barn. She explored the place, had a good run in the pasture, snorted at Luna, and then went to sleep in her new stall. Amigo was standing guard over her stall door while she slept. He seems enamored. Tylir is camping out to take care of her still hourly feedings.

Just another Saturday..

Isabel playing with a plant...

I will upload more after we go to the feed store. Izzy is eating grain now, so we're going to introduce Foal Lac Pellets :)

Isabel's Videos

Here are some videos from the last few days. I'll try to post them in order so you guys can see her real progress :)

This is one of the first times she's ever had grass :)

Here she is with one of the ducks. He's terrified of everything, especially her!

Here she is running the other day.

This was yesterday.

I'm taking her outside as soon as this publishes, so there will be more! Today is a rainy day so she can't be out too long.

Thanks again for everyone who is donating their time, money and goods.

Moving to the Barn

All this talk of moving to the barn is making the old man teary eyed... However, Izzy is making so much progress and she needs to be taught that she is a horse. Tonight or tomorrow, Amigo will be come baby sitter in chief. Wonder how Sting and Luna are going to take that bit of news? We will post pictures of the big move and keep you up to date. Thanks to all of you who have contributed. All the time (baby sitting), food (for us humans), equipment and of course MONEY that Izzy has gotten amazes me. Thank You!

Update 4/7

Her blood work came back perfect, thank goodness. She's doing so much better now that she's been on probiotics, her eating has almost doubled at some feedings. She's also much more surefooted and obsessed with running. She can't stand still!

That is her going slower than normal ;) Her breaks are also getting much smoother and she's better on the turns (she did wipe out today).

Thanks for all the support and donations. A very generous donor is sending us halters of all sizes for her as she grows! How exciting! For all the donors - your picture should be coming in the next few days (so probably Monday or Tuesday).

A Ok

I just wanted to post that Izzy is doing really well today. She's getting into all sorts of stuff and has figured out how to break out of her stall. She's also an attention hog, she figured out how to swing the door open and closed so I'll pay attention.

I think we decided to move her to the barn hopefully on Friday ;)

Blood work had to get sent to the lab, I should hear by tomorrow. I'll update then!

Update on the vet visit

So the vet came out this afternoon to check on Izzy. Last night she didn't have much of an appetite and this morning her sniffle and runny nose were worse. The vet said she looked and sounded great, but they ran her blood again just to make sure. I haven't gotten the results on her blood work back yet, but if I don't hear back soon I'll call to make sure. If the blood comes back normal, the vet says she's probably allergic to something. If that's the case, we'll go from there. If her blood comes back abnormal, they'll start her on antibiotics. She was started on probiotics for her tummy issue, and so far it seems to be helping.

We took her out side this evening to get some fresh air and she is so full of herself! She had a ton of fun "teasing" the neighbor's mares. She would run to the fence, whinny and then run away. She sure had fun getting them all wound up :)

Funny Story:

Last night I was sleeping on the couch and I had the door to the mudroom open (for those of you who don't know, our living room adjoins to the mudroom - which is where Izzy is staying. She has a stall built inside the mudroom with rubber mats and straw). I had the automatic light on so that if she woke up, I would see it and get up and feed her. Well, I dozed off and all the sudden there was a foal in my living room asking for her bottle :) Never in a million years did I think I'd have a foal..let alone one in my living room!

Not feeling well..

I had the all nighter shift last night with Izzy and she did not drink as much as normal. This morning her runny nose and sniffle is back. She's kinda bloated, but no fever. The vet is coming out soon (I hope), if not this afternoon.

I'll keep everyone posted, please keep her in your thoughts.

I'm a big girl now!

Now that Izzy is officially one week old, she thinks she is hot stuff. She's getting into everything, and doesn't want anything to do with us while we're outside with her. The only time she wanted me while we were outside was when the horses behind our house were lined up whinnying at her. She was so scared and nervous that she kept whinnying to me and running away. We're working on introducing her to other horses so that she can get over this fear of hers. She loved Amigo, so hopefully when she moves down to the barn she'll become less nervous around mares or even other horses.

Here is the picture of my dad introducing her to our neighbor's lovely mares. The grey mare will probably be the second best option (other than Amigo) for a babysitter. She was interested, but not overly crazy about her.

Health wise she is doing pretty well, we're still trying to find the balance with her formula. We diluted it, but then it was making her tummy upset. When we had the normal dose, she got constipated. Babies..they're so frustrating ;)

Izzy meeting the "big" horses

So yesterday, Izzy got to meet the big horses. Amigo was so sweet, gentle and friendly with her. He was not the slightest bit aggressive and the vet said he showed lots of positive behavior. When she is older (in a few months) she'll probably be completely introduced to Amigo and he will be her "babysitter". If had to chose any horse to raise a horse, it would be him. He is the perfect horse and so understanding. It also helps that he's on the smaller size, and very aware of his body.

Introducing the baby to Luna didn't work as well as I'd hoped. She was pacing, snorting, tail up in the air, all the "bad signs". I'm sure if it was her own, she'd do much better - but she was a nervous (and JEALOUS) wreck when we brought the baby to the fence. Maybe when Izzy is a yearling, she can go out with Luna, but in the meantime I don't think they'll be a good match until Izzy is much older.

I didn't even bother introducing her to Sting, he is not a good influence ;) Plus, he can be aggressive.

Update 4/2/2011 - Post Vet

The vet came out for the big horses and I had her look at Izzy while she was out. It was another hefty vet bill. We have had $450 in donations, and every little bit is so greatly appreciated. Her balance with the vet is now just $436 and I am auctioning off my dressage saddle and other tack to pay off her bills. We will be doing fundraisers (horse related and non horse related) over the next week or two, so keep an eye out for that.

The vet did another exam, an Equine Screen (CBC), HYPP Test (because of her breeding), and she received an enema. The vet thinks she's really doing great, but the next two weeks are still very critical.

The good news is, we introduced Izzy to Amigo and he was very gentle and interested, but not overly eager. He might make a perfect babysitter when she gets healthier and older. Luna on the other hand was a bit of a psycho and quite jealous of the baby.

I will post pictures of Izzy and Amigo tomorrow!

Update 4/2/2011

Hello everyone,

Izzy has made it through yet another night, and she finally went number two ;) She's currently outside enjoying an outing with my dad. It's finally sunny and not so cold! This has been the first time that she's been allowed out without her blankie (which she's outgrowing VERY quickly).

Today will be a busy day for everyone, especially the horses. It's that time of year where the vet comes out for vaccines, teeth floating, exams and sheath cleaning (at least for the boys). It is also a busy day for Amigo, he is going to be rechecked for his fractured pelvis. We will find out if he can move to a bigger turnout - or even be ridden. Izzy will be making her first trip to The Funny Farm, and will meet her new "brothers" and her sister. She will also be seen one last time by our regular vet, just because I'm a worry wart! Better be safe than sorry, especially with such a fragile little thing. Hopefully her visit to the farm goes well and she can maybe move into Luna's stall sometime during the week. Once we get her eating from a bucket, it will make more sense to move her down to the farm.

We all have high hopes for the little filly.

Thank you to all the supporters, donors and volunteers,

Tylir and Isabel

6:30 AM, Day Three

Fever was down significantly :) doing much better and can lay down on her own without taking 5-10 minutes to process what her body wants her to do.

She's already growing! My mom went down this morning after her first full night of sleep since she came and came up shouting "Izzy has grown!". She's changing so quickly it's unbelievable.

Shout outs to all the volunteers, donors and babysitters; Dover Saddlery, Joye, The McGee's, The Brannock's, Paula, Holly and Kimberly.

High Fever, morning #3

Izzy had a high fever of 101.8, called the ER vet. Will keep everyone posted!