Farrier

Isabel is getting so BIG! She got to meet Aaron the ferrier. After he got done with Luna, he checked out the little one. He gave her a little bit of a filing and she was super well behaved. Aaron said that Tylir has done an amazing JOB. Izzy then went to run around the field for about an hour. Then she guzzled about two quarts of formula and took a nap.

Hello

So we took Izzy on a short little field trip (literally, hehe) to our house for my dad's birthday on Firday. She was very good and loved getting out.

Playing in the yard

Leading (she got a tad bit frisky, but corrected herself and was a lady the rest of the way home)

She has a busy week ahead, tomorrow we're loading on the trailer and then going for a walk off property! Then on Tuesday she has her first farrier appointment!

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!