It's a Boy!!!

[Paul W]

Well it is, just not what you were expecting. :P
Here he is, roughly 3 hours old.
http://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17842333-M.jpg
http://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17842279-M.jpg

We woke up this morning to the phone ringing at 6:30, which is never good news on a Sunday.

People driving by saw our mare down on the ice, and pulled in and banged on the door of the farm manager, and he phoned us, knowing she was due soon.
We raced down to the field where our horses are, and as we came over the hill, we could see both horses standing over the colt.

I ran down, threw off my coat, and scooped the still wet baby up off the ice, and carried the heavy little bugger 200 yards up to the barn.
When everything had settled down, and the adrenaline rush had passed, I realized I was blood and slime from my arm-pits to my knees, no coat on, frozen solid, and grinning ear to ear.

Momma and baby are doing fine. :)

[tmx468]

Aww :)

Pass on the congrats to the mother!

[sao95]

very cool :)

[roadtech]

Cool, Congrats......Grandpop............:D

[BBA]

Awwl...

How cool is that. :)

[Cowboybooter]

Congratulations! :D

:)

Bob

[vavega]

oooh! HE that is the cutest little pony! :cool: what's his name?

[vavega]

can you tell roughly how tall he'll be by the length of his legs now?

[Paul W]

Funny you should mention his legs, we are amazed that they are so long, they are just about as long as the mare's! :eek:

Momma is 15 hands, and we heard the sire is around 17 hands.
With the average there, and those darn stilts he's standing on, we bet all of 16 hands.

As for his name, tentatively, we have settled on Chester.:)

[vavega]

i was hoping you'd say that, and it's just not how the pic came out. his knees are almost up as high as mom's. will you keep him, or sell him when he gets older? with being that tall, maybe he's be a good one for you to ride
<says V, desperately trying to come up with a good reason for the upcoming vet bills and extra food> :)

was chester your father's name? :P :D

[Paul W]

Believe it or not, we went to a baby name web site this morning and scrolled through until we saw a few we liked. Chester was at the top of our short list. :D

We would like to keep him, but that will be a matter to discuss with the property owner when she comes up next month. If 3 horses are too many for her liking, (our horses are boarded free here because of the work we do for her) we'll have to decide on keeping the colt or the mare once he's weened.
My gelding isn't going anywhere, he's our favourite.

As for vet bills don't get me started... we have already spent about $1500 over the last 9 days, due to our 4 cats (now 3 :( ).
The vet is coming later to check up on Chester, so that is only a running total so far. :puke:

[Paul W]

Just had a thought, with vet bills like that, I should call him Opteron, cause that's about as close as I'm about to get to one. :ROF:

[vavega]

tell her you'll do overtime! he won't eat much :rolleyes: at least not for a while

i always wanted a pony, i wonder if i could talk mr.v into letting me have one?

[NeoStarO1]

That is the cutest thing i have seen today. :) thanks and Congrats!!! I'd be grinning ear to ear also. :)

[Paul W]

Another cute shot.
http://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17842301-M.jpg

[davidw]

That is soooo awesome!!!

[halfwatt]

kool!!!!

[AndyL]

So this is the suprise baby that you found out about after you bought the horse !
Well congratulations :)
He is adorable !

[sao95]

Momma is 15 hands, and we heard the sire is around 17 hands.


why do they call the measurement hands? just curious as I have no idea :dontknow:

[Paul W]

A hand is an old fashioned measurement, from long before tape measures or rulers.
A hand is 4", which is about what the average male hand is across the palm.

[sao95]

thanks HE, now I know :) I knew a guy that talked horses alot, always wondered and never got around to askin what the hand thing was :)

[Paul W]

Forgot to mention, that the measurement is up to the whithers, which is where the neck meets the back.

We turned them out for an hour this morning, between 10 and 11.
Chester had people pointing and gawking on the highway and some people pulled over to watch.
Everyone's a sucker for a baby. :)

Of course, the sun came out after they were back in the barn. :rolleyes:
http://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17946495-M.jpghttp://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17946548-M.jpg
http://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17946236-M.jpghttp://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17946243-M.jpg

Both of them were doing this, but I couldn't get the pic snapped in time.:lol:
http://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17946300-M.jpg

[knothead]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

Oh, this is the COOLEST POST EVER EVER!! :D

I LOVE them!! GREAT pictures!!

AAAAAHHH!!! Paul, I just want to catch a plane up there and see...

I am SO envious! What a fantastic experience...these critters are SO lucky to have your care in that stable! God bless you! :D :D

AAAHH! I wanna horse, too! :D

[phicks]

They are both very beautiful. :D

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

A hand is 4", which is about what the average male hand is across the palm.

Woohoo, I'm above average :D

The second pic reminds me of bambi, walking around on legs that don't do quite what was intended. Congrats on the baby boy.

[Paul W]

I just measured, and I'm 3 7/8"
Close enough. :)

After 3 days, Chester is starting to fill out.
He doesn't look like a llama anymore. :D
http://debandpaul.smugmug.com/photos/17946457-M.jpg