Some pictures, some musings

Sage says she's ready to have this baby: she's got a full bag of milk and I think she's tired of having to pee every 30 minutes. However, the baby clearly wants to wait a little longer. It's the baby that decides when it wants to come out, and I think it wants to wait until midterms start or something inconvenient like that, which is how most horses operate!

Sage says, "Isn't my belly cute?"

Now Sage says, "Okay, seriously--you can stop taking pictures of my belly now."

The girls have had a great week, because despite there being quite a bit of rain, there's also been quite a bit of sun. They've been out on the grass pasture for a few hours almost every day. They're technically outside all the time, but because we've got to manage the grazing really carefully, they're only allowed out on the grass pastures in good weather during the rainy season. And with the sun shining, even Sage kicked up her heels and galloped around a bit. I can't imagine that could be comfortable with all that foal in there, but the sun felt so good I'm sure she couldn't resist!

Since I haven't had to study over break, I've had little bit of free time, so I went down to our local tack store Double H and bought a tiny halter for a newborn and a small rope halter to use for training. They are so cute that I just had to take a picture of them next to Brandy's halter.

I was looking for a leather halter for the foal to wear, but I couldn't find one locally. The general idea is that leather is safer because it will break if a hoof gets caught (in theory). However, my plan is never to leave this on the foal unattended, so with careful observation we should be just fine.

In my spare time, I've also been watching the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting on youtube and preparing my comments to the newly released wild horse strategy. I've almost gotten through all the hours of footage they have posted online, and I'm grateful for the chance to give input. Since I've been watching this, I've thought many times about Sage and the horses I saw at the corrals in Burns. And this totally random thought kind of popped into my head: If I tried to turn Sage loose back into the wild, would she go?

Trust me, I wouldn't do that, but it's an interesting thought. And I think the conclusion I've come to is that she'd probably run around for a bit and come right back to the trailer. Though I know sometimes she wishes she had more space to graze around here, overall she's pretty well meshed into her new life. She loves her food, her people, her little herd. She loves meeting new people, loves her ear and butt scratches. Anyone who has adopted a mustang would probably attest to this feeling that their mustang has totally blended as a member of the family.

Anyway, just some things to think about--I'll keep updating and I promise the second there's a baby, there will be pictures!