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August 17, 2010

A Name for Sky

Back on the road after a week at home. It was...not very relaxing...but still nice to be there. The majority of the time was spent cleaning and fixing up the house to get it ready to sell. The realtor came on Saturday and it should go up online today! So we'll see what happens!

The first three days of our break were spent at the ranch where Malcolm used his dozer to fix a creek crossing and also helped out a little with haying.
Its been one of those years where the weather hasn't cooperated with haying. It keeps raining, making it hard to get the hay cut and baled. The weather was nice while we were there, so the third person was handy to have. Malcolm cut hay, while his mom and dad raked and baled.
And I sat at the house feeling completely useless and lazy and not happy about it at all! But I don't know how to run any of the equipment and there were only three jobs to be done anyway. So I entertained myself by making sandwiches and running them to the workers, reading, and playing with my colt, all while trying not to feel guilty over not being a help.

Remember Sky?

He was introduced to you several weeks ago. I have been pondering what to name him, for a registered name anyway. I knew I was going to call him Sky due to his blue eyes and the possibility that he would turn gray and white like a cloudy day, taking after his sire.

I'm no good at fancy names, so I decided to wait till I got his papers from my sister-in-law and then see if I could come up with anything. They were waiting for me at the ranch where they had come in the mail a few days earlier.  You can't imagine my delight when I opened them and learned the registered names of the dam and sire. Sky's mother's name is
 "A Unique Dawn"
 and the sire is named
 "Cody's Blue Merle."
 It couldn't have been more perfect! So Sky's name (providing I can get him registered as this) is
A Unique Blue Sky

That's about the best name I ever came up with and I'm rather proud of it!

He's gotten huge since I saw him the last week of May!
He's definitely going to have his sire's gray and white coloring. You can see that his black coloring is fading to gray in some places already.

And he has his mom's white butt and blue eyes.

He's been running around free for the past two months, so he's gotten a little shy.

He didn't want to get too close to me. But after a couple days, right before I turned him and his mom back out, he did walk up and sniff my head while I sat in the grass in the round pen. And later he took a cautious nibble of grain from my hand.

I won't be feeding him many treats like that, but I wanted to see if he had gotten braver since he'd been around me a little.
The mare is supposed to be broke to ride, but I don't know how broke she is, and since Rachelle hadn't had the chance to climb on and see before she moved, and because I know less about her than Rachelle did, I opted to wait before climbing in the saddle. She is very calm and trusting though, lets you pick her feet up, lean on her, and catches fairly easily...so long has you have a peace offering. Her previous owner, and conveniently the owner of the stud also, lives down the road from me, so I plan to try and get in touch with her at some point and have a little visit. I'd like to  know what the stud is like and also find out what kind of training Dawn has had.
In the mean time, they are running free at the ranch and its going to be that way for a while. Sky is getting a "natural" childhood, romping through the grass, sunning himself under the Montana sky, and exploring his world without much human interruption or interaction. I know that might work against me later on, but there isn't any help for it. I have to be here, and he has to be there. Hopefully his mother's good natured and kind and gentle spirit will be a part of his genetics as well so that when I have time to be with him, we'll able to become friends quickly and with as little pain and stress possible (to either one of us)!

We're back on the road. Left yesterday afternoon, delivered in Nebraska this morning and are heading to a reload before hitting the trail for Oregon country. Hoping this round of trucking will prove more profitable than the last, because our motivation is super low and being successful is probably the only thing that's going to keep us going this time around!

Before I go...I need some input. I am, for all my years of love and obsession, pretty horse illiterate.
What is up with Dawn's nose?
She came in with her nose like this. Its like dried up blisters and its cracking and raw in the cracks. Is it a fungus, or sunburn, or what? Does something need done, or will it just heal on its own?  I've not seen this before in my limited experience. She had a pretty nasty cut on her flank back in May and I know that Rachelle had gotten antibiotics and stuff for her, as she was really favoring it for a while. Malcolm suggested that this might be a result of a fever due to her cut. He said the other animals often have similar reactions after a fever. I was curious what your thoughts were, since so many of my blogging friends are horse enthusiasts. Should I be taking action, or just letting it heal in its own time?

10 comments:

Cindi said...

"A Unique Blue Sky" sounds perfect!..his cute too!

gtyyup said...

That's an excellent name for Sky!!! I think what you'll want to do at weaning time is get him halter broke, leading, and picking up the feet. Then turn him out again until he's two. Colt was raised that way, and they really need to be kids.

I think he's got a sun burnt nose! I've never had a horse with that much white on it, but I'd Google and you should find lots of advise on how to treat it and with what. I know that many people use a sunblock to prevent it...I'm sure it hurts...poor lil' guy. He sure is a cutie!

small farm girl said...

I think the bumps are a virus. Our horse has it too. The vet said the horse usually builds up an amunity to it and it should go away in a few mounths. I hope he's right. lol

HossBoss said...

I like the name you picked for your colt. I'm a sucker for a blue-eyed Paint.

Dawn's nose looks like sunburn to me. I have a mare with a pink nose and she gets that way sometimes. Aloe vera gel will help soothe/heal it for now. Sunscreen in the early part of the hot weather will help. In the ten years I've owned my mare, I've only had to doctor her nose two summers. The first when she was a yearling and thin-coated anyway. The second time when she was about five and we had a drought/heat wave for four months.

Shirley said...

You picked a good name. The issue with the mare's nose is likely due to sunburn, pink skin on horses sunburns easily, and since she is grazing it irritates the burn and makes it raw, and then the scabs form. You could put sunblock or aloe on if you were there everyday, or keep her in a shaded area during the heat of the day and feed hay. But if she is just loose on pasture there isn't much you can do, and it will heal on it's own, especially with fall weather not too far away.

Anonymous said...

Sorry I have been MIA for so long. A lot going on and Facebook takes up way too much time.

I just read over your last 12 posts. Yep been that long since I checked my feed readers. LOLz

I loved all of the pictures as always. =) Take care.

Brenda said...

A perfect name! That came together just right! I am back in NE after being gone to SD for 10 days. and all I did for 2 days was wash and cleaning. I hope you caught up on some rest, as I did! I love the picture of Sky looking around his momma's butt, and the 2 of them side by side, walking away. that one is frameable! Safe travels! Brenda

MEME said...

HI,THE MARES NOSE WILL HEAL ON ITS OWN! THEY SOMETIMES GET THAT FROM STICKY PLANTS AND THE SUN RAYS,ITS KIND OF LIKE SUNBURN1 YOUR COLT IS BEAUTIFUL!

Meagan said...

Love the name. Love the horse. Love that you have a horse. And love you! :-) Glad your back to blogging, but wish you were doing it from the comfort of a non-rolling home! lol. Call me some time this weekend and we'll catch up!

Judy Johnson said...

What a great post about Sky! I sure enjoyed the photos and your narrative about her and her mom. I love getting a new colt to love on. Don't worry about not knowing how to run the haying equipment. Once you learn how, you will become part of the haying crew whether you want to or not! I am glad though that I can run all of our equipment. It makes me feel good knowing I can do it!