They are so beautiful! Will you be able to stream your mares this year?
Holly - I doubt that in this new set up I'll ever have them on camera. One - don't have a real barn and the electric to what we do have is ... "chintzy". Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. More on that a bit later (time). Two - the pasture gate isn't all that far from the house, but the main part of the pasture (barn, feed, what electric do have) is 1/2 mile + from the house. Dont thing u can stream from that far? Three - i've never really enclosed the ponies. Well, have, and still missed the birth(s) right outside my kitchen window. Four - ALL of our ponies are happier when out on pasture. Many were raised that way (gave birth themselves) before we purchased them and the maidens we had foal last year were unhappy when contained in the round pen - for birth and at first after they foaled. Willing to go into pens to be fed, don't like being kept there... At our previous place, when stalled, most had quite a bit of "flip out time" - Tory would literally throw herself at the barn walls - kicking & screaming, "clawing" over the 4 1/2' stall wall. I was more worried about her injuring herself/foal to be. 'Clipse HAS foaled in stalls but seems to be happier out. Koalah is quiet in any stall - but will hold on until you move her out, then foal when your back is turned (3 out of 5 times that way - once while standing tied at her previous eating spot - story somewhere in these threads). I have done the 30-45 day "get used to foaling area" ritual.
I am seriously thinking that I will swap the ponies around again. Put the JR mares that aren't bred into the "big" pasture (since haven't finished the last 2 interior paddocks, they have the run of the whole outer perimeter and where we want to put their pasture), and the older mares that are bred, back into the smaller one. At least that way, we'll see much easier who is getting closer... May do that this weekend. That is how I had them when they foaled the last time and it worked well. I certainly can't put that many ponies in the round pen - I'd never get it clean again, LOL... and they'd have no room to actually move around...
One other thought. Ours aren't "true" minis and several of the current pregnant mares are much larger than the minis on this forum (44-46" tall and much broader). I have often used the criteria in the past of "easy foaling, no help" as a way to determine whom to rebreed and continue lines with. Not so much with the ponies since we are still breeding predominantly older mares, but they all have a good history of foaling unassisted behind them... YES, I do know that any birth can go wrong. This theory can go for a while...
I need to run, already late... argh. I wasn't watching the time and I know better than to pop in when I should be finishing getting ready to go, LOL
