Tuesday

Good Afternoon All,

The girls tummies becoming rounder and rounder as their little ones tucked nice and warm inside continue to develop.

Nellie though she can be caught up is very timid. She does not want you touching her tummy at all. She moves away from your hand. She had been used for so long in the PMU Barn that she has limited trust of humans. I cannot even begin to attempt explaining what could have possibly happened to her other foals in her past. She has a very healthy appetite. Dr. Henesler does not believe that palpating them is a wise thing, mostly for the human aspect. We and he have seen what happens when a horse can blow through a tranquilizer due to the adrenaline coursing through their system. Speaking from experience and the end result of Rob being on the couch for 45 days due to a draft horse blowing through his tranquilizer. There are some things you just do not risk. Nellie has had all of her shots, I will be starting her on mare and foal in April, basing her delivery to be in May.

Apple the most animated and the most friendly of the three has become a bit crabby over the last week. Carolyn a volunteer who comes on Tuesdays and Thursdays went to groom her, and Apple became agitated and even took a nip at her. Her tummy is getting so big, and if you sit patiently you will see her foal moving around. Again, she will start the mare and foal in April as well. Again, we do not know what her life was really like, but I feel it was not good, but yet Apple is the most forgiving. Apples shots are all up to date.

Jerri, well her tummy is real low, no other outward signs of impending birth (soon that is). She is becoming more and more curious. She watches very intently of everything that goes on around her. She has changed her tune when it comes to feeding her, no longer does she come to her feeder with her ears pinned. She now stands and waits and watches, until you dump her cubes in the feeder. But that is as far as it goes. I will stand there ignoring her with my hand in her stall and I watch her out of the corner of my eye and she will slowly saunter over and I can feel her whiskers against my hand. I will do this several times a day. HOWEVER, if you enter the stall she will go to the corner, turn her rear to you and prepare to take aim. I know there are methods used to stop this behavior, but with the precious painstaking steps she has taken to trust us, I do not want to reverse any positive that has been done. I know that I keep reiterating patience, patience, patience. If we have any trouble handling the baby, I will say it will be Jerri, but I have hopes that maybe we can get her to the point that she will accept us. Jerri's shots are up to date.

We are doing our best for them and hopefully we will continue to make positive progress. These girls have been through so much in their lives, we just want to make a difference for them.

Your support for MHR's horses means so much in the lives of the horses at our facility, we thank you.

Stephanie