Beltane--and a Birthday
Apr. 30th, 2004 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseThis time of year, horse birthdays come close together. Part of it is horse biology: mares cycle monthly, but most shut down in the winter and get back up and running--literally--in the spring. Part is breeder calculation, to make sure the babies come in the best weather.
Ephiny had a birthday on Saturday. Her kid sister Gaudia is having one today. Gaudia is a year old. She's Pooka's firstborn; her mom is a beautiful mare who makes beautiful babies, and this one came out like a carbon copy of her daddy but with her mom's size (Gabriella is a Beeg girl) and long legs. She was born at a very convenient time: 5:30 p.m., right when I'm usually out with the horses, riding and getting ready to feed dinner. My mom and dad were just coming over to help with the night's foal watch when Gabriella went down--they were getting out of the car and I came running out of the house (having spent the afternoon watching the barn monitor--Gabriella had been showing clear signs of labor for most of the day). We got to the foaling stall just as Gabriella's water broke and she got down to serious business. My dad grabbed the camera and took pictures, and my mom enjoyed her first up-close foaling.
Now, a year later, Gabriella is back with her owner in Seattle (but I have visitation rights!), and Gaudia is a big, beautiful girl with a great personality and a lot of presence. She's been enjoying Having A Birthday, which involves lots of treats, hugs, and a good grooming. And more hugs. Like the rest of her family, she's a major cuddlebunny. (Pluto Lipizzans are the sweetest, I do declare.)
She's my Beltane baby--and you bet she knows it. Her name means "Joy" in Latin and comes from a medieval carol: "Eia! Eia! Nova gaudia!" She is not a My Lipizzan--someone else belongs to her and is working to own her--but she's a very good friend and she's quite happy with her family. Her dad, sister, aunt, and grandmother are all here. (The Girlz are her Aunt Camilla and her sister Ephiny, and Grandma Carrma is usually with them.)
Usually the older ones get a birthday ride. Gaudia is much too young for that, of course; so her dad nobly took on the job. I'm proud of him. He has been Absolutely Hormoned Out all day. Camilla is in heat, and he knows she's his sister but he also knows to the last millimeter of a follicle how ready she is to breed (let's just say that if she weren't his sister, there would have been Wild Horse Sex here today), and the pheromones are driving him wiiiild. Much galloping, snorting, diesel-engine noises, and, er, ahem, showing of all available assets. (It can be deeply disconcerting to those unaccustomed to stallions, to see how very, well, organic they are.)
But as soon as he had his saddle on, he only had one lapse in his warmup--a deep throaty call to the lady who smells so good--and once I reminded him that it was work time, he settled right down. He did want the whole arena for his free longe, instead of a demure circle, and he had a very good, free, strong gallop, but as soon as that was done, he stopped and stood like a rock for me to mount. He was a rock to ride, too--solid, focused, ready and willing to work. We did our homework, rode our figures, practiced our trot work. He did a 12-meter circle, which is pretty impressive for his level, and kept the trot together a lot longer than usual. He's making good progress.
Just as we were finishing up,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
casacorona came by to swap off a couple of horse things and to meet The Boots and The Coat. So, a nice finish to a good horse day.
And now, the inevitable Pages.
Ephiny had a birthday on Saturday. Her kid sister Gaudia is having one today. Gaudia is a year old. She's Pooka's firstborn; her mom is a beautiful mare who makes beautiful babies, and this one came out like a carbon copy of her daddy but with her mom's size (Gabriella is a Beeg girl) and long legs. She was born at a very convenient time: 5:30 p.m., right when I'm usually out with the horses, riding and getting ready to feed dinner. My mom and dad were just coming over to help with the night's foal watch when Gabriella went down--they were getting out of the car and I came running out of the house (having spent the afternoon watching the barn monitor--Gabriella had been showing clear signs of labor for most of the day). We got to the foaling stall just as Gabriella's water broke and she got down to serious business. My dad grabbed the camera and took pictures, and my mom enjoyed her first up-close foaling.
Now, a year later, Gabriella is back with her owner in Seattle (but I have visitation rights!), and Gaudia is a big, beautiful girl with a great personality and a lot of presence. She's been enjoying Having A Birthday, which involves lots of treats, hugs, and a good grooming. And more hugs. Like the rest of her family, she's a major cuddlebunny. (Pluto Lipizzans are the sweetest, I do declare.)
She's my Beltane baby--and you bet she knows it. Her name means "Joy" in Latin and comes from a medieval carol: "Eia! Eia! Nova gaudia!" She is not a My Lipizzan--someone else belongs to her and is working to own her--but she's a very good friend and she's quite happy with her family. Her dad, sister, aunt, and grandmother are all here. (The Girlz are her Aunt Camilla and her sister Ephiny, and Grandma Carrma is usually with them.)
Usually the older ones get a birthday ride. Gaudia is much too young for that, of course; so her dad nobly took on the job. I'm proud of him. He has been Absolutely Hormoned Out all day. Camilla is in heat, and he knows she's his sister but he also knows to the last millimeter of a follicle how ready she is to breed (let's just say that if she weren't his sister, there would have been Wild Horse Sex here today), and the pheromones are driving him wiiiild. Much galloping, snorting, diesel-engine noises, and, er, ahem, showing of all available assets. (It can be deeply disconcerting to those unaccustomed to stallions, to see how very, well, organic they are.)
But as soon as he had his saddle on, he only had one lapse in his warmup--a deep throaty call to the lady who smells so good--and once I reminded him that it was work time, he settled right down. He did want the whole arena for his free longe, instead of a demure circle, and he had a very good, free, strong gallop, but as soon as that was done, he stopped and stood like a rock for me to mount. He was a rock to ride, too--solid, focused, ready and willing to work. We did our homework, rode our figures, practiced our trot work. He did a 12-meter circle, which is pretty impressive for his level, and kept the trot together a lot longer than usual. He's making good progress.
Just as we were finishing up,
casacorona came by to swap off a couple of horse things and to meet The Boots and The Coat. So, a nice finish to a good horse day.And now, the inevitable Pages.
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Production Mode
Date: 2004-05-01 01:44 am (UTC)I'm up because Ember was restless tonight, and simply demanded my presence in the moonlight along with "new food" (its own saga). Had tried to go to bed early but she was having none of that. The moonlight's so bright I've turned off the supplemental light in the back of her pen. She'd laid down as was her custom at 1, on her mats under the solar light, but wasn't content to sleep. Got up and banged for attention, and verbally from 30 feet away wasn't enough. Her bag is very warm, and she's finally making whole milk instead of skim. Foal is not in position, but I guess we're probably at the 24 hr mark. She was very strong on our walk tonight, and we covered a lot of ground, prolly 45 minutes or so.
Congrats on the new duds, I don't envy you breaking in those boots. Lots of talcum powder, right?
In the Army we'd wear 'em into the shower, and let them dry part of the time actually on. I guess that's not the thing to do with these though.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-01 06:20 am (UTC)You're so right about horse birthdays. I have a student who was bubbling over yesterday with the news that her "baby" was officially a yearling yesterday.
This student is a gamer, a neo SCA member, a reader of sf/f, wants to write, etc. (all the usual stuff). So I have been showing her your Web page and birthday collection pictures of your
crew, and hinting to her she ought to be reading some Judith Tarr novels.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-01 07:15 am (UTC)Really, knowing that they're siblings is a restraint for him?
no subject
Date: 2004-05-01 03:13 pm (UTC)He acts differently toward his relatives than toward the mares who aren't related. And in fact wild stallions won't breed their mothers or sisters.
I suspect the mothers or sisters have a say in it, as well. They certainly do here. Pook will talk to them, but they don't usually talk back. Whereas Ephiny, who is no relation, is going bananas. She's too young to breed, but she sure does want that boy.
We call him the Pookometer--he tells me exactly where a mare is in her cycle. He won't breed if she's not ready, even if she's screaming that she is. In Camilla's case, with totally silent heats, he's my best indicator of when she's breedable. In a couple of years, when she has her assignation with the boy in the blue box, that will be very, very useful.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-02 08:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-02 04:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-01 03:07 pm (UTC)I sprayed the ankles with water--had been strictly warned not to take the boots off until dry--and that seems to have worked so far.
Thank you, Mary! What kind of horse does your student have?
no subject
Date: 2004-05-01 05:38 pm (UTC)I will have to pay more attention. Usually these conversations go on while I am getting organized between classes, and lots of times I just nod and say "Umm hmmm."