Friday, January 31, 2020
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Life of Crime
"Oh sure, mom has only been gone for a few days and you're already getting into trouble and breaking into the feed room?"
"Who me?!?? Those sorts of silly rules don't apply to magical, mystical mule babies do they?
"Mystical or not, the rules still apply - no equines in the feed room, magic or otherwise. Why don't you go outside and play."
"And try not to get in too much trouble...."
"Who me?!?? Those sorts of silly rules don't apply to magical, mystical mule babies do they?
"Mystical or not, the rules still apply - no equines in the feed room, magic or otherwise. Why don't you go outside and play."
"And try not to get in too much trouble...."
Friday, January 17, 2020
One More Hurdle
This afternoon, Tessa went back to Riding Buddy's place for the rest of the winter, which means that my little baby mule (who is just shy of 8 months old now) got weaned for reals today.
We've been working on separation a bit here and there, but I only have the one barn so he wasn't really weaned. Now, he is looking for mommy, who stepped into a big, red box and disappeared.
Meanwhile, mommy is out visiting with her beloved Hawkeye and a new boyfriend, Sammy. She has her hooves full and is not worrying about her offspring.
She got all prettied up before she left
Speaking of hooves, she even got a full pedicure before she left, which Qilin felt the need to inspect in great detail (Ramsey has a fascination with hooves and, apparently, so does Qilin. It must be a donkey thing as I have never seen horses do this, but have heard of a few other donkeys and mules who do).
Another step in the growing up stage and it went very smoothly. Qilin had a very brief temper tantrum when I led Tess to the trailer and left him behind, but I came back, tied him up and gave him a good grooming and some extra hay and he settled right down. I have gotten to hear his odd, rather mystical sounding Qilin Call (a cross between a unicorn and dragon is about as good a description of that sound as you can get) a number of times today, but there has been no other drama.
The fact that Qilin is almost 8 months old helps a great deal. I believe strongly that babies should not be weaned too early unless there is a pressing health related reason to do so. Six months is the earliest I would do it and later is better, especially if you have a good mom like Tessa teaching him how to behave. At eight months, with a herd of donkeys to keep him company, it is no big deal deal.
We've been working on separation a bit here and there, but I only have the one barn so he wasn't really weaned. Now, he is looking for mommy, who stepped into a big, red box and disappeared.
Meanwhile, mommy is out visiting with her beloved Hawkeye and a new boyfriend, Sammy. She has her hooves full and is not worrying about her offspring.
She got all prettied up before she left
Speaking of hooves, she even got a full pedicure before she left, which Qilin felt the need to inspect in great detail (Ramsey has a fascination with hooves and, apparently, so does Qilin. It must be a donkey thing as I have never seen horses do this, but have heard of a few other donkeys and mules who do).
Another step in the growing up stage and it went very smoothly. Qilin had a very brief temper tantrum when I led Tess to the trailer and left him behind, but I came back, tied him up and gave him a good grooming and some extra hay and he settled right down. I have gotten to hear his odd, rather mystical sounding Qilin Call (a cross between a unicorn and dragon is about as good a description of that sound as you can get) a number of times today, but there has been no other drama.
The fact that Qilin is almost 8 months old helps a great deal. I believe strongly that babies should not be weaned too early unless there is a pressing health related reason to do so. Six months is the earliest I would do it and later is better, especially if you have a good mom like Tessa teaching him how to behave. At eight months, with a herd of donkeys to keep him company, it is no big deal deal.
