Java in Motion

So, yeah I know this is a horse blog... but I have to share a couple of cute vids of my baby goat!

Enjoy!







Mia is doing well too... hopefully this week I will be able to give her a bath and then I will put some pictures up of her too. She is putting on some nice weight and she has had her feet trimmed twice already. I'll give her her own blog post. I am enjoying her so much!

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1 Week Old Java

Java is really growing strong. I am so pleased as I was worried that he wouldn't even survive the condition that his mama was in when we got her.

He still loves his tote even though he is outgrowing it. Hopefully, no not hopefully... we WILL have his outdoors pen finished this weekend and he will go out and live next to his mama like a real goat should!

I have been house bound with near pneumonia and he has been an entertaining diversion during my convalescence, but it is time for him to go outside! He is sleeping less and less and demanding more attention.

Believe it or not he is house broken... ha ha I would never have thought it was possible to housebreak a goat. We have been diligent to take him outside when he wakes and when he eats and he knows what he is supposed to "do". It is so funny. If he hadn't come so quickly after we got his mama and I hadn't gotten sick and unable to build his pen outside, we would never have learned this little known goaty secret!

Maybe someone needs a pack goat they they would like to keep in their tent without worries about accidents? I can dream right?

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It's a boy!

Mama Mia freshened on Thursday! She gave me a buckling. He is skinny, but otherwise healthy.

The (human) kids have decided to name him "Java" because he is the color of frothy coffee.

Basically he eats:

Sleeps:

And PLAYS!

Welcome little Java!

Mama Mia is doing well. She has shown us that she is a veteran milker, jumping up onto the stand and bawling for her grain. She has gotten her shots and has been dewormed and has had her first foot trim. We weighed her and found her to be 25-30 lbs underwieght. So far no signs of any illnesses she might have picked up from the feed lot!

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Mama Goat

Okay, I did it again... I have rescued a another needy creature.

Not a horse this time though... she is a goat!

I thought maybe I would like to try my hand at a milk goat so I looked around and found an ad on Craigslist that said "6-7 thin goats". I called on it and it turned out to be a goat (meat) dealer. He told me he had only one Nubian. She was a former 4H project and was ready to freshen in the next couple of weeks.

He warned me that she was thin and that she needed her feet done badly.

I went yesterday to look at her. It was already dark by the time I was there, but I could tell even by the light of the flashlight that she was 1)very sweet and 2)in need of some serious TLC.

I am so very, ummm dissapointed in the people who let her get into this condition, let alone in a feedlot waiting to be slaughtered - especially if they were a 4H family. I am pretty passionate about this subject, but I'll save that rant for another day. I want this to be Mama goat's big debut.

I walked her around the yard today and found that she leads very well. I was happy to learn that, as goats can be very stubborn. I hope she also has milking experience.

She doesn't seem sick at all, just in need of some groceries. I put her on a medicated feed today and and tonite I'll give her a CD and T shot to help stave off whatever she was exposed to at the feedlot.

Except for her bag it is even hard to tell Mama goat is pregnant. I really hope her kid survives. It is alive an moving inside her, but it is pretty small.

I will have someone over as soon as possible to help me with her feet. I don't think I have the knowledge to do them on my own.

I'll be trying to get some baby oil on her legs to soften the mud and treat the scalds on her legs as well.

She is really making up her bag. I hope she will hold off a while on having her kid. I want to get some more calories and those vaccines on board.

Welcome home goaty!

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A Spinner Update

Today I received a set of pictures from Spinner's new owners. These pictures made me so happy!

Look at these boys having a great time foolin' around with their pony!

The(first) fella up on top is Keegan, Spinner's new boy:

This last picture - I have no idea what Foxy is into... looks like she thinks there is something yummy in the green house! I can tell she is real worried about all of that horse eating plastic!

I hope Keegan and Spinner have a whole summer full of adventures together!

Kinda makes ya want to go build a Fort and play Cowboy's and Indians, doesn't it?

Pony Express... Lone Ranger...

Ahhhh those were the days....

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Riding in a Rainbow

Cody and I went for a ride today. He wanted to try out the new "buttons" on his horse. It was windy and rainy and sunny and warm and cold all at the same time! At the beginning of the ride was the rainy part and we saw a beautiful rainbow.

We didn't know it at the time, but Katy took a photo of us and it looks just like we are in the rainbow!

Cody is the rider in the white coat, I am the rider at the end of the rainbow

Here is a vid of the rainbow. Speedy was being a little antsy so Cody was asking him to "move parts of his body". I can't believe how much softer Speedy is getting!



We had a wonderful 2 hour ride. We went around a bunch of fields and we followed all of the canal banks we could find. We even met one of our neighbors and his son walking around enjoying our unusual weather.

At one point we flushed up some birds and Speedy squirted forward. Cody was able to bring him right back down to a stop within 4 or 5 steps. It was a courage building moment for Cody, knowing that his horse will "whoa" when it is most important to "whoa".

We have another ride planned for tomorrow. I hope Katy and Chase will join us.

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Happy Cody

We brought Speedy home from the trainer's tonite. It was a three and one-half hour drive one way, and also several thousand feet higher in elevation. So the weather there was quite different than ours here!

The wind was blowing so hard and it was very cold! Thankfully it didn't rain or snow. But, it was miserable nonetheless.

I only got a few pics and a couple of videos.

Here is the boy himself.... Cody ! He was so happy!

Corrine rode Speedy first and I could tell that she really did a lot of work for the short amount of time she had him.

She had him turning on his hindquarters, turning on the forequarters, side passing... lope departures, stopping...

He didn't always look real graceful, but I loved how he was trying so hard for Corrine. I was really impressed with how often Corrine stopped to praise him too.

Meanwhile, the wind is blowing SO hard! I couldn't believe all that she was getting him to do in that weather.

Here is a vid of her asking him to side pass. You can see him get confused, she looks for the smallest try, rewards it and soon he is doing what she asked:



And one more video. When you watch it remember that Cody hasn't really ever loped much on Speedy except down the length of an arena. Also take note of the wind whipping through the gate. On the far side Cody couldn't even see. He had to close his eyes to keep the blowing sand from stinging them!

I am so pleased with how well they both did in spite of the horrid weather conditions.



Stay tuned to this channel because very soon I will be posting much better video of a softer Speedy and a more relaxed Cody. I think it is going to be hard to keep Cody off of his horse from now on.

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