Mike's Ramblins'
Babies are so cute! By
Mike O'Neil
Howdy, My name's Mike O'Neil. I'm the Sandy
Valley Ranch General Manger. Our Web Wrangler, and Marilyn, the
Boss Lady (I call her the Boss Mare), asked me to write a monthly
update on what's goin' on at the Ranch. Well, I'm a lot more comfortable
on my stud horse Jack than at a computer. I type with one finger
and, bein' a horseshoer, pencils hardly fit in my hand, (and some
would say I'm not very bright) but I'll give it my best shot, so
to speak.
We've had a lot of excitement around here the last little while.
Must be 'cause spring's in the air, or something like that, because
we've got babies all over the place. Some of our guests even got
to see a calf born! Now that doesn't happen too often since the
little guys usually pick the middle of the night to get born.
First our white mare Shanie dropped a real pretty little sorrel (that's
a brownish red) stud colt. His only problem is he has about 5 white
appaloosa spots on his rump, and you know what I think of Appies.
I never can find the zipper to get them out of their fancy pajamas.
My stud quarterhorse horse Jack is the daddy, and I had to put a blindfold
on him just to get him to mate with an Appie. When Boss Lady asked
me how the baby looked I said, "He's a wreck, like all new babies."
That's when the Barn Goddess (that's Janice, my wife) gave me an elbow,
a sharp one. She thinks he's the most adorable thing she ever saw.
Our big paint mare, Punami, was the next one to drop a foal. She went
about two weeks past her due date and she got so blowed up I though
she was goin' to plumb pop. It was worth the wait though. Her little
stud guy is like a miniature of her…and BIG. Must have been those
extra two weeks inside. He's a week younger and bigger than the little
Appie. You should see how they race around
when we turn them out in the arena. Boss Lady and the Barn Goddess
get pretty excited just watchin' them.
We have a couple of bulls in our herd and it looks like they've been
pretty busy because we have some pregnant cows and a bunch of babies.
When we're trying to team pen with our guests those little calves
take off in every direction. It's real cute to watch. ('Course, I'd
never admit that.)
One of our prettiest white and red spotted cows birthed a little grey
and white calf, but in the birthin' process
she also birthed her uterus. She wasn't too happy
about it, either.
We was real worried that the little guy would die, not getting that
first milk and all. And we sure didn't want to loose that pretty cow.
We finally got her rinsed off and tied a wet pillow slip that Boss
Lady grabbed from her bedroom around the uterus and to her tail. Sure
enough, she stood up and let the baby nurse. Boss Lady got teary-eyed
about that. When the vet finally got there I snubbed the cow down
against the fence and the vet, Boss Lady, and our wrangler Jack pushed
that uterus right back in. Took 5 tries, though, but they finally
got it in. She's doin' just fine now and that little calf is growin'
like a weed, and scratchin' himself as you can see in the picture.
The weather's turnin' right nice. All those dead, black mesquite trees
are green as can be. Boss Lady keeps sayin' it looks tropical. I think
she's gone a bit crazy, but I ain't sayin' nothin'. We haven't seen too many wild flowers, though. It's been
awful dry. The Barn Goddess and Boss Lady have a contest to see who
can spot the most new blossoms. Neither one's doin' too good.
Well, that's it for now. I haven't figured out a way yet to torture
Web Wrangler for this Ramblin's idea, but maybe I'll come up with
something by next time. I'll keep you posted.
Sincerely,
Mike O'Neil, General Manager
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