Adopted Baby Colts

Ty's Story  Coming to us as #129 from Eagle Hill, Ty (aka Snotty at the time) arrived Sept 9th, 08.  He was 145 lbs and 4  months old.  Within 24 hrs we noticed that he had quite a runny nose, too quiet for a colt and liked to sleep in his manure pile with his head on a flake of hay.  We called the vet.  Prognosis was severe phuemonia, 4 injections daily into muscle which didn't really exist.  Finding enough muscle sites to rotate the injections was a mere impossibility.  We did the best we could--daily recovery and good weight gain.  Problem:  Ty was still sleeping in his manure no matter how clean we kept his stall.  He eventually developed an abscess on his neck.  The infection traveled inwards first along the muscle channels along his spinal column.  When the abscess was noticeable, we called the vet to lance it.  The vets were prompt and thorough.  The wound was cleaned, flushed and packed.  The opening was the size of a lady's fist.  Under watchful eyes we were able to give him oral medications.  Everyone at the barn learned how to flush, clean and pack his wounds along with watching for signs of spinal meningitis.  The vets gave Ty a 50/50 chance--guarded at the best.  The wound healed well, left little scar tissue on the exterior and he continued to gain weight, look brighter and getting frisky.  Now that Ty is 7 months old, he is growing tall and weighs a whopping 450 lbs!  This is one reason we've decided to call him  MMS Almost Knot  "Ty".   Ty's ground manners and ground training are going smoothly, nothing upsets him or gets him overly excited.  He is one cute cool cucumber.

Blue's Tale  Healthy and very frisky from day one, he has slept close to his "brother" Ty in in the stall to help keep Ty warm.  Now they play and romp together in a paddock with "uncle Scuffy and uncle Jerry", two older geldings that are fabulous baby sitters.  They are also excellent at developing "herd manners."  Laura is now part owner of Blue (aka #654), handling his training from ground manners, grooming, trailer loading to learning to give to pressure and understanding what a "personal bubble" is, respecting each others space.  This is his hardest lesson.  Both boys come running when anyone calls, they are friendly and everyone gets a charge out of watching them play and interact with their "uncles."  Blue had a bit harder lesson about "persona; space" when he kept raring up to put his front legs over Uncle Scuffly's back.  Once was funny--Scuffy looked at him and shook his head "kids these days!"  Twice Scuffy just moved out from underneath.  When Scuffy saw the third attempt coming, he jogged forward and spun on his forehand in time to see Blue go splat.  After nickering in a laughing manner at Blue, Blue hung his head and walked to a neutral corner.  He hasn't done that since.  It's amazing to watch these gentle teachings of expected and acceptable behavior.  Ty learns by watching Blue.  Ty has not had to go stand in the corner!