Orion

     Anna finally got a bunny of her own! The bunny is six weeks old, his name is Orion, and he's a rex rabbit. Rex rabbits are a type of rabbit that were originally wild in France in 1919.So Orion, you better watch your manners! They are known for being being really soft and plush, that is proven true! Orion is soo cute and soft. He's also extremely calm.
     He's named Orion for, well, Orion of course! Orion has a sister, named Diana, the Roman name for Artemis. Orion and Artemis were hunting companions, so why not give the bunnies names of two great companions?
     Our friends were given two bunnies; one too many, and of all people to ask, they asked us if we wanted one! Anna was super excited, she still is extremely enthusiastic. She was cuddling with the bunny earlier, and it was so cute! The bunny even started nibbling at her fingers. It was adorable; both Anna and the bunny.

So, here are a few pictures I took last night after we arrived home from getting the bunny:

So cute, isn't he? He'll get a bit bigger, as well. I'm not sure how much bigger he will get, only time will tell, I guess.

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Before and After, An Amazing Transformation

            I think I have mentioned before, but my cousins have a Shetland pony, and her name is Brandy. Brandy is probably in her late twenties, and she is very shy, but, I have been regaining her trust. Brandy's hair was getting very matted, so matted in fact, that I didn't know how to get rid of them. So I just used scissors. Brandy barely lets me come up to her, but if she is in a pen, she will usually hold still and let me pet her and brush her, and cut off those terrible mattes. Brandy's mattes were so bad, that it was saddening. So I decided I would try to get rid of them. Brandy does not like to be touched, because as I remember, someone said she was abused by one of her previous owners. After the abusive owner, the guy that gave us Diamond and Hatchet got her. I don't know exactly why, but he didn't keep her, so my cousins got her. And we've had her ever since. As I was saying, Brandy doesn't like to be touched, so what I would do is go out and see her every day, and give her some sort of treat, and then just leave, so she wouldn't think I was going to take advantage of her or something. Eventually, Brandy go used to me being out there, and would come to me hoping for her treat. So she finally trusted me enough to come close to her, and closer and closer.  Eventually she let me get the mattes off. After I got the mattes off, I still give her treats, and sometimes I brush her as well. Well I think I've said enough. Here are the before and after pictures.

I said the mattes were bad, plus the summer didn't help her mattes, but she is all healthy and happy now. I'm sure it feels good not having those mattes hanging on to her. Some of them were definitely more tender when I was taking the off.



Back to her beautiful self. She is very soft! She even got a pretty red halter! She looks like a normal beautiful horse again!



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Palmer

               I'm going to make this short... last week we found a nest of rabbits. Sadly most didn't make it, but my sister Anna managed to save one little boy; and we named him Palmer.

               We are not sure if Palmer is a regular wild rabbit we have around here or a jack-rabbit... It's difficult to say at this point. He sometimes looks like one, then he'll look like the other.

                We're not sure how old Palmer is, but he is definitely quite a few weeks, because his eyes are open... and he's getting QUICK.

                We think will keep Palmer, we'll just have to see how it goes. We think Palmer's mom abandoned him... since we haven't seen or heard any sign of her, and the babies were all getting sluggish.

                So for now, here are a couple pictures of Palmer.

               
            Isn't he adorable?!
        

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The New Doggie; Sunny

           Just when I thought we had enough animals around here, my cousins get a new dog. Her name is Sunny.

           Sunny is a special breed called a Kangal, which is a Turkish breed that instinctively is a guard dog. The Kangal is very good for guarding livestock like sheep and goats, or sometimes even people. That's why they got Sunny; to protect all the goaties.

           We have all kinds of predators that might try to prey on the goats, like bobcats and coyotes, so getting Sunny will provide more safety for not only the goats, but even the the rest of the animals.

            Kangal dogs are known (by some) for being very devoted to whomever they gaurd. Sunny isn't too devoted yet, but when she get's a little older she will be. Since she's still a bit of a puppy, Sunny is very energetic, but also sweet. 

             Sunny is really big, she's a bit bigger than Missy and yet, she's only six or seven months old by now.

             As we keep breeding the goats, there will be more and more, so Sunny will be very busy.

              Sunny is not a house pet, she will be with the goats 24/7, guarding them. Sunny is a Kangal, so she will instinctively become a member of the goats' family, keeping them all safe.

              This is Sunny, still barely a puppy, but she'll learn, like her breed's instinct. Sunny is a typical looking Kangal dog; with a tan-ish coat, a black mask, dark ears, and a curled tail.

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Goats, Goats, and Even More Goats

             So fairly recently, two more baby goats were born.

             So here are the pictures.



This is their Mommy




These are the siblings. On the left is the boy, and on the right is the girl.




The little shy-guy. He isn't really that fat




These siblings seem very close






The little guy is very curious about people, but very shy to them



He's a little quirky




She's very energetic




See? They wrestle sometimes, but in the end, they're best friends




This was the mischievous girl getting ready to pounce her brother




Look at that sweet face

            Whenever the goats are bred again, we'll have even more goats. This herd is growing quickly.

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Finally, an Adequate Picture of Holly... Well Good Enough

            The other day we got say, about 4 inches of snow.

             While I was walking around taking some pictures, I saw Holly running towards me from our front door.

              Holly has gotten really fast, I mean really fast.

              If Holly decides to play chase outside with you, it can be a very difficult task to catch her.

              Holly can aslo out run both our other dogs; Michael and Missy.
             As Holly approached, I took some pictures of her.

             And when Holly saw the camera in my hands, instead of stopping, she ran straight on past me.

             That was pretty funny.

             Well, here she comes!!

The Cropped Version

Now I think this is a pretty cool looking picture.



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Twins!!!

           Yet another set of twin goats!!! They are both white with a little bit of brown on their heads.

           The good news is that the mommy seems to be healthy and nursing her babies.

            So now there are five babies in all; three brown and white, one solid brown, and one white and black.

             We just went out there today to feed the horses, and walla, there's a goat over by an almost fully eaten hay bale with to white splotches beside her.

               The babies are so cute!!

                It's so weird seeing how small these babies are because I'm so used to the others that are so much bigger.

                We think they were probably born early this morning.

               My cousins said that the reason the other mommies wouldn't let their babies nurse was probably because of too much human contact.

                So we've made sure that we're not bothering or getting too close to the mommy right now.

                I'm just happy because the mommy is giving both of her babies attention and guarding them and letting them nurse.

                My cousins' dog Beanie loves to play with the baby goats, but when she tried to play with these, the mommy was watching her very closely. When she got too close the mommy would look like she was charging but would only went a few steps.

                That definitely kept Beanie away.

                It sounds like it's mean to let Beanie make the goat so nervous, but it's actually good.

                First, the mommy needs to learn. and that will make her a better mommy the next time.

                Second, it's also much less risky because it's Beanie; she wouldn't hurt anyone or anything.

                 Well, that's all I have to say for now, maybe later when the mommy is ready, I'll take some pictures of her babies.

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Puppies or Goats?

              I don't have anything much to say, so I just want to point one thing out about the baby goats.

              They're like puppies!!!

              First, the baby goats love to chase you around and frolic around with you... Baby goats can run much faster than dogs at such a young age. (The babies are only about a month old)

              Second, they're almost always next to someone and vocalizing and yappin' up a storm.              

              Third, instead of licking you a plenty, the baby goats nibble at your fingers.

              The baby goats are so cute, and sometimes it even looks like they're trying to mimic one of the dogs.

               When the babies get a little bit older, they will be moved to a bigger pen, and then eventually to the pasture with the rest of the animals; when ever that happens I'll be able to get some clearer pictures.

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The Growing Kids (Goats)

              I finally took some new pictures of the baby goats. So there are three kids; one solid brown, one white with a little black, and one white with a little brown.

              So here are the little cuties:

           None of the babies have been named yet, but they most likely will be named when they get out into a bigger pen. All of them are girls, and the two brown ones are siblings.

The red in the background is actually a heater.

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Our First Attempt to Train Hatchet

            Well, today we are going to try our first attempt in training Hatchet. Hatchet is young, but she's just about the age where you can start training her.

             Today all we are going to do is try to put a bridle on Hatchet. We don't have a halter that she can use, so I was thinking we would just use the bridle that doesn't have a bit in it.

              Once we can get a bridle on Hatchet, we'll practice getting her to walk with us while we're trying to lead her.

              Out of what I've seen, I really want to ride Hatchet in the future, because she is very fast.

              For now, we have to start out with baby steps, then gradually we'll make bigger steps and so on.

              I hope everything goes well today!!! *Crossing Fingers*

              It's kind of funny, if you look at my blog archive, almost all of the posts is not all are posts about animal!!!

               Maybe I will should call our land The Land of a Thousand Animals.

                Well okay, bye for now!!!

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Out and Free

        Well yesterday I guess our horses had one of their aggressive moments and ended up knocking down the gate to the smaller pen within the pen that our two horses were in.

         So now all of the horses are out together, and they seems to be doing just fine. I guess they finally settled who was boss.

         I think Hatchet and Diamond have been liking it a lot better not being in their smaller pen. I noticed, Hatchet doesn't even want to walk into the pen anymore, which is understandable. As long as the horses behave, Hatchet won't need to go in the pen again necessarily. 

        I haven't taken any new pictures of our horses Hatchet and Diamond yet, but that's only because it's so muddy and rainy. 

        Speaking of which, we also need to brush all of the horses, since they got pretty muddy.

        I cannot wait until it gets a bit warmer, then we'll try to ride Diamond!!! Right now we pretty much have her saddle and her training bridle which doesn't have a bit.

       We got her in her training bridle the other day, and she was listening and following pretty well. The main reason we didn't ride her then was because Hatchet was freaking out; I mean she was literally charging and running strait past us and in circles. She began to make us nervous, so we just stopped.

        We think what probably made Hatchet so worried was first, we had her mommy in her bridle and she might have thought we were taking her away. Second, she probably was confused and didn't know what to do. It was most likely a mix of both.

         Though  now that Hatchet is getting a little older, she won't be as close to her mom. She's about the where she starts roaming free and separating herself a little bit more from her mom.

         Hatchet will always be friends with her mommy, but she just probably won't be so dependant on her.

        Now onto a bit of a different subject, my cousin said that we really won't be able to be sure about which gender the baby goats are until they're at least two weeks old.

          Probably a little bit after that, I'll take more pictures of the babies, and I'll tell whether boy or girl.

         If the baby is a boy, my cousins will sell, but if it's a girl, they'll keep for breeding again and such.

         Sadly one of the babies has pneumonia, but he has a good chance. It's not like pneumonia is really deadly, but just for a baby it can be a lot harder.

         There are three baby goats, one is solid brown, one is white with a little bit of brown on its head, and one is white with a little bit of black on its head.

         The other two babies are doing just fine, if we let them out they will wander around and they're really friendly.

          The mommy goats are both still at the vet, one of them is a lot better. The other is still pretty sick, they said she can't quite stand up again yet. But we think they both will be okay in the end.

Well I think that's all I have to say for now, so until my next post,

BYE!!!!
            

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Getting Along

      I'm very happy to say that Ginger and Brandy are getting along very well with the new horses. 

      When we had just gotten the horses, Ginger was SO excited; I mean she was running in circles and hyperventilating. Ginger seems to love the new buddies that have arrived.

      Today when we went to go check on the horses; water check and food etc. , Ginger was muzzling Hatchet. My cousin also said that Brandy was really loving the new horses, too.

       Conan is still a little bit edgy, but I think he is beginning to warm up.

       We have had a little bit of snow lately. I'm hoping the snow won't be too wet and muddy tomorrow; then I might get to take some more pictures of our horses.

        Since the snow is so white, it makes all four white horses look very cream colored; but when it's summer they'll all seem a lot whiter.

        I love it when it's cold here. But when it gets all warm and flowery I really want to take pictures of our new horsies. The pictures look a lot better when the plants are pretty and things are green and shiny.

       So just as a somewhat review, here are all of the horses...



Meet Conan, the man of the family. He can be very sweet, just in the winter he's a little more on edge. For what seems like forever, Conan was the only eligible for riding, but it won't be too long before we start riding Diamond. Conan is definitely getting a little old (as far as horses go), but he has definitely been showing us that he still has a lot of spirit left in him.




This is Brandy, she's super shy, but she can be so sweet and gentle. I can't remember if she or Conan is older, I know they are very close in age though. I'm sure hardly anyone, if anyone, knows that the guy who gave us Diamond and Hatchet is the very same guy who gave my cousins Brandy quite a few years ago. She may be shaggy and old, but she's very gentle and sweet too.




This is my sweet, sweet Ginger. Ginger is very spirited, she also isn't even fully trained. She is really sweet and very gentle. Sometimes she can get a little wild and spooked, but she really is so sweet. I was there on the very day Ginger was brought home, and I've loved her ever since. Ginger used to be like Diamond and Hatchet with the rivalry with Conan, but now she loves him. Not long after we got Ginger, if we EVER took Conan out of the pen, Ginger would literally run up and down the fence and whinny until Conan was back safe in the pen again. A few times when I rode Conan, Ginger was running up and down the fence, and all of a sudden Conan start running back to see Ginger. I was lucky I didn't fall off of Conan. Ginger also always has that spirited and eager look, I don't know why, but to me Ginger always looks eager and spirited; that's one thing I always will love about her.




This is the new mommy in the herd, Diamond. When we first got her she was pretty scared and timid, but she is beginning to warm up to her new surroundings, I'm positive. My mom says that Diamond has a very homey face, and I'm beginning to believe her on that. Diamond is really gentle and sweet. Something really funny about her is... she likes being scratched on her rump. It's true, she loves to be scratched on her rear end, if you start she just about freezes until you stop; she absolutely loves it!!




This is Hatchet Diamond's baby girl, she is only a year and a half. Hatchet is so shy right now, but she and Diamond have already begun to come to us more and are looking like they might be relaxing a bit more. Whenever I feed them, even if I put the food in separate bends, Diamond and Hatchet always share their food and eat it at the same time. They just walk to one, eat it together then walk to the next and eat it together.

         I've made quite a few memories with all the animals, and I'm sure I will make more with these new horses too. I'm hoping all of the horses will make friends. I know Ginger and Brandy already like the newcomers, and Conan will like them too, but just in his own time.

         And even though we have new horses, Ginger will ALWAYS still be my baby.

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Goats and More Goats!!

       Well, another goats had twins; two boys. One of the boys is completely brown and the other just is white with a brown head.

       I said one of the boys was having trouble getting up, he's great now; up and walkin'.

       I took a few more pictures of the babies.

This was the first baby born, she's a real cutie, isn't she?

This is her bubba, he was having trouble at first, but he's fine now.



Awwwww, isn't he cute?





This is their cousin who is completely brown. He was born a few hours ago.





This is the brown one while he was drying in the sun and sucking on someone's finger.... I can't even remember who.




That was the brownie when he was a few minutes old and drying off.

       I guess I didn't take any pictures of the fourth baby... I will next time I guess.

       There's still another goat who is about to have babies!! She has been going through some of her labor today, but we think she just isn't ready to give birth yet.

       The babies remind me of lop eared rabbits!! They just look so cuddley!!! They can be very sensitive, when you pick them up they might just start yapping and yapping; it's cute though, as long as it is NOT non-stop.

        I think my cousins will sell the boys when they get older (can't have a lot of boy goats; or they'll fight). Luckily there is one girl so far, and I'll take pictures of her as she grows.

        If we're lucky, it looks like we'll have some more babies tomorrow, we'll see.

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Horsies Are Here!!!

      Well we finally got our horsies; Diamond and Hatchet!!! They are both mares, I don't know how old the mom is, but the colt is eighteen months old. They are really sweet, just right now they need some getting used to in their new surroundings.

      I actually wasn't here when the horses were brought, but they said that Ginger was really excited.

      It's definitely a good thing we separated the new horses from the others, they are not being too friendly with the man, or horse, of the land. Conan and the mare Diamond have been feuding quite a bit, but they'll work it out.

      I remember when Ginger was brought and they had to pen her up too, since Conan is always aggressive with new horses. Now they've bonded and Ginger absolutely loves Conan; she follows him around all the time.



This is Hatchet, she's still a baby; only eighteen months old. She's even still nursing a bit, but mostly weened now.




This is my sister Anna with Diamond. Diamond is really sweet.




This is me and the colt, you can tell she's still a baby; she still has that baby face.




At the moment they haven't been doing much, I guess they need to get used to their new surroundings.




Hatchet is still a mommy's girl...




They were sharing their food.....

        Hatchet and Diamond are pure appaloosas, even though they don't look anything like them. The daddy of the young colt is very spotted, but I guess these guys just didn't get the spots.  I can't wait until they get all settled in; because then we'll try to re-break-in the mom and try to ride her. Now there are four white horses and one brown pony, it's so exciting!!!
       And don't worry, we'll get more pictures later.

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