Mountains and mounds, hills and piles. Okay. Here’s the thing about the straw. The theory is that we try to always put down straw a few days in advance of foaling so that the the mare – even a mare like Frosty or Cookie! – will nibble a little here and there and the novelty will wear off before she foals and then gorges herself on newly thrown-down straw. This has prevented common post-foaling colic. In fact, we’ve never had that problem doing it this way. However….there comes a time when you see your mare eating and pushing, pushing and eating until the cows come home and you say, “Maybe we shouldn’t have put quite so much straw in there.” ROFL WOW, she can eat! Ooooooohhhh Cookie! One more day and she’s officially “on time.” If we had put money on a bet we’d have lost it, because we sure thought she’d go earlier than this. Today, Cookie did little more than snooze and eat, and has even started pinning her ears back at fellow mom-to-be Frosty! Frosty just takes it in stride as any good Buddy would : ) Cookie’s udder is pretty full and fairly tight, but so far no real wax. She lays down so often though we may never see wax before she foals. There are a few mouth marks on her sides where you can tell she’s been biting at low-grade contractions. Can’t be from the foal kicking, because there’s no more room for that baby to kick! Her sides look a little longer and her belly less pointy tonight, which could mean that the foal is moving into position…are you ready, Buddies? We’ll just plan to keep the BarnCam on all night and keep an eye on her. But my best guess is that I don’t think it’s going to be tonight.

We found Bobbina smack in the middle of Cookie’s stall when Cookie was out in the arena today. BB was all curled up in the straw mountains having herself a nap. Guess it must be a pretty comfy spot.

Abby is back with us today. The flu bug bit her and she was out of commission for a few days. She feels much better though, and was up for some chores. Abby worked with Squeakers on the trot today. She said Squeakers had just started to catch on to the trot the last time they worked together. Good girl, Squeakers!

Here’s a link to the Appaloosa Journal Online for a preview of February’s issue. You just may recognize the pair on the cover! Here