Roxy, Roxy, Roxy. Erika felt confident enough to turn her out all the way up until today and sure enough, all she did was snooze in the sun and pick at her hay, with her front feet inside the hay tire as usual! Her udder is as big as any we've seen, it is just huge. From the looks of her belly though, the foal hasn't really moved enough down the track yet. We felt around the top of Roxy's tail and she is very slack and soft there, but under her tail she still wasn't quite smooth and taut. No huge changes in the past couple of days.

Bill got Big Blue (the new tractor) out yesterday to push all the mounting manure piles back into the hole. It was such a warm day that we had the office windows open, and with the wind blowing just right there was no doubt as to what he was up to! All the shavings, old hay and manure make for terrific insulation, as Bill found some piles of snow lurking underneath. It reminded Cindy T of the town where she and Susan grew up, Two Rivers, WI. It is billed as "The Coolest Spot in Wisconsin" because it is surrounded by Lake Michigan which keeps it cool in the summer (about 10-15 degrees from the next closest town) and a little warmer in the winter. Each year, the city scoops up some of the snow and buries it in the side of Picnic Hill. Then in the summer they haul it out (still frozen!) to show it off on a dump truck in the annual "Snow Festival" parade. Talk about small town, eh?? Ya gotta love it!

If Roxy ever foals (!!) we will have the vet who comes to do the foal exam also do an ultrasound on Fanny and Spice.  Yes, we want to get Spice used to the procedure and if Fanny or Roxy are difficult to get in foal for some reason we might choose to breed Spice.  We also need a coggins on Phoebe as she prepares to go to her new home, and one on Cookie as she prepares to debut Sport at the Midwest Horse Fair soon.  All of the boys need their unmentionables cleaned and everyBuddy needs their Spring shots.  Whew!