I had a baby...sort of!! *Lots of Images*

[Phyxius]

Some of you know that I not only enjoy photographing horses, I also own and ride them. Well, last summer I purchased a mare in foal and on May 19, 2008 at 9:30 pm she had her foal. (I'm placing this in "The Big Picture" because the photos in this thread are snapshots and not intended to be "proper" wildlife shots, if mods feel this thread should be moved, that's fine!)

So, a little background first. The mare is an American Cream Draft named Octavia she's 17h(about 5'8" for the non-horsey people) at the shoulder. The stallion is an Iberian Warmblood (Andalusian x Trakehner) named Alvero. Through the insane world of genetics this foal has two color modifying genes (don't worry, I'm not going to go into detail!) and is what is called a "Gold Cream". This is very close to a cremello...but not quite. So, due to his gold color and spanish heritage he has been named "Aurelio" which means "golden".

And now, without further ado...here is Aurelio!

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/298293549_pXhv3-L-1.jpg
He is less than 10 minutes old here and the lady pictured is my vet, Dr. Linda Molesworth of Bay Equine.

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/298297988_zkHhN-L-1.jpg
Leo weighed 114 pds and was 42" (at the withers) at birth!

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/298311142_AbBqd-L-1.jpg
Less than an hour after birth Leo is up...sort of!

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/298316155_cWW8x-L-1.jpg
We can help steady him, but basically at this point he's on his own and can get up and down and wobble around. At an hour and half old he is already nursing on his own.

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/298300079_tkX8q-L-1.jpg
Octavia is a super mommy.

[Phyxius]

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/299034624_756g9-L-1.jpg
The next morning Leo was cold and shivering a tad so we put a foal blanket on him. It was so warm and snuggly that before I could even fasten it he was asleep.

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/299038950_hzaQ9-L-1.jpg

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/299040404_NaUcq-L-1.jpg
He came very close to being named Elvis, because as you can see in the above to pictures he loves curling his upper lip, this is called flehmen.

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/299951821_DZAmq-L-1.jpg
At a day and half old he got to go play outside!

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/300047016_XXNoo-L.jpg
And, you can see that he already loves to have his picture taken!

[Phyxius]

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/305615986_h9EMY-L.jpg
He's at lots of visitors and at 5 days old my friend Debbie (smugmug name
4leggedfotos) came to visit and take photographs while I was shooting video.

Here are two of Debbie's shots (She has tons of TERRIFIC shots on her smugmug site, 4leggedfotos.smugmug.com )
http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/311496569_CgZmh-L.jpg

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/311497991_fRRk8-L.jpg

And then Leo gave her a smooch.
http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/305623983_2DD8d-L.jpg

[Skippy]

The next morning Leo was cold and shivering a tad so we put a foal blanket on him. It was so warm and snuggly that before I could even fasten it he was asleep.

He came very close to being named Elvis, because as you can see in the above to pictures he loves curling his upper lip, this is called flehmen.

At a day and half old he got to go play outside!
And, you can see that he already loves to have his picture taken!

Congratulations Mummy :clap :ivar glad all went well Christina.
He's a cute little guy, will make for many many years of photography opps for you girl :thumb .... Skippy :D
.

[Phyxius]

Then, a couple days ago I tried to take a camera phone self portrait of myself with Aurelio and he tried to chew on my head which of course made me laugh and get all squinty eyed while he looks like a demonic llama...But, it's cute so here it is anyway!

http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/316750612_BCB4j-L-1.jpg


If you will pardon Octavia's dirty coat these pictures are from the 18th, one day before Aurelio turned one month old.
http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/316772065_mcrRy-L.jpg

Here you can also see my 21 yr old Quarter Horse mare, Ruby. Notice how Aurelio eats like a giraffe, it's so cute to watch the young foals eat.
http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/316773633_Quooo-L.jpg

Aurelio is now 11.3 1/2h or 47.5" tall and weighs approx. 246pds. Can you imagine growing more than 5 inches and gaining more than 130 pounds in one month?!!
http://phyxius.smugmug.com/photos/316775117_E6joj-L.jpg

Thanks for looking I'll update this thread as he grows, like the proud granny I am. :D

[Phyxius]

Congratulations Mummy :clap :ivar glad all went well Christina.
He's a cute little guy, will make for many many years of photography opps for you girl :thumb .... Skippy :D
.

Thanks Skippy! :D :D

[Ann McRae]

Hey Christina

Boy, oh boy is he ever cute. When you sent the kiss photo to my phone, I actually thought it was one of your donkeys!
Congratulations, take good care of him and keep posting pics! He grew into his ig nose pretty fast, btw!


ann

[saurora]

What great photos! You look like a really proud parent! :D Can't wait to see how fast he changes and I hope you will keep us updated. Do you think his coloring will darken or lighten as he matures? He's adorable and his mommy is very pretty! :lust

[Tdcompton]

Congratulations, he should grow into a lovely mount for you.... What are your plans for his future?

[Moogle Pepper]

oh wow!!! I love horses!! nice son that you got there!!

[Phyxius]

Thanks Ann, Saurora, and MooglePepper! I'll definatley add images here periodically, just like the proud granny I am. :D

TDCompton, well he was kind of a bonus. I bought the mare with the possibility that she was open, though I knew she had been bred and could've been in foal. I purchased her less than a month after she was bred so it was too early for simple tests. I had her and ultrasound done later and found that she was in foal. If I do sell Aurelio the breeder would like to buy him back, she has his half brother (by the imported Lusitano stallion Saphiro).

So, my original intention was to breed Octavia to my Percheron stallion. He was originally a logging horse, I compete with him in USDF licensed shows and "B" rated hunter shows (for fun). He can also go cross country, but his brakes don't work so well on a really exciting cross country course so we don't do too much of that!! Since this foal's parents are both 17h he SHOULD be about 17h and that combined with the draft disposition and warmblood movement he should make a nice, rather unique sporthorse. I guess time will tell. :)

[Tdcompton]

Well I wish you all the luck! I really do miss my Drafties... I have worked with and ridden world class Warmbloods, horses worth more than anything I may ever own, and I still prefer the Draft Horses!

I had the opportunity to buy back two of the Broodmares I had owned years back, but I'm possibly taking a job in AK, and shipping one horse up there will cost me quite enough! lol... I sold off all of the Draft breeding stock but I still have the gelding that was my very first pony, a grade Paint horse, taken out of a slaughter auction. He was a nightmare when we first brought him home, but after a few years of being my "project" he was my Eventer, and now he's semi-retired out at my family's small farm.

He has such a personality (Sometimes too much :D) that I'll never let go of him.

[Awais Yaqub]

Beautiful ! many congrats :clap

[aktse]

Beautiful horses! And i bet you're a wonderful "mommy!

[Phyxius]

Well I wish you all the luck! I really do miss my Drafties... I have worked with and ridden world class Warmbloods, horses worth more than anything I may ever own, and I still prefer the Draft Horses!

I had the opportunity to buy back two of the Broodmares I had owned years back, but I'm possibly taking a job in AK, and shipping one horse up there will cost me quite enough! lol... I sold off all of the Draft breeding stock but I still have the gelding that was my very first pony, a grade Paint horse, taken out of a slaughter auction. He was a nightmare when we first brought him home, but after a few years of being my "project" he was my Eventer, and now he's semi-retired out at my family's small farm.

He has such a personality (Sometimes too much :D) that I'll never let go of him.

I have a QH mare that sounds much like your "project". She's 21 now! I started working with her in '95 and retrained her from a dangerous horse into an awesome pony club / event / trail horse. She's got more spunk than most horses half her age and a few creaks, but she loves taking people out on trail rides. But, her favorites have to be little kids and sweet novices. If a novice who PRETENDS to know what they're doing mess with her she will show them who is boss. That's why I could never sell her, I was always worried that the wrong person would get a hold of her and treat her wrong. I trust her with young kids (supervised, of course) but not most adults.

I love the drafties! And, anyone who says they don't have "GO" should come visit mine. :thumb I still love andalusians (I used to ride GP level Andies for a living...why oh why did I quit that job? Oh yeah...no money!) but drafts are the tops for me! :)

[Phyxius]

Beautiful ! many congrats :clap

Beautiful horses! And i bet you're a wonderful "mommy!

Thank you Awais and April! My horses are like my kids :lust , but probably better behaved than most kids of the human variety. :rofl

[Tdcompton]

Yeah - I wish I could still live on the poor pay riders/trainers recieve these days but I needed something with health insurance and a retirement fund.. I'm only 23 but I like the idea that I've had a retirement fund started from the time I was 18! Thus, I packed up my tack and I now work for a Police Department. I'm actually about to move up to Alaska and I will be shipping my pony up in the Spring of 2009! I couldn't live without him, no matter what the costs involved...