Hrimfara, as of today or tomorrow, is or will be, 10 months old. Pete and I are not exactly sure which day she was born. We went out shortly after midnight on May 6, and there she was – nursing. She was then very alert and energetic. We could see her tail switching and hear sucking. Signy had already cleaned her up.

After several months of worrying about what might go wrong, we saw what went right. Signy, who was an experienced broodmare, knew what to do, and did it very well. She’s still doing right by Hrimmi, in part by encouraging her to be independent. Hrimmi now eats with all the others, and sometimes even puts herself between Raudi and Signy, the latter preferring to keep herself from the former. Pete said the other day that Signy thinks that Raudi is treated like a “fucking princess,” and he’s right. Raudi plays the role to the hilt. This, I know, is all my doing. I don’t think this is anything we can now change.

I promised Signy that she would be allowed to keep her last foal, and I intend to honor that promise. I think that for the most part, Signy is appreciative of the fact that she has a self-created buddy, which is one that is her image and likeness. Raudi, Tinni, and Siggi are tight, and Signy is the odd one out. I think that for this reason she’s glad to have a friend. I also suspect that she sometimes sees having her baby around is a bit of a pain in the ass. So I do take them out individually – and neither ever protests about this.

Anyhow, we got what we wanted, a foal that is going to be like her mother – fearless, somewhat independent, full of endurance. Hrimmi now ponies fairly well and is less hesitant about going for walks. Like the rest, she’s a chow hound—it’s often times hard to get her past the hay at the hitching post when she’s on lead. A gentle squeeze on the lead, and then a release usually gets her going again.
 
Appearance wise, Hrimmi is looking less foal and more horse-like. Her little snub nose has lengthened out, and she’s not ratcheting – in other words, her shoulders and hindquarters are now proportional. Her coat is very thick – it’s like a pelt. Her name, Hrimfara, or Frosty Traveler, may be more apt than we first thought – we are seeing evidence of roaning (scattered white hairs) in the brown portion of her coat, meaning that she’s going to have a frosty appearance.

Pen manners are good. I sometimes think of what it would be like around here if Signy had given birth to a reactive, scatter brained individual. Tending to five horses is time consuming enough without having to worry about the fifth being an airhead, and gumming up the works, by, for example, attempting to go over a fence or under a gate. And we are short on space. We compensate for this by getting everyone, including Hrimmi, out nearly every day. And I clean up the poop four times a day. Yes, it would be problematic if Hrimmi was hard to handle or obstinate. I’m glad that she’s neither. We do need to work more with her on staying out of other people’s space. She likes to nibble. This is a bad habit of young horses. But it’s easily dealt with.

I seem to say this every month, and I’ll probably say it again next months. I who am wondrous keep asking myself, how did we get so lucky? Lucky, luckier, luckiest. If I were to rename Hrimmi, she’d be called Lucky Star.

I’m really glad that Hrimfara is not Hrimfari. If she was a stallion, we’d have to somehow keep her separated from Signy and Raudi, and I’m not sure how we’d do this. And we’d have to have her gelded, which would require additional time on my part, as well as additional money.

Next: 65. 3/6/12: Four Parcels