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August 2007 Report
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Many events swirled around the horses as they spent another quiet month happily foraging and looking good. But it does seem that any pregnancies have been reabsorbed.
We finally have been able to start work on papers for our Vet to get here this Fall. It will be such a relief to get some answers at long last.
Dr. Gus Cothran, a well known equine geneticist now at Texas A & M, has run two sets of data comparisons and both results were the same: The Abaco Barbs are most closely related to the Puerto Rican Paso Fino. One more answer in place, should the vet tests show that we need to outcross. We hope to avoid this, but at least we know that there is a near match so we won't have to do anything radical should we have to outcross.
After about seven weeks of keeping the mini pastures closed (the forage in the Preserve is growing lushly with good rain) the mares are doing fine but Stallion Mimosa is looking a bit thin so we've opened the pastures again and he’s obviously enjoying himself.
The corral is being rebuilt. We put the first one up in a hurry and didn't take the time to remove the bark from the logs. So moisture was trapped and the logs are starting to rot. We're now removing bark and it will be interesting to see how long the new logs last.
In the past, a couple of people expressed concern that 12 rescued dogs have their own compound in the Preserve. A few of the dogs do take great joy in barking like mad when the horses make their approximately weekly pass through the cluster of containers that serve as base camp, but as you can see from the photo the horses completely ignore the dogs as they nibble grass just inches away from the fence. And the dogs eventually give up and return to their normal activities.
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 Above, Bellatrix II ignores Joshua who is only about two feet away from her.
At right, Mimosa, happily in greens that are way over his head. It's this sort of lush forage that caused obesity and lainitis when the horses spent full time on the itrus farm. Now that the horses' access is limited, they an enjoy the treat without overeating.
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