Happy Belated Mother’s day to all the momma’s out there! Including step-moms, fur-baby moms, and women who are a mom to someone with or without blood relation!
I for one had a beautiful day. I received breakfast in bed with a hand made card from my little ones (dad helped a little!) I also received a really cool sign to hang in our living room. More on that in a later post.
My father-in-law also “gave” me a really incredible gift. I put gave in quotes as there was some negotiating in this deal, but that’s between family.
My in-laws have raised horses for many years. This spring they downsized their herd a little bit to only keeping the best of the best, the mares who’s babies brought the most money. This makes sense. However there was a special mare that didn’t make the qualifications to keep with the herd. But this mare is special. She was the last horse purchased by my mother-in-law before she passed away. Her name is Raspberry and she’s a beautiful roan color. But because they wanted the herd sorted out, Raspberry came to live at our house with our little herd. I also have a mustang mare named Grace, a big grey gelding named Buck, and two mini horses named Nugget and Dolly. It took a few days but eventually Raspberry was accepted in by our crew and they have made a happy little family.
The special thing about Raspberry is she was pregnant when she came to us. Sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning Raspberry had a beautiful little foal. Before the baby was born I had been talking to my father-in-law about getting to keep the baby. If it was a boy and/or had really good coloring he was likely going to try to sell it. However, if it was a girl and didn’t have great coloring I might be able to buy her for a really good price.
Well, she is a little filly, but she is a beautiful Dun color. She has a tan body, dark mane and tail with a dark stripe down the middle of her back. She also has dark feet with zebra-type stripes around her knees. Gorgeous. 
There was a problem at first. This little lady wasn’t sucking properly. If a foal doesn’t learn to eat almost immediately, it is not likely they will live. Foals have to eat almost every hour, and usually can’t go more then two hours without food. So to bottle feed a baby is a lot of work. It took several hours and lots of work milking the momma, using a bottle for a little bit and a great deal of coaxing, but finally the little girl figured it out. She’s growing strong and feisty now!
During the struggle, my father-in-law gave me great news. He said, “if she makes it, you can have her.” FOR REAL!! Like I said, she is now doing everything a little baby horse should be and she is going to grow big and strong. And she’s mine. I’ve named her Pippa, Pip for short. It means “lover of horses.” Coming from my mother-in-law who was a lover of horses to the max and my father-in-law, who is so generous, I wanted a name that meant something but also fit her personality. I think Pip is perfect.
It’s been quite raining and wet here so she’s only been in the barn, but I hope we can get her outside soon to run and play in the green grass!
Happy Harvesting,
Leah
Harvesting Roots 
Leave a Reply