  Lucinda Harmon Moon, also known as Lucy, is just loving her life here in the sunshine at Lilac Bay. With Tuffy to play with, and plenty of good grass and milk, Honey to look after her, and Hanna's affections ... what else could a foal want? Lucy is really chunking out now (see the Babies Page) Here, you can see the great gorge between Honey's front legs, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lucy turns out to be a good weight carrier, too. She's already tucking into the good grass, and is always happy to see us, although we have not been feeding grain for a few weeks now.
Honey is losing her white winter wooly coat, and is slowly turning wonderfully golden once again. She is so beautiful in her summer coat. Lucy may be offered for sale at weaning, since both Izzy and Qita will be coming into the herd as mares before long - making our breeding herd complete.   Well, Spring is making a wonderful showing of itself so far, and Hanna is taking the opportunity to get young Lucy used to the idea that Honey will be used as something other than a lawn ornament. Honey seems happy to get back to work, after her breeding break, and she and Hanna are getting to spend some special bonding time during the before-and-after brushing (and feeding) rituals. Sunshine on our backs, wind in our hair, and all is right with the world at Lilac Bay Farm!
 Welcome to the world, Lucy! A couple of weeks later than we expected her, Lucy finally arrived on the 4th of April. She's a lovely tall filly, who already enjoys the grooming routine and the company of her human pals. Honey is a wonderful mother who is very comfortable sharing her little girl with us, which makes us a natural part of Lucy's life. We look forward to seeing her every day, as she romps and plays around her mom. Please feel free to post your comments, and wish our Lucy well during her stay here on Earth with the rest of us horse people ... gotta love that pacman star marking!
 Well! Yesterday this little colt was called "Nell" ... until we had another look under that tightly clamped tail, in the bright daylight! Now he looks like being called Tuffy ... and officially, Lunar Dude McFritz. We could change our minds half a dozen times before the paperwork goes through!
Tuffy was born on March 21st 2010 ... first day of Spring, and also my son John's birthday. It was a busy day, to say the least! Like all Luke's foals, and all Lily's foals ... this baby is already up for a scratch and a cuddle. Our Hanna gets stuck right in with the Imprint training, and we expect to see this little fellow in a halter (headcollar) without any fuss at all. We have not yet decided if Tuffy will be offered for sale, but please join us in welcoming him to the world!  Sometimes, it's hard to remember that Hanna is only thirteen. What an amazing horse girl she is. Today, she was going to brush horses for an hour while I met the washing machine repairman. When I came back, though, I found she had first-time saddled both three year olds, Lace and Tess E, all by herself!
The interesting thing is, I've never really shown her how to do it ... she's just sort of seen it done ... and decided to try it herself. She used advance-and-retreat technique, with which she had great success. As you can see, Lace is quite content with matters as they are. Hanna even had the presence of mind to take photos with her phone, and blue-tooth them to my MacBook. How, you may well ask, did any of us ever get anything done in this world ... before we had such clever teenagers to show us the way forward ... ??? Foal watch: Nothing yet, but Honey, Lily and Gem are starting to make milk for the foals. They're drinking LOADS, and I'm having to fill their trough twice a day. It's nice to see the milk sacs just starting to develop. BGem and Honey are considerably bigger on one side than the other - which seems fine as long as they don't have twins !!  Lonesome Dove is the fictional tale of two Texas Rangers, who drive hundreds of cattle north from Lonesome Dove, Texas to the lush, green, sparsely inhabited fields of Montana. The cattle are soon followed by a herd of wild horses, including mustangs and Mexican horses of Spanish descent. There is a stop along the way, however, to negotiate for some Throroughbred mares Captain Woodrow Call knows about in Ogallala, Nebraska and hopes to breed with the wild stock. The deal is done, and before long the whole kit and caboodle are headed for greener pastures.
In Montana, Captain Call's vision is realized, and the resulting herd represents the inception of the Quarter Horse breed, in its infant stages. At Lonesome Dove, we respect the origins of the Quarter Horse, and celebrate its foundations on the many, many cattle ranches where the breed was created; from Texas to Montana and from Baja California to New Jersey ... from sea to shining sea. Well, so far we've had a beautiful summer, compared to last year. Many many days of sunshine, and many others that gave us rain in the morning, and then shaped up nicely after all. Unfortunately, it looks like the wet season is thinking of returning to South Wales, and I'm finding myself feeling sorry for the horses as it pelts down against my dining room window. Too early to blanket them, I'm keen to get a building up before the temperature starts to drop, so they will have some shelter from the elements. Also looking for options for providing some shelter in the fields.
With our beautiful views, the other side of the coin is that, whether the tide is coming in or going out, we get the accompanying breeze. On a still day, it's lovely ... but in the winter it can be bleak. On the positive side, it will be a breeze to power those electric fences! |
 K. Taylor Rhys I'm bit of a Lonesome Dove myself, after the loss of Larry Taylor, my first love, who was an awesome horseman.  Larry & Sugarfoot Archives
August 2010
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