Faerynpage2005

Donerail Farm
Dressage and Sport Horses
Faeryn
Frohwind x Sonnys Mona Lisa+/
Foaled 6/27/2005
(scroll to bottom of page for photos)

March 18, 2006
I really AM a bad mom! No new pictures, either! I am waiting until she looks less like a yak and more like a horse! Somehow she developed strangles earlier in the month - despite being fully vaccinated and despite the fact she hasn't been off the farm in months! I never would have known except for the huge lump under her jaw....she never missed a meal....or even a single mouthful as far as I could tell! She went to the vet and they confirmed the diagnosis via a culture of some of the junk the vet aspirated from the swelling before it started draining. It took about two weeks to finally start draining - it was larger than a golf ball but it didn't seem to faze Faeryn in the least! In all my years of owning horses, this is the first time I've ever had a case of strangles among my herd. I was most worried that Faxx would catch it, too, but nobody else did. She continues to grow and is about 13.1 at nine months -- only an inch shorter than Faxx was at the same age. I think they are both going to be larger than Fling. Faeryn is going to be a little more elegant version of Fling, I think, although her head is not as pretty. It started out beautifully - but in the last two months she grew this small 'bump' between her forehead and her nose that definitely gives her head a more common look. I am hoping it is just a growth phase as Fling has a beautiful head, as do Lisa and Frohwind. Otherwise, Faeryn has a little longer and finer neck than Fling had at that age and she moves better. Time will tell! She has a super attitude, tho. Very confident and very obedient for the most part. (Unlike her older sister!) I put her on the crossties this week and she was a little star...except for one very Faeryn-like incident. I had the 'cowboy' rope halter on her and stepped into the tack room to get the measuring stick while she was on the crossties...I heard a little scuffle and came out to find the rope halter hanging perfectly between the crossties...and a very surprised, "naked" Faeryn standing there looking like "what happened?" The "turtle snaps" didn't come undone - Faeryn backed up just enough to slip her head out of the halter!

December 2, 2005
Bad mom! You can tell Faeryn is not the first foal - I haven't taken new pics of her in about two months! Every time I try, I can't get my digital camera to work! We're about two weeks into weaning now and no one has done anything stupid. There has been some frantic whinnying and racing along the fenceline - mostly from Lisa, believe it or not! Fling is the perfect babysitter for Faeryn - in Faeryn's view, anyway! Fling could probably think of better things to do. I know she's tired of being cooped up in the paddock, but I can't turn them all back out together until I am sure mom's milk is dried up. Lisa and Faeryn were definitely more bonded than Fling and Lisa ever were.

I wish I had measured Fling at regular intervals when she was growing up and kept a record of it, just to compare with Faeryn. I _think_ she's going to be bigger, but who knows. At five months, she is 50 inches tall. She's a furball now and it's hard to recognize her as that elegant, leggy creature from this past summer! LOL! I have to watch the DVD from her inspection to assure myself that there really IS a lovely horse in there that _will_ reappear in about 2.5 years! ;)

She is very sweet, tho, and is doing very well in her 'kindergarten' work. She leads well and picks up her feet well - for me anyway. She is not as good for the shoer, but that will come. She has the deepest voice for a baby! Fling, even at five, still has a very high-pitched 'girly' voice. Not Faeryn - she sounds like a vamp!

August, 2005

Faeryn and her full sister, Fling. I think Faeryn is saying, "Who do you think you are, the Lone Ranger?"	So far, Fling will probably be the "lucky one" chosen to babysit Faeryn when it comes time for weaning. Fling is very easygoing and is never aggressive to the other horses. Nanja has already been making ugly faces at Faeryn across the fence, just to let her know that she, Nanja, is the Supreme Being here at Donerail Farm, and one is never too young to learn that!
Itchy brand!!	I think they are going to be famous friends!

(About five days old here. First time out.) What IS this scary thing????	(About five days old here, on her first outing into the big outdoors.) Aw heck, this thing isn't so scary after all!
Ten days old here.	It's really hard to catch action shots with a cheap digital camera! Most of my shots were nice expanses of green, with no Faeryn anywhere to be seen! ;)
Her teeth are already coming in and she's chewing on everything... :)	Faeryn is getting her butt scratched here..the top lip poked out and the eyes partially closed are signs of a "blissed out" pony! She's three weeks old here.
She looks pretty balanced here, at three weeks. She also actually TROTS. Fling, her full sister, NEVER trotted at this age - she had two speeds - full out and standing still. On August 2 she goes to her ISR/Oldenburg inspection. Fortunately it is very close to home - but we have to at least take her on one short trailer ride beforehand!	(Three weeks old here.) Faeryn is fascinated by, and frustrated with our various barn cats...she is dying to see one up close, but try as she may, she can't manage to make contact.... I am sure the cats are calling her "the stalker." Here, she tries to "make contact" with Pumpkin...
(Three weeks old here.) And here, she's trying to convince a wary Momcat that she just wants to say "Hi."	(Three weeks old here.) And Momcat beats a hasty retreat before Faeryn's curiosity is completely satisfied....

If you look closely, you can see Faeryn's new brand.	Here she is, home from the inspection, still sporting her "baby braids." We didn't manage to get any photos of her at the actual inspection, but fortunately "Auntie Brooke" sewed those braids in so good, they lasted til we got home! Isn't she cute? (Completely biased opinion!)
And another view of that lovely braid job! I can't wait for her to shed out to see just exactly what shade of bay she's going to be. Her sister, Fling, was this color when she was born, but shed out black bay like Frohwind.