Almost Time For the Spring Round-Up & Three New Foals!

My apologies for my disappearance (again) from blogging.  The current political administration in the White House causes me great mental and physical stress because my parents brought me up to be a caring person who truly loves my country.  I suffer from recurring Shingles flare-ups due to stress - on my face and inside my nose (of all places!  My MD was so excited because he was writing a paper about my case...) - and these are excruciatingly painful.  I don't get much done when the rash decides to appear.  - Yes, I know about the vaccine, but one must be clear from an outbreak for 6 months before the vaccine can be administered.  I never last that long, unfortunately.   -  Anyway.... That's why I have been absent.   
    Now.   Down to the meat of the matter.
  The annual Chincoteague Pony Spring Round-Up will be held this Friday and Saturday, the 12th and 13th of April.  Riptide and his mares are already in the South, main corral; so the only herd for the Saltwater Cowboys to chase on Friday afternoon will be the Don Leonard Stud II's.  Riptide has been taking his ladies through, over, and around the fencing for the last six weeks.  They have been appearing on the roadways on Assateague, as well as many of the trails, and on and near the beach.  The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company cowboys have been rounding the escapees up and putting them back behind the fences almost every other day.  At the end of March, however, Riptide and his ladies were "imprisoned" in the corral due to their interactions with some very foolish tourists.  This group of people were on foot and on bicycles and had a child in a baby stroller.  They approached Riptide and his mares.  They petted and fed the ponies.  They posted video and photos on most of the social media sites.  So now, the ponies are in lock-up because the tourists were STUPID.
  **These ponies are used to being near people.  But they are feral animals.  They are "wild."  They bite and kick without apparent warning.  Equines are prey animals.  They eat vegetation.  They have a choice when they feel threatened - fight or flight.  They will try to protect themselves and then run.  There are signs and warnings posted about the ponies on Chincoteague and Assateague.  Do not feed the ponies.  Stay at least 40 feet away from the ponies.  Stallions will do anything to protect their mares and babies.  People have been severely injured by ignoring these common warnings.**
   Early on Saturday, while the veterinarians will check out the penned southern herds, while the Saltwater Cowboys round up the northern herds, who are many, and are spread over a much larger area.  After the herds are gathered, they, too will be checked by the vets.  And, while the northern herds are being checked, the 2018 buy back fillies will be returned to run wild on Assateague, along with the three donated mares.  I don't know if Ajax and Heidi's Sky, who are at the Carnival Grounds being treated for injuries, will be released on the 13th or not.  That decision is, of course, up to our veterinarians and the Pony Committee.

   It's after 10 p.m. where I live, on Sunday, April 7th.  So far, three new foals have been born this year to the CVFC herd.  In 2018, we had five foals on the ground, on this date; and in 2017, there were six babies bounding about.
   The first two foals born are pintos, and their dams have been keeping them pretty far away from people.  So the parents and colors of the foals are known, but whether the babies are boys or girls is a mystery.  The third foal is a solid palomino, and he looks like a "Mini-Me" edition of his sire, Chief Golden Eagle.  The photos of the first foal, a chestnut pinto born on 22 March, are copyrighted by DSC Photography.  The dam is Catwalk Chaos, and the sire is Tornado's Prince of Tides.  Using a huge telephoto lens, these are the closest of the photos.

The second foal is a bay pinto,sired by Hoppy (aka Effie's Papa Bear), and out of the mare Danny's Girl Splash.  The foal was first spotted by Captain Dan Davis, and he took the first photos as well, on 1 April.

Captain Dan, he of "The Foal Patrol" and owner and operator of Captain Dan's Around the Island Tours, also spotted and took the first photos of our third arrival on 4 April.  This colt is out of the mare JABATAA, and sired by Chief Golden Eagle.  The photos used here are copyrighted by Darcy and Steve Cole of DSC Photography, and were taken today, when the foal was 3 days old.

Spring Round-Up for Chincoteague Ponies

The weather here in Boulder is nasty.  Rain mixed with snow and wind is forecast, and the temperature is steadily dropping.  Yuck.
  On Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, off the coast of Virginia, out in the Atlantic Ocean, it's a much prettier day.  The National Weather Service says highs of 68 for today and tomorrow - sunny today, and mostly sunny Saturday.  Should be great weather for the Saltwater Cowboys to do the southern round-up this afternoon (beginning about 4:30) and the northern round-up at 7 O'clock tomorrow morning.
   The newly donated seven ponies and the eleven buybacks were transferred from the CVFC Carnival Grounds on south Main Street to the southern holding pen on Assateague Wednesday evening.  They will be vet-checked and vaccinated (and the new stock will be micro-chipped) along with the gathered southern herds on Saturday morning.  After they've been seen by the vet, they will be released until the July Round-Up for Pony Penning.
  Tomorrow morning, the round-up men will begin gathering the wide-spread and elusive northern herds.  My filly, who will be three in mid-May, is looking pretty thin in the last photos I saw of her...  they were taken on 4 April, and she's lost weight since New Years.  I'd be much happier if she had about 100 to 150 more pounds on her.  I know that Doc Cameron will check each pony carefully, and if he has concerns, she'll be properly treated.  Actually, a lot of the northern mares look a little thin.  We'll see what  his pronouncements are...  I'm hoping a good worming might be all my filly needs...
  After the veterinarian and his assistants check the southern herds tomorrow morning, they'll go do the same with the northern herds.  That's when he'll see my girl...  But they won't have to micro-chip anyone up north, except the new foals - the count was at seven new babies as of Thursday evening.
   If you'd like to see some old newsreel videos regarding Pony Penning, here a a few I recommend:

1924 Pony Penning - taken 3 years after my Mother was born there....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfaQuLpmrWo&feature=share

1955 24 minute documentary made by the Library of Virginia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIYmJO7iFUc

1959 Pony Penning - I was three years old at this Pony Penning...  I was there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqGZsNTe-5U

1967  Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom  - 23 minutes  - I was there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qadOPc67tJ4

2012 Overview of Pony Penning with  the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZRupgnl6bA&t=19s

This and That

I was greatly cheered to learn that the Mets baseball team had sent Tim Tebow to their AA minor team, the Rumble Ponies, in Binghamton, New York.  On his at bat, on the first throw, he hit a three-run homer....  Way to go, Tim Tebow!  I've always loved the man and he is following his dream.  Good on him!
   The new American Spring League Football season will start the week after the 2019 Super Bowl.  There will be 8 teams the first year and the league has been set up by ex-professional football players. The announcement of the first city to host a team and the first announced head coach for that team made me sit up and smile - Orlando Florida and Steve Spurrier.  Hoping to see some great things - take me back to the Tampa Bay Bandits!
  At the moment the weather forecast for the Spring Round-up on Assateague Island at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is fantastic for mid-April.  I hope everything goes well this Friday and Saturday and that the long-unseen will turn up alive and well...
  I found a name yesterday in the 1900 US Census yesterday that I really liked - Tilelka - and then I just rolled laughing because another name hit me just smack dab on the funny-bone: a man named Rolla A. Hole....
  We're a little over 3 weeks away from the first Saturday in May - which always, for me, means the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville.  This year will be the 144th Run For the Roses, and will be broadcast live on NBC television.  The race is scheduled to begin at 6:50 pm (EDT), and there will probably be the full number of entries, limited to 20, and based on points earned in other graded races...
1.   Good Magic  (134)
2.   Audible   (110)
      Noble Indy   (110)
3.   Vino Rosso   (107)
4.   Bolt d'Oro   (104)
5.   Enticed   (103)
6.   Mendelssohn   (100)
      Justify   (100)
7.   Flameaway  (70)
8.   Bravazo   (54)
9.   Promises Fulfilled   (52)
10.  Magnum Moon   (50)
       Runaway Ghost   (50)
       Quip   (50)
11.  Free Drop Billy   (44)
12.  Lone Sailor   (42)
13.  Hofburg   (40)
14.  Firenze Fire   (39)
15.  Solomini   (38)
16.  My Boy Jack   (32)
17.  Instilled Regard   (29)
18.  Snapper Sinclair   (22)
       Combatant   (22)
       Blended Citizen   (22)
19.  Reride   (20)
       Dream Baby Dream   (20)
       Restoring Hope   (20)
       Old Time Revival   (20)

This and That

Two months away, the Kentucky Derby is already getting a lot of news coverage.  It is the best known race in the United States, and this is the normal hyperbole, but it seems that this year,again, the Derby is a wide open race...  El Areeb, Irish War Cry, and Beasley have recently been in the headlines surrounding the Derby, and there are 9 stakes races at Gulfstream Park today.  There have also been a spate of stallion deaths, including the 11-year-old Giant Oak, a son of Giant's Causeway.
   The Chincoteague Pony Spring Round-Up will take place on April 7 and 8 this year.  The ponies of the north and south herds will be rounded up and checked for any problems, plus they'll get blood drawn for testing, annual vaccines, and the equine veterinarian will give each and every pony a check-up and evaluation.The buy-back ponies from last summer's auction have been staying at the Carnival Grounds on Chincoteague, and they will be released back onto Assateague on Saturday, 8 April. Hopefully, my filly, Surfer Princess will be taken back to the north end of the island to be separated from her full-brother, Riptide.  She managed to get back down to the south end of the island after Christmas, and joined her brother's herd.  (I wouldn't worry if she were running with Maverick or the Don Leonard Stud II - but she's with her brother.)
    Rosie continued improving yesterday, and wandered around the back yard on her own when I took her for her daily outing.  I got some really good photos of her.  I wasn't sure this past Tuesday if she'd survive until the end of the week, but it looks like she'll definitely hang on until next weekend, when the son of the family will return home from College for his spring break.  That will make all of us humans very happy.
    Had a great time playing with Tipsi last night and again this morning.  His people went cross-country skiing and took the two dogs, so Tipsi is at home by himself (since Pounce passed away last month).  We played with the laser light, and tossed catnip toys, watched birds and squirrels in the back yard - and he ate like a little piglet.  He's tangled with other critters (cats or raccoons) three times in the past year and ended up with an abscess and surgeries each time.  He is now an indoor cat, and does not like it.
    And now the idiot "45" is claiming that President Obama tapped all of Trump Towers during his, 45's, run for office. What a hoot!  As Nancy Pelosi called him, he's the "Deflector-in-Chief" for trying to get folks to stop asking questions about his and his associates ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin.  As a top United States Security man stated, a wiretap cannot be directed at a U.S. facility, without finding probable cause that the phone lines or Internet addresses were being used by agents of a foreign power - or by someone spying for or acting on behalf of a foreign government. "You can't just go around and tap buildings," the official said.  -  And any wire-tapping must be approved by a Federal judge...
    Hope you have a great weekend!

Chincoteague Pony Spring Round-Up Report

Please note that this is taken directly from Darcy Cole's Facebook post.  Darcy and Steve Cole take fantastic photos of the Chincoteague ponies and the wildlife on Assateague Island.  They sell their photographs over the internet - and I highly recommend them (both the people and the photos)!

"Spring Roundup 2016 Report

Southern Roundup Friday, April 1:
No foals had been born yet in the South. Suzy's Sweetheart had gotten out of the fencing so didn't get rounded up with the rest of the ponies. Sockett To Me did not come in for roundup. Otherwise all other ponies in the Southern Herd were accounted for. We already did a quick post so people who could not be here could see some pictures and will be getting more pictures up this week.

Release of the 2015s:
It was a long, cold, wet day, but we really wanted to capture the release of the 2015s so anyone who could not be here, could feel like they experienced it. Steve was able to get pictures that I think accomplish that goal. We'll be getting a series of pictures up this week that tell the story and will hopefully help you feel like you were there.

Northern Roundup Saturday, April 2:
Neither the weather, nor the ponies cooperated with the Cowboys. A lot of people had to leave before many bands came in. Hoppy, Puzzle, Rainbow Warrior and Legacy eluded the Cowboys altogether and there were no foals that came in.

Because of the rain, the ponies were wet and muddy and the pictures are not the greatest, but they do actually capture the rain droplets mid air in some cases which does make for some interesting shots, just not the clearest.

We'll do our best to get pictures up this week, but are off to the Refuge now to see what we can see today.

https://www.facebook.com/dscphotoESV  "

CVFC Spring Round-Up Today and It's Nedi's Birthday

I love my little black cat.  He was born in Kansas six years ago today, according to the Boulder Valley Humane Society, where I adopted him.  He was a nine-week-old kitten and already neutered when I brought him home.  Lovey had been looking for her "brother," another adopted cat, frantically since one of the neighbor's poisoned him.  I brought home several adult cats, but Lovey hated them all.  I finally decided to get a kitten that she could raise to her lofty standards....  And so the small black kitten came home with me.  The previous cat was named Banichi, after an ateva assassin/body guard/lawyer from the Foreigner series.  Since the kitten was black with blue eyes (though I knew they would soon change), I named the little boy Zephraim (after Glenn Corbett's portrayal of Zephram Cochran in the original Star Trek) and after Cenedi (pronounced Keh-ned-ee), an older, wiser ateva assassin/body guard/lawyer.  He has fully lived up to both namesakes.

   And today is the first day of the Chincoteague pony Spring Round-Up for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.  The Saltwater Cowboys plan to commence rounding up the stock in the southern compartment of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge at 4:30 this afternoon.  While the Cowboys are rounding up the northern herds (on the Virginia end of Assateague Island) tomorrow morning, the veterinarian checks, vaccinations and hoof trimming will take place for the southern herds.  Tomorrow after, the same checks, shots, and care will happen to the northern herds.  At some point in time Saturday, the weanling - almost yearling - Buy Back foals from 2015 will be turned loose to mingle with the southern herds.  It will be interesting to see who joins which group.

Chincoteague Pony Spring Round-Up Begins Friday

The following statement was released by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company yesterday, 27 March 2016:  " The spring roundup will start Friday, April 1st at 4:30 pm for the south herd. We will sweep the south end from the lighthouse to the south corral. Hopefully we should have the herd in the corral within a couple hours. It just depends on how well they cooperate. The north herd will b rounded up starting Saturday morning. We will start as close to 8 am as we can. (Weather and personnel permitting). We will also be performing the vet checks at the same time on the south herd. The buybacks at the carnival grounds will be released on the south end Saturday morning as time permits."
  I honestly wish I could be there.  When I lived on Chincoteague Island, I was always scheduled for work during the Spring and Fall Round-Ups, so I never had a chance to see one in person.  I enjoy my round-ups vicariously through the photos of Deb Iddings Noll, Darcy and Steve Cole, and Cindi H Herman.  They are fantastic people who share their photos on Facebook, and on the DSC Photography website.  I couldn't get through Spring and Fall without them, and the other folks who post their photos.  
   ...  I have enjoyed watching the squirrel family and raven family from my desk window this morning.  It was 26 degrees at 7 a.m., when I returned home.  (I slept with Tessa, Lyra and Lily last night - and tonight, also.) The squirrels have been enjoying the almonds, Brazil nuts and walnuts that we put out for them; and yesterday I added another 2.5 pounds of unshelled sunflower seeds into the bird feeder.  The ravens help themselves from the trash dumpster at Chez Thuy, the Vietnamese restaurant that is our immediate neighbor to the south.  
   Yesterday, for Easter, I baked a lemon pound cake; and we had ham steak, mashed potatoes and glazed carrots for our supper.  It was a nice, quiet day.
   I hope your week goes well!

Spring Round-Up for Chincoteague Ponies Last Weekend

Last Friday and Saturday, the Saltwater Cowboys of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company rounded up the herds of wild ponies on the southern end of the island of Assateague Island.  The ponies have free range over the Virginia part of Assateague Island, which contains the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the southern section of Assateague National Seashore.  The ponies are considered to be "wild" as they receive the least amount of human handling as possible - but they are rounded up and penned three times each year. This is for health care and medical purposes.  The ponies are looked over daily by members of the CVFC Pony Committee, and if any pony is ill, or appears to be injured, the on-call veterinarian is called immediately, while the pony is isolated and cared for.  Since the foals are auctioned off each July, each pony must be up-to-date on their vaccinations and blood-testing - that way new owners can take their foals home without any hold-up for paperwork necessary for the ponies to cross state lines.
  From the 1700s on, livestock was taxed on the island of Chincoteague; therefore, most residents turned their livestock loose on Assateague, the island farther east, after notching or branding their stock.  And, of course, ponies were running already running wild on Assateague Island, when the first settlers arrived on Chincoteague.  Every two or three years, the men of Chincoteague would gather all the loose livestock on Assateague, having a huge "penning" event.  Sheep were gathered, ponies, were gathered, hogs and pigs were gathered, and so were the horses and ponies.  Owners travelled over to Assateague several times each year, and, when checking on their adult stock, they notched or branded the young that had been recently born.  Most of the critters were branded and known to the owners.  Over the years, as the horse and ponies were allowed to breed, there were quite a few "wild" ponies that weren't actually owned by anyone - these ponies were apportioned out to the men who had horses running on the island.
  It was soon realized that these ponies and horses, raised on Assateague, were extremely versatile in use, and were also extremely hardy.  They would eat greenery that cattle, sheep, and goats would ignore, and they had adapted to drinking the brackish water on the islands. They were very intelligent, and, once gentled, were great for usage by women and children.  At that point in time, most of the ponies were solid colors - there were bays, blacks, browns, chestnuts, and sorrels.  Any pony with an unusual coat, a palomino or grey or pinto, was quickly claimed and trained.  With the advent of motion pictures, people became convinced that Native Americans rode only pinto or Appaloosa horses.  Most children wanted a pinto, or painted, pony.  By this time, several men were breeding Chincoteague ponies, and keeping them on Assateague Island.  Pinto ponies were introduced as stallions and mares and the rest is ... history.
  In 1946, Marguerite Henry visited Miss Molly's Inn on Main Street, to observe the now annual Pony Penning.  She met Clarence Beebe, a pony breeder and seller, and his grandchildren, Paul and Maureen.  She bought a pretty little palomino pinto filly, who was still nursing on her dam; Grandpa Beebe shipped the foal to the author in October, and Ms. Henry was convinced that this hugely hairy critter could not actually be her beautiful Misty.  But it was.  Marguerite's book was published in 1947, and won the Newberry Award for Children's Book for that year.  In 1961, 20th Century Fox made Ms Henry's book, Misty of Chincoteague, into a movie.  Grandma and Grandpa Beebe and Paul and Maureen were portrayed by professional actors.  Otherwise, the movie stars are the native Chincoteaguers and some wonderful trained ponies.
  In any event, this year, 2015, is the 90th Annual Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company's Pony Penning and Carnival.  I'll be there for the first time in 14 years.  I'm really looking forward to seeing ponies that I know, people that I know, buildings and trails that I know.  A lot of changes have taken place since I was last there.  But, with a family history going back to 1643 on Chincoteague itself - I'll be going home.

April Mish-Mash

After the craziness of Sunday night, I hoped for a quiet Monday - but I didn't get it.  I returned Lynn's car to her garage at 6:50 in the morning, and hung her keys up on the rack in the wash room, all without waking a soul. Before that, I had visited Jasmine, fed, watered, loved and groomed her, and cleaned her litter box.  I took the bus home from Lynn's, then left an hour later to walk Rosie and Lucy.  I returned to the apartment at 11:45, and noticed a smokey smell in the hallway, but since none of the apartment smoke alarms were, sounding, I ignored it.  I came in, removed my shoes, and collapsed in the bed.  Twenty minutes later, our maintenance man came through, banging on each door, yelling, "You have to evacuate! Now!" As soon as he yelled, the hallway fire alarms went off - but still, no apartment alarms were sounding. I put my glasses on, grabbed the cat carrier, stuffed both kits inside, grabbed my ID and credit cards,my cash, and my keys and went out into the parking lot.  There were three fire engines, including a hook-and-ladder, three police cars and one Fire-Rescue EMT unit in the lot.  I carried the kits as far away from the hubbub as possible, and we stayed in the shade of an SUV - it was 75 degrees outside, with the sun brightly shining.  We had to wait for 90 minutes before the building was cleared and OK'd for us to return.  What happened?  The couple who live above me had left an empty pot on their stove, with the burner turned on.  The pot was melting, and created an acrid smoke.  The halls still smell like it today....  I ran my exhaust fans over the stove and in the bathroom for 24 hours, and I had my windows and patio door wide open, with two fans turned on until dark on Monday...
  In horse racing, Far From Over, a three-year-old son of Blame, and winner of the Withers Stakes, has been found to have a condylar fracture  in one of his hind legs.  He started walking short after a nice workout in preparation for the Wood Memorial, and was X-rayed.  He is now off the Kentucky Derby trail.   -   Cozmic One, the eldest son of Zenyatta was exercised by jockey Mike Smith over the weekend. Coz looked happy and relaxed, as did Mike - this has me looking forward to Coz's first race, whenever it will be. Coz is still growing and maturing; his dam, Zenyatta, did not have her first race until November of  her third year.
   Ground-penetrating radar has found an underground pyramid at the ancient pre-Incan complex at Tiahuanaco, Bolivia.  Several other anomalies were reported, indicating possible burial pits, tombs, or unknown underground sites at this UNESCO World Heritage site.  It has been guestimated that the history of building in the Tiahuanaco area is more than 14,000 years.
   Singer Joni Mitchell was found unconscious in her bathroom yesterday, at her home in California.  She is alert and in good spirits today, in an Intensive Care Unit in a hospital near her home, where she is undergoing further testing.
   I found it extremely interesting that someone in England decided to try out a 1,000 year-old recipe for an eye ointment - but for another reason.  The recipe calls for allium plants (from the garlic family) and bile from a cow's stomach, to be boiled in a copper or brass pot and reduced.  This was applied to people with eye infection symptoms in the past, was was claimed to be highly effective.  Some of this unguent has been applied to  samples of methicillin resistant Staphycoccus aureas (MRSA), and it has killed the samples out-right.  This could be a major break-through in treating MRSA, which has become a huge killer in hospitals around the world.  I had an MRSA infection for 5 years - and, let me tell you, it was an awful experience.
   The US Coast Guard was contacted by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Bremen, Germany yesterday.  They reported a German sailboat in distress 90 miles east of Chincoteague Island, Virginia.  The Coast Guard was able to contact the captain via an iridium telephone, and found that the sailboat had lost it's mast and was low on fuel.  The USCG cutter Shearwater sailed out to the boat, but due to the damage on the boat, and the weather, could not get a line safely attached.  The two German men on the boat had to get into their inflatable dinghy and approach the Shearwater for rescue.  The men were being taken to Norfolk, Virginia for a flight back to Germany.
  Speaking of Chincoteague, if you're going to be in the area of the Eastern Shore, and like the ponies on Assateague, make plans to attend the Spring Round-Up on April 9 and 10.  The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company will hold their annual Spring gathering on that Friday and Saturday, to check on all the ponies' health, make note of foals already on the ground, vaccinate  and take blood samples.  Doc Cameron, the on-call vet will look at each pony, and, if hoof-trimming, or other measures are needed, they will be taken care of.  - Yippee!!  Ponies! That means that I'll soon be there for Pony Penning in July - and it's the 90th Anniversary of the CVFC's annual round-up and swim.  Oh, boy!!!!