Three New Chincoteague Foals - Two Wild, One Tame

After a few days with scattered intense thunderstorms, foal watchers were expecting babies - and there were three.  First, the Leonard family are celebrating the fourth generation birth of Honeymoon. She and her dam, Martha, are located in the pasture between the McDonald's and the Refuge Inn on Maddox Boulevard, just before the bridge to Assateague.  The Leonard family has been breeding Chincoteague ponies for generations, and Don Leonard was the man chosen to drive Misty back to the island from Fort Wayne, Indiana back in 1957...

Honeymoon and Mom Martha

 Yes, she's a blue-eyed baby...

Over on Assateague this morning, Captain Dan Davis spotted Leah's Bayside Angel in the last throes of giving birth to a large bay baby...  She's looked as if she was expecting twins for quite a while...  This is foal number 51, and the sire is Wild Thing:

Thanks to Captain Dan's Around the Island Tours for the photos!

Foal number 52 is a dark child, and was spotted by Darcy and Steve Cole about an hour after Captain Dan saw Leah's bay.  This foal is the baby of Black Pearl and Maverick and was born this morning.  The photo was taken looking into the light, so the color is difficult to ascertain - might be black, bay, or dark brown....  Time and a closer viewing will give us the answer.  The only photo so far is below, and was taken by DSC Photography:

Latest Chincoteague Pony Foal Photos...

The latest mare to foal delivered baby 42 to the Chincoteague Pony herd that belongs to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.  A new foal was spotted with Alice's Sandcastle, who has been in Maverick's herd for two years.  The mare is a sooty buckskin, like Poco Latte, and it is difficult to determine what the foals' color will be once it sheds its' baby fur. (It could be a sooty buckskin like Mom, a bay, or black.)   So far, only one photo from a distance, taken by DSC Photography:

  And, thanks to DSC Photography, we have some great photos of  foal # 41, a perlino pinto with two blue eyes.  This baby boy was sired by Legacy, and is out of the buckskin mare Zustan - her first foal.

    This little filly  looks to make an excellent riding horse/pony.  She is foal 11, a chestnut pinto chunk, out of Dreamer's Gift, and sired by either Ajax or Puzzle.   Photos by DSC Photography.

  There were only four photos of foal 23, a foal out of Gingersnap (Surfer's Shining Star)  and Prince, all taken at a great distance.  This is the closest one yet, even though all one sees is a golden hump asleep in the grass beside her Mom - both at the left of the photo.  Taken by Gina Aguilera and posted on her Chincoteague Pony Names: Smartphone App Facebook page:

** I had, a few days ago, posted two photos of what I thought was foal 23, in the woods with her dam.  They are not foal 23, but foal 19 with her dam, Surfer Princess.  I will correct that post as soon as I am finished with this one.  **

  Foal 34, a chestnut filly, out of Kimmee Sue, and sired by Ken.  DSC Photography.

And foal 36, a palomino pinto out of Lorna Dune and sired by Prince.  This photo is by Gina Aguilera, and is from her Chincoteague Pony Names: Smartphone App site:

MUST SEE Kentucky Derby Video and New CVFC Foals Plus Second Vaccinations

Even though the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has refused to hear any appeal regarding the claim of foul against Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby, and the Stewards have moved on, since all of them declare the rules and laws state that their decision cannot be changed; one thing from the race remains unresolved.  Maximum Security's 26-year-old jockey, Luis Saez, has to face a disciplinary hearing regarding his so-called "interference" in the race, supposedly causing a chain-reaction that could have been catastrophic.  The chain reactions did happen - but you need to watch the video that Luis Saez's lawyer prepared to defend her client.  It is amazing....     Read the article and see the video at:   https://www.kentucky.com/latest-news/article230280214.html?fbclid=IwAR3iT1QCYIcNixO48cG4_KvZ55AL8A-Z9wmXj9Ha5Z27lWqWih_DNdgT1Jw


   The Chincoteague Ponies owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company are being rounded up an extra time.  Yesterday, the ponies in the southern compartment - the herds belonging to Riptide and the Don Leonard Stud II, plus the new yearlings - were all brought in.  Today, the northern herds will be corralled.  The purpose for this is to inject the ponies with the second of several vaccinations against equine pythiosis (also known as Swamp Cancer).  All ponies received their first vaccination at the Spring Round-Up on April 14.
   There have been three births since I last posted, but photos are only available of two of the foals at the moment...  I'll post photos of number 29 as soon as I receive them.
     Foal #  28  is the fourth foal born to White Saddle and Legacy.  It's a palomino pinto colt.  None of the first three has survived.  White Saddle is not a good mother, and each year has consistently led her foals out into the marsh where they end up trapped in bogs and/or quicksand.  I wish the Pony Committee would take her and her foal to the Carnival Grounds for several weeks for the foals' safety.  Captain Dan Davis first spotted the baby and took the photos:

Foal # 29 is a bay colt that is sired by Maverick, and is out of Marguerite of Chincoteague.  Both parents are bay pintos.  They had a bay pinto in 2017, and a bay colt last year.  Photos to come...

Foal # 30  is a bay pinto colt, sired by Tornado's Legacy, and out of the mare Seaside Miracle.  She was with Legacy last year, but is now in the southern compartment and is in the Don Leonards Stud II's herd.

Medicine Hat Markings and War Bonnet Markings in Pinto/Paint Horses

On Assateague Island, the Chincoteague ponies on the Virginia end of the island have produced ten foals since Pony Penning at the end of July.  Lately, we had three foals born - Thetis and Wild Thing  had a minimally marked chestnut pinto colt on 30 October; Jessica's Sea Star Sandy and Maverick had a bay filly on 31 October, and on 4 November Cody 2 Socks and Wild things had a foal (sex as yet unknown) that is a bay pinto.  From the first few photos taken, people thought it was marked almost exactly like Thetis' colt - but the new foal is not marked like the colt.
   Thetis and Wild Thing produced a rare "Medicine Hat" colt - a Medicine Hat is "an uncommon pattern where the poll and ears are dark, surrounded completely by white; a true 'medicine hat' pinto or paint usually has a predominantly white body, sometimes with dark coloration by the flanks, chest, and/or above the eyes." They usually have one or two blue eyes - this boy has two blue eyes.  If the color of the ears is broken on the poll - just having ears of color, it has no specific name for the coloration, though some people claim it's a Medicine Hat.  Here's a look at Thetis and Wild Thing's medicine hat colt (photos were taken and are copyrighted by DSC Photography of Greenbackville, Virginia):

Note that he has a small chest shield, a spot on his right flank, a strip of color in his tail, and the small spot on his back behind his shoulder and withers on the left side.  In the Old West he would have been considered a powerful medicine horse in raids and fighting, protecting his rider/owner from wounds, and would have been highly protected at home, as he would be a superior prize to steal.

  Cody 2 Socks and Wild Thing's foal has a War Bonnet marking - it has more color on it's body, and the color over it's ears and poll wraps down onto the side of the face and cheek without a break.  War Bonnets are also rare, and were also looked upon as a good war, or raiding, horse, but they are not the same as a Medicine Hat.  If the color over the ears and poll runs down onto the neck, or onto the face, it is a War Bonnet.  Here are photos taken of Cody 2 Socks' foal (they were taken by Captain Dan Wilson of Captain Dan's Around the Island Tours):

Miscellany

I have to admit that I was happy to hear that the ABC/Disney television show "Roseann" was cancelled.  I was horrified by the tweet that the star of the show, Roseann Barr, had sent out, stating that an aide to previous President Obama looked like the result of a mating between a Muslim and a creature from The Planet of the Apes.  After having the show immediately cancelled, Barr tried to explain the tweet, saying she sent it at 2 a.m. on a long holiday weekend, and she was also taking Ambien.  Ambien is a prescribed medication that helps a person sleep, and it does have a few side-effects.  However, as the manufacturer of Ambien stated, none of the possible side-effects are racism or bigotry.  Those things are inside the person already.  Period.  Full stop.
   It looks as if, at the moment, there will be eleven colts racing in the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, on Saturday, 9 June.  So far, the trainers of the following colts have said they plan on running in the 1 and a half mile race:  Justify, who has won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness; Bravazo, the only other colt who has run in both previous races; Bandua; Blended Citizen; Free Drop Billy; Gronkowski; Hofburg; Noble Indy; Restoring Hope; Tenfold; and Vino Rosso.  I won't comment on odds or my likes until the day of the post position draw, as the entries might change significantly between now and then.
   I also have to say that I laughed out loud when I saw that the polyester-haired cheeto in the Oval Office now claims that he never said that he fired FBI Director James Comey over "the Russia thing."  Talk about sheer idiocy!  Anyone can watch his interview with Lester Holt on NBC and watch him say that "the Russia thing" was the reason he fired Comey....  Of course, I wouldn't put it past him, or his paid lawyers, to claim that the man we see on tape wasn't the President - it was a stand-in, who went off script...
  There have now been 44 foals born this year to the herd of wild ponies on Assateague Island, that belong to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.  We, unfortunately, have lost two, even though the second one was under the care of a veterinarian.  But there are currently 42 babies bouncing and bucking around the southern end of Assateague.  One foal has been born in Maryland so far, and it looks as if there are three or four other mares expecting babies on the north end.  There were two pony deaths confirmed on the Maryland side; Dr. Jay (N9BFT-K) and Madeline Rose (N2BM) after their annual pony census.
   When I was a kid, I thought I'd spend my retirement years in a cottage on Chincoteague Island, surrounded by friends and a huge group of children and grandchildren.  Looking at my 62nd birthday, it seems odd.  I live in an apartment, with a view of the Rocky Mountains.  I am a widow, with no children or grandchildren of my own.  I live with a friend and two cats.  I correspond, by e-mail, with friends spread across the country.  I miss the sound of the surf, the flashes of the light house at night, the distinct smell of marsh mud, the cries of the sea birds, the smell of the salt water and salt mist and salt fog, and the sound of voices from the past....

Bits and Pieces

We have flocks of birds visiting the feeders, and Bertrando, the squirrel, is sprawled flat across the top of the telephone pole, soaking up the sun.  The skies are blue, with a few high clouds, but the view of the Flatirons, less than 1.5 miles away, is already hazy.  I changed my hair color yesterday - it is now a deep burgundy, with purple highlights.  I'll keep it this color through the summer, and then go back to being a grey, almost totally white, haired old lady again.
   It looks like a very interesting field building up for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday - Patch, the one-eyed horse; Tapwrit, Lookin At Lee, Epicharis, Irish War Cry, Hollywood Handsome, J Boys Echo, Senior Investment, and, possibly, Gormley.  The post position draw will be held Wednesday.
    One of my client's said she'd be staying at home this summer - she told me that in mid-May.  I dropped her off at the airport the third week of May, and picked her up the last week of May; then she flew out on 1 June, and back yesterday.  I'll take her to the airport on Friday, and she says she thinks she'll be back around the 24th of June...  Of course, it isn't "really" summer until June 21 - but I always think of summer as June, July, and August...  I'll have to see what happens in later months.  The client's gentleman friend, who is also a client, left on 31 May and returns 7 June, only to leave again on 9 June, with his lady friend.  I know he has to be in California in late June - but don't know when he'll return from the 9 June trip.  Gotta say that this job is always interesting, and never the same any day!  The first client's daughter, who is currently living with her Mom, will be going to a wedding the last weekend of June - and I have been asked to care for the family house and critters for that weekend - but the Mom said she'd be back then - but that's the weekend the gentleman leaves for California - I'll just have to wait and see what happens....
    Beatrice, my roommate, is African-American.  Her maternal grandmother was a Louisiana Creole named Annie DeClouette.  I'm working on her family tree, since we've received her DNA results from 23andMe.  I've been able to trace her DeClouette line back the Governor of Bienvienido, Cuba in the 1700s.  Her paternal line I have been able to trace back to a slave named Priest Trickles, who was born in South Carolina in 1820.  We're heading down to the African-American History Library in Denver today to do more research...
    Foals are popping out all over the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island.  Although we have lost two of the babies, 51 have been born so far (as of yesterday evening, anyway).  The latest was a chestnut pinto sired by Hoppy, and out of Carol's Little Freedom.  Thetis and Wild Thing's bay pinto colt (born May 14) is as bold as brass - and bugles challenges to the tour boats full of tourists.  He certainly give pony lovers' their money's worth!  I also double-checked with the intrepid photography couple, Steve and Darcy Cole, who told me that my buy-back filly, Surfer Princess, has apparently settled into Tornado Legacy's herd.  Her previous best buddy, Badabing, is now content with Ajax.
    My heart goes out to the people of England - first the vehicular attack outside of Parliament, then the suicide bombing outside the concert in Manchester two weeks ago, and now the vehicular attack on London Bridge with three men then going on a stabbing rampage.  Most of my ancestors were from England, and I love that small strong country dearly.  London is one of my favorite cities to visit and explore.  As the old World War signs stated, "Keep calm and carry on," is the country's mantra - and it's perfect in these times of escalating terrorism.
    And, again, the current President of the United States is a complete and total asshole.

New Chincoteague Pony Foals

Tuleta Star bay filly by Hoppy

Calceti'n bay colt by Maverick

Suzy's Sweetheart chestnut colt by Riptide

Marguerite of Assateague's foal with one blue eye by Maverick

Black Star's bay pinto colt by Wild Thing  *

Thetis' pinto colt by Wild Thing  *

White Saddle's buckskin pinto colt by Legacy  *

* The three photos marked with the asterisk are copyrighted by

DSC Photography of Greenbackville, VA.  *

Here and There

I know that I have been well-trained by "my pets."  They cry, I wake up.  They walk across me, I wake up.  If the weather is nice, they go to the balcony door and I open it for them; when they come back inside, I close the door behind them.  Our first apartment in Boulder faced east, and since the east wall was 80% glass, the cats awoke with the sun.  That meant that I awoke then, also.  We've been in the new apartment 22 months; the windows face west and south, but the cats (and I) still get up at daybreak.
  My roommate, Beatrice, grew up with dogs, not cats.  She has always been a night owl, sleeping in until 10 a.m. or noon.  She moved in 21 months ago - and she is now an early riser - thanks to my cats.  Nedi has decided that "Auntie Bea" is his person.  He sings to her when he believes she should get up in the morning, and, should she close her bedroom and/or bathroom door, for any reason, she will receive an operatic comment.  I awoke at 6:05 this morning; Nedi went into Bea's room and sang her awake at 6:25.  I had already opened the balcony curtains and blinds, fed the cats, and cleaned the litter boxes.  Nedi, however, wanted Beatrice out in the living room, where she would praise, pet and scratch him.  She has learned that he is extremely persistent.  She is now an early riser, too.
   The last word I got from Chincoteague is that there were twelve foals on Assateague - but two of them have yet to be photographed.  Reports are that May's Grand Slam and Dream Catcher have foaled on the north end of the island, but no photos as yet.
   This Saturday is another planned March against 45 - this one is to raise awareness of, and support for the scientists who believe in the evidence of, Climate Change.  So far, the Marches in Denver have had pretty good weather - cold or warm - but the current forecast for this Saturday is for snow.
   In the years since Franklin Delano Roosevelt made his Fireside Chat radio broadcast regarding his "first hundred days in office" Presidents of the United States have been graded, fairly or not, on their individual achievements since then.  FDR had introduced and pushed through the New Deal, Social Security, and the WPA.  The circus peanut, so far, has signed a bunch of executive orders and is dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency.  More than 80% of appointed positions remain unfilled.  He hasn't held up his end of his campaign promises.  He reeks of lies and under-the-table payments.  He needs to be booted out the White House and Washington.
   In the Kentucky Derby, less than two weeks away, one of the thoroughbred racing prognosticators has said that the following horses make up his "Derby dozen favorites:"  Always Dreaming, Irish War Cry, Gunnevera, Classic Empire, McCraken, J Boys Echo, Hence, Practical Joke, Girvin, Gormley, Battalion Runner, and Irap.
   I hope the rest of your week is great!

More Stuff...

In the Kentucky Derby picture, El Areeb is out of contention, coming back from a breeze with a bone chip in his knee.  Always Dreaming won the Florida Derby this past weekend and Girvin won the Louisiana Derby.  Next Saturday will see the Grand National Steeplechase run at Aintree - there are currently about 50 active entries, any of which can be scratched by the trainer up to the start of the race.  No more than 40 horses are allowed to start in the Grand National.
   We've had some rain and a little drought relief this past week.  Forecasters are claiming we'll get snow tonight, again.  There's a big westerly breeze that is drying, but it looks as if it's bringing clouds up to the mountain tops.  We might have rain, or snow...  I'll just wait and see as always.  The Forecasters were very serious when they said we'd have 5 to 8 inches of snow fall Thursday and Friday, but all we had was a light rain.
   Still missing the lady Rose.  My next pet appointment is on the 14th - walking Nicodemus and Emmett, and then again on the 17th.  Seems very odd not to have walking duties daily...  I could accept an offer from a couple in the same neighborhood - they have three Anatolian Shepherds, a Golden Retriever, and a wolf-German Shepherd mix.  The Golden is the smallest, at 60 pounds; the youngest Anatolian is 7 months old and weighs 75 pounds so far.  The others range in weight from 110 to 135 pounds.  - And when I walk two of them together, the sidewalks and pathways clear out - it seems like I'm walking two great white sharks...  But the owners gave me incorrect dates a few years ago, and while the dogs did receive care from me, it wasn't the full-time care the owner expected.  She gave me a date that was 3 days off from the correct date, and when I noticed the family hadn't returned, I continued to feed, water, and walk all of them - but I wasn't staying in the house.  They were not nice about it, even when I produced their original e-mails regarding dates and times....  So I'm not sure I really want to get involved with them again.
   We have placed a rather light-weight bird feeder on top of the coffee table on the balcony, and placed a small water bowl for the birds as well.   The cats can only go out under supervision, so we won't have any calamities.  But they are so cute when there is a flock of finches and sparrows on the balcony, eating and drinking (and occasionally bathing), and the kits are curled up with their noses against the glass and they are making their instinctive chittering sounds...  Love my kits, but love the birds, too!
   The third Chincoteague pony foal born this year - a little boy I named Lost Tide - didn't survive.  He was born on the 27th and died on the 31st of March.  He was originally ignored by his first-time Mom, but then they were placed together in a box stall with a small paddock.  He seemed to be doing well, they were bonding, and he was nursing.  He laid down for a nap Friday afternoon and didn't wake up.  A filly was born on the 27th, also, I call her The Swan - Mom is Little Duckie and Dad is Legacy.  Then Splash of Freckles had a buckskin pinto filly on April Fools' Day - the fourth foal so far for Legacy...  So he's sired three girls and a boy so far this year.  Riptide has only had the one colt (so far this year) who didn't survive.
 

Rain and Miscellany

We had almost 24 hours of light rain yesterday - it was marvelous and badly needed.  It barely gave the ground a thorough wetting, but I'm still thankful for it.  While we got only rain, I can look out my window and see snow on top of Green Mountain, just behind the Flatirons, that wasn't there yesterday evening.  And we're supposed to get rain and/or snow this weekend, too.  Good.  I will not complain.  We need the moisture.  Period.
   I'm still getting over the death of Charlie, the white laying hen.  Her owners left Saturday morning to go hiking and take photos in Utah.  I went over mid-afternoon Saturday - quite a few hours early, but to give the cats and five hens some good loving and petting.  Carter and Xuxa were sound asleep in the living room, so I stepped out onto the deck and headed for the back gate into the side garden that contains the fish pond and chicken coop.  First I saw a couple of white feathers on the walk way.  Then I saw what didn't - at first - make any sense....   a long red and black stick was poking out through the fence...  It took a couple of horrified seconds to realize that the stick was Charlie's neck and that there was no head, and that something had tried to pull her body through the fence...  I went inside to check on the other girls, and they were crowded into a group at the far end of the garden.  I filed a bowl with sunflower seeds, showed it to them, and got them into the coop.  They literally ran past Charlie's body.  Then I had to disentangle Charlie's remains from the fence, bag her, and place her body in the trash.  I cried like a baby.  Charlie liked to sit in my lap and be petted.  Charlie was the leader of the flock, and, as soon as she heard a human voice near the back gate, she'd cackle and lead all the girls to the gate to greet me.  She was a sweet hen and we'll all miss her, and her tan eggs.
   Suede had a colt, sired by Riptide, on Monday.  Being a first-time Mom, and, having gone away by herself to foal, she apparently was at a loss.  She licked him dry and let him nurse.  When he laid back down, she walked away - and kept on walking, right back to Riptide's herd, and leaving the baby behind.  Pony watchers called the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, and a small round-up commenced.  The little colt was taken to the corral, and Riptide's herd was brought in.  Suede was moved into the trailer with her baby, and they were taken to Chincoteague, while Riptide's herd was released.  The new mom and baby are being kept at the Leonard pony farm and are now bonding nicely, in a box stall and small paddock.
   Little Duckie had a little girl on Monday, too.  She is a very pale tan and white pinto, with Legacy as the Dad.  Only two photos of her so far and a very short video clip.
  As is usual, I've been naming the foals - not that any of the names I give them will stay - but it's for my own identification purposes.  The first foal, a red and white filly, by Legacy and out of Anne Bonny, I call March Hare.   The second foal, a buckskin pinto colt, by Legacy and out of Sweetheart, was born just before an ice storm, and I call him Storm Warning.  Suede and Riptide's sorrel colt looked so lost and alone after his mom left him; I call him Lost Tide.  Little Duckie's filly by Legacy I call "The Swan."   -  Silly me....  but I enjoy it!

Chincoteague Ponies - Older & New - Photos

These photos are shared with many thanks from several people - and

two special business entities:

DSC Photography of Greenbackville, Virginia

and

JMS Photography of Chincoteague, Virginia

(You can purchase un-marked photos from them, at great prices!

Check out their web sites!)

Badabing and Surfer Princess (2015 buy-backs)

Riptide's herd (Riptide at right)

Five of the 2016 buy-backs

First foal of 2017 - 

Mom is Anne Bonny, the filly, and Dad is Legacy

Second foal - a colt by Legacy out of Sweetheart

Newborn third foal - filly out of Little Duckie, sired by Legacy

Fourth foal - a colt, by Riptide, out of first-time Mom Suede.

Suede left the foal after the first nursing; Suede and foal were

re-united in a box stall after a mini-round-up, and will be kept

together for a few days to insure bonding.  

Happy June!

I'm so happy it's June; for me, it marks the beginning of summer.  (I know that we've got three more weeks of Spring, but still....)  We had a rain shower about 2:30 this morning, as I heard the drops hitting my window.  And, even though it's June 1, it was 50 degrees (F) at 5:30, when I arose - we're expecting a high of 70 today.  There are some lowering clouds on Green and Bear Mountains, with clouds in the low spots behind the Flatirons.  It looks odd, but it happens frequently when we have moisture in the air.
  Nedi is upset that we're restricting his time outside on the balcony.  There are several groups of house finch fledglings that visit the balcony, and we have a swallow's nest in one of the exhaust vents about six feet away from the south railing.  The babies like to congregate there, and Nedi is a mighty hunter; not that we want him to be.  I re-potted the catnip yesterday and fertilized all the plants; then we had the rain this morning, so I can breathe easy until tomorrow.  With a breeze and humidity at less than 10%, the plants dry quickly!
  Besides being the first day of June, it also marks seven weeks to my departure on vacation - back to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands.  After last summer's fiasco at Washington National, I'm flying in and out of Baltimore Washington International this year...  At least I arrive before noon, so I can hopefully beat the afternoon rush across the Bay Bridge.  And I plan on visiting the Maryland end of Assateague - I have never done so, to my knowledge, other than walking up to the state line from the Virginia side.
  The Maryland NPS got a surprise when it was noted that they have two babies on the ground (Carol's Girl and Jojo have foaled), but still have two, not one, pregnant mares.  Charmed and Gokey Go Bones are still waiting to deliver.  The first two had solid chestnut foals - waiting to see who delivers what color now...
   On the Virginia end of Assateague, the ponies owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company have produced 46 babies so far.  Currently, Diamond Jewel and her colt sired by Riptide are on Chincoteague.  The colt (whom I call Ford) has a cut on his leg and was limping.  He is now on a farm with his dam and is receiving care from the veterinarian.  I have to admit that I love the solid color foals as much as the pinto babies.  I love the wild and crazy markings that our pinto ponies produce, but I also appreciate the chestnuts, bays, browns, palominos and buckskins that hit the ground.  I guess I like the solid colors because it's easier for my eye to just conformation without all the patches of color.  The CVFC ponies have produced an outstanding crop of foals so far - and I can't wait to see the rest.  I have a feeling that we'll have one to three foals born during Pony Penning week - July 25 through 29.
  One of the best places to see photos of the new foals - and all the ponies on the Virginia end of Assateague Island -is on the DSC Photography website.  For the 2016 foals, the dam and probable sire are listed, as well as color and sex, and the date they were first seen.  You can then look at the adult sections, and see photos of the parents.  Their URL is: https://www.dscphotography.net  I hope you enjoy the photos - I do, every day.

Bits And Pieces

Well, let's see.....    Nyquist spiked a temperature the other day, and then his white cell count was elevated, so he has been scratched from running in the Belmont Stakes in New York.
   The news around here has been kind of weird...  A man was seen shooting a handgun into Boulder Creek where it runs by the Public Library on Sunday.  He fired multiple times and was approached by a police team who told him to put the gun down on the ground, several times.  He didn't.  He was shot by the officers and died in the hospital a few hours later.  While the police team were giving the shooter medical assistance, more shots were fired into Boulder Creek, more than a block further east, in Central Park.  That shooter was not caught.  Beatrice and I showed up at the library at 2:45, and were puzzled by the crime scene tape that was in place by the Creek.  We learned later that we had missed the commotion by 30 minutes.
  We've had several traffic accidents that have ended with deaths - including an 8-year-old girl riding her bike in front of her house, with her Dad on the sidewalk.  A 20-year-old under the influence of drugs ran into two cars stopped at an intersection, and killed two well-known Boulderites.  The driver never touched the brakes, according to police investigations.
  We've had at least 10 raccoons killed by cars in the neighborhood recently, with at least two more having canine distemper.  And a young, but adult, bobcat was found in a nearby park with injuries from an automobile - he didn't survive.
  On the plus side, there are more cute foals on Assateague... in both Maryland and Virginia.  And my cousin asked about our Native American background - we've had rumors running through the family for several generations, but I've never been able to produce anything as proof positive.  I finally, this afternoon, found that a distant great grandmother was identified in the Shawnee Nation Register as an Arrohatok-Powhatan Native American.  The family rumors were that this lady was a relative of Pocohantas - but she would have been from a later generation, I think (one or two), unless the older men took young wives...   Then, there's a tale of my great-grandmother being 1/2 or 1/4 Cherokee, which I have yet to prove; and the tales of Whealtons and older Chincoteague families having taken local Natives as wives - from among the Accawmacke.   Time will tell, I guess.

A Sunday, Belmont Preview, & Foals

It's early Sunday night, and I was at the Denver International Airport at 6:40 this morning sending Donn back to California.  Lynn isn't feeling well, so when I returned to Boulder, I fed her critters, walked Tessa and watered her plants.  Then I checked in on the bunnies - Chocolate and Blackberry.  Next was feeding and medicating the ABCs - and walking Lola and Cooper.  Then I came home and snuggled with Lovey for 30 minutes.  Then off to walk Charlie - Rosie was cancelled for this afternoon, so Bea and I had a nice stroll with Tess again; then we visited the bunnies, and made a stop at Lucky's Market for our new favorite soap - A La Maison...
   Then I visited Shirley and Gary and got information on the boys - I'll be taking care of Nicodemus and Emmett later this month, and again in June.  Back over to the ABCs to feed and medicate and walk again.  I'm being lazy at the moment, and am awaiting a delivery from Pizza Hut for my supper.
   At the moment, it seems that there will be seven runners in the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes.  Nyquist, the Kentucky Derby winner, will once again face Exaggerator, the Preakness winner.Cherry Wine, who did not run in the Derby, but finished second in the Preakness, is also expected to run.  Lani, the son of Tapit, who ran in both the Derby and the Preakness will return.  And three colts who ran in the Derby, but skipped the Preakness, are also expected in the Belmont - Suddenbreakingnews, Brody's Cause and Destin.   Uncle Lino, who was vanned from the track after the finish of the Preakness, apparently suffered only some inflammation to his left fore, as he flew back to California today.
   On Assateague Island, both Carol's Girl and Jojo have foaled on the Maryland side of the island, leaving only Charmed to produce her baby.  On the Virginia side of Assateague, there are 36 new foals so far.  The first was Tunie's pinto colt, sired by Effie's Papa Bear (aka Hoppy); the latest reported was a chestnut colt out of JABATTA and sired by Wild Bill.  I have photos of 31 of the foals, thanks to DSC Photography and various friends.  I am missing photos of Sweet Jane (aka Duckie) and her new foal; of Gidget and Puzzle's red paint filly; of Seaside and Papa Bear's bay filly; of Jessica's Sandy and Neptune's buckskin foal; and the chestnut colt that JABATTA produced.  Riptide and Diamond's Jewel colt is growing into his markings.  The bay paint filly that Riptide and Grandma's Dream produced is an adventurous little lady, always wandering off from the herd.  Poco's Starry Night's first baby, a red paint (by Riptide) has some spectacular markings, and so does the bay paint filly from Black Star and Wild Bill.  There seem to be a greater number (so far) of black and white pintos than in recent years - Ace is beginning to make his mark...

New Foals and a Scow

This is a new filly who was born recently on the Maryland (northern) end of Assateague Island in Maryland.  Her dam is known as Jojo.

If you're visiting Chincoteague and want to see ponies, be sure to take Captain Dan's Tours.  Three of the new foal photos shown today were taken by him.  This is Summer's Gentle Breeze and her new foal.

This is from a year or two ago - Clipper and Periwinkle

I would love to be reading, napping, watching birds and ponies - whatever - in this boat...

Another of Captain Dan's recent photos - Destiny and her new filly.

Captain Dan captured Galadrial's new filly standing at her rear, and a good view of Thetis's belly - yes, she is still pregnant.

One of Surfer Dude's favorite mares was  Surf Queen - this is the filly born this year.  She is a full sister to Surfer's Riptide.  Thanks to Deb Iddings Noll for the use of her photo.