Gilt Sparrows - a Fifty Foal Challenge
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A few days after Locket was born, Katie got a call from the adoption agency. "We've picked up a neglect case, but our barns are full. Could you handle an extra mare? We've had her vetted and dewormed, and her hooves trimmed. She needs feeding up, mostly, and we'll provide you with instructions on how to do that safely. Could you take her?" Katie said yes, of course, and Smokedance was delivered.
The mare was appallingly thin, and a bit skittish. Katie spoke soothingly to her until the wild look cleared from her eyes. Then she caught sight of Cameo and Locket, and seemed reassured by the presence of other horses.
Cameo for her part made the blue roan welcome enough. She wasn't a possessive mother. Electrum, of course, was of the opinion that all mares were his by right, and this one had just had a delayed arrival to the herd. Katie, looking over the feeding instructions, was glad that Smokedance had arrived in winter. "Don't have to worry about you overeating on fresh grass," she told the mare, surveying the foot-deep snows. "I suppose you can stay out with the others while I set up a stall for you." She'd need to actually clean the extra stall down to bare mat, until she could be sure the mare wouldn't try to eat the shavings she usually bedded the horses with.
That night, while the horses dozed below (except for Smokedance, who alternately rattled her empty hayrack and attempted to reach through the stall bars to get at Electrum's hay) a Zenyatta came in from the bitter cold and curled up on the bathroom tiles.
The strange gnomes were a mystery to Katie; they appeared on her farm and seemed to migrate from place to place of their own accord. The science lab periodically announced they were buying them, and she'd round up a few and take them in. Since they averaged $1000 apiece, she figured they were well worth the effort.
That was the last really cold night though, and in a few days the snow was gone and the ground was greening. With the funds earned from Electrum's competitions and Champagne's sale, Katie hired a crew to come out an fence in her farm to prevent the horses straying.
Inside, the barn got a spring sprucing with whitewash and green paint,and a trophy case was installed.
Katie Sparrow's zorse-breeding program was ready to face a new year.
The mare was appallingly thin, and a bit skittish. Katie spoke soothingly to her until the wild look cleared from her eyes. Then she caught sight of Cameo and Locket, and seemed reassured by the presence of other horses.
Cameo for her part made the blue roan welcome enough. She wasn't a possessive mother. Electrum, of course, was of the opinion that all mares were his by right, and this one had just had a delayed arrival to the herd. Katie, looking over the feeding instructions, was glad that Smokedance had arrived in winter. "Don't have to worry about you overeating on fresh grass," she told the mare, surveying the foot-deep snows. "I suppose you can stay out with the others while I set up a stall for you." She'd need to actually clean the extra stall down to bare mat, until she could be sure the mare wouldn't try to eat the shavings she usually bedded the horses with.
That night, while the horses dozed below (except for Smokedance, who alternately rattled her empty hayrack and attempted to reach through the stall bars to get at Electrum's hay) a Zenyatta came in from the bitter cold and curled up on the bathroom tiles.
The strange gnomes were a mystery to Katie; they appeared on her farm and seemed to migrate from place to place of their own accord. The science lab periodically announced they were buying them, and she'd round up a few and take them in. Since they averaged $1000 apiece, she figured they were well worth the effort.
That was the last really cold night though, and in a few days the snow was gone and the ground was greening. With the funds earned from Electrum's competitions and Champagne's sale, Katie hired a crew to come out an fence in her farm to prevent the horses straying.
Inside, the barn got a spring sprucing with whitewash and green paint,and a trophy case was installed.
Katie Sparrow's zorse-breeding program was ready to face a new year.
