A Hole in the Fence

A couple of days ago, I walked out to our pastures (in the mud, as you can see), and I found the above section of fence in less than good repair. Apparently, an efficient someone was trying to prepare our waterers for winter. Checking heat tape, insulation and heaters – which is very much appreciated!

However, I wasn\’t the only one on that muddy day to discover the opening. It seemed that \”Little J\”, one of our yearling fillies, had discovered the hole before I did. Leaving all her pasture mates behind, Little J squeezed herself easily through the opening and went off in search of new pals.

Ironically enough, I found the yearling filly 3 pastures down, hanging out with her dam \”Joker\” – on opposite sides of the fence of course.

Little J was actually an embryo baby and was delivered by a surrogate mother. However, I always found the relationship between Little J and Joker to be fascinating. You see, Joker was bred to Wimpys Little Step and had an embryo pulled early in the year 2008. Then Joker was bred back to Wimpys Little Step shortly thereafter (that same year) and carried this pregnancy herself. Both babies were born in 2009 and when they were old enough to wean, we left Little J\’s surrogate behind in Texas. And we brought Joker, her palomino colt and Little J home to Canada.

Amazingly enough, Joker took Little J under her protective wing almost immediately. There were times when I could walk out to the pasture and find Joker, her colt and Little J all eating their supplement out of the same bucket. I know there\’s no possible way Joker could have ever known Little J was actually her filly, but all 3 of them eating together (in a pasture full of mares and foals) was a strange coincidence nonetheless…

Anyways, I\’m straying from my hole in the fence story. So here was Little J, on that muddy day, enjoying her new adventure:

We have discovered that this filly is a real character. A card, a ham, whatever you want to call her. But she keeps things interesting around here. And if there are any holes in the fence, she is the first to let us know!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!