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Published: April 5th 2013
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Hi. It's me. Surprised? No one is more surprised than me that I am blogging. This is a family vacation, and I tend to keep those close to the best, but so much good stuff happened so far on this trip, I just have to share.
This trip to Park City was planned in January, long before I knew my daughter would be setting a wedding date for July, 2013. I planned to come to UT for granddaughter Maggie's 8th birthday, April 7. Now with the wedding looming on us, this is the perfect time to be here, there are lots of things the mother of the bride can help with. I visit for at least 2 weeks, just because it takes me 5 to 7!days to acclimate to the high altitude. I am useless and always seem to have a headache when first visiting here.
When purchasing airline tickets, I opted for as cheap as I could get, which meant very off hour flights. I landed in Salt Lake City at 11:00pm last night, 1:00am my body time. Then there is the 30 minute drive to Park City. I was bushed, and managed to fall asleep immediately and
sleep solidly for 7 hours; that's a lot for me.
It was so good to see Kristine, Lou, and Maggie, I really miss my girlies. We got Maggie off to school, and I exercised in front of the TV, (TNTs The Vikings, absolutely awesome). No cardio, but strength and stretch - the air is really thin here, too much huffing and puffing for cardio. Next I watched the season 2 premier episode of Homeland on Showtime which I don' subscribe to in NC. Awesome, and you can be sure I will do all 12 before I leave.
Kristine had an appointment with her chosen florist. We met her at the resort the wedding will be at just to go over what items will be needed for what place. We have a meeting with her again at her studio on Monday to go over floral arrangements and other decorations.
Next we picked up Maggie and drove her to her horseback riding lesson in Heber, a 30 minute drive, and here's where the story gets fun. A baby horse was born yesterday and we got to see him up close and personal.
When we arrived at the barn,
baby and mommy were walking around a paddock, but be the end of Maggie's lesson, they were back in the barn and we got the opportunity for an up close and personal visit.
Maggie's lesson was first on pony Bob who was ornery today and wouldn't liste to Maggie. She switched to Crackerjack, picture.
Moochie was born at 4:00 am today, meaning he was just 12 hours old when we first saw him. He is all legs. I found the details of his birth fascinating. His mother, whose name I never did get, just call her Mom, was a surrogate. Moochie was bred to be a cutting horse. All new words for me here. A cutting horse is used for herding other horses or cattle, and are very valuable. The barn has a cutting horse, but she is considered too valuable to let carry a baby. It was determined when she would be ovulating. No mare on the farm was ovulating at the same time, so the surrogate was rented from the local vet for $1000 for 16 months. The egg was harvested from the cutting horse mare, fertilized, and put into the surrogate. Horse pregnancy is 11
months; Moochie and Mom have 5 more months to bond, nurse, and wean. Moochie looks nothing like Mom, but resembles his biological mother. She will get her horse manners from her birth Mom. Dennis, the owner of the farm, and in the pictures with Maggie, assisted in the 4:00 am delivery, no need for a vet. Karen, his wife, gave me all this information while we watched Moochie tackle the finer points of nursing. Moochie weighs about 65 lbs now, and her right foot is a little twisted from 11 months in utero, but is expected to straighten out on its own. All together an excellent day. I will get back to the barn several more times before I return to NJ, and will take more pictures.
They are in the barn with other mares. You should have heard the ruckus. The other mares were jealous!! They were whinnying and kicking the sides of their stalls. Karen said they were just jealous and want their own baby!!!
Kat out
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Kathy Everett
non-member comment
Utah!
What a great morning view to start the day. How exciting for your granddaughter and you to get to see the baby horse. They change SO fast, you won't believe a week from now. Are you drinking lots of water? Help with the headaches. Love