Shandora and her baby, Mister Peeps

July 18, 2006 – hot and dry, that’s about all I can say.  DeeDee has been gone so Barbie has been taking care of us.  Mom and Minnie are getting bigger everyday.  Minnie looks like a blimp.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 

July 22 – Well I don’t know where it came from but when it got light this morning I saw this little thing poking around Minnie.  At first I thought it was one of the dogs and I thought, why would she let a dog do that, even under her stomach, then I saw it was a baby horse!  I don’t know where it came from, but Minnie looks a lot skinnier.  None of the humans knew about it until the sun was getting pretty high, then Barbie and DeeDee came running out all at once.  They were both saying oh my gosh and wow, she did it all by herself….well, what did they think happened??  Anyway they put Minnie and the little one in the big oak tree pen and then Barbie sat with her camera just clicking away!  She must have taken 100 photos.  Dr. Riley came a little later and he jabbed her in the butt then he gave her something to make her poop – and boy, did she ever poop!  He said, she’s a strong little thing.  She is bay with a white face and one white foot.  DeeDee said her name was Isabelle, I wonder how she knew that? Anyway, Barbie calls her Izzie.  She is Buddy’s half sister and also Stormy’s half sister.  I hope we get to play with her.

July 26 – It has been raining and raining and RAINING!  Poor little Izzie….she stands under the big tree but she still gets soaked…..sometimes she runs and kicks at the rain, like that’s going to make it go away.  Mom is getting very big!  She stands under a little tree by Minnie and Izzie’s pen all day…I hope she is ok!

Aug  2 – It has finally stopped raining, in fact it is so hot I wish it would start again…..Minnie and Izzie go out with Mom now….Izzie tries to be friendly with Mom but she doesn’t want anything to do with her……I haven’t seen DeeDee in a few days, but every night Barbie comes and puts Mom in the pen where all the babies are born…..sometimes she comes with a light in the middle of the night and shines it on her.  The other night she put up a tent in the next paddock…..in the morning Mom was just standing there looking at her and Barbie said, “Shan, if you don’t have that baby soon you are going to explode!”

Aug 4 – Mom STILL hasn’t had that baby!

August 6 – Mom lay down flat on her side tonight….it was just like nothing was happening, she didn’t say a word.  There was a bright moon so I could see what was happening, though.  First I saw some tiny hooves come out of Mom, and then some legs….Mom got up and walked around a little bit with those legs sticking out of her.  I thought gosh Mom, don’t run into anything or you’ll break those tiny little legs off!  But then she lay down again and pretty soon a head popped out and then a whole little pony flopped out on the ground.  It just lay there for awhile but Mom started to lick it and it started to flop around.   Pretty soon it tried to get up but it just kept falling back down….I thought keep on trying baby!  So finally it did get all four legs under itself and stood there swaying back and forth for awhile – Mom pushed it with her nose and it flopped back down but then it bounced right back up.  Seems to have gotten the hang of it!  It started to nose all around Mom looking for the milk – it tried her chest, her tail, her front leg, her knee….like I always thought, they sure do make it hard on us little ponies finding that milk!!  But Mom kept pushing on it  and finally it got that too!  All with no humans…I had all kinds of humans trying to help me but I’ll bet I could have done it by myself.  In the morning Barbie’s friend came out and there was Mom and the little baby just standing there like it had been there forever!  She said, well finally, Barbie is going to be sorry she missed this! 

When it got to be later Dr. Riley came and said he’s a cute little thing….so I guess I have a baby brother!  

August 10 – DeeDee calls my brother Catfish, I don’t know where these names come from.  I tried to talk to him through the fence the other day but Mom came running at me with her teeth bared!  He is so little, I can’t believe I was ever that little.  He is not black like me but brown with black stockings that have some blondish hair over the black.  He’s kind of cute I guess.  I thought I would mind when Mom chased me away but I didn’t, I am beginning to forget that she was ever my Mom…well, not forget but just not obsess!  I think I am as big as Mom now…at least as tall…..I have grown a lot lately.  I am almost as big as Laddie and Barbie calls me Mr. Handsome.  Mr. Handsome Prince!  Even Bitsy is getting bigger but she is still not as big as me.

August 12 – Laddie just stood in the trees today.  One of his eyes is red and swollen.  That is how Mom’s bad eye started.  DeeDee looked at his eye but she said maybe it will be better tomorrow.

August 13 – Laddie’s eye is still swollen and red – it didn’t get better!  I hope he doesn’t have to go to the hospital.  DeeDee put some medicine in it that made Laddie smell like dead fish….he said it made it feel a little better.

August 14 – Dr. Riley came early in the morning and looked at Laddies eye – he put more medicine in it…..then DeeDee came and caught Laddie four more times and put something in his eye.  He said he doesn’t like it but that it doesn’t hurt.  He said he tried to be good but when she tries to pry his eye open he can’t help but clamp it shut.

August 15 – This was a pretty busy day.  Barbie came back in the morning – she hasn’t been here since before Catfish was born.  And then this afternoon a big silver box came and stopped at the end of the driveway.  I thought, oh no, who is going to go this time.   Pretty soon a man came up the driveway and took Wally down the driveway with him.  Deedee was following right behind.  At the big box Wally did not even stop he just marched across the plank.  There were some other big horses in the box but he was tied in his own special little place. I ran up and down the driveway fence trying to get him to look at me but he never did.  I wonder if I will ever see him again.

August 16 – the wicktim dr came today….he hasn’t been here in a long time.  He looked at Emma but said she was doing great….then he looked at Laddie’s eye and said hmmmmmmm.  But he said ok I think we can help the little fellow.  He put needles all around Laddie’s eye and also some in his back.  Laddie was very good; he didn’t seem to mind at all.  I asked him later if it hurt and he said no, it made the hurt go away.  Barbie put a mask on his face twice today – the first one made him look really funny – I finally pulled it off him and I think he was glad.  But the second one didn’t look quite so bad.  I still tried to get it off but it didn’t have so many loose places to grab.

August 23 – we had a real adventure today, Laddie and me.  It started last night when Big Momma and Tina got into a real dust-up!!   I don’t know what started it – they were both up by the barn and all of a sudden Big Momma upped and bit Tina on the back – hard!  Maybe she wanted her to get out of the way or something, but you know, Tina is kind of slow, she can hardly walk at all, much less very fast…..but getting bit made her pretty mad so she turned around and started to kick.  Not just little taps but big honkin’ whaps!  DeeDee was yelling and Barbie was yelling, don’t go near them Dee, and they finally stopped….but then Big Momma went at her again, bit her again and it started all over.  More yelling from DeeDee and Barbie.  Finally Big Momma ran into the woods, she was shaking and Tina was shaking…Bitsy, and Laddie and me just stood there with our jaws dropping.  DeeDee came and got Tina, her back was bleeding and her back leg had a huge gash in it, so Barbie hosed it off and they put medicine in it.  But then they locked Tina up in the little paddock.  Later that night we heard her calling so me and Laddie decided to go and look for her.  We pushed down the garden gate that goes to DeeDee’s house and got in her yard.  We ran all around the yard but we still couldn’t get to Tina.  But the grass was good.  And we could talk to all the ponies in the big field…..Laddie’s Mom is there and April, and a whole bunch of the others….DeeDee calls them the fatties and they never get any food.  Then we wandered out into the driveway and we finally got down to the road where the big boxes that take our friends away stop.    It was still dark and there was no one around so we walked down the road in front of our field – Bitsy and Big Momma were on the inside and they were running up and down the fence, trying to get us back, but we forgot how we got there or how to get back!!  When it got light, cars starting zooming by, it was kind of scary, especially when they didn’t slow down…it must have been really scary for Laddie cause his eye is still bad and he has a mask over his face so I’m sure he can’t see too well.  Finally a car went up the driveway to tell DeeDee and I heard her call Laddie…I was really glad to see her come down the driveway shaking a bucket of food.  We both ran toward her so fast we couldn’t stop and zoomed right on buy….but we were home.

August 29 – Laddie gets to go in twice a day to get his food and medicine and for DeeDee and Barbie to fix his eye.  Sometimes they take off his mask and look really sad, but today they took of his mask and Barbie went Whoowhee….we are GOOD!  I’m not sure what that was all about, but Laddie did say his eye doesn’t hurt so much anymore.

August 30 – After Laddie got his eye medicine tonight Barbie was standing by the fence looking very sad.  So me and Bits went up and started nibbling her neck…she started to laugh.  Then she let me nibble her hair -- it looks like hay, but it doesn’t taste like hay!  She said, I know men aren’t worth it are they…..sometimes people say funny things.

Sept 4 – I had been asleep for a pretty long time when I saw lights coming up the driveway and over to the barn.  It was DeeDee’s truck pulling the little white box.  DeeDee unloaded a pretty filly and put her in the Oak tree pen.  She looks just like Laddie!  She wouldn’t come and talk to us though.

Then DeeDee took the white box back to Roary’s field and out popped my Dad!!  He has been gone for two years.  For the whole rest of the night he went galloping around his field calling at the top of his voice.  I guess he wants everyone to know he is home.

September 5 – Tina got to go in the Oak tree pen with the new filly.  We talked to her a little bit but she is still pretty shy.  She said her name was Mory and that she has lived all over the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />US – Missouri, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  Of course I told her my name was Prince!

Sept 6 – Today they moved me and Laddie to the back – I wish Bitsy could have come too but she stayed in front.  She called to me a few times but then she went off to play by herself.  She is very independent.

September 9 – Catfish had a real going over today.  He doesn’t like people to mess with him and he runs away or hides behind Mom if anyone comes near him.  I tried to talk to him one day over the fence and tell him humans were really ok but Mom ran me off.  So today DeeDee and Barbie put him and Mom in the little stall….it is just big enough to turn around in but not big enough to run away.  He was really mad and he even kicked at Barbie once but she kicked him back so he didn’t try that again!!  Barbie scratched him all over but he didn’t even warm up to that….he is a hard sell!  But finally they got a halter on him and a rope and let him out behind Mom.  But he reared up and fell over on the ground. When he got up he tried to pull away from the rope and fell over again.  But finally he stood still and let Barbie scratch his face so they let him go.  I wonder if they’ll ever be able to catch him again!      

May 8, 2007 – Boy, have I had a case of writer’s block!!  But not too much has been happening so its ok.  Just to catch up – Laddie’s eye got all better, Big Momma got taken away, Tina is doing pretty good although she still can’t walk right, Catfish got tamed, and Izzie is the cutest thing I ever saw!! Well, since Bitsy…. Oh yes, and Chickadee had a cute little filly, she lay down one morning in the Oak Tree pen and out popped this little baby…they call her Dixie.  She is a beautiful golden color, I might just like her better than Izzie!  And Barbie got a new box to take horses in – this one is huge and has a motor and the horses have to walk up a big steep ramp to get in it.  One day she parked it by a little hill and put the ramp on the hill so if we walked up the little hill we could go straight in the box.  DeeDee and Barbie put Minnie and Laddie in it and tied them up.  I tried to get in too but they chased me out.  Then they drove away.  But they all came back.  Laddie said he got to go around in a circle while a lady watched him and then he got a blue ribbon.  Minnie had a big red and yellow and blue ribbon….it said Champion.  I wonder if I will ever get to go anywhere…….

 Laddie and I have been living in the back with somebody different every so often.  For awhile it was Princess.  When my Dad came home Princess went to live with him, but after a few months Dr. Riley came and fished around inside her and said yup, and then she came to live with me and Laddie.  She even told us stories about where she came from…… She said she really was a Princess, her Dad was a famous King, she used to live on the island of Javasu, but she had been kidnapped by pirates.  She said she escaped and came to live with a nice lady in Georgia. That girl has some imagination….she was probably born right in this country. She was kind of mean but for the past couple of months she has been pretty nice.  And then today they took her away and we got another one!  This is a big grey pony, they call her Peaches.  She has been living with Dad for a couple of months and now we get her!  I wonder what is up with that!  At first Laddie was very excited and ran around and tried to jump on her but she kicked him pretty good and he seems to be calming down.   He is still pretty interested in her butt, though!  I just don’t get the attraction…must be a whole guy thing.

Speaking of interested in butts – a new lady has been coming and fishing around inside of the girls.  She came a lot to see Chickadee, one day DeeDee came with a big blue can and they took something out of it and put it in Chickie.  And she has been going fishing in Minnie and Mom, too.  This lady always brings a machine with her that has wires on it and a screen and she puts one of the wires in the wall and then another wire in the butt – the a little picture comes up on it.  They did Peaches one day about a week ago and got all excited when they saw a little black dot!  Today she did Minnie and said Purrfect for Thursday……I wonder when Thursday is. 

May 10 --   The new butt lady came again and DeeDee brought another big blue can – this time they put a long pipe in Minnie and put some white stuff from the blue can in it.  Minnie didn’t act like she minded too much.

May 26 – The lady came back AGAIN….this time she just had her machine with the screen and the wires.  She put one of the wires in Minnie’s butt  and then looked at the screen – they she started to hoop and holler and told DeeDee, “We did it!”.  DeeDee went and looked at the screen and then she hugged Minnie and said, “You’re gonna be a Mama again, girl!”.  Then they got Peaches and Chickee and used the machine on them and the Lady said, “Yup, they are all gonna be Mommas.”

June 6 – Today little Summer came back to visit.  I haven’t seen her for along time.

 And thank goodness the child can finally walk and talk.  She plays in the hay and likes to hold the cats. She rides on Emma too, her Mom leads Emma around and Summer sits up there and says walk and then ho.  One day they even let her sit on me – I’d never had anyone sit on me before and I was kind of scared but I was as good as gold…..but afterwards Summer said, “I want to ride Emma.”

June 8 – Today there was big excitement.  Everyone was brought into the barn and given a bath – well, not me, but Laddie, Minnie, Bitsy, Morrie, Emma, and even little Isabelle.  Minnie and Emma got the most scrubbing and when they were all scrubbed DeeDee put some blue powder in their manes and tails.  When they dried off they were so white it hurt my eyes to look at them….they had, like, haloes, around them. Then Barbie loaded Laddie, Morrie, Bitsy, Emma, and Buddy in her big box and drove off.  I tried to get in and go too, but it was pretty crowded in there! 

June 9 – Still lots of excitement – Laddie or any of the others haven’t come back, they have been gone all night and while it was still dark this morning DeeDee got her white box and put Minnie and Isabelle in it.  Minnie walks right in but Izzy, well she needs a little extra encouragement if you know what I mean…..as in whack, whack!  But she eventually got on and they drove away, too.  Me and Peaches are all that’s left in the back and in front only poor Tina and the Princess and Catfish.  But hooray, they all came back!  Laddie said he had to go in a circle around a lady with a big hat and then he got a blue ribbon.  Later he said he had to walk over some funny looking things that were supposed to be scary.  He said he pretended to be scared once, just to add some excitement, but that he really wasn’t scared.  He said Minnie got the biggest ribbon, one that had lots of different colors.  Barbie hung them all in the barn.

July 15 – DeeDee came through our field this morning to get Dad from his field…then they put him in a big red and silver box along with Chickadee and they went away.  He had hardly been home any time at all, I don’t know where he is going this time.  Poor little Dixie – she ran around all day crying for her Mama….she finally got tired, though, and lay down by Tina.  Tina and Emma are nice to her, but Izzie and Catfish try to chase her.

July  17 – Today something awful happened – Laddie and I got put in Dad’s old field in the WAAY back.  We can’t hardly see anyone from there…I don’t like it at all.  Then in the night a big truck came and two new horses got out.  A cute little lady put them in the barn for the night, but I don’t know who they are or what they are doing.  I just can’t tell what is going on from way back here.  Peaches is lonesome, too, she and Laddie and I had got to be pretty good friends.

July 18 – Last night during the night Laddie and I were playing and something hit me in the head and knocked me down….there are some old fallen trees in the back and I think I bumped my head on one of them…..I didn’t feel good at all so I just lay there……the more time went by the more I didn’t feel like getting up.  When DeeDee came to feed us she called me but I couldn’t move so she came looking for me….I was just lying in the dirt under the fallen tree.  She called for Grumpy (he does our feet now) to come and help and when he got there they got a stick and made me get up….they listened to my stomach and said, “no gut sounds”.  They took me to the barn and made me stand by the fan and then called Dr. Riley.  He said he would come as quick as he could but in the meantime they were to give me a shot….so the new cute lady gave me a shot of something…it made me a little dizzy but I began to feel a little better.  Dr Riley didn’t come very fast, I must say, but when he did get there he went right to work……he put a tube in my nose and made me swallow it….it was pretty awful, and then he started to pump some stuff into my stomach…these Drs, they do like to put tubes in us!!  I stayed in the pen where I was born all day, and I can tell you, I didn’t feel very good.  I nibbled on a little grass but they didn’t feed me at all.  In the afternoon, DeeDee came and gave me a bucket of some mush with carrots and apples in it.  I picked out the carrots and apples but I didn’t like the mush. 

July 19 – I still didn’t feel too good, I pretty much just lay around and nibbled on some grass.  Everyone came and patted me and said poor PeePee…..I wish they would just call me my real name, Prince!  Later in the afternoon, when it was almost dark, DeeDee and Barbie put Emma and Isabelle in the big white box and drove away……..

July 20 – The new cute lady gave me a little feed today and she let me out with Peaches.  Laddie was calling to me, he must be very lonesome back in the back all by himself…so we went and stood by his fence for awhile.   Peaches told me who the new ponies were.  They came from St. Louis, the same place as she does and the cute lady is named Shell.  She said one of the ponies is my brother – Roary is his Dad and Emma is his Mom.  She said they call him Emmitt.  He sure is a crazy guy!!  He runs around and around and makes SO much noise!  Peaches said its ‘cause he is a whole guy.  He really likes the other pony, her name is Jesse.  Peaches said, “I hope I don’t have to live with HER”.

July 22 – Shell put me back with Laddie today – I don’t know where Barbie and DeeDee are.   I hope they are ok.  But Shell is nice, too. Laddie chased me around the whole field, I guess he was glad to see me.

July 25 – It was very late but I saw lights from DeeDee’s truck and heard Barbie too, I’m glad they are ok!!…..I heard Isabelle calling but I don’t think Emma came back.  I will see if Peaches can find out and tell us.

July 26 – Isabelle told Minnie and Minnie told Peaches that Emma stayed with DeeDee’s daughter and Summer….Izzy  had to come all the way back by herself!  She is a brave pony.

July 30 – Today Shell came and got me and Laddie before breakfast – what is going to happen now, I wondered!  She tied me up by the fan and then took Laddie to the tack room – she put this little pad on his back and then put a big wide belt around him.  Then she took him out in the little pen and made him go around in circles at the end of a rope. While he did that DeeDee brushed me all over and combed my mane and tail.  My mane is very long like my Dad’s.   Laddie likes to rub his on the boards, though so he doesn’t have hardly any.  He may be whole but I have a better mane!!  Anyway, after awhile Shell came and got me and put the big belt on me.  Then she made me go around in circles at the end of the rope.  While I did that DeeDee tried to hose Laddie off, but I can tell you, he didn’t like that very much.  When we were done I told Laddie that Shell said I was better than him – he said NO WAY!  Its that whole guy thing, he always has to be better. 

August 1, 2007--Today Shell came to play with us again – funny kind of play though…..this time after she made us go around in circles she got two ropes and attached then to the belt and then got behind us and made us go.  She would pull on one rope and that would mean to go that way and then she would pull on the other and we would have to go the other way.  She even ran behind Laddie while he cantered but I just had to trot. Afterwards we both got washed off, and I can tell you, that cold water felt good.  But I heard Shell tell DeeDee that I was stubborn!  Gosh that made me fee4l bad – its just that when I don’t understand what to do can’t do anything….so I guess she thinks I am being stubborn but I just want to understand so I don’t do the WRONG thing!

August 8 – We have been doing the circles with Shell and also trotting in front of her while she pulls ropes to make us turn one way or the other for just about a week now.  Today we did something really different!  While DeeDee was brushing me Shell put a saddle on Laddie and then started to lean on it – then she would stand up in one of the stirrups on one side of the saddle and then go and stand up on the other…she did that for awhile and then she got all the way up in the saddle.  Laddie just stood there!  Then DeeDee led him around a bit….at the end, DeeDee let go of him and Shell made him go by herself……he was a champ, he did everything she wanted him to.  When it was my turn she put the saddle on me but she said, I don’t think I want to get on you today, maybe next time.  But she leaned on the saddle a lot and she made me do the circles with the saddle on. 

August 10 – Today Shell sat on me!  I was pretty scared, though, it felt like a mountain lion had jumped on my back, I had to keep looking to make sure it was Shell and not a lion!  But I walked a little bit with DeeDee leading me.  It was ok if she was in front, if she had left I think I would have just had to stop and stand still.  When it was Laddie’s turn Shell put the saddle on him and then just got up like she had been riding him for years.  They walked around a bit and then she even mad him trot.  She said, boy is he smooth!