Baby time...

With this lovely weather, all the horses except for Zen and Brutus got to stay outside last night. How lucky for them! Really, how lucky for us... that means only two stalls to clean, plus the paddocks. Sooo, we got a little adventurous this morning, and decided to give the new little Appy baby a bath! Now, baths at this age are always a bit interesting..

The babies aren't exactly broke to lead. Or stand. Or be bathed... Luckily, they're small enough at this age that they're quite controllable!

Little number 25 likes to help with everything... can you tell?

And here he is, all pretty and ready for his photo shoot. Yes, he's going to Equine Affaire..

Speaking of Equine Affaire, we also worked with the little paint and the little red dun today, getting them ready to lead.

By the time these babies head to Columbus, they have to be pretty good at this leading stuff - we have to walk almost the entire length of the fairgrounds to go from our stalls to our booth in the Voinovich Building! The big horses are always scared of our babies - but our babies are always better behaved than most of the big horses, hehehe.

We are working on our coolest fundraiser for Equine Affaire yet. It's a COLORING BOOK! A Last Chance Corral educational coloring book. Can't get any more AWESOME than that. Wait until you see it, you will all be fighting to be the first in line to purchase it!

This morning, a good friend of Victoria's picked up six foals and headed back home to South Carolina. I know, that's a hike, right?! The foals were quite happy to hop on the trailer and head off to their new lives. If you were wondering why the numbers jumped around, that's why! She took 4 from the new load and two from the old load.

Enjoy your Sunday!

What beautiful weather.

It's funny how adoptions always are in sync with the weather. Nice days, lots of adoptions. Crummy weather, no one's interested.

A bunch of foals headed out late this week, so Victoria drove to KY Friday night and came home early this morning with a trailer load of babies. There are some flashy ones in this bunch!! Wait til I get the pictures up. It appears everyone is quite healthy, a miracle! We've had few serious health issues this year. Everyone is even drinking tonight - yay - no late night tube feeding! We have decided to take the little paint, the red dun, and the chestnut with the four socks and blaze to Equine Affaire... and I think the loud Appy who arrived on this load, as well.

The two little matching Walker colts went to a phenomenal home that is going to long-term foster them for a few years. Their foster mommy doesn't ride anymore, but she wanted a buddy for her older horse. She decided to give a huge gift to us by fostering this boys. She intends on having their groundwork perfect by the time they come back here and are ready to start under saddle. How great! Rusty Raindrops and the little palomino went to a home together, as did the older black Walker filly and the older black and white paint. It has been so nice to see so many of the foals go in pairs this year. They do SO well together, and you skip the depression you deal with if they go alone.

The two older fillies, #9 and #7, are hanging with Valentine in the back pasture. They are sweethearts. They have a distinct disadvantage in the adoption world because they aren't as cute and cuddly as the younger babies, but they are both very sociable and kind girls! Hopefully someone will be ready to love them soon.

So, ALL afternoon Stacy and I were showing horses to prospective adopters! Thank goodness the weather was nice, and thank goodness Stacy was here, or I would have been showing horses until after dark. Journey went to a new home as a dressage horse, Jack went to a 10 year old little girl, and Valentine may also be going to a new home with a wonderful riding family, a mom, a daughter, and a very talented young man. Zach was shown to THREE prospective adopters, so hopefully one of them will decide to pick him up tomorrow. I will miss Journey, I adored that horse. Such talent!! It is always a good day when nice horses find the perfect homes. Jack was soooo cute with his little girl, he kept an eye on her every step...

Stacy got on Norell tonight as well. We did find out that Norell had 30 days professional training, but she hasn't been ridden in two years. Well, she did stellar. She was actually pretty quiet and composed, given the fact that she hadn't been ridden in so long. She'll need some tuning up, but she's tall and long-legged and will be a spectacular prospect for someone.

My bad, bad dog chewed through both seat belts in the Dodge yesterday. I tell you, what am I to do with these crazy canines???

Hopefully tomorrow, Stacy and I will get a chance to go up on the hill and hop on Chop, who has put on enough weight to start walking under saddle. Maybe we'll lunge Mikey and Axle for a minute as well. It would be nice to see them move. Lucky also came back today from his foster home. He has certainly blossomed in her care, now he is just looking for someone who is ready to train him.... He is a sweetheart!!

I can't believe how wonderful this weather is.. I suppose I better not jinx it, knowing Ohio, it will be freezing tomorrow!!!!

I rode more today that I've ridden in the whole two and a half months since I left for Florida.... I'm beat!! Goodnight ya'll... hope for more sun in the morning. ; ) The new load of babies send milk kisses to everyone...

Lauren Returns!

I have returned from the great abyss of Florida!!! ..... OK, not such a great abyss, but you know what I mean. It was like I fell off the face of the Earth!! For those of your who asked, yes, it was great.. a lot of work, a lot of really cool people, and a lot of reeeeaaallly nice horses...

So, how are things at the LCC you ask? Fantastic! As always. :D

The foals are actually doing quite well. We are on foal 24. Last year, foal 24 arrived on February 21st, and on March 3rd, we were on foals 34 and 35! I suppose that kind of puts things in perspective for you, adoption-wise. Adoptions are definitely down. The good news is all foals thus far are quite healthy! The two who arrived yesterday are very young, but they are both drinking well and look quite alert. The little chestnut is a pistol...

We have been debating which foals to take to Equine Affaire. We usually choose early in the season so they can hang out here for a little bit and not be so susceptible when we take them to EA. There are so many strange horses there! We usually end up taking four quite flashy foals, but the last few years we have all wanted to take a very nice bay or chestnut as well. What do you guys think? Do you think a very nicely made bay or chestnut TB or warmblood will bring as much interest (and funds) as a flashy colored foal?
Otis, Polar, Amber, and Alibi were all adopted by a friend of Victoria's who runs a barn where a lot of 4-Her's hang out. She works with them for a while and finds them appropriate homes, usually with 4-H kids who will give them tons of love. They're all doing well, so I hear. Isaac was adopted by another friend of Vic's, to be a safe trail horse. Today, Burly is adopted by a very nice couple, close by in Coolville. They are Parelli fans, and they were so impressed by Burly. They debated all week and finally decided to purchase him. They are even going to donate some western saddles to our store! We are always short on western saddles, the 4-Hers clear us out every year.

The four starving TBs did finally arrive at our farm. They are in sorry condition. They are all starting to gain, and these are just the nicest, sweetest Thoroughbreds. It is so exciting to know they will all get a chance at a real life! Hopefully with someone who drowns them in love DAILY! If you have our recent newsletters, you may remember the story of Moon, a very skinny TB who was adopted to be rehabbed as a therapy horse. Wait until you see them now!! His adopter was here today and she had some photos on her cell phone of him. He looks spectacular. She promised to email them to me so I can share them with you. She brought two of her friends who are looking for a horse in need that they can also rehab and train as therapy horses. How awesome is that!! They looked at all four TBs and I'll keep you updated once I hear what they decide. It would be a wonderful chance for these guys. If they end up looking as good as Moon does, I'll sure be happy!

We are positively overflowing with really high quality horses right now. We have Jack, an 8 year old QH who is picture perfect and quiet as they come; Journey, a big TB with potential oozing out of every pore; Captain, the only known HERDA horse living a normal life (he's a reiner!); Valentine, a stunning little QH who is a fantastic little all-rounder; and then there are two more who arrived today, a TB mare and a nice pony gelding! Plus, there are the TBs, who have to gain weight before we'll know their true status.

Victoria put in another milk order for the babies today... that's $4,000! Ouch. But, anything for the babies, right? If you've never seen us make milk, it's kind of entertaining. We usually make 4-6 5 gallon buckets at a time. It takes one large container of vanilla yogurt per bucket. (Our whole fridge is stuffed to the gills with yogurt!) Then we add Probios and GUT for digestive health, a little baby cereal for bulk, and three scoops of powdered milk product. Wisk it all together with lukewarm water and you're a foal's best friend! Our milk product is specially made for us by Merrill, and it's called LCC Mare's Milk. How about that? Of course, nothing is as fun as making charcoal paste for diarrhea..... as our volunteers from Otterbein can attest!

I will try my best to keep this blog running until I ship out in April! We have to nominate someone else to take it over... hehehe.

Have a happy Monday!

Isaac update!

Isaac has found THE GOOD LIFE! Welcome home Isaac!

Seven more babies!

Seven more orphans arrived this past Sunday (Feb. 22). Look for pics 12-18 soon on website!

Pictures Are Up

Sorry for the delay. We've worked out the bugs and you can now view all 11 babies at http://www.lastchancecorral.org/. If you are seriously interested in adopting a foal, please review our adoption policy (http://www.lastchancecorral.org/foal-rescue/adoption-policies) and call to talk with Victoria directly at 740-594-4336.

Thanks for your patience.

Leah

Pictures are coming, promise!

Hey Everyone!!

Sorry for the delay, but here are a few pictures of some of the babies that we have currently. If you are interested in adopting, please call the farm at 740-594-4336 to make an appointment to see the babies. Or, e-mail me and I will send you pics and info on each individual foal that we have (please don't ask me to do that if you aren't serious about adopting, though, uploading pictures takes a looooong time on this computer!)

Thanks!

~Rachel

*Remember... every foal that gets adopted out allows one more to be rescued!*

Please enjoy this video from Howard Beebe featuring foals from years past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqWmGKO8xlQ