tet.Welcome to the 2011 foaling barn!  The mares have presented us with our Appaloosa foal crop.  There were 12 colorful mares to deliver over 7 months time. They were in foal to three different stallions.  I enjoy having the foals' births spread out so that I can give each one the proper time and attention to teach them to be gentle and well mannered for their new owners.  I posted each mare as her time was near and detailed her development and delivery.  The foals were posted within a day or two of their birth.  They can be reserved for weaning time with a 25% deposit.  Click here to see our Policy on foal sales.   I hope you enjoy the foaling season as much as i do!
(Stories and photos are copyrighted by Lisa Estridge)

   Click on the mare's picture to see her personal page.
Coffeecup High Hopes  X Nuggets Super Shado
                 Due January 31st

Januay 29th, 1:07 am, Coffee delivered a blue roan , black and white spotted filly.
Jasmine is a strong filly, stood and nursed quickly and was ready for a run down the barn aisle by morning.  It was a good start to the foaling season!
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PALISADES APPALOOSAS

Mitch and Lisa Estridge 
1601 Bowman's Bottom Road 
Lancaster, Kentucky 40444
(859)-338-7955
iriselvis@yahoo.com

Offered for sale at $2,000 - Jasmine has gone to live with Seneca
and Bonnie in PA!

TANGO!
Strictly Ballroom X Nuggets Super Shado
  Tango is Due to foal February 2lst

MARCH 4, 2011
Tango came in for supper with wax showing on her udder.  She lay down at about 2:30 am and delivered a black leopard colt at 2:50.  He was standing by 3:20! .. a nice tall boy with a beautiful head and elegant build.

Gone home to Luther and Chara!
They have named the colt 
Shado's White Knight
or "Lance" !
He will be their future stallion!
February 3rd.  Here are Jasmine's first videos at just a couple days old. 
Ruby
Too Sexy for Second X RHR Blue Eagle!
Due March 10th

March 11, 11:30 PM  Ruby foals a tall black leopard colt!

Friday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find wax on Jazzy's teats.  That's right, Jazzy.. not Ruby.  All day as I worked, I kept an eye on Jazzy in the field making sure she did not have a foal out there with the mares. At 5 pm, I brought Jazzy inside and left Ruby out with the others till 7.  She looked the same as she had for two or three weeks.  
At evening inspections, the wax had fallen off of Jazzy's udder, but she was quite swollen and I felt like tonight was the night for her foal to be born.  


  
Hannah !
Rewardachic X RHR Blue Eagle
Comanche Songbird, Bay filly with White Blanket

March 29th:  10:45 PM.  After a quick shower and putting the dogs to bed, I returned to the barn
to sleep with the girls.  Crystal was lying down in her stall, but and I could not clearly see all of her
next to the wall closest to the camera. The mares often stay close to the walls, I suppose because this leaves only one side of them vulnerable to approaching predators (if there were any).  I quietly  entered the barn aisle and peeked thru the stall bars.  Dark head and front legs were out and she was delivering into the corner of the 24 ft. stall. (very smart.. there is NO approach for predators in a corner!).  Soon all but the filly's feet were delivered and they stayed just that way for l0 minutes. I pulled the membranes from filly's head and neck and made a nest of clean hay around them. I cleaned the stall while the foal began to try to rise. I doused the umbilical stump with antiseptic.  This was a very quiet uneventful birth.  How civilized.. 11 pm!  The filly is a dark bay, big white blanket , blaze, and four stockings.  Beautiful head, a taller filly. 

 Hannah has gone home to  Double A n J Cattle in Iowa.  Her name is now Jersey!
 Buzzy has joined them and is now under saddle at age 14 !
 

Skips Jazzy Blue X Nuggets Super Shado
  Due to foal March 3rd  

March 14th  2am  Yes! a big black colt, white over rump, diamond and two hind socks!

It was almost 11 when I returned to the barn for the night, having left Jazzy and the herd eating hay at 9.  By midnight, Jazzy was in her familiar sleeping position, rump against the stall wall and her head and back visible at the bottom of my monitor screen.  She was motionless for an hour, which is discouraging to a foal watcher since labor usually involves at least some amount of pacing or movement!  I allowed myself to drift off to sleep, thinking there would be no baby tonight.  
At 2 am, I pulled the sleeping bag off of my eyes and peered at the dim screen.  Where Jazzy had been standing,  there was a small wiggling object on the ground, and Jazzy was rushing about nervously!  Whoops!  I leaped into my coveralls, but where was my hat? my gloves?  I shoved my feet into my barn shoes and tripped out of the tack room stepping on my laces. 
This foal was very strong and instinctual and was up and at her udder by 2:50.  Jazzy expertly guided him, which is a good thing because I was not going to be allowed to help him nurse.  By morning Jazzy had relaxed and was allowing me to handle and tend to her foal.  She's an attentive mother, 
and that's a good thing because Dandy is an adventurer and goes wherever he wants at a run!



 
Jasmine and Mitch, at  5 weeks old!
    xt.At 10:30 I lay on my cot watching both Jazzy and Ruby, and it was Ruby who seemed agitated.
  She kept circling the stall and pacing, glancing back at her sides.  By 11:10
she was down on her side and pushing, and I could see the white of the amniotic sack.  
    This black leopard colt was born at 11:30,  up on his feet with some help by 1 am,  and nursing by 2 am, also with a little guidance.  Ruby is inclined to keep walking off while the baby
tries to nurse, so I tied her loosely and put the colt's head in the right place a dozen times, finally with success.  Grey Hawk seems a fitting name with his sire being Blue Eagle. He is a gentle and mild mannered colt.  He is the quiet, shy type, and would do well with the same sort of owner. 

Grey Hawk will have a 90% Foundation Designation and is offered for sale at $2200 

Grey Hawk is reserved  for Melisa and Buck in Kentucky!
Grey Hawk two weeks old
Lance at 9 days old... they change quickly , don't they?


Dandy was born very black  and is sun bleaching to brown temporarily, as all the black based foals do in the first three months. I have sent in a hair test to see if he is homozygous for the black gene like his sire, which can be useful if you are interested in breeding.  Homozygous stallions cannot produce chestnut foals. Dandy is outgoing, independent of his dam, very curious and people friendly. He is tall and should finish at about l5.2 hands.  He's a great performance prospect, or friendly family horse, or proud sport horse stallion. He is a leader among foals. 
   
     Dandy is offered for sale at $2200    Dandy has gone home with Richard!  see them on the                                                foal follow up page!
                                       
Skipelletta X Blue Eagle
 due March 17th 
April 3rd...  bay snowcap colt born 12:55 AM.
First thing Saturday morning, Skipelletta had a large pouch of edema on her belly. It had appeared over night.  Her udder was full, but not bursting.  It seemed as if something was brewing.  I turned her out as usual,since it was a pretty day.  During the day, I spotted her near the gate often, which I've seen before in mares about to foal.  They seem to be in a hurry to get back into the barn and safety.  At supper time, I did a quick check on her udder and saw wax on both teats.  By the time I pointed it out to Mitch, it was gone and replaced by a drop of milk. When Skip finally gets ready, she doesn't mess around with days of wax and dripping milk. At 10:30 I returned for the night and every few minutes Skip was moving around the stall.  Pause and circle, pause and circle.  I decided to take a nap in front of the camera. This could take an hour or 4 or 5, you never know.   I opened my eyes and she was laying down pushing, and when fully awakened I saw a large dark form on the floor NOT moving.  I sprang out of that cot and ran to the stall, no shoes, no coveralls. 
I was afraid we had a still birth or the amniotic sack was suffocating the foal.  Much to my relief, the colt had
his head up and was trying to break the membranes, which I did for him so he could breath.  Soon he had flopped and struggled his way free of the sack, and I could see he was a bay colt with a white blanket and lightening marks on his legs. 
The colt was born at 12:55, up on his feet by 1:30, and although not the swiftest nurser,  he finally caught on about 2:30 am. 
OUR SENIOR MARE!  age 20
Jessica's Miss Kitty X Dreamin Dun
April lst, 12:45 AM, Bay leopard Filly (black in mane and tail)

Kitty gives you all the signs of labor, so if you are paying any attention at ALL, you will be there when she foals. She had wax on her udder for two days, and did a lot of restless pacing much of yesterday. When I returned to the barn to sleep, she was searching out her window, and then looking thru the stall bars to see if the coast was clear.  She kept checking over the next hour as she circled, paced and rested intermitently.  I took a short nap
and awakened about 12:20 and she was still at it!  Finally she lay down in the center of the stall and when the bulk of her belly (which was massive) hit the ground,  her water broke and gushed over the stall floor.  She began pushing as I watched , and I did decide to help her after l0 minutes or so.  The foal was quite large, and kitty is not a big mare, so I'm glad we got her out fairly quickly.  Well she did it again!  A bay leopard filly was born about 12:45.  This filly is not only tall, but bulky, Dreamin Dun style.  It was hard for her get to her feet, and she made several tries at it over a half hour.  But,  she was up and nursing by 2 AM  and I got a little sleep .  That's more than kitty got!   I'll try for a little video soon!

Heather is at home with  Julie, Mary and Grace 
Heather has joined the girls in SC and they have been having slumber parties in the barn!
Rewardachic X Blue Eagle
Comanche Songbird,  one week and two weeks old... more pictures on the FOR SALE page

photos are copyrighted by Lisa Estridgeplease do not reproduce  without permission
Hannah, five days old
Eagle Scout , "Scout" at one week old
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Simple Elegance Dreamin Dun
Foaled 1 am April 24,on Easter!  Red roan Near fewspotStud Colt

Buzzy had some droplets of milk on her udder yesterday, but I had seen that a couple of times in the last two weeks.  I was watching, but not counting any chickens.  She still had milk on her at suppertime, and when I returned for the night to sleep, she was a little restless, circling and then standing with her rump presssed to the stall wall.  I dozed and watched her on and off and about 12:45 I saw her lying down and pushing. I closed my eyes for another minute, opened them  and the colt was most of the way out, but not raising his head.  I launched out of my sleeping bag and over the gate,down the barn aisle and heard him struggling to breath within the amniotic sack. He was not moving enough to break it, so I tore it away quickly from head and shoulders.  He breathed easy then and immediately began trying to get his last foot free and get up.  So our Easter colt will be Benjamin (as in Bunny).  He is a chestnut colt with a blaze and big white snowcap blanket,  two hind stockings.  He has a pretty head and nice neck, good legs.. and was up and nursing by 2am
.  He did not figure out how to lie down again till about 9 am, so he was good and tired by then!
The video is of Ben leading the foal herd in October.

Scout is RESERVED for Heidi  in California 
 Scout was transported safely by Pure Pleasure transport and arrived in CA healthy and happy!
photo by Chara Parker!
Jasmine at 4 months old
   Check out Patch,  another Dreamin Dun colt in training for cowboy shooting in Kentucky. 
Dreamin dun babies quite often have a very easy to get along with , good disposition.  Patch is one of those good colts born at Rockin E Stables and just under saddle six weeks in the video.  
   Benjamin, below , is half brother to Patch and will be offered for sale.  He might be your next good ride!

SKY BLUE MAGIC
Hartes Sizzler Jo X Nuggets Super Shado
        May 6th, 10:30 pm
Black leopard filly,  white face, blue eyes with black eye shadow!!
Sky is at home in Texas with Vicki and Jim!

Exclusively Divine X Dreamin Dun
 Foaled April 28th, 12:45 am

At 8 pm,  Diva  walked slowly into the barn , stiff in the hind end and tired as she has been for a couple of weeks.   Her udder was grapfruit sized with no nipples to speak of .  I commented to her that she had better work on that because I did not know what the foal was going to latch onto to nurse!  
I returned at 11:45 and glanced in at her and thought I saw something.  I got a flashlight and to my surprise, she had drops of milk on both teats, and she was damp with sweat.  I set about cleaning up her stall and spreading older grass hay (which I use instead of staw).  I gave her a little grain with  a dose of domperidone in it, which helps with milk production. She didn't look to have much being a maiden.  She started showing signs of labor just about as soon as I had made a spot for her to foal.   

t.At 12:30 Diva began serious contractions, and within five minutes I saw a foot protruding.  Within ten minutes there were two feet and she was working very hard.  I went in and helped her by pulling when she pushed and she groaned continuously with her effort.  I don't think I have ever been up so close watching a maiden delivering, but it's a lot more difficult and requires  more stretching than a seasoned mare.  Diva and I delivered her rich dark bay filly with a teeny white blanket around 12:45.   She was soon up on her feet with her cord and the whole placenta still attached and dragging, but just when i was about to tie it off and cut it.. it broke on its own.  She and I worked on Diva for the next hour, me milking and the filly sucking trying to get something for her to nurse on and the milk flowing.   I finally lay down at 3 am and watched the filly continue the nursing on her own.  Milk production is increased by sucking, and hopefully we can get her milking well before too long. 

Darla is pictured at 9 days below. She has Halter class conformation and breeding to match!
 Divinely Dun  has gone home with Patricia to IL!
Ben has just been weaned and is not quite 4 months old.  He is now a red roan near fewspot with a nice hip and nice easy way of moving. He will make  nice sturdy pleasure horse.
                                 Benjamin is offered for sale at $1800 .
Ben is reserved for Melisa and Buck in Kentucky!


Jo had been in our round pen by day for a week to keep her off fescue and be where I could easily see her.  Nothing much was happening.  She had a full udder and looked ready to foal
for l0 days or so.  Last night I had a feeling I had better get back to the barn more quickly than usual and I showed up at 10:l5.  Jo was restless and circling.  As I watched, a cat brushed my camera (they walk around in the beams) and knocked it askew so I could see nothing!  I had to go out in the barn aisle quietly and peek from a little distance so as not to disturb her. Very soon the foal feet were visible and ran to my truck for a bale of hay.  By the time I returned,  the baby was on the ground, and I began my quiet ritual of quickly cleaning up manure and spreading hay around the mare and foal and covering the stall floor to cushion the baby's attempts to stand.  Jo was quite bloody on her hind legs and rump and so was the baby.  That is not uncommon, but there did seem to be more blood than usual.   I noticed my Blue Heeler, Lady, trying to drag the placenta out the stall door, and I scooped it up and put it in a manure bucket to keep it out of her mouth.  She stays at the barn guarding outside the tack room door when I am sleeping there, and takes an interest in the births, hovering outside the stall. .
As I was helping this filly to stay up on her feet, Lady began to bark.  She went toward the barn door
and out into the night and was barking and howling at some unknown intruder which is typical for her, and I paid it no mind.   Suddenly the bark turned to wild crying, wimpering and screams of pain.  I left the stall and ran to the door and the fight between Lady and a Coyote ended quickly as the coyote
retreated.  Lady followed in pursuit barking and screaming.  I joined in by loudly telling the coyote where to go, and wished I had my shotgun (which I forget how to load).   All I can imagine is that the coyote smelled the blood and was coming for a snack.  I've never had one almost IN the barn that I know of, and it was threatening. For the next half hour,  that coyote stayed in a nearby paddock and yipped and barked at Lady who howled and growled back at him, and kept up her guarding outside the barn.  She was very brave!
This beautiful black leopard filly has a big white blaze surrounded by blue roan shading,  and black rimmed blue eyes.  I love how each foal is so unique!  She was up and nursing by Midnight and I
had the celebratory hot chocolate, fixed that camera, took the placenta out of the barn, and watched the twosome the rest of the night from my cot.  Lady was still there in the morning. As is well.
Sky is pictured at five days old taking her first run outside. 
 Sky is Sold!  
Annies First Lady X Rhr Blue Eagle
Due, July 5th, foaled  June l9th, 2010
Cherokee Red Bird
Kitty is at home with  Vicki and Jim!!
This baby is 90% FPD but very modern in appearance. 

On June 18th, Annie looked exactly has she had for the last l0 days... swollen legs, full udder, loose muscles,  and barely moving along.  I was on my third night of sleeping at the barn, and she was standing quietly head hanging at 11 pm.  For the next 5 hours she moved only a little more than usual.  A few times she circled the stall, but nothing dramatic, and she barely kept my attention. At 4 Am she lay down for the first time, and by 4:20 a chestnut filly was born that looks very much like Annie.   She has a crescent of white on her small forehead, Annie's elegant neck, one sock, and a sprinkling of white on the rump. We are going to have to wait for more color on this filly, but like Annie.. she will very likely roan and spot all over.  The filly was on her feet and looking for milk by 5 am.  She is strong and alert already.
Below I will show you how a mare with the LP (appaloosa color) gene, but no pattern gene can color over time.  This is very typical of Appaloosas with minimal color at birth. Below annie at l0 months and at 8 years.

HAY  Making!
In Case you think I have been resting while awaiting the next foaling.. guess again. 
We've been bringing in the hay for the coming fall and winter.  I cut,rake and bale it, and the kids load it up and take it to the barn.
Above is Annie the Dam of Kitty at almost a year old 
         and Annie to the right in 2010.
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Video... kitty at two months old.
Kitty is a gentle filly,  very sweet and easy to  teach.

Sure Nuff Jazzy X Nuggets Super Shado
Foaled 12:30 am, August 17th
Jazzy is a maiden mare,  and I was watching her carefully since maidens more often have difficult births.  Her udder was full, but not all that large with no wax or milk evident.  Still,  her date was growing near, so I checked her at midnight each night.  I arrived about 12:15 last night and peeked in her window, and was pleased to see a pair of feet under her tail.. and they were not her own!  I quickly went into the barn and watched her for a few minutes.  I believe she had not been making progress for awhile because she had a tear in her vulva.  So the next time Jazzy lay down to push, I pulled and the colt slid right on out.  Jazzy lay still for while , exhausted.  Her colt was strong and staggered to his feet then fell right onto her belly and lay there between her front and back legs. Jazzy put her head on his neck and spoke to him quietly, and I wished I had my camera.   The colt is a black based fewspot, and he was on his feet before she was.  At 2 am he had nursed just a little and I lay down for a nap. 
By 4 am, he was nursing well.  Pictures are her colt at five days old. 
Henry is offered for sale at 2,000.
 Henry is RESERVED for Vicki and JIM!
Check the for sale page for his two month old pictures! 
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kitty, two months old
Sure Nuff Henry, five days old
Palisades Appaloosas
            2011 Foaling Barn