Last week we had quite an adventure trying to get some good updated pictures of our 2008 foals. We first had our friend Cindy Coffman from Mother Nature's Miniatures come to help with some of the clipping (thanks, Cindy!). One of my sisters is an excellent photographer and she graciously agreed to do our pictures. We tried absolutely everything to get the babies to pose for us--smoke bombs, grain buckets, hooting and hollaring and jumping around. And it paid off! Definitely be sure to check out our new photos.

I apologize for not writing for the last few months! Our barn has been very busy having new foals and getting the breeding season started, etc. I'm sure you all can relate.

We spent all of last week out with the horses, clipping up the foals and trimming their feet for the very first time. Man, what a chore! We learned a lot about all of their personalities. MM Bucks Due for a Miracle ("Cale") did NOT like getting clipped and fought and kicked and jumped and reared the entire time. It took three full-sized adults to hold him steady--and he's a small one too! Towards the end he seemed to realize that no one was going to let go, and he settled down. MM Modern Lady Cleopatra (Cleo) and MM Daddys Calisto Boy ("Cole"), on the other hand, acted like we were grooming them and they stood stalk still the entire time, except to move their lips against my leg in return. They would have crawled into our laps if we let them.

For those of you that are new to clipping books, a few tips we've learned through experience and reading up on it. It's best for your blades if you start out by giving them a bath. It will really kill your blades if clip them dirty. For us, it helps to use a bucket of water to wash them instead of a hose--the sound of the hose can spook them and get them on edge even before you start clipping. To get them used to the clipper's buzzing noise, it helps to turn the clippers on, wait a second, and then hold them against the horses body so they can feel the vibration and know it's not going to hurt them. Also, the legs can be very sensitive to the clippers, so be especially careful when you do them. We also found it best to clip them near their mom's. The mares got a little nervous with us taking their babies out, but if you can keep the foals where their mom's can see them it tends to go better.

I know everyone has different ways of doing things, but I hope maybe some of this was helpful.

Our barn was very busy yesterday! After neurotically checking on our mares every hour on the hour, we finally went to sleep and woke to find a beautiful sorrel/white pinto filly laying in the straw. About 10 hours later we had a flashy pinto colt! We had gone inside for 10 minutes and "Kisses" displayed no signs of being in labor. Of course during the 10 minutes we were inside, she had the foal. I guess our mares don't like having us around!

This is McIntyre Miniatures first foaling season and we could not be more pleased so far. A GORGEOUS filly and colt--what more could you ask for? Both Helen and Kisses are doting mothers and it's adorable. We're very lucky to have found such wonderful mares for our herd (thanks to Ralph Faulkner for that one!).

My nieces and nephews are in absolute heaven right now. Four of them live on my farm--8, 5, 4, and 3 years old. They all have come up with lists and lists of names for the foals and they're so excited! I can't wait for my youngest niece to get a little older so she can start showing. She's already in love with horses--her favorite thing to do is scoop poop, I kid you not. I'm planning on giving her her own horse in a few years when she's old enough to take care of it herself.

We have three more mares that are due to foal in the next month, so stay tuned for more updates and pictures!

It has been a while since I've updated--sorry all! Over the last two weeks or so I've received a couple of inquiries regarding my website and about whether or not I do web design. To answer everyone's questions, yes, I did make this website myself. I have never done professional web design before, but I'm toying with the idea of breaking into the business since I've received so many inquiries. But first I want to poll all of you: would anyone (besides those that have already contacted me) be interested in having me design at mini website for you? I would, of course, have to price everything, but I want to first see who and how many are interested. Send me an e-mail or drop me a comment on my "Contact Us" page.

McIntyre Miniatures has ended it's first year on a very positive note. Not only are we absolutely in love with our horses, but we also sold our two fabulous little fillies to a great person. I had a couple of offers to buy Daddy's Kiss Me Kate, but she is so special, we didn't want to sell her to just anyone. The first time I talked to Katy Langston, I knew she'd be the right one. I hoped when she went to go check out Kiss Me Kate that she'd fall in love with her just like we did the first time we saw her. To our delight, she fell in love with BOTH of our fillies and bought them right away. Katy has had horses her whole life, but this is her first step into the world of miniature horses. We're so excited for her. She plans on showing both of them and we know that the three of them are going to do great together. Katy also plans on bringing them back in two years to be bred to our champion Buckeroo bred stallion, Buckweiser. Those are going to be some awesome babies! Congratulations to you, Katy, on some outstanding purchases! We can't wait to see what the three of you do together.