Hiltje had a colt!

Yes, he was a couple of weeks early, which was a good thing because he is HUMONGOUS. He had trouble getting up, because he is HUMONGOUS, so he went to Va Tech for some TLC until he could build his strength up enough to lift his HUMONGOUS body. Even so, it took 6 people to hold him down to put the feeding tube in. One vet tech, sweaty face, hair down in her eyes,  looked at me and said woefully "my word, he is strong". My guess is that Hiltje figured if Dahlia did not have to be pregnant anymore then Hiltje did not have to either. And Hiltje, our alpha mare, does whatever Hiltje wants. Thank goodness she is a sweetheart.

He's doing great now, standing and eating and pushing everyone around. He's at least 25% bigger than Tara – he probably weighs a good 130 pounds or more. Too bad this is not an H year because he would be a good "Hercules". Hiltje is having to get used to him again since he did not nurse on his own for a couple of days. When he goes to nurse he hits her like a Mack Truck, which pisses her off. But I think that will pass soon.

He is Sibald x Lute and the blackest thing I have ever seen. We got a lovely 1st premie filly with this cross a couple of years ago. So we are hopeful. Don't know much about his personality yet, but he is good looking. His name is Tsjemme (sorta like "SHEM-uh" but more of a "ch" sound up front), which is Friesian for Timothy. We named him after my brother. The vets call him Tim. After he's weaned he's going to a home outside Charlottesville to some folks who are excellent carriage drivers. A good thing since he'll probably be a "tractor trailer" sized adult!

Looking forward to getting him home and I'll get you some pictures.