A Long Expected Pony

Here, at last, is Vidalia with her filly.

This is my brother's family's pony and foal. Last January my baby brother bought her on Craigslist for $75, and I brought her home to Providence Farm. Little did we know that Adrienne at Southern Belle Farm was running an unadvertised buy-one-get-one special.

By February we suspected a pregnancy, and by a month ago, we were almost positive.

Those of you with horse experience are thinking, "Good, then you had time to pull her off of fescue grass and feed her hay."

I'll be brutally honest. I forgot all about fescue and its birth ruining endophytes till two days before the birth. And when I remembered, way too late, I felt sick about my mistake.

My Amish friend listened to my worries and having attended many a fescue foal's birth, gave me lots of pointers.

The girls and I wanted the baby born on April 30, her owner's birthday. I checked her at 12:16 a.m. on the 30th, then went to bed. At 5 a.m., I checked again. Lo and behold, a dry and healthy filly was standing by her side! No problems with fescue or anything else, apparently.

My camera broke right before the birth, so these pictures are when she's a day and a half old.

You will be seeing many updates in future. We are head over heels in love with this baby.