Rachel! With her guess of Aug. 22!
Baby has an “official” birthday of Aug. 21.
Thank you to readers/guessers Zacharias and Maria, who were very close!
(Thank you also to my long-suffering co-worker Katie C-C for pulling the name out of the basket – again!)
If I’d been more organized, I’d have set up a photo to use with this post – but I have numerous pix of this girl to post later … and many future visits.
Rachel, can’t wait to hear what you come up with as a name for Kootenai’s gorgeous baby girl! No pressure! ๐ And your calendar will come to you toward the end of the year!
Update: I decided that I couldn’t let Zacharias walk away empty-handed after his also-excellent guess, so I offered him a calendar, too. And yes, I’m definitely planning to hold another vote about calendar images this year – hopefully earlier so I can get them done and out earlier! Really, I’m thrilled with their guesses (especially because I originally thought “no way she’ll foal that early!”) – and with Maria’s Aug. 24 guess, too. I’ll have to figure out something for Maria – maybe a print of Kootenai’s filly. September-guessers – I would have been with you! Until I saw Kootenai on Aug. 19, I thought for sure she was going to head right into September before she shared her baby!
Here are a couple other photos to round out this post:
Baby girl and mama. Such a teeny thing, and mama looks fabulous! You can see big brother Apollo and his mama, Raven, in the background – Kreacher was just to the right of them. It was cloudy enough (and we’d already had several waves of light rain) that it was “dark” before it was dark. My camera was having a hard time “seeing,” but I was having a hard time putting it down! This was just after the sun had actually set … we got a teeny bit of light when the sun dropped out of the clouds … before it slipped back into clouds and around the curve of the world …
Baby girl in that soft little red glow that lasted just minutes. … And yes, I think she’ll stay dun. I don’t think this girl is destined to go grey. Notice Kootenai’s legs – she has the stripes, with that lovely “webby” sort of pattern, but they’re darker “orange” than the rest of her body coat, not dark or black, like Hollywood’s are.
Can’t forget daddy Kreacher! Little bit of that glow on him, too, and lighting up the eastern “wall” of the basin … caused by …
Wow, right?!
Beautiful day to find a beautiful girl. ๐
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
Congratulations, Rachel! I know you’ll come up with a great name for “our” baby girl. TJ, you’ve taken so many wonderful pics this year that chosing among them will be really tough. Will we be voting for “favorites” again?
Oh wow! I’ll have to get to work thinking up a suitable name- she’s such a beautiful girl she deserves a good name!
Thank you, TJ!
I have an idea already, but I’m not positive if it’s my favourite. Who is her father, TJ? I can’t remember.
Congratulations Rachel, way to go!! Can’t wait to hear her name.
Daddy is Kreacher (though I’ve grown quite fond of him!). ๐ No rush on a name for her … I’m headed out tomorrow and won’t be back till Thursday afternoon/evening. I’m also excited to see what you choose!
Also, why are her parents named what they are?
Every time I think about why I named Kreacher “Kreacher,” I laugh. I originally thought he was a mare when I first saw him back in the fall of 2007. He was with Molly and Roja, and he was fairly young and kind of gangly, and I thought, “what an ugly mule-like creature.” Nothing against mules! It was just a thought-of-the-moment! ๐ Anyway, I’m a Harry Potter fan (who isn’t?!), so I decided Kreacher was perfect. Like I said, I have become exceedingly fond of the boy, especially since he gathered the Sand Wash Basin girls. He’s so laid back but very attentive and has proved to be very gentle and tolerant with Apollo, who is just gorgeous. And now this girl?! Stunning!
Kootenai was named in honor of her Sand Wash Basin “cousin” Kootenai, who serves with the Border Patrol along the U.S.-Canada border out of Idaho, I think. Our Spring Creek Basin boy Justice serves out of Colville, Wash., and they were both part of the Border Patrol’s contingent at the inauguration parade for President Obama in January 2009. The Border Patrol’s Kootenai was named by schoolchildren in a contest (!), and I lived for part of 2005 in Montana (the Kootenai River flows through the northwestern part of the state). To honor a Sand Wash Basin horse with the same name here seemed appropriate! (And I named Raven’s first foal, Corona, after her sire, Corona, who is still wild in Sand Wash Basin.)
Kootenai’s name is pronounced “KOOT-en-ee,” by the way. ๐ It’s an Indian word, but I’ve never been able to figure out what it means, exactly … and I’m not sure whether it’s Salish or Blackfeet or from another tribe.
Oh wow! Alot of history there. I like Kreachers’ name alot. I’m a big Harry Potter fan.
I looked up Kootenai and found that it’s a name that’s named after the Ktunaxa First Nations people and their language-Kutenai ( or Ktunaxan/Kitunahan) So I supposed ‘Kootenai’ is just a name? Not sure, I found that on wikipedia.
“Kootenai” could entirely be just a name. I’m fascinated by language (I suppose it’s why I ended up in journalism), and I like knowing we have some ties to our horses’ ancestors in local (and not-so-local) native names. And I like knowing what other people think is important – especially when it comes to names. I’m sure whatever you choose will be the perfect name for this particular girl!
Congrats Rachel,good luck with finding a name.
Way to go, Rachel. Hope you pick a sweet name for a sweet girl.
Congratulations Rachel! I will be looking forward seeing what you choose for a name.
TJ, I didn’t recognize Apollo because he is so big, and hadn’t noticed his mama Raven until I read what you had written.
When I have time (ha!), I need to post some pix of young Apollo. He’s a stunner!
I have a name for the pretty girl! I was really stuck between two- Mystery and Mysterium, but I chose Mysterium.
I thought Mystery because it was a bit of a mystery as to her exact birthday. Also, because it was a ‘mystery’ when she would be born, with the guessing and everything.
Then I also wanted to make sure it was really thought out. I looked up Kreacher’s and Kootenai’s names to see exactly what they meant. So turns out that the word ‘creature’ comes from an Old French word that comes from a Latin word. So ‘mystery’ in Latin is ‘mysterium,’
I was torn between the two cause I thought Mystery was really simple, but Mysterium had more meaning, So I decided Mysterium cause it has more meaning, and I think it sounds pretty. If it ends up not suiting her, it can be shortened easily to Mystery. โMystโ is also an iPod game that has beautiful artwork and is pretty much a giant interactive island that you have to solve the mystery to, but I realized that after I decided on her name. I hope you like her new name!
Fabulous name! What great, creative thought you put into this – I’m impressed and pleased beyond measure! (And love the language connection!)
Mysterium it is! Beautiful name for a beautiful girl! Thank you, Rachel!
“Mysterium” is just right! I’m fascinated by the evolution of modern words as well. And the “mystery” connection … icing on the cake!
What a language connection! In Bulgarian language,Mystery is “Mysteria”(ะะธััะตัะธั).There are so many words that sound almost the same in every language.Amazing!
Mystery is similar in lots of languages, I noticed that while I was looking it up.
hey tj, have you ever read a tribuite to a horse that reads (first tw0 lines)
I am your equal
I am a wild creature
that can never be like you
I have heart, courage………………………………………………..
if not i’ll finish it for you
your site is mind blowing, really fantastic george w doerre
me again should have left email wohehiv@optonline.net
gwdoerre
George – that sounds very familiar … but could you post all of it for us? Thank you!