Do 'They' Know You're Pregnant?

FH here, The Muleteers have kindly loaned me their blog for a little while so that I can answer a commonly posed question..... 

As soon as we announced the imminent arrival of our Human Foal I have been asked two sets of questions more regularly than any others..... the first was….

What are you going to do with all your animals? Surely you can't cope?  

Grrr.... this question came from those who don't know us well and although well meaning hurt me a lot, I'll be blogging about the pleasures of pregnancy and animals soon when I've calmed down!  Needless to say they are going nowhere and enrich every moment of our lives that we spend with them and will undoubtedly add the same to HF's life too :-)

The secondDo they know you're pregnant? Are they acting any different? 
was.....

And the answer is?????

Categorically YES!

I have always been one for assigning human emotions and intelligence to animals but to be honest they never fail to provide me with evidence for this and in my experience they are far more 'thinking' and 'feeling' than many humans I meet!  On the question of whether the Muleteer Gang understand that something is different I can only say yes in greater or lesser amounts, or at least it's expressed differently by all of them.

The most intuitive and curious member of the gang for certain is Roller, it's almost like this lovely little man knows that his new charge is nearby.  Roller is always one for a snuffle but he is extra snuffle-giving at the moment, particularly to 'the bump', but never is he too fierce in his nudging, always gentle like he's trying to say something to the one inside.....  I just can't wait for them to meet, what a lucky HF to have Roller as their first pony!

And then there's The Mini.  Well he certainly knows something's up but it's less obvious because he's always been Mr Sensitive and highly in tune with how I feel, he too is busy checking out the bump and has been super careful to be mannerly.  Normally we have the odd 'yeeha' moment when the trimmer comes for his feet (he needs to move to deal with his anxiety) but last time he simply seemed resigned to the fact that FH couldn't cope with the run around and stood stock still waiting for it all to be over.  As ever The Mini continues to be my loyal dog in mule form and has been a giver of much needed hugs and those ever listening ears….. I reckon MH is lucky to share the load of a hormonal pregnant woman with a mini mule - they are a magic secret, all Mums to be need one :-)

What do Dragon's make of bumps?  Well this is also a huge surprise..... I think the Dragon mule is going soft!  I'm sure this mule knew of my 'condition' before I did, I was still riding for a few months of being pregnant until my back got sore and I'm sure Dragon knew that she was carrying an extra special dual cargo as she was very careful with both of us.  Not normally one to stand still for too long she did seem remarkably chilled and on the ground this has continued.

Officially the Human Foal's first Mule Ride!

One of the first things I said to MH when I found out I was pregnant was that he needed to practice with Dragon's feet so that when I got huge (like now!) he could do them instead of me.  Whilst very good with her feet for me she could be a little snatchy and quick when she wanted to be with other people and I wasn't sure of the mechanics of bending right down to retrieve her foot when I can barely see my own feet let alone touch them!  Well she obviously overheard and has totally adapted for me!  All it takes is an 'up' and finger pointing at each hoof and it appears as high as she can lift it and is held quietly for as long as needed - super mule or what? All done loose with no tying up too ;-)  So needless to say I am very pleased and proud of her, she always comes through as the mule that will give you just what you need.

I can't deny that I am so looking forward to riding her again when I can, she has been riding out with Smiley Human having a lovely time and staying sane and fit but oh how I yearn to be back in the saddle!

But what about the feline brigade?  Well yes, not to be outdone and rather abusing her small size Catanian has taken it upon herself to fully acquaint with bump as much as possible.  She appears to think the cat shelf has been put there solely for her pleasure.... but also seems intent on purring away like a Diesel engine on top of it.  Let's just say the Human Foal seems quite content with this and delights in kicking at Catanian's purring using me as the inbetween kicking post! Hmmmm….

So there we have it the gang sure do know what's going on..... not that any of you ever doubted it I'm sure!  They never fail to amaze me and have really helped to keep me going, not many weeks now and they will be experiencing a whole new level of understanding!  One of the things I'm looking forward to most..... introducing the HF to its new furry brothers and sisters, it's going to be really lucky to be part of their gang ;-)