Release The Yearlings! - Release The Mini Cows! - (After The Ice Storm)

What this episode is about

The content focuses on the excitement of releasing yearling foals and mini cows outdoors after being cooped up during an ice storm. It highlights the personalities of the young horses, particularly Kirby, Dallas, Knox, and Millie, as they experience the freedom of the outside for the first time, showcasing their playful antics and interactions.

Key takeaways

• Five mares hold 2026 foals hostage; the suspense rivals a soap opera plot twist!
• Ice storms may keep horses inside, but anticipation builds for their zoomies like a blockbuster premiere.
• Curious mares dig sand piles like kids at a beach—who knew equines could embrace sandcastles?
• Yearling boot camp: where foals learn patience, groundwork, and that training is just kindergarten for horses!
• Mini cows and yearlings meet: proving interspecies friendships can be as adorable as viral cat videos.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Katie Van Slyke (Host) · 10 min speaking
• Nate (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Matt (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: VS Code Red, Machine Made, VS The First Lady, Beyoncé
2. 3:00 – 6:00: VS Code Red, Marilyn Monroe
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Katie Van Slyke, Tennessee
4. 9:00 – 11:36: Katie Van Slyke, Running Springs

Notable quotes from "Release The Yearlings! - Release The Mini Cows! - (After The Ice Storm)"

• First up, going oldest to youngest, is Kirby, aka RS Kirb Appeal.

  about Machine Made · at 0:42

• His sire is VS Code Red as well, and his dam is our mare Beyoncé, KM Brandy Girl.

  about VS Code Red · at 2:31

• Her dam is a mare that I don’t own, a very accomplished show mare named Marilyn Monroe.

  about Marilyn Monroe · at 3:21

• But we had about a 12-hour span of freezing rain in Tennessee, and it was not just sleet. It was a storm.

  about Tennessee · at 7:08

• If you didn’t know, we’re doing live streams pretty much every night of Raven in her stall.

  about Katie Van Slyke · at 10:23

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Katie Van Slyke — Person · Main speaker / host (channel owner) · 3 mentions · first at 6:52
  She narrates the entire segment about turning out yearlings and mini cows, discusses training plans, and promotes her merch and subscription content.
• Raven (the mare) — Person · Mare being monitored during pregnancy · 1 mention
  Raven is a key subject in the live streams related to foaling.
  If you didn’t know, we’re doing live streams pretty much every night of Raven in her stall.
• Beyoncé — Person · Referenced animal (mare) used as a name reference · 1 mention · first at 2:31
  Mentioned as the dam of the yearling Knox; in this episode it functions as a horse’s name (a mare owned by the speaker), not the celebrity.
  His sire is VS Code Red as well, and his dam is our mare Beyoncé, KM Brandy Girl.
• Marilyn Monroe — Person · Referenced name (used for a show mare’s name reference) · 1 mention · first at 3:13
  Mentioned as the dam of the yearling Millie; in this episode it refers to an accomplished show mare named 'Marilyn Monroe' (not owned by the speaker), though it shares a name with the famous actress.

Companies & orgs

• Running Springs — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 10:48
  Mentioned as the brand associated with the horses and merchandise.
  We have new Running Springs merch, so go check that out at katievanslyke.net.
• VS Code Red — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at 2:31
  Mentioned as the sire of two yearlings, indicating it's a breeding-related entity.
• Machine Made — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 0:42
  Mentioned as the sire of a filly, indicating it's a breeding-related entity.
• VS The First Lady — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 0:48
  Mentioned as the dam of a filly, indicating it's a breeding-related entity.
  She is a filly by Machine Made and out of VS The First Lady my mare Kennedy.

Places & events

• Tennessee — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at 0:19
  Mentioned as the location where the ice storm hit, affecting the horses and mini cows.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Since our mares this year are holding the 2026 foals hostage, we have five mares due and no babies. And it’s almost February, or at least when this is being filmed. It might actually be February by the time you see this. But we are going to take the 2025 foals, who are now yearlings, outside. We survived the ice storm that hit the South. We had a few rough days, and they’ve been cooped up. They’ve been in a stall for about five days. So I think we’re going to get some pretty good zoomies, rompies, and cuteness. Let’s start by putting the yearlings out, and then we might turn the mini cows outside.

0:37 Oh yeah, they’ve never met the mini cows before, so they’re going to meet them too. First up, going oldest to youngest, is Kirby, aka RS Kirb Appeal. She is a filly by Machine Made and out of VS The First Lady my mare Kennedy. Yep. Immediately. I knew that was coming. She is such a roly-poly girl. Are we going to get a full rotation? Are we going to get a full rotation? Nope. Not quite. One more. One more. Next is Dallas, aka RS Wanted in Dallas. I love his name.

1:32 Don’t let Kirby get you all riled up until we let you go. Oh Lord. Okay. Oh Dallas. We don’t really see Dallas have a lot of motor. Now, Kirby, we’re used to this. We’re used to that type of behavior. Dallas is normally just a chill guy.

2:03 Oh, Dallas. He has needed this. He’s been cooped up. Move him. Move him. Move him. Yep. You’re good. Now, third up is Knox, aka RS John E. Knoxville. His sire is VS Code Red as well, and his dam is our mare Beyoncé, KM Brandy Girl. Knox is actually one that did break out. He had enough of us, so he took it into his own hands a few days ago. More character development for them. I thought that was going to freak them out, but they’ve just been doing some zoomies. Look at them. Oh my gosh. Okay, we’ve got to go get Millie now.

3:07 This is too cute not to have all four of you. And last but not least, the baby of the group is Millie. Millie’s registered name is RS Marry a Millionaire. I love that name. Her sire is also VS Code Red. Her dam is a mare that I don’t own, a very accomplished show mare named Marilyn Monroe. Easy. Millie is such a gem. She’s being so good. Go play with your buddies. She is one of the chiller babies. Oh, we had a tiny little hop, but nothing much. I’ve been wondering how long it would take Kirby to find the pile of sand.

4:01 And she’s going in. Oh, so is Millie. You know, the girls are more curious than the boys about the sand. There she goes. Oh my gosh. Get out of there. What are we doing? Y’all are ruining it. Oh my lordy. You are not desert horses. And Nate is in danger. Hey, just stay there, buddy. Just stay there. Don’t move for any reason. Hold tight. Where did they even go? Kirby, stop being a menace. Look at all of them. I missed the stampede. Oh, now we’re stampeding. I missed the good stampede, but they’re all giving us a good show.

4:53 So many rompies. I bet Nate and Matt are getting such good footage. I know I put a lot of pressure on them when I say that. I am obsessed with these two boys. I know they’re a little llama right now, but they’re still gorgeous. And back to the sand. Why do we keep going back to the sand? I don’t quite understand. No, I see. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. So I have a question about the yearlings in terms of the trainer coming. Yeah. Is she going to be working with them? Is she going to be working with others?

5:56 So she won’t be riding them anytime soon because they’re babies. As yearlings, some people show them in things like the lunge line. I don’t really have any desire to do that with mine. But she will start doing what I call kindergarten, or yearling boot camp. She’ll start acclimating them to having a job without putting stress on them. She’ll teach them to lunge, but not work them hard. She’ll teach them how to stand tied and how to have patience. She’ll start regularly trimming them, bathing them, and just getting them used to all the basics they would need to be a show horse.

6:30 They’ll learn to load on a trailer and to be handled by just about everybody. So when they’re two, and she starts groundwork and saddle work, and slowly starts breaking them, they’re that much more prepared. It just helps get them ready for hands-on work. A lot of groundwork is what we call it. That was fun. That was fun to watch. I absolutely adore this year’s yearlings. And I can’t wait to meet the babies of 2026, but until then, they’re still the babies. Now it’s time for these girls to go back outside. They’ve also been cooped up from the storm.

7:05 Yes, mini cows are built for the weather, right? But we had about a 12-hour span of freezing rain in Tennessee, and it was not just sleet. It was a storm. So we were like, we have a barn. Why make them miserable? We were also worried about falling limbs and things like that. So we brought them in. It’s time for them to go back out. We’re putting them into a closer pasture, though, because we’re going to be checking a couple of them to breed soon. And then Poppy should be due for her baby in April. So we’re going to have them closer to the barn anyway.

7:41 We’re going to form a human barricade here and move them. Hey, come on. Come on, girls. Come on, girls. Y’all hold your line. Come on, girls. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Come on. Keep going. Hold your line. Hold your line. Hold your line. Come on. Come on, girls.

8:16 It’s quite the cattle drive. We’re slipping and sliding just a little bit. Look at you girls. Listen to the ASMR. Good girls. Wait, what did they get? They’re going to talk to their new friends. They spent about four days together in the arena, so they’ve all gotten to know each other. They’re noisy, Nate. Good lord. Any trees down? They’ve got water. If it does get to the point where we have more snow, what we do is take round bales and unroll them on the ground so the cows have bedding. But right now, it’s melted enough that they’ve got dry spots.

9:25 We moved the mini cows closer to the barn because while we’re not quite ready, we still have some heifers in the barn. We want to move them into the cow barn soon because we have one mini calf due in April, at least. We need to check Petunia because she did look like she lost her calf, but we’re going to double-check. Then Pumpkin, Pippa, and possibly Posie, we’re going to be checking and putting CIDRs in and setting them up for breeding. We’ve got all that to do, and it’s just easier if we keep them close. So I hope you enjoyed this video.

10:08 It was a lot of cuteness and not a whole lot of productivity, but sometimes you just need some cuteness. We’re hoping a little more cuteness enters our lives soon with the 2026 foals, but for right now, we’re still waiting. If you didn’t know, we’re doing live streams pretty much every night of Raven in her stall. For future mares, we’re going to do that as well. We will not be showing the birth live. That’s something we film, edit, and do all that good stuff. But if you want to watch how the horses behave or possibly see the beginning stages of labor, that’s on YouTube pretty much every night.

10:43 It’s live, and it’s awesome. We also just came out with new merch. We have new Running Springs merch, so go check that out at katievanslyke.net. If you want to see the babies first, like the night they’re born in real time, that’s available to subscribers on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. That is a paid subscription. It comes with a discount code to the store, extra content, and extra perks like phone wallpapers, coloring sheets, and sometimes subscriber-only merch. If you don’t want to do that, you still get so much content, so don’t feel pressured.

11:24 I hope you enjoyed all of this. Let us know what you’d like to see more of, and stay tuned.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Release The Yearlings! - Release The Mini Cows! - (After The Ice Storm)"?

Katie Van Slyke (Host), Nate (Guest), Matt (Guest).

What is "Release The Yearlings! - Release The Mini Cows! - (After The Ice Storm)" about?

The content focuses on the excitement of releasing yearling foals and mini cows outdoors after being cooped up during an ice storm. It highlights the personalities of the young horses, particularly Kirby, Dallas, Knox, and Millie, as they experience the freedom of the outside for the first time, showcasing their playful antics and interactions.

What is mentioned in this Katie Van Slyke episode?

9 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Katie Van Slyke, Running Springs, VS Code Red, Raven (the mare), Machine Made, VS The First Lady. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Release The Yearlings! - Release The Mini Cows! - (After The Ice Storm)"?

The episode runs 12 min; the transcript is about 1,483 words in 16 timestamped sections.

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