Tessa's Filly

 We had a surprise waiting for us this morning. I went out to check the mares and Tessa had delivered a filly. The filly was already standing but had not yet nursed. She did a lot of rooting around in the wrong area before figuring out where the milk bar was. 

Tessa is being a very good mother standing while the filly walks underneath her. She stood excellent when the filly latched on. I took some pictures of that but the filly was on the other side and I didn't want Tessa to move so didn't walk around for a better picture. 

She got a good drink then stuck her tongue out.

She laid down for a nap but within a few minutes was up and nursing again.  Tessa was given some grain. Right now she is being very protective so we are not trying to move them into a stall. Once she settles down, if it starts to rain we will get them inside. Tessa has not yet dropped the placenta so we are watching them both closely. Tessa was bred to Valiant and wasn't due until June 28th so this filly is 20 days early. She is petite but most likely won't stay that way. I checked Tessa's udder last night and there was no waxing so this birth really was a surprise.

Another Wonderful

 Early this morning I went out to move Thalia out of the breeding shed paddock into the middle paddock with Madiera and Cookie. Then Basilea was teased and covered by Valiant. Only after the horse chores were finished did I go in to make breakfast, shower and get ready for church. This morning was Tim Roecker last message for Peoria. He has asked to be retired from the pulpit ministry. Click HERE if you would like to watch to that message. It was on Exodus 19 and Hebrews 12. We had a celebration lunch with cake for dessert. Craig Stickling and Mike Kaisner had the Spring memorandum for the afternoon service. Click HERE to watch that.  We took Berlica and Mackenson home from church as Joan is still in West Virginia. When we got home Rhoda and Sarah were here working with Izzy. 

Izzy wore a saddle today, she started out worried but by the time the session was over she was relaxed. The girls had actually arrived earlier and worked with Thalia first. Sarah sent the pictures below.

As Rhoda was putting Izzy away it started raining HARD. We all ran in the indoor arena where the rain was pounding down on the metal roof. Soon the kids found their way outside to play in the rain. 

They needed to dry off before we left for Good Tequilas for our Sunday dinner. We had to do that as I lent out the barn to a family from Forrest.

We were missing Phil and Anna's family as they were out of town. The dinner was good. After dinner we all went to mom's (great grandma's) house. The kids had so much fun playing together at the lake. They used the new diving board and played until dark.

We cleaned up the beach then everyone left for home. Another wonderful Sunday.

Lots of Laundry

 I was up at 5:00 am and finished yesterday's post. Click HERE if you want to see that without spending the energy to scroll down. Mark and I started moving boxes from our house to the back garage which is located behind the stall barn. The next job was to take the fine china over to mom's house. One brick was sticking up a little on the walk to her front door. Mark tripped and dropped to his knees. The only thing out of the entire tub to break was the platter to our wedding china. Thankfully we have lots of other platters and once those are full of meat no one would ever notice they don't match. As that has been stored in that back garage since 2011 every piece needed to be washed before putting away.

The other side of this closet has mom's everyday dishes, which is Corelle. I like my pattern better and may move some of mine over.

I worked off and on doing dishes each time I got a break. Diane, Spark, Ruth and Rhonda arrived and helped move the bed back where that belonged.  We found more things to take downstairs for others if they want. Diane and I worked for a while in the basement but at 11:00 am I had to leave. My airbnb guests in the foaling apartment left and I had someone wanting to move in at 12:30 pm. That hour and a half was just enough time but I really did have to move fast to finish in time. I spent some extra time cleaning out closets. The new guests seem delightful. They have a horse loving daughter who is in her glory.  The airbnb guests in the big barn left right at 3:00 pm. Mark went over to help with that. He used his big walk behind sweeper to sweep the gym floor while I worked on taking the sheets off the beds and collecting towels. I had a load on the golf cart when I saw Sarah, Nolan and the girls. Zion was busy graining the horses for me. Sarah had a good training day with Izzy. She is now accepting the tarp, wearing the tarp and standing quietly. Treats do wonders! 

Sarah even had Zion jumping over Izzy and Izzy just ignored her focusing all of her attention on Sarah. They went over to the lake to cool off. It really is hot today. I spent most of the afternoon inside running loads of laundry but would go over to the barn to clean between loads.  I had 3 loads of our laundry, 2 loads from the foaling apartment and 4 loads of towels and sheets from the barn today and almost ran out of laundry detergent. All 6 bathrooms were finished as were the windows and floors. The airbnb guests left the kitchen area looking very nice. I only had a few spills to clean up there. I made hamburgers for our supper then after supper took the sheets over to make beds. Mackenson was still in the parking lot looking for red rocks. 

That seems to be the next thing he is collecting. I asked him what he is doing with them and he said he is breaking them.  I told him it was 6:00 pm so he went home for supper. I'm thankful we have air conditioning. We were able to keep the gym at 67 degrees which helped cool the kitchen area of the barn to 70 degrees as that unit isn't working. Hopefully Phil and get that fixed soon. 

Busy Day Late Night

 I was up early and went right over to the barn to get it ready for the group coming in today at 9:00 am. By 8:30 am I was done but realized even though the air conditioner was on it was not running. Mark came over to see if he could fix it but he was not able to. Our guests arrived as he was working on it. I left there to get the foaling apartment ready. When that was finished Basilea was covered by Valiant. I was just putting the horses away when Kensley arrived. She would be spending the day with us as Taegan has a tournament in Chicago, Braelyn is at camp and Phil was working (he even came to check out the kitchen airconditoner at the barn). It was starting to rain so we met Stephanie, Israel and Elisabet at Elevate for some jumping fun. 

We paid for the 2 hour jump time and by the time that was over they were hot and sweaty. Kensley and I stopped at Culvers on 150 for a lunch at 1:00 pm and the place was packed. When we arrived back at the farm Sarah and Rhoda had arrived to work with the horses. Izzy was first. Today she did very well.

She accepted the tarp much better. Rhoda gave Sarah some pointers and by the time they stopped we were all pleased. Kensley gave the girls golf cart rides while they were working with Izzy.

Next they brought out the foals. We put the pretty pink halter on Star's filly and she matched Zion.

The filly got lots of handling, then we took some pictures for the website as I didn't have any nice ones.

We also got a short video of her movement. 

This filly is for sale for $3500.00 She can be reserved with a deposit of $1000.00 with balance due in September at weaning and pick up. Next out was Rosaleigh and her colt. This colt is so photogenic. 

He also has amazing movement getting lots of air time.

Of course we needed to get a video of that!

He is also for sale. He is by Valiant so will be TALL, he is a purebred Friesian stud colt and with his height, movement, conformation and beauty he is worth much more than what we are asking for him which is $12,000.00 He really will be that fantastic fantasy Friesian everyone desires. He also can be reserved with a deposit of $1000.00 balance due at weaning in September. He will be registered and dna'd in the FHHI registry.

After cleaning up Mark and I left at 5:30 pm for Kensley's softball game in Elmwood. We have never seen her pitch at a game and thought we would be able to watch that tonight but tonight she played first base and third base and at each position got players out. As a hitter she was hit by the ball once, walked every other time except the last time then got a base hit but ended up with 4 or 5 runs.

We didn't stay to see the finish. I had airbnb guests waiting to be introduced to the horses. We arrived home at 8:04 pm and they were outside on the porch waiting for us. We took a tour and met every horse then brought the mares and foals into the stalls so they could be handled too. It was almost 9:00 pm by the time I put the horses away and got back to the house. 

BIG NEWS For Horsemeister

 I was outside hooking up the stock trailer to the truck early this morning then went to the cabin field to get Rosalie and Dancer. Mike arrived to help load. Rosalie and Dancer were put in the front of the stock while Valerie and Sheena were put in the back. We were on our way to Hoerr Vet clinic by 7:20 am and it really does take 40 minutes to get there pulling a heavily loaded trailer and with all the road closures. I made it there a minute before the 8:00 am appointment. Emma helped by leading Dancer as I took Rosalie into the stocks. 

It didn't take long for Dr. Hoerr to pronounce her pregnant!

Rosalie was bred to Evan on April 16th, 2026 making her due March 27th, 2027. Dancer is related to both of our stallions so we needed to know where she is in her cycle. Today when teasing her, she let Evan sniff without screaming at him but no winking. 

The ultrasound showed she is just coming into season. We have a plan for her which I will explain later. Those 2 were taken back to the trailer and tied. Then we brought Sheena and Valerie up. Sheena was first.

Sheena was bred to our 3 year old stallion Oliver out at Middle Grove. He is pictured below. He has a full thick mane and tail but is still a little short. His sire is 16.3 and his dam 15.3 so we are assuming he is a slow grower. He was obviously tall enough to breed a 16 hand mare as Sheena sticks at 16 hands.

Below is the embryonic vesicle from Sheena and Oliver.

We are THRILLED to announce Oliver is going to be a father.  Sheena is expecting! Sheena is due April 15th, 2027.  Last mare in was Valerie.

Dr. Hoerr pronounced her pregnant in less than a minute. Valerie was giving him the evil eye as he was messing around in her private area.

I was pretty excited and couldn't wait to call Diane and Mike. THIS is big big news for Horsemeister. We now have 3 options when choosing a stallion. We got to the trailer and had company. This little lamb tried to follow us up to the horses.

Someone has too much time on their hands, now I've seen everything. Once all 4 mares were loaded I started the long trip to Middle Grove. The truck and trailer were taken into the field to unload.

I was dropping off Valerie, Sheena and Dancer. Mike and Diane will be going to Middle Grove this weekend and will work on getting Dancer covered by Oliver. Rosalie was coming back to Hanna City so I had to wait for the other 3 mares to leave before I could drive out. They were in no hurry as they were enjoying the thick lushes grass.

They finally started up the hill.

I was able to drive out and shut the gate before they even got to the top of the hill. The truck was almost out of gas by the time I got to Hanna City so stopped at Caseys and put in $136.08 to fill it. 

When I finally got home Rosalie was taken over to the cabin field with Sally and Jewel. Berlica was busy mowing the mare pasture.

The grass is growing great, mowing keeps the weeds down and distributes any manure that was deposited helping feed the field. It's a win win for us. Spark is working on a tough project.

He is not digging a swimming pool, nor a grave. He is trying to find piping that was laid a long time ago.  I ran over to Joan's to check on the 2 fawns. She was feeding them when I arrived.

They are both does but the one above is extremely small. She is drinking well so hopefully she will make it. The other is doing very well and looks huge when comparing them. Berlica, Taegan and Kensley came canoeing over from mom's house.

This evening Mark and I worked in the back garage again. We were able to go through a lot of things. We are going to sell the AI breeding equipment so I took pictures and posted them on Facebook market place. It hasn't been used since 2006 and whoever buys it will need to clean it up.