Safety Net UP

 No walk the rest of this week. Ruth and Fedi joined Diane and Mike, Rachel and David and Beth and Greg at Gulf Shores.  Spark and Rhonda are in Colorado this week. I left for the Berean office at 8:00 am. Skip had already arrived and Bruce walked in right after me. We had plenty of mail this morning for all of us to keep busy. Marvin came in with a box of delicious looking vine ripened tomatoes from his garden to share.

Below Marvin and Kathy are hard at work with the letters. Marvin is always given the job to look up missing information. We are thankful there is internet at this office.

Below they are just finishing up with the studies and the Bibles.

Then came the treat. Shirley baked a chocolate cake for us and we had some left over pumpkin cake.

Today is Shirl's birthday but she couldn't come so we called her and sang happy birthday to her. Vonnie was also missing, she just wasn't feeling well. After the car was loaded I drove to the Hanna City post office to drop off the Bibles and studies then over to Tractor Supply Company in East Peoria to pick up some de-wormers and mineral blocks. I spent $127 on the 4 blocks and 5 tubes of Quest de-wormers but all were necessary.

One mineral block was put in the shelter of the mares and foals. Merlin came right over to taste it. His mama, Harli just wanted the salt block.

Two of the mineral blocks were put on the cabin porch for Mike to take out to Middle Grove.

A wonderful picture came in from Anna, the girl training Valerie. 

Love love love seeing Valerie undersaddle. She is 4 years old and should have been started a couple years ago but with mom needing so much care both Valerie and Tessa were just left at Middle Grove. Both of these mares were born in 2022. Sarah came to today, she and her girls cleaned our house again. I walked in and said, "wow" they even vacuumed the bedrooms.  When they finished they went to work with Tessa. Below is River petting Tessa.

Zion is going to be a horse trainer when she grows up so Sarah isn't just working with Tessa she is also training Zion how to train. The video below shows just some of the ground work done before a horse is started under saddle.

It really is a labor of love as it takes hours and hours but we don't regret the time spent, we end up with amazing riding horses.  Jozsef came today to put the net up in the barn. Mark bought the safety net a few months ago but it was too hard for him to put up. We were thrilled when Jozsef said he could do it.

Mark and I worked on repairing the fence line between the mare pasture and the stallion pasture. One of the high tensile strands had broken and the entire line needed to be fixed.

We thought we would be rained out. There were dark clouds lots of lightning and thunder but no rain. I was glad to have the job finished. Right now Evan gets the pasture but next week it will be the mares turn. Tonight more of the shrimp was cooked along with some fish. I'm trying to use up the food in the freezer, well I have to, the fridge is almost empty and I didn't want to go shopping. Below is Mark's plate. 

Joan just sent a message she will be glad to help host the New Year's Eve party this year. I was glad she reminded me and quickly blocked the barn off for that night and for the New Years Day just in case anyone needs to spend the night. Joan's parties usually last all night long!

Harli Pregnant

 Instead of walking today Ruth and I drove the golf cart over to Joan's house, picked up Joan and Berlica and drove over to the horses. I needed help loading Harli, her colt, Rosaleigh's colt and Dancer for their 8:30 am vet appointment. I was VERY glad for their help and glad we had practiced yesterday. Harli and the 2 foals were loaded into the front. Dancer was in the pond pasture across the dam grazing with Jewel, Penny and Jury. Berlica and I took the golf cart over to pick Dancer up. Joan and Ruth were still at the trailer waiting to help. Dancer walked right into the trailer and I was on the way by 7:50 am.  I arrived right at 8:30 am and Dr. Hoerr was ready for us. He wanted to do Dancer first. 

We wanted to make sure she was not pregnant before we sell her and she needed a new coggins test. I also had him check to see if her wolf teeth were removed. I was pretty sure we had done that when she was 2 years old but wanted to make sure. The wolf teeth were removed earlier and she was open. We took her outside for the pictures required for the coggins test. She was loaded right back up into the back of the trailer and then came the test. Could I get Harli out of the side door of the trailer and leave both colts inside. Well that happened with no drama at all. Harli was put in the stocks for the ultrasound first. Not only did she settle we could also see a heart beat. 

She was bred to Evan and is due July 29th, 2027. Next Dr. Hoerr needed to check her cheek where she had an abscess. That had healed up well but when there is an abscess in that area it can be a tooth problem. Dr. Hoerr could feel a bony bump but no sign of infection. His guess was the first time we saw the abscess she had gotten a splinter or foreign object in that area and the second abscess was when that foreign object made it's way out. However we will keep a watch on it just in case it would happen again. Dr. Hoerr was also asked about her itchy skin. He said she is hyper sensitive to the no-see-ums those tiny little gnats that bite. He said that will disappear as the weather cools.  The next job was to get the colts out through the side door for their blood draws and pictures. Merlin was happy to jump out as his mama was right there. He stood perfectly for the blood draw and reasonably well for the pictures. I had to shove Rosaleigh's colt out. He thought it was too high to step down. He also stood very well for the blood draw. Dr. Hoerr took one look at him and said, "that's a nice colt!"  I was sure to tell his owner that. I asked Harli to get in the side door and was pleased when she jumped in. The two colts needed a little encouragement but both made the big jump inside. When we got back to the farm Dance was unloaded first then Harli out the back. I had taken the halter off of her colt and thought he would follow Harli off the trailer but instead he stayed with Rosaleigh's colt.

Those two boys decided they would rather stay in the trailer than jump down and it wasn't near as big of a step from the side door at the vet clinic. I finally got some grain and Merlin jumped down. He was put away while I was waiting for Rosaleigh's colt to make up his mind and jump down. After about 15 minutes I finally called Mark and asked him to come help but before he arrived the colt calmly stepped off of the trailer. I was glad Mark came though as once the truck and trailer were put away I had a ride back to the house.  This afternoon Mark and Mackenson cleaned up the manure spreader getting rid of any net wrap stuck on the back then cleaned the gutters here at the house.

My guests at the farm house asked if I had a large umbrella he could borrow. We had rain today and more rain is predicted tomorrow so I took one over and put it in the garage for him. The mares in the pond pasture saw me on the golf cart and came to the fence to see if I had anything for them.

Since I had no airbnb's to clean or flip I made Mark a fancy feast tonight for supper. He had shrimp cocktail with  home made cocktail sauce and lemons as a start, then pulled pork with bbq sauce, an egg roll with sweet and sour sauce and a salad with blue cheese crumbles.  He was very pleased with that dinner. We will have some ice cream for our dessert tonight but later. I worked on the website updating the mares in foal page. We are expecting 15 foals for 2027.

Unexpected Guests.

We picked up Mackenson for church this morning as Joan needed to drive Berlica there early. Today was ACYF at Gridley. Craig Stickling had the morning message on Daniel 1 and then 3rd John. Click HERE to watch that message. Mike Kaisner had the afternoon message on the Amos 3 and 4. Click HERE to watch that. We took Israel to Sarah and Nolan's house after church. They had their pond stocked today with bass, catfish, bluegill and stripers. We drove through rain on the way home and that rain continued off and on most of the afternoon and evening. Just before supper the rain had stopped so Rhoda went to work with Tessa while Sarah and the girls rode Penny. Sarah sent back the picture below of River and Tessa. 

Joan dropped Nancy off so she could have supper with us as she needed to pick up Berlica. Amy and Ken drove over from Tremont to join us. We sure appreciate when those on the other side of the river drive all the way here to join us. Supper wasn't anything that special but by the end of the evening pretty much everything was gone. As it was rainy the crafts from Gail were brought out. Even Nancy got to make something.

Rhoda, Sarah and Amy came over to the horses with me to do a practice run of loading horses. Tomorrow morning at 7:45 am I need to have Harli, Merlin, Rosaleigh's colt and Dancer loaded and on the way to Hoerr Vet clinic. We need coggins on Merlin, Rosaleigh's colt and Dancer and both Harli and Dancer need to be sonagrammed to see if they settled. We also need Dr. Hoerr to look at Harli's tooth and her itchy skin. That went well. We loaded, unloaded and loaded them again before putting them away and going back to the barn. Then it was time to try out the new basketball machine Phil bought. 

Everyone helped clean up and I was just walking out the door when a work truck arrived. I asked if there was a problem and the driver explained, "I'm one of the workers that will be staying here tonight." I was confused because when they left last Thursday they talked about staying but never got back with me so I thought they found somewhere else to stay. I was glad I was there to turn on the parking lights, turn down the air conditioner and unlock all the bedroom doors. They stayed the last 2 weeks at the farm house and foaling apartment and would have book both again but both of those were already booked for the week. They are all really nice men and we are glad to host them.

Fred Complains Again

Our farm house guests last night came because their daughter is practicing with a Farmington club doing silks. She asked if I knew what that was and was glad to say "OH YES!" Joan's girls all did the silks. I told them about Spark's fire truck parked in the indoor arena just for that. I had no idea there were clubs doing that and just a few miles away. She shared the pictures below of her practicing there. 

I walked out of the garage door at 7:30 am to see Berlica riding Harli with Merlin following walking down the lane. She was just taken a walk around the neighborhood and Harli was happy to go.

I got the phone out to grab some video of them.

I went to Sam's Club to get the food for tomorrow's meal.

The farm house guests were gone when I got home from Sam's so as soon as the food was put away, I went right to work cleaning the farm house. The 3 guests that stayed in the barn last night needed move over to the farm house. When I was done Tessa, her filly and Rosaleigh's colt were taken to the stall. The two foals were haltered then Rosaleigh's colt taken out of that stall and led to another. He is weaned but not used to being by himself. He is sold and will be leaving this next week so it is good to practice.

I took a short video to show the girls how he was acting.

This colt sure did inherit the mega hair of his dam. Check out that tail in the video above. He is 5 months old and that tail is so thick and long his owner is going to have to spend extra time on that as he grows. Tessa's filly was also haltered and tied. She is all pretty in pink. Her owner named her Lucy.

Mark was out working on a fence when I showed him a couple nails that needed to be removed. He was glad to help with that easy job. He really does have the tools needed. All of the laundry from the farm house as hauled over to the barn and I spent a few hours washing all of the bedding and towels from both the farm house and the barn. I was still folding sheets when Philip, Kensley and a friend arrived. Kensley borrowed the golf cart and Philip showed me how to take down the new basketball machine just in case I would need to do it by myself. It is a very large machine but folds up nicely and will fit in the coat closet in front of the freezer. Mark was busy washing his car.

That car is SO demanding. Our old cars didn't care if they were dirty, this car sends out messages that the cameras need to be cleaned, or the trunk was left open or it even tells on Mark if he forgets to shut a door. We are both getting texts from Fred (the car) daily. Yesterday Fred complained about the front end cameras and wouldn't even go the speed limit until Mark cleaned them. Mark helped me this evening to take down the big clock in the barn and put in a new battery. It takes 2 of us to put it back up. Berlica was mowing with the diesel grass hopper while Mackenson was using the push mower.

I'm so thankful they will do the job. There is a lot of mowing that must be done.

Dancer Jumps

 I went over at 6:30 am to start cleaning the foaling apartment but the guests were not yet gone. I went back to the house to make a quick breakfast for Mark and I. When I got back to the apartment the middle paddock was empty. The back gate was down and the horses no where in sight. I started searching and found them in the pond pasture so when Mark came over asked him to help get the gate back on. As we were working all 4 of those horses walked back into the paddock to get a drink. We got the gate on then moved a new bale in for them.

Below Mark is taking the skid steer back to the barn.

I went to work on the foaling apartment. Rhoda arrived to work with Tessa but I couldn't watch, as both the apartment and the farm house needed to be flip. Sarah arrived with all of the children, hers and Rhoda's and they started working with Dancer. I stopped to take a few pictures of that. 

Dancer is such a sweet mare.

Sarah even took a picture of Rhoda with her.

Rhoda and Zion decided to go on a trail ride with Dancer and Penny. The trails were wet and kind of slippery as it had rained earlier this morning. Rhoda asked Dancer to trot over a log, she slipped, caught her self and jumped it nicely.

Even Penny jumped that log. We were really pleased at how well Dancer remembered crossing creeks. She did very well on the trail EXCEPT, she wanted to run up the hill. Rhoda did not want her galloping up so made her walk it. Sarah took the video below of the trail ride.

I finished cleaning both the apartment and farm house around 1:30 pm, just in time as the apartment guests showed up just then. They called to see if they could come early. We were a little worried as the drive going up the hill washed out with that 2.4 inches of rain. Mark had been spreading manure but stopped and used the skid steer to drag it and that worked.

As the horses really wanted to graze in the pond pasture I asked Mark to help get the downed fence back up. I loaded up 2 of the 16 foot long boards on the top of the golf cart.

Those were painted for the outdoor arena and not used and were perfect for this job. We had to cut 4 feet off of each one.

As soon as they were up I let the mares out the back. By the time we got back to the house we were both tired and I really didn't want to cook. Mark decided a cobb salad from Gils was the perfect supper and I was more than happy to agree with him.

Our waitress brought us a second bowl but even though we split it we still had some left. We chose not to finish it as dessert waited.

The guests from the apartment and farm house have now arrived. The 3 older Swedish men won't make it here until after 10:00 pm. They will spend one night in the barn then move over to the farm house as soon as the guests today leave and I get it cleaned for them. We turned the barn parking lights, the dining room lights, the gym hall lights and three of the bedroom lights on for them. Hopefully they won't have any problems finding the bedrooms.

Moving Manure

 We were both up by 5:00 am I had to get up then as I had forgotten to load the coffee maker. Usually Mark gets up first and starts it. This coffee maker works quickly so it isn't a hardship to wait the few minutes it takes to brew a pot. I'm using mom's old one, as it is much faster than mine and I left mine in the farm house. After the walk I finished the barn for the men coming in tomorrow. Sarah was here with Zion, Eden and River. They had been working with Tessa but when I arrived we pulled Dancer out. We did a little round pen reasoning first.

Dancer hasn't been ridden or worked with since 2023 as she was a mom last year then left at Middle Grove. 

Mike thinks she is a plug but today she showed us some of her Thoroughbred side. It will be good to get her back in work. Dancer is Jewel's daughter, Grace's grand daughter and is 75% Friesian. Her sire is Evan. I let him out to graze today.

He has the field until we get the fence fixed in the mare pasture. Today was manure spreading day. I loaded while Mark spread.

We call that our black gold. It really does a great job enriching the fields.

We sure did need to clean up when we quit on that job. After our showers Mark took me out to eat. I won't say where but we didn't have a lot of time so it was that fast food restaurant that has crowns for little customers. After we ate we drove to Skylines for the service. David had the message on Jesus the Bride Groom.

I wish it could be shared here, it really was very relevant and David explains everything very well. Of course after we needed to visit with everyone. It really was good to be there. I showed Elisabet the aviary and aquarium. The birds are so pretty.

We thought the birds were colorful until we checked out the fish. There was a bright blue and even brighter yellow fish.

We really do have a wonderful home!