Sarah's Graduation

I finally got around to posting Sarah's graduation pictures. She is my youngest daughter, hard to believe she is now a high school graduate!

Sunday May 31st, 2009

I lost my phone yesterday so had to use our home phone to call mom and ask if she would send one of the Reinhard girls over to feed Lily breakfast. I told her I would pay $3.00 to who ever wanted to feed and water her and Sarah Reinhard said she would. We didn't leave for the farm until after church around 2:30. I found my phone at Diane's house, I remembered that I had gone in to wash my hands, put my phone down and then went to the playground for the graduation party. Diane and Mike spent the night at Middle Grove so of course they didn't know it was in their house. Mark took the power washer and battery charger so while he worked on charging the battery and cleaning up the dump trailer, I fed, watered and cleaned Lily's stall. I saw that one of her staples fell out so I asked Mark to help hold Lily while I bandaged her. She stood very well for the bandage so I don't think it hurts her but it sure looks bad. While Mark was working on cleaning up the tracks of the skid steer, I fed Raven, then started picking grass for Lily. She was so excited to have green grass, I spent longer than I should have feeding her. I handled all three foals and Sangria's colt is taller than Big Sally's colt even though Big Sally's colt is 11 days older than Sangria's colt. Both boys were good for me to pick up all 4 feet, rub their ears, bellies, and legs. They both still need to be named. Sangria's colt has long feathers on all 4 legs but on the back legs the feathers are especially thick and curly. He has great conformation, tall, short backed and long necked but if you like stocky, then Big Sally's would be the colt for you. He also has great conformation, hey what can I say, he is a Raven son, but he is more stocky. I need to get video's of these boys playing together, so cute! Lily's filly, Ciera, is just plain FABULOUS! I really can't fault her conformation. I wish I could let her out to run and get some new pictures but I don't want to stress out Lily. Ciera looks forward to anyone coming in and playing with her. I told Diane to leave the truck hooked up to the trailer and I will bring Jenis and Ylse to Bridlewood tomorrow. I have 9 big round bales of good quality hay that should be used up and I don't want to pay to have them hauled to the farm. It's about time I had horses here again. I posted a picture Diane emailed me. This is her grand daughter Willow with Raven. Raven saw her coming and put his head down for some loving.

Middle Grove

I had to get up at 5:00am and start laundry. Usually I do it all on Friday but I spent Friday driving to Middlebury, IN to pick up a trailer. I was at TSC by 8:00am and bought more shots for the horses and 10 more bags of bedding. Mark was home from his Bible study by the time I got home so we loaded up and took off for the farm. Lily was glad to see me, I moved her into the other side stall and fed her there so I could start cleaning hers out. I opened the window and she could see Sangria and Big Sally. She was so excited to see them. Both she and Ciera started calling through the window. I turned Sangria and Big Sally out so we could start cleaning their paddock, they came right up to Lily's window as if to ask her to come out with them. It just about breaks my heart to keep them locked up but the surgeons gave us strict orders to not let them out of the stall for a month. Sangria is in season and I'm NOT going to breed her this year. I think we will give her another year off. She is so much fun to ride and if she has a foal by her side I can't take her on our trail rides. Mark started loading with the skid steer and put the new trailer in place then finished Lily's stall. When I came out Mark had the trailer loaded, I mean LOADED. We drove it out to where we thought was a great place to dump it, jumped out of the truck, opened the back and pushed the buttons. The trailer got as high as it was going to get but the manure didn't move. Mark tried to move the truck forward but it was stuck. We had loaded it with more than 8000 pounds! I went for the pitch fork and Mark went for the skid steer. Between both we got about half of it emptied but we still couldn't get the truck out. Finally Mark put the skid steer under the trailer, lifted it a bit until I could pull it out. After working an hour on the first load, we finally figured out how to dump correctly and the next 5 loads went quickly. I was putting the trailer in place and saw Ribbon push against the gate and break the clip. As I was driving forward, Ribbon walked out, Jenis walked out, Aries, and Velvet following. I finally was able to jump out of the truck and stop the rest of the horses from escaping. Mark took over both the truck, trailer and skid steer while I caught horses. I brought the shots out with me so Jenis, Samantha, Sanna, Izadora, Ylse got their pneumabort shots and Class Act and Caspian got their 5 way. By the time I was done with the shots, Mark had stopped with the manure. The trailer's battery needs to be charged up for the next time so he started working on cutting the trees up that he felled the last time he was out. I unhooked the dump trailer and hooked up the stock trailer and loaded Salena, Palmer and Rusty up and started driving to Monmouth to deliver them to their new home. Palmer is so cute, I've posted the picture I took of him at 6 days old. He is really friendly and the new owners will love him. Monmouth was farther than I expected and I almost ran out of gas on the way home. I made it to Casey's with fumes because when I filled it up I put more than 25 gallons in a 25 gallon tank. I got back to the farm and Rhoda helped me load Izadora, Pacheron, Clara and Sophie to take to Middle Grove. Karin had 7 horses out all with kids on them for a trail ride and Rhoda pulled out Ylse so she could join them. Ylse got stuck in the creek. We decided Mike is going to have to work on the creek crossing, it is just too muddy. I pulled in the field at Middle Grove, hooked up the electric gate, then opened the back door to the trailer. Clara stepped off the trailer fine, Sophie wouldn't get off so I opened up the next section and Pacheron jumped out, He was thrilled to be back, Izadora wasn't as patient as she could have been because by the time I unhooked her she almost ran poor Sophie over. Sophie still wouldn't get out of the trailer. I started pushing her out and she was pushing me back in so I yelled at her, just then she jumps out, scares Clara and as it was Clara's first time to be at Middle Grove she ran forward, hit the electric gate and instead of stopping panicked and ran right through it. Just as I was trying to catch Clara, Mike and Diane showed up to help. Clara realized she was on the wrong side of the fence but couldn't figure out how to get back in. I finally got a bucket of grain and she came running back. Finally all 4 were in and we went back for another 4. This was around 5:00pm and Rachel was holding a graduation party at the lake for David Jacob and Jessica so we went over for dinner. Rachel did a great job with the food. She bought pizza all one topping then sauteed lots of onions, mushrooms, and peppers for who ever wanted to add them. It was delicious. After a great dessert of cake, I left for home and Mike and Diane started loading the next 4 horses. The first 2 were easy, Samantha and Sanna, then they loaded up Jewell. Then they called they couldn't figure out which colt was Class Act and which was Caspian. They actually started loading Caspian before I convinced Diane that they had the WRONG colt. Caspian has a star and Class Act does not. They switched the colts and headed for Middle Grove. By the time they pulled up to the gate, the other 4 came running to see who was in the trailer. Mike had to keep them away so Diane could drive in. It is so neat to see how excited the horses are when we pull in. They all come galloping up and surround the trailer. Mike and Diane are staying out there this weekend to keep an eye on things and make sure the horses will settle down. What a long day.

Long Drive

I left this morning around 7:00am to drive to Middlebury, Indiana to pick up the new trailer. I asked the walkers, Diane and mom, to feed Lily for me so I didn't have to drive out to the farm. I picked up the trailer and all the connectors worked, YEAH I didn't have to drive 5 hours home with no lights. On the way home, I called Karin to see if after vaulting she would take care of Lily. I was going to drive the trailer out to the farm and then take care of Lily but I just plain got too tired. The truck and trailer are parked in my yard. Tomorrow we will take it out and break it in. I need to pick up bedding at TSC first. Karin said Lily looks good. The vet checking out her filly Ciera, put down that she was 3 months old. Ciera was only 3 WEEKS old. I was surprised how much she grew the 5 days they were gone, either that or I just forgot how big she was.
Darcy met me at the door, I can tell she feels much better. I fed her a half of can of soft dog food, then Rhoda gave her another 4th of a can with her pills in it and another bottle of Ensure.
Mom called to tell me my niece, Michelle delivered her baby girl and all is well. I've been following Michelle's blog and she was only 2 days over due. If anyone wants to read a funny story, get on Michelle's blog. I roared with laughter on her story of Shaeya Saves the Day. The link is: http://michellesblog6.blogspot.com/
Her kids are probably just as cute as my grand daughter. I posted a picture of Shaeya with her pet duck.

Lily's Home

I made it home from the funeral about 12:30, changed my clothes, cleaned out the trailer and took off for the University of Illinois to pick up Lily and Ciera. Even though they had only been there since Saturday, I was surprised how much Ciera grew. She was the darling of UofI. Lily was kind of grumpy but once I got her home and fed her she was much happier. She has a HUGE incision, her staples will need to come out in about 10 days. She is on strict stall rest for a month so I will start counting down the days. My bill was $4167.00, not as bad as last year but I sure wish I could have at least one year without traveling to UofI for an emergency! I made it home by 5:15pm and asked Mark if we could go out to Arby's and then to WalMart for groceries. Arby's just happened to send coupons in today's mail and we got their crispy chicken salad. It was really good as I didn't take time for lunch. Off to Walmart to buy ensure and soft dog food for Darcy. She was feeling better tonight but is still leaking from her staples. I had to encourage her to drink the ensure, she got 2 down about 6:30pm and at 8:30 another half of one. Rhoda bandaged her and will take her in to work with her tomorrow. Mom is going to feed Lily for me in the morning, I'm taking off for Indiana to pick up the new trailer and won't be home until late.

Thursday May 28th, 2009

Had to drive to the farm at 6:30am to make sure I was home in time to get ready for a funeral. Jazz is out of season, I'll call the Circle Double D barn manager to come pick her up. I also moved Salena and her colt into a big paddock, then put Rusty, a horse from CIRTS with her. She was NOT happy. She wants to be back with Sangria and Big Sally and is sure that other horse is out to get her colt. Rusty is a nice fellow and only wants to be friends. I watched them for while then had to leave. I will ask Diane to check on them and if Salena still hasn't settled down, perhaps we will move her into the paddock next to Rusty. Salena is sold and will be leaving on Saturday and the buyers are also taking Rusty so we want them to get acquainted. Last night Steven had them in stalls next to each other.
Dr. Hoerr needs to come collect Raven for 3 or 4 mares. He talked to me about it yesterday while I was waiting with poor Darcy.
Rhoda went to pick her up at the emergency clinic, it was underwear that Darcy ate. We will have to change something around here. Darcy may be locked downstairs from now on. The problem is she goes hunting at night and will rummage through the laundry room. We tease Rhoda that she is working to support her dog.
Darcy is now home and she is one sick girl. The surgeon made a very long incision and when Rhoda went to pick her up she was lying in her own urine. We cleaned her up as best we could, she does not have a bandage on and the incision site is weeping. We put a clean sheet on her dog bed and she is now lying quietly in the playroom. Hope she recovers quickly.

Darcy's Surgery

It is almost 11:00pm and Darcy is going into surgery as we speak. She was vomiting violently when I got home from church so we knew we couldn't wait until morning. The sad thing is this is the 3rd vet clinic she visited today. Rhoda took her to work at Dunlap Vet clinic but they were pretty backed up, Rhoda called me to take her to Hoerr Vet clinic. There they sedated her, scoped her, gave her IV fluids, then tubed her and pumped in mineral oil and sent her home. Now we are at the Emergency Clinic where the vet is going to open her up and hopefully remove the obstruction. The first thing the Vet said to us was maybe we should be taking her to UofI. Rhoda told him "NO WAY," I'll sign a release form but we cannot wait any longer. They have started the surgery and now sent us home. Please pray for Darcy.

Darcy

Last night Darcy would not sleep in Rhoda's room. I got up once and made sure Rhoda's door was open and asked Darcy to go in but she wouldn't, she just wanted to be by my side of the bed. This morning I take her down to do her job, bring in the newspaper, and instead of running for the paper she runs into the other yard and hides under the lilac bushes. Uh OH, I think she may have eaten something she shouldn't have. Darcy loves helping the girls clean their rooms by eating items of clothing left on the floor. This would be great except then the clothes get stuck in her intestines and she has to have surgery to pull it out. Darcy has already had 3 major surgeries for this, plus last week she was spayed and the staples aren't out yet. If she has to have surgery again, it will be her 5th time and I don't know how many more times this can be done. Please everyone pray for Darcy, dumb dog but we LOVE this dog.

Dump Trailer

We have purchased a dump trailer for our manure. I'm pretty thrilled to be making this purchase, this will really help me with the paddocks, plus help me manage our very plenteous piles of manure turning it into wonderful compost. My daughter-in-law, Anna will be picking this up for me on Friday from Indiana. We will plan on using it all day on Saturday, hopefully I can wipe out at least 2 paddocks. I'll have to plan on ordering the lime quickly so once the manure is out, I can spread the lime for a good base. This will sure make Karin happy. She wants the paddocks cleaned before her vaulting camp. We can also use the trailer to haul the scrap metal from the fences out.
At the farm, Jazz is still in season and covered today. Sanna's leg is looking much better. Sangria's colt and Big Sally's colt both still need to be named.
Dr. Schaffer called just now for an update on Lily. She is doing very well. They changed the bandage and the incision is healing well. She is eating and drinking enough to support both herself and Ciera. I should be able to bring them home the end of this week. I heard from the people buying Salena and her colt, they want her delivered on Saturday after lunch. Things are looking up!

Middle Grove

We are anxious to start hauling horses out to Middle Grove but first we must work on the fence line. With so much rain this spring the creek has washed out quite a bit of the fence. We also need to mow badly. Middle Grove is a paradise for the horses, they love it when we take them out. There is so much freedom, creeks, a pond, trees to stand under and get cool and lots and lots of grass. I took this picture last summer. We had over 20 horses there, all the Friesians hang out together and Darling, the Haflinger would be the only non Friesian with that group. Darling raised a Friesian filly one year for us so she must have thought she was one of the elite group.
I will ask Mike to check Jazz this morning, she should be going out of season and I need to let her owner's barn manager know the day she says no. I'll also need to drive to Morton, IL for more sulpha for Sanna, to TSC for more bedding to prepare for Lily and Ciera. All of this will have to be done after work. This morning before rolling out of bed, I was praying that This IS the day the Lord has made and I WILL rejoice and be glad in it. No matter what comes today, I WILL find something to rejoice about.

Updates

UofI called and Lily is doing GREAT. They are taking her off fluids and giving her a flake of hay every 4 hours. Her filly Ciera is also doing well.
After my husband and I spent 4 hours splitting wood today I drove out to the farm to get Big Sally covered but she is out of season. Mike pulled out Velvet to see if she was still in and she is not. The only one in right now is Jazz and she was covered last night. Raven was fed, then we moved in 2 round bales. I headed over to the cabin to check on Sanna. Sanna's leg breaks out if it is humid or muddy and because of the rain and mud her right hind leg was swollen on Friday. She was taken out of the mud and put at the cabin field with Bunni, Mika, Paris, Autumn and Jewell. None of them are her friends but this is actually good, it is keeping her moving. I pulled her sulpha and saw I only have one dose left after today. I'll have to take a trip to Morton for more. I still need a name for Sangria's colt and Big Sally's colt. Mike said he wanted to name Big Sally's colt but he hasn't gotten the job done. We talked about moving horses to Middle Grove but Mike went out yesterday and he will need to mow around the perimeter as the grass is so tall it is shorting out our electric fence. We will try for next weekend. It is a cloudy, rainy day and not so good for a picnic but we are still going to be grilling hamburgers.

Jozsef's Wedding, Sarah's Graduation

So, in afternoon church we celebrated Jozsef Davidovics and Tina Coburn's wedding, then instead of heading to the reception we drove to Glasford, IL for Sarah, my youngest daughter's high school graduation. The gym was packed and hot and the graduation seemed to last forever, really only an hour and a half. Sarah got a small scholarship to ICC enough for the first semester. I'm grateful for that, every little bit helps. She also graduated with honors and got to wear the coveted gold cord. After graduation and still in my Sunday clothes, we stopped at the farm so I could check Jazz. She was still in so I had Raven cover her. By the time we headed for home it was after 5:00 and we were ready for dinner. We stopped at New China Kitchen and ordered vegetable egg foo young, chicken with vegetables and fried rice. There was way to much for just Mark and I and all the kids are at the lake for volleyball so I guess I'll just put it in the fridge for lunch tomorrow for who ever shows up.

Lily and Ciera

Dr. Schaffer called me this morning a little after 9:00 for an update and Lily came through the surgery great and had a good night. She is hungry and they are letting her have her hay through the bars of the stalls so she can't eat too fast or too much. She is letting Ciera nurse fine. They told me last night I could probably plan on taking her home next weekend but I'm so encouraged that I think Lily and Ciera will be home sooner than expected.
Today in church I was reminded to give thanks to the Lord in all things. I must confess, I didn't feel like thanking God for this. I was reminded that Lily is HIS and I am only to do the best I can taking care of HIS horses. So thinking of things I was thankful for in all of this: I am truly thankful I was there early Saturday morning and was able to keep Lily comfortable enough until the real help arrived. I am thankful Dr. Pallen came right away and told me not to wait, take her before she would become dehydrated and in so much pain that her heart rate would be unstable. I'm thankful for UofI that competent doctors and surgeons could diagnose and fix the intestine. I'm thankful that Ciera is as old as she is. I'm thankful that my mom offered to lend me the money, INTEREST FREE, to pay for this bill. I'm thankful that Lily has a deluxe stall to come home to. I think I could go on and on.
I am reminded that all in this life will come to nothing, all we possess, all we own will be someone else's once we are gone it is only what we do for GOD that is of value. So YES, I am THANKFUL!

Lily's Colic

This morning around 7:15 Steven Marchal let the mares out to graze and Lily went into the field and immediately laid down. I got to the lake right at 8:00am for the work day at the lake and Steven told me that we might be having a problem. We brought Lily and her filly Ciera into the stall and she was uncomfortable so I gave her banamine and left her in. We got Big Sally covered, then I headed over to the lake for mom's work day. I kept driving over to check on Lily and thought she was feeling better around 10:00am so I let her out and she ran out into the field with the other mares and foals. By 11:00am Lily went back in the stall and laid down again. At 11:18 I gave her more banamine. By 11:45 I knew I'd better call the vet. She just wasn't doing well. Dr. Pallen got to the farm around 1:15 and Lily was no better. Dr. Pallen felt an impaction but also felt it was a displaced colon and recommended we haul her to the University of Illinois. Mike let me borrow his truck as I didn't want to waste the time to go back home to get my truck. Dr. Pallen gave Lily something to make the trip more comfortable and then we locked Lily in the front and Ciera in the back just in case Lily drops during the trip. I started driving for UofI at 2:00pm. I called Steven and he met me in Morton. Steven is very attached to Lily. He did all the training on her and he really wanted to go to find out if she would be ok. It is a 2 hour trip from the farm but I actually made it in 1hour and 45 minutes, ok, I confess I was speeding! After Lily's evaluation it was determined that yes, she must have surgery. We waited until one of the doctors came out to tell us that Lily's bowel was in good shape, it was a displaced impaction and they did not have to resect any bowel, but will be just opening it up and pulling the impaction out, then put the intestines back in place.. We left for home after 6:00pm with the understanding the surgeon would call once she is out of recovery. It is 9:00pm and I am still waiting to hear from UofI. Actually they just called at 9:10pm and Lily is back in her stall doing ok. They feel she will be ready to come home next weekend. I'll update more tomorrow.

Pictures of the Friesian Andalusian Stallion

We can't believe the FEATHERS on this newborn. He will be a fantastic example of a Warlander Stallion.
Just born and so sweet. He is also Tall, Black, Hairy and Imprinted. Notice his tiny star. He is just getting ready to rise in this picture and can't quite figure out what to do with these long legs.

Sangria's New Colt

Sangria had a well filled out, tall, black colt this morning and ALL is WELL! She delivered by herself, had no problems foaling, the colt was up and nursing well within a couple of hours and the placenta was delivered complete. I am so THANKFUL, I repeat sooooo THANKFUL!!! Now for the colt. He is black, has a few white hairs on his forhead, a very tiny star, and He has curly FEATHERS on all 4 feet. I have got to get pictures of this, he will be one hairy Friesian Andalusian stallion. As tempted as I am to keep him because of selling Athena, I know I will place him for sale at weaning. I'm not prepared to keep another stallion and he is way to high of quality to geld. Rejoice with me!
Jazz was covered today and Big Sally is now in her foal heat. I forgot to check Velvet, it has been 3 days since she was covered and with all the other mares, she gets left out. I've asked Steven to tease her to see if she is still in. She was and Raven got her covered also. His stamina continues to amaze us.
I've posted a picture of Sangria's newborn colt taken right after birth.

Auction fun!

Wow did I have fun tonight. I pulled in at the auction right at 6:30pm and got to watch the horses warm up. There was one big gray warmblood looking mare in the arena so I asked the guy riding about her. He said she was a 10 year old 16.3 hand mare out of a Percheron stallion and a TB mare. He said she came from a barn up near Barrington, IL and was used for dressage. I watched a while and wasn't very impressed with her gaits but thought maybe the man was holding her back. During the tack part where they were selling headstalls, I left the ring and walked back to the barns to look her up without the owner there and without a saddle on so I could see her conformation better. I found her in a stall, she was not 16.3, maybe 16.1, she had a very long back and was thin. I opened her mouth and she had VERY long teeth for a 10 year old, really they looked like an 18-20 year old. I asked what the age said on her coggins and the man didn't turn one in with her, he said he 'lost' it on the way down from Barrington. Probably because it had the wrong age on it. :o)
Anyway here is what I bought, 4 bottles of fly spray, the kind that renders bot eggs sterile. 2 new English bridles one with a nice 5 inch full cheek snaffle. An older Western saddle size 17 inch. (What I liked about it was it is not a heavy one). Ten lead ropes, 11 small flat back buckets, 12 5 gallon flat back buckets, 9 manure scoops, the kind we like, a neat tack holder bag for bridles or halters, it is blue and has the bridle rack built right in, it is really cool, I bought it for the vaulters for the shows, 2 bottles of leather cleaner, 8 mane combs, 6 sweat scrapers and 5 cheap hoof picks. Like I said, I must have gone a little crazy, who needs 9 manure forks? The new buckets I wanted for the new stalls and I noticed today I was having trouble coming up with lead ropes to take Knight and Anni to Forrest.
After the tack came the horses. There were some sad looking horses there, nothing we would be interested in but we stayed until the gray mare came through, just to see what she would go for and what the owner would say. I'm so glad Diane told me that Horsemeister would pay for everything.

Anni & Knight

I took a quick trip out to the farm this morning, checked Sangria, fed Raven and Jazz, loaded up Anni and Knight and headed to Forrest, IL. It took me 2 hours from the farm to Emily's house because of road construction, usually it would only take about a hour and a half. Emily was happy to see them both and had 2 HUGE stalls prepared for them. Emily had Big Sally trained well and we look forward to seeing what she can accomplish with Anni. Anni is confirmed in foal to Raven and once she is trained to ride she will be for sale, although riding horses are getting short around here and Anni has a wonderful disposition so Mike may choose to keep her. I offered Emily's family Knight for another year as Joan and Tim's tour of duty in Haiti won't end before that. Emily was excited to have him and may keep him that long. I left the truck and trailer at my house as I'm going to an auction tonight and you just never know... I think if I came back with another horse, it would need to be VERY special. Here we are trying to cut our numbers but how can I resist at least looking. We are having another beautiful bright sunny day, perfect hay drying weather. By tomorrow the hay should be dry enough to be baled. I don't know if our farmer will get to it, we may have to wait another day as he is taking care of lots of fields, not just ours. After lunch I started working on my paddock here at Bridlewood. I gave up on Mark bringing the skid steer here and it would cost me $200.00 to bring it so off to shoveling by hand. I worked on that for an hour then came in to take a break and cool off. We'll see if I have the energy to go back out. This is what I call HARD LABOR! At least I can ALWAYS see my progress.

Salena and Colt

The deposit came today for Salena and her colt. We will be delivering them within 2 weeks. I hope the colt's registration papers come in time. I got an email from the Friesian Heritage Horse International today and they said the 6 registrations I sent in are all filled out and will be in the mail soon, so I think Palmers will be here in time. Lady was teased and she is NOT in season so we will count down until we can have her sonagram. She is sold and leaving for WI as soon as she is confirmed in foal. Big Sally was teased and she is still not in her foal heat. I may have missed it but I don't think so. Steven tried her at 7 days and we have tried every day since. Her colt is now 10 days old. He is so full of himself running and bucking, yesterday he was trying to climb up the big round bale. Jazz got covered today, Since she had a shot to bring her in, her heat probably won't last very long and we need to make sure she is taken care of. We decided that we are going to sell Velvet. This season will be her only chance to settle, if she does or doesn't she will be placed for sale. I know she will have a better home in foal to Raven than if we just sell her as a brood mare. I really do want the best home I can find for her. She raised a fantastic colt last year. We are working on making our goal of cutting back 10 horses before winter. I heard from Jeff from Tennessee, he bought Lily's colt 2 years ago. He said he is impressed with how easy Raven's babies are to train. I posted his email on my feedback page of the website along with a picture he sent and of course I had to post it here on the blog. I also posted a picture on my photo gallery foals page. The colt really does look like a purebred. Raven is doing GREAT at throwing himself!

Yesterday, May 19th, 2009

Last evening I was privileged to spend the evening with my new grandbaby, Addyson Faith Sceggel. She is such a joy but we had some good laughs listening to Ben, her daddy talk about her sleep habits.
Jazz and Velvet were covered yesterday. Big Sally was teased but no heat yet, Sangria's milk was tested but still not close. At least today her udder is bigger than yesterday so she is making progress. I think she doesn't want to have this foal so is putting it off after her last experience. Steven emailed about his training session with Clara. I copied it and am putting it on the blog so everyone can see how good she is coming along.
Judy,
I worked with Clara again today. This time I tacked up Sanna and ponied Clara around. She did really well. We rode down to the cabin, then down the drive to your mom's house, back up the drive, into the hay field and followed the treeline around and turned around and followed it back. Clara did wonderful. Not one spook or shy or even head up tall to look at something. her neck stayed pretty much straight off her withers the whole time following behind Sanna right at her back hip. I kept a hold of her lead rope but it never got tight where i had to pull Clara and most of the time there was slack. She went down for grass once but a minor correction and she didn't try again. When i would turn Sanna to change direction towards Clara, Clara would stop and pivot and wait for Sanna to get around her and then follow again. When i would turn away from Clara she would speed up just a tad to keep up and stay at Sanna's hip. I ponied her right past raven's paddock and even with raven up against the gate Clara just kept on going, no trying to greet or get away. Every time i stopped Sanna, Clara stopped. every time i walked Sanna on, Clara walked right away. I am thoroughly impressed. I thought for sure she would be spooking at things, but not even the tractor a few yards off cutting the hay bothered her. Knock on wood if everything goes as planned I'd like to try to take her on her first light trail this weekend being ponied.
Steven
I posted a picture of Sanna from last year. She rides and drives but what I didn't know is that she is a good quiet training mare.

House Cleaning

Today I am finally getting busy and house cleaning. I started with the attic and oh my were there ever lots of crunchy insect skeletons. Mostly lady bugs but a few wasps thrown in. That really grosses me out if I step on them. Probably because I'm not wearing shoes, ugh.
I cleaned out Sarah's attic room as she is now moved to the second floor. She didn't want to go through the clothes, she said just throw them all away. There wasn't much left up there but still a bag full. I know they are from a couple of years ago but still it seems a shame, I'll probably have Mark take them down to the South Side Mission.
I finished the Kitchen and playroom and by the time I got to the second floor, I'm running out of steam and decided to come sit and check my email. I have almost finished the laundry and laundry room but am waiting for the machines so get to quit.
After working on the house for 3 hours I needed a break and drove out to the farm. Steven called me yesterday to tell me Velvet is in season so Mike got her covered last night. I checked Lady and she is still in so I got her covered but I think she may be going out, she didn't stand as well as she had been. Raven was taken over to tease Jazz. Jazz is starting to show but for sure not in standing heat. I'll drive out early to help Mike with her tomorrow morning. I think Raven will get double work tomorrow, Jazz in the morning and Velvet at night. We are only going to try breeding Velvet on this season. If she doesn't settle we will get rid of her. She raised a beautiful colt last year and we just never got around to getting her bred back. That comes from too many horses and too little time.
Steven Marchal drove out to the farm and checked Big Sally for me to see if she is in her foal heat. She is not, then he worked Clara. He emailed me when he was home from the farm and I posted what he wrote about Clara on her page. I'm thrilled at how her training is coming along. Good Job Steven!

Sarah

This morning we had to be at church at 8:15am for Sarah's senior breakfast. We start to church after picking up our rider, Jerry, on Kickapoo Creek road. We get to Farmington road and it is closed because of flooding, then the rest of Kickapoo Creek road is closed so we head up the hill to catch the interstate and realize our car is almost out of gas. By now not only are we worried about being late but also being stranded on the interstate. Long story short we made it to church on time and had a wonderful breakfast. The slide presentation was nice and Mike Rieker's talk was so good for the seniors. There are 20 of them from that class. After morning church we headed home to get ready for Baccalaureate at Illi Bluffs. That was also nice, it only lasted an hour. Rachel was there with her camera so hopefully I'll get some pictures of my very grown up youngest daughter.
On the way home we stopped at the farm to check on Sangria. We were still in our Sunday clothes and I really didn't want to get muddy but needed to check on her. Steven showed up just when I needed him. Sangria is still not ready.
Rhoda, Karin, and Mike went on a trail ride and Steven rode Lily around the property just to make sure her filly would follow. Once we know that the filly will follow without running towards the other horses, Lily can be used for some of the big trail rides. We are always short of horses. Ruth's daughter was suppose to ride Cindy over to see if she is in season. They want to breed Cindy back to Raven.

Dinner & a Concert

Tonight Mark took Rhoda, Karin and me to Galesburg, IL where we had dinner at the Kozy Inn about 3 miles north of Galesburg. We didn't think much of it going into it but the food was good. Mark ordered as an appetizer a hay stack of onion rings and they were the best I think I have ever eaten, just exactly right, not too greasy, not too thick, just really good and plenty. They were thoroughly enjoyed by all of us. The home made soup on the salad bar was cream of mushroom and it REALLY was delicious. The salad bar was adequate. Three of us ordered the 10 oz prime rib and it was much bigger than we expected juicy and tender. Rhoda ordered a New York strip steak smothered in mushrooms, onions, and cheese. She claimed it was better even then our prime rib and gave us each a bite to prove her case. We got there at 6:00pm and were out of there by 7:00pm, giving us plenty of time to go back to Galesburg for the concert at the Orpheum Theater. The orchestra and combined choirs of Galesburg Community Chorus and Knox College were exceptional. They performed Brahm's Requiem. The music was so full and rich that we could hear it in our minds on the way home. All in all it was a wonderful end to a wonderful day.

Lady is Sold

What a busy day at the farm. We got the truck and trailer there around 9:00am for the trail riders. They saddled up and took 7 horses to Sandridge State Forest for a trail ride. Before they left, I had Mike help me get Lady covered by Raven. Steven had the mares loose in the indoor arena as after 5 inches of rain the fields are just too muddy to put them in. Steven and I started working on stalls and got them cleaned up in no time. We moved the mares and foals into the very muddy paddock so they could at least enjoy the sunshine. We then brought in Lady to clean her up for the people coming to see her. Steven started working on her tail and it took about an hour to get it beautiful. Lady has the thickest, longest tail I've ever seen on a three year old. Just as the Wisconsin people showed up to see Lady, a trailer drove up and it was Beth to pick up her Andalusian mare, Grace. They get her loaded, pulled away and a mini van pulls up and it was the couple to see Salena. It was pretty chaotic for a while. By 2:00pm the trail riders were back and all were on their way and I was headed for home.
Kickapoo Creek Road is closed, the creek is way flooded. The people from Wisconsin had a few detours because of flooding roads.
As I was sitting here typing this, I hear a knock on the door. The people that looked at Salena drove over to tell me they want to buy her and will bring the deposit by on Wednesday. I won't mark her sold until I actually have the deposit because we have had people change their mind in the past.
Mark and I are headed out to a concert in Galesburg tonight.

The Rain Stopped

Finally! We woke up this morning and didn't hear the sound of rain falling. A few years ago when we went through a drought, I told myself, "Never complain about rain." I've been trying hard to be thankful for all this wonderful fresh water. The papers are filled with pictures of flooded roads, houses, creeks and rivers. Hopefully this next week will be sunny and dry enough to get the hay cut.
I'm embarrassed this morning. I got an email from the Andalusian's owner. She is coming to pick up her mare this morning and I emailed her the amount of days the mare was here, only I accidentally added a week. Beth, the owner, caught it and asked me to double check. The mare came while we were in Gulf Shores, AL and when I got home I just circled the wrong date on my business calender. And I try to be so professional. Ha!
I just finished filling out all the forms for her to register the foal once it is born. Because I have Raven in 2 registry's I feel it is important to fill out both sets of papers and let the foal owner choose which they would like.

Karin and the Girth

Karin was excited about her new vaulting surcingle except she felt the girth was a little too big. She decided to send it back and get the smaller one. She was obsessing about the girth so much that the day before she sent it back she dreamed that she cut off small pieces and made appetizers with it by wrapping pieces of the girth in bacon, then when she was wrapping it up to send it back she saw that she ate too much off of it. When she woke up she was so glad it was a dream. So she sends it away and the smaller one comes and guess what, It is so small we cannot get the ends to meet. So she had to send that one back and get the original. She will just have to use extra padding.
Steven Marchal headed out to the farm today to feed the mares and clean stalls. He let the girls out in the indoor arena for some free time before the vaulters showed up. AGAIN I am so GLAD I have my OWN barn. We use to have to share arena time with all the boarders and now when ever we want the arena it is ours for the using. I posted a picture of some of the current vaulters. There are at least 5 not in this picture, the Reinhard girls and the Meister kids.
Steven called to tell me that I would not have to go out tonight, the horses are taken care of until morning. It is now 5:13pm and STILL RAINING right now we are having a thunderstorm. It hasn't stopped raining all day. The lady coming down to see Vanyel's Raven Lady is coming tomorrow on a motorcycle all the way from Wisconsin. I told her the rain is suppose to stop by 7:00am tomorrow and she is planning on leaving around 7:00 and hopes to be here by noon, so she should have good weather for the trip. Karin needs the trailer by 9:00am, I might just stay and clean up Lady for her showing. I don't ever think we have had mud this bad. I want to order the lime for the paddocks but we must let them dry enough to clean them out first.

Rain AGAIN!

We woke up to rain and it is now 11:33 am and has been pouring ALL morning. I got to the farm early to bring the mares and their foals in. I left them out last night, it was such a beautiful day and evening. By the time I got to the farm the foals were shivering. It is suppose to continue raining until tomorrow morning. I am so thankful for my new barn. Ralph helped me divide Big Sally's foaling stall so I could put all 4 mares in. Lily (the princess) is in the big stall. By the time I left all were munching away at their hay contentedly. I'll have to go back this evening but what a blessing it is to have my own barn with my own stalls. At Bridlewood, I had only one big stall for foaling and one small stall, then 2 run in shelters. The rest of Bridlewood is a boarding barn so of course customers get the best while I would make do. I feel like my horses are now in the Ritz! A lady that came out to look at Salena wanted to know if we would board her there if she bought her. I said absolutely NOT. I really want that barn to stay private, just for us, does that sound selfish? Mark is getting the Horsemeister office sign done. He showed me what it is going to look like and 2 places we could have it installed. I decided I did not want it over the door but to the right of the door. It is much bigger than I really wanted but I didn't tell him that, I don't want to discourage him. I am so thankful we got Lady covered yesterday, I would have hated to be standing out in this rain, making Raven and Lady be out in it also. I probably should have a breeding stand put up in the indoor arena but so far we have easily been able to work around the weather.

Square Bales

Today at work I got out 44 boxes of Bibles to different chaplains all over the United States. Each box has 12 Bibles, 12 studies, 12 letters explaining the study and 12 business reply envelopes. After work I drove out to the farm, checked to see if Lily was still in season but she is finally out. The mares were waiting to be turned out and fed. While I was letting them graze, I weeded some of the field. When I was a child I hated weeding the garden and now I am weeding a 17 acre hay field and would RATHER do it then go clean my house. After working a couple of hours on the field, I quit and left for Farmington, IL to look at some hay for sale. I ended up buying 100 square bales so I drove back to Hanna City and borrowed Mike's truck and the stock trailer, drove back to Farmington, loaded it and drove it back to the farm where I just parked the truck in the indoor arena. Mark grilled hamburgers for dinner and they were delicious, smothered in sauteed onions and mushrooms. Then we drove out to unload the truck and trailer. Ralph came over and helped so I helped Jamie work her mare Dakota. Once the trailer was emptied we stacked the bales that were in the truck in the indoor as we ran out of space in the storage area. Spark came over to borrow Mike's truck so he helped us unload the truck. Mike and Rhoda jumped on a couple of horses and rode the trails, Rhoda on Jenis and Mike on Autumn. They just rode them bareback but both mares were perfect. I tested Sangria's milk. She still is not close but I can see a difference in her udder today. I'm thankful that it is starting to fill up. Diane rode the 4 wheeler over so we got some visiting in until it was time for Mike to help get Lady covered. Today was a beautiful day, bright sunshine and high in the low 70s. Tonight there is suppose to be rain coming in again. I left all the mares out but had Mike move in a second round bale so Big Sally and Sangria don't have to wait for Lily and Salena to move away from the bale before they can eat.

Lady

Lady is in standing heat and was covered tonight. Lily and Salena were thrilled to get out into the field this afternoon. We kept them locked into the paddock all night and most of the day because of the heavy rain. Sangria and Big Sally were let out at the same time. Big Sally did not feel comfortable in the field with the other mares and came running back to the gate and asked to be put into the paddock. Silly mare, she could have been grazing. Sangria had to have a good long roll. It is so funny seeing that huge belly from the underside. She can still roll all the way over. We had a lady come see Salena and her colt. She was a ponyclubber that leased a horse from Bridlewood from way back. She is now a mom of 2 young children. She wants her kids to grow up with horses and I can't imagine a better wish to have. I have another person coming to see Salena on Saturday and another person called and asked about her so she will probably sell. I haven't heard from Emily Ricketts about when she wants Anni and Knight. Hope her dad is doing ok. Steven Marchal came out to help Karin with the vaulting and while he was waiting he watered the arena for me. Rhoda showed up to ride Ylse and Jenis. She is training them for the Northern IL Horse Fair held the end of August. Karin was pretty bummed out that the girth she ordered for the new surcingle is too small. She will have to send it back and try for a larger size. I made it home by 5:00pm to start dinner.

Sangria and Big Sally were left in the stalls overnight because of the predicted rain and rain it did. We are having torrential downpours and Peoria is again under a flood watch. I drove out to the farm, fed and watered Sangria and Big Sally and played with her colt. The colt was pretending to be a bucking bronco in the stall. I decided to keep them in because of the rain. The poor farmers cannot get into the fields to plant. Our hay is so tall if it isn't cut soon it will probably lay over. What a growing spring this has been for hay and grass. The yards look like they should be baled. The good thing about this is maybe hay will be less expensive, if farmers can just get it up dry. Hope we have a good sunny dry spell for a week.
Sangria was tested this morning and she is just not progressing in her milk production. Dr. Hoerr looked at her yesterday and feels all is still well. I guess I'm just a worry wort when it comes to Sangria. She is the mare that I ride on the trails. She has a very comfortable trot and her canter is like flying.
After cleaning their stalls I headed over to feed Raven, Jazz, and Grace the Andalusian. Grace is getting picked up on Saturday, good thing, I'm almost out of her grain even mixed with ours.
I left then because I'll head back around 2:00pm to water the arena for the vaulters. Hopefully I'll be able to have Raven cover Lady. She was starting to come in season last night but wasn't yet in a standing heat.

Where Do I Start?

After work today I called the vet clinic to see if they were running on time. The receptionist said yes they were so I ran home just long enough to let Darcy out and bring her back in then headed to the Hanna City farm. I brought Autumn and Paris over from the cabin field, Autumn for her coggins and Paris for her teeth floating, then I started bringing in the mares that were to be sonagramed and Sophie, Knight, and Anni for their coggins. Then I waited. Dr. Hoerr called about 2:30 and he had an emergency but he thought he would be at my place within an hour. I got busy cleaning up the place and spent some time grooming the horses while I was waiting. Steven arrived to help around 3:00 and we finished cleaning the stalls, then played with all of the foals. It is very good for them to be handled.
Once Dr. Hoerr and Dr. Pallen arrived things started hopping. Dr. Pallen started floating Raven's teeth while Dr. Hoerr started on the ultra sounds. First up was Salena and she was in foal, then came Anni and she was in foal but she also needed a coggins drawn. Next he did one of the outside mares, Grace the Andalusian, and she was in foal. I called her owner's phone number but just got the answering machine so I left a message with the good news. Last was Circle Double D's mare, she had a clear CL which meant she probably ovulated on Sunday and she wasn't brought over until Monday, no wonder she wouldn't accept Raven. Dr. Hoerr gave me a shot to give her on Saturday to short cycle her and then she should be in 3 to 5 days after the shot. Dr. Pallen got Raven's teeth done and started on Paris' teeth. She has some periodontal disease so needed more work then Raven. While she was working on Paris, Dr. Hoerr pulled Knight, Sophie and Autumn's coggins. Finally Dr. Hoerr gave Big Sally foal his foal shot. I needed to leave, it was 6:30 pm and I had been there since 1:30 so Steven and Mike stayed to put horses away. I'm very thankful for all the help I had today.

Big Sally's Colt

This picture was taken right after birth. Isn't he ADORABLE! We can't believe how big he is. He has cute tipped in ears that almost meet in the middle. He is going to make someone a a great horse and could be a fantastic herd stallion. He is very sweet and gentle and already wants to please. He is for sale at weaning for $4500.00 and can be reserved now with a $500.00 deposit, and payments until weaning in September.
We actually got a lot accomplished tonight. Mike cleaned out one of the sheds with the excavator, Steven saddled and got on Aries and I lead him around. He is actually coming along very well. Aries accepted the weight, would back on command and turn. We don't yet have a bit in his mouth, his wolf teeth have not been removed but he is working well with a halter. Mark was using the skid steer with the tree removal attachment, then started chain sawing the trees he took down. Mark is reclaiming our hay field.
We tried the mare that arrived for breeding but she is not in season. I think she will be sonagramed tomorrow also to find out if she is due to come in or should she be short cycled. Lily was covered so I'll mark her down. Sangria is so big but she is not bagging up yet. I guess I'll have to talk to Dr. Hoerr about that also.
Tomorrow Dr. Hoerr is coming any way for sonagrams, teeth and more coggins.

Big Sally's New Colt

Steven decided to stay the night last night as when we tested Big Sally she had a 54% chance of foaling and I wanted a good night sleep as more than likely she would have it on Monday night but... Steven called me around 9:30pm and told me that Sally was dripping milk so I decided to drive back out to the farm and stay also. We had Sangria on one side of the barn and Big Sally on the other side and both were restless. We jumped up every time we thought she was getting ready to foal but by 5:30am Steven needed to leave for work and I decided to drive home, have breakfast then come back. The walkers, Diane, mom and Rachel checked on her around 7:00am, then Diane drove up and checked on her around 8:15am before heading to work. I got back to the farm around 9:30am to meet Ean, the man bringing the mare to be bred to Raven, and there was the colt standing but not sure what else he was suppose to do. He is big, silver tipped with a black base so he should end up the blue black that is so desired once shedding his foal coat. She had him in a nice bed of straw, but I wanted to bring him into the barn and put iodine on his cord and do some imprinting. He is so big and strong I had a tough time getting them into the barn. Big Sally was not sure if I should be handling him and I had to keep telling her that it was fine and that she should just follow. She kept getting in front of us, trying to get me to stop. I got them into the stall and put him by her side and he started rooting for the nipples and found them within a few minutes. How wonderful when the foal is up and nursing without assistance. That's when I discovered I'd left my phone at home. I wanted so badly to call everyone to tell them the news. I had to drive over to mom's and wait for her to get off the phone to call Diane. Then we all headed back to the barn to see how they were doing. Joan's kids were at mom's so they got to come see him also. I don't know if we have EVER had such a huge colt. His leg bones are massive. I'll take my camera out later today and get some pictures but first I need a NAP!

Jazz

Circle Double D is bringing their mare Jazz this morning to be bred to Raven. She is in season now so she won't have to stay long. Steven Marchal stayed the night at the farm to keep an eye on Big Sally and Sangria. He didn't call so I'm assuming the mares did not foal. Windows were put in 2 of the stalls yesterday. Jozsef Davidovics put them in for me. After seeing them and how they work, I think I want at least 2 more. Jozsef is getting married so it will have to be after he gets back from his honeymoon.
Today is Mothers Day and we are having a picnic at the farm after church. I still need to get my mom a card and some flowers. I stopped at Aldi yesterday but didn't like the selection. I'll see if I can get Mark to stop on the way home from church.
I'm picking up my sister Nancy from Morton before church for the picnic so I'd better start getting ready.

Clara

Clara showed up this morning with a torn upper left eyelid. We can't figure out how, or where she cut it, she was in the cabin pasture with 2 weanlings and that is a 7 acre cleared pasture. I was video taping Classy last night and she was fine. I had to run her to Dr. Hoerr's today to get it stitched up. He thought it probably had been cut within a few hours of us finding it.
On a GREAT note we got 4 bookings for June. All to the same owner and all shipped semen. We LOVE that way of selling stud fees. There is no work for us and no danger to Raven. I had a lady ask me how I could take any risk with Raven for a measly $750.00 stud fee because we offer live cover. I know that without live cover, I would not have my Lily. I really appreciate a stallion owner that offers this and Raven is very careful.
We hauled in some of our round bales of hay left at the MiddleGrove farm as we have now run through all 82 bales I bought in March. We are going through more than one large round bale a day. WE MUST cut back in number of horses. I do not want to feed this many next winter.

Khelly's Class Act

Karin, Mike and Steven Marchal helped me with Classy yesterday. He got a good grooming and a training session. He was doing so well I had to make a video of his progress. I'm so pleased with how he is coming along. He was born Aug 23rd, 2008 and is for sale for $2500.00 but... Mike and Diane said they would accept offers so if someone is interested in a high quality, Raven son for cheap, make us an offer. Classy's grand sire was the Arabian Western Pleasure Champion Khelly and his sire is RAVEN. This boy can't help to turn out beautiful. Watch the video and see how sensible he is.

Friesian Registrations

After we were done performing at the Midwest Horse Fair I stayed in the arena and watched the Friesian Heritage Horse International (FHHI) perform. I was contacted last year about changing from the Friesian Sport Horse Registry (FSHR) to FHHI and decided it was confusing for my customers and that I would not pursue changing. The cost of re-registering all my Friesians just didn't make sense. After watching the FHHI I was most impressed with the quality of Friesians they had in this registry. The purebred Friesians that were performing were much BETTER quality than even of the FHANA Friesians that also put on a performance. My goal was always to produce FHANA quality or better with the purebred Friesian mares bred to Raven and the best quality possible with mares of other breeds. I've been happy with FSHR and I know they have done a good job with this registry but I've decided to make this large investment and register RAVEN with FHHI also and give my customers a choice as to which registry they would prefer. I want RAVEN'S offspring to at least have the choice especially when it comes to the inspections. FHHI offers inspections each year and FSHR does not. FSHR is very simple, you pay the $40.00, send in the correct paper work and you get a very nice laminated certificate back. FHHI is more confusing, you must also DNA the horse if you will be registering any of that horse's offspring and even if you are not you must still send in a hair sample with EVERY horse to be registered just in case there is a problem later. I don't know how my customers are going to feel about the extra work, so I will give them a choice.

Salena and Palmer

Today after Lily was covered by Raven, I turned her and Ciera out into the field. Salena was impatiently waiting by the gate, asking me to turn her loose also. I finally got over to turn her out and she took off running. Her colt though decided to 'help' me with the water buckets. Salena got all the way out to the field before she realized her colt wasn't with her and boy did she panic. She came thundering back, ran right past me into her paddock calling. The funny thing was the boy was with me, not in the paddock. Once she realized where he was she came over to get him and they sedately walked out into the field. The colt wasn't worried at all. Sangria is now with the Lily and Salena and she slowly waddled out to the field. I don't remember her EVER being this big. She is not bagged up yet but by looking at her, one would think she will pop if she doesn't foal soon. I'm doing a lot of praying about her. Dr. Hoerr said just because one foal presents wrong does not mean it will happen again and that I should breed her back as her foals are spectacular. Her last foal was born 2 years ago, he had to be pulled as both of his front legs were folded down. I remember it as if it was yesterday and NEVER want to go through that again. I was sure we were going to lose her and the colt and when the colt was born alive I could hardly believe it. She started labor at midnight and by 10 minutes after I knew we were in trouble. I tried to reach in and find the legs but was not strong enough to push against Sangria's contractions. Then I started calling vets. I couldn't get hold of Dr. Hoerr and called every vet in Peoria. None of them would come, they are not large animal vets. I called Mike, my sister Diane's husband and Horsemeister partner and he called my brother-in-law, Fedi and both came to help. Fedi was able to push the foal back in to work on bringing up the legs, he got one leg up, then I finally reached Dr. Hahn out of Canton but he was doing a C section on a cow and couldn't come but he gave me the name of the Wyoming vet clinic and they got to our place by 2:11am and the colt was pulled out by 2:20am. I know she is just a mare but I'm praying her delivery will be easy and the foal perfect.

long day

Today started out early, I worked here at Bridlewood, then did the grocery shopping as we were out of just about everything. I bought chicken, onions, avocados, tortillas for dinner, then all the rest of the stuff we needed like peanut butter, milk and bread. After shopping I headed down to work where I put in a couple of hours on finances. The phone didn't stop ringing and I was so glad to get out of there and head to the farm. I made it there by 2:30 and Raven was so glad to see me. Lily, Sangria and Salena with their foals were the first out, then I hand grazed Raven. He kept looking over at the cabin area where Paris is so I think either she is coming into season or he is just hopeful. I teased Lady but still no go. While I was waiting for Karin I got the drill out and put up some boards that Pacheron knocked down to get in with Lily and Salena. I really don't know if he knocked them down but as he was in with them and he wasn't suppose to be we will blame him. I'm always amazed at what he gets away with, they must know he is no threat to their foals. He was just quietly eating at their round bale next to them. Any other horse would have been kicked right out of there. He is such a dufus! I'm praying for a good home for him, he will make someone a wonderful trail horse. He is already very tall and not yet 2 years old. He is just starting to get out of his ugly duckling stage. I think he will be beautiful when he matures. I've registered him with FSHR but as his sire is Raven and his dam is Sangria, he qualifies for the Warlander Society. I just don't want to spend the money on that since he is a gelding. The Warlander Society is so exclusive, only a Friesian Andalusian cross is allowed.
Karin got to the farm around 3:30 and we worked on the new surcingle, put new padding on our vaulting barrel, then watered and raked the arena. I called the mares in around 5:00pm and headed home to make dinner. Karin emailed later that vaulting went very well and the new surcingle is working out great though she thinks the girth is a little too big. We can punch holes in it if needed and as Ribbon is pregnant she will need the extra room. I think we will be shipping semen soon to Idaho, we are waiting for the vet to call at their end, plus the Iowa people have decided to ship instead of bringing their mare down. She is a beautiful black and white spotted draft mare and the foal will be beautiful.
I went through all my coggin papers and realize that Autumn, Anni, Big Sally and Sophie's ran out the end of April so I will have to have Dr. Hoerr draw their coggins when he comes on the 12th for sonagrams. Rachel took the above picture, Raven was running around the pasture and she happened to snap it.

Lily

Lily is in season and was covered today. She wasn't sure she really liked Raven getting near her filly but nature was just too strong and she stood while the filly waited patiently in the small paddock. I had to take 2 trips out to the farm earlier and just now found out I'm going back tonight. Mark wants to keep working on the treeline. He is cleaning up the scrub trees that grow along the hay field. It is a never ending job but Mark seems to enjoy it. Today I let Sangria out in the field along with Lily and Salena and their foals. They all had about an hour then started wandering back. Salena was first to come in, followed by Sangria, then Lily stands at the gate and waits for me to let her into the paddock.
I was busy showing Sophie and Anni to a lady interested in buying a horse but had to keep leaving her and go put away mares. Sangria looks like she is carrying twins she is so huge. She is not bagged up yet so I guess we have time. I'm checking her everyday even though her official due date is May 16th. The last day she was covered was June 6th, 2008 and an easy way to remember is 11 months and 11 days. I have her due date down as May 12th so I am prepared. The Lexington people called, their mare had a colt. He is a bay, kind of disappointing but they love his conformation. The mare was a bay and they were hoping for a black. We have had black foals by Raven out of chestnut mares, bay mares, gray mares and palomino mares, so I guess once in a while it is ok to have a bay baby. I think the count is even again as far as fillies vs colts.

Monday May 4th, 2009

I was out to the farm early to care for Lily and Ciera. I checked her cord and decided I was going to have to iodine and bandage it. I turned both Lily and Salena and their foals out in the big field while I cleaned stalls, fed the Andalusian mare, and Raven. Then I headed to the cabin to check on Clara, Jewell and Paris. The were all fine and Mike had already taken care of them. I brought in Salena and her colt but left Lily and Ciera out. Drove home, got the supplies I needed for Ciera, then took off for Morton, IL to return the goblets we borrowed for the benefit dinner. By the time I got back to the farm, Lily and Ciera were waiting by the door to come in. I walked Lily over to Raven to see if she is coming into her foal heat but she was not very emphatically NOT. Jamie helped me with Ciera's cord and we think the bandage looks good and should stay on. I'll have to check it in the morning. I'm praying that it will be dry in the morning. Lady is still showing no sign of coming in season. I'm afraid we missed her and I think I will spend the money to get her another sonagram to see where she is in her season.
When I got home from the farm, there is just enough time to type this then get going to Sam's for the shower supplies we are holding tonight for Jozef Davidovics and Tina Colburn. I will be so ready for bed after we finish cleaning up the fellowship hall from the shower. Hope it is not later than 10:30pm.

Early Sunday Morning

It was pretty hard to roll out of bed this morning at 6:00 but I needed to drive to the farm to give Ciera her sulpha and iodine her cord. Lily was glad to see me but I couldn't let her out, I just didn't have time. I got her stall cleaned and thought I must remember to thank Steven Marchal. He fed, watered and cleaned stalls for me Saturday night as we were hosting our benefit dinner. We didn't finish cleaning up the fellowship hall until 10:30pm. I was exhausted and my feet hurt from working all day. And I thought I was in shape.
After taking care of Lily and Ciera I headed over to the Andalusian mare's paddock for her morning feed. Her sonagram is scheduled for May 12th so she may not be with us much longer. Last week I was worried about running out of her oats that I mix with her supplements so I mixed in some of our senior feed. She really likes it. I didn't want to change her over cold turkey so I started by mixing her oats with just a little of the Senior feed but now it is probably about half and half.
Raven was very impatient for his feed. He saw me go in her shed and started calling and stamping his feet telling me, "HEY, I come FIRST!" I have been hand grazing him for about a half hour at a time. He loves the grass but has to go check out all the mares first just in case he will have a job to do before grazing. He will be busy this week, the 2 paint mares will be coming this week and I think Holly's mare should be coming in soon also. Holly lives close enough that she is just going to be hauling her mare in each day. When I bought my Ster Friesian mare Duurke, our first purebred Friesian, the nearest Friesian stallion that allowed live cover was 300 miles away. She just would not take with AI and we knew we would have to go the live cover route. Of course if there would have been a closer Friesian stallion, I would not have purchased RAVEN and what a blessing he has been.

Ciera

We are naming Lily's filly Ciera, which means black as the filly is almost blue black. I had Dr. Pallen from Hoerr Vet clinic out yesterday because I was concerned with her. I thought she felt a little warm and she was a little lethargic compared to the day before. Turns out she has the start of an umbilical cord infection but we think we caught it in time. She is on Sulpha, 2cc's once a day by mouth with iodine applied to the cord. I will be keeping her in the stall or big field until we are done with the sulpha. I let Lily and Ciera out in the big field for about a hour a day to graze. I really don't like to lock horses in stalls but with the amount of rain we've had this spring there is no place without mud. Our hay fields are ready to cut but the ground is too wet for the equipment and we have not had a good sunny dry spell for it to dry once cut so we wait....
Clara was moved to the cabin field with Jewell and Paris. I got another stall ready for Sangria or Big Sally. Both are due in May, I hope we catch them delivering. I will need to spend the night out there for sure with Sangria, her last foal had to be pulled. It was an awful experience and I hope I never go through that again. If there is a problem with her foaling this time, I think we will retire her as brood mare.
We are hosting our annual Benefit dinner today and I won't be able to get back out to the farm until Sunday morning. I'm glad I have so many helpers living out there.
On a GREAT note, my water leak was fixed and the water to the barns is back on. This winter was so cold we had a pipe break in the office area. I've been without water in the barns for 4 months. The outdoor hydrants were still turned on so every time I wanted to water the arena I had to haul the hose through the stall barn and out to the hydrant. What a pain. I'm thankful for WATER.