Flooding

We drove down to Meister's on the way to church to make sure it wasn't flooding, it wasn't but Kickapoo creek was very close to overflowing the road. By this afternoon it had. Dan stopped in to check out Meister's this afternoon and took this picture. This is Kickapoo Creek Rd just past Meister's heading toward Bartonville.

Check out the flooding of the Peoria Speedway on Farmington Rd. taken by Brandon Zeone II

We are very thankful we live up on a hill. The houses and barns around here are still dry. The rain is still coming down but not as hard as yesterday. We had another 3/4 of an inch today on top of the 4 inches already saturating the fields. The lake was a worry this morning, a couple big logs were obstructing the overflow pipe. Karin and Sarah went out in the canoe to try to move them, the suction caught the canoe paddle and broke it. Philip came over and helped Mark move them. He got in the canoe and put the log puller on while Mark used the skid steer to pull them out. The siphon is flowing well now.  The lake was very close to overflowing. The sound of rushing water is the first thing one hears when outside. So much water.
We had a most wonderful day in church. Craig Stickling had the morning service reading Psalm 46. Our God is OUR refuge and our strength. It was almost exactly 46 years ago I gave my heart to my Lord Jesus. I've never regretted the decision and truly knowing each day that goes by is one day closer to my real home makes that decision grow sweeter every day. This afternoon we had 3 baptisms.
After church Karin came over to help tease and cover mares. Zalena was first and she is now out, Galena is out, and Jewel is out. That made Evan the choice for Soul as Star and Lily are both coming in. Tomorrow Star will be covered by Valiant IF she is still showing.
We had company for dinner, David, Stephanie, Israel, Elisabet, Phil, Anna, Braelyn, Taegan, Kensley and Karin. After supper we all went over to play games at mom's house and were joined by Joan, Sarah, Hannah, Faith, Berlica, Mackinson, and Ruth. Mom had a houseful. Mark took the grandchildren out fishing until the rain forced everyone back in the house. Dan and his boys Abram and Levi stopped in to check the lake siphon. He took this  short video clip of how well it was working.

This evening Sheena was stalled. She is due May 1st and is very restless. Her udder is not full but with this cold and rainy weather and the terrible mud she needs to be inside just in case. She is not happy being stalled but will have to get use to it. The 5 mares with young foals are all sharing the indoor arena. This morning it took over an hour to clean up the manure and clean stalls for 12 horses. Sure not use to working that hard on a Sunday morning. Oh well this too shall pass. 

Build An Ark

We had an inch of rain in the rain gauge last night.  I dumped it and tonight we have another FULL 3 inches giving us a total of 4 inches in 24 hours. This isn't a nice soft gentle warm rain. It is so cold outside that we can see our breath when we breathe, the thermometer is reading 41 degrees with a real feel of 32 degrees and the rain keeps pounding down. This morning it wasn't coming down hard when Karin came over to help tease and cover mares. Galena was first to tease, she showed well but Valiant has been refusing to cover her. We think he is racist, he doesn't like white mares, or it could be he thinks she just isn't pretty. We think she is beautiful.

What ever it is, we know how to fix that problem, Galena was taken into Valiant's pasture and let loose, then he was brought in and after a few minutes of him doing his airs above ground he ran over and did his job.  Now for the record Valiant ALWAYS is willing to do his job and is our go to stallion that is all except for Galena! Once we knew she was covered we pulled her out and put her back into her own paddock. Jewel was next, she was still in and Evan was quick to do his job.  Next we brought Anna over to tease but we didn't really get the job done, she was too worried about her filly. We will need to see if I can bring her in for an ultrasound next week.
The sky was still just spitting at us when Karin started working Wicktoria in the round pen.

She wanted to try out a few things she learned at the Midwest Horse Fair. Wicktoria has been a mystery to us, why she is such a slow learner but Karin had new ideas and by the time she finished with her Wicktoria was walking in and out of the trailer quietly. On Thursday I could not load her by myself so I was very impressed. Jewel was taken out next, Jewel has just been a brood mare for the last 5 years and she has some holes in her training. Training we didn't know to do 5 years ago.

 The pictures above and below were taken today while Karin was asking for transitions. Jewel is a bit muddy but not terrible when one considers the tremendous amount of rain we had. We were pretty thrilled the round pen was usable. 

By the time Karin finished with Jewel the cold rain was really starting to come down. We were thankful to have the wood burner going to have a place to warm up after working outside. The rain just didn't seem to let up and I was getting concerned about the young foals. Lily and Zalena with their colts had been in the indoor all last night and this morning but with the cold driving rain the indoor was needed for Lola's, Soul's and Star's fillies. The two mares with colts were stalled while the three with fillies were brought inside the arena to dry off and warm up. Next Ella and Sheena were brought in and stalled. The picture below is of Ella taken on Thursday.

Even though they aren't due yet I just can't take a chance on them delivering outside on a day or night like this. The good news is the temperature is suppose to start to rise tonight the bad news is the rain is going to continue through most of Sunday according to weather.com.
This evening Peoria held testimonies. There were 3 and all were so interesting to listen to. Once home the stalls were picked, each mare given more hay, the water buckets filled and the water tank in the indoor filled. When I was downloading pictures I found a few taken on Thursday I forgot to post. Below is Lily's colt at 4 days old playing with his mom's tail.

The funniest picture was when the tail hair went into his mouth.

Zalena's colt was out in the big field on Thursday so of course I got a picture of him too.

NOW I'm ready for bed.

Zalena Covered Soul In

The boys have been busy. Evan got the day off today as he covered Jewel yesterday and she doesn't need to be covered again until tomorrow. Zalena was covered by Valiant. Galena is still in and will be covered tomorrow by Valiant and just this afternoon Soul started showing. I'm tempted to have Evan cover Soul, can you imagine the HAIR that foal would inherit. We have always used Valiant to get height on the foal as Soul is one of our shorter mares, around 15.2 hands.
We had rain during the night but it stopped in time for our walk then rain started back up right after. Lily and her colt along with Zalena and her colt were stalled for the day. It is just such a cold rain for young foals. The rain stopped around 11:30 am. Whitney, Marika and Rosalie were loaded up and hauled to Middle Grove. By the time they were being unloaded the rain started back up. Those mares took off at a gallop up the hill to find the herd. Foxy was suppose to come home but there was no way I wanted to hike up to find the herd in the rain. We will just wait for the next trip to bring her home.
The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and dishes before starting supper.
This evening Ruth, Karin, Mark and I went to mom's for game night. We had a good time.
Mike and Diane are on their way to Gulf Shores again. Rachel is already down there.

Wood Burner

Brrr, with no working furnace the temperature in the house kept dropping and dropping. By afternoon it was down to about 62 degrees. Who would have thought we needed heat at the end of April. A snake crawled in our outside unit and fried the computer causing total failure of the heating system. We are still waiting for Trane to authorize our computer warranty replacement.  Mark split some kindling, brought in that and logs and we kept the wood burner going all night. Sure am thankful we don't have to rely on the furnace. With our old bones and the damp chilly temperatures outside we needed to have warmth inside. We really are getting old, at Baer we would have been thrilled to have an inside temperature of 62 degrees. We were not expecting rain last night or today so the horses with foals were turned back out, the stalls cleaned, the arena cleaned up and the gate fixed again. Lily knocked it off the hinge yesterday. Lily was turned out in the pond pasture with the other 4 mare and foal pairs. She wasn't happy and worked hard at keeping her colt away from the other horses. Zalena is in her foal heat and will not leave Evan alone, backing up to his fenceline. Thankful the electric fence is working well and Evan respects electricity. Jewel was covered  yesterday by Evan. Anna and Hadassah were brought over from the cabin field and put in Valiant's pasture (he is locked up in his paddock) for a couple hours so I could watch to see if Anna was in. She and Hadassah were not at all interested in being close to Valiant. Rhoda helped move them back over to the cabin. I'll try again in a couple days only the next time they are brought over the camera should be ready. Those mares had a ball galloping around showing off their foals to horses here.

Whitney Conceives Galena Ready

This morning was the vet appointment for Whitney and Galena. On the way to the vet clinic I passed Rhoda who was coming to the farm. I stopped at the water tower and waited for her to turn her car around and come with me. Talk about a grateful mom! That's me, I thought I would be unloading two huge mares at the clinic all by myself. We arrived in plenty of time for our appointment and had Whitney go first into the stocks.

We were thrilled when Dr. Hoerr found the embryo. She is 30 days along and is due March 11th, 2018.  The sire of this foal is Valiant. This may be a problem for us as we leave the first week of March for the show so decided to place Whitney for sale as a 2/1 package for only $6000.00. Someone is going to get a bargain, Whitney rides very nicely and produces exceptionally beautiful foals by Valiant. Check out the video below of Rhoda showing us how patient Whitney is for mounting and how balanced her canter is under saddle. 

She is also a proven mother foaling out a gorgeous filly that turned out absolutely lovely. Below the filly is just a 10 days old.

and in the picture below she is 18 months old and her owner writes she sticks at 16.2 hands at that age.

Whitney's height is another reason we are going to sell her. She is such a huge mare at 17.2 hands she takes up too much room in the trailer. When we head to shows or trail rides we need to be able to haul as many horses as possible in our 4 horse and when we take Whitney we find we can only stuff 4 horses in the trailer instead of the usual 5. We found we just don't take her out riding much. She has a current coggins, has had her shots and was de-wormed (with two Quests).
The next mare in the stocks was Galena.

 Galena had been in season WAY to long and I was afraid she might have picked up a uterine infection. Well it turned out she is almost ready to ovulate. She had a whole bunch of small follicles on one of her ovaries which was causing her to think she was in season but finally the other ovary started to develop a big follicle and now she is ready to be bred. We brought the mares home, put Whitney away and had Valiant cover Galena. She stood well and Valiant got the job done! We are also putting Galena for sale but she won't be quite the bargain Whitney is as her foal will either be black or black and white. Galena is so very beautiful, tall and has the HAIR gene so we are asking $8000.00 for her once she is confirmed in foal.

 Check out the thick FEATHER that starts at the back of her knee. 

Her foal alone will be worth what we are asking for her. She is 11 years old this year and this will be her first foal. Galena too has a current coggins, has had all of her shots and been de-wormed. She performed this March at the 2017 IL Horse Fair and was a favorite with the visitors. If you are interested in either of these mares please feel free to email me at msceg@hotmail.com but either Whitney or Galena in the subject line.

Sick Filly

We had a storm come rolling in early this morning. As soon as the rain slowed to a sprinkle I went out to check on the foals. Last night Star's filly was up in the shelter laying down napping when the other foals were out playing.

This morning she was in the same shelter again laying down. That is a big red flag in my eyes but she jumped right up and started nursing when I went into the shelter. Star and the filly were taken into a stall so I could watch them on the monitor while at work today. I also brought in Zalena and her colt and stalled them across the hall so Star wouldn't worry. Lily and her colt were left in the indoor arena.
As soon as I got home from work I took the filly's temperature. It was 102.2 which is a little elevated but not terrible. A normal foal range is 101 to 102. At first I thought she was ok but decided to just stay in the stall and observe her. My instinct was the filly was sick but I couldn't tell what was the problem. Looking her over well I finally saw that she had a slight swelling in her left front leg. Of course the first thing that enters my mind is the worst scenario of joint ill. That is caused by an umbilical cord infection that travels to the joints. Hoerr vet clinic was called and Dr. Hoerr said bring her right in. Since the truck and trailer were already hooked up I only had to load them and was on my way by 12:40 pm. Dr. Hoerr checked her over and discovered an injury to her leg that had become infected. I was so thankful it wasn't joint ill.He gave her a couple shots of antibiotics and gave me more to give her later.  I was able to take them home, she is now on stall rest.
Jewel was teased and covered by Evan. Hope she conceives on this cycle. Her foals are always spectacular! Jewel is such a kind mare and is so elegant but that isn't even the best part. She throws HUGE movement. The picture below was taken during one of the PRC shows.

Stalls were cleaned, the arena cleaned and then it was time to go inside and rest before Mark came home for supper. Tonight was church, Greg Rumbold had the message.

Marika Out Rosalie Covered Lola Covered

On the walk this morning there was a goose sitting on the windmill pole watching over his mate who happened to be next to what we call the alligator swamp.

Ebby loves to chase the geese and it didn't take long for this one to take off flying. The alligator swamp is really the overflow pond for the lake.  Each time we take the grand kids on a golf cart ride they want to go see the alligator swamp and love to pretend an alligator is going to come out and chase us. We pretty much all quit after one round, Ruth and Diane had to go to real jobs while mom and I needed to get to the Berean office. To read about our morning there click HERE. Once back at the farm Lily and her colt were turned out then mares teased. Marika is now out.

She was taken out of the paddock next to Evan's and put in with Ella and Sheena. Hopefully she settled. Rosalie was teased and took a while to show then didn't stand well. Evan got the job done but I will mark her out as well. She was put in the short shelter paddock next to the apartment. Jewel and Ayanna were moved into the paddock next to Evan's. They will both need to be covered by him as they are both Valiant's half sisters. Jewel promptly showed but won't be covered until tomorrow as Evan was already used today on Rosalie. No sign of Ayanna coming in and hopefully she won't come in until Jewel is out. Evan is getting quite a work out. Lola has been showing for 3 days so today she needed to be covered. Some mares are only in for 3 or 4 days and some are in for 7 or 8 days. Lola though is so worried about her filly she shows but then will kick so on this cover I needed help. Mike came before he left for Middle Grove to handle Valiant while I handled Lola and we had a successful cover. Lily was put back in the indoor arena for the night. It is suppose to rain tomorrow, heavy rains I'll probably stall Lily and Zalena tomorrow and bring Star, Lola and Soul into the indoor in the morning if the rains come. This evening I was out checking mares when the Lola's filly saw me and came running to the fence and stuck her head through to be petted. She is such a charmer.

 Zalena and her colt were out grazing in the pond pasture. 

 She was joined by Soul and Lola, Lola's filly ran back for some milk from mom. 

 Soul's filly is a little more shy than the two colts. She enjoys a good scratching but has to be held before I start scratching. 

 The picture below was actually snapped this morning as yesterday's picture was taken during bright sunshine and the sun made the horse look like it had spots. Mom painted it a bright shiny black that reflects the sun. 

Mark is out looking for mushrooms right now but I'm tired and will be going to bed early tonight.

Middle Grove Trip

The car needed to be taken in for an alignment this morning. I was suppose to take it to East Peoria Tire and Vulcanizing but that office called and asked if I could take it to the Peoria store off Knoxville. That meant instead of heading to Big R's in Pekin I would go to Sam's Club after. As soon as I got back from there Zalena and her colt were taken into the stall and the colt's cord iodined again but thankfully it is dry and hard. That meant Zalena and her colt could be introduced to the mares and foals in the pond pasture.  Below Zalena is keeping him away from Tory's paddock, she doesn't want him anywhere near another mare yet.

He was having fun galloping around Zalena. 

 Soul's filly was fascinated by him, staring intently at this new half brother of hers. 

 Lola and her filly came up for attention while I was taking pictures. This filly is so friendly.

 Pretty soon the colt decided to give a big stretch then lay down. 

 Star's filly was napping in one of the shelters. She knows how to make herself comfortable in the hay. 

 She decided to get up and stretch before going down to the pasture. 

 Once that group of horses were all settled and grazing together Lily and her brand new colt were taken out of the stall for the first time and let loose in the field.

 Lily was keeping an eye out for anything dangerous before she could settle down to graze. 

Karin offered to meet me at Middle Grove this afternoon to pick up Whitney, Jewel, Ayanna and Ella. Whitney has an ultrasound scheduled for Thursday morning, Jewel and Ayanna are home to be bred and Ella is home to deliver. She isn't due though until the end of May but usually delivers early. Karin and I pulled up at the Middle Grove gate at the same time and started that long hike in. We chose the right path this time. The horses were found within 15 minutes. Missy was the first mare we saw. She is not really that color but has been rolling in a mud puddle to cool off. 

 About half the herd was drowsing in the sunshine and the other half was grazing under the trees. 

 Sangria was standing in the puddle splashing water up on her body. I think she was too lazy to lay down. Sangria has a big belly but isn't due until Sept 14th, 2017, she had colic surgery a few years back and now her belly is always big.

 Cookie was so clean she almost glows. She must not spend too much time in the puddles, perhaps she cools off by swimming in the lakes. 

 I think the two Friesian mares in the picture below are Eliza and Jenis, Foxy is coming up for attention. 

 Below is Rosaleigh and Roxanne both looking pregnant. Rosaleigh is due July 7th and Roxanne is due August 1st. Rosaleigh is easy to identify as she is the only Friesian mare with her mane hanging on the left side of her neck. The rest of the mare's manes hang on the right side. 

Studly loves to jump in the puddles at Middle Grove. 

 Karin led Whitney and Ella while I led Jewel and Ayanna. Foxy, Ripper and Oksana followed us all the way down to the trailer. Even after we loaded the horses up they didn't want to leave. Below Foxy is begging for attention.

Karin stayed and decided to work with Foxy first while I drove the trailer full of horses back to Hanna City. When I arrived Spark was there helping load manure for a couple men for their gardens. Right after they pulled away Phil arrived with the dump trailer so I jumped on the skid steer and loaded him up too. When I got back to the house THERE was the black horse. Mom had placed it on my patio.

Sunday Afternoon Fun at Grandma's House

Sunday is such a wonderful day. This post is written Monday morning because Sunday was so jam packed and full of fun that by the time I came in it was WAY past bedtime.
After church the visitors started arriving to see Lily's brand new colt by Valiant.

 Above Faith and Berlica are petting the new colt, below Anna is showing Kensley Zalena's 3 day old colt. 

 Karin took Evan out to work. She just came back from Madison Wisconsin where she got to spend a couple days at the Midwest horse fair and came home with lots of training ideas. She couldn't wait to start trying them out on a horse. 

 Rhoda and Lee arrived with Ruby, then Sarah and Nolan arrived with Ari and Rizzy and Rizzy's 5 puppies.  Rhoda got all the puppies toenails trimmed. Below are the 3 week old puppies. 

Below left to right is Rizzy, Ruby and Ari. 

 Ruby was trying to do a trick for a treat but Ari and Rizzy kept getting the treat. 

 Rizzy, Ari and Ruby learning to sit and stay. 

 Mark grilled chicken kabobs for dinner. We were joined by Karin,  Phil and Anna's family, Sarah and Nolan and Rhoda and Lee. After dinner everyone made their way over to the playground for the usual volleyball games. Below is Brian and Rebekah's daughter Riley.

 Logan showing us some air time on the tramp. 

 The volleyball games were very entertaining. 

 Tyler and Samantha brought out their German Shepherd puppy. Below Studly is just making sure the puppy knows all the rules. 

 David Jacob brought Zero and Anni brought Chewy.

 Below Jordan, Brian and Rebekah's son, is hard at work putting a stake in the ground. 

 Emma followed Mark over and was very suspicious of that new puppy. Check out those eyes. 

 Remember that pink horse mom picked up at an estate sale a few weeks back? Well she has been busy painting it black. She had it setting out to dry. I think it looks much better black. 

 While the volleyball games were going on, Mark went digging for worms in mom's compost pile for the kids that wanted to fish. Below is Joan's daughter Berlica pulling in a fish.

 Braelyn's fish

 Kensley had to come pet one of Berlica's fish. She thought it was beautiful 

 Kensley was very sad when Berlica let that beautiful fish go. She wanted it as a pet. 

 Below Taegan is fishing (her pole doesn't have a hook on it, she is a little dangerous yet)

 Joan's daughter Faith, caught a fish. 

 Braelyn caught another fish

 Kensley found Shadow the cat. Kensley really needs a pet. 

Mom and Joan had gone to Dan and Joanne Baer's 60th anniversary party and when they returned, Ruth came over and we played games until late. Faith won again. We think maybe we are going to raise the age limit on who can play as this 10 year old beats us oldies over and over. 

What a fun Sunday at Grandma's house.