And Then There Were 3

Soul's colt was loaded at 4:50 am and Nolan showed up just a couple minutes later and took off for the 12 hour trip to deliver this colt. The owner was thrilled to be able to arrange this so very easily and quickly and I was thrilled to have another weanling out of that paddock. Yesterday Lola's filly left.

This morning at 5:00 am Soul's colt left.

At 1:00 pm Lily's filly left.

and at 1:15 pm Galena's filly left.

And then there were 3 weanlings left in the paddock! It is such a blessing that each foal has a wonderful new home. I know we are raising these foals to make someone else's dream come true but it is still hard not to get attached. Each one of these babies leave with a little bit of my heart. This afternoon one of our past customers sent a text that they are sending the deposit for Tatiana's filly on Monday and will pick out a name for her then.  She won't be leaving until February so I have plenty of time to get her registration papers back if they can be sent in soon.  We still have Josiah, Joshua and Lance available. Lance is a bargain for someone.

We are only asking $4000.00 for him and just check out his FULL brother pictured below.

Below is a picture of his FULL sister Skye, she is only 2 years old in this picture and already over 16 hands.

We kept Skye as this was the first filly Sheena has ever had. These foals out of Lisheen by Valiant ALL turn out very tall, 16.2 hands or taller.  They have wonderful movement and end up with tons of hair AND have great minds. Lisheen (barn name Sheena) is a Jockey Club registered Thoroughbred with an amazing pedigree. 

Right after Nolan pulled away the other two, Lily's filly and Galena's filly were fed, watered and their stalls cleaned then I went in for coffee. At 6:30 am breakfast was made, at 7:00 am I was headed to Sam's club to buy steak for our Sunday dinner. Mark was dropped off at Meisters on the way to Sams then picked up after shopping and as long as I was there the first of the month bills were paid a day early. Hard to believe tomorrow is the first day of December. When we got home Karin and Kayla were here working with Evan. As soon as they finished we started organizing the indoor arena. All of the lumber was stacked according to size. We are always needing to repair fences plus I have the stall dividers, the 2 x 12 x 12's all stacked so they are easy to grab if I need more stalls.  Mark wanted to get the snow plow available to use on the tractor. 

We were able to free up enough space to give Karin enough room to train this winter. With all the rain we had last night and then today everything here is a muddy mess except the indoor.  Below Karin is heading over to mom's to work on the next job.

Mom wanted to get her Christmas decorations up and Karin was glad to help with that. We had lunch at mom's. After lunch the foals were given a quick groom, the paper work brought up to the barn and by then the first of the trailers arrived. They backed into the indoor so we could load out of the rain and mud. Lily's filly was loaded right up and just as that trailer was getting ready to pull forward the next trailer arrived to pick up Galena's filly.   She also loaded up fine. These are both Valiant fillies and so very sensible. 

Tonight Rachel invited the neighborhood over for singing around the manger scene. This is a tradition she has held for many years. Thankfully the rain had stopped but it was very foggy. I snapped the picture below from mom's house looking over at the lights on Rachel's porch of the lights reflecting off the lake. The phone was having a hard time focusing because of the fog.

Below are a few pictures of the evening.

 We were all there to thank God for His amazing plan of salvation. To think the creator of the world left the majesty and glory of heaven to come here as a helpless baby, born in a lowly stable

 because HE loved us so much. Fully human Fully God! After the singing Rachel served a delicous meal of stuffed mushrooms, deer salami, spinach dip, crackers, beef stew, shrimp cocktail, fruit and lots and lots of Christmas goodies.

This has been another wonderful day. 

Mud Off 4

Right after our walk today, the hose was hooked up to the hot water in the stall barn and dragged into the arena. The first filly cleaned up was Daria (Lola's filly by Valiant). She was leaving this morning around 9:00 am.  She stood very well while the mud was scrubbed off her legs. She was then taken into a stall and Lyra pulled out. Her owner is picking her up tomorrow.  She didn't stand as well as Daria so it took a little longer to get her legs and tail clean.  It is much to cold to wash their bodies. She was stalled and Lily's filly taken into the arena, she did very well for her legs. Lily's filly is getting picked up tomorrow afternoon. Just after putting Lily's filly in the stall Daria's owner pulled up. Daria loaded up very well and she was off to her new home. That gave me a few minutes to grab some breakfast and change before picking up mom, Joan, Faith, Mackenson and Berlica then over to Anna's to pick up her, Braelyn, Taegan and Kensley. Rhoda invited us over to swim in her pool. The water was so clear and clean the underwater pictures were pretty cool.

 Lots of games were played.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from the swimming click HERE. While we were there the owner of Soul's colt by Evan sent a text that she would like to hire Nolan to haul him to his new home. Nolan said he could do this tomorrow morning so as soon as we got home from Rhoda's I went right out to the barn, grabbed that colt, hooked the hose back up and cleaned him off before stalling him. The horses in the stalls were fed, watered and the stalls cleaned then the trailer cleaned out, the truck gassed up and the truck and trailer backed into the indoor arena. Nolan wants to pull out at 5:00 am and we will need lights to load. Then it was time to get all the paper work in order for all 3 of these horses to leave tomorrow.

Thanksgiving 2019

We had an easy morning as most of the food had been prepared yesterday. We picked up Hannah and mom for church. David Obergfel had the Thanksgiving message and that message needs to be listened to again and again. It really was all about thanking God for the wonderful gift of Salvation. As soon as we were home the food was heated up then taken to Joan's house where about 60 of this family were celebrating Thanksgiving together. Another 40 or so were celebrating in Gulf Shores, AL.  Diane sent the picture below to all of us.

The meal at Joan's was amazing, in all my 64 years it really was the best Thanksgiving meal we have ever had. Maybe after all these years we are all becoming good cooks. Spark had the prayer so he got to go first.

 Quickly followed by hungry hoards. 

 The plates were filled to over flowing and still there was more.

 The tables were all set up downstairs.

 The desserts were also downstairs. There were so many different pies and goodies it was hard to choose. 

 Even Tumnus came in for some Thanksgiving treats. 

 After our meal the Bears were playing. Joan doesn't have a television so everyone that wanted to watch were watching on cell phones except those phones weren't in sync. Everyone sitting on the right side of the couch (Nolan's phone and Ash's phone were ahead by about 20 seconds. Nolan couldn't help but laugh when he knew a good play or a bad play was coming.

 There was a lot of laughter in the room.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from our gathering click HERE. 

Mom, Joan, Tara and I played Mexican Train while Nancy helped Joan. When Joan won the game we all said it was only because Nancy was helping her.  Molly and Gabe took Nancy home tonight. We certainly had a wonderful day and I am truly Thankful our family enjoys getting together.   

Josiah

Jewel was the last foal born out of our Jockey Club registered mare Compassionate Gal (barn name Grace).  Grace was 23 years old when she gave birth to Jewel April 30th, 2008. This was not a planned breeding and I didn't even know she was pregnant until one day I was grooming her and thought, "Grace is looking fat!" Even then I didn't dream she was pregnant but I was leaning against her visiting with someone when the baby moved.  We named this filly Grace's Crown Jewel as this WAS the last foal she would ever have.
Jewel was bred to Evan when she was 3 years old and gave birth the next year to a beautiful black filly on August 30th, 2012. This was Evan's very first offspring and we were thrilled with what the 2 of them produced.

Jewel had a bay filly in 2013 we named Rhiannon. 

On July 16th, 2014 Jewel gave birth again to another gorgeous filly we named Treasure. She had huge movement must like the rest.

On June 20th, 2015 she gave birth to her first colt. This is him at 3 days old.

This is him at 2 months of age

She had her next foal on the 4th of July 2016 just check out that movement.

All of that brings us to this years colt by Evan who we named Josiah.

Josiah was born May 7th, 2019 is 75% Friesian 25% Thoroughbred and 100% sweet, although he may never be a jumper.  Check out his form in the video below during this heart stopping moment for me

Once we knew all was well, we let him in with his siblings then took him out an hour later to check for lameness. Below is that video.

Josiah just happens to be for sale for $4500.00. Please don't think he is some cheap Friesian cross because of his price. He really is another quality Horsemeister colt but winter is coming and we would love to find him a home. He will really excel for dressage but with work can probably learn to pick up those legs and maybe even be a hunter or jumper with is amazing form over jumps. Ok that may not really be an option but one never knows.

In the Kitchen

Early this morning just as soon as it was light enough to see I headed out to get the weanling paddock ready for a new bale. Mark went into the barn to start the skid steer and move the bale. Emma followed me out and found a 'treasure'.  The Sauders had butchered the deer and dropped off the carcass yesterday as we had arranged to bury the bones but it was raining and I forgot to look. Emma was pretty thrilled. She pulled off a big hunk and was stripping any meat off of those bones.

 Mark dropped the bale then got the bucket on the skid steer to bury the bones and had to get off the skid steer, take Emma's treasure away from her to get them all buried. 

Other than taking care of moving  a bale in and burying bones almost the entire day was spent in the kitchen. One 20 pound turkey was roasted, 2 pans of gravy made, 3 bowls full of stuffing, and 4 pumpkin pies were baked. The fridge is packed. Joan is roasting a turkey as is Rachel. We are hoping these 3 big turkeys will satisfy the 50-60 guests coming tomorrow.  Ruth was peeling 20 pounds of potatoes today for the mashed potatoes. There will be all the usual foods fall foods at this Thanksgiving feast. Mom made some amazing apple pies, a chocolate pie, there is a pecan pie and some kind of heath bar pie. It will be hard to choose when it comes time for dessert. Joan is hosting this year.
The wind was shocking each time I had to leave the house to feed horses. On our walk this morning we noticed 2 big trees down between the drive and Diane's house. We are having sustained winds of 35 mph with gusts over 50 mph. The wood burner was kept burning all day.  The antenna broke off so we have no TV and didn't realize that until it was time for the news.  Mark ordered a new antenna so for the next few days we will get news off the internet.
Heading to bed now as tomorrow is a big day.

Warlander Papers Came

The thermometer was reading 34 degrees when I went out to feed but was rising quickly and actually felt pretty warm by the time we walked.  I had to quit early as I needed to stop at Sam's Club before heading to the Berean office. If you would like to read about our fun morning there click HERE.
I left around noon for home but had to stop for gas first and hit Aldi for some cans of pumpkin. The rain started on the way home.  As soon as Emma was let out and the food put away I headed up to the apartment to get it ready for the guests coming in tomorrow.  That took a couple hours because I was trying to figure out how to make that television to turn on without calling one of the kids to help. Not to brag or anything but I got it working. It turned out that Israel must have dropped the remote and the batteries must have come out and then he put them in wrong.  As soon as the batteries were in right it worked.  Sometimes you just have to be smarter than those smart TVs.
When the apartment was clean and ready for guests instead of heading back to the house the horses were fed. Tomorrow I must move another bale in for the weanlings. I have 7 in that paddock which is just too many but when I tried to separate them they are not happy. I have them locked off the field because of the rain today and more rain tomorrow.
Zalena is looking much better since she has been here. She gets 3 meals a day of Equine Senior and fine stemmed green mostly grass hay. She just needed extra calories at her age. She is 20 years old this year.
Joshua's registration papers came finally. He is registered and dna'd in the Warlander Book of Friesian Heritage Horse International.  A Warlander can ONLY be a cross between a Friesian and an Andalusian, NO other breed is allowed.  They are extremely trainable, very athletic and have amazing stamina. This breed can truly excel in pretty much any discipline (except racing). This colt is black and will stay black! He also inherited the mega hair from both his sire Evan pictured below,

and his dam Madiera pictured below to show her double sided mane.

He is well behaved, leads, loads and always comes right to the gate for attention. His tail is so bushy, thick and long it will be dragging on the ground when he is full grown. He already has an abundance of feather. He should easily reach 16.1 when full grown. 

He just happens to be for sale and we have dropped his price from $6000.00 to $5000.00 so if you were ever tempted to buy a Warlander you may want to consider Joshua. He really is worth much more than we are asking. The video below was taken Nov 20th, 2019 to show how well he leads and a small clip of his trot and canter.

Soul's Colt Sold

We had another warm sunny day with the temperature reaching 57 degrees. Perfect weather to take Not Pregnant Just FAT Ayanna back out to Middle Grove and pick up Daria. Daria is leaving for her new home on Friday.  Ayanna was very glad to go. She took off at a gallop.

 The herd was all up on a hillside drowsing in the sunshine.

Ayanna went right up to Jewel and showed, squealing and snorting. For some reason these mares that are in season love getting a reaction from Jewel who squeals and snorts right back.  Right now for the early Spring schedule I will need to get Big Rosalie, Ayanna and Rosaleigh all in to the Hanna City farm probably by mid March to get them in foal.  Indy and Oksana are both due in March and all 5 of these mares we breed to Evan.  He is going to be a busy stallion.

Lola and Daria were over the next hill grazing with Tatiana. Tatiana's filly was galloping around feeling great on this beautiful day. I didn't take my camera along on this trip but sure should have. This filly has the moves!  With needing to lead both Daria and Lola down to the trailer there was no extra hand for the camera.  When we got to the trailer Lola loaded right up, Daria needed a few minutes to be convinced to step into the trailer.  I think we have been using the ramp trailer with her the last few times.  Once I picked up a front leg and placed it inside she stepped right up. She was tied and Lola taken out of the trailer and off I drove. Lola followed for a few seconds then took off galloping up the hill to find the rest of the herd.  As soon as we were back to the farm Daria was stalled so I could run back to the house and pick up a de-wormer. She was given almost a full tube of Panacur this time.  The last time she was de-wormed she was given a half of tube of Quest Plus.  Since she was not muddy, she was taken out to the round pen for some pictures. This filly is SO sensible.  The bag was brought out and instead of running away from the bag she followed it around as I dragged it on the ground.

 She even let me rub her with it without a single flinch. This filly is going to be a breeze to train.

The picture below shows how her left hind hoof is WHITE. The horses at Middle Grove stay so much cleaner than here where they have to live in paddocks and all horses are off the fields now.  

She was taken to the weanling paddock and was glad to be back with her friends. This afternoon the breeding shed was given a new round bale and it was the best one I could find in the barn, fine stemmed and green. Zalena was moved in that paddock. She needs the best hay we have to help gain her weight back. She is already looking better. Evan's paddock also needed a new bale as did Valiant's paddock. After the bale was in Valiant's paddock he was locked off the field. He will have to stay locked off his field until it freezes solid and stays frozen for a while. The check came for Soul's colt, he is now sold and will be leaving soon for his new home in Missouri. 

He is such a comical colt and we are going to miss him. When he was just a couple weeks old he was always looking for toys. He would pick up sticks and carry them around.

The owner was sent a text as I need more information for the health certificate for travel but I haven't heard back from her yet. 

Mark came home early from work today to work on the driveways. Mackenson came over to help. 

They used rock to fill in all the pot holes on our drives and the drive going to the dumpster. Their next job was to work on the fenceline getting 1 more strand of wire up. This is such a big job and Mark was very thankful for the help both on the drives and the fence. We are both thankful for this nice working weather.