SOLD Puppy

We woke up to a nice gentle rain falling with pitter patter pings as the drops hit the patio table. Since we don't walk in the rain I took the golf cart over to visit with mom and Karin. Mom had the TV series Lake Life recorded so we watched it. We watched the episode of the golf boat and laughed. Fedi was so funny with his dry sense of humor. Emma (the dog) followed me over to mom's and wouldn't you know showed to Studly Karin's dog. I made arrangements to drive her back to Tom and Tarah's house in Farmington so she could visit with Rick James. She was left there but before I got home a text came to say she didn't stand very well so I drove back to pick her up and will try again tomorrow.
Karin came to work horses and was put to work herself. She worked Oksana, Rosalie, Soul and Jurista. We teased mares and covered Soul with Valiant and Emma with Killian. We would have like to use Evan on Emma, that is who we used on her 3 days ago but he has been worked too hard and we need to give him some time off before the next 2 customer's mares come in. Plus tomorrow Indy must be teased and covered by Evan.
Our plan for Soul was to have semen shipped in of an Andalusian stallion standing in Michigan but the vet doing the collection and shipping called to explain the stallion has a problem, he cannot ship as all the sperm are dead on arrival. We booked and paid for Sangria and Jurista also. The stallion owner was contacted to see if we could get our stud fees refunded but haven't heard yet. Since Soul was due to ovulate today we went ahead and covered her with Valiant.
Mark worked on the house today removing the old aluminum siding.
David and Stephanie invited the family over for dinner. Everyone came except Lee who is out of town for his job and Ben. We had fun playing games and playing with Rhoda's puppy.

This tiny 2.2 pound playful fluffy puppy is for sale. He enjoys cuddling and playing with the kids. He is a Maltese Pomeranian mix male puppy that will end up 10 to 12 pounds when full grown. Right now he is all fluff. Rhoda is selling him for $300.00 but she wants to make sure he goes to the right home. He is located in Bloomington, IL. AND she would like to have him placed BEFORE Lee gets back from his work trip. Lee has already fallen in love and would like to keep him. HE IS NOW SOLD!

A Bird In Hand

Our company arrived right at 8:00 am, exactly the moment a big starling flew into the house, circled the table that was set for breakfast, knocked into the chandelier above the table raining feathers down on the plates, slammed into each window, flying up the stairs and into the guest bedroom followed by Darcy and Emma who were knocking over chairs, slamming into tables and then running upstairs after it. They scared it into the upstairs bathroom. The door was shut and the bird grabbed and taken down the stairs in-front of our shocked guests.Yes we always greet our guests with overly excited Mastiff dogs, overturned furniture and birds in hand. I guess that is better than the proverbial bird in the bush.
Breakfast was just a few minutes late.
After breakfast everyone got ready for church in record time. Karin and mom drove separate as we had a full carload.
Greg Rumbold had the morning service and Mike Rieker had the afternoon. It was SO good to be there. Funny how much we look forward to Sundays.
After church Karin came over to help tease Indy but she said no. It has been 17 days since her ultrasound which showed that she had just ovulated. She should be in soon. Mark helped move a round bale into the middle paddock. Soul, Jurista, Oksana and Rosalie were moved into that paddock. Oksana and Rosalie went right over to Killian's paddock and started to show. Oksana went out 12 days ago, there is no way she could be back in. I'm going to have to take her in for an ultrasound to find out what is going on.
Phil and Anna brought their girls out along with Gertie and Dennis for the afternoon and evening. We enjoyed fried chicken from Gils then went to the playground to watch the volley ball games until everything got rained out. We are looking forward to an early night tonight.

SOLD! Puppy Anyone?

Rhoda is at it again, she found another puppy that must find a loving home. This adorable tiny male puppy was born March 27th, 2015 and is now 8 weeks old. He is a Pomeranian Maltese mix and will mature around 10 to 12 pounds. He is for sale now for only $300.00 but if you are interested respond pretty quickly Lee is already falling in love with him.

This puppy is now SOLD! He will make a wonderful companion for someone but because he is so tiny he probably should not go to a family with young children. He is very fluffy and will need to be brushed regularly. He loves to cuddle and wants a person of his own.
The tiny Pomeranian has a long and interesting history. This dog is nicknamed "the little dog who thinks he can," They are compact, active and capable of competing in agility and obedience or simply being a family friend.
The Maltese greets everyone as a friend.  They do not have an undercoat so shed very little. They are considered hypoallergenic. This is a dog who excels not only as a companion but also as a therapy dog. This breed is noted for their obedience of owner and is a good tracker.  Ever lose your keys..hmm maybe he can help?  Most of all he loves to be with his people.
I would say this puppy is going to be a wonderful member of someone's family.

Goose Ranch

I was suppose to pull out at 9:00 am this morning to haul 4 horses to Middle Grove, drop those off, load Missy & Cookie and be at the Giant Goose Ranch at 10:00 am but it didn't happen.
We got up early but just didn't get everything done in time. The laundry had to be done, at least one load washed and dried first because my mom says clean clothes need to be worn in public.
Mark wanted to get the big bush hog mower attached to the Kubota and once that was done wanted to sharpen the blades. He needed me to use the skid steer to hold up the mower so he could crawl under and sharpen but once the bucket is lifted the skid steer operator cannot exit the machine so I knew I would be stuck inside for 15-20 minutes and asked him to wait until I could change the laundry machines again and get Eliza teased and covered. Evan took much longer than usual. I think he is getting tired of this job that has been going on day after day. I would like to give him a break but every mare in season is related to Valiant so Evan must be used. Finally everything was done enough to load and leave. Sarah helped get Piper, Lola, Ayanna and Jenis loaded. Karin met me at the gate with Cookie and Missy already tacked up so as soon as my 4 were unloaded she loaded up those 2 and off we went to the Goose Ranch. The Goose Ranch has changed since the last time we were there, Karin was the navigator but once we were inside we were lost for about 15 minutes. We finally got to the horse area almost a half hour late and the kids were anxiously waiting. Below are a few pictures of the day.

There are a lot more pictures that were placed on the Horsemeister Inc Facebook page.

 We had a lot of happy children and even some adults take turns. Missy really wanted to roll so Karin took her tack off and asked her to lay down. Karin has Missy so well trained that once she asks her to lay down Missy won't get up until Karin asks her to. She will let the kids climb on her. She enjoyed grazing while laying there.

This was a fund raiser for Camp Big Sky. The Goose Ranch held a fishing tournament also but we were so busy I didn't get any pictures of that part of the activities. The place was pretty packed.
We weren't home long before we had to clean up and leave for Hannah's play which was held at Bradley in the Dingledine Music Center. The home schooling co-op did Gilbert and Sullivan's Gondoliers. Those high school students really have a lot of talent.  The play was entertaining and we had an enjoyable evening. Hannah had a few solo parts and was fun to watch. She is just so expressive.

2 More Pregnant

Anna's colt was loaded into the big trailer for the trip to his new owners up north of Chicago by 7:10 am. Emily took off and not 10 minutes later called. She had a blow-out on one of the trailer tires. She was able to pull it into the UPS parking lot. Mark was close by so went to help until I arrived with what I thought was the spare and the ramp.

 The spare rim looked like it would fit, had exactly the right amount of holes but it did not fit. Time to call East Peoria Tire & Vulcanizing Co to come to the rescue. Mike Rieker was told which tires and when he said they had plenty I asked him to send 3 new ones and a new rim for the spare. He sent a truck right out

 Both tires on the left side of the trailer looked ok but were dry rot with cracks which caused the blow-out in the first place. Those were both replaced and the new spare mounted.

A big big thanks to this company that would send out a truck and get us back on the road quickly. Emily arrived at the new owners place to find that they ride and train for Medieval Times. More than likely in a few years this colt will be performing too.
While Emily was hauling I was back here doing all the other work. The mares were teased. Emma was covered by Evan. Eliza will need to be covered tomorrow if she is still in. The camera was taken out for new foal pictures. Below is Emma and her colt. Emma is telling Valiant in no uncertain terms to stay away from her boy!

 Above and below is Ribbon's filly by Valiant. She is sweet, huge and athletic. She is running around her mom constantly. Ribbon would prefer to just stand around eating and this filly is keeping her moving.

 Above and below is Emma's colt by Evan. Check out those eyelashes. I've never seen such long eyelashes on a colt.

 Above is Sheena's colt by Valiant and below is Sangria's colt by Valiant. These half brothers like to play together.

 Sangria's colt has amazing movement. I must get a video of him, he picks up his legs and springs into the air.

 Dr. Hoerr arrived around 3:00 pm. First up was Ayanna, PREGNANT by Evan, then Lola also PREGNANT. Now with Lola we are not quite sure which stallion is the father and will have to dna test the foal after it is born. We used Valiant April 28th then when she needed to be covered again April 30th we had too many customers using Valiant so used Killian. And Killian again on May 2nd and 3rd. Those 2 will be hauled to Middle Grove tomorrow. Next Dr. Hoerr sonagrammed Soul, Jurista and Sangria. We are going to be shipping semen for those three and would like them cycling together but it probably isn't going to work. Soul is in now and will probably ovulate by Monday. Sangria and Jurista are pretty much on the same schedule. They were both given a shot to short cycle and will be ready to ovulate probably on Wednesday. Next up was Piper. Sherry from the state of Washington hired Dr. Hoerr to do a pre purchase exam. She passed.
Mark and I joined the campers at Middle Grove for the evening. Philip took his girls fishing, below is their reaction to this big fish.

Rhonda was cooking big slabs of meet over the fire. We were amazed at how much meat she was cooking for just Spark and her until she explained Kari and Bret were also coming.

 Rachel's family are camping there this weekend and so is Anni Davidovics.

 Karin and Anna drove over to the other area to tack up Bunni and Sally for some trail riding. Braelyn got to go along too.

 They rode them down to the cabin area so Taegan could have a short ride. 

 Jessica and Anni took a fun fast gallop up and down the rolling hills and through the woods before returning to the camping area.

 Logan was splitting wood for the camp fire but when the horses got back he and Karin took off at a gallop and rode them back to the herd.

 Rachel and Spark brought out their guitars for some singing around the campfire. Mark and I left when it was getting dark for that long ride home. I was glad he was driving my eyes were tired and just wouldn't stay open.