Falling Behind

I'm really falling behind on the picture end of this business. I got going at 5:00 am to get the trail ride pictures posted. 

Above are just a few, if you would like to see the rest click HERE.  The weanlings were fed and watered and then Tatiana and her colt brought inside and the barn air conditioner turned on. We were going to be gone all day and the forecast is HOT with temps in the 90s and real feel in the 100s.  That is just too hot for the Tatiana's colt.  I have an app on the phone that lets me check the temperature in the barn. The air conditioner was set on 78 and it stayed 78 until late afternoon. Around 3:00 it reached 80 in there but by the time we got home it was back to a comfortable 78 degrees and that is with 3 big weanlings, one big mare and a foal all putting out heat.  I'm SO thankful for that air conditioner.  Mark and I went straight from church to State Farm Park in Bloomington, IL where Rhoda and Lee were hosting the family.  Pictures were taken of the grand children enjoying the water park there but since I still haven't downloaded the parade pictures from Saturday I didn't even look at the pictures from today.  I'm falling farther and farther behind. Rhoda and Lee provided us with supper there at the park. Everyone really enjoyed the day.  

As soon as I got home from State Farm Park around 7:00 pm, I ran out to the barn. Karin was there filling water buckets. The weanlings were doing so well we put breakable halters on them and put them outside in a paddock. Tatiana was teased and covered by Valiant. She and her colt were left in the breeding shed paddock and hay taken over to them there.   The stalls were stripped.  I will bleach down the stall tomorrow and get it ready for Indy, the next mare due to foal. She is due Sept 3rd.  The volley ball players were going strong by the time I got over to the playground.  They had enough players for 3 teams. They had entertaining good games, but all were really hot by the time they quit.  I just did the last check of the night and all is well.  Hope it stays that way all night. 

Saddle For Sale

One of our past customers sold her horse and has this amazing saddle for sale. 

Sue, the owner of the saddle writes:

Hi Judy, would you know anybody that would be interested in this Tucker saddle? This is the one I wrote Piper in before I sold her it is almost new and comes with three saddle pads the stand some brushes and miscellaneous halters I bought it for almost 1500 new. and I'm selling it for 1200 or best offer. It also has a breast collar and rear cinch and a 16-inch seat an extra pair of jeans and extra stirrups if you know anybody please let me know thank you so much and if not thank you anyway

On a personal note, this is a very nice saddle, well made and worth the money.  It usually fits the Friesian breed well.  If interested please let me know and I'll email you Sue's information. 

Weaning Day for 3

Shaeya arrived early this morning but I was already hard at work cleaning up the golf cart for the big parade today in Hanna City.  We had a lot of help and the parade went perfectly. Below are just a few of the pictures taken. I didn't have time to get work on pictures.

Right after the parade we took a break for lunch then got 7 horses out for the trail ride for the Christensons.

Of course lots of pictures were taken of that and those will also be worked on at a later time. It is much too late tonight. Right after the trail ride we put Hadassah's filly, Rosalie's filly and Ayanna's colt in a stall together then loaded the 3 mares up and took them to Middle Grove. It is much better to wean with the mares out of earshot.  We had been separating the mares and foals for trail rides so at first they weren't upset at all but as the evening went on they started calling for mom.  They have plenty of hay, some grain and water. When we got to Middle Grove I took this short video.

I snapped a few pictures of the foals out there. Below is Madiera's filly by Valiant. 

 Below is Jewel's filly by Evan

 Below is Galena's colt by Valiant

 Below is Rosaleigh's filly by Evan. 

 Galena and her colt are pictured below. 

 Star and her colt are below. 

 Roxanne and her filly by Valiant are pictured below. 

 Lily's colt is pictured below. 

 Another shot of Lily's colt. Mika hangs around with Lily and her colt pretty much all the time.

 Below Shaeya is greeting Ella Skye. 

 Below is the only picture I took of Foxy's filly but you can see her in the video clip near the end. 

When we got home I had to flip a bale to use for stall feeding. The middle paddock also got a new bale. Shaeya helped with that.  Mark was power washing the skid steer.

I should have worked on pictures when I finally went into the house but instead stretched out on the couch and took a short nap. Mom invited Karin, Mark and I over for dinner tonight serving us a delicious leg of lamb, salad, mashed potatoes and zucchini bread. After supper Ruth and Diane joined us for games. The weanlings needed to be watered this evening. I was pleased to see they are drinking and eating. They are still calling for their mom's but less and less.  It is now almost 10:00 pm and I'm too tired to work on the parade and trail ride pictures. Hopefully I'll have some extra time tomorrow.

Practice Makes Perfect

We awoke to more rain and it continued pretty much all morning and into the afternoon. It wasn't a hard rain, nice and soft and by the time it was over we had exactly a half an inch.  Our fields are really green and ready to be cut but there hasn't really been a break in the weather long enough to know it would be put up dry.
I finally went out around noon to tease Prissy. It was just sprinkling by then. Prissy just wouldn't show. She squealed and kicked out at Evan so I took her over to Valiant and tried him but no luck there either. Sure hope we didn't miss her but at least we got her covered once. 
Tatiana's colt is doing super. They were able to stay out pretty much all day now that the sun wasn't out and it is cool. He is really beautiful. Below he was peeking through the weeds, watching to see where I was going. He loves scratches and is always glad to see people coming.

He had a lot of fun galloping around the paddock today.

Today was the day we were to practice loading and unloading the foals that will be leaving soon. We usually don't start that until after their mom's have been taken back to Middle Grove but I'm running out of time with Ayanna's colt. He is going to be picked up Tuesday afternoon. The trailer needed some welding and Fedi is the master welder.  I hauled the trailer over to him this afternoon.

We have heard it said that the only thing Fedi can't fix with his welding ability is a broken heart and the crack of dawn.  By the time I got it back to the farm, Karin was here ready to start with the foals.  Claire was taken out first. She willingly led away from her mom and quietly stepped into the trailer.

She is such a good girl. She was loaded and unloaded 3 times.  D'Artagnan was (Ayanna's colt) was just let out of the paddock, haltered and taken into a stall and tied to wait for his turn.  Ella (Hadassah's filly) was led first to the round pen where Karin worked with her a bit to build her trust then led over to the trailer where she also walked right in. 

 She too was asked to load and unload 3 times. All the while Hadassah is in the stall and not at all happy that her filly was out of sight.  Ella called to her a couple times but totally trusted Karin to keep her safe. 

Once Hadassah and Ella were put away,  Ayanna's colt was taken out of the stall in out to the round pen. 

He was a very good boy and we are thrilled with how well behaved all 3 of the foals behaved today.  The next job was to move a new round bale in Indy's paddock. She is sharing that right now with  Tory, Jenis, Oksana and Sangria.  Hopefully tomorrow we can take Jenis, Oksana, Sangria, Sally and Cookie back to the cabin field. Mike came and got an electric fence charger today.  Karin worked with Oksana next.

Oksana will be in Hanna City for the Heritage Days Parade.  After Oksana was done, Karin also did some work with Jenis before quitting for the day.  I missed her working with Jenis, I was busy cleaning out the stock trailer for tomorrow.  We need to haul the golf cart and 2 horses in that and it really needed cleaning.  

Tonight Mark, mom and I went to the Fellowship Hall to hear Pastor Zsolt speak of his work with the Gypsies in Romania.  It started at 6:00 pm with a light meal then the Pastor spoke while showing slides and Fedi interpreted.  We were glad to have gone. The need there is so great. 

The Great Escape

After the walk I was quietly doing laundry inside when all of a sudden the sound of thundering hoofbeats and neighing horses burst out.  I ran to the door and saw all 5 of the horses from the cabin field galloping up the driveway, stopping to scream at Valiant first then taking back off and up to the top of the hill checking out all the horses in the paddocks. They were led by Jenis,

who was followed by Sally,

then Cookie,

then Sangria

and bringing up the rear of the pack, Oksana, galloping as fast as she could to catch up. She slammed on the breaks right in front of Indy's paddock then mosied over to eat grass in front of Evan.

I'm very very thankful none are in season right now.  Sangria and Sally didn't have halters on. Jenis came right up to me and willingly walked into the short shelter paddock followed by Oksana.  Sangria had to toss her head and show off a bit before running through the gate I was holding open for her. She is such a ditz.

I had to get grain to catch Cookie and Sally. Cookie was put in with Indy and Tory and promptly started terrorizing them. She would just look at them with her ears back and they would take off. It looked pretty funny watching this pony control those 2 huge mares.  Sally followed me into the breeding shed shelter for grain and was locked in while she was enjoying her treat. Cookie was moved in with Sally. I took the golf cart over to the cabin field to see if they had gotten a gate open but the gate was locked. Mike and Diane are putting up a shed and the fence was down in that area with just a rope and they ran through the rope.  As there is no hay in the breeding shed shelter I needed to move Jenis, Oksana and Sangria in with Indy and Tory. These 5 all like each other. Sally and Cookie were then moved into the short shelter. Mike had to run to Middle Grove as he got word a mare and foal were out there.  Today was the day of great escapes.  He is going to put up electric fence where the rope was tomorrow. The horses will be moved back then.
Prissy is still in but not covered today.

She will need to be covered tomorrow if she shows then.  Tatiana and her colt by Valiant were put out in the paddock next to the stall barn. It was such a beautiful day. The colt is doing great, full of energy and no more loose bowels. Hopefully I can get some updated pictures tomorrow of him for the website.
This evening the mares in the middle paddock were locked off the pond pasture so Mark could get that mowed. It is shocking how tall the weeds got. There is still quite a bit of grazing in that pasture but now that it is mowed I'll keep them off of it for a few days. We are expecting thunderstorms in the morning.
Today Ayanna's colt and Hadassah's filly were brought inside the stall barn, haltered, tied and given their first set of vaccines. I was really pleased with how well both of them did for the haltering and tying. These foals are BIG and strong and could easily get away from me and yet they stand there while the halter is latched, then both led up to the door of the stall to be tied. Both also did very well for their shots. They were given a treat and taken back out. Tomorrow Karin is coming and we will practice loading the foals that will be leaving soon.

Coggin's Health Papers & Shots

Dr Pallen arrived around 9:00 am to give Claire her first set of shots.  I ordered the vaccines Monday for the rest of the foals and they arrived at Meister's this afternoon in a cooler with 3 icepacks. They were still cold and put right in the fridge. The foals that will be getting their vaccines are the ones we are weaning first, Rosalie's filly, Ayanna's colt and Hadassah's filly.  Ayanna's colt and Hadassah's filly will get their shots tomorrow.  These are EEE WEE Flu Rhino EVH1  EVH4 and Tetanus. Dr. Pallen drew blood for the Coggins test on Zalena's colt, Missy's filly and Soul's colt. All did well but Soul's colt, the one we use to call the 'wild child' did the best. He didn't even flinch.  Health certificates were done on the 3 that will be leaving the end of August, beginning of September. After Dr. Pallen left I got the skid steer out and started cleaning the shelter in the paddock next to Evan's to prepare for a mare coming in for breeding.

Bob, the owner of Prissy arrived around 1:30 pm. Prissy was teased and showed so was covered by Valiant then put in the paddock.  Praying she settles on this cycle. This will be the second foal out of Prissy by Valiant. The first was gorgeous. Below is a picture taken of him before he left here.

We couldn't believe how thick and long both his tail and mane were.  Bob is hoping for another just as gorgeous.  

Mom, Diane, Mike, Rachel and David all flew home today from Gulf Shores. Instead of 14 hours of driving, they just drove the 2 hours to Destin, Florida then flew the 2 hours home. That makes for an easy trip. Mom felt rested enough to go to church tonight.  Tim Roecker had the message tonight. Always good to hear him speak. 

As soon as we got home from church we changed out of our church clothes and headed up to the barn to give Tatiana's colt 750 cc's of IV fluids then the IV removed out of his neck.  His IV was flushed 5 times during the day but he was always doing well enough that I did not give him fluids until tonight. His intestines are working much better. His diarrhea is no long watery but yellow with some substance. He should be fine tomorrow. He fought us tonight so I know he is feeling better. Sure thankful for that.