A lady from Haiti called Diane this morning that Joan wanted her family to start praying. Tim, Sarah and Gabriel were in a terrible motorcycle accident and they are in the hospital in Haiti and it doesn't look good.
This is all the information we have so we are asking for prayers for the Reinhard family. They are missionaries in Haiti. Tim is Joan's husband, Sarah is their 16 year old daughter and Gabriel is their 5 year old son.
Please pray for God's will to be done. Pray for healing and spread the word to other Christians. This family needs to have prayer cover.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
It's SATURDAY and the SUN is OUT!!!
This morning we stayed in bed until the SUN came out. Yes we really do still have a sun up in the sky, it is that bright yellow thing making our eyes squint. We headed to the farm before breakfast to move in some round bales but when we got there Mike was on the skid steer already moving them. We brought the battery charger out but it wasn't needed, Mike had put his battery charger on it all night so it started right up. We moved in 3 new bales for the mares, then moved out one of the molding ones from the paddock, tried to move the molding one that is in the bale feeder but gave up, and moved all 14 out of the barn and put them up against the west fence line for a wind break this winter.
Mark worked on the pressure washer while I cleaned Izadora's stall. We let Izadora, Jenis, Lily and their foals out on the field, they may as well be grazing as we won't get any other cuttings this year. They had a great time running and bucking and each of the mares needed to have a good roll. They were so thrilled to be out of the mud. They really didn't graze as long as I thought they would, they were more interested in watching us work so we put them back in the paddock. The field should be fenced in so we can let them ALL out, it is such good grass going to waste. Maybe I'll see how much it would be to put up a high tensile fence around the outside of the field. Izadora's milk is still not showing any calcium so she may as well stay out for a few days AND nights. I have her in with Lily and Jenis. They all get along and there is 2 bales of good alfalfa hay in that paddock.
All the way home from the farm we marveled at the beautiful fall colors. The trees are so gorgeous with the sun shining down on the brilliant foliage. I need to get some pictures just in case the sun decides to leave again.
5:30pm: The mail came a little late today and there was another check for Sophie. I'll give it to Diane tomorrow in church, that will help with our hay payment!
Rhoda called, one of the horses she is taking care of at her house sitting job came up lame today. She cleaned out the hoof, checked over the leg and there is no swelling so she thinks it might be up in the shoulder. The owner is coming home tomorrow so I told her to give 2 bute tablets and leave a note for the owner about what she found and treatment done so far.
Karin's dinner went GREAT! She had plenty of flavorful tender steak, wonderful onions and mushrooms for topping, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, salad, and dessert. Everyone squeezed in her house and had a wonderful time. After dinner they went to the haunted house in Galesburg. Karin watched Addyson while the rest went through the house. Karin is going to it with her youth group tomorrow anyway so didn't mind missing. She waited at the end for them to all come running out screaming. Philip was the first one out, somehow he can figure out puzzles easily, he lost Anna, actually touched a stranger while groping around in the dark so quickly made his way outside to wait. They had fun teasing Anna about not even being married a year and her husband abandoning her.
Mark worked on the pressure washer while I cleaned Izadora's stall. We let Izadora, Jenis, Lily and their foals out on the field, they may as well be grazing as we won't get any other cuttings this year. They had a great time running and bucking and each of the mares needed to have a good roll. They were so thrilled to be out of the mud. They really didn't graze as long as I thought they would, they were more interested in watching us work so we put them back in the paddock. The field should be fenced in so we can let them ALL out, it is such good grass going to waste. Maybe I'll see how much it would be to put up a high tensile fence around the outside of the field. Izadora's milk is still not showing any calcium so she may as well stay out for a few days AND nights. I have her in with Lily and Jenis. They all get along and there is 2 bales of good alfalfa hay in that paddock.
All the way home from the farm we marveled at the beautiful fall colors. The trees are so gorgeous with the sun shining down on the brilliant foliage. I need to get some pictures just in case the sun decides to leave again.
5:30pm: The mail came a little late today and there was another check for Sophie. I'll give it to Diane tomorrow in church, that will help with our hay payment!
Rhoda called, one of the horses she is taking care of at her house sitting job came up lame today. She cleaned out the hoof, checked over the leg and there is no swelling so she thinks it might be up in the shoulder. The owner is coming home tomorrow so I told her to give 2 bute tablets and leave a note for the owner about what she found and treatment done so far.
Karin's dinner went GREAT! She had plenty of flavorful tender steak, wonderful onions and mushrooms for topping, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, salad, and dessert. Everyone squeezed in her house and had a wonderful time. After dinner they went to the haunted house in Galesburg. Karin watched Addyson while the rest went through the house. Karin is going to it with her youth group tomorrow anyway so didn't mind missing. She waited at the end for them to all come running out screaming. Philip was the first one out, somehow he can figure out puzzles easily, he lost Anna, actually touched a stranger while groping around in the dark so quickly made his way outside to wait. They had fun teasing Anna about not even being married a year and her husband abandoning her.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Work
I'm typing this down at work since I am on hold, YES!! I love being on hold when I can do something besides sit and wait on the phone.
Karin called to tell me ALL of my children AND their spouses are coming to her house tonight for dinner. She has a 480 square foot house and is having 19 people over for a steak dinner. She is going to have to go buy more silverware, she doesn't even have enough knives for 10 people and thought maybe she could have them share knives.
She has seating for 13 if you count her bed. We are just laughing trying to figure out where they will all sit. I guess they will be eating in shifts.
Steven Marchal is handling things at the farm today. He is going to try to move the molding round bales out of the barn if the skid steer will start. The battery is going dead, not easy to change skid steer batteries, the entire top must be taken off. He told me that Izadora now has waxing on both teats but the calcium test which hasn't failed yet gives us no chance of her delivering for a while. I hope he puts her out, the sun is trying very hard to peek out of the clouds.
I bought green beans for potluck tonight, fancy french cut tender green beans. My grandma's receipt is wonderful for them and they should be started around 4:30pm as we are leaving at 5:30pm. Hope I get off work in time!
Karin called to tell me ALL of my children AND their spouses are coming to her house tonight for dinner. She has a 480 square foot house and is having 19 people over for a steak dinner. She is going to have to go buy more silverware, she doesn't even have enough knives for 10 people and thought maybe she could have them share knives.
She has seating for 13 if you count her bed. We are just laughing trying to figure out where they will all sit. I guess they will be eating in shifts.
Steven Marchal is handling things at the farm today. He is going to try to move the molding round bales out of the barn if the skid steer will start. The battery is going dead, not easy to change skid steer batteries, the entire top must be taken off. He told me that Izadora now has waxing on both teats but the calcium test which hasn't failed yet gives us no chance of her delivering for a while. I hope he puts her out, the sun is trying very hard to peek out of the clouds.
I bought green beans for potluck tonight, fancy french cut tender green beans. My grandma's receipt is wonderful for them and they should be started around 4:30pm as we are leaving at 5:30pm. Hope I get off work in time!
Peoria's Horse Auction
Last night was the auction down at the Heart of IL Arena. They had 170 head of horses advertised. There were over 250 horses that went through. We have our Bible study on Thursday nights and Mike had a board meeting but once the meeting was done he headed over just to see what people were bringing to sell. He got there around 9:30pm and the sale was already OVER. Mike said a man from Canada bought them all. We all know what that means, the packing factories to render horse meat are still open in Canada AND get this: he only paid $20.00 to $30.00 per horse!
My heart goes out to each one of those poor horses, getting shoved in a trailer, hauled for hours, then ending up where the smell of blood and death permeates the air. When the United States' rendering plants were open, we had regulation on how the horse was treated and brought in. I know the animal activist think they are doing a great good by having them all shut down but this was so much worse for these horses than they would have had.
PLEASE be a responsible horse owner or breeder, don't put these animals in a situation where the only option is a Canada or Mexico rendering plant!
My heart goes out to each one of those poor horses, getting shoved in a trailer, hauled for hours, then ending up where the smell of blood and death permeates the air. When the United States' rendering plants were open, we had regulation on how the horse was treated and brought in. I know the animal activist think they are doing a great good by having them all shut down but this was so much worse for these horses than they would have had.
PLEASE be a responsible horse owner or breeder, don't put these animals in a situation where the only option is a Canada or Mexico rendering plant!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Izadora
This morning Izadora had a drop of something on one of her teats. Steven Marchal will meet with me today to help do a foal predictor test on her at 2:00pm today. We are so excited to see this foal. Izadora is a black, true 16.2 hands, a purebred Trakehner and her gaits are unbelievable! She was taken to the Trakehner inspections and got an 8 for her canter. Her trot was even better. Warmbloods sometimes don't have as good of canter as they should but Izadora is the complete package. Her foal can't be ANYTHING but FANTASTIC! Hope she has a girl, this is one foal that should be kept until shown but if it is a colt we will try to sell even if we have to drop the price. Just can't have another stallion on the place that is not a purebred Friesian.
Darcy got to come today on our walk, Rhoda thinks we are not playing enough with her and that is why she ate the sock. Rhoda is still house sitting and Darcy must be missing her. Darcy is actually now doing the entire walk with us instead of waiting by the car when she thinks she should quit. We finished the walk with the rain again starting. It was just a drizzle but more is predicted.
Ciara was lying in her favorite spot between the hay and the fence and her head and neck was actually on the wrong side of the fence. She didn't look up when her name was called so over the fence and through the mud I go, when she sees me she pulls her head in and stands up. That was a totally unnecessary trip through the mud!
I'll update more after we do the "test".
3:15pm: Well the test is so far off the wrong way that it looks like it will be 2 weeks before she is ready. It was colostrum on her teat but when we went to test it the calcium did not show up at all.
We left her in the day is still drizzling. Since I had time, Raven was taken out and brought over to the mares to see if Kesha's mare would come up. This is the 18th day since we got her covered last and there is no sign of her coming back in season. She is probably pregnant but we will need to keep checking for a while. I'm not sure Kesha wants a sonagram, will have to contact her and ask. Raven was FULL of himself, he hasn't been busy for 18 days and he really didn't want to leave the mares. When he was being taken over to the field for grazing he tried to buck, kick, shy, pull, just about anything to be able to run. He finally settled down and started grazing and got about 45 minutes of good green grass. After he was put back the last cutting round bales were checked and they will ALL need to be moved out of the barn. They are ALL molding. I'm praying about what to do with them. I may line them up 2 high on the west end of the far paddock as a shelter from the wind.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A Dreary Day
We woke this morning to more rain. I actually didn't know it was raining until Darcy asked to be let in and she was all wet. We think Darcy is now fine from eating the sock. At our walk today, mom gave me a can of dog food to give her, she scarfed it up around 8:30 and it is now 4:15pm and she has not thrown up. YEAH!
I will confess it was MY sock she ate. I was so cold coming home and Mark had a fire going in the fireplace. I crashed in front of the fire, took off my wet socks and shoes to dry off and LEFT the socks downstairs.
Mike moved in a new round bale, the last cutting from the farm is not good, we have 3 bales in from that and they are not wanting to eat it. It really was put up too wet. We moved in an alfalfa bale 3 days ago and it was completely gone.
Mark let me order the Dekker book on Amazon. Pretty cool it is the 3 books in 1 for $12.99 plus shipping. I will really look forward to the mail for the next few days.
The money from the Spoon River drive was counted and deposited. For both weekends the vaulters raised $448.00, not too bad for bad weather both weekends.
The rain is suppose to continue for the next 3 days so who knows when we will be able to get the big trailer out of the mud at Middle Grove. At least the weekend is suppose to be sunny, perhaps things will start to dry out, if not we need to wait for a hard freeze to bring home the horses.
We can't post new ads until we get new pictures, it just doesn't pay to post old or bad pictures.
After doing the grocery shopping at Aldi's we needed a good hearty stew for this cold day so Shepherds Pie was on the menu. It is such an easy meal and so tasty. My brother-in-law, Fede Davidovics from Romania taught us how to make it when we were camping. Cut up an onion or 2, we use 2 as we like the flavor, saute the onion until soft, then add cut up meat. I used beef today but pork or lamb works just as well. Cook with the onions until the meat is browned, add a little water and carrots, then peeled cut up potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste, cover with water and simmer for hours. I've just dished out a sample to make sure it is good enough to serve my family for dinner. Yeah RIGHT! So hearty, so warming, and so tasty.
I will confess it was MY sock she ate. I was so cold coming home and Mark had a fire going in the fireplace. I crashed in front of the fire, took off my wet socks and shoes to dry off and LEFT the socks downstairs.
Mike moved in a new round bale, the last cutting from the farm is not good, we have 3 bales in from that and they are not wanting to eat it. It really was put up too wet. We moved in an alfalfa bale 3 days ago and it was completely gone.
Mark let me order the Dekker book on Amazon. Pretty cool it is the 3 books in 1 for $12.99 plus shipping. I will really look forward to the mail for the next few days.
The money from the Spoon River drive was counted and deposited. For both weekends the vaulters raised $448.00, not too bad for bad weather both weekends.
The rain is suppose to continue for the next 3 days so who knows when we will be able to get the big trailer out of the mud at Middle Grove. At least the weekend is suppose to be sunny, perhaps things will start to dry out, if not we need to wait for a hard freeze to bring home the horses.
We can't post new ads until we get new pictures, it just doesn't pay to post old or bad pictures.
After doing the grocery shopping at Aldi's we needed a good hearty stew for this cold day so Shepherds Pie was on the menu. It is such an easy meal and so tasty. My brother-in-law, Fede Davidovics from Romania taught us how to make it when we were camping. Cut up an onion or 2, we use 2 as we like the flavor, saute the onion until soft, then add cut up meat. I used beef today but pork or lamb works just as well. Cook with the onions until the meat is browned, add a little water and carrots, then peeled cut up potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste, cover with water and simmer for hours. I've just dished out a sample to make sure it is good enough to serve my family for dinner. Yeah RIGHT! So hearty, so warming, and so tasty.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
A Normal Tuesday?
This was a very average day and we are thankful for that. Ciera was on the wrong side of the fence this morning but she saw me, called to let me know, came galloping up to the gate and waited for me to open it and put her with her mom. What a smart filly... or it could all be a coincident except she went through 3 different steps to get to her mom. She was watching for me to drive up as soon as she saw me she neighed to let me know there was a problem, she had to leave her mom that was right beside her on the other side of the fence, run around to the middle paddock and run to the gate.
We had a good walk, I got down to work early, Eva Jean and I got done with the Bible studies before 11:30am, we went to lunch with Philip and Mark, then both of us went home. I was able to read a book before choir. It was Red by Ted Dekker. I just finished the book and it is the 2nd book in a trilogy, now I want to get the first book White and desperately want the last book Black to see how the story ends.
Rhoda texted me during choir to say that Darcy threw up and did she get into something. Darcy was acting fine all day so hopefully it was nothing. We got home from choir and made arrangements with Rhoda to take Darcy to her work tomorrow if she is still vomiting but Darcy is eating treats fine and acting fine. Then before bed she threw up a sock so we thought all was well. Now she has thrown up 2 more times. I can't believe how much a Mastiff holds in her stomach. Perhaps she ate a pair of socks and only one came out. We really don't think it has made it to her intestines or she wouldn't want to eat and she actually does still want snacks.
We had a good walk, I got down to work early, Eva Jean and I got done with the Bible studies before 11:30am, we went to lunch with Philip and Mark, then both of us went home. I was able to read a book before choir. It was Red by Ted Dekker. I just finished the book and it is the 2nd book in a trilogy, now I want to get the first book White and desperately want the last book Black to see how the story ends.
Rhoda texted me during choir to say that Darcy threw up and did she get into something. Darcy was acting fine all day so hopefully it was nothing. We got home from choir and made arrangements with Rhoda to take Darcy to her work tomorrow if she is still vomiting but Darcy is eating treats fine and acting fine. Then before bed she threw up a sock so we thought all was well. Now she has thrown up 2 more times. I can't believe how much a Mastiff holds in her stomach. Perhaps she ate a pair of socks and only one came out. We really don't think it has made it to her intestines or she wouldn't want to eat and she actually does still want snacks.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Tired!!!!
OK, This past weekend took more out of me than I thought. This morning it is pitch black, I'm stumbling around in my room trying to find clean clothes (no I didn't do laundry over the weekend) then I finally figured out if I turned on the light, it wouldn't be so hard to navigate.
Downstairs I practically run to the coffee maker and realize OH NO WE ARE OUT OF COFFEE! Out to the car, look down and no gas. Rhoda borrowed the car over the weekend and it is below E so I'd better stop and fill up. At the farm, I grained everyone, checked on the foals and saw Ciera lying on the side of the round bale at the bottom of the pen, I didn't want to go in the mud so just called her name and she lifted her head so I assumed she was fine. I got to mom's just before she and Heidi came out and we started walking when Ruth pulled up and joined us. As we did the farm loop I realized that Ciera hasn't moved, so I crawled over the fence, through the mud and saw she was cast up against the fence. Adrenaline does wonders and I was able to grab her tail and leg and pull her out enough she could get up. I think she weighs 1000 pounds, OK probably only about 600 pounds but it seemed like a thousand. I'm out of breath when Karin calls and wants to talk. I told her to join us and mom graciously offered to cook us breakfast AND make some coffee. DID that EVER taste good. After breakfast, Ruth, Karin and I pulled the sailboat out of the lake, rolled up the sail and carried the boat up below mom's deck for the winter and the sail, poles, and rudder into her garage for storage. Then over to the farm to clean stalls. I spent about an hour cleaning the three stalls and they still kind of smelled when I was done, Izadora has been in TOO long. The weather has just been so cold, wet and awful to expect her to be out in it and the mud is again terrible. This has been a strange year!
Back home I HAD to make a run to walmart for COFFEE, we cannot have another morning like this one! The sun never came out today. I didn't see it at all yesterday, it is COLD AND I WANT TO GO BACK TO GULF SHORES!!!
Downstairs I practically run to the coffee maker and realize OH NO WE ARE OUT OF COFFEE! Out to the car, look down and no gas. Rhoda borrowed the car over the weekend and it is below E so I'd better stop and fill up. At the farm, I grained everyone, checked on the foals and saw Ciera lying on the side of the round bale at the bottom of the pen, I didn't want to go in the mud so just called her name and she lifted her head so I assumed she was fine. I got to mom's just before she and Heidi came out and we started walking when Ruth pulled up and joined us. As we did the farm loop I realized that Ciera hasn't moved, so I crawled over the fence, through the mud and saw she was cast up against the fence. Adrenaline does wonders and I was able to grab her tail and leg and pull her out enough she could get up. I think she weighs 1000 pounds, OK probably only about 600 pounds but it seemed like a thousand. I'm out of breath when Karin calls and wants to talk. I told her to join us and mom graciously offered to cook us breakfast AND make some coffee. DID that EVER taste good. After breakfast, Ruth, Karin and I pulled the sailboat out of the lake, rolled up the sail and carried the boat up below mom's deck for the winter and the sail, poles, and rudder into her garage for storage. Then over to the farm to clean stalls. I spent about an hour cleaning the three stalls and they still kind of smelled when I was done, Izadora has been in TOO long. The weather has just been so cold, wet and awful to expect her to be out in it and the mud is again terrible. This has been a strange year!
Back home I HAD to make a run to walmart for COFFEE, we cannot have another morning like this one! The sun never came out today. I didn't see it at all yesterday, it is COLD AND I WANT TO GO BACK TO GULF SHORES!!!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Spoon River Drive Week 2
Well the announcer on the radio said we would have brilliant sunshine today but we did not see the sun at all. Wonder what weather forecast she was reading, maybe Gulf Shores! It was cloudy, damp and just bone chilling cold for our last day of the Spoon River Drive 2009. We were only open from 1:30pm to 4:30pm and made $90.00 at least it wasn't raining. Last weekend they gave pony rides in the rain and made $216.00. This weekend we had no rain but the cold was awful. I have the feeling we are in for a long cold winter. We made $140.00 yesterday and $90.00 today. The only problem we had the entire weekend was the time Duke discovered there was no fence around the yard and took off trotting down the road. When the ponies weren't busy, Karin would let them graze in the front yard of the school. Paris is wonderful, never trying to run away, Duke is a different story, there is just something about ponies. Where he thought he could go is a mystery, he was miles from home.
We made it back to the farm around 5:15pm, Karin took the saddles and bridles back to the cabin then headed over to Sauders. She is house (kid) sitting for Rachel and David while they are in Greece. I unloaded the horses, Then went to bring in the Friesian mares and foals into the barn but couldn't see them. Steven Marchal had kindly taken them out of the mud and put them in the barn to dry out. THANK YOU STEVEN. We needed to have them in to show them to one of our past customers. Their 15 hand chestnut Saddlebred mare, Charming Robbin, was bred to Raven about 4 years ago and the colt she threw is FANTASTIC, they named him Buddy. He is 16.2 hand at 3 years of age, black and well filled out. They are so thrilled with Buddy that they decided they want to buy a purebred Friesian. They came about a half hour early, and really liked Sanna's filly Wanda. They will call me in about a week with a decision as they are also looking at a Saddlebred mare down in Lexington, KY and really only want to buy one horse.
We made it back to the farm around 5:15pm, Karin took the saddles and bridles back to the cabin then headed over to Sauders. She is house (kid) sitting for Rachel and David while they are in Greece. I unloaded the horses, Then went to bring in the Friesian mares and foals into the barn but couldn't see them. Steven Marchal had kindly taken them out of the mud and put them in the barn to dry out. THANK YOU STEVEN. We needed to have them in to show them to one of our past customers. Their 15 hand chestnut Saddlebred mare, Charming Robbin, was bred to Raven about 4 years ago and the colt she threw is FANTASTIC, they named him Buddy. He is 16.2 hand at 3 years of age, black and well filled out. They are so thrilled with Buddy that they decided they want to buy a purebred Friesian. They came about a half hour early, and really liked Sanna's filly Wanda. They will call me in about a week with a decision as they are also looking at a Saddlebred mare down in Lexington, KY and really only want to buy one horse.
Xena's Colt Sold
Chris the owner of Xena has marked him sold. WOW how nice to know Raven babies are selling almost at birth. I think he was born September 26th, and was sold by October 10th.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Draft Horse Auction
Last night I pulled away from the house right at 6:00pm and made it to Arthur sale barn at 8:30pm. It was cold but not too bad so I brought everything in from the truck into the trailer to prepare for the night. I fell asleep listening to the semis and diesel trucks pulling up unloading. The phone rang at 11:30pm, it was Mike and they were lost, he had been driving around Arthur for 40 minutes, he finally asked someone and found out he was only a half a mile from the barn. Diane and Mike gave me a propane heater for my trailer but it couldn't be run while sleeping. It took the chill off so back to bed I went. At 5:30am I woke up with my nose freezing. That was the only part sticking out of the sleeping bags. The heater was turned back on and I climbed back inside the sleeping bag until the trailer warmed up enough to get dressed. We are talking frost on the windows and this is only the 10Th of October. Finally around 6:20am I went in for breakfast. This was kind of disappointing, I didn't have dinner last night, thinking of the good Amish breakfast I would have in the morning but... the sausage tasted like hamburger, the scrambled eggs were watered down so much they were almost tasteless and the pancake was burned, oh well I did get 2 cups of hot coffee with the breakfast, kind of made it worth the $5.00. The bake sale needed to be checked out, and the home made donuts looked good so bought 1 bag for $3.00. Then it was time to check out the horses. The funny thing was most of the horses I had marked in the catalogue were either mismarked or there was something wrong with the plumbing. Before leaving for the sale, I marked the numbers down I wanted to check out and they were all fillies, today there were only 2 fillies in all that I marked. Later I found out they were substitutes.
Mike and Diane were up by this time, I talked them out of breakfast so they went straight to the bake sale tent. Diane bought some cinnamon rolls and Willow (Diane's grand daughter) bought some popcorn. We thought the cinnamon rolls also tasted a little funny so I broke out the donutes again.
The tack part was fun but frustrating. The first group of 5 draft halters I was the only bidder and we got them for $3.00 each, the next set they put 7 halters with 7 lead ropes and that went for $4.00 each but the lead ropes are the bull snaps, not really what we wanted. After that, halters started going for $9.00 each so we passed on the rest. We also bought a 5 tine steel manure fork, push broom, hay rake, and 2 manure forks. One grooming block and 2 head lamps pretty much finished our buying spree. The total was $136.00. The Haflingers were the first horses through the ring and we were shocked at how cheap they went. There was a very nice 4 year old mare trained to ride and drive AND in foal and she went for $400.00. A yearling half Belgium, half Haflinger filly went for $35.00. Mike wanted to know why I didn't bid on her but she was ugly. A beautiful 3 year old Haflinger mare, sport type, not at all drafty, professionaly started undersaddle, was the only one I bid on but she went too high. I stopped bidding at $500.00 thinking I was going to save my money for the black Percheron fillies from Canada but they actually went much higher than we dreamed they would. So I drove home an empty trailer. Karin called while I was driving home and THANK GOODNESS told me I didn't need to come to the Spoon River Drive. They were freezing, and didn't have much business. Only about 45 people wanted pony rides.
Mike and Diane were up by this time, I talked them out of breakfast so they went straight to the bake sale tent. Diane bought some cinnamon rolls and Willow (Diane's grand daughter) bought some popcorn. We thought the cinnamon rolls also tasted a little funny so I broke out the donutes again.
The tack part was fun but frustrating. The first group of 5 draft halters I was the only bidder and we got them for $3.00 each, the next set they put 7 halters with 7 lead ropes and that went for $4.00 each but the lead ropes are the bull snaps, not really what we wanted. After that, halters started going for $9.00 each so we passed on the rest. We also bought a 5 tine steel manure fork, push broom, hay rake, and 2 manure forks. One grooming block and 2 head lamps pretty much finished our buying spree. The total was $136.00. The Haflingers were the first horses through the ring and we were shocked at how cheap they went. There was a very nice 4 year old mare trained to ride and drive AND in foal and she went for $400.00. A yearling half Belgium, half Haflinger filly went for $35.00. Mike wanted to know why I didn't bid on her but she was ugly. A beautiful 3 year old Haflinger mare, sport type, not at all drafty, professionaly started undersaddle, was the only one I bid on but she went too high. I stopped bidding at $500.00 thinking I was going to save my money for the black Percheron fillies from Canada but they actually went much higher than we dreamed they would. So I drove home an empty trailer. Karin called while I was driving home and THANK GOODNESS told me I didn't need to come to the Spoon River Drive. They were freezing, and didn't have much business. Only about 45 people wanted pony rides.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Royal Masquerade SOLD
He is SOLD!
The wire transfer came through for the deposit on Sangria's 2009 colt we named Royal Masquerade. He is a birthday present for Cesar's wife and will be picked up in December as that is when her birthday is. Congratulations CESAR!
Sangria's colts are HUGE both at birth and once they are done growing. Royal's full sister was 17 hands at 3 years of age, I know they don't finish growing until 5 years old so she will probably end up 17.1 or 17.2 and usually colts are bigger than fillies.
We have decided to breed Sangria back to Raven late this fall, I wasn't going to breed her back this year, we miss her as a riding horse but if she is bred late October has the foal October 2010 the foal will be weaned in March 2011 and we can have her both next summer and 2011 summer for riding. Two of our customers always breed their mares late fall for that very reason.
We woke up to rain again this morning so no walking. I still need to get to the farm, take care of Izadora, Jenis and Raven and pick up my trailer for tonight. I just found out Mike and Diane are going to be going down to Arthur also and they are taking Willow their grand daughter. We are going to be camping in a parking lot with no hookups but it is still easier for me to do that then get up at 4:00am and drive down. I'm really having a problem getting up early for some reason. Last night we went to bed right after getting home from Bible study, the phone rang at 11:00pm and woke us up. I couldn't get back to sleep until after midnight, then slept in until 6:45am.
At least with the rain I was able to sit and have a couple cups of coffee.
Later in the day: Well, I was pleased when I got to the farm, Steven Marchal was there and already had Raven and the mares grained. He fired up the skid steer and moved in 2 new round bales for the mares in the middle paddock and gave Raven a new alfalfa bale. He also helped me load up the stock trailer with hay, manure forks, wheel barrow and our equine liability sign for the Spoon River Drive tomorrow. Mike is going to be hauling the ponies out in that and we didn't want anything forgotten. With 2 full days of rain I wasn't sure if we could get the big horse trailer out and wanted an extra hand around to help push with the skid steer if needed. We hooked up the horse trailer and even without 4wheel drive was able to pull it out, unfortunately that didn't work at home. I missed my driveway and got the truck and trailer stuck in the yard. Ralph and Jamie Stone came and pulled me out and helped back the trailer up just enough that it is on concrete, out of the way but we can still drive around it. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the truck repaired, We MUST have 4 Wheel drive with the weather we have had this year.
The wire transfer came through for the deposit on Sangria's 2009 colt we named Royal Masquerade. He is a birthday present for Cesar's wife and will be picked up in December as that is when her birthday is. Congratulations CESAR!
Sangria's colts are HUGE both at birth and once they are done growing. Royal's full sister was 17 hands at 3 years of age, I know they don't finish growing until 5 years old so she will probably end up 17.1 or 17.2 and usually colts are bigger than fillies.
We have decided to breed Sangria back to Raven late this fall, I wasn't going to breed her back this year, we miss her as a riding horse but if she is bred late October has the foal October 2010 the foal will be weaned in March 2011 and we can have her both next summer and 2011 summer for riding. Two of our customers always breed their mares late fall for that very reason.
We woke up to rain again this morning so no walking. I still need to get to the farm, take care of Izadora, Jenis and Raven and pick up my trailer for tonight. I just found out Mike and Diane are going to be going down to Arthur also and they are taking Willow their grand daughter. We are going to be camping in a parking lot with no hookups but it is still easier for me to do that then get up at 4:00am and drive down. I'm really having a problem getting up early for some reason. Last night we went to bed right after getting home from Bible study, the phone rang at 11:00pm and woke us up. I couldn't get back to sleep until after midnight, then slept in until 6:45am.
At least with the rain I was able to sit and have a couple cups of coffee.
Later in the day: Well, I was pleased when I got to the farm, Steven Marchal was there and already had Raven and the mares grained. He fired up the skid steer and moved in 2 new round bales for the mares in the middle paddock and gave Raven a new alfalfa bale. He also helped me load up the stock trailer with hay, manure forks, wheel barrow and our equine liability sign for the Spoon River Drive tomorrow. Mike is going to be hauling the ponies out in that and we didn't want anything forgotten. With 2 full days of rain I wasn't sure if we could get the big horse trailer out and wanted an extra hand around to help push with the skid steer if needed. We hooked up the horse trailer and even without 4wheel drive was able to pull it out, unfortunately that didn't work at home. I missed my driveway and got the truck and trailer stuck in the yard. Ralph and Jamie Stone came and pulled me out and helped back the trailer up just enough that it is on concrete, out of the way but we can still drive around it. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the truck repaired, We MUST have 4 Wheel drive with the weather we have had this year.
A Mare For Sale
Below is an email from one of our customers.
We call her Luna at the barn because she has a crescent moon and star brand on her left shoulder but her registered name is Okay Dokay Jac.
I have done ground work with her since the day i got her. I have started her under saddle and ground driving her, and she is doing very well. I think that she would be a great reining prospect. She also has great breeding behind her, which you can view at She is out of bigger stock both of her parents are at least 15hands and she should reach about 14.3hands. She is HYPP N/N. I have videos of her on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_C8IVWYOY this was only my 7th time riding her and the first time i tried trotting her undersaddle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVyLg1O1mpg This is us grooming and tacking her up. I'm trying to get a quick sale so am asking $900 for her. In her pictures she has bayed out because i didn't put a fly sheet on her all summer. But now she is getting her dark color back.
Thanks for all your help,
Melissa Herman
malomuch@inbox.com
We call her Luna at the barn because she has a crescent moon and star brand on her left shoulder but her registered name is Okay Dokay Jac.
I have done ground work with her since the day i got her. I have started her under saddle and ground driving her, and she is doing very well. I think that she would be a great reining prospect. She also has great breeding behind her, which you can view at
Thanks for all your help,
Melissa Herman
malomuch@inbox.com
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Addyson
The girls, Anna, Taunya, Addyson, Rhoda, and Sarah, met at Avanti's restaurant for lunch and invited me to come. After lunch they went shopping while Addyson and I headed for home. What a fun day to get to play with her for 3 hours. Taunya bought her a Halloween costume and she had to model it for us, good thing she did, it is already too small so Taunya will have to buy a bigger size.
Addyson is adorable as a little lady bug. 
Rhoda and Sarah thoroughly enjoy playing dress up with Addyson. Aren't they ALL ADORABLE? After spending this special time with my only grand daughter I decided this day was not like a Monday after all.
Addyson is adorable as a little lady bug. 
Rhoda and Sarah thoroughly enjoy playing dress up with Addyson. Aren't they ALL ADORABLE? After spending this special time with my only grand daughter I decided this day was not like a Monday after all.
Surely Thursday is Monday
This morning I slept in until 6:45 jumped up dressed and was ready to head out the door before I realized my car wasn't back. Mark lent it to one of his men yesterday. I didn't take time for coffee just took the truck keys to drive to the lake but... I saw Rhoda's Impala sitting in front of the steps and thought to myself, I'll just take her car, she doesn't need it until later in the day. Dumb idea. As I'm driving out of the drive way the light for no fuel starts blinking and the ding keeps going off Low Fuel, Low Fuel. Remember I haven't had my coffee yet so of course I think, "oh she needs gas, I'll just fill it up for her" forgetting her gas gauge doesn't work and she goes off her mileage. Didn't think to look at that. I pull in to the gas station and start to fill the tank when it stops at less than 2 gallons. I just keep working to get the nozzle in better, thinking that must be causing it to keep shutting off when the tank starts to overflow. Only then did I remember to look at her mileage and see she has only gone about 50 miles on this tank. Back in the car, trying to drive out of the gas station, the rain is hitting the window, it is still dark so I open the driver's side window to see if the road is clear and pull out onto the highway. The next step is to shut the window but... this is Rhoda's car, her drivers side window will roll down but not up. So out to the farm I drive in the rain and cold (about 50 degrees outside) getting soaked. I should have driven straight home but Izadora is in a stall waiting to be fed. At the farm, Izadora was fed and watered but did not get turned out, it is just too wet and cold. She is starting to bag up and we don't want a baby born out in this weather. Raven and Jenis were grained, and I headed over to mom's for some coffee but because we didn't walk today, she didn't MAKE coffee. The rain started coming down in earnest so by the time it was time to drive home the drivers side seat was soaked. That was not a fun trip.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Hay
This morning I made it to the farm with 10 minutes to spare so grained Raven, Izadora and Jenis. Steven Marchal had put the new hay up so I went to see what the bales looked like and can't find them. I'm sure he put them in the barn but all the hay looks like earlier hay so it must have survived the rain. Our farmer told me it was because it was rainy AND cold, no chance of mold. What surprised me is that it stayed green. I thought hay that had been rained on would turn brown. Steven told me he put a couple of bales in the shelters so I checked the bales there and they also look like good hay. I think we lucked out or as mom tells me, "you were blessed!" We took Darcy on our walk to see if she would straighten out Heidi again and we do think it worked. Heidi only tried a couple of times to dominate Darcy but gave up right away when Darcy growled at her.
After our walk, Diane and I went over to mom's to try to repair her lazy Susan can cupboard. We were not successful and it will take more than both of us to figure out. I drove down to the shop to pay Bridlewood apartment bills and told Dan about the problem. I think he is going to send someone over to mom's to get it fixed.
Wednesday Continued: Ruth stopped in for lunch just about the time Spark, Dan and Diane showed up so we held an impromptu meeting which went well. While we were talking, Spark told us he wants to go on the cruise in Feb but needs the information, I was able to download it and Spark got the job accomplished. We now have 10 people on the cruise Feb. 7th,- 14th 2010. Should be a lot of fun. Dan sent Greg, a man that works at the Old School Center, to fix mom's lazy susan and she was thrilled, it was fixed quickly and well.
We are going to be fostering a doberman pincher male about a year old for one of Rhoda's co workers until they find a place that will take dogs. Her husband got transferred to Kentucky and the condo he rented will not accept dogs. We really don't want another dog at this time so hopefully this will be short foster. Hope Darcy will get along with having another dog in the house. This one may not be house broken but he is crate trained so we will set up a crate in our hallway. He also has not been obedience trained so Rhoda will sign him up for classes.
After our walk, Diane and I went over to mom's to try to repair her lazy Susan can cupboard. We were not successful and it will take more than both of us to figure out. I drove down to the shop to pay Bridlewood apartment bills and told Dan about the problem. I think he is going to send someone over to mom's to get it fixed.
Wednesday Continued: Ruth stopped in for lunch just about the time Spark, Dan and Diane showed up so we held an impromptu meeting which went well. While we were talking, Spark told us he wants to go on the cruise in Feb but needs the information, I was able to download it and Spark got the job accomplished. We now have 10 people on the cruise Feb. 7th,- 14th 2010. Should be a lot of fun. Dan sent Greg, a man that works at the Old School Center, to fix mom's lazy susan and she was thrilled, it was fixed quickly and well.
We are going to be fostering a doberman pincher male about a year old for one of Rhoda's co workers until they find a place that will take dogs. Her husband got transferred to Kentucky and the condo he rented will not accept dogs. We really don't want another dog at this time so hopefully this will be short foster. Hope Darcy will get along with having another dog in the house. This one may not be house broken but he is crate trained so we will set up a crate in our hallway. He also has not been obedience trained so Rhoda will sign him up for classes.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Ludse 305
We just got word that Raven's sire, Ludse 305 has passed away. The posted picture was taken after Ludse was exported back to the Netherlands. He was a magnificent example of a Friesian Stallion. He sired MANY beautiful foals, one of which Adel 357 was performing at Prix St. George Level at age 17. Ludse 305 was only loaned to the United States for breeding but when his foals started competing and WINNING he was exported back to the Netherlands where he continued to stand at stud. We sympathize with his owners and are sure they will miss having such a magnificent wonderful stallion to care for. We are very grateful for his son, RAVEN.
I posted the paragraph below taken from the 2005 stallion show.
The 2005 show was special in that Adel 357 put on an amazing dressage demonstration, and was part of a Carousel show. It was so impressive to watch!!!
Adel 357's sire is Ludse 305. The today's Friesian is bred for dressage talent, and Ludse 305 delivers just that, which is why he was brought back to the Netherlands in 2002 (due to the outstanding success of his offspring in dressage)! Adel 357 is one of the only Friesian stallions competing at the Prix St Georges level.
Remember this was posted in 2005 I'm sure with the success of many more Friesians in dressage there are more competing at this level now.
Is Tuesday Monday?
The storm moved in sometime during the night. The bright lightning flashes woke me up, the thunder crashed and the storm dumped a lot of rain here. I was hoping it was raining out at the farm so I had an excuse why I couldn't go walking but it wasn't raining so of course I had to call to tell the truth, I just didn't want to get up early.
Once down at work, the phone started ringing and Jamie is on the line telling me at least 20horses are out galloping around the field. One of the paddock gates was left unlatched and the horses must have just discovered it and pushed it open. Actually it wasn't 20 horses, there were only 7 out but it seemed like a lot according to Jamie. I told Jamie to just leave them and someone would show up later to call them in. Diane and mom had walked and the horses were all where they belonged not an hour earlier. Mike was already down at the court house and I would not get off until 1:30pm. I called Steven but he was also at work, he said he would get there in about an hour and a half. Jamie called back that Sanna walked into the barn to visit Izadora so they haltered her and walked her and her filly into the paddock and the rest followed. Everyone needed to be called back to tell them not to worry. Steven went to the farm anyway to grain Izadora, Jenis and Raven and he moved in the round bales off the field. We got 16 full ones and one small one off this cutting. He moved 2 in with the horses and they were eating it fine. It got rained on so is not the highest nutrition but still most of our horses are fat!
Once down at work, the phone started ringing and Jamie is on the line telling me at least 20horses are out galloping around the field. One of the paddock gates was left unlatched and the horses must have just discovered it and pushed it open. Actually it wasn't 20 horses, there were only 7 out but it seemed like a lot according to Jamie. I told Jamie to just leave them and someone would show up later to call them in. Diane and mom had walked and the horses were all where they belonged not an hour earlier. Mike was already down at the court house and I would not get off until 1:30pm. I called Steven but he was also at work, he said he would get there in about an hour and a half. Jamie called back that Sanna walked into the barn to visit Izadora so they haltered her and walked her and her filly into the paddock and the rest followed. Everyone needed to be called back to tell them not to worry. Steven went to the farm anyway to grain Izadora, Jenis and Raven and he moved in the round bales off the field. We got 16 full ones and one small one off this cutting. He moved 2 in with the horses and they were eating it fine. It got rained on so is not the highest nutrition but still most of our horses are fat!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Monday Again?
What is it with this day of the week? It should be as any other day but most of the time Mondays are the hard day of the week. This morning on our walk, Heidi, mom's German Shepherd started a fight with Honey, Jesse's Golden Retriever. We actually had to pull them apart and even then they kept going at it. Heidi and Honey have played together for at least a year, what changed we do not know but from now on we will need to walk apart. I was trying to give Mark a haircut but the clippers would no longer hold a charge, we may need new ones but I got the job done, just not very well. Went to sweep up the cut hair, when I grabbed the broom it knocked a picture off the wall and broke the frame in 5 places. Not that the picture was anything special, it was just covering up the hole the where the intercom used to be. I have no other pictures that size so now I just have a big hole in the wall. We checked out Dave Hoerr's work on the dam and it is really good. He didn't even wreck the hay field. His bill came to $1200.00 and we are so thankful the job is done. Once the walk was over Izadora was put out and grained along with Jenis and Raven. Lily was checked and her belly without the band has dropped down again. I wish there was a better way, Lily's back is so sore she flinches if it is touched. Izadora's stall was cleaned and it really wasn't too bad for being in for 3 days and nights. She is still not bagged up enough to warrant keeping her inside during good weather. The farmer showed up just as I was leaving so we discussed the hay field. The field was cut last Monday and it has been raining until yesterday. Gary Unsicker is going to rake it today and we will see if it is dry enough to bale this evening as more rain is expected. If it is put up dry enough and the horses eat it we will probably just feed it out right away and keep our good bales for later. I was out visiting with Amy Koch when a lady showed up wanting to know if we would take in their 8 year old quarter horse gelding, he needs work and they don't want to winter him. We are not interested. Amy came in for breakfast once the Bridlewood stalls were done and told me about her Jane Bartel clinic. Jane feels Amy will be showing first level by next spring. I started laundry after breakfast and got 2 loads done before Mark showed up for lunch.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Spoon River Drive
We slept in until 7:00am, couldn't believe how late it was when I forced myself out of bed. Our breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs, sausage, and home made biscuits. There is no other bread in the house. Karin gave me a ride from church, leaving at noon to make it out to the Old School Center where the vaulters were giving pony rides yesterday and again today. Paris is one of the favorites and heavily used. We would let the kids pick which pony they wanted to ride unless we had a long line.
The picture below is the three ponies we used. In the front is Paris, followed by Duke and bringing up the rear is Bunni. The horses were a big hit again, we had many repeats from the year before, most of the kids even knew the pony's name from the year before. 
Yesterday was cold and raining and they still made $100.00. Today we were only open from 2:00pm to 5:00pm and made $116.00. Not too bad for the little work involved. The JFL football league was playing in the field while the Spoon River Drive was going on and honestly they were a pain to deal with. They parked completely around the horse trailer on both sides of the school drive so we couldn't pull through or get the truck in line to hook up the trailer. At 4:30 Mike and Diane showed up and I asked Mike if he could help figure out a way to get the horse trailer out so we would be able to leave by 5:00 as the games would not be over until much later. We could not find any of the owners of the cars and I didn't want to call a tow truck. The van in front of the trailer had the keys in it so Mike moved it forward about 10 feet so I could angle the truck in and pull the trailer by it's chains around far enough to hook it up correctly. The owner of the van came out and started yelling at Mike. Mike explained he was just moving it out of the way about 10 feet as the keys were in it. The owner asked him why he didn't ask them to move it and Mike told them he had no idea who's van it was (no one knew we asked) Mike told him he leaves the keys in his truck just in case anyone would need to move it and the van owner yells "WELL I DON'T!" Not only did the JFL people block the drive, the families of the players were in the school using the bathrooms and parked in the school parking lot. Anyway we were able to get the horses home by 6:00pm. Steven had helped at the drive but went to the farm to help unload and check on Izadora. Izaodora is the next horse due but she is not really due until October 20th and was not yet bagged up. He has had Lily's belly band on for the week I was gone, we removed that so I could take it home to wash. It was muddy and smelly but it sure does the job as far as her swelling. Mike and Diane drove out to check the mares at Middle Grove. They called to say the horses look GREAT! Since we have had a frost the flies are gone and the horses are fat and happy. We are making tentative plans for weaning next weekend.
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