Horse Show Videos

Above is the first 2 installments of the horse show video and below is the vaulting part of the horse show.

We are just so proud of all our performers from the smallest pony rider, MOSES to our oldest rider Anna. THANK YOU so much for entertaining the crowd of over 350 guests.

Hog Roast Horse Show Pictures

Impressions of the day were: Karin was sure she tacked up a MILLION horses. Never again will we hold the show the same weekend as the girls retreat, the helpers all were too tired, hot and sweaty. The vaulters had 3 falls, never had that happen at a performance before. Just too tired and not able to concentrate.
We had PLENTY of delicious food, even pork left to share. Not enough seating but who would have expected over 350 people!
Even with all this, what a success. I'll let the pictures speak for them selves. Dan video taped the show but it is too late to work on that.
















The horses were all behaved even crowding in the arena. Glad today is over! Next week is the last show of the season for the vaulting team and the Friesians held in St. Charles, IL. We will think of today as a practice!

Finishing touches

It was back to the farm in the afternoon to finish the clean-up. Unfortunately the skid steer tracks are making a funny noise. Mark thought we shouldn't use it until it is fixed and there were 5 huge telephone poles right in front I wanted moved. The truck was used and it is a good thing the 4 wheel drive is fixed. We pulled the poles behind Raven's pen, driving through the muddy field. The skid steer was power washed and parked, Mark finished the weed whacking. Steven showed up to help with the finishing touches and got there just in time to help move telephone poles and hay racks. Karin and Hanna were over watering the arena while Mark, Fedi, and Ryan put together the bleachers. Once we were finally on our way home, we were both hungry and tired. A trip to Walmart was planned for some needed supplies so we stopped at a small Mexican restaurant near by that store. It was really good, although I felt a tad expensive. The bill came to $19.75 for the 2 of us. When we finally got home, there was a package for Mark. He got what was inside and the dogs got to play with the box.



They love tearing up boxes. Which leaves the the clean up for us.

We are as ready as possible for the big day tomorrow. Still need to stop and pick up 4 gallons of vanilla ice cream before church for the ice cream social the young group is hosting tomorrow. That much ice cream won't fit in our small freezer making a trip to the store on Sunday a necessary.

Ylse's Out Girls RETREAT

Breakfast was started around 7:00am for 25 people. Rachel Sauder took the picture above and I promised to have breakfast ready for them at 9:00am. At 8:00am everything was loaded into the car and driven out to mom's for the final preparation of heating the biscuits and cinnamon rolls. Some of the girls were slow rolling out of their sleeping bags, still everything was nice and hot.
Once breakfast was over, Karin and Rhoda drove over to the farm to start tacking up horses for the trail rides schedule at 10:30am, they are using 7 horses and will need to take multiple trips out, good thing it is cool today.

Samantha was given the last of her Panacure power pack and Ylse was started on one. The power pak is a double dose of Panacure for 5 days and is suppose to get rid of the encysted parasites. Ylse was led over to Raven and she is no longer in season. I didn't get her covered yesterday just didn't take the time thinking this morning would be fine. Raven's semen is easily viable for 48-70 hours but I don't like to take any chance.
We had almost an inch of rain last night which flooded Raven's paddock after all the work done yesterday to smooth it out, kind of discouraging. I so want the place to look nice tomorrow for the horse show.
The farmer showed up to start moving hay bales which meant the skid steer could not be power washed until he was done with it. This gave me time to drive home to put away the left overs and clean up the kitchen. While working Ray Sargent came over and wanted to show us some land he wants to trade. He wants a 200 amp service to his rental house, he wants a new furnace and air conditioner, he wants us to build the driveway making it 8 inches deep of concrete, taking out the trees and moving all the dirt to his upper property. Ray and dad traded some land years back, Ray took his share, dad did not and Ray was telling us that we waited too long and that property is no longer ours but out of the goodness of his heart he will let us have the 16 foot strip instead of the land dad traded for as long as we do all the rest. Some how it seems like a bad idea.
Mark and I will be heading back to the farm to finish clean up soon.

Emma's Eye

Above is the before picture and below is after Dr. Lissa Calhoun fixed her eye. It is still a little cloudy but amazingly better. Thank you Dr. Calhoun! Emma is not a good patient like Darcy. Emma won't bite but won't hold still for anyone, not even Rhoda. She had to be sedated for this work.

Old one Eye is now back to 2 eyes. It was a piece of grass stuffed into her lower eyelid. Rhoda brought her home but had to first make a stop at PAWS to drop off a BIG dead dog that is being tested for rabies. The dead dog was in her back seat and Emma was stuffed into the front seat with Rhoda. Good thing she took her old car to work today, there is no way they could have fit in the mini.
Star's coggins came back negative and Steven has brought him to Bridlewood for fattening up.
Sarah and I went to UFS and bought 2 rocker recliners, brought home the one floor model and have the other on order. Once that was in the living room we hauled the blue couch out to the front yard where it sat for less than an hour when someone snatched it up.
Sarah drove to Walmart and bought 2 end tables and 4 lamps. She put one of the end tables together leaving the other for Mark, I put the 4 lamps together, still need light bulbs to place in them but I think they look pretty nice.
Sams was visited to purchase the food needed for the girls retreat breakfast tomorrow at the lake. Also picked up 5 dozen fresh brown eggs from the shop. Rachel thought there will be around 20-25 for breakfast. We will have farm fresh scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, sausage gravy, sausage patties, biscuits with butter and jam, cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing, sweet ripe cantaloupe, red seedless grapes, and fresh squeezed orange juice.
Speaking of Emma, Cathie discovered who stole the tack box covers. She was missing 4 of them, they were in the barn on a table on Tuesday evening, but Wednesday afternoon they were all gone. They found them outside in the yard and in the field, it HAD to be no, no bad dog, EMMA, Now along with chewing everything she is a THIEF!

No Leak

This morning there is NO bad surprises waiting for me only GOOD surprises.
Raven's automatic waterer is back on line and his paddock looks GREAT! Samantha's filly is feeling good this morning, running and playing, Ylse's filly stayed in all night, all the gates are still hung, and more mowing has been done. Saturday Mark and I won't have much work to do at all. wishful thinking.
Star was the first horse fed. Two of his buckets were on the floor, I think he got bored. He would prefer to be back to Bridlewood, kept calling as Steven as driving him away. I had to take a picture of 10 horses all around the same bale but by the time I got my camera out they had moved. All the horses that are loose in the back congregate up in the far paddock. There is only one hay bale in this paddock and the horses could easily go to the back and eat off the 2 others that are placed under the trees for shade instead all 10 stick together and eat on the same bale.

Rescue by Steven

Steven picked up Star, drove him straight to Hoerr Vet clinic where Dr. Pallen floated his teeth and drew blood for his coggins. He is VERY thin, rated just slightly higher than a 2. To put this in perspective, a 1 is pretty much dead. The pictures don't truely show how extremely thin Star is, to see him in the flesh (or in his condition no flesh) is to be pretty horrified. Star was a great horse taking 3 of the Bridlewood kids to a C3. He is now at the Hanna City farm until we can get some round bales delivered here at Bridlewood.

Each morning when I arrive at the farm, there is always some kind of surprise waiting for me. This is what was waiting a couple of days ago only all 3 boys were just standing inside the shelter staring at me as if to say, we didn't do it, it just fell on it's own. (Sound familiar Dan?)By the time I got the camera out Valiant went over to the feeder.
This morning it was Ylse's filly standing again outside the fence and one of the other gates half off. Rachel helped put both back on. Yesterday I started digging up the leak, got discouraged and quit and this morning both Mike and David Sauder are working on it. Fixing this leak means I don't have to keep filling Raven's water tank, his automatic waterer will be back on line. Samantha's filly seemed a little depressed so her temp was taken and she is running a fever. She does not have a runny nose and her lungs sound good so she was given banamine and put back out.
When I got home from the farm, this is what Emma was dragging around chewing. It is our bumper to the Toyota, for some reason this one eyed dog loves to chew on cars.
Speaking of Emma, she is going back to Dunlap vet clinic tomorrow for her eye. It is not improving even though she is getting the drops 4-5 times a day. She will need to be sedated to check it out thoroughly. No food or water for her after midnight. She will think I'm trying to starve her. Emma is a little over 10 months old and weighs 118 pounds.

a Gift from the Haefli's

Both of us over slept not waking up until after 6:00am. The weather is perfect for sleeping in, nice and cool. It was really hard to roll out of bed. When I finally did get downstairs and the morning jobs done I remembered Spark and Ken both gave me envelopes after church. One was a thank you note from Dick and Gladys Haefli that held a VERY nice surprise, a check for one hundred dollars to help with the hog roast, plus $40.00 in cash. The other envelope was a thank you note that needs to be shared with the family. We found out there was a need, an email went out just to family and the gifts of money my very wonderful generous family sent in makes my chest hurt in a good way.
Ron Kipfer was the speaker yesterday and he spoke on creation. Church was crowded for a Wednesday night and Ron did an excellent job keeping our attention. Amazing all the little and big things that we don't even think about. He asked us to raise our hand if we had ever prayed for someone to convert, then raise our hand if we ever thanked God for Jupiter. Of course no one thinks to thank God for Jupiter but Ron told us we should, if it wasn't for Jupiter and Saturn's gravity pull, Earth would be hit by asteroids. Ron is from Bluffton North but lived in Peoria and was in OUR young group while working at Caterpillar for some years.
Today Steven is picking up Star, he was pretty upset once he found out Star's teeth haven't been done for a year and a half and since going back he has not had his feet done even once. He is hauling him straight to Dr. Hoerr's will draw blood for a coggins and overnight it, meanwhile poor Star will need to stay in the barn away from all the other horses until the results get back. The vet clinic told him he would have the results on Friday so only one day of quarantine. We will post some pictures of him once Steven has him here. Hopefully it is not as bad as it sounds, Star was a great horse.
Lots to do today so off I go.

Wednesday Blessings

Emma's eye was treated before leaving this morning for the farm. She desperately wanted to go but it just isn't wise, besides I heard she left a HUGE present for Mike and Diane in their yard, so big Mike needed a snow shovel to move it.
Ylse's filly was standing outside the fence and Ylse was waiting very patiently for me to fix the problem. Ylse was brought out, after the filly nursed she was checked and she is still in season so put in the small paddock until after the feedings. Samantha was given the next 2 panacure dewormers then fed. Her filly came up for some scratching and petting, she is just so friendly. They will be leaving Labor Day. Once Raven was done eating Ylse was covered. Ruth reported she found bleachers for rent for the hog roast and will pick them up on Friday afternoon.
After the walk it was down to TSC to pick up 6 more dewormers for Samantha's last three days of treatment. From there it was down to Rabers to put a deposit of $150.00 on the pig for the hog roast and make sure the pig would be done by the pickup time of 3:30pm.
Aldi was the next stop where $70.00 was spent and this was just for our house, we were out of about everything (really just bread) but it seems like there is no food in the house if we are out of bread.
Steven called 15 minutes ago to report one paddock is cleaned and he is starting on the next. YEAH!!!

Emma's Eye

This morning after the walk, I called Emma to get in the car and saw a gash by her right eye. It didn't look to serious and I thought perhaps Heidi played a little too hard. Emma was just dropped off at the house, then off to work I went. When I got home from work around 3:00pm there is Emma both eyes swollen, weeping and awful looking. Rhoda was called and Emma taken in to Dunlap Vet clinic. Dr. Lissa Calhoun checked her over, told us she does have an eyeball in there and it doesn't look lacerated. Emma is now on drops to reduce swelling which will hopefully allow Dr. Calhoun to get a better exam in a couple of days. The picture was taken at Dunlap Vet clinic.
Cathie called that Star's owner would like to find a home for him. She told Cathie that he is very thin and they can no longer keep him. Steven is picking Star up on Thursday morning and bringing him to Bridlewood for some intensive feeding. Star is 23 years old and was a perfect lesson horse for Bridlewood for many years. Cathie doesn't have the heart to let him be a throw away horse.

Saved by the Cat

Above is a load of hay going down the highway from Arizona to California. There is way more to this hay than meets the eye, to read about this special hay you will need to go all the way to the bottom of this entry.
Arrived at work just a little late today as we were busy discussing the upcoming hog roast after the walk. Eva Jean told me earlier that she was going to be late. There was a lot of mail so I jumped right in and started ripping the envelopes open as fast as possible, not worrying about how neat they were opened. I had to step out of the office to answer the phone when Eva Jean walked in, saw the mess and yelled. Right then I knew I was in trouble even if I am the boss, She would like things neat and orderly and that's just not me! It was her fault for coming in earlier than expected.
We had a big crowd for lunch,Mark, Spark, Rhonda, Dan, Phil, Anna, Eva Jean and I needed to take 2 cars and it was a good thing. After lunch, Dan jumped in to start driving home and the car was deader than a door knob.
Rhonda brought her Jaguar over to give us a jump. So we were saved by the CAT! Spark hooked up the jumper cables, Dan started the car while Mark and Eva Jean directed traffic.

After dinner, TSC was visited to pay for the extra bag of grain purchased by accident yesterday. But they didn't give me the 5% discount on that bag, I could have saved 45 cents by driving down yesterday. Honestly they probably would have given me the discount if I had remembered to ask for it. Two bags of cracked corn and Panacur power pak were picked up for Samantha so it wasn't a trip down for nothing. Dr. Hoerr thinks this, along with the deworming will help her gain the lost weight back. Samantha was started on the Panacur power pak deworming program. Sure hope all of this helps, we hate having a horse on the property that looks thin.
Steven drove his monster truck and trailer out to Middle Grove today dropping off Big Sally, her filly, Velvet and her colt for a couple of weeks bringing back Sangria, Izadora, Lily, Ayanna and Knight for the parade of breeds at our horse show this weekend.
The picture below tells the rest of the story on the hay.

Vet Appointment

Jenis had come in season on Saturday, Mike said she stood very well for Raven on Sunday but today she would have nothing to do with him, so we must have caught her on her last day yesterday, then this morning Ylse is showing she is in and covered, bummer, neither mare caught on their foal heat. Not unusual but kind of disappointing for us, we were hoping to make up for some lost time.
After the walk this morning it was down to TSC for grain and salt blocks. I was just going to pick up 9 bags of grain but they had a sign out, buy 20 or more bags and get 5% off total. So 20 bags of grain each weighing 50 pounds were paid for along with 3 50 pound salt blocks, drove around to the back gate to be loaded, helped load the grain and salt and headed down to the shop to pay some bills. While there Mark must have come, looked at the car and freaked out, it was so loaded there was only about 3 inches of clearance. One stud fee was deposited and 2 tires were paid for then it was time to head to the farm for unloading. The car did NOT hit bottom at all, probably could have fit at least 2 more 50 pound bags in. Steven was already at the farm with Rebekah working Wynne so that had to be watched, then the boys were taken out, boy that Evan picks up training so fast, he must be intelligent. Steven had a bridle complete with bit in his mouth for today's work, line driving him at a trot around the arena. Wynne was introduced to the pedestal today. Then we started unloading and instead of 20 bags there are 21 bags of grain in the car. Once home, TSC was called and the man answering the phone was the man that helped load the bags. He just wrote a note that I'd be in later to pay for the extra bag, I was just too tired to come in today.
Beth heard that our vet was coming and brought her very old chocolate lab in to be euthanized. They had been putting this off as their youngest son was not ready to say goodbye but time has a way of catching up with these old dogs and it clearly was time for her to have her rest. She was a wonderful family dog and leaves them with many memories.
Dr. Hoerr made it out to the farm by 2:30pm and drew blood for coggins from Jenis, Ylse, Rohan (Velvet's colt) and Samantha. Samantha was saved for last, she has lost weight nursing and we wanted her teeth checked. They weren't too bad but Dr. Hoerr went ahead and floated them, then suggested buying a Panacur power pak to worm her and buying shelled corn to help with weight gain. Our last question was about the loss of hair on Valiant, he looks like he has the creepy crud but iodine shampoo is not taking care of the problem. Dr. Hoerr thinks his skin is very sensitive to bug bites, most likely midgets or no-see-ums. He is recommending a special spray to stop him from being bitten.
I am so ready for dinner, mom cooked us a wonderful breakfast each of us having one farm fresh egg, one slice of toast and one sausage patty. Then no time for lunch. I'm heating up left over steak for dinner.

Ylse's Filly

After church Rhoda and I drove to Sams, picked up steak for dinner then headed to the farm with the video camera. Rhoda bought a diet coke and I shared it with her, bad mistake. The caffeine kept me tossing and turning, finally got up to post this.
Mike & Diane, Phil & Anna, Ben & Taunya along with Addyson, Sarah, Rhoda, Mark and I had the best steak dinner we have had in a long time. The steak was black angus prime, so juicy and almost fork tender covered with buttered sauteed mushrooms, a lettuce salad with all the fixens including real blue cheese crumbles and home grown tomatoes from Diane's garden, Amish made potato salad, cold macaroni salad, stove top stuffing, then cookies and ice cream for desert, hmmmm.
Today was glorious weather, in the 80s with low humidity and finally pleasant to be outside. So Rhoda hopped on Ylse and off we went through the fields taping.
Ylse's filly born on the 4th of July has a trot that won't quit. She lifts her knees so high and moves out. She also enjoys swimming so of course that had to be included on this video. Who ever buys this filly is going to get something special. She has PRESENCE!

Piper (Wanda) at a Year

Sue the lady that bought Sanna's last filly, registered name Wanda barn name Piper sent these pictures last night. This is what she emailed to me: Hi Judy,
Here are the pictures of piper I took today. She was 550 lbs when I got her, she is now at 696 lbs and stands at 14.2. I think she looks a lot like her mama. Just needs to turn back to black. lol I keep hearing how sweet and smart she is from the people at the barn. Must be that good breeding from Sanna and Raven. She does have a very laid back attitude and is very easy to handle. She has started to like carrots and every now and then an apple. I can't wait to see her all grown up!
See you in 2 weeks at kane county.
Sue

WE LOVE hearing from our customers, THANK YOU SO MUCH Sue for sending along the pictures. Piper is going to be HUGE, 14.2 at only a year old is fantastic, she really does look like her mama.
Now for the color of her, yearlings are almost always brown, their black shiny color comes later. Our 2 boys are both out of non fading stallions and mares and they are the same as Piper right now but just wait till spring!

WOW, just WOW!

What a day! It started early at the farm by 7:00am to feed and start getting ready for the workers due at 8:00am. Once all the horses were fed it was time to drive the Kabota over, get the weed whackers ready, go pick up 10 gallons of diesel fuel and 5 gallons of gas and start filling the skid steer, Kabota, mowers, and weed whackers. By the time people started showing up we were all ready for them. We had a WONDERFUL group of workers. Rachel brought her entire family, her husband David, her son David, Caleb, Jessica, Logan and Luke, Rhoda, Karin, mom (as in grandma), Mike, Crystal & Jeff Baker along with their 2 children Mark and even the Reinhard girls Sarah, Bethany and Hannah got back from Texas in time to help after driving all night. All showed up ready to labor and labor they did. The amount of work done was phenomenal! The entire big barn power washed and cleaned up, the apartment cleaned up, the stall area power washed, all the fences repaired where needed, 4 gates hung (thanks to the Sauders), all the mowing and weed whacking! Karin and I couldn't be happier with how the place is looking.
Now for the WOW part of the day as if the morning wasn't good enough. The vaulters performed as the half time show at the polo match held at Weaver Farms this afternoon for the CIRTS (Central IL Riding Therapy) benefit. WOW was all I could say when I saw the practice. It was so scary to watch the practice, the triples were so unique and so dangerous. The performance was unbelievable!

Falling Stars

After work we needed to take 500 Berean business reply envelopes to Eva Jean along with a Spanish Bible study David wanted copied. Eva Jean has one of the copiers in her basement and makes thousands of copies for Berean Prison Ministry each week. We went back to HyVee for dinner since we were up that way. This time we got the grand buffet which cost us $7.99 each. Both of us enjoyed the salad bar, some bbq ribs, a small slice of pork roast and some wonderful soup. What a good deal although we found out later they charged us the senior price, I guess we really look OLD we ARE both seniors, Mark is 60 and I'm now 55 so qualify at some places that use 55 or older, I don't know HyVee's policy, guess I'll need to ask next time. We bought coffee, creamer, bread, and one box of cereal before leaving for home. Both girls were home by the time we arrived, nice to see them again.
At 11:00pm Mark and I went out to lay on the trampoline and stare at the sky. There was suppose to be a meteor shower. We each saw one huge one streak across the sky before turning in for bed, again sleeping on the living room floor. The news said most of the meteors would be between 3:00 and 4:00am so out I went at 3:00am first spraying OFF all over to discourage the mosquitoes. That was kind of a bust, only saw a few smaller streaks before heading in. The dew was so heavy that the tramp was pretty soaked. The mosquitoes, even with using the spray, were so aggressive that all but my head needed to be covered and they were still buzzing my ears and flying in front of my glasses. At least the sky was clear. Today is going to be another scorcher with temps again in the high 90s. This is our 19th day this year with 90 degrees or more. To put it in perspective, last year we only had four 90 degree days.

Ylse's Bath

Karin wanted to hose off the horses but instead let them play in the lake. Thanks Karin for trying to help keep these horses cool.

Noah's Ark

It is pretty awful outside very hot and humid with temps climbing well into the 90s and no breeze to speak of. The heat index is suppose to be between 107-110 degrees and even this early it feels we are already there.
Dakota needed a new round bale here at Bridlewood and just the little bit of labor it took, I'm dripping wet. Cathie has suspended all the rest of her lessons today, just too hard on all horses and people.
We have a group of boys coming out this evening for a trail ride, not sure how that's going to happen with this heat. Perhaps they should just go bareback and ride in the lake.
We made it home last night and had another night sleeping on the living room floor. A neighbor called, had no air and their house was miserable. We still have air on our first floor. Mark took the loaner unit over to them late last night and will install their new central unit today.
After the walk this morning none of the mares with foals by their sides were where they could be seen. I was so tempted to just assume they are all ok but my conscience just wouldn't let me. At least the hike into the back pasture wasn't too long and they were all grouped together. I was back on the road in plenty of time to reach home and clean up our bedding before Sasha's piano lesson started. Would have looked pretty silly for Sasha and her teacher to see a bed on the living room floor.
We have a group going to Branson, MO in September and we are all going to see Noah's Ark. Mark still needed a ticket as he didn't agree to go until much later and today that job was accomplished. We were able to get a ticket, not just in the same row but the very next seat. Still we had to pay for that privilege just to call it in cost an extra $5.00 on top of the regular price. His ticket has been emailed and all we have to do is print it out before leaving. NOTE TO SELF: REMEMBER THE TICKET!

The Hanna City Trails

Karin took this video of the kids on the trails at the farm and placed it on youtube which meant it could be placed here as well.
She called today to let us know the trails were worked on and now passable. If you watch the video you can get a good idea of how much fun it is to ride them. Thanks Karin, we are enjoying all of your videos lately!
Rider horse combination were: Sarah Sceggel on Jenis, Bethany Reinhard on Sophie, Sarah Reinhard on Duke, Jessica Sauder and Hannah Reinhard on Bunni and Karin on Wynne.

Studio Plus

Way after work, around 7:30pm we left for Earth City, MO for a training class that starts tomorrow morning at 8:00am. We thought of using priceline to find a cheap hotel but the cheapest place was $45.00 plus all the taxes and priceline fees added. The one good thing about priceline's website is it gave us different hotels in the area. We looked up phone numbers and started calling hotels directly and asking if they would meet pricelines prices. The Studio Plus gave us the room for $44.00 plus tax making the total price $52.70 so we booked and headed down. God put on an amazing show for us almost the entire drive down. Lightning flashes from the east to the west, just beautiful! Still the drive down seemed to take forever as we were both very tired from our interrupted sleep the night before. We pulled in at 10:30pm, it took over 15 minutes to check in as we were 3rd in line, then found out our room fee didn't include internet which cost $4.95 extra. Basically we just crashed once finally in the spacious room that has an attached kitchen with a full size fridge, stove and coffee maker. My only complaint was the room seemed kind of dingy (spoiled, spoiled, spoiled)any way the bed was comfortable.
This morning there was just one small package of coffee making ONLY 2 cups of coffee and I had to share one of the cups with Mark. Why is he here anyway if he's going to drink MY coffee? OH YES, we are here for HIS classes. Waffle House was less then 5 minutes away so I had my coffee for the day while we enjoyed breakfast at 6:30am.
While Mark is in class, I get to just relax so brought 3 books. I'm reading The Liberty Bell series by Gilbert Morris and thoroughly enjoying them. Amazing how much we can learn about our revolutionary war by reading fiction.