Home Free

The fog this morning was thick covering every surface with moisture and making horse that came galloping out of the mists for their breakfast looking like something out of a movie.
Karin and I did some shopping on the internet for the props needed for the spring show. After that small spending spree it was time to go out to work. Mark was asked to see if he could get the portable water heater working. He took it apart, found the problem, put it back together and we had hot water! His next job was to start hauling logs for the apartment and our place. Emily helped me with cleaning up Winston. The warm water made all the difference. He stood nicely while the mud was washed out of his tail and off his legs. He was put in the stall to dry and hopefully keep clean. The Reinhard kids came over for a trail ride and came in to meet him.

 Winston was curious about the kids and came right over to them to give kisses. Mackenson was a little unsure in the beginning.

The weather today was amazing, we had a high of 65 degrees for this 12th day of December 2015. Karin tacked up Jenis, Marika and Soul for the first trail ride.

 She found out Soul doesn't like crossing creeks. Hannah got off and was encouraging her from behind to jump over the creek while Karin encouraged her from the front. Soul jumped but didn't clear the bank and fell right in the muddy water. She came back pretty muddy from that ride.

Marika on the other had did wonderful . Karin and Faith rode her double and she was perfect. This mare is now considered ready for company! Jessica and Mackenson rode Jenis on the trails. While they were out on the trails this big bald eagle came flying over the farm. I was so wishing the zoom lens would have been on the camera. What a magnificent huge bird.

Ava came over and asked Karin to take her on a trail ride and just guess who she rode all by herself on the trails?

 That's right, Marika! The mare a few days ago we were wondering if would be suitable for Amy.

 Marika has improved drastically since her teeth were floated. We really believe it was the sharp edges that were causing her to be uncomfortable with the bit. The teeth weren't that bad but since they were floated she has been perfect.

Mike and Diane spent this beautiful day at Middle Grove riding the trails, crossing the lakes and checking on the herd. They sent these pictures. Can you believe they are riding in t-shirts the middle of December!

 They were up on the hillside and looked across the lake to see the herd all spread out grazing. What a beautiful sight!

When they got to the other side and took off at a gallop it set the herd off. They love an excuse for a good gallop. It looks like everyone had a fun productive day.

On this day 11 years ago our dad graduated from this life to his new home with a resurrected body. I remember driving to the hospital with the radio softly playing in the back ground knowing that today would be the end of him living with us here on this Earth when this song came on. I find myself singing this song quite often and each time it reminds me of dad's time in the hospital.

Long Wait

We expected the shipper to arrive this morning to pick up Zara who is going to her new owner in Alabama.

The shipper was called about 11:30 am and a voice message left asking how close she was and what was the estimated time of arrival but no response. Around noon the owner of Zara emailed to say that the shipper had called her and wanted to know if it was ok for her to arrive this afternoon. She was told yes we would make this work. We had a lot of work to do around here anyway. The electric fence was put back up as the weather has been mild and dry. Jenis, Marika and Soul were turned out into the big field. I went inside to clean when I heard the stallions neighing and knew there must be a problem. Sure enough I had turned out the mares but forgot about the new red gate Mark and Joan installed by the outdoor arena which was wide open. Jenis and Soul were out visiting all the horses still locked in. Marika was where she belonged. 

Once these 2 were put away Emily started working on the electric fence that had been torn down in Raven's old paddock. Mark was called to see if the instant water heater had come in. It had and he was on his way home with it. While I put it together Emily and Mark worked on the driveways filling in pot holes. Once the heater was ready it was turned on and did not work. It lights each time the water is turned on but the flame goes out when the ignition stops. I'll have to do some research on that. Karin wanted to work Marika on the trails today and asked Jessica to ride Jenis and go along in case Marika would need a leader.

When they got back Karin was very pleased. She feels Marika had improved 100% and was beginner safe. She had Marika lead through the creeks, did a lot of canter and Marika didn't put a hoof wrong. Emily worked Rosaleigh yesterday and wanted to work Roxanne today. She was brought in the indoor and round penned first.

 She is now accepting all of Emily's weight and accepting Emily working from either side. She will soon be ready for under saddle training. Emily said today, she can see that Roxanne and Rosaleigh are Killian's sisters. They remind her of him.

The shipper was called at 4:15 to find out when she would be arriving. Remember by this time she is at least 6 to 8 hours late without a word. She answered the phone and told me she had just gotten on route 24 and was about 65 miles away but felt she would for sure make it before 6:00 pm. Well she didn't. I had to leave about 5:50 pm to pick up mom and go to Spark and Rhonda's for potluck. Karin drove over to the barn to meet the shipper and load Zara. We saw the truck and trailer arriving and behind that were some of Spark and Rhonda's other potluck guests.  This is just not professional. We have shipped many of foals out of here to owners all over the United States, Mexico and Canada and if the shipper is delayed they send texts or call and explain what is happening. I was thankful Karin was willing to go wait for her then load. 

We had a wonderful time at Spark and Rhonda's.  Rhonda had the table decorated beautifully.

 We started with a salad mixed with dried cherries, sugared pecans, slivered almonds, seasoned croutons, fine grated sharp cheddar cheese and mom's home made poppy seed dressing.

 After the salad plates were removed the guests below are watching the meat cookers getting ready to slice the meat. 

 Larry and Susan brought a huge prime rib which Larry smoked for hours on his smoker.

 The meat was fork tender, it was served with herb butter which melted into the meat. That was served with farm fresh mixed vegetables in a cream sauce, 4 kinds of home baked breads and a delicious potato dish. 

For dessert Gail brought an eggnog frozen desert that was light but so tasty. Even though we were full from that huge meal no one wanted to turn down that dessert. All of the food was top notch but honestly the fellowshipping around the table is even better than the food. This rotating potluck is the best! 

Working Working Working Horses

I heard this morning that Rhoda would be coming today and was willing to pick up Zara's health certificate for travel from Hoerr Vet clinic saving me or Emily a trip to Morton. She planned on being here around 10:00 am to work horses and I really really really wanted to be here for that. Not just to watch but to see if Rhoda and Emily would help get Zara cleaned up and ready for her trip to Alabama.
I was able to leave the Berean office by 10:30 am as we had a short day. To read about that click HERE.
I arrived to find Rhoda and Emily cleaning up Zara. What great helpers. We were pretty thrilled to have such a nice day for this as we needed to not just groom her but use warm water to clean the mud off her legs, mane and tail. Zara was excellent the entire time we worked on her. Rhoda asked, "is this a Valiant baby?" You see Valiant babies just seem to come out of the womb sweet, friendly and well behaved. As soon as she was back in her stall Rhoda and Emily brought Evan and Oksana out. They worked first in the outdoor arena then took a long trail ride on them. Below are a few pictures of these 2 horses being worked. Rhoda is riding Evan while Emily is riding Oksana.

To see the rest of Evan's pictures click HERE To see the rest of Oksana's pictures click HERE
Next Emily pulled Marika out for training while Rhoda pulled Soul out.

To see the rest of Marika's pictures click HERE To see the rest of Soul's pictures click HERE 

I love watching these talented riders ride. They aren't just passengers, they train as they are riding. No wonder Horsemeister has such good horses. We had a beautiful mild day for this 10th day of December but this afternoon the wind started blowing something fierce. Usually horses react to windy days with snorting and spooking but this round pen reasoning method is working well. Now none of these 4 were perfect. Soul threw in some crow hopping in the beginning, Oksana wasn't paying attention and fell in the field with Emily (an easy slo-mo trip) Evan did his usual hopping around and Marika thought of bucking in the beginning of her canter work but didn't.
I came inside and shopped on line. Tomorrow our new instant water heater should be here, just in time to bath Winston. A lady is coming to see him on Saturday and if they suit she would like to buy him. That means he MUST be bathed to get those white socks white again. The other purchase was a big one, 20 yards of blue sparkly material and 20 years of white sparkly material all for the stall decorations for the March show. We are going to have to take a trip down sometime to measure the stalls so we can start on them early.

Momism

Last night we were all out in the car after church waiting for mom. Most of the people had left, most of the cars in the parking lot were gone and finally Ruth went in to find her. Mom just has to visit when she gets the chance. Mark went through town to get home and just as we got to the railroad tracks down came the flashing railroad crossing gates. We were teasing mom, if she would have just come out 1 minute sooner we would have missed the train. We thought about counting the cars but mom said, "I don't do math this late at night." This train went on and on for about 15 minutes giving us plenty of time to rehash the sermon, visit, tell jokes and just thoroughly enjoy each others company. Isn't it funny how we don't make time for this important part of being people during this busy time of  December. Which reminded me of mom on the walk. Check out the picture below:

With mom, it wasn't deep down inside her shoe, she looked down and her thigh high stocking was down around her ankle. Thankfully that happened in the morning before she left for her busy day of volunteering. We sure have good laughs on our walks, do you see why we wouldn't want to miss them?

Valerie Leaves

The transport company hired to take Valerie to Idaho was suppose to arrive this morning but the driver called to let us know she was going to be much later than expected, probably arriving around 4:00 pm. This gave Emily and I time to practice the trailer loading with her. Now that we have a trailer with a ramp and a step up trailer we thought it was a good idea to load her in both. We have had transport companies come with ramps or without ramps and our foals are always surprised by the ramp afraid to put their feet on it and end up jumping it to get in the trailer. The first time Valerie was led up to the ramp that's exactly what she did, one big jump but she came out of the trailer carefully and realized it was fine to walk on. The second time we asked she walked right up the ramp and into the trailer. She is so smart!
I came in from the practice pretty pleased. Checked my email and found out Zara, Ribbon's filly will be leaving for her new home in Alabama on Friday. Emily was sent a text and together we worked on cleaning Zara up. With the amount of rain and mud around here she was looking pretty bad. We got her half way decent then turned her out in the paddock next to the barn. Of course the first thing she did was roll then roll again. Tomorrow we will need to work all over again but tomorrow when she is clean she will be put in a stall to await her chariot.
The vet was called to arrange the travel certificate for Zara. Emily is going to take care of that tomorrow after her class.
The transporter for Valerie arrived just before 5:00 pm. In the picture below Emily brought her out to load into the trailer.

Valerie is just 4 months old and HUGE! She was so well behaved that the driver was impressed with how well she loaded. Once the trailer pulled away it was rush down to the house grab some dinner then get ready for church. Mark brought the new-to-us Prius home from work and that's what we drove to church picking up mom and Ruth. Tim Funk had the message. After church a neat text came through. Zachary (Jewel's colt by Evan) made it to his new home in Texas. The owner was so pleased this is what she wrote: Hi Judy, just letting you know he got here safely and is all settled in :o) We are going to keep him in the round pen for a few days so he can settle in before going out in the pasture.  According to the transporter he traveled like a pro and he even bonded with him! He called me before he got here and kept saying how much I was going to like and and how awesome of a foal he was.  HE IS RIGHT, we are already in love with him! AND wow he is huge! my rescue gelding is 14.2 hands and he is taller than him! We will be calling him Kenobi, short for Obi Wan Kenobi, since we are both Star Wars fans.  We are very pleased with him and his ground manners, he walked off the trailer with no problems and acted like he owned the place.  Thank you for breeding such a wonderful baby!  Thank you for putting the time into teaching him to lead and load, it's such a treat to have that step done! We will post pictures of him tomorrow. :o)
We would love to see pictures of him in his new home. Thanks Jessica for sending us the update.

Mini-Mester

There wasn't time this morning to work with Valerie before work. She was fed, watered and fussed with a bit but no leading, tying or loading. We have just today to teach her everything she needs to know before she leaves for Idaho tomorrow morning. I wonder if this could be considered a mini-mester for horses. I was hoping to be home early from work today to work with her but that didn't happen, just too much mail. To read about our day at Berean click HERE.
I wasn't able to get home until after 3:00 pm. Mark was called to make sure he would bring the fax of Valerie's health papers for travel. He shocked me when he told me it hadn't come in yet. The vet office was called to remind them we had to have this paper. An hour later it still wasn't there and I was starting to panic thinking I was going to have to drive to Morton to pick it up in person. One more time the vet office was called and this time they got it faxed. Very thankful for technology. After the dogs were let out and cared for I headed right to the barn. Valerie was so happy to see me although she would be happy to see person or horse. She was given a leading lesson, groomed, grained, another leading lesson, a tying lesson, a leading then back up lesson then taken into the arena and tied. After an hour she was leading, backing up when asked and standing still for grooming. She was put in a different stall for the night and her stall cleaned. By this time Mark was home and ready for supper. I'm just too tired to head back out tonight. Maybe the transport company will come a little later in the morning so we can practice loading.

Zachary Gone Valerie Home

Right after the walk I took off for Pekin, IL to shop at Big R and Aldi. Big R for cat food, dog treats and a 5 way shot for Marika, Aldi for groceries. The fog was so thick none of the buildings off the main road could be seen so it was a guessing game to make the correct turn. The fog was so thick we couldn't see any of the houses across the lake. What's worse is that this fog didn't burn off at all today keeping our temperatures in the low 40s instead of the predicted 50s. The car needed gas and usually Pekin has a lot cheaper gas than Hanna City or Peoria but not today so I just waited until I got back across the river and filled up at $1.74, After putting the groceries away and feeding the cats I finished the shopping at Sam's Club. Not too much later after I arrived home the second time Mark called to report the truck was done and could be picked up. Mom drove me to Hanna City to pick that up. That was taken right to the bumper pull trailer and hooked up for the next trip to Middle Grove. Then it was time to start cooking. For Berean tomorrow I wanted to make Fede's recipe of Hungarian Shepherd Stew. This stew is made by the shepherds in Romania and is tasty but very economical. There are only three main ingredients, 2 onions, 5 pounds of potatoes and any kind of meat that is handy. Today I used stew meat and added a lot more than a typical Romanian would as it will be served to company. The onions are quartered and cooked first until they become transparent then the meat is added until all is nicely browned. The meat has been cut into inch size squares. While the meat and onions are cooking the potatoes are peeled and quartered then quartered again and placed in some salt water. They are added to the pot of meat and water poured into the pot until everything is covered. Salt and pepper to taste and then it is just wait, stir, wait, stir for hours on low heat. Once that was simmering on the stove the desserts for tomorrow were made. Today I baked a couple pie crusts, then mixed cream cheese and whipped cream together and spread that as the first layer on the crusts. Next came the chocolate layer which is 3 cups of milk and 2 boxes of instant pudding mixed well and poured on top. The pies were covered and placed in the fridge to set. Tomorrow the last layer will be added right before serving. The transport company called to report they were going to be arriving on time to pick up Zachary which was scheduled for 3:45 pm. Emily made it home from school in plenty of time to help but just then Valerie's owner called to see if it would be possible for her to leave on Wednesday morning. Emily and Karin went to Middle Grove to load Valerie while I stayed here to help load Zachary. Both foals were good.

Zachary was just led right up to the trailer and he followed me right inside. Once the paper work was finished he was on his way to Texas.
About a half hour later Emily arrived with Valerie.

She was unloaded and placed in a stall for the night. We have just 1 day to get her leading and loading without her mother. She is going to get a crash course. Emily also de-wormed her today with Safeguard. We would have preferred to do that about 2 weeks before transport but didn't know she would be leaving so soon. Mark arrived home early to start grading the drive ways. The last job with the horses today was to pull Marika out and give her the shot she will need before she travels to Bridlewood. Mark finished up just as we were finishing up perfect timing for supper.

Amy & Marika

Another blessed Sunday. We went to bed early last night and it was still hard to wake up. I must be getting old. The days of all day driving are starting to get hard. Mark fed Valiant a wheel barrow load of hay while I cooked breakfast then only after our breakfast was done and 3 cups of coffee downed did I head outside to finish the feeding.
We were a little late picking up mom but still made it to church in plenty of time. Craig Stickling had the morning service while Tim Funk had the afternoon service. Hope both get on the AC Sermon websites soon, both would be good for me to hear again.
After church Mark helped move a new round bale in for Valiant then went to work on the new trailer. Karin wanted 2 of the dividers removed, leaving just the first divider for hauling the stallions. We were hopeful that we could use one of the 2006 dividers for the 2007 trailer but the hinges were not the same distance apart. We moved the saddle stand from the back into the front dressing room. Below Mark is just finishing up bolting the saddle holders on the stand.

The back tack is now collapsed and secured to the wall leaving plenty of room for the golf cart or the extra foal. We are pretty sure this trailer will easily hold 1 stallion, 3 mares and a foal. The bigger Kiefer Built will have to hold 5 horses as we are taking 10 down to the fair. Amy arrived with her grand daughter Olivia to get to know Marika. Amy will be borrowing her for a few months and if she works out for her will take her down to the fair as her mount. Karin showed Amy how she has been training her in the round pen then saddled her up and had Amy ride her a bit in the indoor before heading out on the trails. Karin rode Jenis with Olivia on the back.

 In the picture below you can see all three of our trailers behind Amy and Marika. Notice how much taller the Kiefer Built is than the Exiss and both of these make our 4 horse bumper pull look small. We have surly been blessed. As my dad use to say, "for poor people we sure live rich."

 The trails are too muddy and it is now hunting season so they only went on a few of them around the farm then schooled the horses in the arena. Livie liked it when Jenis' trotted. 

 Marika was not sure she wanted to walk over the small jumps but Amy patiently worked with her until she didn't hesitate at all going either direction. We think these two make a good pair. 

 Marika has just been living at Middle Grove for the last 3 years raising foals so we are pleased Amy wanted to try her. Amy has the skill and patience to bring her along correctly.

A Long successful Trip

Mark and I pulled out of the driveway at 3:30 am to drive all the way through Indiana and half way through Ohio by 10:30 am to buy a horse trailer. Driving through thick peasoup fog we still made good time. We needed to be there before noon as the owner wanted to buy a car and had made an appointment soon after to buy the car with the cash we were bringing her. Just before we arrived at her farm the sun started peeking through the fog lighting up the thick hoar frost covering every tree, limb, leaf, grass and twig. Driving through this diamond covered fairyland country-side had to be like a small slice of heaven. We were wishing Rachel had gone along on this trip with her camera to capture the moment.

 This trailer is a 2006 Exiss 4 horse sport with a ramp. The best thing about this trailer is the back tack collapses, that wall folds flat, both back doors open, the ramp comes down and the golf cart can be driven right in. It can hold 2 horses up front and the golf cart in the back OR 4 mares plus a foal.

It is all aluminum so will hold it's value. It is only 7 foot tall and 6ft9in wide but is as long as our Kiefer Built. We bought it, hooked it up to the truck and started the long trip back running into a lot of construction on the way home. We stopped at the Beef  House for a late lunch. This place is amazing and even after 2:00pm they were crowded with customers. We were surprised at how full their very roomy parking lot was then by the time we were ready to head home 2 buses had arrived full of happy hungry customers all ready for a gourmet meal. The food really is 'that good'! Mom was good enough to go let our dogs outside twice so by the time we made it home they were not at all desperate to go outside, they were just thrilled to see us. We put about 750 miles on the truck today but in my mind it was a very successful trip.

Moving Bales

The weanling paddock was out of hay this morning and I didn't have time to move a bale in so started hauling wheelbarrow loads of hay to hold them off. This put me a few minutes late for the walk. Emily came this morning on the walk and told us what had happened to Jessica at 2:00 am. Her phone started ringing waking her, it was not a recognized number so assumed it was a wrong number. After all who calls at 2:00 am? Well the phone didn't stop ringing, Jessica thought maybe it was an emergency and instead it was a woman on the phone asking her why this number was on her husband's phone and accusing her of having an affair with her husband. Shocked Jessica hung up. The phone rang again, Jessica went out of the bedroom into the living room by the front door to answer and this time the very irate woman on the other end started yelling, "don't you dare hang up on me!" with a few other choice words. She was screaming so loud into the phone that Emily way back in the bedroom could hear. Such a strange way to start the day. I bet Jessica didn't sleep very well after that.
Diane picked up the Berean mail today and we had another great one. To read about our day click HERE.
After I got home the weanlings were fed another wheel barrow load of hay then after Emily got home this afternoon we moved a bale in for them. They should be good for at least 2 to 3 weeks and maybe by the time the next one is due the ground will be frozen. Valiant's paddock will need a new bale soon.

Emily is very pleased with Valiant, she feels his canter is almost as good as Killian's was which is really saying something. Valiant's tail had a huge knot from the tail bag, so bad that Emily had to cut it out. He looks pretty funny with half a tail but thankfully Friesian's tails grow pretty quickly. We ordered another 6 bottles of MTG which is suppose to help.

Perfect Snowflakes

The snow started falling as we were walking this morning. Suddenly Diane stops and exclaims, look at my arm. These snowflakes are perfect. The picture was taken with my phone and not focused well. We marveled at their beauty. Diane was wishing Rachel was there with her camera. Some of them were so perfect mom thought it was a design on Diane's coat.

After the walk I headed in to Meisters to pay the first of the month bills a day late then off to the Berean office to process the Bible letters. There are over 350 requests waiting. Tomorrow will be another busy day.

This afternoon was spent doing laundry and shopping. The kind of shopping done on line and not for real. I didn't redeem my time well while waiting for the laundry machines, it was too tempting to look at horse trailers for sale. I kind of want to buy another stock trailer but want another goose neck and yet we can't give up our bumper pull stock trailer it is just too handy.

Church tonight was pretty convicting. Greg Rumbold had the service and spent way to long on redeeming our time wisely. 

Oksana Pregnant

We stepped out of the house this morning and had to cover our eyes. There was this bright shiny ball in the sky lighting up the earth. Something we hadn't seen for a few days.  Emily hooked up the truck to the trailer and left for Carlock to pick up Soul this morning so she could be back in plenty of time for school.

We enjoyed the walk so much that when I picked up mom to head to Berean's we noticed Rachel and Diane still walking. They must have put in an extra round by walking Joan home.
We had another amazing day at Berean. If you would like to read about our day there click HERE.
We finished up around 1:30 pm, stopped to pick up mom's Christmas letter, stopped at the post office to unload the car and still made it home a little after 2:00 pm. Dr. Hoerr was scheduled to come this afternoon. He sent a text that it would be around 4:00 pm giving me enough time to meet Karin at Middle Grove to pick up Jewel's colt. That went perfect, she was almost to the gate when I arrived, The back of the trailer was opened, Jewel and her colt were walked out the field gate and right into the trailer then Jewel taken out the side door. Her colt was not happy when we pulled away without his mom. Once we got back to the farm he was haltered then left in the trailer until Dr. Hoerr arrived. He checked him over for his travel papers. He is leaving in a week for Texas.

Zachary (the colt) was excellent for the exam. Next on the list was to check the mares for wolf teeth. All three of the mares checked did not have them which was good. Marika had some sharp edges and a few small hooks so her teeth were floated.

Last on the list was to ultrasound Oksana. We are pleased to announce she is pregnant.

Oksana was bred to Evan and is due Oct 22nd, 2016. This is the last foal expected in 2016.
This evening I took a call from a man from Georgia. He had put a deposit down on Indy when she was a foal then lost his job. I told him then we would remember and he could use the deposit on another horse later.

Well he saw that Indy is expecting and wants that deposit used for her foal by Evan due in May. He was thrilled when I told him yes we would do that but I won't take any other payments until the foal is born. Once the foal is born he will have first choice to buy or not to buy. Philip came over and installed Mark's new computer then showed me how to use some of the tools on mine. What a good day.