Introducing Elisabet

Rachel posted some pictures of our newest grand daughter Elisabet. As a gift  my sister who owns and operates www.momentscapturedbyrachel.com drives over and takes newborn pictures for the parents. ENJOY these, I KNOW I sure am.

Rachel is SO good at capturing every expression. What a wonderful gift, THANKS RACHEL.
I only had time for half a walk this morning as I needed to stop at TEMCO to pick up the Berean mail. We had a very easy day there but not for a good reason. To see why click HERE.
When I got home Emily was here working with Oksana and Indy. Both were groomed and ridden bareback but it was just so hot she didn't want to work them hard. Oksana was put away and Indy was taken to the breeding stand to be covered by Evan. She is a hard one to tell, she doesn't show until he mounts but today stood well. Once Indy and Evan were put away Roxanne was brought out and covered by Valiant. She too stood better than yesterday. Praying these two conceive.
We decided that Indy and her filly could go in the paddock with Eliza and her colt but tonight that just wasn't working well so Indy and her filly were moved back into the middle paddock. Eliza has lost a lot of weight nursing her big colt and is too thin. We do not want any horse eating her grain but she eats so slow the other horses finish way before her then go eat hers. Tonight she and her colt are again separated from the rest. We have probably over 40 horses and all are in good flesh or fat but Eliza. Yes her teeth have been checked, yes she has been de-wormed and she has good pasture for grazing and is given the best of hay 24/7 and yet when she is nursing the weight just drops like a stone. Her foals are so spectacular it is worth the extra work of feeding her separate.

Mark spent the evening grading the driveways. The owner of Sunny sent a picture and said this:
Here is a picture of Sunny taken this summer. Thought you might like to see how he looks now. He is still gorgeous! We adore him! He is learning Dressage now. We even did a little shoulder in at our last lesson. A nice British lady with British Horse Society instructor certification and 40 years of teaching experience is our trainer. He sure has stolen our hearts too! Everyone adores him. My husband especially is very fond of him, though he does not ride.

Amy sent an update on her mom's surgery. Clarkie's cancer is back with a vengeance. The surgeon just looked and closed her back up then told Amy to check into hospice care for her mom. Please pray for both.

Indy & Roxanne In

Taunya dropped Jace off at the Berean office this morning. He was very very good. This grandma can't brag enough. He entertained himself while we worked.

 Taunya picked him up just after 12:30 pm. As soon as Jace left the real work started. I was pretty sure Roxanne was in, she was hanging around Evan this morning. She was teased and showed but covered with Valiant as we knew Indy was in and would need to be covered too. Both boys got work today but neither mare stood very well. Both will need to be covered again tomorrow late afternoon.

Hopefully Roxanne will conceive on this season's cover. Valiant is a good fit for her as he will add height on the foal. Roxanne is one of our smaller mares and will probably barely reach 16 hands once full grown.  Indy must be covered by Evan as she is Valiant's sister. Indy is one of our best swimmers. She has been swimming since she was 3 weeks old. Below Mitchel is taking her for a swim across the lake.

As soon as she was covered by Evan she was hosed off to cool her down then taken into the stall for her grain. While she and her filly were eating, the trailer back gate was opened so Sangria and her filly could be loaded. Sangria loaded fine, her filly decided she didn't want to go so a rope was looped around her neck and then she walked right in. I was too lazy to go find a halter that fit her and she didn't fight the rope at all. Next in trailer was Rosaleigh, now that she is confirmed in foal she can go live at Middle Grove. Once Indy was taken back out we were on our way. They were very excited to get out there and right off started neighing for the others.

Only Eliza, Marika, Soul and their 3 foals came up to greet them. Eliza lost weight while she was out there so she was haltered and led over to the trailer. Her colt didn't really want to go but once mom was in and not coming back out he jumped in all by himself. I did not take the time to find the other horses but Monday will need to do this. The owners of Star's filly, Lola's filly, Sheena's colt and Ayanna's colt are all going to want to pick up their babies in September and all need to come in to be weaned and have a coggins drawn. Since Eliza has lost weight she was taken right into the stall for grain while the old bale was moved out of the last paddock shelter and one of the best bales was moved in for her. The other mares were locked off the pond pasture so Eliza and her colt have the best hay and pasture. Tomorrow after work I might try to stop at TSC to see if they have grain with more calories than the 12% sweet feed we are feeding the rest of the herd. 

Diane and Mike left for Gulf Shores, Spark and Rhonda just got home from Pennsylvania bringing Tara and her 5 children. We are thrilled Jay and Tara are moving home and this time hopefully for good. 

Willis Ehnle had tonight's service. He has been preaching the Word for 61 years.  

Rosaleigh PREGNANT

The morning was spent at the Berean office. To read about our day there click HERE. After the mail was dropped off that the post office it was rush back to the farm to meet Dr. Hoerr. Today was the day we were to find out if Rosaleigh settled and Sangria ovulated and thankfully both happened.

 Above Dr. Hoerr is looking for the embryonic vesicle and below is a picture of that. 

 Rosaleigh is due July 7th, 2017 The proud papa is Evan. This is going to be an amazing fantasy Friesian foal for sure to inherit the mega hair and the huge movement of both sire and dam. 

Sangria was sonagrammed next. She was covered by Neo on Friday but then Sunday was out, we just wanted to make sure she really did ovulate. Thankfully Dr. Hoerr saw a bright new CL so the timing was perfect. 

 If she does conceive we know the foal is going to be gray, very sweet and tall. Sangria and Neo are both pushing 17 hands. If the foal is a colt it will be for sale but if Sangria has a filly she will not be sold but be a replacement for Sangria. Now we will just pray she conceived.

We needed Dr. Hoerr to look at a cut on Roxanne's leg. Thankfully it is not deep and just needs to be rinsed out with iodine water a few times a day. 

 Dr. Hoerr was just leaving when Phil and Anna arrived with the girls. They were going down to help Sarah and Nolan put the siding on their house but the girls wanted to come play with grandma. We went to the playground after supper where they played on the trampoline, the swing set and the volley ball court.

 Mom came out with Molly. Of course Kensley has to go see Molly. She thought of kissing her but I think Molly's breath was enough to stop her from getting too close.

 They had an old fashioned stare down.

Molly won as Kensley decided it would be more fun to go down the sliding board with her sisters. Ruth came over to measure the teetertoter board then stayed to visit. We had a nice evening until the mosquitoes came out to play. We don't like playing with them, they are always out for blood.

A Rainy Day

The heavens started sprinkling a fine mist before our walk but none of us wanted to give it up and all of us showed up but Diane did more than show up, she showed up with umbrellas for all. There was no way we were going to get caught in a downpour. Thankfully the downpour didn't happen, just a continual sprinkle. Israel didn't even care that he was getting wet as we were driving the golf cart around. The vet appointment was cancelled, Dr. Hoerr did not make it back from his trip. I think tomorrow they are going to try to fit us in but it will have to be quite a bit later in the afternoon since the Berean work doesn't usually get done until after lunch. Israel was taken home around 3:30 pm and of course I had to stop in and see Elisabet. She was up most of the night and Stephanie was tired but both mom and baby girl are doing great.
I stopped at Sam's to pick up the meal for tomorrow and pulled in our driveway the same time as Mark. We got a bit more than a quarter of an inch of rain even though it rained all day. This type of rain is wonderful as every drop soaks in. The fields are springing up before our eyes. Emily arrived home from her nurses training, we decided we needed to get the electric fence up quickly and get all the mares out grazing on that free grass!

Sunday's Post

This post is about our Sunday, we played way to long into the evening to think about sitting at the computer.
The view waiting for me Sunday morning is one I never want to take for granted. Beautiful mares and sleepy foals all lazing away the morning in the pond pasture across from the house. They stand there and watch the door, if a person comes out they neigh for attention. Theses horses all love to be fussed over by people.

 We had another amazing day in church. The young group had invited kids from all over our churches and it was wonderful to see the entire front filled with these young adults all here to worship our Lord Jesus. David Obgerfel had the service. After both readings he asked us to make a comparison of the two men. One was a king that did a lot of amazing things but became proud toward the end and would not listen to council ending up with leprosy. The other was Saul who became Paul, who persecuted the church until his amazing conversion and his humble heart. The afternoon service was just as good, Craig Stickling spoke and the time was just too short. All of us were disappointed when he sat down. That sermon followed along the lines of Dave's.
After church David brought Israel out so he could help with grandma with chores and then spend the night. Poor Israel is kind of having a hard time adjusting to his baby sister. The first job on the list was to feed the fish. Below he has just thrown a stale cracker into the lake.

 The fish were so hungry they were jumping out of the water to take bites. 

David waded in to catch some for Israel.

 Sarah and Nolan came out with their puppy for the afternoon/evening volley ball games. 

 Rebekah and Brian arrived with their son Jordan and their 11 day old daughter Riley Jane. Below Jordan is playing with the puppy.

 Philip arrived with Braelyn and Kensley who climbed up to the top of the golf cart and jumped off. Below Israel is getting ready to do his jump. 

 Grandpa Mark was willing to give golf cart rides to the 2 boys, Jordan and Israel. 

 Below great grandma Meister is holding Riley who is 11 days old and just 2 days older than David and Stef's daughter Elisabet. 

 It didn't take long for Taegan and Braelyn to join grandpa Mark on the golf cart. These carts are the best babysitters!

 The volleyball games were fun to watch, the volleys are fast and furious. 

 Jordan was playing with the sand toys when Zero the Mutt came over and started dragging them away. Of course instead of us helping Jordan we all laughed. 

What a funny dog. The volleyball games ended around 8:00 pm, Israel was a little distressed when his dad left without him but happy when we headed over to feed the horses. He slept all night, we will see what today will bring. He is usually a happy boy and likes to help.

Serenity Home

Right after breakfast this morning Addyson, Jack and Jace (who spent the night at the apartment with their parents Ben and Taunya) went with me to feed the left overs to the fish at mom's beach.

 Those fish were hungry and as soon as they saw us coming down came swimming in schools close to the beach. 

 Jace didn't throw his in very far which was just too tempting for Studly, Karin's dog. He had to go help himself. 

Ben, Nolan, Phil, Anna, Caleb and Anna's cousin by marriage from Minnesota met here to ride together to the Giant Goose Ranch for a volley ball tournament. This team was suppose to have David but with Stephanie home with a new baby he needed to cancel The players needed one more for the team and even though the brand new cousin had never played with them or even played much volley ball at all did a great job of filling in. They called themselves the SpikeMeisters. The picture below was posted on the Giant Goose Ranch's Facebook page with this heading: Had an awesome day at the Ranch today! Team SpikeMeister took home the gold in the volleyball tournament.

This team ended up winning the tournament. I couldn't go watch, I had a mare leaving today and one coming in and surprising enough both trailers were here at the same time.
Shana actually brought Serenity back a few minutes before the mare Patty left.
Serenity is a 10 year old Raven daughter out of a European warmblood mare. Rhoda pretty much did all the training on her last year, then she went to live at Shana's barn for Lauri to enjoy but Lauri now has 3 other horses so Serenity is home. The first video posted below was taken a year ago.

The second video was taken a month later. Serenity improved in her canter and trick training.

Shana said she enjoyed riding her and everyone at her barn loves this mare. We are placing her for sale for $4000.00 but want her to go to someone with horse experience, she really is not for a beginner rider. We had just unloaded Serenity and put her in the paddock next to Evan when Patty's owner arrived to take her home. Not too long after both trailers had left the farrier showed up to trim hooves. Roxanne was brought in from Middle Grove with what looks like a wire cut on her right back leg which needed to be hosed, scrubbed and treated. If it doesn't look any better on Monday I will take her to Hoerr vet office. The guys were at Middle Grove setting up deer stands, Mike sent the pictures below of all the helpers.

 Those horses are so curious about everything going on out there. 

 Phil and Anna invited us all over for dinner. Nolan took the picture below of the kids giving his puppy a ride in the doll stroller.

We had a delicious dinner, just ask Jace.

 John and Jolene Elder (Anna's aunt and uncle) provided the desserts, lots of ice cream and brownie bites.