3 Trips to Middle Grove

It was really cold on the walk this morning, 18 degrees with a stiff wind. None of us dressed warm enough. We took a short cut on the last round and just went through Rachel's yard to Joan's house before heading back.  Mike left for Middle Grove early this morning to move in bales before the snow hits later this week and took the two pictures below.

 The horses know how to stay comfortable, up against the hill side out of the wind and soaking up the sun. Most were drowsing but a few were grazing.  

After the walk the truck was hooked up to the two horse trailer and I left right at 9:00 am to pick up the first load of horses. When I arrived they were still in the same area. Anna was next to the gate so she was haltered, led out of the pasture and tied to the trailer before I went back to find Jenis. With this many black horses sometimes it can be hard to find a particular horse but I yelled out "JENIS", her head popped up and she came down to meet me.  She really is a special mare.  I was back on the road heading home by 9:34 am. The second load didn't quite go as well. This time I had to hike half way up the hill to halter Ayanna and big Rosalie and both of them are kind of balkers. I had to convince them they must go down the hill and into the trailer but even with that I was still on my back home before 11:00 am. When I arrived to pick up the last load the horses were gone from that area. I drove down to the far gate to see if they were by the hay bales but there wasn't a horse in sight. The trailer was turned around and the truck parked next to the first gate and I started hiking up the hill. When I reached the top the herd was spread out mostly grazing but a few horses were laying down enjoying the sunshine. I snapped the pictures below with my phone and sent a text to Karin that I was picking up the last load of mares.

When I arrived back at the farm,  the 3 weanlings in the middle paddock were moved to the far weanling paddock joining the other 3 weanlings. If I have time tomorrow I'll move a new bale in the breeding shed and put 3 in there as 6 in one paddock makes it hard to grain and make sure they all get their fair share.  The 6 mares brought home today were put in the middle paddock as that has 2 hay bales and 3 shelters.
Karin arrived after she got off work and brought all of those 6 mares inside for training.  They all did very well.

 Above she is working with Rosalie while Ayanna in the red halter and Indy in the blue halter watch.  Below the mares not being ridden settled down to graze on hay.  The far right mare is Jenis. I'm not even going to try to identify the other 4 from their rear ends. 

 I had a problem when picking up the mares identifying Indy, I had actually haltered Rosaleigh thinking it was Indy. Both have lots of hair but Rosaleigh's mane lies on her left side while Indy's on the right.  Rosaleigh had a growing spurt over the summer and this winter and she was much taller than I expected is why I even made the mistake. Good thing I caught the mistake before taking her home. Karin would have thought I was crazy.  Below Karin is working Ayanna. 

The mares were all put back in the middle paddock after their schooling session and I went into the house to work on the pictures. Suddenly I heard something very scary, a stallion snorting and mares squealing. All 6 mares were out of the paddock visiting Valiant and Galena.  I threw my coat on, jammed on the boots and went flying out to the golf cart. They were all surprised to see me back so quickly and none of them ran so they were all put back in the middle paddock. Turned out one of the 4 gates in the front of that paddock hadn't been secured enough for Oksana. She knows how to lift that latch and she let everyone out.  Tonight it was tied shut.
We needed to leave by 5:00 pm for church tonight picking up mom first. Joan, Diane, Mackenson, Faith and Berlica also came early to help with the meal.  Tonight was family night, we had a nice meal together then got to hear Craig Stickling give a message. It was a good crowd and a good message.

Working Overtime

Our walk was cut a little short today so I could get to Berean early. We had a lot of mail that would need to be processed. If interested in reading about our day there click HERE.  I didn't get home until close to 4:00 pm. Mark actually beat me home.  I'm exhausted and crabby yet didn't really do any hard labor.  Just sitting at a desk typing in names, numbers and addresses all day and yet feel like I've been run over by a truck. How do office workers DO IT?  I'd much rather be cleaning stalls and working horses.
Tomorrow Karin and I will be hauling 6 of the mares home from Middle Grove.  It is only going to get in the low 20s which will help with the mud.  I'm glad we were not planning on hauling today. The wind has been ferocious 40-50 mile an hour gusts. The car was getting blown all over the road on the way home and tonight the wind is slamming into the walls, windows and doors trying to find an entrance.  Hopefully the wind will die down before we haul.

Tara and Jay's Baby is Born

We got news this afternoon at 4:29 pm Tara gave birth to a baby boy.  Jay missed the birth by 5 minutes. She was not even there an hour before the baby was born. He weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 4 ounces and is 20 inches long.

They named him Timothy Jay. Congratulations Tara and Jay and of course the grandparents Spark and Rhonda.  His 4 sisters and 2 brothers are anxious to meet him.
We awoke to rain and the rain continued all morning which meant no walk today.  The far weanling paddock needed a new round bale but because of all the rain and mud this winter season the foals have been staying in the shelter and the manure build up had to be cleaned out before adding another bale. Those three weanlings were put in a stall and fed there. As soon as the horses were fed I took a trip in to Peoria and stopped first at Aldi to buy the ingredients needed for the cheeseburger soup recipe I wanted to make for the Berean meal tomorrow. I arrived just as it opened at 9:00 am got the ingredients and made a quick trip to Kroger to order the chicken for Wednesday's meal. Ellen dropped off the Berean mail at Meisters and shocked Mark. He called just as I was checking out to tell me there were THREE full boxes of mail.  Luckily Meisters is on the way home so those boxes were picked up and just to ease everybody's mind there is really only ONE FULL box of mail, the other two boxes were returned Bibles.  We are really going to be busy tomorrow. Sure hope we have a good crew show up. I was home by 10:00 and had the soup finished by 11:30 am. I took some over to mom's for her lunch then went to work. The rain had stopped and the thermometer was reading 56 degrees outside.  The skid steer was used to clean the shelter out then the bucket dropped and the bale spear put on and a round bale moved. After dropping the bales spear I was walking back and noticed Evan also needed a new bale but by this time I was exhausted so decided to wait until Mark got home for that bale.  Tom and Tim Meister arrived after they got off work to install our new hot water spicket in the stall barn. They left just as Mark pulled up so we both went to try out the hot water.  While there Mark put the bale spear back on the skid steer and moved one bale that had mold on it out then brought the one for Evan's paddock over and together we got that job done.  He walked the net wrap over to the dumpster while I heated up supper.
One interesting thing happened today. I had a phone call from a man from Ireland. He is in Illinois and brought over one of his Gypsy Vanner studs. This is a coming 3 year old palomino and he would like to bring it to the IL Horse Fair. He wants to show him in the stallion parade but also would like to do a Gypsy demo and wanted to know If I would be willing to bring our new Gypsy mare Irish and join him in the breed demo.  My problem with that is we are already taking 8 horses and were only taking the two 4 horse trailers. We would need to stuff her in one of them plus she doesn't' do anything yet. She hardly knows how to lead. I'll have to pray about that request.
It actually hit 62 degrees today which made working outside much easier than our usual January weather.  This warm spell is not going to last though by Wednesday we will be back to normal with below freezing temperatures.
Sarah sold\her little male puppy Wonka and has someone coming to look at Skittles the only puppy still left for sale. Below is Wonka who will be leaving for his new home at 8 weeks of age.

Skittles is adorable, fat and friendly she is the grandchildren's favorite. She is a dark red color and has such a sweet personality.  

World Famous

Church is always something we look forward to and not just because of the lunch.  This morning Greg Rumbold had the service. He wasn't here last Sunday afternoon when Craig spoke and had no idea of what Craig spoke on, but  believe it or not spoke on the very same chapter in Ephesians and even high lighted the very same verse of redeeming our time.  I think God is telling me something. In the Bible when it says Verily Verily TWICE pay attention.  Yes I was convicted and will make a concerted effort to redeem my time left here better.  Tim Roecker had the afternoon service.
After church we went to Phil and Anna's for dinner and were joined by David, Stephanie, Israel and Elisabet.  Israel went right out to play but Elisabet joined Taegan on writing.

After dinner we left for the fellowship hall for hymn sing where the 'world' famous Mortonaires were going to perform.  I say 'world' famous but probably mean AC world famous.  This group has been singing together since I was a child. I still remember my dad laying by the fire place at Pleasant home listening to their record.  The singing was just gorgeous. The arrangement of Jesus Paid It All was beautiful and so meaningful. The song Poor Man Lazarus was one I'd never heard and marveled at the quick timing.  The last song sang was Rise Up O Men of God. They sang 3 or 4 more but sat down way to quickly. 

There is just something special listening to an all men's group singing praises.  After the singing of course there were drinks and snacks. It wouldn't be an AC function without food! What a blessed wonderful restful Sunday.

RG Irish Surprise

Today this January weather was just beautiful. Sunny and the temps in the 50s perfect for moving bales and working outside.  I was able to put 2 new bales in the middle paddock. Worked with 6 of the weanlings, putting halters on and off, leading them, brushing them and general handling.  All did very well. Mike took Mika to Sandridge state forest for a trail ride.  Emily and Mitchel Cooksey met him there and the group that rode had a ball.

Mark's tractor got delivered yesterday and today Mark let some of us around here learn how to drive it. Joan brought Mackenson and Faith. Mackenson could drive it but each time Faith put it in gear to go it would die. Turns out she just doesn't weigh enough and the tractor won't run for lightweights.  When Braelyn, Taegan and Kensley came we thought Braelyn may be able to run it but she too was too light. It would run if both Braelyn and Taegan were on the seat.

 The other girls played in the sand until it was there turn to drive.  Below is a short video of grandpa Mark teaching them to drive.
Joan brought mom's Kubota over a bit later to switch it out with Mark's other Kubota. She was working on some huge logs and needed something a little stronger.

Below she is taking the bigger tractor over to Diane's where she was working on some huge logs. 

Around 2:30 our new mare arrived. She is a registered purebred Gypsy Vanner. She was born May 5th, 2016 and will be bred to Evan this spring.  Her registered name is RG Irish Surprise but they have been calling her Ira and we will continue to call her that.

She has the double sided mane, long thick tail that drags on the ground and has very hairy legs. I wanted to check out her movement and decided to take her out to the round pen.  Taegan and Kensley were thrilled to help by asking her to move. 

Ira has surprisingly big open movement for a Gypsy.  This will be a wonderful cross with Evan.  If interested in more pictures of her click HERE. 

Rhonda had a bunch of her grand children over. Earlier we saw Noel giving 4 wheeler rides and when we were playing with Ira Rhonda came by with a couple more. 

Ira was put in the paddock next to Evan. It has the least amount of mud in it as we only had 2 weanlings there until this morning. 

Braelyn drove the golf cart today then went in for something to eat. That gave Taegan and Kensley time for each of them to drive too. Hard to believe we were driving around in the golf cart Jan 5th and none of us were wearing coats. 

Karin came home today from Florida and picked up Studly. He was so glad to see her.  Anna and Phil were finishing cleaning out their East Peoria home and are now ready to put it on the market. Anna picked up the girls when they finished.  Rhoda and Lee brought Iris over for a visit as they can't come tomorrow.

They spent this beautiful day hiking.  We went over to mom's to play games with her. Sarah and Nolan also showed up as they were in the neighborhood.  We had a fun evening and a very good day.

Puppy Pictures and Video

This morning poor Diane had to do 3 months work to balance the Horsemeister checkbook and I helped. Actually I can't really claim that work, I was much more of a hindrance for her but she got it done.  Sarah arrived with Zion and the puppies shortly after I got home. The puppies had their second vet examine today and the vet gave them their first set of shots. All of the puppies passed their exam with flying colors. They are all fat and healthy. Arrieta is a good mom but now that they are 6 weeks old she is spending more of her time away from them than with them. They are adorable below is almost 4 and a half minutes of puppies playing.

They were very curious about Emma and not at all afraid of her. They have been well socialized and do not know a stranger, even a big old scary dog.

If you would like to see the rest of the puppy pictures taken today click HERE. Sarah loaded them all up and took them to Malabar Vet clinic today where each puppy was examined and given the first set of shots.  All of the puppies passed this exam with flying colors. The only female, the dark red puppy, weighs in at 5 pounds and both of her brothers were 4 pounds each. After Sarah left it wasn't very long before Tom and Tim Meister showed up for a plumbing job we want done. We are going to be putting hot water hydrant in the stall barn. They looked over the job got the material list and will be here on Monday to do it. It will be wonderful to have hot water available in the barns.  Trying to clean up a foal in the winter is awful and for the big tail washing day before the horse fair will be much easier with hot water available on demand. 

Fedi had exploratory surgery today and they found 2 big pockets of pus that was drained. He is feeling better but has tubes in to help with the healing. They are thankful for the prayers and hope he will be ready to come home on Sunday. 

Mom had company today. Uncle Johnny and Aunt MaryLou came from Detroit, MI in time for dinner and then to spend the night. They are traveling to Arizona for the winter. 

Uncle Johnny is mom's younger brother and we well remember him coming from New Jersey to visit us when we were children. The entire neighborhood showed up after supper to visit with them.  Mom served us all ice cream and then when we were ready to leave she brought out a carton of icecream that had been in her freezer since well before Christmas telling me, "this was yours from one of your dinners. There isn't much left but I want you to take it home."  I walked out her door with the carton, then opened it before getting into the car.  It wasn't just ice cream mom had been storing in her freezer for a couple months.

I was taking Rhonda home at the time and we both just started laughing.  Rhonda told me that wasn't near as bad as what Kari did to Becky.  They were out visiting Becky when Noel was a toddler. Noel messed her diaper, Kari changed her and there was an empty cereal box on the counter. Kari put the dirty diaper in the cereal box and closed it up but just as she was ready to throw it in the garbage Noel took off with Kari scrambling to catch up. Meanwhile Becky walked into the kitchen saw the cereal box on the counter and put it in the cupboard. Kari came back to throw the box away she saw the box gone and just assumed someone threw it away.  It wasn't long before Becky kept smelling something awful in her kitchen but just couldn't figure out where it was coming from.  

Below is a video of one of Eliza's fillies by Valiant.  It was posted on Facebook so I grabbed it to share. Our Friesian foals really do love people and can get quite demanding.

Pray For Fedi

Mike had to get a load of hay today for Middle Grove and ended up ordering 25 more bales.

We had 50 extra reserved but the horses at Middle Grove are going through 5 bales a week. If we have snow that jumps to 6 bales a week and we need enough to get through to the end of March. I should have plenty here if the bales are good. We purchased 48 bales that may or may not be molding. I haven't been able to check as our bales were put in front of them. If we can't use those we will be very short here.
Zalena's colt had a vet appointment at 8:30 am at the vet clinic. I went on the walk and when we reached the trailer Diane and mom helped load but when he was put in the trailer the door wouldn't latch. There was frozen manure stopping the door from closing all the way. It took a while to get that frozen solid manure chipped off and out but still made it to the clinic by 8:20 am. I had to wait until 8:50 for a vet to arrived.  There was a mistake in the scheduling.  Dr. Hoerr arrived and pulled the blood and we were back on the  way home shortly after 9:00 am.  This colt is getting picked up for his new home on Saturday. He is pictured the morning of his birth with Braelyn our grand daughter who is thrilled to be 'working' here at the farm. She even has the Horsemeister t shirt.

The colt will be living in Wisconsin and that state has the rule that the Coggins test is calendar year.
Ruth called mom and reported they did a CT scan on Fedi and have him scheduled for surgery tomorrow. He has a pocket of infection and that needs to be cleaned out plus I think they are going to do some exploring to make sure there are no other problems.  Fedi had his colon removed on December 19th and the initial surgery went well but the healing has not.  We are asking for prayers for Fedi for healing. Right now he is ok as long as he is on very strong IV pain medication but as soon as that wears off the pain is awful.

Beautiful Boys

The man that bought Caspian and Capricho from us 2 years ago sent the pictures below. These colts are just gorgeous and the owner is so very thrilled.

 Above and below is Caspian who is out of Ayanna by Evan. 

Caspian is 75% Friesian and Capricho is 50% Friesian and yet both look like their sires. When people see his beautiful boys they will want to know exactly where they came from so we are thrilled when he shares the pictures.  We always knew we were putting out quality and it is nice when we get to see the results years down the road. Both of these colts left when they were weaned and the pictures below were taken before their long trip East.

  Above is Caspian and the next two below are of Capricho, first as a weanling before leaving and then the picture taken today and sent by his owner as a 2 year old. 

Capricho

My my my have they ever matured. We always knew Caspian was gorgeous but had no idea Capricho would turn out so amazing. This is one of the reasons I love this job. Sheena is bred back to Valiant and due May 27th. If you are interested in a quality Friesian cross this year you may want to keep an eye on our website. They get snatched up pretty quickly once born.  Our prices are always fair for the amazing quality our stallions throw.  Just for reference Capricho was sold as a weanling for $4000.00 and now he is worth many thousands! But the problem is once someone owns one, they do not resale, they keep them.  I had one owner tell me before she bred her mare that the foal was going to be named Trailer as they needed a new trailer and they were for sure going to sell this baby but when the foal was born they just couldn't do it explaining to me, "we could never afford to buy something of this quality so we are going to keep him"

We had an overcast damp cold morning for our walk. It was good to be back into that routine. The dogs miss the walk almost as much as we do. After the walk I had to run to Diane's office then to the bank to deposit checks.  The waterers were all open this morning and this afternoon even though it didn't get much above freezing all day.  

Only 2 LEFT

Sarah and Nolan sold a puppy this morning. A male puppy they were calling Gummy Bear.

There are only 2 puppies left. One female

and one male.

For more information on these 2 puppies visit our website www.horsemeister.com  and click on  Puppies For Sale If interested in one of these adorable NON SHEDDING puppies call or text Sarah direct 309-208-1589.
I had a tough time getting up this morning and when I finally rolled out of bed at 6:00 am it was to find I had forgotten to make the coffee last night and program it to start brewing at 4:45 am.  That meant the first cup of the day was left over sludge from the day before.  It really was time to shake off last night and get to work.

I didn't get much accomplished today other than the regular every day chores. Mark on the other hand worked like we hadn't been up since after midnight. He crashed a couple hours ago and I'm heading to bed right now. Amazing to think we are now in the year 2019. And for those who are trying to stumble into 2019 check out this video. 

Rainy LAST Day of the Year

It pretty much rained all day long, with temperatures not getting out of the 30s this weather was just no fun at all to be outside.
Mark and I went to the church for Gary Schmidgall's visitation. Craig Stickling had his funeral service.

We are really going to miss Gary in the Peoria church. He was always the first one to greet us on Wednesday's nights and tease us about going to Culvers afterwards. Our sympathy to Nancy and their 7 children.  On the way home from church I called mom to ask how far they were in their long trip home. Joan estimated that they would be home by 8:00 pm so we planned the New Years Eve party to start at 8:30 at her house.  Spark and Rhonda (the only other ones home in the neighborhood) joined us and with mom, Joan, and Sarah. Hannah left to party with others.  We passed a fun evening together playing games then eating prime rib with all the fixins for dinner while waiting for the clock to click down to midnight. At midnight we went outside to yell, scream, bang pots and pans and light off fireworks to welcome in the new year. We here at the Horsemeister farm would like to turn our thoughts to the past by posting these pictures of Raven, the start of the Horsemeister business.

And now look forward to the future of the farm with Raven's son Valiant and Evan, the son of Mintse.

Wishing everyone that reads this a wonderful new year with many blessings