Rosaleigh and Roxanne

Roxanne and her sister/aunt Rosaleigh are even closer than sisters, they both share the same sire Othello pictured below:

and Rosaleigh's dam was Roxanne's grand dam. This mother and daughter were both bred to Othello and both mares delivered a filly a week apart. Roxanne was born March 30th, 2013 and Rosaleigh was born April 6th, 2013. Rosaleigh turned out taller than Roxanne and has more hair. Check out the mane and feather on Rosaleigh.

Rosaleigh had a temper and one time Emily was working on a waterer, Rosaleigh came up to bug her, Emily shoved her out of the way and Rosaleigh turned around and kicked her.  We were SHOCKED! It was obvious that she considered herself a primadonna . We had to dispel that notion immediately as we cannot have a mare that kicks here. How that was solved was she was taken to the round pen and each time Rosaleigh would turn her rear end to us she was made to work.  It didn't take long for Rosaleigh to decide it was easier to face the human and rest. We did a little training work with her when she was 2 years old then at 3 Rhoda trained her undersaddle.

We bred her to Evan and she had the most spectacular stud colt June 13th, 2017.

We were pretty thrilled with what she produced so bred her back to Evan and she had a gorgeous filly with huge movement May 20th, 2018

Of course we bred her back to Evan (why mess with success) and she had another beautiful filly April 24th, 2019.

Rosaleigh will be bred back to Evan hopefully in April for a March 2021 foal.

Roxanne was more timid and afraid as a 2 year old. She wasn't mean but wasn't like our home bred Friesians which kind of surprised us. We thought all Friesians were loving and easy to train. She wasn't terrible, just not very mature even at age 3. Karin was working with her both here and at Middle Grove. 

When we brought her back to the Hanna City farm Rhoda started her under saddle and she did very well. I think she just needed more time to mature.

She was bred to Valiant and delivered a colt July 25th, 2017

We were pretty pleased with what she produced so bred her back to Valiant and she delivered a filly July 8th, 2019

Meanwhile Roxanne was turning out to be a very nice riding mare for Rhoda. 

She took her out on the trails with her foal with no problems.

We loved her foals by Valiant but wanted to see what she would produce when bred to Evan so did that for 2020. Roxanne is due June 5th, 2020. She is just a beautiful mare.

We can't wait to see her 2020 foal by Evan. 

Puppies Expected LOTS of Puppies

Mark got up early to shovel any walks or driveways but we really didn't get that much snow. He walked over to mom's first but didn't have too much to do. Below he is starting on our drive.

 We picked up mom and left for church and were pleased the roads were good. We missed the bulk of the storm that was predicted to leave everything a mess with ice and snow.  Tim Funk had a shortened morning service then came the business report. That is always interesting and very humbling.  Our lunch hour was also shortened to give Tim Roecker time for the afternoon message.  After church Phil and Anna's family along with David and his two children arrived in time for Sunday supper.  Stephanie had to work today.  We had pork roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and rolls. For dessert the children all decorated the sugar cookies that were made earlier today.  Anna help with that.

They were each given 5 cookies to decorate. Of course we all had to eat a cookie before bagging the rest up for each child to take home the cookies he or she decorated.  Karin and Magda worked horses today, both Evan and Valiant were ridden and both did very well. We are so blessed to own these magnificent stallions. They really are my dream come true.

Above is Evan and below is Valiant.

Sarah and Rhoda would like to announce PUPPIES!  They had a photo shoot with the expected mom's and posted the pictures. ALL 4 litters are due in January.

Ruby is due first. She was bred to Duece the AKC registered King Charles Cavalier. and is due Jan 16th, 2020. Pictured below is Ruby all dressed up. The expected puppies are Cavapoos.

Duece the sire is pictured below:

Ruby belongs to Rhoda and Lee.  Sarah and Nolan's Miniature Poodle Arietta was also bred to Duece but her puppies are due Jan 29th, 2020.

 Sarah and Nolan's Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Maddie was bred to Anni's AKC registered Moyen Poodle Chewy and is due Jan 26th, 2020 with a litter of Whoodles . Pictured below is Maddie.

 Check out the belly on Maddie. Guessing there are a lot of pups in there. 

Pictured below is Chewy the sire of this litter. 

Chewy is also the sire of Nikki's litter due Jan 19th, 2020. Nikki is also an AKC registered Moyen Poodle so this litter of purebred Poodles will be AKC registered.

If you are considering a puppy this spring you may want to check out the puppies for sale page on the Horsemeister website to see pictures of past litters. These puppies are ALL adorable, family raised, well socialized and most do not shed. 

Ice/Snow Storm Jan 11th, 2020

We had a LOT of rain yesterday and during the night but thankfully when we got up at 5:00 am the temperature was still above freezing. I left early for Sam's Club to finish getting the groceries I was too tired to buy yesterday. When I got back Karin, Magda and Kayla were here and had the heater going. The wind was blowing hard and we were getting snow/ice pellets.  Magda was already dancing around the arena with Evan. They are so much fun to watch. Evan has huge expressive gaits and Magda sits them very well.

To see the rest of the pictures of Evan click HERE. When Evan was put away Karin had the girls bring in Jenis, Zalena and Hadassah. All three were glad to get out of the cold wet weather and roll in the dry sand of the indoor arena.

 That is Jenis rolling in the picture above while Hadassah looks for the perfect spot to drop.

 Zalena is left and Jenis is right in the picture below.

 After the roll they had fun galloping around out of the mud.

 They soon settled down and came over to Magda for attention.

The mares were tacked up for some under saddle exercise. Karin rode Haddassah.

 Magda rode Jenis

 and Kayla rode Zalena.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures of the mares being worked click HERE.  These 3 were put away and Valiant brought out, just to get him out of his paddock and let him have fun rolling in the sand then running around.

To see the rest of the pictures of Valiant click HERE. 

The girls left for home before the roads got bad. The the snow stopped and ice pellets starting coming down. We would much rather have snow than ice so was glad when it changed back to snow. Below Mark had just delivered mom's mail and was walking home. This was about 4:00 pm.

I drove the car over to mom's house where Sarah, Hannah and Joan were working on the puzzle.

This is a very frustrating puzzle, it came missing over 50 pieces. Even a piece of mom's face was missing. Without having all the pieces it was hard to finish.  After working a couple hours we just started fitting the pieces in where ever. Sarah found the perfect shape for the missing piece of mom's face.

We called mom over to tell her all the pieces we had to work with were now in place.  Well she wasn't quite pleased with what we had finished! Beth Meister had this puzzle made and gave it to mom for Christmas. The box arrived crushed, the puzzle pieces were all in a bag but obviously someone from the post office must have scrambled to put the remaining pieces in that bag and threw the rest away. Beth ordered a new one and that should be here soon so we will have another try. Mom got out the Mexican Train game and we played that all evening.  Joan won but only on the last play of the game. 

The Pancake Supper

What a labor intensive busy day. Breakfast was made inside before heading outside to feed the horses their breakfast and from there Emma and I headed to mom's to meet for the walk.  We always have so much to discuss on these walks. Mom says it is hard to get a word in and sometimes she gets loud as she  exclaims "Stop, I have something to SAY!"
I didn't even go to the house after the walk but went straight to the barn to start moving bales. With so much rain predicted I wanted every paddock to have plenty of hay. Today Evan's paddock, Valiant's paddock, Jenis' paddock and the weanling paddock all got a new round bale. The next job was to find the pick ax and spade and start digging out the doorway of the big barn.  All of those jobs were finished by 10:00 am, I ran to clean up a bit and changed into a skirt before heading to Stock and Field in Pekin for more grain loading 600 pounds on to a cart, then into the car then once home dumping all 12 bags into the metal garbage cans.  At that point my muscles were begging for a break. Instead though I ran to Kroger to pick up some cream for our coffee and a few other items. I was shocked to find no carts available, the parking lot full AND Kroger was out of French vanilla cream.  The store was packed. At first I couldn't figure out why until I realized everyone is getting their shopping done before the storm hits.
Mark came home from work early to work on his garage. He is going to be installing a storm shelter in it, one that the airbnb renters can use. The barns do not have basements.  We picked up mom at 5:00 pm, drove to Phil and Anna's parked our car and took theirs along with their 3 girls to the Fellowship hall for the annual pancake and sausage supper. Everyone has such a good time there.
Molly and Gabe brought Nancy and she was pretty thrilled to be able to eat with mom and Bonnie.

 The candy store is to the left of the picture below. Braelyn, Taegan and Kensley spent a lot of time at that table. They each had $5.00 to spend. 

 The girls were playing on the stage while mom, Diane and I shopped at the bake sale.  That table is also very popular and not just with the children. 

It was pouring rain by the time we left. We are suppose to get a couple inches of rain before it turns to ice and then snow. I'm very glad everything got done today to prepare for this storm.
A while back we got an update from a lady that bought one of Lily's colts. Below is a video of him as a long yearling.

The picture below is of him as a 2 year old. Lily and Valiant throw GORGEOUS foals!

Lily is due June 1st, 2020 but she always delivers early so we expect this foal to be born in May.

Winter Weather Preparation

Joan, Heather and all the kids left early this morning on a ski trip, obviously going North as there is no snow here. In fact we had a high of 55 degrees today. This warm front will not last long, tomorrow rain moves in then early Saturday morning the ice will begin and by Saturday afternoon snow. The pancake supper was moved from Saturday to Friday because of that weather. Heather sent back a picture of some of the group with their skis. What I found interesting is the helmets.  My have times changed, we never wore helmets skiing or biking or horse back riding for that matter.

Right after the walk I took 3 empty propane tanks to Suburban Gas in Peoria and had them filled for the cold to come. We use them in the indoor arena. Tomorrow I'll work on getting the doors of the big barn dug out so they can be shut while working horses. That will help keep the heat in.  Mark had a load of gravel delivered this morning. He wants plenty on hand to fill potholes and work on the driveways this winter.

Three of the paddocks will need bales by this weekend but I'll probably put them in tomorrow before the ice and snow hits. 

Mike called to report 40 bales were delivered yesterday to Middle Grove and he purchased 15 more that are being stored in a barn across the street from here. We should have plenty of hay now at both places.  I think we are now prepared for both this coming storm and for winter weather. 

Kensley got to come hang out with grandma this afternoon while Taegan got her braces put on.  We went shopping at Dollar General where Kensley found something for each of her sisters and something for herself too.  After our shopping trip she played dress up with Emma, dressing her up in glittery material. Emma is very glad to just lay around while being fitted.

Joshua's Video

Last night I had someone asking for a video of Joshua's movement and this morning the person that bought Lance was suppose to arrive around 10:00 am so after the walk Lance was brought into a stall and groomed as much as possible. He was left in the stall and Joshua pulled out of the paddock. It is very cold today, this morning the thermometer was reading 24 degrees but had a real feel of 9 degrees. So much too cold for bathing. Both Lance and Joshua were just going to have to stay muddy. Some of that mud dried on pretty thick and it is going to take hot water to get it off.  The ground was frozen solid so there would be no video taken outside and the inside arena just doesn't have enough light. I decided to try for a video anyway even though there was no one around to ask Joshua to move.  He was just turned loose in the arena. He didn't show off as much as hoped for but at least the prospective buyer could see his natural movement.

I also took a few still shots.

At 10:20 am Lance's owner sent a text that he wasn't going to be able to make it today. Lance was taken back to the paddock and was glad to be back with the other weanlings.  All 3 colts were haltered and led around today and all 3 did very well. They really are well behaved.
Tonight was family night at church. Gail Hodel was providing the meal and she is such a good cook that instead of the 70 people planned on, over 100 came to eat. Gail just started praying that there would be enough food and at the very end there was just 1 serving of her delicious barbecue left. Carley Hoerr had the message on the first 3 kings and the gift they were first given of wisdom from above, then what happened with each of them when they used their own wisdom.  It was really good to be there.