UpDating

Sarah showed up at 5:00 am. She dropped off Nolan at a hunting spot at the far edge of the property along the 50 foot strip then came in for some coffee. I was suppose to leave by 5:55 am to pick up Israel and she offered to do it. She didn't even know my glasses were lost and I don't like to drive in the dark without them, she just offered. What a great daughter! Israel and I had fun today, he helped feed the horses and played with the cats in the barn. At least he had fun until grandma scared him. While he was playing with the cats, I decided to give Zoey a grooming to get her ready for the pick up tomorrow by her owner. I reached down to pick up a back leg and Zoey kicked out. Instantly, without thinking I let out a yell like the world was coming to an end so Zoey would know that is NOT acceptable behavior. Israel heard me yelling like a banshee and started crying. I'm softly telling Zoey, "it's ok!" while telling Israel, "grandma's ok, she's not mad" but I couldn't leave Zoey until she let me handle and pick up each hoof without reacting, all the while softly telling Israel don't cry, grandma will be right out. Note to self *don't start foal instructions when babysitting*
The stalls were cleaned then Israel brought in for a nap.
This evening I figured out how to update the website on this old laptop and did it. I had to mark 2 horses sold. If I ever get the main computer back I'll have to remember to transfer files from here to there.

A Big Tumble

Brr it was chilly this morning, the wind was gusting to around 30 mph and even though the temperature was in the 40's the chill made the walk uncomfortable. Diane picked up the mail today so I had a relaxed morning not leaving the house until 8:30 am. Of course that was after the horses were fed, Marika's colt's stall cleaned and that foal comforted a bit. This was the first night without his mom. Thankfully he didn't dump his water buckets or trash his stall. He really is a nice colt.
We had a great day at the Berean office. If you would like to read about our productive day click HERE.
Rhoda was here when I got home, putting away Evan and Oksana. She and Emily took the horses on the 'death trails' and had an accident. We had about 3 inches of rain here this week and the steep hills were slippery with mud. Evan slipped and went down on one of the steep parts. Rhoda jumped off as he hit the ground, then he tried to get up, slipped and did a 360 degree roll to the bottom where he was able to stand. The saddle ended up a bit muddy but the ground was so soft no damage was done. Rhoda climbed back on and they finished the trails. They had a good gallop up the fifty foot strip where Oksana through in one pretty big buck but both girls felt the ride was successful. Rhoda left to ride Soul while Emily spread lime in the new shelters then came in to talk fair strategy. For the 2016 Fair we won't have any elegant costumes,

no king and queen

 no fancy fairies,

 no malicious magnificent Maleficent, no charming prince,

 no sparkly fairy lights,

 no dancing princess

 and no Joan of Arc.

But I promise we will have amazing horses, fast action and an entertaining cast of riders. Come down to IL State Fairgrounds in Springfield IL for the IL Horse Fair March 4th, 5th or 6th, 2016 to see the amazing Horsemeister Friesians performance, I'm sure you won't be disappointed!
Emily wants to invite the entire cast of characters to the apartment over the Thanksgiving holiday to start the planning, watch the movie and start designing the costumes. This group of riders is so enthusiastic and imaginative. Now to see if they can pull it all together.

Missing Glasses

My glasses have been missing now for 2 solid weeks. I only use them on Wednesday evenings, Sundays and if I'm driving at night. The first time I realized they were not in my purse was 2 Wednesday's ago but I wasn't worried they had probably fallen out of the purse and were surely on the desk but... they weren't. Then they were forgotten until that next Sunday so when I got home from church the house, car and truck were searched but without the desired results. Today the house was pretty much torn apart looking for the missing glasses, the chairs were flipped upside down the toy box emptied, the bed mattress moved but no glasses. I drove to the Berean office and checked the desks, floors, drawers, and boxes, nope not there. While there the Bible requests were entered into the computer and the labels printed. There were over 330 request for Bibles that came in on Tuesday. I left the other letters to process tomorrow.
The next step was to drive to Diane's office and check there. I remembered pulling the checkbook out of my purse there just maybe the case had fallen out on her file cabinet but no luck.
By this time it was after 2:30 pm and I was suppose to meet Karin at Middle Grove with the truck and trailer by 3:30 pm. The truck was started and even before I got out of the drive there was a problem. The truck engine sounded like it was missing and didn't have much power. Bummer, another repair bill coming up. I drove it anyway to Middle Grove, pulled in and realized pretty quickly I wasn't going to be able to drive back to the horses. We had just too much rain the last few days. The truck and trailer were turned around and left. The hike wasn't terrible, windy and cool but not freezing. The horses were actually found within 15 minutes. They were scattered all over the hillside grazing. Marika was at the far end but her colt was not with her. He was up grazing with some of the other horses. It took a while to go get Marika, bring her over to her colt then start the long hike to the trailer. This colt is 5 months old and ready to wean. Marika was loaded then the colt haltered and loaded. Karin arrived about then so Marika was unloaded and she held her while I drove off with her son. He is now stalled and not too happy but he is eating and drinking so should be fine.
Sarah and Nolan stopped in for supper with exciting news, they put an offer in on a house and depending on the inspection may end up with it.
We had a blessing at church tonight, the ICC/Bradley young group came. Craig Stickling had the service. It was so good to be there even without glasses.

Raining Rain and Blessings

We awoke to rain, it rained most of the night but just in time for the walk the rain stopped, at least slowed down to a very light sprinkle so most of us ended up walking, at least for 1 round. The horses don't seemed concerned at all by this rain. It must be that the temperature is a balmy 52 degrees. Evan and Oksana were out grazing and all 5 of the weanlings were taking a nap. Not inside where they could stay dry they were all sacked out outside the barn.

 Darcy wasn't sure if she should go out or not.

I left for Berean's in such a hurry I forgot my phone. I had to stop at Meister's to pay some bills so used the work phone to call Walter's Ag Service to tell them where to dump the lime that was suppose to be delivered this morning. I was soon on the way to TEMCO to pick up the mail for Bereans. If you would like to read about our blessings there today click HERE.
It was still raining when I left Bereans hours later and as this is being typed it is still pouring outside. We should end up with around 3 inches out of this storm. I forgot to drive up to see if the lime was delivered and have no desire to go outside to check tonight. Tomorrow the rain is predicted to stop so all outside work can wait until then.

Sold and Sold

Serenity is now sold and will be staying with Laurie and her best friend Jurista. Laurie took her on a trial and sent a text today that they LOVE her! We are thrilled that Serenity has a home where she will be loved.

Then a deposit came today for Jewel's colt.This fantastic colt will be leaving for his new home in Texas early December. A Jewel by Evan foal is always something special and we are thrilled he is going to a show home. His new owner has been looking for a dressage warmblood foal for a while and when she saw his video she could hardly believe his movement.

 

We had a damp dark day with a high around 51 degrees and raining off and on most of the day. More rain is coming tonight and tomorrow and by the time the rain quits the weather reporters are reporting around 3 inches will fall. It was a good day to stay inside and do laundry. Dishes should have been done but for some reason it was more exciting to talk on the phone with customers than do those. You see we have no cell service in the kitchen. I think that is a great excuse why the dishes didn't get done. 

Emily came in to report all the horses both here and at Middle Grove were de-wormed while Mark and I were in Nashville. She said the foals were amazingly easy to do, why she didn't even put a halter on Zoey. 

 

Home from Nashville

We left this morning just after 7:00 am and had an easy trip home. Beautiful warm sunshiny weather made for an enjoyable trip. We tried to listen on line to the Peoria services but could not get the volume up enough to hear over the noisy car. We stopped at New China Kitchen picking up food for dinner and were joined by David, Stephanie, Israel, Phil, Anna, Braelyn, Taegan, Kensly, Nolan and Sarah.
The evening was chaotic but fun.
Everyone has left for home, we are have almost finished unpacking and will have an early night.
A funny story from the trip. The first night Mark work up at 3:30 am, and asks, "did you have a good night's sleep?" I was sure it could not possibly be time to get up but the lights outside were so bright we were both confused. Once we figured out the time we went back to sleep until the usual 5:00 am waking time then of course had to wait for hours until we could join the group at breakfast. The second morning we slept until 6:00 am and this morning we didn't wake until 6:30. Good thing we aren't staying another night, why most of the day would be gone if this pattern continued.
Emily moved in a couple bales today, one for the weanlings and one in the middle paddock for when we bring the mares home. Phil has our computers so no updating can be done on the website. I have one foal to mark sold.
Jamie Stone borrowed the truck and trailer on Saturday to ride Dakota and Myrrhcedes in the Sparland parade. She sent the picture below of her riding Dakota.

 

Dakota was here this fall to visit Valiant, sure hope a baby is on the way from these 2. 

Opryland Hotel

We had a good first day, Mark went to classes and I slept, then read, then slept some more. Finally around 11:00 am I decided to walk around touring the hotel but needed to meet Mark at noon and an hour wasn't near enough. After lunch we toured together. Below are a few pictures of this amazing place.

 

This evening the Trane company took the entire group to Wild Horse Saloon in downtown Nashville. They needed 20 buses to get us all down there. We were in one of the later buses and by the time we got to the Saloon, even though it was closed for this party only there was no where to sit. The food was buffet style so we were able to fix a plate but it was kind of hard to figure out how to hold the food and somehow get it to one's mouth. We hiked up to the 3rd floor and walked back behind the stage, found a couple of chairs and were able to eat.
The Wild Horse Saloon has a herd of life sized horses hanging upside down from the ceiling. I only had my phone but snapped a picture. Three floors below the band was playing and the crowd was line dancing.

The noise was hard on the ear drums, we finished our meal then decided to go walk around the city until catching a bus back to the hotel. The Saloon was very close to the famous batman building.

But even outside it was noisy, Nashville is just such a noisy place. 

We were glad to give our eardrums a rest by climbing aboard the bus. We were pretty tired so went straight to bed. This morning the breakfast wasn't quite as well attended. I think they may have been too much carousing by all the guests. Tonight they are serving dinner on the island in the middle of the Delta canopy. 

Nashville Bound

Mark and I were on the way by 7:15 am heading to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. The wind was just down right amazing as we pulled out. We heard later that there were 67 mile an hour gusts going on and they were considering this storm a cyclone. We arrived at the hotel around 3:00 pm. This place is huge. After finding our room we decided to walk around a bit to figure out where we needed to be then grab something for dinner. We drove to a Shoney's restaurant and it wasn't the best food but by this time it was 5:00 pm and we were hungry after driving all day, only stopping once for gas. Mark ordered the salmon and I had bbq chicken and ribs. The chicken was good the ribs were not meaty and dried out, the salmon tasted a bit old. We made it back to the hotel, Mark went to check in with the Trane company, and just called to say they were serving awesome food including salmon. Nope I didn't go down, I don't need 2 meals in an hour but what a waste of $23.00 earlier. Wish we would have known dinner was included with the check in.
Emily sent a text that Oksana was still in and covered by Evan. The picture below is of Eliza, Oksana's mom. Check out her mane.

 Check out Evan's mane in the picture below, do you see why we are excited about this foal and pray Oksana settles.

Speaking about foals, before Ripper was gelded, in fact the reason he was rushed to the vet and gelded was Karin saw him and Missy behind a tree and he was doing what he was not suppose to be able to do yet. We really don't want Missy bred and are thinking he may be too young but time will tell.

Missy isn't much to look at but is such a favorite with the children. She is beginner safe and a good size for them to learn on. If she did get bred she will have a foal by her side when we need her.. praying she did NOT settle!

Rhoda sent an update on Soul. 

 

She is doing well in her training but is being mean to the 3 year old gelding on the property with her. He was not taught herd manners and pesters the girls terrible. Soul bit him in the neck. His owner wasn't happy. He probably deserved it and maybe if Percy's owner doesn't interfere she just might teach him some manners. Soul had never been mean even out with 40 other horses but all of our horses know their place in the herd. Rachel sent some pictures of the work at the Berean office today. To read about that and see the pictures click HERE

Wind Advisory

We needed this advisory but didn't realize exactly how much damage these 47 mile an hour gust do? Around 1:00 am Emma stood at the door whining, evidently she heard the heavy cast iron patio table being picked up and smashed on the ground. There is glass everywhere. This morning at 4:30 am the table is gone. The wind picked it up and blew it somewhere. The patio is just about swept clean which means there must be glass scattered all over the grass in the yards. The trampoline is in pieces and most parts seem to be missing. There are tree limbs down everywhere. Mark and I are leaving the neighborhood, leaving the town and leaving the state until Sunday night so won't be around to help with any of the clean up. (if we can get out of the drive) Kind of looks like a good time to get out of dodge.
The wind advisory is posted until 6:00 pm tonight. Wonder what else will be blown over. Thankful for good strong houses and good strong barns and shelters.

SOLD!

The second and final puppy sold tonight. They sure didn't last long once they were ready to go. These puppies are so tiny and so cute I'm really not surprised.
Oksana was covered this morning before the walk. She stood well and it didn't take Evan long to get the job done. Praying she settles, a late foal is better than no foal.

These 2 will produce a gorgeous Friesian foal, with Oksana coming from mega hair Eliza and Evan throwing his mega hair in his foals and both have that huge movement. 

Mark and I will be leaving early tomorrow morning for Nashville. I'm taking the laptop and camera but don't know how much time will be spent on either, I heard they don't have horses at this fancy hotel we will be staying, called the Opryland Resort & Convention Center.
We had an interesting evening at church, a big storm with strong winds and heavy rains started pounding on the church roof as Mike Rieker was speaking. He finished, Tim Roecker got up to have the prayer, prayed to calm the storm and dead silence, the storm really did stop suddenly and didn't start up again until mom and I were safe in the car.

Sunset Session

I only did one round of the walk but before the walk got plenty of exercise. Jewel, Marika and their colts were loose, probably most of the night. I heard plenty of neighing but didn't bother to get up, we are far enough from the road and the horses pretty much always stay up by the barn. I found them standing by the barn just waiting for me to let them back in. The fences were checked and none of them were down. I think they may have gone through the woods to the pond pasture as both the back gate was open to that and the front gate. Jewel is just so smart.
They were put in a paddock with the new shelter. Oksana was put in the paddock next to them then the trailer backed between the barns for easy loading later in the day.
We only had one full mailbox full of mail today at Bereans.  We had lots of hard working volunteers and were able to finish processing the studies by 1:00 pm. To read about our day click HERE
The vet appointment for Oksana, Zachary and Xerxes was scheduled for 3:30 pm in Morton but since I made it home early the vet clinic was called to see if they could fit me in sooner and they did. The horses were loaded and I was on the road by 1:45 pm.
I had Oksana sonagrammed first. She was confirmed in foal due June 14th but when we brought her home she was showing to Evan. Sure enough she lost that foal and is cycling now. She is at a 40 mm so I will get her covered tomorrow.
I didn't even bother unloading Jewel, Marika and the colts. Dr. Hoerr just stepped into the trailer and was easily able to draw blood from them. The colts were excellent. From there I drove the 50 miles to Middle Grove to take the mares and foals back out there. They will stay until we are ready to wean the colts in 2 weeks. Oksana was taken back to the Hanna City farm.
Rhoda came this afternoon to work Evan. The sun was low in the sky making Rhoda and Evan glow orange.

Rhoda asked for an extended trot just as the sun dropped.

Evan was just about perfect. She finished the training session with some trick training. By then the sun had just about set and the light was fading quickly.

 Above she is asking for the bow and below she has asked him to lay down.

 The final trick asked is the sit. 

Passenger Pigeon?

Not in a hurry this morning we did 3 rounds of the walk and before we quit I was already up to 10,000 steps. Nice not to be in a hurry once in a while. I left at 8:30 am to head to Sam's Club where $170.00 worth of groceries and supplies were purchased. Going over the household items that were needed and making the lists this morning made me think, "does Mark even realize this has to be done?"
As I was unloading the groceries the weanlings were playing biting each other, then running back and forth, then back to biting each other. I had to stop and pull out the camera. They all lined up for the picture looking like little angels but it wasn't long before they started back in.

They were entertaining but Evan was too even though he was just grazing. A bird landed on his rump then hopped all the way along his back to his neck before falling off.

He paid no attention to the silly thing. We would call it a passenger pigeon except it was really a Starling that is in the middle of a molt. Once the bird flew off it was back to emptying the car of groceries and once that was done it was time to start cooking. I got the meal assembled in the crock pot and that started before heading up to the barn. Jamie and Ellie arrived a little after 1:00 pm for the trip to Middle Grove. We were able to drive back to the horses there making everything easy.

 They were immediately surrounded by these wild horses all asking for attention.

 Below is Valerie coming up to meet Jamie. Valerie is 3 months and 13 days old and just huge!

 Below Zachery (Jewel's colt) is asking for attention from Ellie.

The 2 horses I was a little worried about were Eliza and Zalena, they are pictured below and both are doing well. I decided they can stay out there for a couple weeks. I'll bring them in around Thanksgiving as there will be a lot of company here then. Eliza is due May 30th, 2016

 Zalena is looking pretty heavy in foal due April 29th, 2016

Karin and Studly arrived, Ayanna went right up to her for a treat, once the horse does a trick, Karin rewards with a treat. Ayanna is also pretty heavy in foal and not due until April 17th, 2016

Once the horses were checked over Karin and I brought Marika and her colt to the trailer while Jamie and Ellie brought Jewel and her colt.

All 4 loaded up fine and we were on our way back to Hanna City. This evening was the wedding shower for Tristan and Larissa. Mom, Joan and I were the only ones from out here that went but the shower was well attended. Home now and that bed is going to feel great tonight.