God Bless the Old Horses

12.30.17

As we get closer to 2018,after reading a great post concerning old cows and how their owners watch over them so much during the winter, I got thinking that I have been doing the same thing with my old horses.

There are quite a few Teenagers here, but only two ancients left. Those are my two Percheron horses. At 25 & 27, they are considered OLD. Draft horses usually don't live as long as the little ones do. While a well cared for riding horse might get into it's 30s, a draft horse of that same age usually has more health issues than that horse and won't live as long. Again, this depends on how badly or how well a horse was treated during his long life. From being ridden into the proverbial ground, to lack of veterinarian care and more lack of good care, a horse won't live as long or be healthy as long as a horse who was carefully conditioned, having great internal care as well as mental care. That horse may well live into it's 30's.

At any rate, I look at these old horses of mine daily. It may seem as though I am just talking to them,or petting them, but I'm not just doing that. Checking to see for arthritic joints swelling, fluid in places there shouldn't be, creaks and groans from skeletal structures, their demeanor and more. They are checked walking across from pasture to stalls, listening to sound foot falls or lame ones. Heads' down in pain or a happy drafter coming in for dinner. All of these things are taken into consideration for my ancients.

They get extra fattening feeds, top quality hay that they Can chew easily, lots of fresh water, salt and a very carefully chosen diet just for them. Deworming right on schedule and proper hoof care too. The same with keeping a check on those teeth.
 When they get groomed, it is a gentle one due to old body parts being sore. I think these two enjoy a good vacuuming over a hard curry... it gets them cleaner and leaves them happier too.

The old horses have paid their dues in life. They have earned retirement just as many humans have. Used to be I'd think well they're paying for their keep.  Now ?  I owe Them. I owe them a warm comfy stall and lots of hay to keep their old digestive systems working properly. Each time these two are moving around outside, I check on them, making sure there's no limping or simply being "off''some how or another.

Wintertime is hard on old horses. They no longer can get out of the way from other horses wanting to steal their hay. My mare has gotten down 3-4 times and hasn't been able to get up on her own. So, she lays there, waiting for someone to come help her. And we do with no complaints... I understand how it feels to rely on others for help, and have them disappear. My mare will never be allowed to have those feelings of abandonment.

They patiently (haha- or not) wait to come inside in the evenings, no gallops now, but perhaps a trot towards the barn.Mostly a crisp walk...  I still get happy whispers of delight when I come into the barn and warm brown eyes looking directly at my face.

The most terrible part in keeping old horses is that their time on this earth is almost done. That to me, when they let me know, will just break my heart. When it's time, I'll be the one to call our vet for one last visit for them and my time to say a final goodbye.

My mare and I have been friends since she was 15 months old- we have been through hard times, heartbreaking times and a lot of wonderful times also. Yet I wonder- is it good to keep a horse til 'the end'? So many people sell their older horses ; they don't have to deal with a useless animal that needs special foods, or the heartache of saying goodbye- but is it good for the horse? I say no... if a person owns a horse ( or dog, or cat, even a hamster)- then try to be the best partner to them possible- til their last day.
But to keep an old horse until it is ready to leave this earth? 
I say wholeheartedly, YES.

Farm Stuff

12.28.17
In a few days, we will begin a New year. Not being one to make lists of resolutions, I do have one for 2018. I want to work w/ Briana enough for a debut at a "first" driving show for her. Stay tuned.

Alrighty then!! I am tired of living on a frozen tundra. TOOO damn cold for my toes now.  No more complaining - I'm done now. ;)

This morning water buckets in the barn finally got some ice on their tops so it was time to exchange them for the heated buckets. That took a good while but once it was done, I felt cozy knowing everyone would come into nice warm water to drink. This creates yet more extra work for us as we have to dump the heated bucket's leftover waters into another bucket, and carry THAT outside to dump.

Then a gal stopped by and by the time we were done talking, it was close to 11 AM. LONG past time for me to have stalls to clean out still. Didn't get into the house til around one or so, but things are set up more for this bitter cold crap called winter. Mixed up some beet pulp to soak for tonight's feed, mixed up dinner feed then tomorrow's feed, fed the kitties (Simone liked being outside for about 5 minutes, then dashed back inside!) cleaned their pooh up. By then, I couldn't feel my right foot, my feet were so cold.

The hens got their heated water dish plugged in and filled, and a big dish of feed. I brought Bess n' Gracie  ( my bantam sized Cochin hen & Silky hen) over so they could be w/ the bigger hens. I placed a little barrier for Grace to be behind until the big girls remembered who she was but she was so frantic, I ended up leaving an opening for her to get out with... Hope they don't beat her up- I think she & Bess are my favorite hens.     Below is Bess with her newly hatched family

                               This is "Grace Slick" AKA- Gracie.  One of my "hippie chicks" :)

I am tired out! It is so much harder when it's so cold out. Granted it's hard work but when it is warmer, it seems to be a little easier.

Winter brings more worry for me- How are my ancient horses doing? Are all of the horses getting outside enough? Who is cold? How to keep them all drinking plenty of water during this cold time? Sheeeesh- then the hens and' the barn kitties worry me but not quite so much. So- yep, running a farm is hard work, come wintertime.

                                The good thing? I can feel my toes again!

Brrrrrrrr

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas !

This morning, I had some great company in the barn! A long time pal brought his gelding down to our farm so he and his farrier could meet "half" way. His horse needed a reset or new shoes, and our farm was luckily about midway for them both.

Glenn helped in the early AM, and went back to the house.... I was left w/ the VERY poopy stalls to get cleaned . Already tired from the holiday stuff, I sure as heck didn't want to do double duty on stalls. Pretty much each one got stripped but for the ponies. New bedding added ( which of course was partially frozen- thank goodness for pitch forks!) buckets refilled, feed set up and hay in for the evening. We have yet to have ice in the barn except for the chickens' water. That only had a little covering on it. Tomorrow, I want to combine chickens into one stall and give them a heated water dish.

This was during the time that my pal's gelding was being cared for. Holy moly what a shock from last week's warmth ! Even though our barn stays toasty - well as much as it can in 17 degree temps- it still was freakin COLD out. Sheeesh / lol. I couldn't feel my right foot at all.

After cleaning the equivalent of 14 stalls and re-bedding them, needless to say, this ah hem- "older" body was poohed out ! Still is but at least I can feel those toes now :D

Happily, it was pretty much done by around 12:30 and the barn is back to normal again. I really think everyone inside it partied for two nights BIG time. Gawd, what a mess.....even with just a few horses compared to what I did before I moved up here. Lol- I now once again, realize that I am getting to old for all this.

Christmas Tales.

12.19/17

I'm sure you ALL have some stories you tell around this time of the year. Some funny, some maddening and some flat out sad...

I have some of all kinds, beginning from when I was a little girl, right up to last Christmas and dealing with a new kitten in the house who thought it was grand fun chasing those shiny balls that fell on the floor by "accident".

There was a good story from a long time ago, that I remember around this time of the year. It all had to do with my neighbors. As some of you know, we lived in the country- more like the woods- had patches on our patches and wore 'home made' clothes way before they were in style. Our closest neighbors were about 1/2 mile away thru the woods. There were 5 boys ( !!) in that family and we settled into being friends with age appropriate neighbors. We had a blast playing ourselves silly in the woods, exploring, climbing trees, playing '' war" or cowboys. Whew, when we all headed home for dinner at our individual houses, we were a bunch of worn out kids. Unlike the kids of today, our parents couldn't afford fancy items nor would they have even purchased them, had they been available. So, poor little kids that we all were, we grew up without cell phones, video games, computers, and the like. We were very lucky if one of us had a Brownie camera to use! Most times, we would paint or draw pictures which was using more imagination than any 5 kids of today.

Back to Christmas, though. It was a normal thing for us to search the month before Christmas to pick out the most wonderful trees to be cut down and set up in our living rooms for decoration. There would be paper chains made from construction paper, painted pine cones- with glitter shaken on them so they'd sparkle, cranberry garland and the old Christmas balls that our parents let us use too. I can remember the first time anyone had electric lights on their tree! Oh what a wonderful thing- electric bulbs on wire.

So, the search was on- Which tree would be chosen for Christmas? I always liked the ones that were to tall but ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, beautiful.( As long as it was turned with it's "bald" side towards the wall or corner..) Carefully, we kids would walk around a few before choosing- making sure the particular tree was usable. No empty areas- check. No bald branches- check...  not to tall- Check.  It took us most of the month- after rifle season for deer was over.

Once all of us had found two perfect trees, the dad's were the ones to decide if they were good enough. Then they'd cut down "their" tree, and we all would help drag it to the correct houses.  That's pretty much where it all would end. We would wait til Christmas Eve to put our tree up,and then to decorate it. Our neighbors would put theirs up a couple of days in advance because life got so terribly hectic for their big family.

We had a big family too, but the extended family wasn't as huge, luckily. Ours was beautiful every year, I remember- of course, when one is just 6-7, anything with green pine needles was beautiful. We kids had to be in bed by 9 PM on Christmas Eve, so we left plenty of time for Santa to come and leave those presents!  It was so hard to get to sleep but finally we all did. One time I swore I heard Santa putting gifts under the tree- but my older brother (who was good at ruining things) told me it was probably a burglar stealing the presents.

Christmas morning, we had to stay in bed until our parents got up- sheer torture! Then, breakfast and finally it was Time !!!! My parents taught us how to be patient and enjoy everyone else's gifts by being able to open one gift at a time. One person had a gift handed to them and we all watched it get opened- 'oooing and ahhhhhhhhing' at it politely. Once the gift exchanging was all done, my little brothers would either play with their new toys, or go outside to play. I'd try to help my mom and older sister making Christmas Day dinner but got bored.

One afternoon a couple of days after Christmas, we tramped up the lane to visit our neighbors ( remember- the ones with 5 boys?). oddly enough, they couldn't go out and play that day. I didn't ask why and we tramped back to our house. The next day they came to visit... We couldn't stand it and had to ask why they'd gotten in trouble so much that they had to be inside all day long.

The story was that in putting their lovely Christmas tree up a few days earlier didn't really cause the problem. The problem came when the tree was in the living room where it was always quite warm. (there had been a gorgeous stone fireplace) After a few days of their tree being inside and warm, their mother was sitting on the sofa, knitting. All of a sudden, she jumped up, screaming "BUGS!!!!!".  The knitting flew one direction and she, the other. All of the boys came running down stairs wondering what the noise was all about. She began cussing in Finnish (we all knew when it was cussing and when it wasn't even if we didn't exactly understand the words)... Stomping about like a crazy woman, and cussing loudly. Everyone was staring at her as though she'd finally lost her mind when she stopped, hands on hips and said
" WHICH one of You Boys didn't check that tree !?!?!?!"
 They said to us, snickering- ' we didn't have a clue what she was talking about'.
 It turned out that there had been preying mantis eggs on their wonderful Christmas tree. The heat from the fireplace made the babies think it was springtime and time to hatch... which they did. ALL over the house.

And that's why our neighbors had to stay inside all day long. They were busy finding baby preying mantis'.

"Christmas Eve, bells will ring, as we gather in town to sing....''

Why so much rudeness ?

12/12/17
The past few years, I have been battered by really mean people. If I express an opinion (my own), I get ganged up on and destroyed by those who cannot take a disagreeing opinion of another. So they 'attack' like a group of pit bulls.
Haha- some days I'm like the Red Queen in the fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland" and run around screaming "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!!" ;D  I don't in real time- just in my mind...

 Then there are those who get offended at the drop of a hat.  Everyyyyyything offends them! Unless one plays what I call the Kissy Face Game-(always say something totally sweet and dripping in what ever another person seems to want) one gets rudeness aimed at them.  I don't play well that way- it's to much work for me.

Sadly enough, I have simply backed out of a lot of this so called 'social media' as others don't seem to care or to take the time to understand what the other is trying to express.  Heaven forbid if one disagrees with something that another wrote/ typed!

So many also think that a simple statement is about Them. I mean, who died and made them that important that every single thing said is aimed at themselves. The way I see it is that if one wants to know if a remark is for them, then just ask. It's that simple. It is called communication. Frustratingly enough, there are many of another generation other than mine who don't seem to be able to communicate unless it is the typed word.

Ah well. I see people in restaurants- couples, families,etc- not talking. Oh no- they have their faces looking at a telephone of all things!  What ever happened to ( again) communication?  One evening, a young couple across from us spoke not one word to each other pretty much the whole time there. Nope- scrolling here n' there, looking at someone else's photos or what ever. Sad- just sad.  My horses can carry on better conversations than some humans I meet ; it's like that art is being lost.

 It's scary to me to watch this happening. People truly are becoming 'sheeple' and unless some of them learn about what is going on in the world- with out posting it on a social media page, where surely they will be blasted by others-  this country will be taken over by those who aren't playing games. 

Mind you, not ALL of those with cell phones and those on social media are like that. There are many many who are well adjusted,take it all in stride, and will have a wonderful life.


On to other things!  The weather has finally gotten chilly enough for December to feel like December.  I don't mind it being cold- I Do mind it being near zero w/ the wind chill. That's when pipes freeze, hoses don't thaw out for days and fingers/ toes get frostbitten. My toes on my right foot ( hahahaa- almost types 'hoof') got frostbite back when I was 19 and lived in Michigan.  Being a kid from Maryland, I had no idea about how cold Michigan winters would be... and sure enough, to this day, if those toes get to cold, they make my life miserable. It is amazing how many ways one can come up with to get barn chores done and keep sore toes warm!

This farm is down to just 7 horses now. It's a workable number to care for. Like a friend said the other day- she has noticed that the shovels at her farm are broken or defective somehow. They just don't hold the amount of dirt (or manure) like they did a few years ago. < winks>  There's a pasture for all to be turned out days and come in each evening. My ancients enjoy that as before, they were the ones who had to be out during the nights in winter. There was no way two very old Percherons would be out at night this winter... What with arthritis in all of their joints and being outside in the cold of central PA- well to me, that would be a negative to keeping them healthy n' happy.

No snow here yet, to account for. We had a little bitty snow but it was gone the next day. Nothing Big happens here til after the holidays, it seems. This year, I'll be happy if we just get small snows... those around 3-6" or so. Something easy to walk thru and deal with.

Hope this finds everyone healthy n' happy and looking forward to the upcoming holidays/

              Here's a Cat in a Box for your enjoyment!

Hmmmmm....

11/12/17

Hmmmm, I've been tossed back into the realm of horse selling recently it seems. Selling a horse is hard to me because I love said horse. It isn't like a car or a sofa... I don't "love" my cars nor sofas. My plan is to be Sure to find the perfect new owner for this horse as she's a class act and doesn't deserve being treated as a " well, she's old so she won't be so full of herself" kind of people.

Wish me luck in finding perfection for my horse- If I don't, here she'll remain. I would give her away to the right person if I couldn't find the right person to buy her.  ( have I mentioned how much I don't like horse selling ? sheeesh)

Lately I've been advertising a lot of my draft sized equipment and it has been selling slowly. There have been bits/ halters, etc. among others- and mostly All have gone way beneath market prices but I would rather someone else enjoy them than have them sit here.  So far I have sold all of my harness- show and at home stuff, the carts, and equipment that goes w/ it..... halters, bridles, and some bits too. I've still got two sets of team/ pair lines and blankets- but those I am not 'giving away' those.

I am keeping my English saddle so far, unless someone 'gets real' about it's worth. Everyone wants to buy cheap but even though I may never use said items again, they will remain w/ me for ever, if need be.

 I've been making room for horses here who don't play well w/ others, and those who are new here and those who are ancient and need to be in stalls at night. Omgosh- it's like a Chinese Fire Drill! Lately I am to the point where I have to put the horses needs first and humans wants secondly. I just want a peaceful farm once again. So- tomorrow, some changes are being made... stay tuned, I'll let you know how they went. ;)

 Also- I've decided to sell some chickens. Since the last murder session. they have been all living in stalls in the main barn.  I love my hens, and am so scared any more that something will attack / kill them, there are no chances taken any more. This really shortens their time outside in the sun. Even the hens's yard isn't safe enough as some critter got into their house and killed all those inside. So- perhaps if I cut back on the hens here, then they will be able to be outside and run fast enough IF something comes to kill them. At least I hope so- hmmmmmmmm, maybe skates ???  How about a scooter for them ?  Hmmmmmmm........

November has dragged wintery type weather along with her.  Cold but not TOO cold, damp and yep, we even had a bit of snow. If you can call it a snow.

It actually snowed and happily, it didn't last long. :)  My favorite kind of snow... I know more is coming, but please, not til Christmas ?

 Tomorrow, the plan is to get the short black pony hitched and to go for a drive... She won't care much for it, but I need it. 

Have a great evening, all !

Bringing Horses in at WoodFinn

10/30/17

Brrrrrrrrrrr, there's a cool wind a' blowing in Pa. today- leaves off the trees, and dust/ pieces of hay up the barn aisle. SO much more pleasant than yesterday's humidity n' warm temps. I swear, Mother Nature cannot make her mind up this year!

Halloween is tomorrow- and it's one of my favorite holidays! Wishing everyone a wonderful celebration. I love October also, as it's the month my husband & I got married some years ago also.

This year, the mix of horses is right to have them All outside during the day this winter. I thought about it, and with a little help from a friend, we got it sorted out. The trouble is, that this being just the second day all horses have been in different pastures, no one remembers quite where their stalls are. Now- our barn is Big as in hard to miss, no matter what speed an equine happens to be going... 

Glenn & I walked up to the barn this evening to bring all of the horses ( in different pastures from summer- remember?) inside for the night. They'd all been out grazing and enjoying the sunshine. I have some who are as honest as the day is long and always ( um, well Most of the time) manage to go to their correct stalls. Each stall is prepared for them with fresh water in the buckets, their dinnertime feed, and plenty of hay to give them something to do after the feed is gone.... and those honest horses know it. My two greys are two, as is my spotted draft mare. Those 3 always 'nail it' coming inside. No halters needed as I trust them so much. The others, not so much.  The one gelding that likes to start arguments w/ anyone who will argue back was led in first...

Glenn walked up to the pony field to let the little "Mr. Man" come in. He's usually been quite good about going right to his stall. Notttttt this time. He was planning on waiting for his bestie to come in too. So, instead Glenn let ''Shonee & the pony'' come in. Shonee trotted down the hill, in the barn and right into her stall. Yay, Shonee! The short Mr Man still wasn't going to come in. The other pony came trotting down the hill, and totally missed the barn. Whaaaaaaaa ?  I mean, some on, it's a big barn. She finally figured out where the entrance was and came trotting in but chose to 'shop' a little at the 5th cutting hay sitting there. Sheeesh- Finally she remembered it was dinner time and went into her stall. The Mr Man ? He was lost... Usually he'll either walk or trot in, but this time ? TROTTING! He trotted down the aisle and popped right in his stall- happy to find yet another time there was dinner there for him.

Time to let my drafters come in to their stalls, and a boarder too. Now- he'd been coming in nicely by himself but w/ friends in the field, he gets confused. ''Do I go now, or do I wait for those big horses to be first ??" He waited and Glenn called to him, and he stood half way up the hill, gazing into eternity, or what ever horses watch for. Suddenly it hit him!  Dinnertime !  Down the hill he came, thru the gate, Leaped over the old pole marking the side of the drive by about 2' and came roaring in at a big trot. He was going so fast I knew he was going to miss his stall so I yelled, " WHOA!" which just about stopped him. He saw the open doorway and walked into his stall.  Whattta gooooooooooood boy.

I love this group of horses here now. They are all super smart and try so hard to figure out what we want them to do, so it is a pleasure to be in the barn again.  As Glenn & I walked back to the house, we both were chuckling at the horses's antics this evening.
                       Have a great Samhain !!

Welcome October !!

10/2/2017
For the past 2-3 weeks, we have been slammed back into summer weather. Ugh- I do so despise summer weather, no matter what time of the year it shows up. But !!  October arrived, cool and breezy and I, for one, am lovin' it.
  Time for winter preparation here on the farm. Mowing the last of the weeds, putting fencing back into perfect repair. Some of the horses who left this past year and before really made a mess of some of it...  So, after " riding fence'', I had quite the list.  Plus, my personal horses had leaned over the wire fencing, bending the tops of it in some areas. (not going to mention any names but both were big and black ;) )
   We have more than enough hay in the loft for wintertime- and it smells Wonderful.  That's one of my favorite things in a barn- that fresh new hay. Mmmm'mmmm.
   I have been incredibly worried about my old mare. She's 27 this year and is finally looking 'old'. Her arthritis has gotten worse, and she developed some thrush deep inside one frog. Both together mean a lot of pain to handle for her. She has gotten down and stuck on the ground 3 times by now, and I know that it is the beginning of the end for her & I.  I love this mare more than just about any horse I've ever owned and it will blow me out of the proverbial water when she is gone. I thought loosing Evie was hard- no contest for when Lynn goes. My gelding is doing pretty well considering his DSLD problem... but so far, so good in management of that.
   I have decided that my hens are much safer in a barn stall than outside over night. It has been to heartbreaking to come to the barn on a morning, to find some are missing or simply killed for the fun of it.  Sooooo- in the barn they will be. They've actually learned to want in for egg laying long about 10 or so every morning. Well, Some of them have. There are those non-conformists in feathers who never really want to be in a stall, so those must be prompted to walk/ run to the barn each morning.The little hen house I bought a few years ago is for sale as there's no reason to keep it when it could help other chickens keep cozy this winter.  It has served the Girls well, but now it is time to live elsewhere.

The rest of the horses are doing great! The boarders horses are too.

Briana is still a little corker to work around and drive.

 I do so adore her antics.

She makes me laugh,even when I'm down.

There is one hen named Casey, that is amazing. She will sit on your lap, follows me all over the farm when she's outside and has learned that the blue coffee scoop has Chicken Feed in it! It's a little tough trying to get to the flat dish I use to put their scratch in when I have a hen "jumping" ( yeah- chickens Jump!) at the scoop I am holding. Gotta watch out for the other hens, And Casey also.

These are the five 'fat farm hens' in their giant chicken house ( AKA- stall) having breakfast. Still the most fussy hen is Bess- she may be short in stature but holy wow- she is da Boss!

  Below and above, the pretty greyish hen is Tinsel, my only Lavender Orp. hen...  I did have another but she never did do well, and one day, found her dead. So there's just one Lavender hen here now.The other 3 black chicks are crosses w/ a Lavender Orp. father... their feathers are stunning!

 Ok- so this black fuzzy butt is Casey helping herself to breakfast right out of the feed scoop. ( yes- it's a coffee container- horse women find uses for almost anything)

These are the new additions to the flock. Cochin Bantams-  3 of them One rooster, and two hens. ( one blue and one red) I love the blue colors a lot and those feathered legs are so cool looking! They're only maybe 4-5 months old and "should'' be starting to lay soon. Teeny, little banty eggs! I guess 2 will take the place of the normal large/ x large eggs from the other hens.

I haven't seen any predators in the area, but I never have before... The one I did see was a red fox and he has been moved elsewhere.Good riddance to him.

I cannot remember if I posted this one or not- but it's our short man in the barn. Eli... he's a POA and here he's sporting his new harness.

  This is from about a week ago- Bo to the left and Lynn's butt on the right.

 And not to forget our barn kitty- Simone`. She's lovin' life in the barn now, and is a super mouser!

Have a wonderful Autumn !

Summertimmmmmeeee

And the livin' is easy. 
Well, at least how the song lyrics go. Hope everyone is enjoyin' their summer time.

No vacations this year, not much going on but caring for da horses, and hens.  Speaking of the hens, the little peeps are no longer little peeps. They are growing up- their voices are changing too! It's so fun to listen to them. The one flighty one is the worst. She sounds like a rusty nail scratching on a black board.  Sparkle's voice has changed to a nice mature hen sound,but Star ? Omgawd.

This week is supposed to be delightful !!!  Cooler, and the best part, lower humidity. Life outdoors is so much harder when it is higher than say 55%.  So it has been busy around here... mowing pastures, cob-webbing in the barn and much more. This is in addition to all the other things that go along w/ owning a small horse farm. It is hard squeezing it all into those days where one doesn't run out of steam. So far, so good though!

I had to clip the rest of BoJangles' winter coat this week. Even though his winter coat shed out, it's still a heavy "summer" one left. He now is sporting a "not so good" trace clip- but at least he's cooler. Evidently, his DSLD has begun spreading to the rest of his body and Cushing's Disease is setting in.  I will see how he does this year and get him on some meds for it if he needs it. Poor ol' guy- he is just the sweetest.

Riding lessons are going well, and life is good here. Ha- til temps go back up to the 90's and get more miserable. Have a wonderful week!

Lots Goin' On!

6.6.2017

Today is  "D-Day" - make sure to say a prayer of thanks for those brave men who died that day, trying to help us stay free...

Let's see- Seems to me that I missed May completely. It was a good month- and a bad month. Two non-paying boarders moved their horses to another farm. One because it was so close to her house and the other ? Who knows.  Horses are relaxed, and turn outs are easy breezy. The last weekend in May was my birthday. Oh- and Memorial day too. I joke w/ folks, saying that people have parades, picnics and fireworks "just to celebrate my birthday" !  ( I really do know better)  It was wonderful- my older sister and younger brother came up from Maryland to visit with cake and gifts. They even sang happy birthday. It was so nice to be able to visit with them for a while. We went out for a late lunch and then they had to go. Every time I wished they could stay longer.

The remaining hens have settled in pretty well by now. There are three black hens. one lavender hen, one little Cochin bantam hen, and two "teenagers". Both hens also... One lavender and one weird looking thing that I was calling "pecker head" for a while. She is now named "Star".  She was left here by one of the gals who moved her horse, and it is nothing like my fat farm hens. She's flighty, silly, and Always on guard for monsters. ( you know those 'monsters' that like to sneak around, scaring the life out of chickens, right ?) Also- Gracie is here still. She's my bantam Silkie. Below is Gracie having her photo taken by my trail camera!

Been hitching n' driving Briana some. Mostly it has been raining here, so the footing wasn't the best for driving. We did drive down the road one time- Briana thought it was interesting to be going somewhere else. She's such a sweetie. My husband calls her " little Evie" because of how she acts and looks.

This was Evie, andddddd

                              This is Briana...

Much smaller but just as smart and funny too. Never did I think that I'd fall in love with a 13.1 hand PONY, but I have. She's as much fun as one of my Percheron's only in a smaller package.

 Hay is being cut up here in Penciltucky finally. Soon our hay loft will be full of sweet,fresh green hay.I always love having hay up before Fall... it is nice to know that when the snow falls, we are prepared.  Back in Maryland, I imagine they're on their second cutting of hay. We are a good 2 weeks behind them.

Plenty of rain means plenty of grass... And Weeds.  Yuck-I have been mowing weeds like mad, trying to let the grass grow instead. It's working slowly. I know how to create lush green pastures, but up here ? Ha- no extra money for fertilizer, lime or weed killer.  So, I mow.

That's about it for now- hope your week goes great.

Horse Watching & some murders

4.23.2017

This past week has been quiet... Morning chores were done quickly and the same with the evening feed. The weather has been so wonderful, all of the horses got to stay outside continuously. I liked it- and I can only suppose they did too. Much less work for people to do!

Simone, our new-ish kitten, has been able to be out in the barn too. She actually was doing some mousing and caught one this morning.  Woooohoooooo- granted, it was a very young stupid mouse but none the less, she's beginning to do her job. She carried it in the tack room ( ewww) and proceeded to torture it to death. I left as even though I know it is what cats do,I still don't like to be around when they do that. Yuck.
below is Simone. Taken by Pat Showers ( thanks!)

                          Rest in Peace, Issac.
This past week I lost my kind rooster, Issac.
He was attacked by something that got into the house he was sleeping in. Chased him out ( I imagine he flew over the gate) grabbed him and killed him. Just beautiful lavender feathers remained. If that wasn't a big enough loss, the next night, the 'what-ever' came back. This time, it tried to dig under the hen's house on the hill, and succeeded in getting inside. The next morning, I had 4 hens dead and one just gone. It all broke my heart a little once again. So now I have two little bantams, one lavender hen, and three black hens from this year. Once they got over the shock of what happened, they began laying again and I'm getting 5 eggs daily.  Not to bad, I think. These girls will remain in a box stall until I am SURE what ever it was doing the killing is dead also. There's also two young ladies living in my garden tub for now. One lavender pullet and one who knows what from a gal who hatched the eggs.
 I am 90% sure it was a fox- the method of killing, the digging, and the fact that it returned lets me think that's what it was.< sigh> This farm is Awful for things dying . So many horses, and hens...makes a gal want to say 'to hell with it all'.  Sadly enough- all of these chickens have been lost over the years.  :(









Horse watching :   I love doing this when it's quiet n' peaceful out. I've been trying to figure out why Rusty behaves as he does, and I *think* I have some ideas. He is best pals w/ the draft ponies- but he'll charge the two geldings in the other field. Usually this happens when it's time to be fed or if some person is around. This horse really has me stymied big time. When I attempt to talk with him about it , I get a blank stare or totally ignored. So Rusty is keeping his secrets for now.

When Briana arrived here in 2015, she was just 5 years old. A little intimidated by the other horses. Especially the Percherons... she n' Lynn got along alright soon enough.  Now, this week, being turned out with Rose, the tide has changed. Rose used to be the boss mare but now ? Briana is.  I guess she's grown up mentally in the past year. Rose gives way but doesn't seem to mind when Briana "protects" her from Rusty being a PITA. When Lynn got older and her arthritis kicked in, she started walking away from her hay when BoJangles told her to. Then when Evie was still alive, she was Boss Mare of the two. The young and able take over the herd hierarchy, and things change. With Shonee n' Jae, it is a partnership/ friendship. But Jae is the boss when it's feed time...  Go figure. It's all what the horse thinks of him/herself. If they want to be the boss, and willing to argue their way up the proverbial ladder, they will be. Then as horses age, a younger, more bold horse, takes over the position of Boss. It has fascinated me for years and I still love watching them.
                            Evie n' Lynn
             

KrisTales

AKA: stories from the past.

  I have been around horse people most of my life, with thanks to my mother. She realized very quickly that her daughter was a horse crazy child, and tried her best to support that craziness. She bought my first pony- who was everything a horsey kid did NOT need- and supplied me with feed/ hay for said pony. My dad constructed a one car sized "barn" for my eventual horse and was there for our very first ride together. Nothing went wrong as my mom had said it would, and I was so proud of my "training"!
  That TB gelding was from some of the top fox hunting lineage in Chester County ( Pennsylvania) and wasn't nearly as highly trained as I thought. There were a few training holes, thanks to a kid with no mentors. After all, we met when I was 13 and hardly wet behind the ears so far as horse knowledge went. We made it thru our life together without doing a lot of damage to each other and life was good.
  I remember teaching him to jump. After all, he was bred for hunting- so why couldn't he jump over things? My friend, Dennis, and I would set up "jumps" from saplings across the logging trails in the woods, then give jumping over them a try. My horse could jump- and he could jump High! ( it wasn't long before I learned about properly constructed jumps) At any rate- in my neighbors' field, he saw no reason to jump over something. Why not just go around it? Easier that way. I thought and thought and came up with giving him a small piece of carrot after each time he jumped over the "jump" in that field. We worked it out this way: I would do my circle and aim his face at the jump. Yay!! Over we'd go. I would then stop him and give him a piece of carrot as a reward. We were doing really well at this jumping stuff in a few weeks.
  Finally, I figured we were good enough to try our hand at shows... The guy who was hauling us arrived early that morning, and my horse decided there was no way he was going into something he could look over.Took me 2 hours to get that big horse into that small quarter horse sized trailer, and off we went. We arrived at the horse show- me in my "elephant ear" jodhpurs, boots shined so they looked plastic, tack sparkly clean and a big gawky looking 4 yr old red horse. He was so clean his coat just glistened. After getting our show number,I realized it was soon 'show time' ! We entered the ring, checking out the 8 jumps positioned along the ring's railing. Simple- jump over those jumps and we'd be done.
   We entered the show ring, did our canter circle and I aimed him towards the first jump. Wooooeeeeee- we cleared it! But then my horse screeched to a stop, and turned his face around, looking at me. "Oh nooooooooooooooo- we have to keep going!" Over the next jump, a screech to a halt and that look and it happened with every jump. Oh lordy- he was expecting his carrot reward. Needless to say, the whole class went that way and I was quite simply mortified. We didn't even get a ribbon that day but wow, did I learn a lot.
  I wanted the earth to open up and let me hide... but I had a horse to care for, even if I wasn't real happy with him.
 On the drive home, some serious pondering was going on in my head. That was when I began learning about horses in a different manner. They wanted to please, and did what they'd been taught... that meant the person doing the teaching really had to do it correctly. At 15, I'd begun learning to hear what the horses in my life were telling me.
 That horse eventually went on to another owner that was so excited to own a horse like mine. He knew the bloodlines and did teach "my" horse how to become a fox hunting horse- a Very good one. Last time I heard anything about those two, "my" horse had been retired and was then helping the mans' grand daughters to ride- and yes, jump.
  Somewhere I have some photos of me n' my first real horse- I suppose I should find them one day.

          God bless the horses who helped me learn.

See ya, March

3.26.17

A few more days and March will be over with. There's a saying about March- "in like a lion, out like a lamb".....  however, not this year. So far, it has been winter, spring, one day of almost summertime and a snow storm. March can't seem to make up her mind!

As most horse people know, this is the time of year we all walk about covered in at least *some* horse hair. Shedding season- where horses' bodies realize it is time to lose that heavy winter hair and the summer coat returns. Therefore- we humans have the joys of horse hair Everywhere: eyes, eye lashes, all over clothing, in our mouth,nose and well- just everywhere! Ah, such is the life of a horse owner. My Percherons have been leaving giant 'hair' angels in the fields from rolling- big white ones.

The hens started laying again and I'm inundated with eggs. Everyone who comes here leaves w/ a dozen free range eggs from my girls. A pal has borrowed my incubator to see how she could do in hatching some fertile eggs and a few days ago, the hatching began!  So far she has ( I think) four peepies. A couple are mine and the rest belong to her. I think she did a fantastic job too!  This one is hopefully coming to our farm:

It had Just hatched...  A brand new little life in it's infancy. :)

 Lots of things in the plans for this year, now I have to get moving on the actual planning of them. Life at the barn is Wonderful right now! Other than some tragedies happening, we are good to go.

And so it goes- we are looking forward to April and all that might come along with it.

Hope yours is good too !

Dishonesty !?

2.23.2016

Lately I have been watching and talking to folks who are now advertising horses for sale. Not that I'm actually wanting to buy another horse, but who doesn't love to window shop ? I'm as guilty as the next horse person...

This dishonesty /lying has been going on since I was 16 and went to my first horse auction w/ a friend. Everyyyyyone has a horse they want another person to own and as usual, said horse is Perfection on 4 legs. If one goes to horse sales- unless the horses will bring over $50K, people will lie. Heck- they'll lie in order to sell a horse that is priced at $100K. I have seen it happen way to often.

Nowadays,people just don't seem to care.To sell their horse, they'll tell you what they think you want to hear.Never mind that their horse is over 30 years old and 3 legged lame- it is the Best Horse around. Lies about soundnesses, lamenesses,and insanity *( whether it be man made or bad breeding)- they sort of forget to mention those facts.Even the younger sellers do this now! They will answer any question you ask so long as it's a positive one... if not ? They claim that " gosh, I never saw that! He's always been fine for me".

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- right, I hear ya....

 When did humans become so rude, uncaring, and crass that they don't care where their horse goes, just so it leaves their place? We see it all the time at horse auctions.I have told folks that there will ALWAYS be a reason a horse is at an auction... Always. Might it be a wicked divorce to a terrible car accident, or worse. Might it be that someone has destroyed the horses' mind or body thru being an idiot and thinking they know all about equines? So many reasons but just the same : there's the horse in a hotbed of germs, infectious diseases, a chance to get kicked by another horse who is just as scared as the horse it wallops.And, there are the people there to tell you how sweet & kind their horsey is but their kids lost interest, or some other tall tale of woe.

Then there are the dealers.
These people (men and women alike) who see a horse as a way to make a paycheck. I don't like horse dealers in the least. Now, they are called "kill buyers"- a much more appropriate name. They used to remind me of Vultures sitting on a fence, waiting for someone to pull into the sale with a trailer and horse. They gather around,trying to look inside, asking "whatcha got in dere?" One day I had an empty trailer, all closed up and it happened; I told them I had a baby elephant inside and didn't want anyone to see it. ☺

The kill buyers have a wonderful racket going on by now- and it involves those who really don't know horses like they need to.Inexperience will most likely get you a horse that's not usable and by now? Prices are much more than the average $300.00 horse. Having seen drafters up in prices for something with registration papers at sales or little cute minis' who will chase your kids out of the fields. Registered horses bring a lot more money than say an old 'dobbin' type fresh out of the pasture. Drafters bring more because they are huge and there are a ton of people wanting one to ride them. Never mind that they're bred for being the muscle men of the horse world and can possibly jar your teeth loose at a trot.... Almost any equine that has that " awwwww" effect going on will bring more money and the dealers know it.  Old horses too will bring prices they wouldn't at a slaughter house. ( and they pull on one's heart so badly)

So the dealers buy at auction sales, ship to another one, try to sell said horse to someone else, and they take the horse to yet Another auction and sell it there.Ever heard that the middle-man makes all of the money ? These dudes are the middlemen of the auction sale.

Now we have one dealer who comes up with having his own auction. He cleans up the horses he bought at a so called slaughter auction,clips their bridle paths, oils their hooves, snaps some super nice photos, and maybe even a 30 second video of the horse being ridden- and people flock like seagulls to that sale. The dealers will, ummmm, try to be honest, but when it comes to making money, that all goes right down the proverbial toilet.  Again- still needing to sell that horse and make a profit, they will be the first to tell unknowing people how great the horse is. "Anything for a buck".

This has bugged me for decades. Seeing unsuspecting first or second horse owners getting ripped off by others. What to do to help stop it though ? I always ask pointed questions like- what happened to that front leg? How long has it been lame?

IF a person wants to go to an auction (even more so, a dealers auction at their own place)- then they'd better darn well know their lamenesses, unsoundnesses, signs that a horse is sore or hurting somewhere internally, good and bad conformation (letting you know what kind of ride said horse will be), bitting problems, training troubles,equine personalities, and more so, the use of drugs.

Remember that sales are a cesspool of infection- shipping fever,upper respiratory infections, strangles (strep infection) and more. Figure once you do buy a horse from a sale- it's gonna get sick, so quarantine it for at least 2 weeks- a month is better. What I do with a horse that is considered a "rescue" is to start in on antibiotics the day it arrives. Don't chance the horse causing a barn full of sick horses- it's a lot more expensive to care for a barn of sick horses than  keeping one separated for a while.

If you don't pay attention, there are drugs available that'll calm a nasty tempered horse down for a few weeks. Horses can easily appear sound of mind or body but in truth, are not. Once that wears off, look out. I only had that happen one time at a sale many years ago,and that Appaloosa mare, 3 weeks later, was going to tear someone's face off, given a chance.The moment I saw and learned about drugs and horses, she was put down. No one would ever run the chance of being injured by her again. Yet there she was- at an auction and the sweetest App. around.

So put on those observation hats, KNOW what you are seeing and never ever get sucked in by a soft set of dark brown equine eyes.Buy at sales with your head and never your heart- and maybe, just maybe you'll find a great horse to take home.

Below are two 'rescues' from the New Holland sale that came to live here. The mare in front had been an Amish driving horse and the mare in back- simply was an "old" Thoroughbred.Turns out, after some researching by her new owner, she had been quite the event horse before she got "old" and was sent to the auction. The mare in front is a 5-gaited American Saddlebred. She had been all but used up, mistreated (she had learned to fight back when humans offered pain or fear,etc) and abused- then shipped to a sale. Both of these mares would have ended up on dinner plates in Europe in a couple of weeks, had they not come here. They were both sick, thin, scared, and filthy. When they left they were up to weight, slick and shining with good health. This photo was taken a few months before they left our farm.

All in all, the BEST way to make a horse purchase is to simply save your hard earned money and make a private purchase. Not from a sale... That way you do have enough time to see the horse ridden and handled,and to get what's called a 'Pre-purchase Vet Exam' done. ( ask your veterinarian to come check this horse out for any reason to not buy it) 

Even then, you can easily be lied to via dishonest sellers, but you can certainly lower those odds.

Good luck to all those who see owning a horse in their future-

Get out there with a mentor and Learn!