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!

The Real Christmas Eve :)

12.24.16

Apologies for the post before this one. I have no idea why it is weird. I couldn't figure out how to fix it either and gave up. Sometimes it's more wise to walk away than get frustrated.  Or, maybe screaming at one's computer monitor?

So far, Christmas Eve Day is nothing like in the past. No snow, for example... heck, it's 45 degrees outside now. Oh well, the rainy day Could have been a blizzard. The first Christmas spent with Glenn took us to Maryland on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed the festivities with my family, and figured we'd head home to Pennsylvania the next afternoon.

HA! Seems Mother Nature had sent Maryland a HUGE snowstorm overnight. The main road we took hadn't been plowed but maybe once and the smaller roads had been plowed. Wow, did it snow!

By the time we drove down the little road to our farm, the snow was SO bad we could hardly see.. The photo below is the next day.

                Our farm had become a fairy land !

But thanks to the Jeep,and Glenn's good driving, we got home with out a problem.

Talk about a WHITE Christmas!  Wooooooooooohooooo.

Tonight, there will be none of that though. I'm sitting here enjoying a glass of wine from a local winery. The good folks who make it come twice a year and get our horse manure. A pretty fair trade, don't you think.

The horses are all tucked in their stalls, as are the hens in their houses. Simone`, our new kitten, was happily playing with the kitty ball she found when I left.

Now, this 'new kitten' Glenn chose to help replace our two other house cats is another story. Oh lordy, he is an absolute destruction team built into one longggggg cat! Life is a wonderful game for this dude- and everything is to be batted about the house, or dragged. He's knocked over the window candles, broken bulbs and some of the actual candles. He attacked the toilet paper in the guest bathroom and had it all over the place... he has stolen items from the office and I've not seen them again. ( I know he's got all that hidden away somewhere) He chases our poor American Bulldog, grabbing her tail, and it's been just recently that she has started retaliating.She is a very gentle soul but this idiot cat brings out the worst in her. Just this week, we put up the Christmas tree.... I did the decorating of it and now ? MAYBE 4 balls are left hanging way up top. All thanks to Glenn's Cat.  Needless to say, the tree is not as magnificent as it could have been. Never in my life with animals has one small cat been such a terror in the house!

< sighhhh>  Hope he grows up soon.

 I hope you all are having a great holiday season- no matter if you celebrate Hanukkah, Yule or many of the others that happen around this time of year. Hug those loved ones as you just never know how quickly they might be gone.

Christmas Eve.... 2016

I realize this has some troubles- blogger has had bad day, I think !


Christmas Eve....  Such a magical night.

"Say goodbye to November
She must be on her way
The cold winds of December
Feel like they're here to stay
Me, I'll just count the snowflakes
As they start to fall
Getting lost in the beauty
The magic of it all...

And our eyes filled with wonder
As the reindeer take to flight...

It's Christmas eve
Bells will ring
Through the town we gather to sing.
Christmas eve
Has begun
Peace and love to everyone

Light the festive candles
They'll chase the shadows away
Gathering round the yule log
With handfuls of holly
Winter winds will whisper
Through the shivering pines
Never have the stars
Looked brighter than tonight...

It's Christmas eve
Bells will ring
Through the town we gather to sing.
Christmas eve
Has begun,
Peace and love to everyone''

(Blackmore's Night
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzd1qVtItIc&list=RDMMXzd1qVtItIc )

When I was little, I couldn't wait til Christmas Eve. As poor as we were, Christmas was always a huge event. First, school let us all free for the holidays, lots of time to play. We'd tramp out to the woods where the crowsfoot grew, gathering lots of it ,and standing pine, stuffing it into burlap bags. Some weighed more than we did! Home again, then to making wreaths. Adding a huge red bow made each one perfect. We would then, take our treasures to each of our neighbors' houses.   For those who've never seen Crows Foot, here's a picture:

It grows close to the ground and makes a wonderful wreath.

I know our parents liked us finding things to keep us busy as they had many things to be finished before Christmas Eve. We'd make decorations for the tree- popcorn strung on string, cranberries and blueberries on thread.  All of our 'store bought' decorations were quite old- they'd be very expensive antiques by now. We were so careful to not drop one on the tiled floor, but at least one got broken each year.

Our tree was one that'd been chosen a month before from the 'woods'. Our Dad would take an axe and we'd all walk out to cut it down. The little ones were told to ''stand back!"  They did- not wanting to get squished under a big fuzzy tree! When I was young, my Dad told us all a story of how the tree never wanted to be chosen as a Christmas tree... that it wanted to live out it's life in grandeur and in peace in the forest. So, we'd all bow our heads and one of us ( who'd been working on it all year long) would read our prayer to the trees. To thank them for being here and helping Mother Nature to continue living. Some of these prayers of thanks were real short, and some went on and on and onnnnnnnnnnnnnn.  Soon, we had a gorgeous tree in the tree stand, as my parents argued over whether it was straight or not. We kids thought this was silly. After all, what Christmas tree wasn't perfect, no matter what ? Let the decorating begin!

Then the long wait began. Those who already knew Santa Claus lived in our hearts and wasn't 'real', tried hard to not let on that he wasn't... 

I still have a handmade sign that simply reads "Believe". I still believe. Not in Santa or St Nick, or whatever name is given to him, but in Christmas and what it stands for. As I got older, I liked to celebrate the Winter Solstice as well- "Yule"...  Two grand celebrations with in the same week ? How perfect.

 Now that I am older, Christmas doesn't hold the fascination that it did when I was 10 or even 20. I noticed how my parents, as they grew older, got more into the religious side of Christmas. Sure, it's a Huge part of the holiday but as a child , those gifts called my name.  

We tried to go to the midnight service at church Christmas Eve, but it turned out that the littler ones stayed home and wait for Santa. I have some old family photos of various Christmas' and each one brought back such memories. It wasn't long til we were all adults and off on our own. We'd all 'go home' for Christmas Eve though.... The Finnish peoples celebrated Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day.

( http://www.dlc.fi/~marianna/gourmet/xmas_2.htm  , for some reading ) So that's what we did. It was great fun, and even after my Dad was gone, Mom still had that evening for all of us. 

Back to being 8 again!  Morning arrived after, ohhhhhhhhhhh, a good 24 hours of waiting in bed. We were not allowed to get up until our parents did, which was sheer torture. Breakfast and then it was time! We'd each get a gift, and had to wait politely until the first gift was opened, and enjoyed. Thankyous, hugs and kisses on cheeks for the person who'd given it.  It was marvelous.

For me, Christmas is still magical and fun- just different now. My siblings are scattered to the 4 winds, parents are long gone,as is our homestead. No place to go 'home'. My husband and I have a quiet celebration, open gifts and create a wonderful Christmas feast for the evening. It's pleasant and peaceful.... 

but I still miss those early Christmas'...

''It's Christmas eve,

Bells will ring

Through the town we gather to sing.

Christmas eve,

Has begun...

Peace and love to everyone.''

2016- Goodbye

What a terrible year for me.There's a lot of good though- I have a brand new hip that works perfectly, some delightful gals here at the barn and healthy husband,horses,and hens! Life is goooooooooood.

The terrible part was women leaving when I needed them the most. They moved the horses I'd given to them ( yep- free, w/ no board due). Here I was a few days out of surgery, and yep- one had dreamed up something she didn't care for and gave notice. Turns out I wasn't the only one relieved when all the proverbial dust settled. The barn's inhabitants settled down and got back to happy/ relaxed again, as did the people. Sometimes awful things have to happen to make room for more good things- and I think that is what happened here this past Spring. I am looking forward to 2017 with high hopes.

We finally got to take a 'real' vacation like normal people do- driving up the coast to Maine and relaxed a bit. It wasn't long enough though- not for me. I fell in love with Maine big time and could easily move there when we finally retire.Of course, the husband warns me about the cold weather and big snow amounts. I tell him that I lived in Michigan and did alright.

Chicken stuff: Issac has been doing what he's good at and we have had ummm,5 new hens grow up here. Four blacks and one Lavender hen. Turns out this is great because a couple of months, we lost Daisy our other Lavender hen. Also,we have discovered that Gracie, the small Silky hen is a horrid mama,but oh myyyyy,she'll sit until something hatches on fertile eggs. What I've learned is to let her sit, and then once her baby hatches, to raise it in the tack room. Otherwise, she'll hurt the babies... duh. Little to no motherly instinct in that little gal. She tried her best to make her feet hatch this Fall- to no avail. This means she went broody and decided that she was sitting in the nest, on her little feet instead of eggs.(we took them away because it would have been way to cold for peepies) Winter isn't a wise time to be born when you're a teeny little chick.  Some of the girls have gone thru a molt earlier this Autumn. Oh lordy did they ever look Horrible!Some only did a semi molt and others like Chocolate were all but bald for a couple of days. Thank gosh new feathers grew back in fast.

We have a new short guy here. He's the newest part of the farm. This is Eli :

He's all of 11 hands tall and is a rescue. He'd been sent to an auction sale in New Holland, Pa which is a big " kill buyer" sale.  Long story short- he arrived here a couple of weeks ago and everyone loves him. I bought him a little teeny pony turnout blanket as it turns out he doesn't like the wind/ cold very much at all. He still isn't sure about us not getting after him for something but is getting used to the routine and people here. Even my husband seems to think he's an okay pony. We want to teach him to drive and what grand fun that'll be! I am hoping "Santa" brings us a new teeny little harness for him. Ha- I have Never had an equine so short. According to Eli, he's as tall & fierce as any of those Percherons he's seen. 

I had to face facts about the ancient barn kitties. They were totally deaf and so arthritic their lives were pretty awful. I had to make the choice to call our vet to let them both move on or risk someone running them over, or being stepped on by a horse. The most kind thing was to peacefully let them move over "Rainbow Bridge". I know we all shed some tears over having them go, but even though it was hard to say goodbye, it was the kindest thing.

Seems that God/Goddess saw what was happening and decided to send our farm a lovely little kitten. We had no idea if it was a male or female, so I started calling it "Simon/Simone`" until we figured out which it was. SHE is now becoming very friendly and is gorgeous. The plan is to get her spayed after the first of the year,and hopefully she will stick around. She adores Amanda who keeps her pony here!

That's about all of the news here in PA. WE are getting ready for Christmas and our annual party so it'll be hectic here for a while. I love this time of year, but it needs to get a little colder to seem more like Christmas. A little dash of snow would be perfection.

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season,

 no matter what holiday you celebrate!

Welcome October!

10.4.16

Happily, it is October. My favorite month of the whole year.... Time for hoodies, jeans, bonfires on the beach ( well, if you live near one- and I did), and the world becomes strikingly gorgeous.
Halloween is my favorite holiday- right behind Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The chickens are molting ( loosing their old feathers and growing in new ones) and some look positively horrid. Skinny, partially bald and not real happy with life. I swear the hens know they look icky, because they don't seem to want much attention. In all reality, its' because it takes Lot of work growing in brand new feathers. Lilly is the bald lady of the week, so far... Silverwulf has lost her tail feathers and a couple of others aren't looking real good either. Egg laying comes to an abrupt stop during this time, but I don't mind. So all in all, I have mouldy looking hens, no eggs, and even Issac is walking around looking at them oddly.

The drafters are getting incredibly fuzzy and their heads, where usually their black skin shows up, are all covered in silver. Due to their great ages, these two are pure white now, with Lynn developing " flea bites". Little black specks- I have no idea who came up w/ the name as a description, but it has been like this for a lonnnnng time. Perhaps from back when people got bitten by fleas a lot ? I dunno...

The two draft pony mares are fuzzy too- I love it. Those two are not going to be cold this winter, if their shaggy coats mean anything. Briana is terribly fluffy ( ha- in more than one way) and she reminds me of a little black furry blimp with legs hanging out. Rose is a little taller and looks good in her winter splendor. This is a photo from last winter.... she's more black now and not as sunburned but still ummm,'fluffy".

The light horses have yet to have much of a winter fuzz even beginning. Such is a protective coat of cold blooded animals, I guess....my drafters; they won't need heavy turnout blankets to often.

We have a new addition to the house...Dexter! He's a little guy, but oh wow, Full of play and mock fighting. He is 100% Glenn's kitten- which means no more litter box cleaning for Me! ( yay)

                    He's 11 weeks in these two photos

For the past two weeks, I have been dealing with a twisted/ sprained ankle. Many thanks to a horse taking off and my landing wrong. The weird thing is that it swelled like mad, but never has hurt to walk on it. Finally my ankle is going back to normal, and the bruising is leaving too. Sheesh- if it's not one thing, it's a swollen ankle.(tease)

That's about it for now- Bess's little brood are quickly out growing her. The Lavender Orpington peep is really getting tall. Still, I am lousy and figuring out sexes of little chickens, so it's all a guess til one starts to practice crowing. ( have you ever heard a teenager rooster trying to crow ? Omgosh- it's hilarious!)

Enjoy this wonderful weather and All Hallows Eve !