Musical Pastures

I've had Alex in the round pen since he was weaned, with a few exceptions. There's no shelter out there, so if it's raining (or lately, snowing) I have to bring him in, or keep him in if it's morning. I also feel bad because he doesn't have a lot of room to stretch out and run, and the horses I've had out with him are either old or aren't interested in playing with him. So yesterday I decided to put him out with Never. I though they would both like the company, and Alex would like the chance to actually run.

It started out well. I put Bahim in the round pen so we could get Alex in Never's pen without hassle (someday I'm going to have better access to all the pastures!). I tossed in some hay, and watched Never sniff Alex all over while Alex made the 'don't hurt me I'm a baby' face. I watched them for about 20 minutes or so, felt everything was going well, and went to work. I popped out a couple of times during the day to see how they were doing, and they seemed fine, grazing with the occasional gallop. At feeding time, though, everything went to hell.

Oh, at first everything was fine. Jac set up the feed buckets and supplements, I doled out hay and filled water buckets, and everyone came in without too much fuss. The problem turned up when we went to feed Alex and Never. Never, apparently, wanted Alex nowhere near him while he was eating, and was very clear about it. Poor Alex, I felt so bad for him. I took his pail of feed out to him, and tried to get him to eat, but Never followed me out and chased Alex right through the space between the gate and the shed! I felt nervous that Alex was now in with Bahim, but apparently Bahim was more interested in his food than a spotted weanling.

I got to the barn as fast as I could, and coaxed Alex through the gate and into his stall. I think he looked relieved, and ate his hay and grain quietly while I looked him over for blood and scrapes. When I was satisfied, I said good night and went to relax and try to figure out what to do.

This morning I turned him out with Tassel again, as I know she's calm and he knows her pretty well. I think I'll just have to keep him out in the round pen until Never is gelded and can be turned out with the others. Then, I can put Bahim and another horse, maybe Tassel, in the shed pasture, put the old mares that come in the barn at night into the pasture that Bahim's currently in, and the bossy younger mares can have the bigger pasture. I'll put Never in with the bossy mares, and either put Alex in with the older mares and have him come in at night, or put him with the younger mares and put his mom Willow in with the older mares, as she has a toe crack that needs regular care in order to grow out properly. I don't know, I'm still working things out. *sigh* We'll see how things work out, I guess.

Weaning

Yesterday I got a call from a neighbor who was driving by:

"Christel, one of your horses is in your hayfield. I think it's one of the young ones."

Well, needless to say I was out the door in a flash, with horrible thoughts of the fence down and mares running all over (I'm glad I finally got the perimeter fence finished). I walked out around Never's paddock and let out a little of the breath that I was holding. No mares running all over, just Alex, grazing and keeping an eye on his mom on the other side of the fence.

I breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to Alex while trying to figure out how he got there. I pet him for a bit, then the herd moved. He followed, then *scoot* under the fence he went! He figured out that I hadn't electrified the second strand. He was back with the herd, so I went and cut the power, spliced the second strand into the rest of the fence, turned it back on and went back to working.

I took a break later in the afternoon to mow the lawn. I finish up and go to park the mower, and who do I see? You guessed it, Alex the Great on the wrong side of the fence again! By this time, I've done the math and figured out that he turned 6 months on Tuesday and Willow hasn't shown any desire to completely wean him. So, I get his halter, a lead rope, and Jac and go get him. He didn't want to be caught at first (I think he was a little surprised that the fence 'bit' him this time), but Jac and I finally calmed him a bit and got his halter on (which finally fits!).

He tried to walk off after the halter and lead were on. He got to the end of the rope, discovered resistance, and proceeded to do his best impersonation of a giant marlin. He dragged me around for a little bit, then settled down. I caught my breath, steeled my nerves, and started walking him to the barn, away from him mom and the rest of the herd. He got 'stuck' a couple of times, but he did well for the most part. I put him in the round pen, watched him for a bit to see if he'd be okay, and then went to the house to fix supper.

After supper, I went to do horse chores. I lead Alex to his stall, and he only tried to bolt once. Of course, Willow lead the herd into the barn, checked on her baby, then went to her stall to eat. I let everyone else in, fed and distributed hay, and then let the younger mares out. Willow went right out the gate without a word, thinking her baby would be right behind her as usual. I closed the gate, turned off the outside light, and started to walk away. Suddenly, Will is at the gate calling to Alex.

*sigh*

In the end I gave her and Alex treats soaked in Rescue Remedy. When they settled a little, I turned off the barn light and went to bed.

This morning, I get to the barn and Willow is still camped out by the gate. I feed all the horses that stayed inside, then make a decision. Tassel is 30 and pretty calm and easy going. I put her in the round pen, then go get Alex. He walks through the barn like a old pro, outside and right up to the round pen gate. There he balks a little, but after I shoo Tassel away he comes in. I take the lead off and he starts trotting and calling for his mama. His mama hears and calls back. Tassel just goes back to grazing. At one point, Alex tries to go to Tassel for comfort, but she half-heartedly kicks at him and walks off. I give him a few treats, then head to the house to get some work done.

I've been checking on him every 15 minutes or so, and he seems to be relaxing a bit. The neighing has stopped for now, and he's doing a little grazing, but mostly he's walking round and watching as the herd grazes across the paddocks. Tassel still seems not to care, but she's letting him get closer now. I feel bad, but he's 6 months old now and a big boy, he's more than old enough to be weaned. I'm glad the early lessons in haltering and leading have stuck with him, or else this might not have gone so well for either of us.

Heather part 1

I've been meaning to write about Heather for a while now, but with things so hectic I really hadn't spent much time with her. Since today was so lovely, and we may not have very many more days like it left this year, I decided to spend some time with her.

First, some background. I went to the feed store earlier this summer and saw an advertisement for 'an older Arabian mare' for sale, $600 or best offer. I took down the number, as there aren't many Arab people in the area and I was curious. Plus, the faded picture looked a lot like one of my mom's foundation mares: liver chestnut with a blaze and stockings. I called the owner later in the week, and after a long chat about Arabians and such we arranged a day and time to meet.

I arrived at the farm without any difficulty. It wasn't far from my farm, just tucked out of the way on a back road that I hadn't traveled before. Nice place, shiny happy horses, plenty of grass and a nice barn. The owner was friendly and talkative. She introduced me to another horse that we had talked about on the phone, an 18 yr old gray Arabian with almost the same name as my mare that passed on 2 years ago now. Tiara, the gray mare, was lovely, but she had a big problem: she ran the fence in a big way. Even when placed in a pasture with other horses, she would run back and forth along the fence. The owner (who wasn't her first) tried to get her to stop by placing her in a pen by herself and making it odd shaped, but it didn't work. She was wearing herself down, and the owner just didn't know what to do. She offered her to me for free, but I'm not equipped to handle a horse like that. So, though it broke my heart, I had to decline. Then she took me to see Heather.

Heather in person looked even more like Bahara, mom's old mare. She was wonderful, smart, steady, healthy, and apparently 30 years old! Yikes! She was fit and in good shape, so I had Jac ride her first, then I took a turn (nothing strenuous). We went back to the barn, and the owner showed us Heather's trick (nodding her head for a treat when you ask if she want's one), and then introduced us to the rest of the herd. After that, I said I would get back to her about Heather, and we took our leave. I kept meaning to call and tell her that i couldn't justify the $600 for a horse at the moment, but the weeks just went by.

Just days after Sketch died, I get a call from Heather's owner. I apologized profusely, telling her I meant to call and explaining about Sketch. We talked for a bit, and then she said 'If you still want Heather, I'll sell her to you, and only you, for $150'. Stunned, I told her I'd have to talk it over with Ken, but I'd let her know. Well, a week later I called back and said 'Sure'.

September so far

It's been pretty busy around here since my last blog entry. I didn't do much for most of this summer, but the halfway through August I seemed to be doing something every weekend! I went to a Trakhener mare inspection and branding on August 23, photographed a local dressage schooling show on the 24th, attended the county fair from the 27th to September 1st, went to see a local band in Wausau on September 5 and stayed up all night, and on the 14th I traveled down to Mequon with some friends and their horses to see an Oldenburg inspection and branding. I was planning to go to the Michigan Renaissance Festival this coming weekend, but I'm not sure I can make it, I may have to push it back to the 27th and 28th.

I promised in an earlier blog that I'd write about Heather, my newest addition, and I will, but I think she needs to have her own entry with pictures and stuff. I'll try and write that up tomorrow.

Other things in the news: I was on a ladder, without a spotter, and of course fell off and screwed up my knee. It was dumb, really dumb, and I knew better, but for some reason I did it anyway. Hopefully it will continue to heal nicely, and I won't see any lasting effects.

Otherwise, there's not much going on. I should get back to working on pictures for Ken, and stuff for Cafe Press. I finally subscribed to the pro shop, and hopefully I can get it to generate enough money to cover the feed bill this winter. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can make enough to get shavings too.

Flymasks and paychecks

I was going to head to the fairgrounds early today, but after checking the schedule again, I decided to head off later. The hitch classes start around 5 or 6pm, so I'm going to get some work done around here and avoid most of the heat.

Two good things came in the mail today: Ken's paycheck (woohoo I can pay bills! *S*) and the full face fly mask that I ordered for Glory. I'm not used to horses with lots of white on their faces, the ones that I did know didn't burn much, maybe the tip of their nose. A little cream, and they're fine. Glory is a medicine hat patterned 3 year old mare, cute in a fugly sort of way. She hadn't burned in the past, which is why I didn't worry much about her this year. Imagine my surprise and dismay when I did a pasture walk with the lady that sold me Heather and saw Glory's face covered in flies and scabbed pink skin! Horrified and embarrassed at the very least, guilty and sorry for her are in there too.

So, that very day I went looking for a fly mask with a nose cover. I eventually found one at my favorite online 'tack shop' Valley Vet Supply. I picked up the horse sized Crusader Pasture Long Nose Fly Mask on Tuesday, and got it in the mail today. Great service, fast delivery, and they take Paypal! I love these people.

I headed out to the pasture with the mask in hand to try it on. She didn't want to come anywhere near me as long as I was holding it. So, after playing 'ring around the Christel' for a bit, I got smarter: I brought her into the barn, gave her a bit of grain in her stall, and then tried it on her. For some reason, she's a lot better about doing things in her stall, anything from putting on her halter to picking up her feet. Anyway, the mask fit great, she seems to be taking to it well, and it doesn't look too awful either. I think I may have to pick up a couple more horse sized ones for Cora and Zora, as they wanted me to put Glory's on them while I was walking around. Valley Vet has a Buy 2 get 1 free deal going on right now, maybe I'll pick up 6. It never hurts to have extra on hand.

Daydreaming...

Yeah, I know I should be working, but I needed to take a break because my mind was wandering. Since it is, I thought I should try to record the train of thought and see what comes of it. If nothing else, I can see the thought process in print, and maybe I can figure out how to make it happen. I've had this seemingly impossible to reach goal for a while. I say seemingly, as I've made baby steps toward it, but now I've hit a bit of a wall. Anyway, here it is:

I would like to purchase the rest of the farmland near mine, about 60-70 acres. I have 40 acres, 35 tillable, though 13 of that is in pasture, so my total acreage would be about 100-110. I would plant the newly acquired land with hay and maybe oats, fence and cross fence some of the current hay land for more pasture and paddocks, and plant more hops (up to 5 acres). I'd plant more trees for windbreaks, give the old apple tree some friends, and expand the ponds to help drain the muddy-marshy spots.

After that, I would build the new house and horse barn farther back on the property. I have the spot all picked out: back beyond the second hill, past the old apple tree, for a bit of privacy and safety (we're currently too close to the highway for my comfort and the safety of the animals).

The barn so far is going to be a large building, with about 30-40 12x12 box stalls, 4 larger stalls for foaling and/or very large horses, wash stalls, tack rooms, feed storage, a lounge/viewing area, and the office. The stalls will be arranged in a U around the indoor arena, with doors on every wall for easy access and cross breezes. It won't be too far from the house, with the driveway situated so I can see when someone pulls in. A smaller barn for quarantine and storage would be off to the side but convenient for the vet and grooms to get to.

The house is going to be set into the hill, earth on 3 sides, with an atrium in the center and a greenhouse on the south side adjoining my bedroom and office. The main area will be open concept, with all rooms able to enjoy the atrium view. The kitchen will have an island and tons of workspace, plenty of cabinets, a large walk-in pantry, and a 'cold storage' room for the freezers and root cellar veggies. The mudroom will have a toilet and shower, and the washer and dryer as well. The two guest rooms will have access to the atrium, which will have a breakfast nook, a fountain or two, small trees, and a nook here and there to hide and read. In general, the house will be energy efficient, water conservative, solar and wind used wherever possible, and comfortable. We fondly call our dream house 'the Bunker', because that's pretty much what it is!

After the new house it build, we'll have a house burning party! The old house is pretty much un-salvageable, with the basement crumbling, wiring from the 50's, and really old insulation that has settled quite a bit. With the old house gone, we'd pour a new foundation and build a cottage to rent to a trainer, for good reason. Here's where life gets better.

This is what I really want to do with my life: I want to rescue, rehab, and retire horses. Now, I don't want to be a 501 certified type rescue, as there's one right across the street and they're doing a great job. I would focus on rehabbing lay-ups, finding good horses that just need more training (or training in general) and upgrading them, and giving people a place to retire their old show horses that made them so much money in the past. Honestly, I don't think people will pay much for the retirement, but the rehab and retraining aspect should somewhat cover that area. I'd like to attract a good trainer or two, someone that's not breed-ist or discipline-ist (someone like Mugwump would be awesome) to not only train the horses we're upgrading, but who may like to take in other clients for extra cash, and maybe offer riding lessons.

There's all kinds of benefits of this type of operation: more jobs for the area, more money circulating locally (especially at the feed store!), horses that might have had an unhappy ending finding good homes and useful work, and a place for kids to go to learn about horses and responsibility. I'm planning to sponsor the local 4-H and FFA, as well as offer tours and classes to schools and other youth groups.

Of course, all of this is great, but it's a dream unless I can come up with the capital, somewhere between $500,000 an $750,000. I would pay off every bit, though it will take a while, but it would really be worth it to help out so many lives in so many ways. There are 'angel investors', but I'm a bit leary of that angle because they typically want a high and fast return on their investment. Government grants and loans are full of hoops to jump through and tons of qualifiers, and are usually focused on 'traditional' farmers. And I refuse to beg for money. Right now, I'm just trying to save as much as I can while taking care of my oldsters and working with the youngsters. Not easy, but I'm trying.

So, that's pretty much it. If anybody happens to read this that has a lot of money sitting around that they want to invest in an interesting horse venture, I'm working on a business plan that I can send to you!

Finally, a day of 'rest'

Today is the first day in about a week that I can kick back and 'relax', meaning I can finally get some stuff done around the house. The only thing that's stopping me from mowing the lawn right now is the dew still on the grass. Laundry is washing at this very moment (I ran out of jeans), and a list has been made of other things that need doing today: clean my room, wash dishes, finish editing the photo proofs for printing, sweep the office, mop, etc....

I got behind starting last Friday, when I went to my friend Billie's to spend the night so we could leave early the next morning for the American Trakehner Association's mare inspection at KD Trakehners in Watertown, Wisconsin. We stayed up late chatting, and thus at 4 am we were a little wasted to say the least. The trip went well, though, and was a lot of fun, with gorgeous mares and cute babies everywhere. After the evaluations and scoring (one was approved as a model mare), we were treated to a jumping exhibition featuring their stallion Blitz Und Donner.
I would dearly love to breed Hope to such a handsome boy, I just have to find the money for the stud fee!

After the brandings, we said our goodbyes and went back to Billie's for supper. It was late, so I stayed the night again and went to the Marshfield Saddle Club's schooling show the next day. The weather was wonderful, not too hot or cold, and the sun and blue sky made taking pictures easier. Hopefully I can get enough orders to put towards a new (to me) camera, as having just one makes me very nervous.

Heather was delivered Monday morning (more about her in another post), and the rest of the day was spent running around town, shopping for food, and downloading cf cards. Tuesday was mostly spent in front of the computer converting RAW to jpg, sorting the good from the bad, and posting the proofs to my site. Wednesday and Thursday I spent at the Central Wisconsin State Fair taking pictures of friends and working on my gymkhana photo technique. I'm planning to make prints of the best run of each person and handing them to the county horse project superintendent to hand out to the riders. Maybe next year I'll donate my time to take ribbon pics if they're interested.

So we come to Friday and the weekend. Tomorrow starts the Pepsi All Wisconsin Draft Horse Show at the fairgrounds, with the youth classes in the morning and the first of the hitches in the evening. The biggest crowd pleaser is the ten horse pyramid hitch, though I like the four horse competitive driving class. That gets exciting! Sunday is stallion and gelding at halter, then the cart and other hitch classes, and in the evening the tandem classes and champion four horse hitch. Monday wraps up with mare and group halter and the last of the hitch classes. It's a fun time, and if anybody is in the area they should stop in and check it out. The horses are top quality, and the handlers are incredible!

Well, I should get back to work. Hopefully I'll be able to start preparing for winter next week. It seems a little early to be thinking about it, but I'm tired of cutting wood in a foot of snow and ice, and I'd really like to get my gardens laid out and fertilized for next year.