News/Blog

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SMQHA Trail Ride and Poker Run!
At Historic Sotterley Plantation in Hollywood, MD

April 10-11, 2021:
A great time was had in this very long and full weekend! Left super early Saturday morning to head down to meet the girls, and then we did a caravan down to Southern Maryland Quarter Horse Association's big weekend. There were OVER 100 horses and campers at the site, and we had a great dinner, bonfire, and of course I danced to the band all night until they packed up. Then hung out with the horses at our campsite before final feeding, and then up and at 'em early Sunday for checking horses again (it had rained ALL NIGHT!), then breakfast, and getting ready TO RIDE!
After the trail ride and poker run we had lunch, stayed for several drawings, and then made the long slog home... Fun was had by all!

Ohmagarsh?! There are SO MANY EXPENSIVE camping rigs here?!

(and to think I'll be sleeping in the back seat of my pick'em up truck...? while almost everyone here had rigs with slide-outs, etc.)
Here, I am getting my little make-shift campsite together... It's really ironic to see next to these big camper trailers... $60K, $100K trailers -- being hauled by $75K(+) trucks no less!

Setting up my little po-dunk corral for Star -- it was forecast to rain a quarter inch in the overnight hours -- and it DID!

So I *insisted* that I must use this pop-up tent for her (most of the other campers did not shelter their horses).

At Leslie and Juls' campsite and corral pen.

I think this was THE ONLY ACTUAL TENT on the entire property...

Late start for some campers...

(t-shirt even says... "Always Late!") =)

On the trail in the morning!

First Poker Run obstacle...

On the trail -- in the fields...

Due to Poco's abscess and Phoenix's bad shoulder, I'm on Star again -- a WONDERFUL little Morgan mare, owned by my friend Suzi Rowe.

On the trail -- in the fields...

Juls on Lucy and me on Star

On the trail --by the water...

On the trail -- at the Historic Sotterley outbuildings and barn!

Leslie on Beau and Juls on Lucy

On the trail -- at the Historic Sotterley outbuildings and barn!

Leslie on Beau

On the trail -- at the Historic Sotterley Mansion!

On the trail -- Eagles' nest with eagle in the nest

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Poco's abscess blew but...

April 8, 2021:
Remember Poco had a reaction to her 5-way shot (on March 19)? Well, the edema worked its way down her leg and finally blew out as an abscess above her hoof on Tuesday -- IN THEORY in time for her to heal up and recover to go on the big trail ride and camping trip in southern Maryland. But she's still too sore and swollen, and so I feel I can't take her -- it's just not worth the risk of causing her pain and/or permanent damage. Darnit!!

**** WARNING: Kinda gross images below ****

Remember she had this edema -- she looked like Dolly Parton! (just her left side).

Then that drained down her leg and into her foot -- here I had put on a clay poultice to draw it out

It finally blew out on Tuesday -- in theory in time for it to all drain

(All that brownish creamy stuff is the gunk that blew out as an abscess!)

Kinda gross -- but this is what Poco's body thought the gross stuff in that shot!

This is after I got it cleaned up and treated with veterycin and iodine -- but see all the swelling still in the leg?

"I am not a vet, but I play one on TV... Er, uh... on my farm!"

So I put another clay poultice on, this time up the leg to draw out that swelling.
I left the abscess uncovered so it could continue to drain (and kept treating it several times a day with veterycin)

It's now Thursday -- only 2 days before the 2-day camping and trail ride -- and she is still limping, even on pain killer and anti-inflammatory meds? DARNIT!

This is what horse ownership and TRUE HORSEMANSHIP looks like folks... You do everything you can taking care of the horse but in the end have to make the tough call that you just can't ride your horse in the end. That's the best and ONLY decision a true horseman can make, is what's best for the horse.

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Texas on the Road at a Dairy Barn!

April 6, 2021:
Well, since Poco is still lame -- too lame to ride on a two-day trip down to southern Maryland this coming weekend anyway -- we are looking at other options. The only other horses I have coggins on (for a large trail ride and for travel over state lines) is Phoenix -- who the vet has off work for several months due to his skinny condition, his sinus infection due to loose tooth (to be removed on April 21), and mainly due to his lameness (that he's had since fall 2020, likely in the shoulder).
That leaves Texas -- who hasn't been off the farm in a few years and only does short rides around the farm with us. I frequently put almost ANYONE on him now, he has gotten to the point that I trust him, but this is still a pretty big leap.
I took him over to my friend's dairy farm though, and -- except he was so scared he was being sold I think -- he actually did great! Even with the COWS!
I only rode for about 10 minutes total in the end -- but it was an overall GREAT experience for him -- and for me! Next time I'll take Poco along (when she's not lame!) and we can actually try a real trail ride, the two of us!

Texas at the trailer

"What the heck are we doing here, mom??"

Texas with huge grain silos behind him

He has calmed down now, and kinda seems un-phased at this point... I think this is a GOOD sign!

Texas was actually curious about what was up this way -- despite the cows?!

Texas at sunset

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Easter 2021

April 4, 2021:
Spring has SPRUNG and everything looks so vibrant and pretty! I normally do an Easter morning ride but with Poco in her lame condition and having Easter in the middle of the day I thought I might not be able to keep this tradition... Never fear, we rode at Suzi's!

SPRING has SPRUNG!

The fruit trees and forsythia are in FULL BLOOM! And look at that green grass coming in!

After Easter dinner Suzi's son Vince and I went on a ride with Mario and Star

Posing in the driveway on the way back -- Suzi has offered to let me take Star on the camping weekend if Poco's abcscess doesn't get better in time?! ISN'T THAT AMAZING?!

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Barnyard cleanout...

April 2, 2021:
Does anyone ever get tired of pictures of manure ? Really, who could, right?

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A moment to tell you how much my webhost is ANYTHING BUT a "Dream"(host)!

March, 2021:
I can't tell you how much I would LOVE to post here more regularly and tell you all the stuff that is going on... But I have been having a REALLY HARD time justifying posting these days since it is taking OVER THREE HOURS on average to post a SINGLE blog post now... The "DreamHost" keeps hanging up, I get "ERROR_CODE_HUNG" messages, "Waiting for available socket" messages, get booted off when not even realizing it (while typing?!) and it literally takes me RE-TYPING MOST of the paragraphs, blog posts entirely, and each of the headers under the images 2, 3, sometimes SIX TIMES before the text is updated and I can actually publish the post?
Honestly, I cannot spend that kind of time in front of the computer wasted on a problem webhost (and getting dropped and hung and re-typing) because I need to be out in the barn instead. I *used* to be able to post in approximately 40 minutes or so and now? I just can't. Sorry folks.

Page unresponsive. If I got paid a $1 for every time this error came up I would have at least $10,000 by now.

It's probably "WAITING FOR AVAILABLE SOCKET"

Oh good, now there's TWO errors and hung pages...

Gee, I'm shocked...

And my personal favorite...

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Volunteer Day!!
Trailer brake adjustments and truck rust repairs

March 27, 2021:
Sooo... When I went to Fowler's Hollow last weekend I discovered that the horse trailer brakes -- that I SPECIALLY HAD REPAIRED on Black Friday last year (just 4 months ago??) -- WERE NOT WORKING -- AT ALL! (?!) So I loaded my best horse and I went off thinking I had brakes in great shape?? And turned out I was FREE-WHEELING, and the calipers had NOT BEEN ADJUSTED?! So they would activate; clanking and buzzing (therefore activating), but WOULD NOT ACTUALLY STOP THE WHEELS or THE TRAILER?! OMG?! I was first, scared to death! And then very angry that I spent nearly $300 on "brake repairs" and ended up in this situation... (does this sound at all like the tractor hydraulic leaks from the year before too...?)
So a friend came out to see what he could do on the brakes -- he was able to adjust them PROPERLY! And then we also took a look at my rusted truck's rocker panels and cab corners, and got started repairing them as well!

Adjusting the trailer brakes...

Nothing like a trailer perched up on blocks...

"Rusty's" well... Rust (Before)

Yeah, it just crumbled... We weren't sure if there would be anything there to pop-rivet metal to...

Covered rust holes into the cab of the truck

Now she just needs some putty!

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Spring Vetting, Part 1
(Wow, What a Long and EXPENSIVE Day!)

March 26, 2021:
I think all I can really say is... wow, I am actually AFRAID of what this bill will look like...
The vet was here for almost 6, yes, SIX HOURS, and we ONLY got 7 of the 12 horses looked at and taken care of? OMG?!
(well, and tackled the first round of shots for 9 of the barn cats -- I'm giving distemper this year because several farmers have told me they had outbreaks)
Of the 7 horses treated, we had:
- 6 horses need floated (teeth filed) -- THIS IS A RECORD Number in one visit!
- 2 sets of x-rays
- 3 knee injections (2 for Poco and one for Daisy)
- 7 5-way Gold shots (west nile, E. and W. encephalitis, etc.)
- 7 3-way rabies shots
- 3 Coggins tests / blood samples drawn (Poco, Texas, and Phoenix)
- 4 fecal samples taken: Poco (as my "baseline") and Phoenix (because he's new -- and SO SKINNY! I want to figure out what's going on INSIDE...), and Daisy (because she seems to be always scratching her behind, and I am giving her wormer every quarter, which seems high given our protocol), and Ginger (because she's had diarrhea for a while now...); and
- 9 feline rabies and distemper shots... (that went SO SUPER SMOOTH with the new cages and traps! (see below))

UPDATE: I had good reason to be afraid of the bill... It was OVER $2,500?! GULP!

We decided to start with the cats first because they were crying and meowing in the cages under these horse blankets.

It could not have gone smoother! The large animal vet was SO IMPRESSED by the new system in cages, and particularly with the fork that pinned them to the bottom of the cage.

When she got here the windy was SO BAD (Gusts up to 40 MPH?!) that she asked if I had a room to do the vetting in, and this loafing stall (aka their "litter box!") was the obvious choice (I already had the sliding door pulled shut).

So to free up the enclosed area, we did Chewie first (its also his make-shift stall in the winter and for feedings). Of course he needed to be floated. Gulp (starting off with one is never a good sign)!

We did Texas next (while Chewie sobered up enough to get him out of the stall). He "just has great teeth" the vet said (no photo of Tex).

...So here is Chaco, up next and D'oh! He's not living up to his Mustang background, he had points everywhere (we had not done him the last time) and also needed to be floated.

Next was Poco, who was getting X-Rays and then knee injections. She's 23 and the horse I ride the most (for miles and miles...), and she had pretty advanced arthritis when we got her, and has only gotten worse over time. I can't keep doing trail rides with her on just the pain management I've been using. So here she is, being prepped.

Poco also needed to have her teeth done too...

Because Phoenix is the new guy -- and so skinny! -- I definitely wanted to see what his teeth looked like.
No good news here: one loose tooth and one cracked tooth.
This explains why he was reluctant to eat, was quidding his hay -- she says he gets a toothache every time he eats?! And said definitely keep him on the mash -- in fact increase that until she can come back and do the tooth extraction for him (when there's more time).

Before she sedated him, she also did a soundness exam on him because he will frequently limp and bob his head...
That too was not good news: while she (and the farrier) ruled out his feet as the problem, that means it's an "unspecified" lameness above the knee (the previous owner thinks might have been hit or kicked in the shoulder by the bully preventing him from getting to the round bale feeder...).
The vet recommended AT LEAST TWO MONTHS off work. =(

The loose and broken teeth also probably explains this sinus inflammation too...

(the roots on those uppers go into the sinus cavity)

UPDATE/ Results: The vet said Phoenix's fecal count was very high and had me start him on a worming protocol to kill and shed them... (everyone else tested had very low counts and showed otherwise "normal" / nothing needed)

Then we pulled Miss Daisy and started prepping her knee for her injection.

While the alcohol sat on Daisy, we did Ginger.... Surprise, she needed floated again -- she is a whopping 36 this year, (We guestimate!)!

Then back to Daisy's knee injection...

This one didn't have the same immediate effect as last year's, but it is slowly starting to work now.

Poor Daisy then got her teeth done too -- she was still half asleep, but still!
It's a big day for an old girl like her!

When I REALLY started to panic about the bill...

(when you see all these empty syringes and vials...!)

After the vet left, I stuck around the barnyard keeping an eye on "drunk" horses (i.e. waking from sedation) -- they can't be left unattended to eat anything as they may forget to chew or swallow!

But look who decided to forgive me even though I entrapped him and gave him a shot? Thomas!

Later that night...

Of course Poco had an allergic reaction to the 5-way shot (again?!). The edema in her pectoral muscle (just the one side) looks like she's Dolly Parton for crying out loud...

Worse? On Thursday morning the drainage from the edema had worked its way down her leg and I found her holding her foot up with heat and pressure building inside it. Another ABSCESS?! Drat!

I think this might be Poco's "Don't think I couldn't kill you for this" face...

This is after I put a poultice (Animal-Intex wrap) on her foot. After the fluid drained from her pectoral area down her leg, it is sitting, festering in her hoof and has to come out somewhere... It will probably blow right at her pastern line / coronary band (again). Hopefully the clay in the poultice will help to draw it out faster for her.

(I also have her on Equioxx for the pain -- this is probably the ONLY reason she didn't actually kill me...!) =)

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I think my horses are trying to embarrass me...
(they heard the vet is coming, so they rolled in the MUD!)

So it's another rainy "spring" day... [BRRR!!]
I brought them all in out of the rain early in the morning, and after the downpours ended after lunch, I put them out. With that, they TORE OFF like WILD HORSES (hahaha! I'm so punny!), like they had never been able to run free before... (?!), and ROLLED around and played in the mud like CRAZY FOOLS?!!
Personally, I'm convinced they heard that the vet is coming in two days, and wanted to get as MUDDY as possible, just to "impress" the vet?? (Or maybe to build a hard shell, like a chocolate crust, to block those mean needles (i.e. spring shots)?)

Is that really Tazer??

Ugh, and look how they've torn up the fresh grass that was just starting to grow? <ugh, facepalm!>

Leo *was* a Beautiful Dunn...

D'oh? All three "light" horses are now just COVERED in mud...

(See? Even Chewie is doing a double-take, doesn't recognize Sterling all covered in mud...)

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The John Deere Tractor Came Home!

March 22, 2021:
It's SO EXCITING! The John Deere tractor was fixed and came home! No more hydraulic leaks! This was the primary reason for sending her off, because she was leaking fluid like a sieve... They fixed and replaced the rear remotes for the hydraulic connectors, fixed the PTO seal, and located and fixed a few other leaks and incorrectly "repaired" parts from the previous "repairs"... <eye roll!>
While they had her, they did routine maintenance: Oil and filter changed, fuel filter cleaned, etc., and repaired the hydraulic control arm (that wouldn't stay centered). They also lengthened the smoke stack, so it wouldn't blow into my face while driving (and to clear the hay wagon too?).

She's home!

Still on the trailer...

Look at the height of that new stack...

Looks like I'm going to have to do some tree trimming before I can mow my hay...

She's seen better days...

The damage to the hood (and steering shaft, and rear wheel, tires, and several other not-just-cosmetic damages...) was when someone rolled her, abused her, and generally didn't care because it wasn't their machine... So I am sure glad she is even running / salvaged!

Despite that there's a red tractor behind her in the picture, this old John Deere is my MAIN tractor and "work horse" for work around the farm!

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Riding at Fowler's Hollow

March 21, 2021:
It's Sunday riding season with the girls again! This weekend we spent the GORGEOUS day at Fowler's Hollow State Park.

Starting out on the trail...

Before we got too far, we already had an obstacle training experience... (I mean, aside from loading on the trailer for the first time of the season...!): Crossing a bridge! Poco only took about 20 seconds of encouragement and then tentatively stepped on it, and over she went! (she did the trailer great too, actually!) What a Good Girl!

Poco Leading?

I only took this one to document that Poco was actually in the lead for a large portion of the ride...
(She normally is way behind and has to trot up to the rest periodically. This in turn makes her anxious...)

I think she likes the very small groups much better than larger groups. Absolutely NO Jigging, or fussing about trying to keep up with the horses that like to run down the trails... That makes the ride SO MUCH more enjoyable!

Picnic after the ride...

I actually baked the friendship bread from the yeast that Lisa brought me when she donated the stall gate/door. (No way?! Yep, in the ziploc bag on the picnic table...)
Now, for those of you who know me, you may find this hard to believe... I don't bake! Who has time while working full time and farming and running a rescue, AND dancing, etc.? Plus, I am generally not "domesticated" -- and some say I am instead "FARM-esticated!"
So it's definitely hard to believe, but it's TRUE, I baked! (and I haven't heard that anyone died from it... yet?!)

Poco's Easter Bonnet??

Everyone kept asking, what was on Poco's head? She is sporting her padded head bumper because she throws her head when loading on the trailer. Remember, she was not treated the greatest before coming to us... She was considered -- and treated with gruffness and impatience -- just as the "breeding stock" that her registration papers list her as...
And she also has Back on Track therapeutic knee wraps on to help soothe her poor knees (she's a whopping 23 years old, after all!), and trailer wraps / "shipping boots" for the ride home.

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Spring Rains...
(And threat of an Onion Snow??)

March 18, 2021:
Happy St. Patrick's (recovery) Day!
I guess no luck of the Irish? Well, it's GOOD that it's the end of a year of quarantine?! Yeah!
And while it's not even April, the spring showers are starting? I guess that's a good thing, too, to get the timothy and grasses going -- that will be Our "Pot-o-Gold" -- or, uh, GREEN?! Right?
But? It sure does make for a cold, wet, and yucky day here at the farm. I had to separate all the gang into 4 groups so they would all be able to get under shelters -- and not bully each other out into that COLD, dreary rain...
While temps dipped back down to 23 degrees overnight, we had no onion snow. Boo! (But SO WINDY the wind chill was 13?! So they were all inside again for the night -- yes, they are SPOILED! My reasoning: Not a dry spot to lie down outside, they have been spring shedding already so don't have their thick winter coats anymore, and honestly? It's easier than blanketing 12 horses!)

So. Much. Rain...

(At least the rain coming off the barn roof makes cleaning their feed buckets easier/natural?)

Ginger and Sterling sheltered here together all day

Not surprising - Texas and Chaco together

These two are attached at the hip!

Even Tazer and Leo decided to get along (and peacefully share a loafing stall)?

(I had 10 of the 12 inside for several hours during the heaviest of the rain, and I guess I let them out a bit too soon... Everyone wanted back under shelter when the rain picked up again!)

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Trail Riding Resumes!

March 14, 2021:
We went on our first trail ride of the season! We went to Michaux State Forest, and rode for about 3 hours, or about 7 miles. It was a great, mostly flat (or slow, long grades), and easy ride -- Which I LOVE -- and was perfect for getting horses back out on the trail and back in shape.

Early morning feeding so I could get on the road for trail riding -- after daylight savings and losing an hour of sleep, no less!

The ladies in front of me (Juls in lavender to the left and Leslie in the orange on the right)

Suzi behind me -- on Mario

...and I was actually riding Suzi's horse, Star again.

Where Ya Goin' Mom?

(I think Phoenix was glad to get a rest and just stay behind...)

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DONATIONS!

March 12-13, 2021:
We had a(nother!) busy weekend, with volunteers coming and going this time! While the farrier was here (sorry, I forgot to take pictures!), we had a donation of a new door for Phoenix's new stall, and a set of steps. These I can use for mounting tall horses, for the therapeutic riding program (if that ever gets going...), or can possibly use for loading muck buckets directly into the manure spreader (instead of the big pile that I make and have to load into it)? YEAH!
On Saturday, my friend Jim came to check on the tractor tire which was flat again (?!), and to replace the completely dry-rotted tire on the hay elevator... YEAH!

New stall door installed!

New Steps!

This was totally random -- but can be EXTREMELY useful -- either for mounting horses and/or to climb up and dump muck buckets (from stall cleaning) directly into the manure spreader. Then there hopefully won't be such a big pile in between spreading?

Fixing Tractor Tire...

New tube and valve stem...

Hay Elevator New Tire...

I'll finally be able to move the hay elevator... I tried pumping it several times all winter to move it, but it was so dry-rotted, it would go flat before I could even get it moved...

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New Style Cat Traps and Cages

March 2021:
Well, I guess I'm going to make it official, and add "and Cat Rescue" to my function... We technically have more cats than some cat rescues, and I have been re-homing them and getting vet care for them...
Below are the new style cat trap I used this spring, and the new cages that we'll use when the vet is here for shots. This should make it go MUCH EASIER than last year's fiasco -- with cats that are loving and let me hold them all day, but DO NOT like the vet or other people...

New Trap is Set!

This trap works so much better than the live animal traps because it has openings at both ends, and can trap multiple animals at the same time (so I'm not just re-catching my TAME and fixed cats over and over...!).

Success!

Two cats back from the trap-neuter-release clinic...

Annual Shots should go MUCH EASIER this year...

This shows the "fork" that spay clinics use to push feral cats to the end of the cage to get them a shot to sedate them before surgery... We'll use it to get the OTHERWISE "tame" barn cats - (who are NOT tame (at all!) for the vet or people they don't know...) their spring shots -- rabies and distemper, for those that need boosters.

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Testing New Manure Paddles - Finally!

March 2021:
I finally got to test the manure spreader repairs -- the paddles that had been welded on in January finally got taken for a spin - literally! The snow finally melted, yet the ground was still firm/frozen enough to spread the compost pile from the barnyard. I only did three loads (before I ran out), but the result? Tested A-OK!

Loading the manure spreader...

All that steam is from the compost...

Driving the tractor and full manure spreader out to the hay field...

(No, that is not my crazy hair; it's just a Goodwill vest with furry hood...)

Spreading manure in the hay field.

These paddles really do make a difference! The manure is broken into smaller chunks, and they made a wider, more even path.

What can brown do for you?

I really didn't have a lot of manure to spread, but one of my dairy farmer friends calls this painting the fields brown... Smells like more hay to me! =)

And back for another load...

Yep, I can do it ALL...
(Note wide and nice manure path in field in the background)

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Phoenix learning how to eat from Hay Nets!

Early March:
Well, for as much hay as Phoenix needs to eat, I almost hate to use hay nets, but also he's VERY WASTEFUL with hay, and everyone tramples it! I was very worried the first few days, because he just WOULD NOT eat from a net. But since then, and since watching that this is how EVERYONE here eats, I guess, "When in Rome...!"
(But he's still not very happy about it!)

He says:
"Seriously?! Why would I need to eat out of this stupid little tiny hole??!"

...Maybe I can find a bigger hole -- or a tear in the net down here??

Phoenix saying,
"Fine, I did it! I got my hay out of your stupid net!"

("But, just so you know, I'm not happy about it...")

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Introductions are... Going...

March 2021:
Well, things are going about as expected with a new horse. I only have one horse trying to KILL Phoenix (so far...). I've had two chase him off food though, and I had to change all my plans for mixing the herds, and am now coping with THREE separate herds? Oye.
But (so far -- and knock wood!): No major injuries, no stitches required (for them -- or me!), and we have found a balance with the current separation: Phoenix in with Poco, Sarge, and Chewie.
Now, who wants to help me replace the fence posts that Texas broke off?? =)

First Introductions...

Aw, Chewie is always the go-to guy! He just seems to be able to get along with ANYONE, from the craziest and most dominant males to the most meager and gentle guys (like Phoenix!).

This LOOKED like it was going well...

...Until I walked away, and Sterling decided that Phoenix should not be eating his food -- or anywhere near him, or for that matter, even in the same pasture...

This seemed great too...

Until I walked away again, and then Poco decided to remind Phoenix that she was not just a mare, but THE LEAD MARE around these parts, thank you very much!

Despite the pinned ears, this actually went better than I thought it would...

Sometimes Sarge can be a REAL STINKER -- and sometimes will chase other new horses all around (and even injured Chaco and even Ohio, our dominant male? I could NOT believe that?!) and act like a tough guy -- kinda like a little dog does? But trust me, he's NO tough guy!

Well, I'll be...

I can hardly believe I walked out at lunch to find this... FOUR newly-introduced horses, all laying down together at once? That's pretty hard to believe -- BUT I'M ALSO SO GLAD!

(Ginger, in the ring on the right, was NOT passable during introductions either. She wasn't terrible, but she wasn't going to help Phoenix gain any weight either, was running him off his food too, just like Sterling. So they are stuck in the ring together as my 3rd herd...)

Everyone (on this side of the fence) seems to be getting along...

Everyone on the OTHER side of the fence is not so happy...
- Ohio doesn't have his girlfriend Poco...
- And Texas? He is still trying to kill Phoenix, charging him at the fence... Oh boy...

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The Phoenix Has Landed!

Feb 27, 2021:
Our new horse, Phoenix, has arrived safely! We are SO EXCITED to have him join us here!

Hi Phoenix! Welcome home!

We wished it wasn't such a crappy day... rain and mud everywhere. He didn't seem to mind as long as he had hay!! =)

Slightly better view over the fence --
Look, in the background Texas keeping a close eye on his new competition!

(Yes, we are going to put some groceries on Phoenix. He is SUCH a wuss, he could not get to the round bale where he was before. Hopefully individual hay nets will help -- and I'm going to have to work hard to protect him from bullying...)

Look at everyone watching me walk him around his new isolation pen (while he adjusts to his new home)!

Aren't they BEAUTIFUL?!

Look at everyone in his new herd checking him out (while he's checking out his new isolation pen)!

Aren't they BEAUTIFUL too?!
This small group of more docile animals will be his buddies, because he's a pretty meager horse. Again, he doesn't seem to care as long as he has his hay...

We'll never know, but I keep thinking this mark on his back leg is how he got the name, Phoenix???

Phoenix finally gets to see his new stall.

Again, not a care -- as long as there's hay!

Feb 28 Update:
We did have an issue with Texas being super aggressive (he broke a fence post right off to get to Phoenix... ugh?!), so we had to separate the herds even further for a few days during introductions... (Texas is shown here in timeout (with poor Chaco))!
Here, the rest of the group is finally eating peacefully and sharing hay nets with Phoenix.
Thank goodness!

Again, wish the footing was better -- hard to believe that I *JUST* scraped down and "cleaned" this barnyard, but with all the snow melt and then a day of rain? Ugh, it's atrocious -- please forgive the picture, I *REALLY AM* trying...!
(see the very next blog post... where I'm cleaning the barnyard... Again, I can't imagine the condition for folks that don't stay on top of barnyard maintenance...?)

Barnyard Maintenance... Again...

Feb 19-21:
Well, the snow and ice certainly aren't helping with manure removal -- OR allowing for the manure to be spread in the fields. The fields are covered in snow and so I can't run the manure spreader.... So all I can do is scrape down the shelters and dry lot paddocks.

Can't spread manure in snow-covered fields, so had to skip right by this compost pile...

This is "clean" (straight manure) from the stalls... Just since the last time a month ago...
(Horses consume ~50 pounds of hay and water a day, so guess what comes out? Yep! Approx. 50 lbs. of manure and urine!)

This is a smaller skid loader (~20 HP?) and so I can really only push the wasted hay and manure down the hill (not push it up), and then use the weight at the bottom to load it into the bucket.

But Poco and the gang sure are happy to have (relatively) dry footing again -- especially during the big snowmelt!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rush to Finish the New Stall for Phoenix,

Our New Horse!

Feb 2021:
So we got confirmation -- we are getting Phoenix, his owner has decided to sell him to us! Yeah! Now to finish his new stall (the barn re-configuration I discussed below was due to this hopeful outcome...). Yeah!

Ohio was already kicking this post out of place, so had to re-set the post, this time using a cement block footer.

Hanging the divider wall...

Ok, wall complete, but no door. This will have to do until we get another metal door custom-made (to match the other ones we have).

I subsequently added:
- a stallion bar (so Ohio can't go over the top of the wall at Phoenix);
- a feed bucket;
- an insulated water bucket holder;
- Hay nets (for lots of free choice hay!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snow Storm / Nor'easter Orlena

Jan-Feb 2021:
So yet another snow storm has come through...
Only this time? I have a broken rib?! Looking for volunteers to help me move manure and snow as needed (though that will probably melt, which is why I usually don't bother with snow removal...).

Day One of the snow...

I broke out the blankets and neck covers again...!

Ginger - Riding out the storm under shelter...

Day Two...

Leo - Awfully cute in the snow!

Day Three - snow finally stopped

Shoveling a path to manure pile -- when I finally realized my rib was broken...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Heavy-Duty Towing Trailer!

January 2021:
So the trailer that was supposed to come with the new-to-me truck (see below) was swindled out from under me... Not to worry -- I actually ended up getting a MUCH better and heavier-duty trailer in its place! And this one has a flat wood deck, so is not limited in what I can fit on the deck (width-wise, like the one the previous truck owner had, with sides). So I'm extremely happy about the luck of that draw...
Now I'll be able to haul skid loaders, heavy equipment (without trailer rental fees each time...), haul my tractor to be repaired (stay tuned...), and haul hay much easier than in the enclosed horse trailer.

Picking up new (to me!) trailer

It needs some work (which is why I got it SO CHEAP!), so it's going straight to the shop...

Changing tires, brakes, lights, e-brake and battery assembly, and beaver tail hydraulic lift shocks.

(Yikes! Were we ever lucky to get this home in tact -- see the brakes, completely broken apart on the deck? Gulp?!)

She'll need some rustoleum (or better, chassis saver -- donation anyone??)
**Don't forget to use the smile.amazon link if you decide to donate, please!**

New trailer is done, passed inspection, and finally home!

BONUS! While we were repairing and welding... He made me this step for my new-to-me truck -- WHICH IS REALLY TALL and had been hard for me to climb up into!!

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Manure Spreader Fixed!

Now the manure spreader has all it's paddles welded back on and replaced, so hopefully will be able to spread manure MUCH more effectively than it has been recently (with only 5 of the paddles left...)!

Before -- only had 5 of the paddles left still on

(the replacement paddles shown on the ground in front, to be welded on)

All the replacement paddles are welded on!

(We're going to spray paint the paddles bright orange for when they fly off again... we'll hopefully be able to find them in the fields!)

We decided to cover this gap in the front of the spreader too -- when filling it manure falls out the front, which is not a problem while spreading it, but makes a mess in the barnyard.

All finished and ready to go!

We also greased all the fittings and we'll test it this week (er... uh, when the snow melts??) to see how she works...!

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Blessed with Donations!

We'd like to take a moment to thank the several people who have graciously donated their time, money, and supplies to the rescue in the last few weeks! It truly touches us and we are so glad the horses and what we do here for them inspires so many!

THANK YOU!!

Surprise Christmas Donation!

From a neighboring family
(redacted for privacy)

Donation: Truck fender fiberglass patch and repair!

The new-to-me truck had a hole in the fender...

Now it's patched with fiberglass! THANK YOU!

During... still have yet to paint it, but should pass inspection now!

Donation: Use of skid loader for barnyard cleanup!

We can't survive winter here without cleaning the dry lots and shelters out -- THANK YOU!

Donation: Probiotic supplement for horses

In theory the healthy gut this creates helps them digest better and require slightly less feed because it's digested fully (and not wasted...) -- THANK YOU!

Donation: Horse Halter - in Green (left in mailbox)!

It is almost astounding the coincidence... Ginger's GREEN halter had JUST broken and I had wondered where I might find a green replacement? Uncanny! -- THANK YOU!

Donation: Break-away straps for horse halters

I mention in the "about our horses" page that I always use break-away leather pieces on nylon halters. Well all mine had broken and then these were donated! -- THANK YOU!

Donation: Cat food for the DOZENS of cats we have...!

I can't tell you how much it helps to have donations for the dropped off barn cats -- this is supposed to be a horse rescue, after all... (not a cat rescue!)!! -- THANK YOU!

Donation: A new home for an abandoned/dropped off cat...!

I can't tell you how much it disturbs me that people drop off animals on a farm to fend for themselves... If this cat hadn't been tame, she was so skinny and sick she probably wouldn't have made it where we found her.
It warms my heart so to know she found a loving home with a local family!! -- THANK YOU!

Donation: Several tons of 2B stone...

I had an order in to get stone for the barnyard and to set the fence posts for the new pasture... I got a call saying almost half the bill had been taken care of! -- THANK YOU!

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How Much Hay is Left In the Barn?

January 10, 2021:

It's that time again when I look at the rapidly emptying hay mows and how much I've fed...

And I start panicking (slightly) about how much hay is left in the barn... So I did a rough re-count and we're currently sitting at about 1200 bales from 2020 (and about 100 older bales).

The average horse should have approximately 1.5 to 3 percent of its body weight in roughage PER DAY.

--> This depends largely on the condition of the horse,

its metabolism, any feeding restrictions (like Sarge with his proclivity for laminitis, and Daisy with her Cushings...), and if it is already over- or under-weight. It also depends on how COLD it is outside, because horses stay warm by eating (thus the (generally derogatory) moniker horses are sometimes called of "hay burners"). --> I give more hay on COLD days.

--> See also: this video by smartpakequine

Called "Should horses get more hay in the winter?"<--

I generally give 6 to 7, bales (35-50 pounds each) in hay nets for free choice feeding per day (for 11 horses = ~25 lbs. each). This is a little overkill, but you can see when I clean the barnyard and dry lots how much hay is wasted, even with the hay nets (AND PLEASE CONSIDER: the rule of thumb is 30% loss without hay-saving hay nets...).

I generally assume 1/2 to 3/5 of a ~40-50 lb. bale per day per horse (approx. 20-28 lbs.), which is overkill (at approx. 2% to 2.7% of avg. body weight), but for an ESTIMATE, I don't want to run out, would sooner have MORE hay than not enough...!

So assuming 1200 bales are left,
- and assuming we get another horse (because we can't ride Sarge anymore)...
- that's 100 bales per horse left, or
- approximately 166 days of hay left, or
--> almost 6 months' worth (including my buffer hay...).

(By this calculation, if no additional mouth to feed, we'd have enough to feed well into June or July, I hope, since I feed less in spring and early summer when the grasses come in...)

Phwew! =)

(Still... it looks pretty darned empty!)

Cleaning Barnyard and Spreading Manure

January 9, 2021:
Our favorite thing again...

Finally got the red tractor started and hooked to the manure spreader (no small feat - on either count!)

This manure pile (in the middle behind the tractor) is just what I take out of the stalls... it's pretty big!!

Attacking the manure pile!

Yummy... steam coming from the composting manure!

Spreading the manure...

Stinky!

And REPEAT!

And repeat! AND REPEAT! Until the pile is gone!

And then...?

The very next day, the process starts over again -- new pile of manure from stalls started!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time to Re-Configure the Barn!

January 3, 2021:
Well, it's another snowing and icey day here in the New Year...
So guess what? I decided to re-configure the barn! For my entire life, there has been this WASTED SPACE behind what is now Ohio's stall. It was an isle, but it is a lot of square footage that we could really use for NOTHING (except to accumulate clutter!). In addition, Ohio's stall is unnecessarily HUGE -- measuring in at 12 ft.+ by 16 ft?! That's huge, with the additional wasted space behind it? I have been wanting to reconfigure this space for a while...

WHY NOW, then? Well, because with the bad news that we'll have to retire Sarge permanently, there is a *chance* that we could take in a new horse soon.... And without this reconfiguration? I'd be at capacity with only 8 stalls in the barn (and three in the lean-to so at the max of 11 horses).

So we demolished the back wall of Ohio's stall, the wall between Ohio and Tazer's stall, and rebuilt the front stall and a NEW middle stall in that row. Now I just need to decide... am I going to make just one new stall in the back -- or split it into two smaller stalls (that makes them only 10x10, but is the minimum requirement... Not to worry, we have larger stalls for larger horses that I am not downsizing!).
Hmmm.... Decisions, decisions...

WASTED SPACE

Behind Ohio's HUGE (12 ft. x 16 ft?!) stall.

Back of Ohio's HUGE stall -- with wasted isle space behind

(Looking into Leo's stall)

Another view of the wall we'll take out, including the corner with the hay rack

Demolition in progress...

Barn Manager Scratch supervising -- also checking to ensure all nails are facing DOWN!

Demolition in progress...

Wow! Was that TOUGH! This was built decades ago by my father -- so not only was it built with overkill and reinforcement, but he also used extra tough to remove galvanized nails into VERY hard woods!!

View of Tazer's back stall wall before...

(In fairness, the horses had started helping us demo this wall by kicking it...)

Demolition in progress...

Wow! I can make a mess! Now we need to get some semblance of stalls built back together before I need to bring these horses in for the night... Yikes!

Re-Construction in progress...

Ohmagarsh!! It's already night time! At least we have put one new stall wall back together -- (sorry guys, it's smaller!) Now we need to get some semblance of a second middle stall built before I need to bring these horses in for the night... Yikes!

Tazer in New Middle Stall!

Tazer doesn't do so well with change (for this reason he is not the best suited for trail rides...), so I left the gate between his new (smaller) stall and the new middle stall open over night. I found him in the new stall this morning, eating happily!
(and I have to say, I was surprised by Ohio and his relatively calm reaction to his ripped up and reduced and re-shaped stall! Very calm and took it in stride (pun intended!).
As for figuring out if I will make that back row just 2 stalls or three? (consuming part of Leo's stall as well)? That may take a while longer to figure out!

January 10, 2021 UPDATE:

Tazer in... New Stall ALTOGETHER...!

So Tazer -- as my biggest horse -- just DID NOT fit in the smaller front stall. He was (almost) nose to tail against the walls and so I felt I had to put him in a different stall which he was NOT happy about at first.
HOWEVER, I put him back into the stall he had originally lived in when he first came here -- a WHOLE 10 years ago! He's already adjusted. =)

And I have moved little tiny Sarge!

I put the cutest little horse we have in this new, smaller middle front stall and it's actually ROOMY for his size!
(He still is NOT adjusted to his new digs -- and neither am *I* to the new feeding arrangement...!!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy New Year!!!

January 1, 2021:
Many thanks for another wonderful year for the horses at the rescue!
Despite the pandemic situation, we took stock and noted that -- as with most farmers that I know of -- the whole thing didn't stop us in our tracks -- we still made hay, and took care of everything that needed done. We met new people and had a pretty good year overall!
Our sincerest wish is that you did too -- and that you learned new things and will ROCK them this upcoming year!!

As to us ringing in the new year? After a, ahem, late night on Thursday and a slow start on Friday, it didn't matter -- as is customary, I took a quick ride before the snow and ice started on new years day (although I have to say... what a rotten way to welcome what will hopefully be a better year?? )

We hope you had PLENTY of NEW YEARS KISSES too!! =)

Quick New Years Day Ride!

(as the clouds rolled in...)

Making use of inclement weather...
(while the rain and sleet fell)

Fixing Texas' stall wall, AGAIN!
(this time I reinforced the inside wall to absorb the impact of kicks...)

In between these two projects, I checked to make sure the equipment coverings were still holding up...

I don't have a big equipment shed like a lot of the big operations... So I make do with what I have (and can afford) and cover the better equipment as best I can...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barnyard Cleaning - AGAIN!
(Or should I say, Mucky "Dry Lots"?!)

There was just so much muck and with so much snow and ice in the last 3 weeks, that even though the machine was here and ready, we had to wait until we had firmer (frozen) surface so the skid loader didn't just sink in the muck!

The skid loader arrived... but had to wait until we had frozen ground...

Finally cleaning the muck and wasted hay...

Poco (as seen through the center diamond of the skid loader cage), watching the dry lots and muck from under shelters get cleaned out...

All cleaned under the shelters again... already getting mucked up with loose hay!

Cleaned dry lot paddocks are already getting all pooped up again!
(this is less than 12 hours after it was cleaned - and they were inside overnight?!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holidays At the Barn!

We're not wearing masks... but we are wearing "reindeer" antlers and some of us are telling Santa if they've been Naughty or Nice this year...! (and some of us couldn't decide...)

Poco, wearing "antlers"

("not this again?")

Leo...

Someone is on the Naughty List this year!

Sarge -- Just so CUTE!

He's definitely on the "Nice" list (except he still is a stinker and a scavenger, always checking other stalls and buckets for food left behind...)

Chewie -- Another on the Naughty List!

But he's so handsome, I guess that's ok!

Ginger -- we can't decide which list she is on...

(she kicked down DOZENS of boards all summer and is still food aggressive, but she can't help that, she came to us starved so... She'll get a pass.)

Sterling - On the Nice List!

Texas and Daisy

Texas is on the Naughty List after several escapes and "walkabouts" this year...
Daisy gets a pass on EVERYthing because she's old!!

Tazer

All ready for the Holidays!

Winter Storm (Gail?)...

December 16-17, 2020
Weathering the winter snow storm.. We had about 13 +/- inches of snow here.

The snow starts to fall...

(Note our Holiday decorations!)
(Note to self: move that hay elevator from the barnyard!)

I pulled out the old blankets and neck covers for the daytime portion of the storm...

The horses trying to stay under shelters

Sarge couldn't be bothered with the other horses -- I'll take this shelter all to myself, thank you!

I did a post on the minimal 500 Watt de-icers I use in the 100 gallon water tanks last year. This is just showing they really do work, and kept up with the snow!

It's getting pretty deep...

Usually I'm stepping in "deep sh**...!" This time it's snow!

The morning after...

Snow drifts and the front of the barn roof dropped all its snow into a big heap!

We only shoveled this path so I could clean stalls and get to the compost pile...

Feeding hay in the fresh snow

They look pretty happy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fall and Winter Trail Rides!

I've been doing lots of riding...
Everything from Gettysburg to Swatara to Fowler's Hollow to hosting rides at my farm. You name it, I've been doing it!

Fowler's Hollow

One of several rides here -- this one just before holidays, thus the Santa boots!
And Poco was lame, so I was riding a friend's horse - Star was a SUPER girl!

Fowler's Hollow

(One of several rides here -- this one just before holidays, thus the Santa boots!)

At Fowler's Hollow

At Codorus

At Swatara Rails Trails

(I was riding a horse the lady on the paint behind me owns and wanted exercised... I was treated to his GAITED Tennessee Walker PACE! So SMOOTH!)

At Swatara Rails Trails

At the Farm

...with one of my line dancing friends...

At the Farm

On logging roads

At the Farm

(again)

In the snow...

Sometimes not just riding horses...

(Snowmobiling after the snow storm...)

And sometimes I ride motorcycles too...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New (To Me) Truck!

After the incident with the Ford 550 and not being able to get it towed by AAA this summer ("they don't tow commercial vehicles"...?!) , I decided to thank my lucky stars that I was only hauling hay when the truck overheated. If I had been towing horses and had to deal with AAA and their nonsense? I would have been beside myself!

So even though it's the SAME WEIGHT, length, size, and class (towing capacity) as the Ford 550, I had a new-to-me Chevy 3500 series truck practically fall into my lap... And it couldn't have been better timing; the week after I picked this up, my 23 year old 1500 truck "Rusty" lived up to his name, and did not pass inspection...

New (To-Me) Truck parked on Farm during test drive

This dually already looked like this and had repairs before this lady driver... (thank you very much!). (rear end broken and patched before I got it, still need to fill a hole in the side to pass inspection when it's time...)

Christmas present to the farm!

(Note poor 23-yr old Rusty behind it. Very sadly, my old Chevy 1500 did not pass inspection.)

Got BMW gooseneck hitch installed.

(The same "black Friday" I got the bumper pull trailer inspected and brakes fixed...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Installing New PASTURE!

So we finally got around to starting to clear and drill in the holes for a new pasture. We rented a dingo and drilled almost 140 posts within 24 hours. First we had to move trees HUGE trunks and logs that had been left in the way... Then dragged posts to the holes (so deer wouldn't hurt themselves in post holes until the posts are set). We are still working on setting the posts... This may take all winter...

First we had to move HUGE tree trunks out of the way...

Still moving logs and debris out of the way, but the dingo has arrived and posts holes on the way!

Pile of fence posts (purchased several years ago when 84 lumber in Steelton went out of business...) and fence posts in the newly-drilled hole (just to hold place and the holes open - and to keep critters from falling into the DEEP holes...)

The dingo down by the pond (...and posts waiting for holes)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Replacing Trailer Ramp

Some things you do around the farm are just really not "sexy" (like mucking stalls and making hay is "sexy??" Well, I would argue the latter is -- a woman on a tractor and getting buff moving tons of hay around? But anywho...) -- but they NEED to be done anyway.... In this case, the wood in the center of the ramp had rotted out so badly that I needed to replace it.

Yikes?! That was worse than I thought!...!

New wood installed...

Now just to finish up...

Voila! Finished!
Poco should be much happier now, walking on a sturdy ramp again.

(Now just need to do the ramps on the other trailer...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scenes From Around the Farm!

There are so many neat pictures I have taken during the course of the year, and they just don't fit neatly into any of my story headlines... So I am putting them here just because they are wonderful and I wanted to share!

Pic of farm after teddering the back 1/3 of the hay field

Staging equipment for baling...

Rainbow over field

Staging equipment again...

Makes me think of that song..
"Hoggin' up the road with my p-p-plower..."

Beautiful second cutting growing...

Sister and my nieces helped bring in hay for the first time ever this year!

Second cutting almost ready to harvest!

View from the road... Mowed hay drying.

View from the dirt road (riding)...

Spreading manure...

Spraying for weeds...

Everything out of the barn to spray for bugs/bees/pests again...

Do I have a horse rescue...
...Or a CAT rescue???

(Shown are just a few of the tame ones, and all these have all been fixed...)

Unfortunately, despite getting 4 to 8 of the dropped off cats fixed EACH YEAR, I have over 40 cats here now... (that's a LOT of money diverted to just cats, when I need all the donated money for the horses!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Horses Get Massages!

My riding friend Juls does horse massage! I promised to link her info when my internet stopped giving me trouble, so here it is:

Trails & Tails Equine Sports Massage by Juls

Julie A. March, Owner

Find her by phone, Ph: 717-448-9839

Email, or on Facebook!

Poco getting massage

She was annoyed here by Leo, pestering to see what was going on. But enjoyed the knots being worked out of her tense and well-used muscles after so many long trail rides...
(Note: Hey wait now...? I'm the one making the hay, cleaning the stalls, carrying buckets of water and bales of hay EACH feeding...

==> When do*I* get a massage too??)!

Sarge was next...

He had lots of knots in his hip. Sadly, this is the third professional (vet, then farrier, then masseuse) that believes his riding days are over... He is 36 after all!

One of my favorite cartoons -- but most people really have NO CLUE what goes into horse care...

No seriously -- the horses only do about 2 hours of work PER WEEK!
The human/caretaker is the one doing MOST of the WORK!:
- I MAKE the hay
- I clean the stalls,
- I carry buckets of feed and water, and
- I carry bales of hay EACH feeding... (@6-8 bales a day = 360 pounds of hay per day?!
And that's just the beginning...
All that feed and water turns into...
--> The average horse produces 50 pounds of urine and feces PER DAY!
Just think how much I carry out of their stalls and what we move when cleaning the barnyard out??)

So no, SERIOUSLY:

When do *I* get a massage too??!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Horse Camping!

I took Poco camping with me, and because she can't be tied and tests fencing, I had only two choices: take and set up a solar fence or take fencing paneling with me. I chose the latter. And yes, she still tested it...

Arrived at camp site

Poco securely contained in panel fencing (I hope...!)

On trail rides

Poco getting some soothing essential oils and a quick massage to help ease her stiff joints and muscles from the mountains...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Picking up and Unloading Donated Hay.

I made 5 runs for donated hay in the big truck and trailer... (And dropped one load off at another farm in exchange for the hay, too).

This is a HUGE rig with both a 38 foot trailer and a 23+ foot truck hauling it...

It gets about 200 smaller bales, or of this size timothy hay bale? It held about 120 bales in each load.

Unloading hay

This thing [Which part? Horses in general? Farm work? Driving this rig? All of it!] is not for the faint of heart!

Picking up hay

(again)

Uh oh.. The 550 overheated?!

Unfortunately, I was only able to get approximately 600 of the 800 bales I was promised....

[...and the rest of the hay was sold out from under us. Oh well, at least we got the 600 for free (minus the cost of fuel)!] =)

(Note: AAA does NOT tow "commercial" vehicles like a Ford 550? News to me! I'm pretty sure -- unless I am seeing things? -- that it fits and can be hauled by regular AAA towing companies...?!!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daisy Gets Shots in her Knee

Daisy was having so much trouble standing -- she was CONSTANTLY laying down. Even the farrier ended up doing her feet while she was lying down... So I tried something drastic: I arranged to have shots in her knee to see if that would help ease her discomfort (there is only one more option after that... and that is not a path I want to go!)

Daisy getting x-rays first

The knee is so large and deformed from the arthritis that the vet was not even sure a needle could go in and reach the pocket it needed to get to. So they x-rayed first...

Good news - they had one little sliver of a pathway!

The shot was successful! Within A DAY (really, within HOURS....!) Daisy was full of piss and vinegar again -- just like her old self! Amazing!
(and then I *really* felt bad I hadn't tried it sooner!)

Daisy will stand on her knee again!

"Thanks, mom!"

Making good use of a borrowed compact tractor...

So I really used the heck out of this little borrowed machine... Really handy that it has 4-wheel drive and a bucket! (I especially hurried when it had to leave the farm again!!)

More Barnyard Maintenance...

(Loading manure spreader -- Of course!)

Brush-hogging invasive thorny locust patches in fields

Moving the hay elevator into position

(Note: How could this POSSIBLY go wrong...?! The whole thing swung like on a pendulum!)

Redneck Hay Delivery...

(The excess hay from the broken bales and loose hay from the wagons was swept onto tarps and then I delivered it to the pastures to spread it there for the horses to eat. They were VERY happy!)

Loading manure spreader...

Unloading my new 2 star tedder!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making First Cutting of Hay;
The Process

So I did some videos of the process, but (again...) am having trouble with my webpage service and can't seem to post those "educational" videos... So I'll do some still images of the process. Essentially, use the hay bine to cut the hay (in long stems; not chopped like a grass mower), then tedder the hay (flipping it over to dry), then rake it into windrows before baling. Then you bale it and bring it into the barn -- we use a baler with a kicker which kicks the bales into a wagon, and then we unload the wagons using a hay elevator to get the bales into the barn.

This John Deere mower conditioner (aka hay bine) cuts the tall grass at the base but leaves long stems to make hay.

Behind the hay bine you see grass laying flat in rows, after the long grass stems have been forced through rollers ("conditioning") and squeezing excess water out of the stems.

We mow in a clockwise direction since the hay bine mower is offset to the right of the tractor.

I try to keep the mowed grass layer between the tractor tires.

Look at these great and clean rows of mowed hay?!

Later that day (or the next day), I go back over and tedder the drying grass.

This is my new 2-star tedder, and it tosses the grass from the flat rows into a wide carpet of grass. This helps turn the drying grass and brings the wetter grass from the bottom up to the top to dry in the sun.

As I am teddering the grass...

In this case, I am tedding just a few hours after I mowed, so the grass is still very wet and green.

You can see the spread out grass on the left as I continue on to tedder the rows that are still on the right...

Sometimes I have to tedder it twice

Like if I only have a short weather window, and I REALLY need the grass to dry quickly!

When the grass is dry (14-17% moisture)...

I use a hay rake to gather the hay into windrows. Then we bale the hay!

Sometimes my neighbor helps us out and brings over his fancy V-rake!

This rake pulls together about 5 or 6 rows of cut hay into pretty big windrows.

Then I hook up the baler and the hay wagon behind the tractor...

(And hopefully have help to load the wagons and unload hay into the barn...!)

In this case, I not only had help on my wagon, but my neighbor (who got the round bales the month earlier?) came over to help me bale, so we had two tractors and balers going at the same time!

Then we bring it into the barn...

(And hopefully have help to unload hay into the barn...!)

Unloading hay from the very first wagon of hay!

We use this hay elevator now -- when we were kids we did NOT have an elevator -- my sister and I WERE the hay elevator!!

And repeat...

... And repeat...

Speaking of sister, she helped this year -- said the hay elevator is "A game changer!"

Until the cutting is done and the hay mow is full...

...And then repeat for the next cutting -- and until the WHOLE BARN is FULL of hay!

Until the WHOLE BARN is full!!

FINALLY MAKING FIRST CUTTING of HAY!

So for all the preparations made during the spring, the hay making season did NOT go as smoothly as planned (Duh? It's FARMING!) ...

I finally had the hay bine in good shape and the baler chains replaced and all geared, BUT the kicker was now BURNING STRINGS off the bales? I was losing up to 1 in 3 bales at one point?! Oh, MISERABLE! So I dropped the wagon and opted to SPEED through the windrows of hay, which reduced my frustration in both the number of broken bales overall, and the number that sprayed all over the wagon... BUT it also left me with a pretty hefty burden of picking up hay bales off the ground... For a SHORT woman with a broken back and bad shoulder? Um, yeah, this is nothing to sneeze at...

FINALLY another farmer came over and adjusted the springs on the kicker for me, and VIOLA?! My burned off bales reduced CONSIDERABLY from 1 in 3 to only 1 in 25?! This is still not "FIXED" but it TOTALLY DOABLE to work with, and can now operate with the hay wagons again! Yeah!

Broken bales

In the wagon... and had to push out of the wagon -- SO MUCH WASTED time and ENERGY!

Broken bales

On the ground...
It's the original "Crop Circles" of Perry County?!??!! Hahahaha! Trying to see some humor in the situation??

Kicker was adjusted

Kicker FINALLY throwing good bales again!

YEAH!!! -- Except? Now I have all these bales on the ground to go pick up...?
(I'm short and have a bad back and bad shoulder. Ugh, this is gonna hurt...)

FINALLY have hay to bring into the barn!

(Wagons on the side of the road, waiting to be unloaded. It's pretty late by now, so we'll unload them in the morning...!)

Oops! One more -- THE MOST IMPORTANT -- machine to fix ==> The Hay BALER!

Ok, so I had an epic fail...
I was supposed to have this baler fixed in time -- I had everything greased and the knotters were greased and in working order, and the timing reset on the knotting cycle, and on the bale plunger, the knives were sharpened, AND new feed forks were ordered for the bale chamber...
... and the chains for replacement of the old (stretched) chains were ordered AND HERE!

So I mowed my hay with my all-fixed-up haybine...
... and I teddered it...
...
BUT...
When I needed to rake and bale it? The new chains were not installed and it was not baling right! I lost the whole field waiting a day to get the chains done but then fog rolled in and the hay that was DRY and ready to make the day before? Was RUINED by the fog! And we were expecting over TWO inches of rain? I finally had to accept the epic fail, and called my neighbor to come round bale it for cow hay?! My weed-free, sprayed and fertilized, perfect hay (for once?!).
I literally cried.

Baler -- and chain still in box...

(led to massive failure...)

All that... For cattle round bales...

All the weed spray and fertilizer all lost (not to mention time and fuel mowing, tedding and preparing...). BEAUTIFUL HAY. I cried. Literally.
(BUT I was happy for my neighbor, the farmer!)

Ok, Getting Serious...
...Fixing the Hay Equipment!

April - May 19, 2020:
Just in the nick of time... it seems like the hay bine is coming together... Just in time for our first weather window to make hay??

(Fingers crossed!)

(Oh yeah, #StillFarming...!)

Some of the old cutter blades were easy to remove -- others not so much. Here, they are being torched off.

Brand NEW cutter bar and rebuilt cutter rail with new rail guards, cutter guards, spacers, and hold downs.

She took THIRTY-SIX (36) new teeth?!

And we adjusted the gaps, shoes, and floats...

There is the refurbished John Deere mower conditioner, ready to go to work!
She ain't pretty (we didn't clean up the rust or re-paint), but she should work great this year!

Damaged Pasture Fence

March 26 -- May 17, 2020:
So, we have had LOTS of RAIN and Lots of WIND, and that resulted in a tree coming down in the back pasture... It pulled the fence up from the bottom, ripped the electric tape, and the horses -- clever ones! -- figured out they could get out! So that pasture sat while we cleared the debris, brush, trees, and overgrowth so we could put up a new electric fence (even if temporary).
Yes, this took a while... but that let the grass grow in and tall which the horses were VERY HAPPY about!

Downed tree that started it all...

So you don't see me in many of these pictures -- mainly because someone has to take the the photos...

But for reference, this smaller chainsaw is what I was using for clearing the brush and other weed trees, vines, and overgrowth. (But I am no overgrown or big girl (or jock), and so I didn't use the 22" blade!) =)

Clearing the brush and other weed trees, vines, and overgrowth.

Horses wondering why they can't get into that pasture... "The Grass is Greener Over There, Ma!"

Although we had wood posts donated for permanent fencing...

( - and THANK YOU for the posts!!)

Make-shift electric fencing will have to do for now...

... just so I can get the horses out on this rich pasture!

(and because I am still teleworking for my "real" job, and ALSO getting the hay equipment ready for the first cutting... (aka #StillFarming))

Finally! Happy Horses on tall, lush grass.

More Hay Equipment (and Tractor) Repairs...

May 2020:
So there is a saying: a Farmer's job is never done. This is VERY, VERY TRUE.
Here is a series of photos of some of the other repairs that we worked on during the extra/surprise shut down month...
(oh yeh, #StillFarming...)

Starting on Hay Baler
(notice brand new seat on tractor... see below...)

Hay baler has... let's just be generous and say "some" issues...

Tractor - that was supposedly repaired for $2300 was STILL LEAKING hydraulic fluid EVERYWHERE...

Oh yeah, they broke the seat while it was in for "repairs" too... Here is *another* brand new seat (another $175 but the broken one I was literally hanging off the left side of... Way too dangerous to try to use. =(

(Notice hydraulic oil underneath the tractor...)

Emptying Barn(s) for First Cutting...

April-May 2020:
So while I was originally worried that I might not have enough hay to get me through the end of summer, since we didn't take additional rescue horses this winter (like the TWO we took in during last year's BRUTAL winter...), between an early arrival of spring grasses and the horses not eating as much hay as usual (only 3 bales per feeding rather than 4 bales in the nets), we seem to have not just enough to get us through until the end of summer, but extra? What a RELIEF!!

So... I actually sold some hay (I needed to pay for that fertilizer *somehow*...), and I also helped another hay farmer transport several of his round bales to get them off our properties and get ready to make our first cutting this year...!

(Oh yeah, #StillFarming...)

My Barn is REALLY looking pretty empty now...! This was just after loading up some hay to haul away.

My Barn is REALLY looking pretty empty now...! (After sweeping)

Barn looking REALLY EMPTY -- And ready for making this year's hay!
(...or maybe a barn dance???)

Helping another hay farmer transport and get rid of last year's hay -- BTW, at INCREDIBLE bargains (and some for FREE) because so many farmers are suffering to keep going through this economic crisis...!

Are we still Riding During this Quarantine and between all this work?
--> Yes!

April - May 2020:
So I am both teleworking and also #StillFarming... AND I am home during the week when I normally am not, so I am also spending about ~4 hours per day feeding and caring for the horses on top of all that (I normally have a feeder while I am at work, much like a daycare for horses...). So I have to admit I have not been riding as much as I would have hoped... (Sadly).
That said, I have been able to go out riding a few times, and yes, mainly on weekends (like normal).

Poco - in her rope halter, which I ride her in ("bitless!")!

Riding Poco - She's in her Aussie saddle and fancy barrel racing/gaming breast collar here.

Riding Poco
(on Easter Sunday)

After Riding Poco
(on Easter Sunday)

Bringing in Poco -- And look who followed?

(Now if that isn't volunteering to go on a ride, I don't know what is...!)

Getting Ready to Ride Leo

(As usual, he needs quite a bit of groundwork when I first pull him out... and he usually has a "tell" if he's feeling bucky....)

Riding Leo

(I actually wasn't planning to ride him this day, but he was being so good...)

(After) Riding Leo

(This was on a different day, but I have been consistently taking him out and doing short rides on the dirt road.)

Riding Ginger and Sarge

(Dirt road? Yes, this one, that's in half of my riding photos. It goes right through the middle of our property, right at the base of the mountain.)

Preparing to Ride Texas

(Notice Tazer in the back... I think he is volunteering to be next?!)

Riding Texas

(Ok, I was being *led* on Texas -- he's just a little wily yet...)

Preparing to Ride Tazer

(Again, notice Poco and Leo in the background, volunteering to be next...)

Riding Tazer

(Again, with a lunge line/ doing lesson in the ring because he is still a little too anxious...)

Out with Texas and Tazer

(Can you say, spoiled??)

Really Cute - Texas trying to bond after being ridden
(or maybe he was just trying to steal a cookie?!)

Farrier is Back Again.

May 6, 2020:
So the horses don't mind "Aunt Leslie" as much as the vet. In fact, sometimes they like the extra kisses they get from her if they are really, really good (or really, really CUTE!)!

Tazer is posing.

Poco is not entirely thrilled... but tolerating this.

(as an aside, Tazer modeled a new way to wear rain sheets for us... As a CAPE!)

Fertilizing Hay Field

April 2020:
#StillFarming
Just sayin' -- this is just doing what needs gettin' done down here on the farm.

After I got my soil samples back from Penn State (they were delayed due to the pandemic and closing the local pick-up centers...), I finally knew what I needed to add to my field.

Here, I am picking up the spreader and fertilizer at the Agronomy Center.

Here is the spreader hooked to tractor and ready to spread (it's much bigger than it looks!).

#StillFarming

Enough said. Me, still farming.

# STILL FARMING...

April 2020:
So someone told me about this hashtag. Good grief. I am NOT usually one to get on this bandwagon... HOWEVER, THIS -- STILL FARMING -- is exactly what I have been saying -- AND DOING -- all along...

#StillFarming

Our Rescue Version of Easter "Egg" Hunt

April 12, 2020:
So when I went out to feed the horses, it was so nice they didn't want to come in. I had to go "hunting" for my multi-color eggs in the pasture! Haha!

My "Easter Eggs"

Spring Vetting

April 11, 2020:
Time for spring shots, tests, and dental floating. The horses' favorite... (Not!) But very glad they were willing to schedule us -- mainly because we did have two medical issues: Tazer's mouth (has growths) and Sarge's eye (turned hazy blue -- "Moon blind" --over winter). We had:
- 11 Rabies and 11 of the 5-way Gold shots (2 vaccines each)
- 2 Coggins tests, and
- 5 horses floated!

First patient: Tazer

Due to his mouth tumors, we definitely wanted to check his whole mouth. And since we don't want him to bite them or give himself ulcers, we definitely prioritized floating him right away.

Next Up: Sarge

He got some steroid ointment for his eye, but didn't need any dental work.

Next Up:

Ginger
This old girl quids - meaning she tucks or packs hay in her jawline and later spits out what looks like used cigars...

Chewie

Not surprising, with his cribbing habit, he needed to be floated. He *almost* looks comfortable with her hand in his mouth... probably because he can't keep it off anything in our barn! Tee hee!

Ohio

He's always a tricky one -- he does NOT like this vet for some reason (even though he's off the track, and so pretty much lets ANYONE else do ANYTHING to him...)? Go figure?!

(in case you are wondering, that's Chewie in the background, still drunk from sedation, and waking up...)

Sterling

The vet says he is ALMOST caught up with his dental work -- after THREE years and 5 floats to get him here...!! But thank goodness!

Barn Cats

While the vet was here...
We usually round up some of the fixed barn cats and update their rabies vaccinations. This year? Yeah, that didn't go so well...

Who'd have guessed this (otherwise) SWEET and lovey-dovey Thomas would cause such an uproar over a silly shot?!!

While the Rest of the World Shut Down...

March-April, 2020:
...We still have sh*t to do on the farm (literally). ALL FARMERS DO.

In addition to the fence repairs we've been in the middle of, the hay equipment repairs that have been ongoing this winter and spring, and the regular barnyard manure maintenance, and oh, yes, aside from feeding and watering and cleaning stalls for horses...?

--> We have been keeping on doing what we do.

WE HAVE NOT STOPPED

-- And NEVER WILL.

--> Why?

Not just because "No Farms, No Food" ( Although that may be part of it.... )

Instead -- It is JUST IN OUR NATURE.

As farmers and cultivators of the earth and animals -- destroyers of our own bodies so that others may thrive?

That's just WHAT WE DO.

We CANNOT sit still.

As Farmers, we WILL NOT be told to stop:

Not when our animals' lives are on the line;

Not when our fields are not ready to plant or when we need to fertilize or spray;

Not when our equipment needs repair; and

Not when our life's work is at stake.

We WILL NOT be told to stop.

Period.

That's enough about that for now...

Here, we found and needed to repair a broken (neglected and forgotten) bush hog -- it needed some serious grease in the gears, and not to mention the PTO shaft was so bound we had to chain it to a tree to pull it apart... We also slipped the clutch, which was wound way too tight.

Tried to pull apart the PTO shaft with the tractor. No go...

Pulled the PTO off the mower deck and chained one end to a tree. That worked.

There were a few steps in between, like putting it back together and loosening seized parts, slipped the clutch, and greased it, but here it is, hooked up and ready for use again (after a loooong nap in the tree line).

Time to Start Fixing the Hay Equipment...

March 24, 2020:
Welp, as with many, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my work offices shuttered their doors and I was sent home. Guess it's time to work on getting the equipment ready for this hay making season...

Moving the hay bine out of the hay field

Parking in a better spot for repairs

My new "home office" window...

View from my new "home office"...

Barnyard Manure Management Time Again...
March 21, 2020:

Well, not shocking after the amount of rain we had this last week (and the week before...). The barnyard is a COMPLETE mess again! It doesn't help that we appear to be losing a lot of hay into the muck too, so that is exacerbating the issue... Never fear! The little John Deere was here to handle the mission!

Mucky Mess and hay... (at top of shelter)

Mucky Mess (bottom of Shelter)

Look at all this wasted Hay...

Look at these piles wasted Hay...

Almost clean!!

Putting hay out in nets again once all the muck was scraped away!!

Getting Hay Field Sprayed (Pre-emergent to control for weeds!)
March 8, 2020:

So this happened to be pre-ordered for another farm, but they can't use it. So guess what?! We got it as a donation.

Yeah -- tractor arriving with a sprayer (that works)!

Don't worry folks -- "this is safe for mammals!!!"
(*Note: there is a grazing restriction on the label though...)

(The spray is called Prowl H2O)

Spraying the fields...
(Yes, with a respirator and Tyvec suit on...)

Time for Barn Cat Spay and Neuter!!

March 6, 2020

So we couldn't catch all the cats I had appointments for... (drat! and a few scratches to show for it!!).,, But we DID manage to get 4 cats in all spayed and neutered: Scratch (who was already pregnant!), Haddass, Benjamin, and Boots. Still did not get Diane or Harley (tried several times last year also -- and the latter three from this list that got fixed are all Diane's kittens!).

Scratch, showing off her belly scar

Haddass -- seems to not be phased...

Winter Maintenance: Hay Bine Repairs Under Way!

March 8, 2020

YEAH!! Winter Maintenance has BEGUN!! (a little late?) Hey, hay, HAY -- no judgement, please!

;^) (Yeh, I just couldn't resist the pun...!)

It's winter (kind-of?!), so this is the best time to make sure all the hay equipment is in working order (I didn't get to do that last year, and most of it had been broken...)! So this is SUPER EXCITING to actually get my hay bine basically REBUILT to put it back in tip top shape! Here, the cutter bar has been pulled, and it's being inspected for what additional parts it will need...

One of us is PLAYING while the other one is Working... Can you guess which?

In all seriousness, after inspecting the cutter blade and rake teeth... Not good news there... (I need more than 35 blades on the cutter bar and about 30 teeth, and a bunch of other stuff on the list that my eyes glazed over upon hearing... == $$)

Tazer's Back on the Trail? Well.... Almost!

February - March, 2020

So we really are trying to get Tazer back to work now that his hooves are all cleared up. He really likes having a new rider -- however, it's just a TEENSY BIT of a big step to get him from not working trails to going back out again. He keeps freaking out (argh -- not full on bolt to home, but he's really, really nervous...). Not to worry -- we are taking "Baby Steps" with him to bring him back 'round...

** Update: We almost had a new rider (and farmer), but things didn't work out for Tazer. A little more patience....

Look how intently Tazer is watching as he waits while we open the gate, gather treats, and collect riding helmets!

Sorry Tazer -- and he is STILL making this longing face, waiting for his forever rider.... (breaks my heart!)

Manure spreading time again...

February 9, 2020:

We have a NEW TRACTOR on loan to us (!!) to help us keep on top of the manure piles! Here it is, helping to load the manure spreader (once again... ).

This tractor might look little, but it is surprisingly strong -- complete with a backhoe, three point hitch ball, and quick-change round bale spear for the front end and all!! (I may just have my mind changed about round bales yet...?)

Check out the driver... (that's Scratch, supervising again!)

Maybe I'll stick with green tractors from now on, btw... (like my dad's!)

Here it's shown fitted with a blade for scraping manure.

Moving the stall compost pile (what we remove from the stalls -- WEEKLY!) to the manure spreader...

Loading manure spreader...

Re-Assessing the Hay Situation...

January 2020:

Well, that barn FULL OF HAY sure does start to look EMPTY about this time of year... (Gulp!)

Truth be told... I started to panic about mid-November, and did a re-count then (fearing that I might not have enough, especially if taking in another emergency case (or two?!) like we did last year...). I am just sharing the new count for the New Year. I am pretty confident we'll have plenty to get through May...

This count puts us able to feed up to 10 bales a day for 145 days, or approx. 4.8 months. That *should* hold us until we make our first cutting of hay ~ though we usually don't feed fresh-cut hay and wait for it to "season". If we don't feed all 10 bales a day (and we don't on warmer days), then we should be (just) OK... but we'll definitely be pushing it DOWN TO THE WIRE (or chaff?!) to be feeding ALL of our hay -- with no buffer for summer...!

So, DONATIONS are ALWAYS WELCOMED -- Hay, Stall Shavings, Donating Time and/or EQUIPMENT to move the manure... ALL ARE WELCOMED!!

Thank you to ALL who helped us in 2019, and Happy New Year!!

BOTH Mows that had been FULL of first cutting hay are each down by TWO THIRDS!

But I estimate I still have just under ~700 bales of first cutting left...

Second Cutting and purchased "filler" hay (behind the tall stack) is still looking good. I estimate another ~750 bales here.

(though note: most of the purchased hay bales are very small and were not bound tight... this makes a large margin of error)

...A reminder of how full the mows were in September 2019... This photo taken from about 14 feet off the floor of the barn, on top of the first cutting, just after I started feeding from this seasoned hay.

(I fed the last of the 2018 season hay all summer. I'm not sure we'll have that buffer this year...)

Christmas Trail Rides ~~

December 2019:

This Year I Rode Sarge!

He shook the antlers off in the corner of the big field though (Note to self: Go find them!), but I did get all geared up in loud colors so as not to be mistaken by hunters... =)

Sarge and Poco, eager to get home!

Cleaning Barnyard ~

December 2019:

Well... Attempting to clean barnyard before the holiday... but it was pretty frozen to do much but remove the manure pile that had built up from cleaning the stalls...

I got started...

But it works better to have him load the spreader and I run it in the fields while he makes more piles...

This was about the only heat anywhere on this day, and it stayed below freezing all day...

The John Deere is out of commission again with a leaking hydraulic line (argh?!), so that's why the big tractor with the bucket is pulling the spreader today rather than loading it...

Yeah, neither of us knows when to quit! Beautiful pic though, working at dusk...

New Skirt on Sliding Barn Door ~

(and New Rain Guard on Shelter...)

November 2019:

Yeah! This new - DONATED - rubber roofing material will be SO MUCH EASIER to handle than the old tarp I had been using as a rain and wind block...

Here, our volunteer is almost done installing the rubber roofing as a rain and wind sweep on this sliding door... (with Scratch -- one of our latest dropped off barn cats -- supervising!)

ALSO: Notice the SHINY NEW ROOFING between the two shelter roof lines? That will help keep SO MUCH moisture out (particularly snow).

Spreading Manure...

November 2019:

So that manure and compost pile was getting pretty big -- and I finally have my tractor back from repairs, so it was time to do it before winter set in... It was almost ALL broken down to soil and compost, except what was added in October.

Pulling Manure Spreader Out

TESTING the spreader to ensure it was not pinched or stuck or broken...

The first load on the spreader...

Loading the spreader...

Spreading manure...

And back for another load

(many times...!)

Putting up the Winter Wind Blocks ~

November 2019:

It's that time of year again to start thinking about keeping the horses comfortable and sheltered from the BRUTAL winter cold and wind. We had some really nice weather and decided maybe it would be nicer to do it in NICE weather rather than waiting to freeze our fingers and toes off in the process??

Kids, do NOT try this at home!! (Being hoisted in a tractor bucket is not recommended, but we already had it out...)

Mia is supervising... and hard to believe it's already time to think about sub-zero temps -- I am getting too hot!

Ok, the whole wind break is re-installed! (again). I know, she ain't purty, but it does help keep the wind down...

(It feels - EASILY - 5 degrees warmer this side of that wall most days than out by the ring...)

Fall Trail Rides Around the Farm ~

October 2019:

Of course the scenery around the farm is BEAUTIFUL too...!

(I just do the trails so often that I love going off site, like to Gettysburg, and other rides...).

Poco - enjoying the small falls

Poco - wondering Mom, are you really going to make me carry you up that hill?

Poco - wondering "Ok, if I do this, do I get a treat?"

Poco - Oh boy, we're almost home!

Another New Shelter Goes Up...

Sept. 2019:

So Sarge and Chewie always just STAND here, in this corner, and with no shelter roof over them for years... We decided we should probably oblige them and put a roof over them -- Just in time for winter!

Shelter in construction

Testing out the new shelter!

Horse approved! =)

(still needs gutters...)

2019 - HAY Making Season -- Second Cutting!!

September 2019:

Well, my hay bines were down so I had the neighbor assist me -- Again!!

(after "baling" me out at the end of my first cutting as well...! Pun intended!)

Here, he is teddering multiple rows together.

Second Cutting

After Teddering

Finally ALMOST finished! (yes, moon is up and still working... But Of course!)

Note: some of the bales at this late hour were a loss for me -- too wet, so I sold them to the farmer helping me. His cows and goats could eat the rich, still-wet grasses, but my horses could NOT, and I was not about to put 100 wet bales in the barn... (!)

Well, you can guess how late into the night this went, unloading the last of the second cutting...

(Answer: waaaayyyyy too late!)

Here is a daytime shot of the second cutting, nearly filling the 3rd mow.

Time to Mow the Pastures again...

September 2019:

Hey Mom,

Can you do something about these WEEDS out here?? The gnats like to HIDE in them...

Thanks,

~ Your spoiled, fly-mask and spray protected Rescue Babies...

Of course, my Dears!!

Your Wish is My Command...

(having pastures mowed again...)

2019 -- Hay Making Season!

First Cutting ~

June-July 2019:

Despite lots of bumps, hick-ups, and ultimately irreparable equipment, we -- WITH TONS OF HELP! -- still managed to fill the barn with hay...

Thank you SO MUCH to ALL THE HELPERS we had for the first cutting of HAY this summer!!

Heading out with the hay bine

First part of timothy field mowed with hay bine

Arghh...

Changing tires on a hay bine...

So after last year's IMPOSSIBLE rain, I broke down and got a (used) tedder. This will help the hay to dry faster, and reduce the overall number of days needed to make hay.

In theory...

Raking the hay into windrows...

FINALLY! Making hay!!

FINALLY almost done making hay (well, the first cutting anyway...).

A well-deserved REST was in order -- this was, after all, WEEKS (and Weeks!) into this harvest...!!

We managed to fill TWO mows full of hay (I didn't get to lime or fertilize this year, so it wasn't as good as it could have been, but it was a HUGE relief to get so much in nonetheless!)

Oh no -- BEES???

June 2019:

Leo came in just COVERED in these welts... Can only assume he got into a bee hive??

Fortunately my vet was right on top of it, and we helped him to get comfortable quickly. Most of the swelling was gone the next morning -- not soon enough for Leo, I am sure!

What do YOU wear to stay warm??

January 25, 2019:

(***again, no affiliation, and I am not getting anything for posting this

- I just Love these products...**)

Pants:

- I have been wearing the Dakota Riding Sport Thermal (snow) pant / riding pant for about 4 years. I got these on discount from Dover saddlery in about 2014, and another pair in 2017 ("just in case!"), but unfortunately they seem to be discontinued. That's very sad, because these are some of the best investment pants I have worn in the last 10 years -- and people ask me about them everywhere I go! The thermal pants are better than regular snow pants because the faux riding seat, and they are WAY BETTER than snow overalls because the overalls fall off your shoulders and/or rip, not to mention they don't have riding seat?! The Dakota Riding Sport pants have been the best thing EVER! They vent at the legs with full zipper, they let you ride (with riding boot strap at pant opening so they don't ride up), and elastic waist snap belt. They have been AWESOME!
- I also wear the KERRITS SIT TIGHT N WARM (full seat), and another winter fleece (to be updated) when it is not below 30 degrees...

As for GLOVES?
I have been fortunate that my local feed and tack store carries a variety. I used to just wear the SSR deerskin gloves. But when they got the 10 Below brand?? That was *IT*! I now have about 2-3 pairs on hand, and I wear them ALL WINTER LONG. They dry quickly on the baseboard heaters, I keep a pair in the barn, and another pair in my car. They are INDISPENSABLE cold weather wear. Why 2 pairs? While they are pretty water resistant, they still get wet, and if you are hauling hay, or doing sweaty chores like stalls, they can get damp inside... and then cold. So we just keep 2 pairs on hand and change them out. As one pair dries, we wear the other. They are a MUST HAVE! Highly recommended!

Boots:
- For RIDING: I wear what *used to be* Brossard (now discontinued) and is now the Ariat "Extreme Insulated Riding boots" (available online).
- DUE TO ALL THE RAIN this year... Around the barn, I recently got the tall, camo designed Muck boot field blazer from another local feed store, Lost Creek Ag. They are a bit clunky for women, in all honesty, but they do keep my feet warm and dry (so long as they are on a drier overnight).
- Men WEAR: To ride and around the barn: The Ariat Terrain pull-on boots, and generally a pair of muck boots is a good idea.

And then there is the issue of wet boots...
-We use a boot drier. Two, actually. -- More to come on those....

Winter Extreme Riding Sport Pants

Kerrits Sit Tight n Warm Breech

SSG - 10 Below Winter Gloves

Boots - on driers.

Sincere Thanks...

January 24, 2019:
Winter time can be rough for horse owners. Often, it is even worse for the horses (for lack of proper shelter, care, feed or supplements). In fact, fall is the most likely time that horses -- especially those over age 14 -- are at risk for being discarded, simply because winter is coming, and if someone doesn't TRULY LOVE them, horses are frequently "downsized" from riding stables, from tour operators, and even kids camps. It's true. Loyal, kid-friendly horses are sold to auctions, and usually it's not to other loving homes....
Why? Well horses are expensive enough in the spring (with vetting, vaccinations, etc.), and summer even when there is grass. But during winter - when there is no grass and they become even more dependent on their owners for food? Many horses are discarded as a "burden" to their owners.
That's where we have come in -- several times. We have taken in unwanted horses in the fall and even during winter.
And now? When we are in need of funds (because I am still furloughed and have no regular paychecks coming in to pay for feed?)? I want to give my most sincere thanks to the generosity of the several donors who have come to our aid!! I can't tell you how much of a relief it has been to get much needed help when our regular funds have all but disappeared.
Thank you so much for your support and generosity!

Barn Cat Spay and Neuter Day.

January 23, 2019:
So despite still being furloughed and our money stream being limited, the female barn cats still need to be fixed -- or we will have a bigger problem: more kittens! Fortunately, we saw a post about openings in a Trap-Neuter-Release clinic being run by "One Dog At A Time" (ODAAT), and were able to trap Nosey (the calico kitten I had pictured last August?) and her brother, Jack.
Unfortunately (and after sustaining a few fresh scratches to boot), I was unable to catch the other two female cats that DESPERATELY need to be spayed... Despite hours of attempts and three months of trying with live traps, I cannot catch them. ODAAT is suggesting a drop trap, which I have agreed to, if I can even maneuver around it in the barn.
The main point is to control the breeding population so that our limited resources are used for what they are intended for - the horses - and not spent on cats. So I took my two little tacos down to the clinic, and they are back! We are doing our part, and here are Jack and Nosey all patched up and back from the spay and neuter clinic! (I call them little tacos because they curl up together in things like the horse's leg wraps, and look like little bundles of tacos - too cute!)

Nosey (as kitten)

She was hand-fed as a kitten so was easy to catch for the TNR clinic. Her brother, Jack, was taken away by their mother as kittens, so he took a lot longer to warm up to humans. The other two from this litter - Diane (as in Jack and Diane), and Harley (because he's big and tough -- and orange, like the bike!) were too wild to be caught.

Recovery Room

In the house during recovery.
(yes, their ears were tipped because it was a feral cat program, and even though the rest of our altered barn cats were not tipped)

Tacos Curling Up Together

I think Nosey's pain killer is starting to wear off.... (sorry Nosey) . Meanwhile, Jack is purring up a storm and thinks it's GREAT inside...!

Still Spoiled!

So it's the 25th and the kittens are still in the house... Spoiled much??
"But their bellies are shaved..."

Ode to the "Little Things"...

January 22, 2019:
Many years ago I remember seeing a post from Marjory Wildcraft about the "lowly bucket" on her GrowYourOwnGroceries YouTube channel (it appears her growyourowngroceries.com site is now hosted here, on the Grow Network). Well today, I would also like to give praise for the lowly bucket, as well as acknowledge the little things, like heat tape...
First the buckets. I should say, our buckets take a lot of abuse. They get pounded, banged, clanged, clattered together, scrubbed, and banged some more, as we try to bang the feed "mash" out of said buckets and into feed pans, dishes, or other buckets in appropriate stalls. But now, in temperatures this cold? They are taking a REAL BEATING. The feed is left to soak while the cubes break down, and in these past three days of sub-zero temps? The "mash" is more like a feed-sickle when we try to dump it out, with icy crust on top. I have taken to using a large screwdriver and hacking away around the edges and bottoms trying to get the remnants out of the buckets like it's a pick-ax. (Note: try explaining this to an impatient horse who is pawing for his feed...).
Needless to say, these buckets have taken some serious abuse in the past few days, so I just wanted to acknowledge Marjory Wildcraft's warning to always make sure you have enough GOOD buckets on hand, and to take care of them -- you know, when you aren't hacking away at them in the dead of winter! =)

As to the heat tape? I wanted to just note something that often goes un-noticed. We couldn't function right now if it wasn't for this little wonder of heat tape (ok, we *could* but it would be much more difficult...). When the so-called "frost-free" spigot gets below about 25 degrees? Fa-get-about-it. It freezes. In the past, I have resorted to running the hoses from the kitchen sink, across the yard, and to the nearest water tank. Believe me, you do NOT want to deal with that mess... So again, I give tribute to this little wonder of the modern world, our invaluable, indispensable heat tape!

And to the horses -- ENJOYING THEMSELVES IN THE SNOW!!!

Frozen food in buckets

These buckets have been taking some serious abuse in the cold...

Reminder, buckets treated well before

Had posted this last spring after painstakingly cleaning them...

Broken muck bucket... Needs replaced

Thanks, Chewie...!

This was as much the UV damage to the integrity of the plastic as Chewie's, but he made the final fatal blow.

RIP, muck bucket.

Heat Tape -- INVALUABLE!

Heat tape in sub-zero temps.

Amazing concept!

Horses - Running in Snow!

Horses - Enjoying Running in Snow!

(They are a little off in the distance...)

Joining the other Horses!

Finally settled down, and eating hay.

And Now, A Controversial Subject: BLANKETS.

January 21, 2019:
Many people Do NOT like horse blankets -- some don't even like to talk about them. They are indeed a controversial subject in the horse world.
Those who compete in the winter and keep their horses clipped obviously *must* blanket horses. Those who don't ride at all during the winter are usually mixed on the subject, but tend to leave horses do their "natural" thing.
Us? We believe in BOTH. We ride throughout the year but we don't clip our horses (they are not doing performance/event level workouts), AND we believe that they should be covered appropriately for the weather. For instance, we have had at least 15 days of weather above 40 degrees here. For this, it's difficult for horses with very heavy winter coats to dissipate the heat that the heavy coat is designed to keep in.
Then you get the opposite ~ such as the weather that we have right now with frost bite and severe wind chill advisories. In this? A full winter coat is still not enough to keep a domesticated horse warm enough in negative 15 degrees. This is especially true early in the season, before heavy winter coats have come in (as we had during and after Winter Storm Avery (November 2018)), and for horses that don't have adequate shelter ~ which in this climate zone should be at least three-sided shelter (for any animal; not just horses) ~ with food INSIDE said shelter.

The solution? We blanket. This allows us to ensure the horses are comfortable at any temperature, and also provides adequate protection from the elements when we have rain, sleet, snow, and general ugliness in the outdoors (which we have had plenty of this year...).

Money-Saving Water Tank Heaters

January 20, 2019:
In case anyone was wondering what we do to keep our water tanks from freezing AND still keep the electric bills down?? Even in winter storms like Harvey?? Instead of the expensive drain of 1500 Watt heaters, we just use these little de-icers. We can do just 500 watts in our big 100-gallon tanks. In the smaller 20 to 50 gallon tanks, we use the 250 watt version. (Note: If your horses do not drink cold water, we would recommend using the 500 watt in a smaller tank.) The 500 watt version says can de-ice up to 50 gallons, but we have found it's good for the larger tanks, and this not only saves money, but the horses don't flip the heaters out of the tank since they are not floating on the surface. And since they are safe laying flat on the bottom, we don't have to worry about the water level going below the heater element, as with the 1500 watt variety (that sit off the bottom, about 6-7 inches).

As I was re-filling one of the 100-gallon tanks today, I took a photo to show the size of tank that the little de-icer can keep ICE FREE (even steaming, in cold weather like this!), and another photo of the de-icer in the bottom of another tank.

500 Watt Utility De-icer

We got ours at our local feed store (Bonsall's), but also available online.

Very small 500 Watt de-icer in 100-Gallon tank.

Works very well, even in sub-zero temps.

Filling water tank - small de-icer works.

(Tex and Chewie sharing hay net)

Even at Negative 17 Degrees - this small de-icer works!

Despite actual outside temps at negative 4 degrees, and wind chills of negative 17 degrees during Harvey, this is all the ice that formed in the tanks - the horses did NOT have to break any ice to get water, and that little de-icer worked great!

Smartpak Equine's SmartLamina and SmartMetabo-Lean have saved my horses.

January 19, 2019:
Tazer and Sarge's stories -

~~ (No affiliation and I am NOT getting kickbacks from these stories, but I wanted to tell how my horses have been SAVED by these supplements) ~~

~ Sarge's laminitis is GONE, and he has lost his Cresty Neck!

When Sarge had his laminitis episode last summer, I read the indications for the hoof supplement he was on, and it said to not use the Smarthoof Circulate for horses with laminitis. (?!) So I immediately switched from that to SmartLamina for him, and also put him on the SmartMetabo-Lean pellets because he not only had the IR resistance, but he also had developed some cresty neck fat deposits -- a sure sign that his laminitis was fat and feed-related. Since then, Sarge lost about 70 pounds initially, and then gained about 10 back. His vet says his weight is now very healthy, and he has lost his fat deposits, but I say he is almost TOO SKINNY, as I can see his ribs! I don't like seeing ribs, but we have been able to return him to his regular feed routine (no more soaking hay! And we had everyone on a relatively low protein timothy cube diet before, we did switch ALL THE HORSES to a low-sugar "Natural Balance" feed. They ordered this for us at our local feed supply store, Bonsall's), his cresty neck has disappeared, and his feet are healthy and sound. Yeah! (see pics of him celebrating on a ride at Gettysburg below, just to prove how GREAT he felt to get out on the trails again!)

~ Tazer seems to be ABSCESS-FREE since shortly after starting him on these supplements?!

Now, I don't want to get ahead of myself, because I had Tazer on other supplements before that seemed to help his poor hooves for a while (Smartpak's SmartImmune pellets, along with SmartHoof). But he still would get abscesses regularly, and the pain he suffered was heartbreaking. HOWEVER, when I saw the wonderful improvements in Sarge, AND I read on the label for SmartMetabo-Lean that it had anti-inflammatory properties in it? Could they be better than the Smart-Immune? To me, it was worth a shot... And now? I am so relieved to report that Tazer has not had an abscess since shortly after we put him on Smartpak's SmartLamina and Smart Metabolean (knock wood!).

NOTE: He actually had several in a row within a month of putting him on the supplements, so that wasn't so great, but -- it was as if his body was pushing the infection right out of his hoof?! It was so bad I called the vet, they did nerve blocks, but in the end didn't find any specific cause. Now? Three months later? Despite mud and then frozen ground and then mud again? He has been abscess free!! It's almost too good to be true?!

I have posted some (pretty nasty) photos, below, starting in 2014 through summer of 2018, of some of the farrier work that was done, trying to cut the apparent channel of infection out of Tazer's hoof, and nothing seemed to work - the abscesses would come back. Until I found SmartLamina and SmartMetabo-Lean, that is!

Sarge in Grazing Muzzle -- in 2016

Despite our best efforts to control Sarge's grass intake (from long before the onset of laminitis) and he does not look overweight in this photo, but he still got cresty neck and laminitis.

Sarge -- Super Skinny in 2019

Here is super-light Sarge in 2019 (too skinny, I think, but his vet says otherwise...)

Abscess blow-out

Right at the coronary band. Yuck. (but relief, for poor Tazer!)

Chipped hooves and swollen pastern

Months after the off-set coronet blow-out... the weakened hoof wall chips off.
Here, his pastern is swollen, indicating *another* abscess is forming...

Farrier cut the channel out

To allow the infection to grow out

Didn't stop it.

Here, another abscess line is shown above where the farrier had tried to cut the infected channel out...

FINALLY! A GOOD HOOF!

Tazer's right hoof has been the problem, and look at it now - almost a completely new hoof!

Hay Hoops!

These have been a wonderful investment!
January 18, 2019:
They saved so much hay in the stalls that I got them for the barnyard too. I did this a while back, but am so happy I did, especially when it snows - we don't loose all the hay! If any snow is on the hay that was left in the nets, it can be shaken off (unlike hay that has soaked in snow, and been peed, pooped, and trampled on...), and more hay added to the nets!

I have been meaning to do a post on them, and we recently had a visitor asking about them, saying they had never seen anything like them. So here is the skinny: There are two varieties of "Hay Hoops" -- and we have both. (There is another version on Smartpak, too.) I think I like the Hay Hoops II version better, but to each his own.

No affiliation here, and I am NOT getting any kick-back from this, but I am VERY MOTIVATED to save my own hay, as are most horse owners. So the links are here:
--> Hay Hoops II --> Hay Hoops Original

Leo Demonstrating Hay hoops.

See the relatively clean barnyard in front of Leo?

The Alternative: Wasted Hay

This is what MOST horse owners face -- peed on, pooped on, trampled on and WASTED hay...
We had enough of that!

Other typical stall solutions -
The common hay rack.

But these are not slow feeders, and do not prevent as much waste.

January 18, 2019:
Hay hoops in action.

There is some accumulation of hay under each net, but nothing like the hay in front here showing the comparison of waste of hay on the ground (front right).

November 16, 2018:
Hay Hoops Save Hay!

This was taken after winter storm Avery brought in 9 inches of snow...
The horses are standing in snow, but the hay is kept off the ground!

Hay Hoop on wall.

Just moved one from another area to here. I can't say enough good things about these. Nets are easy enough to change when needed.
This is the Hay Hoops II model.

Winter Glamour Shots!

Jan. 15: (While the hay field was brush-hogged...)
I took Daisy out to hand graze her for a while, and all the other horses got so jealous! But they were SO CUTE I couldn't resist taking winter "glamour shots"...

Jealous horses!

"Wait, how did *she* get out there?!"

Leo and Tazer

"Wait, where's MY grass??"

Poco and Ohio

Handsome Sterling!

Texas

Finally integrated into *half* of the herd (still not safe with the more meager group).

Ohio (again)

He is looking out after his herd.
(or more likely, wondering why that man on the tractor is *wasting* perfectly good grass he could be eating...)

Sterling (again)

Couldn't resist that FACE!

Sunset at the Rescue.

A little dark, but was beautiful.

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Pics from a Winter Ride.

Jan. 14: I took Sarge out for some winter exercise...

Sarge is not sure he *really* wants to climb this hill with me on his back.

I am pretty sure those ears mean he is thinking:
"Don't you need the exercise too, mom?'"

Look, I have gone BITLESS!

Sarge is one of the horses I have been riding bitless (and sometimes bareback!)! This is him after the ride (pictured left). It also shows his "Total Saddle Fit" wither relief cinch -- we always loosen them after the ride while they unwind from the trail. It's standard protocol for our horses to let them relax after a ride!

We are Putting in a Parking Area...

For volunteers, therapeutic horsemanship visitors, and for events like the upcoming 4-H Barn Day!
Jan. 12:
Don't worry... even as I typed the headline of this post that song, "Paved Paradise" came into my head too. But we are NOT paving, and we did NOT cut down living trees. Promise! What we did do is cut down two trees that were (very sadly) already dead, and threatening to fall on our farm equipment. When we did the barnyard and got that 2b stone a while back, we also got TWO tri-axle loads of shale, and have started making a flat surface for parking. It still needs some work, but hopefully by the time the 4-H makes their way here it will be ready to go...

~ Images coming soon ~

In the meantime... Here's an example of one of the items we need replaced. (Thanks, Chewie!)

Ok, this isn't the best, but gives an idea.

I can't find the picture of the "before" - with the trees still standing. Coming soon...

Barnyard Clean-out Day!

Dec. 8: MORE PREP FOR OLD MAN WINTER!!
This is probably the most unusual way you will hear of someone "decorating" for the holidays... but it is a must around a farm, to routinely clean out the manure that builds up...
particularly with the RECORD-SETTING RAIN we have had this year...!

So, we ordered 22 TONS of 2b stone, and after the barnyard, shelters, and runway to the ring were cleared of mud we put the stone down as fresh surface.

As for the fertilizer? It is spread in the hay field. Hey, this is as natural of a cycle as we can get, right? What goes in must come out, then it goes back into the hay, that goes back into the horses, and so on....

The "nice pile of Stone" we got

First the 2b stone was delivered. (this already with a dent in it by the time I thought to take a picture...)

(And YES, people in the country *really do* say things like, "That's one nice pile of stone ya got there...!"
(It's a country and neighborly thing...)

The Manure Being scooped

And *NOT* by our hands, or by volunteers, for once... =)

Manure Being HAULED OUT!

If you don't know what this is, it is a manure spreader behind the tractor (of course, it's my Father's old John Deere!).

The Manure has Been Cleared!

So here is the new shelter cleaned out -- now it's ready for fresh stone (for draining all the never-ending RAIN...)!

(I definitely think we will need gutters...)

Time to "Decorate for the Holidays!"

Am *I* the *only* person who considers this "decorating" -- the NEW SHELTER -- for the holidays??

Final Product: Fresh, Clean Footing

Now, of course, the horses with their hoof issues and what not, we put boots on them so they don't get too sore until they get a nice coat of poop back on top of this... (that's probably what *they refer to as "Decorating!")

(and then, YES, the process starts all over again...)

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Time To Put Up the Wind Breaks and Close Up the Barn for Old Man Winter!

November 3: Since our barn is HISTORIC (built in the 1890's!), it's not what you call the "perfect horse barn."
--> We make due. A LOT.
So it goes, that when the COLD arrives, we once again break out the top doors for the front stalls, to button up the bottom of the barn when the horses are in (sorry, pics to come, I guess...).

BUT??? Since we put up the new lean-to extension and shelter? We also wanted to block it off from the wind -- and potentially use it as winter stalls (in case we do emergency rescues...).
(SHHHH!! Don't tell any helpers that part... They *might* get suspicious...!)

We made this sliding door!

THAT IS AWESOME, if I do say so myself!!

[There's Sterling, in front of the new sliding door, and sporting his brand new blanket (to match his BLUE eyes, and silver thread to match his NAME...). Don't ask him if he is spoiled though; he is probably mad he can't get in to eat hay right then...]

Well, we were going to put up CLEAR Plexi-panels...

But when you get materials FOR FREE -- and you are a RESCUE! -- you are HAPPY with any color that does the job!!
~ THANK YOU FOR THE DONATION!!

And more trail ride photos...

We are getting the horses ready to be safe, reliable therapy horses, so we are putting a lot of extra work into them...

Sarge is 32 Years old?!

NO Way! He is having too much fun to be old!

Leo is back in Service!

Well, except when he isn't eating...

Chaco is back to work too!

You can only see his ears, but that's him, enjoying the fall foliage!

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES:

April, 2019:
- Perry County 4-H Horse and Pony Round-Up Club "Barn Day"
When: TBD (This event had been scheduled for June 9 of 2018, but was post-poned until after the Round-Up Horse Show! Stay tuned...)
- We know that even horse-crazy kids can't all have a horse or pony, but we'd like to share what it's like to have a horse/pony, and live on a farm! This event will be hosted for club members with and without horses, and will help all the members complete their Project Book requirements. Members with horses may certainly share their insight based on their own horse/pony experience!
- Requires a signed waiver for each participant (signed by parent/legal guardian for each child, and one for each parent/chaperone)!
- The educational event will be targeted to showing the basics of horses, with the following planned activities:

Barn tour, featuring Safety First! (break-away cross-ties and halters, emergency info, fire extinguishers, fly masks, mounting blocks, High-Visibility horse- and rider-wear for riding on trails, and more!)
Safely grooming and leading a horse
Types of hay/forage - we have different types of hay in our barn so we will study each, including comparing 1st and 2nd cutting from the same field!
Other common types of horse feed (and how to feed them safely)
Minerals, supplements, and salts
Tack overview: comparing English, Western, Endurance, and Australian saddles, and some different bridles (english, western, halter-bridle) and bit types (snaffles vs. curb bits), and other "bitless" and barefoot options.
Other?? (as time permits)

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Other Needs / UPCOMING PLANS:

- Upcoming through 2018:
1) Shelter: We need to build another shelter, AND
2) a new pasture (lots of fence posts and wire fencing!). Please let us know if you are interested and able to help!! Volunteer here!

3) STORAGE SHED:
We also buy our horse feed in bulk when we can get it on sale. But that leads to a storage problem... Right now we store our feed in a broken down car, but not only do we plan to remove the car (for volunteer parking, of course!), but we really are running out of room for feed.
-- AND... the saddles and tack should really be stored in a place that is *not* the barn, where they are currently stored -- but get very dusty and in the most humid weather: moldy*. This is bad for the tack and our investment. We have decided we simply MUST build or get a storage shed to hold the tack and feed -- in an air-conditioned space. If you know of one that is used, cheap, or ready to be donated, please Contact Us! (we are a 501(c)(3) charity, will provide a receipt, and donations may be used for tax purposes.) Thanks! (*Note: the horses are spoiled enough to live 24/7 at pasture, and when they are in, have box fans in their stalls. But fans don't seem to prevent mold from forming on leather tack...)

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Beginning in 2019:

We will be offering a LIMITED NUMBER of FREE Therapeutic Horsemanship Lessons to help us earn our PA CECTH Qualified Instructor Certifications... ***Limitations and Exclusions apply!*** Please see our Therapeutic Horsemanship page for more details!

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OTHER RECENT ACTIVITY:

- Fall Funding Campaign!

- We got three funding requests into local organizations requesting funds for our 501(c)(3). Stay tuned...

- Training for Leo!

- Leo was the last of the group to go down to training this summer. He went in July, and came back ready to trail ride! Yeah!!

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More Benefit Trail Rides...

I did several more benefit rides over the summer and into the fall....

Save the TaTa's Breast Cancer Benefit Ride

(Sponsored by: Bonny Brook Riding Club)
September 30, 2018 --
I got to ride Grandpa!!
He is about 19 hands tall!!! -- and pure Gentle Giant!!

Keystone State Benefit Ride, at Codorus State Park

October 13, 2018 --
--It was our first **brrr** chilly ride, but a really nice one!
and I finally got to get Poco back out on the trails again (her knees had been very sore...).

Keystone State Benefit Ride, at Gettysburg Battlefields

November 3, 2018 --
Well wonders never cease! Sarge was all better from his *very rough* summer battling laminitis, and I tell you what? He was SO EXCITED to be out on the trails again -- AT AN AMAZING AGE 32! Imagine that!

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OLDER NEWS:

- May 12th: Therapeutic Horsemanship Training!
I *and* one of our long-term volunteers attended the CECTH Phase I, PA Qualified Instructor Training.  After our VERY EXPENSIVE April, *WE* could really use a sponsor/scholarship for this course...
- In our training, we went to HORSEPOWER Farm and got to experience a real, working therapeutic horsemanship center, see their adaptive tack, and other hands-on training. It was great to meet with Pam and have such experienced trainers!

- May 6: Barn Clean-Up Day!
It was a yucky, rainy day, so we took some time to do some "thankless" chores. Like cleaning the horses' feed buckets, and installing some donated (thank you!) saddle racks...
(We also got the truck back from having the brakes done...!)

Cleaned feeding buckets

I know... boring. It's *AMAZING* how long -- and BACK-BREAKING -- stuff like this is...

Installed Saddle Racks -- even if temporary

See why we probably need a better tack storage solution??

New Fence

I wouldn't say the horses are *enjoying* the new fence. In fact, they can see the new grass growing, Where? That's right! The *other* side of the fence...

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- May 4: Sterling and Chaco delivered for TRAINING!
On May the 4th, we put on our "Storm Trooper" braveness and loaded Sterling and Chaco up to take to much needed TRAINING! (with practice loading on April 29, just to be sure we could get them on the trailer... we are glad we practiced! That took a while...!) (photos coming...)

Well, it's much needed training for Sterling, anyway, but he is in a private paddock and needed a companion, so we are sending Chaco with him this month -- and trading companion places with Leo next month (we have a feeling Sterling will take *at least* 2 months to rehabilitate into a riding horse -- if not more. Sadly).

We could REALLY USE SPONSORS for Sterling through this process. Our suspicions of his teeth were confirmed by the vet in early April (that's him in the photo below, having his teeth floated under *HEAVY SEDATION*!), and his teeth are so bad they want to do surgery the next time. (!) Like transport him to the animal hospital, take X-RAYS of his head, and lay him down on the surgical table to remove problem teeth. It's really that bad, folks. This is BAD breeding. And because the owner got sick, the problem (bad genes/mouth conformation) was not managed well. As a result, Sterling's mouth is in TERRIBLE shape, and has caused him significant pain (we hope the floating in April relieved some of the pain -- he did almost immediately start eating faster. Thank goodness we feed our horses a "mash" or the poor guy would have had an even worse time of eating...). But despite this, the trainer is rolling up his sleeves to see what he can do to bring poor Sterling back around.

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- April 2018 (Part III):
Well, we got a lot done in the first half of April! Here's the report on that (as of April 15). Now, let's see what trouble we can get into for the rest of the month, shall we?

New Fence!

- It's spring. and there's mud. And no grass. So in order to get the most bang for our buck in the grass seed we purchased and spread, we decided we must install a new pasture dividing fence. This will enable us to better manage the pasture grasses. But it does come with significant costs -- and a new need: a water supply to the new pasture! Yowza!

Pasture Seeding!

- So we started re-seeding. 2 sections of pasture done. We will do the remaining two sections just as we are about ready to rotate the herd onto the newly-seeded sections.

New Hay Wagons!

- So we purchased THREE new (well, used!) hay wagons! We will be ready to go soon!
Some folks have asked, "Why so many?"
This is so we can hurry up and bale all the hay that is mowed "while the sun is shining" (as they say), and stash full wagons in the event of inclement weather (so we don't lose time unloading and potentially lose hay to the rain).

Oh no?! The truck brakes went out - AGAIN??!

- So, I don't know *WHAT* is going on with the truck?! The brake lines have already been replaced -- *REPEATEDLY*?? Like, literally, no less than 4 times since I have owned it, in 2011. I will just be driving along, and BAM, NO BRAKES? I have no idea, but that is certainly a new, unexpected expense, since TWICE they were replaced (in 2014 and again in 2016)--and this last time they even used a special material that wasn't as likely to rust? I don't understand. Can you help?

Hay Field, Fertilized. Check!

- I am sure the horses were confused: "Don't we provide enough fertilizer for the hay field??"

Spring Vetting. Check!

- Nine (9) of the horses got spring vaccinations;
- Three (3) horses were floated, including Sterling (pictured here with power float), whose mouth is "TERRIBLE" (quote from vet);
- Four (4) had Coggins drawn; and
- Five (5) had fecal/worm egg count collected (Vet reported they were *very* happy with the results and our worming protocol!)
We have paid the very large bill. (Gulp...! my guesstimate was low!)

- April 2018 (4/2): Surprise snow bunnies and spring snow storms? Mother nature is not always kind, playing April Fools Jokes on us... And just look at the pastures on most farms right now, which are a total muddy mess (not to mention our mud-covered horses, who are *loving* rolling in the mud!)!
In order to combat the mud, we are planning to overseed our horse pasture -- and we need help to divide the pasture into smaller sections, to better manage the larger herd, and to help the grasses do better!
Our big projects for this month (i.e. we need!):

seed for the pasture
seed for the hay field
fertilizer for the hay field
Posts for horse fencing (wood, cedar posts preferred)
Woven wire horse fencing (4+ rolls needed!)
Rental for a post-hole digger or fence driver
A new hay wagon (or two!)

Any help you can provide in getting ready for the spring greening, we would greatly appreciate. Thank you!

- March 2018: Spring is near! That's great news after a long, cold winter of blanketing and not riding much! But with the warm weather brings spring vetting, and vaccination season...
Last year our *discounted* spring vetting bill was nearly $900 -- and that was only caring for 8 horses at the time...
This spring we have -

2 additional horses that need vaccinations, and
4 horses that need updated Coggins, and
3 horses that need teeth floated (with sedation)...

So: We expect the bill will be closer to $1,300 for the Spring 2018 season. Any assistance you can provide would go a long way!

~ Thank you so much for helping*!

- February 2018: While we have been rescuing horses since 2008, in 2018, we are making it official! We recently filed our nonprofit organization with the State of Pennsylvania!

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*Donations: We have obtained our tax exempt status as a 501c(3) non-profit, and may officially accept donations. Donations may be deducted for tax purposes. If you cannot donate, please contact us to determine how you may help to serve our horses. Thank you!