I am really enjoying seeing my lesson kids from last season again as spring is warming up for us. They are like the spring flowers returning after the hard winters. They are all smiles and that puts a smile on my face too.
Throw back Thursday
March 20, 2014
This is me and Apollo (aka Appie). He was my third horse (pony) I had growing up. I was giving him for free from a friend at a local stable, after my 2nd horse ran away.
He was the best pony and would do anything I asked of him. We had so much fun!
I found this more detailed write up of him from and exercise I did back in 2005 for a career counselor.
Apollo my best Pony
My first horse had to be put to sleep because it was poisoned (either by the eating the grass with chemicals from the lime grove on it or by a weed called Creeping Indigo). My second horse ran away (he was scared by the big machine that comes and cuts the trees in the grove). A neighbor who had a horse farm heard of my bad luck and gave me a pony. He was named Apollo and was a chestnut with flaxen main and tail. He was green broke, which means he was only partially trained. I believe he was a rescue pony and probably not very well taken care of by his former owners.
Apollo came to live in my front yard. He was great; very quickly we grew to trust each other. I would take him trail riding every day. A few weeks later Appie (as he soon was nick named) and I went to visit the lady who gave him to me she was so impressed I was riding him with a loose rein. I didn’t have to be in constant contact with his mouth because I knew he was under control and would not run off or spook on me. He turned out to be my best horse and would do anything for me. He would walk through weeds higher than himself if I asked him to. I taught him how to jump, so when we found logs on the trails he hopped right over them. I took him swimming in the lake till the park police chased us away.
As I grew older I thought I wanted a bigger horse so I traded him for another. Thinking back on it I should have never of let him go.
Dobie’s new trick
March 18, 2014
Farm Activities, Farm Animals animals, Dobie, goat, play Leave a comment
So this is Dobie’s latest thing. I get him riled up and then he tries to nicely head butt me. Instead it looks like I trained him to walk on his hind legs.
Snowmelt
March 10, 2014
Farm Activities farm, flow, horse, peaceful, quiet, snowmelt, water Leave a comment
This afternoon I took a video of the water run off into George and Heather’s pasture. The water should be flowing straight into the woods where a drainage ditch that runs through it.
This is an example of farmer verses nature. I wanted to dig a trench to redirect the flow into the right direction. Instead there is about 6 inches of ice that is 5 foot long in my way. Oh well I will have to continue to be patient while everything melts.
People of often visited the farm and told me how quiet and peaceful it is. This video is shared so that y0u too may enjoy the silence.
Is the Spring door creeping open?
March 10, 2014
Farm Activities, Horseback riding melt, mud, snow, spring Leave a comment
As I have been plogging and complaining about… this has been a difficult winter and we keep saying spring is coming. So should I dare to say that winter is over? Will we have anymore major snow storms? Will the weather temperatures continue to rise? Looking at the trending weather forecasts I might say things are looking good. BUT you know what that means 12 + inches of snow needs to melt.
On Friday evening I got on Apple Jacks to test the riding ring. I wanted to know how the melt was coming along and if we could do lessons this weekend. Unfortunately the snow was too deep still, so once again the lessons were cancelled. He was a good boy though. A little hyper but that is to be expected in the ring. We cantered around for a bit till he got winded due to the extra effort he had to put out to get through the snow. That and we are both out of shape having taken the last month off due to the cold temps and snow.
So now we have mud. The snow is successfully melting and the ground is completely drenched and soaked. I have been making water channels for days to make sure the water flows away from the barn and out of the pastures.
Princess Isabelle is a big fan of the mud. In fact she likes to roll her body in every inch of it.
Nash on the other hand wanted to see what it was like to have a blaze.
He is so funny. I am not sure how he only got mud on his face.
That is a lot of snow
February 24, 2014
Farm Activities Leave a comment
We get back from vacation (in Hawaii) to this. I think we got like 26 inches. Most snow I have seen in PA. Most snow we have had at the farm. Then of course this past weekend it warms up. So we have melting and flooding worse we have seen yet. Every night last we we were out there moving snow using the skid steer (thanks bf!). Then making channels for water to flow away from the barn and into the drains/culvert pipes/drainage ditches. So not what we wanted to come home to, but things are finally flowing in the right direction.
A day in the life.
February 6, 2014
Farm Horses equine, farm, flood, frozen, horse farm, ice, skid steer, storm, winter Leave a comment
What a crazy long day. I can handle snow. I can handle rain. But one right after the other is a recipe for disaster. So today started with flooding. The barn flooded and the shed in front of the barn that holds all their feed flooded. It was right at the point of touching feed bags. Here is the good part, my wonderful BF was home and able to save the day. He had been working since 3 am plowing but was done early so we borrowed the neighbors skid steer and started moving snow water and slush from in front of the barn. Crisis averted no feed was lost and water is no longer rising.
But tonight down to 12 degrees, the next day we had an ice skating rink.
All the stores were out of rock salt, so I found out a good alternative is water softener salt. Just don’t use it on paved surfaces. Put down the rock salt, now the horses can go out to the pasture with out fear of slipping on ice.
Day part 2. This one too has a ended well. So with the freezing rain, the whole neighborhood’s electricity goes out around 6pm. I start panicking. How will the horses have water in the morning? All their water will freeze over night. So I was envisioning boiling water on the wood burning stove and bringing it out to the barn. But the water would only last a day. My only recourse I could think of was to buy a generator. Which luckily Lowes just received a large shipment of. We get it home and an electrician friend comes by to help out. He makes sure it is set up and shows me the separate electrical panel and switch (between generator and main power). Then low and behold the electricity comes back on. All of that a for 3 hours with out power. Well luckily we are prepared now.
Winter is not over yet
The Beauty of Winter
February 5, 2014
Farm Activities, Farm Horses equine, farm, farm horse, frozen, horse farm, horses, winter Leave a comment
This week we had about 8 more inches of snow. Sure it is pretty to look at and the horses love to play in it but it makes everything more difficult: Walking out to the barn, opening doors, gloved hands can’t do anything. Enough complaining, because it also make for some very pretty pictures.
A couple of days after the snow storm we found ourselves in the the midst of Frozen Rain and slightly Warmer temperatures. A layer of ice coated everything. I had some fun with these pictures, as it is really quite beautiful.
Weekend Warm Up – What a Tease!
February 2, 2014
Farm Activities, Farm Horses farm, horseback riding, lessons, pasture, photo shoot, SaveNash, trail ride, winter Leave a comment
Last weekend was great. It was in the 40’s (which now feels like a heat wave) and there was lots of activity on the farm. Starting with a trail ride with Cuervo and Nash at 10 am Saturday. Nash decided to be a freak and was bouncing around like a rabbit. Everything was scary when I was on him, but when I walked him things were fine. Cuervo enjoyed the ride and even had a spring to his step.
Then we had a lesson. My girls are troopers and have stuck with me the whole winter. It is fun riding in the snow bareback because the horse keeps you warmer.
Then the ferrier came to give everyone mani/pedi’s. While he was there the girl scouts came over to lend a hand for their volunteer hours. They cleaned all the cob webs out of the whole barn and goat house. Thanks Girl Scouts!
Finally the day ended with one more lesson with one of the Girl Scouts. Her mom even posed for a picture while I was photographing from a top of Nash. Yes Bareback to keep me warm.
On Sunday GSF’s favorite photographer Judy Reinford brought out her client for a photo shoot with Nash. Now my horse has been in more photo shoots than me! Again it was a great afternoon for it the weather was warm, but there was still snow on the ground for the picturesque winter couple photos.
While we were waiting on the wardrobe change we had role reversal and I snapped a shot of Nash and Judy.
Golden Spike Farm's Plog 
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