Cuervo is loved by his new family in NJ. He seems to be fitting right in and doing really well.
Casey is enjoying semi-retirement, as he doesn’t have to do lessons anymore. His new owner could not be happier with him. He is best buddy is a grey named Ricochet. The two graze side-by-side, hang out in the same stall, and when one is taken from the other, they whinny and pace to get back together.
Bilbo and Frodo are taking their time settling into their new home. They are being a little head strong and skittish for their new owner. She was having trouble moving them from from one location to the next so she tried a training flag. They flipped out when they saw it and tried to kill the flag like a dog would. She said it was pretty funny and she had never seen anything like it. Luckily they have each other because the horses and cats on the farm are scared of them. Hopefully they all will warm up to each other.
So lets see if this one sticks. Today I sent the donkeys off to their third home. The first one, they changed their mind, then the next the donkeys didn’t do their job. But I have a good feeling about this one. Sounds like they will be going to a lovely farm with horses and chickens where their only job is to eat grass.
So that just leaves Apple who is spoken for when it is time for me to go. The barn cats will stay and the dogs are coming with me.
Sad but it is also kinda a relief to know I found them good homes.
I bet my neighbors are wondering why they are hearing donkey’s braying again…
So unfortunately the donkeys did not do their job. I think they did not have enough time to adjust to their new life and surroundings. I received a call from the farm asking me to come get them because a coyote got one of their sheep in the middle of the night. So we made the 1 1/2 hour trip back to NJ. This time they walked right on to the trailer. Until the farmer scared them when he tried to close the back of the trailer. Then they refused to go back on. Since they are small but mighty they decided to push and pull them on and it worked okay.
When we got back to the farm, the horses were glad to see them back at the farm and followed them around for a while.
Their next home is already lined up just waiting on the ferrier to come out and trim their hooves first. I think this one will work out because all they have to do is eat grass, and I know they are good at that.
So the farm has been very quiet lately… We do not hear the sound of Bilbo and Frodo braying any more because we brought them to their new home last Wednesday.
Loading was fun! You would not believe how strong and stubborn these little guys are. There was not way we could force them on so it was coaxing with carrots, treats and grain. After 1/2 hour we finally did get them loaded.
Their new farm is beautiful and they now have a job: to protect the farmer’s herd of sheep. So we walked them off of the trailer and into their new pasture of lush grass. They were very good. Not scared and not pulling on the leads. At the time there were only 2 sheep in a small section of the field but they are getting more. We let them go to eat grass and explore on their own. The happily walked away munching.
After a little bit they came back over to us. Gave me the opportunity to say good buy before heading back home.
The gentleman who runs the farm was telling us a little bit about the area. They have a yearly fox hunt, something I have always wanted to do. The best part for me was all the farms have sections of the fence with actual jumps in them so as a horseback rider on a trail ride you have access to all the land in all of the surrounding farms. Each farm is about 100 acres, can you imagine we could ride for days!
It is amazing to see how the horses interact with us when we are working in their pasture. It is testament to how happy the horses are here. On this day Chex and Warlock help us put a wheel on their gate.
Then just today I was bringing Cuervo in for this skin treatment (rain rot) and Bilbo decided to help me lead him in.
On Sunday we had a visit from my college roommate and long time friend and her family. It was the first time meeting her 2 girls and we had a blast! We did everything we could on the farm in a few hours time: Met the horses, climbed on the hay, met the goats and donkeys, gave the donkey’s carrots, brought the donkeys back to the barn from the goat’s pasture, tacked up Heather for a pony ride, rode Heather around the riding ring, gave the horses and donkeys treats, gave the goats stale crackers, played hide and seek and scavenger hunt in the house, had tuna fish sandwiches for lunch, colored in the coloring book, went on an ATV ride and collected rocks. Phew busy day but we had so much fun and the girls loved every minute of it.
We put in a new grate at the front barn door to prevent water from running into the barn. (Thanks to my BF, the WE is actually HE.) Some of the horses didn’t care. Some of them were a little scared of this new plastic thing blocking their way, but after some convincing they went over it. The donkeys were funny though, there was no convincing them as you can see in this video.
Later that evening they did go over it, I wasn’t around to capture the moment but this is what Izzy’s mom said: “So last night they went over it, and it was the funniest thing ever. They stopped and snorted at it, but I was behind them, so they leapt over it like it was a 2′ jump. I’m so mad I didn’t get it!”
To continue the video trend of this post I thought I would share this touching horse blanket commercial.
I was speaking to a friend about not having yet received a call from the vet. She said the old phrase no news is good news. Well I corrected her and said in Nash’s case no news is not bad news, because I am sure they would call if he had any significant negative changes.
That being said it is Thanksgiving and I did not receive a call from the hospital. Dr P. is off today, he said that another vet would call me with an update on Nash’s temperature but I didn’t hear from them today.
I am going to visit Nash tomorrow and finally meet Dr P. So I will have a full update after that.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. A couple of pictures of me this morning with my “kids”. Took a break from doing stall for to take some selfies,
Apple is not amused Me and Bilbo with a Frodo photo bomb.
Bilbo and Frodo arrived on the farm March 1st, 2011. They were about 2 years old. Looking at the pics now, I can’t believe that they grew since they arrived. They look really young in the photos, but when you see them every day you don’t notice the changes.
How are your Pastures?
Hard to think about pastures when all I have is a soppy mess, but taking care of your horses pastures is like grown a crop of vegetables. I don’t have a green thumb but am trying to give the Farm horses the best quality grass. Here is where you start.
Casey is enjoying semi-retirement, as he doesn’t have to do lessons anymore. His new owner could not be happier with him. He is best buddy is a grey named Ricochet. The two graze side-by-side, hang out in the same stall, and when one is taken from the other, they whinny and pace to get back together.
Bilbo and Frodo are taking their time settling into their new home. They are being a little head strong and skittish for their new owner. She was having trouble moving them from from one location to the next so she tried a training flag. They flipped out when they saw it and tried to kill the flag like a dog would. She said it was pretty funny and she had never seen anything like it. Luckily they have each other because the horses and cats on the farm are scared of them. Hopefully they all will warm up to each other.
So unfortunately the donkeys did not do their job. I think they did not have enough time to adjust to their new life and surroundings. I received a call from the farm asking me to come get them because a coyote got one of their sheep in the middle of the night. So we made the 1 1/2 hour trip back to NJ. This time they walked right on to the trailer. Until the farmer scared them when he tried to close the back of the trailer. Then they refused to go back on. Since they are small but mighty they decided to push and pull them on and it worked okay. 
Golden Spike Farm's Plog 
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