Rocky is on loan to our non-profit, PBJ Connections. He is about as cute as they come and the kids are going to love him. Rocky is owned by Jeanne and Larry Baker.
Here's a photo of the very famous Hickory Nut Cake - it takes a village to make.
A Happy Thanksgiving present to all of Ram and Holly Pumpkin (by Ames)
That Amy is crazy about pumpkins - see the Hannah Pumpkin for Halloween below.
November has been much too cold for us. We like to think of this month as a nice transition into winter not a big slap in the face with an ice cold hand like it has been. The horses take it all in stride. September (or Mr. Fur as he is called) and Ram have both had their winter coats shaved. In fact, September has been shaved twice this season already. He's one hairy beast. The two of them are kept well warm in their blankets and all of the other horses are well warm in their God given fur coats.
Mid November brought us Gigi Nutter from Georgia. She was here for three days and we had a great clinic with her and the riders that came in for it. It's fun to try new things with her and to get her evaluation of how we have changed since she saw us last.
Hannah and Dia are big and fat. They are over 7 months old now. And that reminds me that we we need to get new photos. They are very hairy and have huge bellies. Knock on wood, Dia is behaving herself and is leading very well to and from her turn-out pasture. September was a guest in their pasture for an hour and gave both of them a remedial course in submission. I've decided he can visit them again when they are a year old, but for now, he can only lecture them from across the fence.
October brought the weaning of Grace and Dia. Given the attachment of these two it was fairly uneventful. We were able to keep both mom and baby on the property and one day we left Dia and Hannah together and Grace and Elliot together and that was that. There was initially quite a bit of yelling back and forth but nothing too terrible. The worst day of it was the third day of weaning and it seemed like Grace was very uncomfortable and wanted to be with Dia.
Hannah and Dia are sharing a stall at night and spend all but a few hours of the day together. They are separated for their grain and I try to have them spend a few hours with a different horse or with the donkeys so that they don't get to the point that they can't be separated. They are very cute and both are growing nicely.
During October we had Nebresca with us as she transitioned to her new home with Jane at Simpson Run. What a sweet and easy horse to have in the barn.
Have a Safe and Happy Halloween
Hannah the Pumpkin created by Ames!
The month of September was busy with preparations for our non-profit's fundraiser, the actual fundraiser and then the recovery from the fundraiser.
I feel that the month September is special because my wonderful horse September. Have I mentioned how much I love having this horse? How lucky I feel that he is in my barn let alone my horse? He is such a special horse that having a whole month named for him is appropriate. He deserves a year. Heck, he deserves a century. I always feel a little sad when we move to October.
The horse September is doing great. Molly had a little tune up ride on him mid month and I have had some aha moments since then. I find that my ability to learn new things and grasp concepts to the point that I own them is as much a mater of timing as it is opportunity. I can only move to the boundaries of my comfort zone when the timing is right, and that timing is supported by hours and hours of confident training with Mr. Ber. I'm blessed to have this horse who waits for me to move a few steps forward. Blessed to have Molly who can read my confidence level and abilities and kick me in the behind when the time is right.
There are other wonderful things going on here too. Holly's dad brought Rocky, his Belgium-Hafflinger cross, to our fundraiser. Rocky is a very broad and large pony. I hopped on him bareback and had Larry lead us around. I was surprised by how hard it was to keep my balance astride him. He is as wide as my couch but sitting on him felt like riding a log down a river. I kept feeling like I had to catch my balance from side to side each stride as he rolled around the paddock. Much more fun than riding Rocky is driving him. While we tried to talk Larry in to leaving Rocky here, he ultimately packed him up and took him home.
Babies Hannah and Dia are doing great. My parents visited this month and got to meet the babies for the first time. Of course they have grown so much it was hard to recognize these babies as the one's they had seen on the internet and in photos. As the two are growing, their personalities are becoming clearer. Hannah is very independent and content. She looks forward to nap time as the best time of the day. Dia is a non-stop ball of energy. She goes and goes and goes and then only when she is so tired she can't keep it, does she drop to the ground and rest up for her next burst. The two are spending several hours together each day in the pasture. Mother Grace stays in the paddock with Elliot where she can see Dia but not interfere with the girls play time. We are getting close to weaning Grace and Dia from each other. A little more independence is needed from both of them to make this a non-traumatic event.
Hannah and Dia are beginning to spend a little time together while Grace supervises and while Holly supervises Grace. The fillies are almost having fun, though I think that Dia is enjoying it slightly more than Hannah is. They are going to be good friends before long and it will be curious to see whose personality rubs off on whom.
Both girls are growing nicely. Hannah is completely off of her milk substitute and has had her first round of shots and two visits with the blacksmith. She leads very well, is learning how to stand tied, and enjoys her grooming time and of course, her time with the donkeys. She's had a few adventures with the horses but she is a donkey at heart. I'm going to have to work on that when the time is right for her. She spends a couple of hours in the barn during the day to get out of the heat and to rest. She has the resting part down very well and lays down next to her hay so she can have maximum comfort and nutrition.
Dia is still a dynamo of a baby. She is settling in to their being humans in her world and while she would prefer it just be her and Grace her curiosity is growing. As you can see from some of the photos, she has developed a routine of walking next to Mom while Holly rides Grace. It is very cute. But, as mentioned before, she is just as likely to take of screaming as loudly as she can. Dia is still nursing and we have not yet planned for weaning her. I hate to say it but, it is going to be in the next 6 weeks or so. Dia is 4 1/2 months old now.
All of the other horses are doing fine. Glenda and September went to Molly's for a three day dressage camp and had a great time. Holly has been coaching a couple of her students at local shows and Ram is in preparation for a musical freestyle demonstration.
After a very wet June we have had a very dry July. The lush pastures are on the edge of gasping for water. They are all still holding up well, but fingers crossed for some rain.
We are quite busy on the farm. Holly's horse Bert (he put the B in PBJ) is back with us after spending several months with our friend Melissa. It is great to have him back. The horses greeted him and let him back in the "herd" as if he never left.
We have Nancy A's horse Torey in for training. He's a handsome Trakehner that Holly is starting under saddle. Torey is a very good boy that tries his hardest to please people.
We hosted a volunteer day for PBJ Connections on the 20th. We had many of PBJ Connections' friends and clients and were joined by Larry Baker of Baker Productions who began filming a promotional video for PBJ Connections. We have seen a draft of the video and it is great.
Molly Xanthopoulos was here for a clinic. With her show schedule and all of the things we both have going on, we were only able to have her out once in July. Her August clinic is already sold out and we are planning for September already.
Hannah continues to live with Eddie the donkey. Today she was annoyed about something and she made a sound that was as close to an ee-aah as I think a horse can make. She's growing and is good and fat. She's off milk now and is eating grain, hay, and grass like a big horse or a little donkey as the case may be. We found out that Hannah was born on May 10th so she is three weeks younger than Dia. Emotionally Hannah is about 10 years older than Dia.
Dia is as graceful as Hannah is clunky. No ee-aahs come from her mouth as she can be heard screaming at Grace whenever things don't go her way. Do you remember the old horror movies where the sounds of the giants and monsters were so awful you would cover your ears? That's Dia's whinnies.
As you see from the details below, June has been full of happy and sad events. To catch you up on all of the other news...
We hosted Gigi Nutter from Touch N Go Farm in June. She had a full three days of riders and there were several aha moments had. It was a good, solid training weekend. It is always fun to see Gigi and get caught up on her life, her horses and her family.
Dia gets more beautiful every day. I was watching her trot in the field yesterday and could not believe the elegance and style that she presented. She is going to turn some heads. She is still quite attached to Grace and Grace shares that attachment. The name Dia is very close to two words that I find myself using with her more and more often. The first is DIVA. 50% of the time she is the diva of the barn. She doesn't like mud, bugs, too much sun, too little sun - you get the picture. And about 10% of the time she is the devil of the barn and her name is DIABLO. She can throw a temper tantrum of huge proportions.
Dia had her second visit from the blacksmith and her first inoculations from the vet. She also had her umbilical hernia banded. She gets several walks a week with Holly (Grace following close behind) and is growing like a weed.
Our new addition Hanna is living the good life with Eddie the donkey. The two have bonded and get along fine. Hanna has learned what grass is and is starting to nibble it. She's still drinking about 6 gallons of milk a day (which is a pretty expensive way to feed horses) and continues to increase her intake of foal pellets and hay. The big horses have not accepted her into the fold but she doesn't seem to care too much now that she has Eddie. Hanna is leading very well, knows her name and comes when she is called, and has also learned the word "milk". She also had a visit from the blacksmith and the vet who removed some stitches from a surgery she had before she came to us. Hanna stood like a trooper for her first ever bath. She is going to be a sweet heart of a horse.
Our new baby finally told us her name and it is Hannah. She is settling in well. The big horses still believe her to be an alien life form but Eddie Donkey has (reluctantly) accepted her. The two of them are living together and getting along well. Hannah is drinking plenty of milk, munching hay, and eating a little bit of feed. She has not yet figured out that grass is for eating. Dia was eating grass the first time she was turned out on it, but she had a mom to show her what to do. Hannah is very curious so she will figure it out soon. She has had what is probably the first romp of her life. After a few false starts she ran around the field and even tried a few bucks out.
There is a BIG difference between Hannah and Dia. Hannah is going to be like the kid that always gets remarks about her personality. Dia is going to be like the one that is being recruited to be a model and beauty pageant queen.
I'll be keeping photos of Hannah's growth on the photo page linked above.
Surprise! Look who has joined our family.
This not yet named filly is about four weeks old and has had a very tough life already. This baby was from a nurse mare and was discarded at 2-3 days of age. By discarded, I mean, taken from her mom and scheduled to go to slaughter. The folks at Last Chance Corral took her in. They rescue between 100-200 foals per year. The nurse mare industry is a terrible industry that I won't go into here. This very sweet girl has already gone through a few medical problems including surgery to correct an umbilical hernia. She is a spotted draft cross and is calm, quiet, and very independent. I guess you would have to be if you were taken from your mom at 6 days of age. Our plan is to have this baby and Dia grow up together and then find a wonderful home for her.
For now, little baby is adjusting to her new home while Grace and Dia are trying to figure out who she is. She drinks water and eats hay well and is getting milk replacement several times a day. She drinks it straight from a bucket and loves it! I need a name for her!!!
Last Wednesday, our companion and protector Goliath passed away. Saying goodbye to another wonderful animal was very hard. Goliath was with us for 11 years. I got him as a wee puppy to raise with and guard our sheep. He got along great with them and would have kept any predator away if only he would have stayed home. His love for wandering soon lead to an early retirement from the sheep field and a soft life in our house where he kept the predators away from Dale and me. A wonderful, beautiful dog that we were so happy to have.
More sad news at PBJDressage as we say goodbye to our good donkey Festus. Originally from the Grand Canyon and part of the BLM wild donkey and horse rescue, Festus came to Ohio many years ago and was loved by a family whose children have gone on to have children of their own. Festus came to us a few years back and he was a super donkey. He participated as a therapy donkey with PBJ Connections and was loved by the kids and adults who worked with him. I'm not sure of his age, but I estimate that Festus was in his mid to late 30s. Festus had a constant companion donkey Buckeye who has lived with him for probably 20 years or more. Buckeye was in the field when Festus passed away yesterday and he has connected with my other two donkeys who have welcomed him into their clique.
What a fun month. We find ourselves standing and staring at baby Dia, realizing we have huge grins on our faces. Dia is learning how to lead. She is easy to catch now and has gotten very friendly - approaching everyone for a scratch on her neck. She's also learned that she can get attention with a mere whinny and she calls out to Holly and I all of the time. Of course, we are encouraging this behavior by calling back to her. Her gaits are developing nicely and she is gorgeous to watch in the field. No - I'm not prejudice.
Dia stood very well for her first blacksmith experience. It was a great learning opportunity for her and Dale Foor, our blacksmith, was happy to work with her. He commended us on starting with her "blacksmith manners" so young.
She's starting to shed out with her nose being the first to lose the baby hair. The big-girl hair on her nose is the same color as Grace's. We are anxious to see what her final color will be. I'm betting she'll match Grace but she could go darker.
I went to a natural horsemanship clinic at Patty and Dave's and had an interesting time. I'm a sissy at heart and when it came time for me to walk across a big blue plastic tarp on September, well, lets say it took me to a whole new level of anxiety. Mr. Ber was wonderful and we met our goals and I never need to do that again. Holly took Pino and he had a chance to work on some of his anxiety issues.
We ended the month with a fund raiser for PBJ Connections. We were joined by many old and new friends and had fun while raising about $1300.00 for PBJ Connections.
Much of our news for March and April can be found by clicking on Waiting for Dia above. It was hard to do anything but wait for her once we got near the due dates. I'm afraid our other horses had to get in line for attention.
Holly participated in a couple of schooling shows with some of her clients and Dale and I got away for a few days of vacation with my parents.
And of course, there was the passing of our dear Giny as mentioned below.
Some sad news on the home front. My pony of 13 years, Giny, passed away last night. She was well into her late 30s and had given more than her share to this world. Giny was a rescue pony that Dale and I took in not expecting her to live out the winter, and she fooled us by becoming an active member of our family. For the past 3 months, Giny was a constant companion to Grace. She spent her nights in the barn with Grace and her days just outside of Grace's paddock. If Grace lost sight of her, she would whinny and call out to her with such panic that Giny would hobble over to her. When the baby was born I had a feeling that Giny's work was done. She died during the night three days after Dia was born. Here's a photo of Giny that Holly's husband took two days ago.
We inch our way into February with the hopes that the worst of winter is behind us. Excitement builds as Grazie is now just a handful of weeks away from being full term. Grace is now turned out alone, much to the dismay of her otherwise constant companion Elliot. She seems to be enjoying the extra quiet time and has been seen napping in her stall during the day. "Grace Cam" is operational. If you would like access to the live feed from her stall, contact us.
Glenda had a very fun birthday party at Shrewd Arts. With the help of Holly, several of her friends surprised her with a party to paint stall signs for the barn. You will have to stop by and see them. Each sign has captured the personality of the horse it names.
Our barn is hosting two guests this month. Holly's quite old and well retired horses Schmoo and Annie have moved in for awhile. Schmoo has quite a fan club of people that knew him years back when he was at Otterbein or Helping Hooves with Holly.
Cisco has found a great home at Otterbein College. He is well loved there by several students and we get to visit him when we are working with PBJ Connections out of Otterbein's facility.
So much has happened in the past few months that we have not updated out news page. Now we’re catching up and ready to tell you all about it.
First off, our Hanoverian mare, Grazie, is due to have her foal in mid-March. She will be on the web via “Grace Cam” soon, so all of you who want to witness the birth of the next big dressage star (we have high hopes) can do so without having to be in the cold barn.Our other big news is that Ramazotti, the Fourth Level horse that Holly has been training for several years, was donated to PBJ Connections, our non-profit, in November. His previous owners, the Meuse Family, are hopeful that he can help inspire youth to reach their potential. Holly is excited because she is leasing him back from PBJ Connections, which enables the program to have no expenses related to Ram and Holly to keep riding her favorite horse! Ram received Reserve Champion, Fourth Level at Lake Erie College in November when he debuted at Fourth Level Test Three.Ram also just endured surgery to have two molars punched out at OSU. He is recovering really well and has started back to work. Many, many thanks to the Meuse Family who agreed pre-donation to cover the cost of the surgery. Many thanks also to Dr. Jeff Reiswig for all of his careful planning, dental care, and compassion throughout the whole ordeal. Thanks also to Dr. Sanchi and her staff at OSU for doing a stellar job on the surgery.Glenda is still going strong on her trusty mount, September. September, on top of being the best schoolmaster, has also turned into quite the good therapy horse. He has done several sessions for PBJ Connections, as have the donkeys!
Paladino has slowly started back to work after a long seven months off. We are crossing our fingers that this will be the year he is able to continue his training and make it back to the show arena.
Our non-profit organization, PBJ Connections, hosted a Symposium Fundraiser at Timber Run Farms on July 21. Chris White is the owner and manager of Timber Run Farms, a boarding facility in Alexandria, Ohio, and he generously donated the use of his beautiful facility.
The fundraiser was a success and raised over $1500 for PBJ Connections, Inc., which is a non-profit organization that strives to provide emotional healing for at-risk youth and their families through nature-based equine assisted therapy and learning.
The day started with a detailed lecture on longitudinal suppleness by Danielle Menteer, Associate Director, Albion College Equestrian Center. Danielle had the audience captivated as she discussed the appropriate and often neglected aids that assist a horse and rider in achieving a swinging back. She explained that it is important to connect a horse from the inside hind leg to the outside rein in order to obtain longitudinal suppleness. While watching the two semi-private demonstration rides that she taught, auditors could visibly see the effectiveness of using the aids in this manner.
The second half of the day consisted of a lecture on lateral suppleness by Lucy Cryan, Director of Equestrian Studies at Otterbein College, followed by two demonstration lessons. Lucy discussed the proper aids for using lateral work, particularly the leg yield, to help achieve lateral suppleness and relaxation. Lucy also discussed the importance of having the horse relaxed in order to work towards greater fluidity in the lateral work.
Throughout the day, the eight riders and two dozen auditors remained engaged in the learning process. Both clinicians really helped riders find a new level of suppleness in their horses and were encouraging to riders who were feeling intimidated about taking a lesson in front of a group of people. For many of the riders, this was their first experience in a clinic situation and they all performed brilliantly! Throughout the day, the clinicians encouraged questions and discussion, which created a friendly atmosphere and gave non-riding participants the opportunity to discuss what they were seeing in real time. Both clinicians generously donated their time and knowledge in order to benefit the cause of the fundraiser.
Glenda and September spent a few days training with Molly Xanthopoulos. It was a good re-energizer and the team is on track with their training.
Gigi Nutter of Touchngofarm located in Whitesburg, Georgia presented a three day clinic at PBJDressage at the end of June. This was Gigi's fifth trip to our place and as always, we had a great time with her. Gigi teaches as if she is riding the horse and it always helps us with our timing and technique.
Mid-month Holly competed at the ODS Show on Lyn's mare Em, showing her second level for the first time. It was a great outing. The show also served as a celebration opportunity for Holly's graduation from Ohio State with her MSW.
Kokamo Bay is visiting with us for a few months while is owner Barb is resting from some surgery. Diane's horse Lex is also here with us for a few weeks to get some special services while Diane enjoys a much needed vacation.
Grace's pregnancy is happily uneventful. She is as big as two horses now and we are sure Baby R is now perhaps 2 inches long. At this rate, we will have to remodel to get Grace through her stall door in another handful of months.
Congratulations to Emily Chory on her graduation from Columbus School for Girls and her acceptance into the honors program at OSU.
We were surprised with a certificate of recognition and a big lovely ribbon from Lake Erie College. Grace won the high-point second level award for the Winter Show Series. This was a nice ending for her show career. Thank you Holly and Grace.
We saw Baby R's heartbeat on the ultra sound! At 36 days, the ultra sound showed a funny looking blob and a distinguishable heartbeat. At 50 days, the ultra sound still showed a funny looking blob and a heartbeat. Baby R seems to be about an inch or so big.
Our superstar Paladino, or Pino as we call him, as been diagnosed with a stressed LCL on the coffin joint. He is taking the summer off and we hope to be back in training with him in September. Boden injured his shoulder and has a broken scapula spine. We are hoping to heal him without surgery.
All of the other critters are healthy and happy!
EM Grazie is in foal to Harmony's Rousseau. We are very excited about this pairing. Baby R will join us in March of 2007. Grace is enjoying her first few weeks of pregnancy and particularly likes the carrots of congratulations. Stay tuned for updates on Grace and Baby R's progress.