Almost ready for Cobleskill. Got a lot of packing done yesterday, as we have a ton of hay to put in today and time will be tight. Got all the horses clipped, trailers cleaned out, hay and some tack loaded, some tack cleaned, some horses worked and lessons given. This morning I'll be taking Starfire home, then getting feed. We'll finish packing and start putting in hay. Here's a few pics of babies and new Paso gelding.

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Hot-hot-hot!!! Long but productive day yesterday. Picked up Scotch's owner Nicole yesterday ( will do today as well ) so that she could be at the barn for the day while her mom was at work. She helped out at the barn, and got to ride her horse too. ( he did well for her, so we are very pleased.) Went to do teeth for a client in the late morning, took Nicole along as I was picking up a lovely Paso Fino gelding from them as well, and Nicole wants to practice loading horses. Desi, the Paso gelding, is a wonderful trail horse that is now at RO-NO to be sold. Jenna took a few pictures of him yesterday, I'll post one on here as soon as I get it. Julie rode him for me to try him out, and she wouldn't get off of him! Guess he is one of her new favorites.I think he will be a favorite for everyone as he is a sweet little thing, well gaited and responsive. His owners need to downsize thus he is for sale. I owned him years ago, had him gelded and broke him to ride and he is just a great guy.
Took Chuck along to Honesdale when I went for feed. We hit Home Depot for more side wall and stuff, as work is progressing well on Grams house. Hope to have it ready to rent out by August.
Rob finished baling at Maribelles yesterday afternoon, and Robbie and I ended up unloading the wagon. It wasn't overly full, so it didn't kill us, but boy were we feeling the heat! Julie and Erin got tons of horses worked, and I fit a few in as well, so heat and all, we got it all done!

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Good weekend. Saturday was a whirlwind of a day. Had people drive up from Bethlehen PA for Paso lessons, Scotch's owners came and rode ( and were pleased with his progress- it makes me happy to make people happy!! ) Lots od folks in to ride their ponies and take lessons. Rob cut hay at Maribelles ( we put some of it in yesterday- the rest goes in today) Hunter turned three on Saterday, took him to the Firemans Picnic in LA in the evening, he really enjoyed getting to see/hear all the firetrucks. Also went to Rachels to see the baby ( which we didn't get to do- she was sleeping ) and to do teeth on Rach and Chris's horses. Yesterday I got caught up on some housework, made covers for the couch's, did paperwork, put in hay, and had friends stay for dinner ( least I could do since they had helped put in the hay! )

Here are some pics of Desi and her baby. The girls have named him Spock due to his tipped, turned in ears!

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Woke up this morning, ready to drag myself to Maribelles indoor to see how Desi was doing, and saw this note on the counter;

'Desi had a bay colt! 1:15 a.m. Placenta looked normal. Foal had umbilical iodine dip. As of 2:30 a.m. he was standing, walking and working on nursing. Desi has taken to him nicely. So, as of 2;30 colt has not yet nursed or passed meconium yet. Yay!'

How cool is that! I haven't had a chance to talk with her yet this morning ( hopefully she sleeps in) but from the sound of the note I think she got to see the foaling. I headed out there, and saw the lovely little boy. He is tiny! Can already tell that he will grey out. Has a stripe down his face and a little chrome on his legs.He's drinking and gaiting! Desi seams quite pleased with herself.
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Still no foal. When i checked on her at 5 this morning, the sides of her tail head are all sunk in, her tail is very loose and she really looks miserable. Wont be long!

Hot day today, the weatherman says it may be in the low 90's, good for drying hay! Maribelles barn should be filled up pretty good by days end.

We had a brief bit of excitement at the barn yesterday afternoon. Kerry's Mom had come to pick her up, and while she was waiting Kerry's Pit Bull ( a very sweet, playful dog) accidentally got out of the car and ran at Herman the goat, who was tethered nearby. Herman freaked ( Madison just wanted to play- but Herman did not know that) he ran, ended up breaking his tether and bolted for the barn isle, where Itty Bit was cross tied. I hollered for the girls to dismount ( Jenna and Julie were riding Starfire and Bristol in the arena- I really didn't want them up on those green mares when a goat and dog ran into the arena!) Itty was great- he stayed in the ties as goat and dog ran under him, and off they went into the arena! Fortunately the girls had heard me yell and were off their mounts before the goat and dog lapped the arena. Kerry and I were running after the dog and goat show, as did Julie who had handed Bristol off to Pam. Herman ended up taking care of the problem. He apparently got tired of being chased, remembered that he had a pretty impressive set of horns, stopped and turned and rammed the dog. Poor Madison was a bit shocked, after all this was just a game right, no need to get violent. She turned tail and ran, right back into the arena and right up to me. Poor dog was shaking, goat was panting and by then we were all laughing ( except for Kerry- she was a bit mad at her Mom for letting the dog out)


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No new foal yet. We're waiting for our 5th and final foal of the year. When I checked on Desi at 5 this morning she looked at me as if to say 'What's going on? I'm SO uncomfortable!' She's been waddling around for the past few days, I noticed that she had just been laying down before I checked on her this morning. Udder is full and tight and she could go anytime.

Speaking of foals, I realize that it has been awhile since I've blogged about Scratchy. He will be two months old on this Thursday!! He is fat and sassy and has been very healthy. We couldn't be more pleased. He is also well adapted. Often orphan foals get too coddled and grow up hard to manage because they think of people as their herd mates, making them difficult to handle as they want to 'play' with people like they would with other foals. Scratchy gets in to play with Charlie ( London's foal who is about 2 weeks older than Scratchy) several times a day, plus they all get turned out together. London never totally accepted Scratchy as her own, but she is very tolerant of him, and is the mother figure he needs to grow up well adapted to horse life, giving him the social guidance he will need to know how to behave as a herd animal. He also gets turned out with the yearling filly Savannah.

Charlie is recovering well from the wound he got on his fetlock. He is able to be turned out again ( though we were stalled a bit by the latest downpours we got on Sunday, I really don't want his nearly healed leg submerged in mud!) He is still rather stoic about being handled, he tolerates it but would rather be left alone. ( just like his mom!)

Rob dropped a ton of hay at Maribelles yesterday. Our fields are a bit too soggy to drive on, but hers are up high so we'll get it in while we can. Hopefully we'll get another dry stretch soon so that we can get the rest of our hay done. Things aren't looking too good for us as far as getting much of a second cutting.

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Quiet night here. I came up from the barn to an empty house, Hunter went off for the weekend with his Auntie Gretchen and Rob and Robbie are working at the restaurant. I got to come in and sit down unmolested, no children to tend to, no supper to make- it will be nice for one night, but I'll be glad to have my hectic home life back...

Good day at the barn today, lots of riding done, horses have been very good. It's been nice to have a few dry days in a row, we did get a fair amount of hay into the barn yesterday.

On a very sad note, the RO-NO Crew lost an important member, Lexi Wombat, Rachels wonderful Border Collie, had to be put down last night. She had been sick for a day or two and had been at/in the dog hospital, then had a bad collapse yesterday evening. A return trip to the clinic ended with a verdict that she could not be saved. We are all so very sorry, Lexi will truly be missed.

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