My first ride on Teija. I haven’t sent a horse to be backed in over 25 years, doing it myself. But Don put his foot down (something he rarely does) at the idea of me backing a stallion while pregnant and so close to after my surgery. I sent Teija to Jessica and Bethany Puccia of Bonnie View Farms. They did a great job in getting him gaiting under saddle in less than a month so he could be certified with the registry. Jessica also took sometime when I picked him up to give me a little lesson on feeling the gait and I’ll be using the knowledge she gave me to get Dana gaiting better under saddle. Teija is happily back with his mares and foals again, and I look forward to many years of riding with him.
Feeding the LGDs. LGDs have strong resource guarding tendencies. Rather than fight that natural urge, each dog is fed in their own space and it is the same spot each day. They love the routine and it prevents arguments over food at feeding time. #lgd #maremma #presacanario #homesteading #farmlife
It’s long and I’m a little breathy in the heat, but a short walk around part of the track, showing how the rotation grazing works.
This is our fatty herd - the easy keepers, the laminitis prone, the IR and the EMS. While they are waiting for the surfaced track to be built, they are living in our mixed terrain field - 10 acres of brush, meadow, steep hills, creeks and ponds. They have to search a lot for food and also have access to a larger variety of plants, herbs and bushes than our grass track or our equicentral field. I worried that the grass growing in this field would be too much for this sensitive bunch, but the demanding terrain and need to search means that they are still doing great.
Dana and Cinn are grooming each other, while mini Lemmy enjoys their company and Bartlet wanders around in behind.
It was so nice just hanging with them in the field ❤️
#irhorse #metabolichorse #dietinghorse #minihorse #rockymountainhorse
No music. No edits. Just a simple video to show how cool this little guy is! Meet Spartan! Born one month ago on April 26, he literally takes everything in stride. I tossed my sweater onto his back without thinking of it and he didn’t care. I have picked up each foot once by itself over the last few weeks. This is the first time I picked up all 4 in one go. He loves scratches. He follows me everywhere. He gaits. And he is still looking for his new mom or dad! Free board included until he is 1 year old, and free backing if he is boarded here until he is 4. I also have 4 of his siblings on site to see what he will grow into. Reach out if you are ready to own a Spotted Mountain Horse. #spottedmountainhorse #smh #rockymountainfoal #rockymountainhorse #rmhorse #gaitedhorse #paintedhorse #foalsof2024
In just one week, we will be gathering in circle for the first time in 2024. Charged with the energies of a full moon, riding on the energies of the full solar eclipse and empowered by the energies of spring, this is going to be a healing and cleansing ceremony working closely with the water elements.
We have a few spots left! To register, send me a PM.
Looking forward to gathering with you!
Can you start your day any better than fresh ground coffee, sweetened with homemade caramel made from whey, and topped with thick cream from your jersey cow? The whey was left over after making a few batches of ricotta. Can’t wait for the lasagna that is coming!!
#homestead #dairy #dairycows #jerseycow #whey #ricotta #freshground #goodmorningpost
The horses are all spread out through the mixed terrain field. When given hills and brush, horses happily move about and explore. #happyhorses #horsesneed #foal #foresthorse #snow
Butter from our Jersey cow’s milk ❤️❤️❤️
#homesteading #dairycow #handmilking #jersey
We are almost sold out. We have one last half cow of organic, grass fed and finished grain free beef left for 2024.
$9/lb plus butchering.
This little guy was found frozen with lungs full of fluid from a tough birth. After warming him up, feeding him just 5 ml at a time, we put him back with his mom and brother.
The introduction was difficult. The process of saving him had washed off the smells that let mom know he is hers. But with some patience, holding mom still and positioning him on the teat, he eventually nursed.
This morning, he still needed some help getting n the teat, but he actually latched better than his brother. By this evening, we shouldn’t need to do checks every few hours. ❤️
Udder is huge and vagina is enlarged - lambing season is about to begin! Looks like Valentine will be the first ewe this year.
The boys are growing like weeds. Every time we up Luna’s food to put some weight on her, she just puts the calories into her fat pups.
Their personalities are starting to show.
Tiberius is the fun loving one. Confident and always wagging his tail.
Atticus and Titus are more reserved. They enjoy a good pet, but rarely initiate.
Bernie has strong guarding traits and independence. He walks a patrol around their room several times a day and feels no need to run to mommy for safety.
Cicero is another reserved fellow, but he loves to engage. He will quietly sit behind you and might chew on your clothes, but doesn’t like looking at us directly.
Marcus and Maximus are large and bold. They will need to go to homes with more experienced owners. They love to engage and interact, but will already at just a few weeks old stand their ground and growl and bark at something that startles them.
Reach out if you want to learn more and think you have what it takes to provide these LGDs the home they need.
#maremma #maremmasheepdog #presacanario #akbash #puppy #lgd #workingdogs #letthemwork
2023 was….phew!!!
What a year 2023 was…..
It started with my divorce finally going through, 7 years post separation. Happy happy happy days!
Over the next few months, we suffered several losses as a few mares lost pregnancies. The roller coaster dropped.
Then spring came and we were blessed with 2 beautiful foals, Odin by Kai and Rain from Cheyenne. Celebrating new life.
Then my aneurysm and a very real chance of dying. Literally 3 days after Rain was born. Life became a constant dichotomy - amazement at the medical teams that saved my life against the odds. Brain fog, depression and PTSD from the surgery. Grateful to my parents for giving me a place to stay to recover. The struggles of living with your parents as an adult. Indebted to Don for caring for the farm, cutting hay and making sure that everyone was loved and fed. Frustrated that he couldn’t be in 2 places at once to be with me, comforting me at all times as I healed. Gobstruck by the number of people that donated to the GoFundMe to help us keep going. Terrified because it was no where near enough and that it would take time to build up my business again. The elation of returning to the farm and the frustration that I was “useless” and couldn’t do enough chores. The driveway flooding in ways it never has and the amazing culverts that we found at a deal to fix it. The hydro issues with the house and moving forward to repair it (that is definitely going to break the bank but needs done). Insanely high utilities, groceries and hydro that we are all feeling. All the births and deaths on the farm raising up and dropping down our emotions. The arrival of Cypress. The illness of Lemmy. Lemmy healing, against the odds as well. The amazing new boarders. Having some boarder horses surrendered to us. Luna’s puppies (which were a dichotomy of feelings all on their own).
This year was so packed full of ups and downs. So many “once in a lifetime” events that all got crammed into one year. So many “what the Hell
SWF Blue Rain. DoB May 14, 2023. She would be a blessing to anyone as a riding companion or an addition to a breeding program. The only reason I’m not keeping her is because she is related to all my stallions. I am riding her mom in the video. This is her 3rd ride after being unridden since at least 2018. This is her without being worked, 5 months pregnant and in just a halter. I am excited for what her gait will become with more regular exercise. Rain will have the same smooth and natural gait as her mom. Reach out if you would like more info about Rain. Her mom, Cheyenne, is not currently for sale. #rockymountainhorse #rockymountainfoal #gaitingmachine #iloverockies #makeheryours
This video probably doesn’t seem like much without knowing the back story, but it is actually a huge source of pride for me for what the farm and herd can do for other horses.
Cinnoman, the rotund chestnut, has been here 2 weeks. He has been suffering from shoulder issues and obesity. He has spent the last bit of his life in a dry lot to protect him from laminitis and keep his weight down. The problem with dry lots is lack of movement. This lack of movement compounded his shoulder and hoof issues and he needed glue on shoes and previcox to be sound. His owner said that he just parked at a round bale and didn’t move all day.
His shoes were pulled when he arrived. We put the round bales on the other side of the creek so he had to at least walk far to get to them. We didn’t need to bother - with the extra space, interesting terrain and larger herd (12 horses are in the field, the largest portion of them exploring the woods in this video), he has been moving constantly. He eats a bit at the hay bale, then explores more. In just 2 weeks, his movement is already looking more flowing than when he arrived and it’s great to see he didn’t lose his seeking behaviour in the dry lot.
The 2 mares at the round bale are also newer to the farm, only here a few months. Both are Standardbreds that raced and went on to work with the Mennonite’s before being taken in by their current owner. These girls really had me stumped. They had no seeking behaviour and would stand at the gate waiting to be fed. They didn’t explore the field, were afraid to cross the creek and didn’t know to go look for food. We put the hay bales just to the other side of the creek so they could see them and would hopefully learn to walk out to them on their own. It didn’t work. So each evening, after their grain, either myself or their owner would lead them across the creek. After a few weeks of this, they would sometimes follow the herd across. Today, it was a good day! For the first time,
My big strong man is stripping soil to lay the surfaced track!
#sexypanties #workmittens #happydance #hardworkingman #paddockparadise #countryboy
If the cold weather didn’t tell you, here’s the grackles letting you know fall is here….
The perfect Sunday! Two heifers had their first calves, an amazing afternoon at A La Carte (thanks dad!!), and the animals happily loving life. It couldn’t have been more perfect!
