Probert Farms, ❤️Mom 🦫Civil Engineer, GT '98🍀Leader of Sunset Branch 4-H Club 📚Always reading 🐴 Always riding, Millsboro, DE (2025)

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❤️Mom 🦫Civil Engineer, GT '98🍀Leader Of Sunset Branch 4-H Club 📚Always Reading 🐴 Always Riding

11/09/2024

Thankful for the young women and coaches of the team who kindly invited us up for a showmanship and riding clinic. We learned so much and cannot wait to find ways to grow our partnership. I think you have a whole new fan club that will cheer at your home meets!!

09/24/2024

4-H Friends- Just in case you didn’t see the teamsnap, I am away this week so there is no horse project. Please do not come to my house Wednesday, my husband will be very confused. Be sure to remind any calendar-challenged friends.

09/18/2024

2024 September 18: Happy 17th Birthday to this absolute legend. The first born son, the biggest baby, the middlest middle child ever to middle. Reigning Farkle champion, public speaker, voiceover artist for all of the family dogs. I am not sure how you went from snuggly footy pajama giggle monster to strapping young man with a Phelps-like wingspan but here we are and I am so proud of the hard work you put in every day to create a life of joy and purpose. Cheers to one more year of “official” boyhood, but I am eternally grateful thankful for your september birthday so that I get two more years of you at home. xoxox Mom

09/04/2024

2024-Sept-4: First Day of School for Kieran (Grade 11) and Liam (Grade 8). (I left my “stage the front porch era” about 5 years ago. )

09/03/2024

2024- Sept- 3: We weren’t a baseball family. AP is Canadian, so he grew up with hockey-hockey-hockey. So when L asked to play Little League at age 10, we didn’t know where this would take us. This spring he asked to try out for a Travel Team. We found a great club with a philosophy we liked, and bonus, they practice right down the street. This weekend was his first tournament and he had a great time.

08/18/2024

There is still time to order some Pampered Chef goodies!

I had a long drive today and I was thinking about fall tailgates. I was the worst at remembering to bring something until I discovered the easy combo of cream cheese + jar of savory/sweet jam + triscuits. I can never figure out a good travel dish for it BUT I found this in the Pampered Chef catalog today and ordered a few sizes. I also ordered an insulated serving bowl for hot dips. Now, I have no excuse not to bring the post-game, post-hunt, post-whatever goodies.

Https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/sunsetbranch4h

08/08/2024

The Delaware State 4-H Horse show was held on July 26, 2024. In 2023, we took two nervous girls and two silly ponies to the show to try showmanship and costume class.

This year, those girls each won reserve in their divisions, and 12 more kid + horse combinations from the club joined us. We made up at least 1/3 of the show participants!

The kids all worked so hard getting their ponies clean and trying new things. They were brave heading into the arena. Sometimes the goal was to “just stay on the rail” or “try not to throw up.”

I know there are some judges out there that feel I shouldn’t bring kids to shows until they are ready to execute every move in the trail pattern perfectly, but let them roll their eyes. We prepare, yes, but we also learn by doing. Embrace the fact that you won’t be perfect the first time because otherwise life is super boring.

And what a difference each year makes!

Many thanks to:

and the 4-H Horse Advisory Committee for putting on a great event,

Laurel B for bringing our boy Badger, her mane braiding skills and calm encouragement, and of course

for supplying and delivering our goat feed, horse feed, endless bakes of hay, most of our show clothes, and a generous quality of moral support (with a side of perfect prep.)

08/08/2024

The 2024 Delaware State Fair was a record-breaker for us here at the Sunset Branch 4-H Club. Our members entered everything from pottery to plants in the 4-H building.

We built legos, gave demonstrations, threw ourselves into judging contests and showed animals. Our biggest effort was keeping 9 horses in the Sussex Barn and showed them in four shows, including the State 4-H Horse Show. (Too many pics, that will be my next post.)

It was the best week ever, it was the hardest week ever. We’re never doing it again, we can’t wait to do it bigger next year.

Our members skills grew by leaps and bounds and everyone came home with something to be proud of.

Special thanks to all of the parents that loaned their campers, scooped p**p, did hair, ran from one end to the fairgrounds to the other delivering food and forgotten passes. Thanks to the Quillen Bathroom Lady and the vending machine that sold energy drinks.

07/18/2024

I did a horse trial today. It was a tiny schooling show starter trial- elementary level (intro A, 18-24”jumps) but a trial nonetheless. I am
so happy.

1986, I read a book called “Sylvester”. It is one of those impossible stories about a girl who rescues a horse from the kill pen in Texas and takes him to Rolex despite never having even ridden English before. The movie adaptation (Melissa Gilbert ftw) was one of the first we rented when my family got a VCR.

When I started riding again in my 40s, I binge read The Eventing Series () and Fortune’s Fool series () and dutifully practiced dressage while I worked up the courage to canter and jump with a body that doesn’t bounce quite like it used to.

I’ve managed to keep learning dressage, start foxhunting (it’s the best), and dabble in adult classes at the local hunter show, but never made it to a horse trial. At first, it was a matter of not having the right horse, or a trailer, and then the right horse died and the new horse wasn’t ready and then I was busy and business trip and blah blah blah. But the reality was I was too scared I would look foolish or do the wrong thing or not finish.

But then I decided that I might look foolish or do the wrong thing or not finish even if I knew what I was doing so just flipping do it already. You are 48 years old, it’s time.

Misty and I almost jumped out of the dressage ring. We trotted the stadium corners. We got lost on cross country. It was 10000 degrees. It was glorious and we finished 5th out of 14.

There might be photos, I have no idea. I was too busy doing the things. Can’t wait till next time. Thank you Layfield Farms and my teen helper, Callie, who groomed and tacked and made me drink water. (PS there is also a Domino story here but we will save that for another day.)

06/24/2024

A lot of people think that the only thing worth doing with horses is ride them. Not true! We took 8 kids to the ESWHSA show at the state fairgrounds yesterday and had a blast doing halter classes, showmanship, and in-hand trail.

These competitions teach kids to communicate and have a relationship with their assigned horse. They also need to groom the horse and present a professional appearance.

It is a very accessible way to work with horse for kids that love horses but aren’t interested in riding. It makes kids that love riding better riders and horsemen. It is also wonderful for horses that are not suitable for riding but love having a job.

I am not sure what direction I want to go with my horse program moving forward- I still have a full time job I love and my own kids to raise- but 4-H will be at the core of whatever I do. It has been my joy and privilege to help these kids grow. (photo credits to the parents bc I am always too busy making sure the ponies behave themselves too take photos)

05/06/2024

2024 May 5: Six Sunset Branch 4-H members took five ponies to the Eastern Shore Western Horse. Show Assoc. (ESWHSA) show in Denton today to try halter and showmanship classes. A few of our members have been dabbling in showmanship for about a year, but most of the kids today were brand new. We cobbled together Western outfits and the best halters we had handy and headed out. The weather has been tricky, so we couldn’t do water baths. Nobody, except our fancy Pumpkin Spice Girl, was clipped. Every pony was curried and dry shampooed and mad props to Miss Brittaney who helped turn Skittles’s tail from disgusting to bridal veil using nothing but detangler and force of will. The ponies wanted to graze, we didn’t know all the rules, we embraced the awkward and learned a ton AND still earned an impressive pile of ribbons.

The ESWHA offers free 4H classes (showmanship, in hand trail, several riding classes) as well as their regular lineup. Very friendly and helpful, highly recommended!! Next show June 16 then June 23. See you there?

04/06/2024

Today until 1PM at 4-H Carvel Center 2024 April 6 Come learn about 4H and the types of things you can enter into the State Fair. Also, Judging Training for photography, wildlife, clothing, and more!!

03/25/2024

2024 March 24: Three chilly hours hunting by the Nanticoke with two of my hard working helpers. The horses were extra fresh thanks to the crisp weather and brilliant green fields of temptation, which kept us on our toes. I had the privilege of riding ’s beloved Jonny who trotted through every puddle and hopped every log like an experienced hunt horse. Not many photos bc Ms. Dana did not want to be digging for her phone while supervising juniors on a friend’s ottb, but I can assure you everyone looked dashing and happy.

03/18/2024

Happy 20th Birthday to Zoe, the one who made us parents. (and her goats, Rex and U*i who share the day.) We love you!

03/16/2024

2024 March 16: Five yes FIVE! Sunset Branch 4-H Club teams competed at the Delaware State Horse Bowl today. I cannot quite put into words how much this means to me. Every kid here stepped out of their comfort zone and took a chance when Ms. Dana said “Try Horse Bowl, it will be fun.” Horse Bowl requires a lot of book studying reinforced with practical experience. I’ve learned that it takes a few years to get kids enough base knowledge to feel confident, so sometimes I tell them the first year, our goal is just to show up and not throw up (but if you throw up, it’s all good, we’ll clean it up and move on.)
Notable moments: more questions answered than ever ✅ more buzzing in than ever ✅ less fretting if you get the answer wrong ✅ more knowledge than ever before ✅✅✅✅ friendship and team spirit off the charts ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Next up: Horse Judging and the Fair!

01/25/2024

Hey Friends- if you drive by a farm and have any concerns about how the animals are kept, please make an attempt to speak to the farmer and learn more about their processes, reasoning, the current weather situation, and actual needs of the animals in question.

If they are hostile or unresponsive, or if you think an animal is in immediate danger, of course you can call whoever you think should get involved, but getting a gov't agency involved without a more nuanced understanding makes things difficult for everyone.

I see a lot of complaints on FB and Nextdoor about how sad it is to lose our farmland to development. Let's work together to keep Sussex County agriculture-friendly with lots of open space and pastoral scenes to enjoy.

01/24/2024

Do you want to love home cooked short ribs but can’t figure them out? Or am I alone here? Read on for a tasty recipe my family liked. (My food pics still stink, trust me this was tasty.)

We have several steers in the freezer and therefore lots of short ribs. I LOVE braised meat my family does not. Every time I tried to cook them differently they would turn out a terrible, greasy mess.

I finally figured out what my issue was. Unless you are braising short ribs, you need to butterfly them with a knife! (or ask the butcher to slice them perpendicular to the bones rather than english-style parallel to the bones.) This was life changing. Google “butterfly short ribs” for a million pages and videos that show you how to easily do this.

The original recipe required too much blending and fussing, so this is my version with just dumping and rough chops. You could use this marinade for sirloin-type steak or pork shoulder steaks as well.

Grilled Short Ribs
3ish lbs short ribs either cut across the bones or butterflied
1/3c soy sauce
1/3c brown sugar
1/3c rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar or whatever vinegar you have)
1 tsp sesame oil (or vegetable oil)
2 tsp ground pepper
1/4tsp gochujang (a giant tub from amazon is like $8, and I use it anytime I want a smokey peppery taste. You can substitute cayenne or chipotle or frankly skip it.)
1 medium onion peeled and rough chopped
8 garlic cloves (I use the minced jarred stuff)
1 inch chunk of ginger (if you have it) roughly chopped, no need to peel

Mix ingredients, pour over ribs in a glass dish. Cover and marinate overnight. Bring to room temp, grill or broil 2-3 mins per side until surface and fat are browned but meat is still juicy. Cut into strips, serve with rice or noodles and whatever vegetables you can force yourself to cook. Or not.

Follow me for more imprecise and possibly terrible recipes.

01/22/2024

2024 January 21: We welcomed a new dog to the house this weekend. Meet Goose. He’s a Great Pyrenees from our friends . While we are hoping Goose will help us scare off hawks and foxes occasionally, his main job will be baby polar bear couch potato good boy, a role that he seems to be embracing already.

Probert Farms

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