Show season is here and now in full swing. We have already had two shows and God has blessed our efforts and our farm.
I have been glad to see old friends from previous shows. It is always a pleasure to me to see others do well in shows. Chris and Stacie show some really good horses besides my horse Velvet. Fury always comes to mind in thinking about those that stand out in shows but I would be remiss if I did not mention the Baker's horse, Heart of Motion. He is a fine stallion that is often in the ribbons in whatever class he shows in.
Of course there is Mike and Judy Brummer that are more often than not in the winner's circle. I was very glad to see them. It is always good to spend time with the two of them. They are always so gracious to those who win. Truly good sports and worthy competitors.
We see our friends at Van Bert's Farm often since they train several of my horses. Others we are always glad to see is the Lawsons and their clients. The Yarbers, Derick Tipton and the people at Fairwinds Farm. A couple I dearly love and whose friendship I treasure is Rebecca and Eddie Monhollen. There are many more folks we see at the shows that it is always good to see again after the long hard winters.
So the show season is now officially in full swing. I find I am glad to get to travel again and see all the horses that I have seen over the years plus the new horses that have come to the show circuit this year.
One of the classes it was fun to see was the Weanling class. They are so cute. Most are only a few weeks old. The one we had in the class was 5 weeks old. He is really a pretty colt out of a Shepherd's Snowy River mare named Once a Hobo and by Sudden Impact. S T Tipton showed him for us and the judges placed him first. It was a nice win in a good class.
Another class we won was the Yearling Filly Class showing WOF Ann's Mt Treasure. She is a beautiful gray filly out of Rebel's Rock's Ann (a Rebel's Rock mare)and by Homegrown. She gets a lot of attention where ever she goes. In the show ring she got enough from the judges that she won her class. It was a good win with a lot of nice fillies.
Last year's yearling high point filly from our farm was a nice filly named CGH Flair for Fury. She is now a two year old under saddle and she won her under saddle class. She has the personality that Mountain Horses are known for. She is a beautiful chocolate filly with a flaxen mane and tail.
We had several good wins and but we also had some other high placings that we were very pleased with. Velvet won a second in a nice class of 2-3 year old mares in Trail Pleasure. Second out of 12 mares was a very good placing. Velvet is trained by Cool Shade Mountain Horses. Chris and Stacie have done a wonderful job with Velvet.
A very nice place was won by my brother on VBF Venture's Golden Satin. Bob placed 4th in a very good class of 11. He has only recently resumed riding after many years of not riding. He has a real bond with Satin and she has come to love him and tries very hard to please him. We have washed her until her mane nearly glows in the dark. She is such a beautiful palomino. She is very sweet with a big motor. Even in a trail walk she can really cover ground.
All went well until a thunderstorm moved into the area. The show was delayed until after 5 PM and by that time it was raining harder. We packed up and went home at that point. The last class I was able to see was the 4 gait class S T rode Code of Honor in. He placed second in that class.
We really enjoyed the show and seeing my horses do well. I was disappointed that we did not get to finish the show It just seemed best to go ahead and leave at that point so we could get home for church on Sunday.
I will look forward to seeing all of your at the future shows. Next one on the calendar is the North Middletown show on May 8th. I hope to see all of you there. There are no halter classes but there are several under saddle classes we will be showing in
May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.
Regards
Mary
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Babie of all Sorts
Once my brother, Bob, said that when he moved to a new community the first thing he looked for in housing was a neighborhood where his children would be safe. That set me to thinking. It is what most parents do and it is what animal parents do.
We can learn a lot from animals. If you want to learn about parenting watch horses. A mare can be absolutely vicious when her foal is threatened. We work with our horses every day. Each mare knows us and have come to trust us. We feed them twice a day in their individual stalls and as they eat we brush and groom them. Rarely do they ever get testy with us. But when the foal comes we know we had better watch ourselves.
A horse, cow or any other animal mother is vicious when it comes to protecting her young. Who taught them to be that way? No body did. It is their nature. God instilled that mother instinct into those mothers just as he instilled the mother instinct in humans.
But back to the neighborhoods that brother chose for his family. We have discovered in searching out information to help control our coyote population on my farm that coyotes also look for and find safe neighborhoods for their family. They have a pack instinct. Several females will share the same den to raise their pups.
Bob discovered such a den last week when he was running the bush hog. Coyotes seem to not worry about the tractor and bush hog for some reason. My dog Erika was following him and she was instrumental in drawing them out of the den. They chased her at first and then started playing with her. She didn't seem to provide a threat to them so they accepted her. Not good. She doesn't go out with the tractors anymore.
In looking at their den, Bob discovered a couple of things about it. It is impossible to slip up on them because it is positioned where an intruder can be seen no matter how it is approached. The wind on my farm is really funny. It seems to come from one direction in one location and the hollows act like a chimneys. In other locations on the farm, the wind comes from another direction. That too hampers hunting coyotes.
My nephew has gone to many web sites to get hunting tips. On one site he learned that if the pups are eliminated the parents move on to a better location. So we may have to approach it from that angle.
Now you may say, "Why bother them. They don't do anything to you." Well yes they do. We lost a calf last year and could find any reason for losing it except for coyotes. It totally disappeared from the field and all we found of it was some bones from the legs. We heard a pack of coyotes going for a kill on a neighbors farm recently. It was a hair raising, bone chilling sound. Eventually all was quiet. We knew that whatever hapless animal had fallen victim was dead and was now a meal for a pack of hungry coyotes.
But it is interesting that the adults move on if their pups are killed. That is animals protecting their young. That is their way. This sprig's litter may be gone but they are doing what they can to survive. They like my brother are moving their family to a safer neighborhood.
Horses also have a way of protecting their young. God gave them a different means but to the same end. If they even think there is danger they run. They may not see it or hear it but something in the wind makes them nervous, a rabbit moves in the bush, a dog comes up behind them and their instincts tell them it is a mountain lion about the pounce. So they run and the foal doesn't know why they are running but it runs too. One horse sees another running and away it goes too. They are looking for a better neighborhood.
Cows are like the neighborhood watch. I saw all the cows running at some buzzards last year when there was a young calf just born. Black headed buzzards are a terrible threat to baby animals. They will go after a live calf, foal, fawn or whatever and start eating it alive. So the neighborhood watch goes into gear and the bull and cows will run the intruders off. With coyotes there are so many the herd may not be able to protect all of the young ones. So they are easier prey for a pack of hungry coyotes.
It is so remarkable how God made each of us so differently but much the same. Most parents will sacrifice their own lives to protect their children. Parents will run into burning houses, jump into cold rivers, fight vicious animals or whatever it takes to protect their young.
May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.
Regards
Mary
All things bold and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.
We can learn a lot from animals. If you want to learn about parenting watch horses. A mare can be absolutely vicious when her foal is threatened. We work with our horses every day. Each mare knows us and have come to trust us. We feed them twice a day in their individual stalls and as they eat we brush and groom them. Rarely do they ever get testy with us. But when the foal comes we know we had better watch ourselves.
A horse, cow or any other animal mother is vicious when it comes to protecting her young. Who taught them to be that way? No body did. It is their nature. God instilled that mother instinct into those mothers just as he instilled the mother instinct in humans.
But back to the neighborhoods that brother chose for his family. We have discovered in searching out information to help control our coyote population on my farm that coyotes also look for and find safe neighborhoods for their family. They have a pack instinct. Several females will share the same den to raise their pups.
Bob discovered such a den last week when he was running the bush hog. Coyotes seem to not worry about the tractor and bush hog for some reason. My dog Erika was following him and she was instrumental in drawing them out of the den. They chased her at first and then started playing with her. She didn't seem to provide a threat to them so they accepted her. Not good. She doesn't go out with the tractors anymore.
In looking at their den, Bob discovered a couple of things about it. It is impossible to slip up on them because it is positioned where an intruder can be seen no matter how it is approached. The wind on my farm is really funny. It seems to come from one direction in one location and the hollows act like a chimneys. In other locations on the farm, the wind comes from another direction. That too hampers hunting coyotes.
My nephew has gone to many web sites to get hunting tips. On one site he learned that if the pups are eliminated the parents move on to a better location. So we may have to approach it from that angle.
Now you may say, "Why bother them. They don't do anything to you." Well yes they do. We lost a calf last year and could find any reason for losing it except for coyotes. It totally disappeared from the field and all we found of it was some bones from the legs. We heard a pack of coyotes going for a kill on a neighbors farm recently. It was a hair raising, bone chilling sound. Eventually all was quiet. We knew that whatever hapless animal had fallen victim was dead and was now a meal for a pack of hungry coyotes.
But it is interesting that the adults move on if their pups are killed. That is animals protecting their young. That is their way. This sprig's litter may be gone but they are doing what they can to survive. They like my brother are moving their family to a safer neighborhood.
Horses also have a way of protecting their young. God gave them a different means but to the same end. If they even think there is danger they run. They may not see it or hear it but something in the wind makes them nervous, a rabbit moves in the bush, a dog comes up behind them and their instincts tell them it is a mountain lion about the pounce. So they run and the foal doesn't know why they are running but it runs too. One horse sees another running and away it goes too. They are looking for a better neighborhood.
Cows are like the neighborhood watch. I saw all the cows running at some buzzards last year when there was a young calf just born. Black headed buzzards are a terrible threat to baby animals. They will go after a live calf, foal, fawn or whatever and start eating it alive. So the neighborhood watch goes into gear and the bull and cows will run the intruders off. With coyotes there are so many the herd may not be able to protect all of the young ones. So they are easier prey for a pack of hungry coyotes.
It is so remarkable how God made each of us so differently but much the same. Most parents will sacrifice their own lives to protect their children. Parents will run into burning houses, jump into cold rivers, fight vicious animals or whatever it takes to protect their young.
May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.
Regards
Mary
All things bold and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Horse Shows and New Babies
Top left is Magic Rhythm and her colt just a few hours old. Top right is WOF's Stephen's Blazin Star. Bottom is WOF's Ann's Mt Treasure.
We just returned from our very first horse show that anyone from my farm actually showed a horse that has not recently been in professional training. It was just as much work as we had imagined. I never thought it looked easy watching how busy Van Bert's and Cool Shade are when they show. But being an adventurous sort we decided to take three horses to show ourselves this year.
Earlier we had decided we would take Satin, Blaze and Annie to this year's shows. Blaze and Annie are yearlings and are of course shown in hand. Blaze and Annie both turned a year old March 31. They are both a hand full and with this being the very first time I have ever tried to do any training, I have made many mistakes. Back in the winter Annie was working really well. Since then she has taken a turn for the worst. She and Blaze both are getting very pushy.
We started out at 5 AM on Thursday morning to go to Fletcher NC for a two day show. As Vera explained each day counted for one show and so to win on both days gave double points.
The first day Bob showed Satin in an open class which meant he was showing against anyone who wished to show. That also meant he would show against professionals. Out of seven entries he placed last but I was very proud of him. He rode well and was able to make a good show with her. Day two was a different story. He once again rode in the class showing against pros and placed 5th out of seven entries. His riding had improved a lot with just a few tips from Larry, Wilda and H T.
The next class with a class of 5 amateurs. He placed 4th and made a really good show. I was thrilled. I think he was rather pleased as well. That class is not populated with people who has just taken up riding. Most of the riders in amature classes have been showing for a number of years but do not fall into the category of professional trainers. So most are very experienced.
Meanwhile, I was doing some showing myself. I took my yearling colt into a class of 4 and placed 4th. He pushed and shoved me all the way around the ring. He ran around in circles and refused to park out. He acted terrible and I could not make that big thing do what I wanted. I told someone at the show I would either show him or he would show me. He showed me. The very next class was the filly class. I was showing a yearling named WOF's Ann's Mt Treasure. She is a gray out of a very productive mare named Rebel's Rocks Ann and by the stallion Homegrown. She behaved pretty well. She didn't crowd me and she led pretty well.
I was traveling in fast company showing against Larry Patterson and Derick Tipton. Somehow I managed to win a first place ribbon against two awesome trainers. Now I have beat two of the industry's best. Where could I go now but down. The next day, that is exactly what I did. I went from first to third the next day. So now there is a three way tie for high points in the yearling filly class. And this will be continued.
Meanwhile earlier in the week back on the farm, Magic Rhythm and Mt Girl both decided it was time for them to foal. On Palm Sunday morning we discovered that we had another colt out of Magic Rhythm and by Blue on Black. I don't know what color he is. Some say he could be a smokey roan except for the black on his top line and across his shoulders. But he is a nice foal and we will see what develops with him
On Tuesday the long awaited Venture's Black Fury foal was born to Blue Ridge Mt Girl. He is black. All black and completely black with no white anywhere. If he is true to his breeding he will be a nice foal. He is small right now. It is Mt Girl's first foal. But he will grow like crazy soon. He already is in fact. My brother Bob likes to say the foals are in a milk coma after they nurse and they lay down flat on their sides. So right now with the three babies, we are seeing a lot of milk comas.
There will be more pictures to follow so check back soon. I am having trouble getting pictures from my camera card. Soon, I promise.
May God bless and keep you in his loving care.
Regards
Mary
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live; And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
John 11: 25-26
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