Life on a Mini Farm

It's been HOW long?

2011-02-03T12:25:00.002-05:00

Ok would someone please tell me how I let five months go by and not post? Where did time go?
So what has happened since the last time? We have added another performance gelding, Sunny will be County Pleasure Driving and possibly jumping. We are also adding a new broodmare. Jack's mother Velvet will be joining our little herd soon. (pictures to follow)
We had a litter of IG pups back in Sept. ALL boys!! ( Not what I wanted but hey not something you can control) We will be keeping a stunning blue boy out of the litter and still have an equally nice, small show quality seal and white boy available to an approved show home.

Frosty Driving

2010-08-24T15:25:00.002-04:00

We took Frosty over to Jim and Mary Fraizer's Sunday for a driving lesson. While both of us ( Frosty and I) need work, we think he did pretty good. Hopefully we will both be in better shape in time for the Spooktacular in Oct.

Welcome to the Farm

2010-08-17T09:48:00.002-04:00

This past weekend David and I took a quick trip up to PA to pick up a new performance gelding.

Frosty looks to be everything we could ask for, he drives, does halter, jumps and does obstacles. We should have lots of fun with him next year.

Nice AMHR Pinto Mare for sale

2010-08-16T11:33:00.003-04:00

Since we just purchased a performance gelding to show and I need to get numbers down to four or less we have reluctantly decided to sell Dreamie, our 35 inch, 10 yr old black and white pinto mare. She is broke to drive and has been shown in Halter. ( was Reserve State Champion Senior Mare in 2004). She foals easy and produces small correct and colorful foals. We are offering her for $950 way below her value but we all know what the current horse market is like.

We also have her 2010 AMHR black colt available. He should stay small enough to hardship into AMHA.

Changes in Numbers

2010-07-24T18:50:00.003-04:00

Well after finally coming to realise that there was no way I could work and show horses with the current number, we decided to sell some of them. I know, six adults and two foals are not that many to lots of folks, but it turns out that is just a few too many for me. Nonnie has already been sold, hopefully Annie, Casey and Keeper will be soon going to a new home. Still not sure what to do with Romeo.

Now I can start working with Jack and Shira, plans are to show them in Oct, at our clubs fun show.

Our First Foals

2010-04-06T16:22:00.003-04:00

Annie delivered a colt on March 31st. Dreamie was not far behind and delivered her colt on April 4th.
Moms and foals are doing great!
Annie & Casey (Uwharrie Farm's Casanova)

Dreamie & Keeper (Uwharrie Farm's Dream Keeper)

Puppies!

2010-02-23T15:02:00.003-05:00

Well with some drama ( ok a lot of drama) we now have some new furkids. Champion Uwharrie's Icced Latte is the proud mother of 5 new bundles of joy. Two red girls, one blue boy and two seal boys. She ended up haveing a c-section but mom and pups are doing great! Proud dad is Champion Rhamah's Prince of Darkness owned by Mary Marlow. Can't wait to see how the grow up!

Cold

2010-01-12T09:28:00.002-05:00

My word will this deep freeze ever end? At least it only got down to 32 last night, but a solid week of never getting above 34 and lows down to the teens, come on this is the SOUTH!
The dogs hate it, I have to almost kick them outside and even then about 10 minutes is all they can stand. The horses on the other hand could care less. They are so well insulated with thier thick coats they actually had frost on their backs last week.
The chickens seem to be handling it pretty well, they are under heat lamps at night, and can roam around during the day. Egg production is down a bit but still getting 4 eggs a day from the RIRs.

MUD!!

2009-12-28T22:15:00.003-05:00

Oh I am so tired of rain and mud. Have needed to get photos of Shira and Jack to complete the paperwork transfering them into my name ( registries require current photos with any change)

I kept hoping for enough clear weather that they would at least look somewhat clean. Finally gave up.

this is what they look like for their current papers ( thank goodness they will be updated when they get thier perm. papers in a couple of years.

2009-12-24T07:02:00.000-05:00

Poultry

2009-12-23T15:28:00.003-05:00

Well after saying we would not have a rooster, we now are the proud owner of a handsome Crested Polish Roo and three Crested Polish hens. That along with 5 RIR hens, 2 Blue Orpingtons, 1 New Hampshire Red and 1 Silver Spangled Hamburg.

We hope to have Polish eggs for hatching after the first of the year.

Stuff

2009-11-16T08:33:00.003-05:00

I promised myself when I started this blog I would keep it updated. Lately it just has not happened so to any of those who follow it, I apologies!

Since my last post Jack has come to the farm and has settled in. He is a funny little guy, like all horses has his own way of doing things. We have to feed him in the stall as he gets a different feed than the girls, it did not take Shira long to figure out he had something different in his bowl and she wanted it!

Everyone is getting the winter woolies, by January they will all look like little wooly mamoths!

We should have two new arrivals this spring. It looks like both Annie and Dreamie are in foal and should be due in March.

Romeo

2009-10-13T15:02:00.002-04:00

I thought long and hard on the pros and cons of keeping Romeo a stallion. I never planned on owning a stallion and really am not set up for one. However he was such an easy horse it made it easy to keep him intact over the last year and half.
But everyone says a good stallion makes a great gelding and I really want to have him trained for combined driving. As a gelding he should be able to keep his mind on work and not the ladies.
So after much thought I made a call to the vets and set up the appointment for today. The surgery went well and in two months he will have his wish of being with his "girls" 24/7.

Coming to the farm in Oct.

2009-09-16T19:45:00.002-04:00

He will arrive in about a month. A weanling colt RHA Smackwater Jack. I plan on getting him ( and Shira) in the ring next year. Perhaps even the AMHR Nationals next fall!

Thanks to Rocking Horse Acres for the opportunity to purchase this guy!

Wow, its been a while

2009-08-02T11:02:00.003-04:00

I did not realise how long it had been since my last post. A lot has happened. We took a two week nondoggy road trip to meet up with other New Beetle enthusist in Roswell NM and then tooled around NM for few extra days. We both agree we could relocate there in a second!

We came home on the 4th to hot and dry weather here in NC ( and a very dry/sparse pasture). Thankfully it started to rain the next week. Not so good that it has yet to stop! You know its wet when the ground starts growing slime molds!

We had puppies the week we came back. They came almost a full week early! Not good but we did manage to save two out of the four. Both boys are doing great and will be 3 weeks old tomorrow.

Gateway is almost healed. He goes back to the vets tomorrow and I am hoping the x-rays show a fully mended leg. I hope to have him back in the ring by labor day.

The pasture is looking better and the girls are happy to be able to go back out for a bit each day.

Disaster averted and a Semi disaster

2009-06-17T07:23:00.002-04:00

Oh the fun of living with a bunch of critters. Last week just as David was getting to leave for his weekly Scouts meeting I noticed Nonnie ( one of the two year old mares) was not acting right. She ran into the paddock and promptly laid down, got back up and trotted into the pasture and down she went again. I was pretty sure before I even got my hands on her it was colic. Now for those of you with horses you know the dread and fear that word brings, for those without horses let me explain. colic is like a really bad tummy ache however horses cannot throw up so anything that is causing problems must "pass". The biggest danger of colic is that gas builds up and there is a possibility of torsion, which will kill a horse fast.

Anyway back to Nonnie, a quick call to the vets and it was decided she did not need to come out just yet, but we did not have the needed meds at home so David made the trip to her office to get them. In the mean time Nonnie and I walked and walked and walked. She was not happy that I would not let her lay down and roll. The trip to the vet and back took David about 2 hrs and luckily Nonnie did not get any worst during that time. Once he got home a shot of pain meds and a pint of mineral oil (even at just 200lbs its hard to force a horse to drink mineral oil!) Within 30 minutes we had tummy rumbles and she was wanting to eat. Disaster Averted!!

Now fast forward to Sunday, the IGs had been out in their paddock most of the day, my parents were here visiting. I never heard an "iggy scream" so I don't know how or exactly when it happened, but when they came in for dinner Gateway ( the dog I am currently showing) came in on three legs. The leg looked straight and there was just a small amount of swelling but I could tell it was hurt and guessed probably broken.
Sure enough once x-rayed by the vets it showed a break of both radius and ulna, but the good news (can there be good news with a leg break?) was the leg was still aligned perfectly so there would be no need for surgery or even a cast. A splint was put in place and he is now on 8 week crate rest. Disaster but not as bad as it could be.

The bad thing is we are leaving this coming Monday for a two week vacation. I hate leaving our house sitter ( and daughter) Megan the extra burden of caring for him, but I know she can handle it. (not sure about the very loud complaining coming from Gateway!)

Wine!!

2009-06-12T17:43:00.002-04:00

We finally got around to bottling our Ice Wine a couple of weeks ago. This week I designed the lable and thought I might see what it would look like photographed.
I am just now starting to attempt to photograph food in natural lighting.

YUM! I just could not wait any longer!!

2009-06-11T18:49:00.004-04:00

First Cuke of the season!! OMG! I just love fresh cukes. A little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I am in heaven!

Last year we were a bit late getting seeds in the ground. This year I made sure they got planted early! Cucumbers are by far my very favorite garden veggie. Especially fresh from the garden, so sweet and tender! This one lasted oh about 5 seconds. I hope I can leave the rest on the vine for a few more days!

The Trials and Tribulations of Owning Horses

2009-06-10T08:21:00.002-04:00

Tuesdays are always David's scout night. He is the assistant Scout Master of one of the local troops. Because of the time we usually eat a quick dinner and I feed up later that evening. For some reason I decided to go ahead and feed up before he left, good thing I did. When I went out to the barn one of the two year olds came into the paddock and promptly laid down. Hum, not good. She then got up, trotted to the pasture and laid down again. Really not good. David went and got her up, we put a halter on her and I checked for gut sounds. Not much going on in there. Really, really NOT good. She was obviously uncomfortable, tail ringing, pawing, wanting to lay down and roll. The good thing was her gums were pink, eyes bright and alert and her resperation and heart rate only slightly elevate.
A quick call to the vet and it was decided that she probably did not need to come out just yet, some Banamine, mineral oil and lots of walking might just do the trick. Bad thing was I had no Banamine, I had intended to ask for some to keep on hand when she came out to draw for Coggins, got side tracked and totally forgot.
Lucky us she was willing to meet David near the clinic with the needed meds.
So while David made the nearly 1 hr trip each way to get the meds, Nonnie and I walked, and walked and walked. By the time he got back I was not sure if she was any better but she was no worst either ( a good thing when it comes to colic)
A quick shot of Banamine and a gallent atempt to pour a pint of mineral oil down her throat ( I still think we got more on us than down her) and 30 minutes more of walking she was back to her normal self. Good thing since there was one wicked thunderstorm about to hit.
We went back out at bedtime to check on her and she was totally back to normal. This morning she ate her breakfast and was having big rumbles in the the belly (I would too with a pint of mineral oil in me).

Crisis averted, panic subsided. Now lets just hope nothing like this happens when we are on a two week vacation at the end of the month!!

Our first egg!

2009-05-25T18:25:00.002-04:00

Check the coop this evening and look what I found...
....our very first egg!

My what a difference a year makes!

2009-05-24T19:42:00.004-04:00

Romeo and Dreamie came to us last year very overweight and while I have yet to get a handle on my own weight issues I think I did manage to do a great job with them.
The first photo of each is what they look like now, The second is how they looked just one year ago. ( now if I could just do the same for myself!)

She's here!

2009-04-06T22:57:00.002-04:00

Our new yearling filly arrived Saturday. She made the long trip all the way from Thousand Oaks Ranch in Texas. We can't wait to get her in the show ring.

Getting ready for a horse show

2009-04-02T06:29:00.002-04:00

We have an open show coming up for Easter weekend. I finally decided to show just one horse. Since Dreamie is looking so nice we decided it would be her. I have spent the last couple of evenings getting her groomed and clipped. Boy its been a long time since I clipped horses for show! ( like 30 yrs) but I think she is looking pretty nice.
Oh and the new filly arrives sometime this weekend!

Road Trip

2009-03-24T12:56:00.003-04:00

David and I packed up the RV and loaded all the dogs plus Patrick and off we went to Raleigh for the spring Tarheel Circuit. The weather was great for most of the weekend. The pups got to hang out and get lots of cuddles from friends. They even got their first on lead lessons ( some did better than others) and first photos free stacked on the ground.
I only showed Gateway. He is still young and still has a bit of maturing to do but he showed like a pro and was Winners Dog 2 out of 3 days.

We had a great cookout on Saturday got to meet some new friends and visit with some long time friends.

Two of the pups (Jingles and Belle) went off to their new homes via Delta Airlines on Sun. morning

The pups enjoy the last warm day for a while

2009-03-12T20:45:00.003-04:00

Since the weather forecast is for cold and rain for the next several days, I made sure the pups got a chance to spend time outside today. They are little hellions and unless they get out to burn off energy they can literally rearrange the house in a few minutes.

Snow Again!

2009-03-02T11:00:00.003-05:00

WOW, another snow here in Piedmont NC. We often go years without measurable snows and now we just had our 3rd of the season. Granted it was not a big one, maybe 2-3 inches. Since we had so much rain prior it was not really a pretty snow but I was able to find some "gems"

Exhausted

2009-03-01T10:50:00.002-05:00

Well last night was our big fundraiser at work. ( I am the Outreach and Development Coordinator for a local non-profit)
Putting in a 19 hr day is exhausting, but worth it for a good cause. Of course my poor critters think we had abandoned them. At least David was able to come home and feed up before heading back over to help with the event.
The event was our 4th Annual "Denim, Dinner and Dance". Once again it was a huge success. I don't have final numbers yet but we had over 200 folks there and I think we reached our goal of $25,000. Of course I ended up helping that number by buying quite a few auction items myself. Like a lovely bracelet from a great artist and fellow blogger. To see her work go to www.mississippimud.etsy.com.

New Critters on the Farm

2009-02-27T10:47:00.002-05:00

They have been here a couple of weeks now, just have not had chance to introduce them.
We now have four young Australoup Hens. Hopefully they will be laying by late spring/ early summer. I promise to post better photos later.

The puppies go on a road trip

2009-02-16T13:49:00.002-05:00

Well this past weekend was the first shows of the year for us. They were down in Greenville SC, about a three hour drive from home. So we loaded up the motor home for it's first trip since Sept, loaded all the dogs and Patrick the parrot and off we went. This was the pups first trip, first time in the motor home, first time in a crate, heck since its been so cold here first time out of the house.

I set them and Kia up in one of the big wire crates, bed in the back, litterbox in the front. They were a little aprehinsive at first, after all the motor home is 12 yrs old, loud and bouncy going down the road. They quickly settled in however and we were lucky enough to get there before dark. We got set up, put out expens and got everyone settled. It did not take the pups long to figure out this grass/ ground thing was kinda fun.

Saturday we showed at 8am. Gateway showed well but was not the judges cup of tea. BIG congrats to Mary Marlow for not only going Winners Dog but also winning Best of Breed that day.

Everyone came over to see the puppies, even though it was a bit chilly and they really did not want to stack on the table (who can blame them, everyone agreed the litter was really nice. The pups got cuddles and smooches from everyone.

Due to a last minute judge change and a switch to a late show time, we opted to pull on Sunday and come home Saturday night.

We had a great time even if it was a bit short, dinner Friday night with Michelle and Mike was so much fun, and lunch with them, Mary and Kristi on Saturday was great.

Udpated puppy pictures coming soon!

The puppies at six weeks

2009-02-04T20:32:00.002-05:00

My how time flies! Hard to beleive they are now 6 weeks old.

A sad day on the farm.

2009-02-03T20:22:00.002-05:00

David went out to feed up this morning only to find Dreamie soaking wet and covered with mud. Since she was in foal and due in May and little change always worried us. This time we had reason for concern. I knew the minute I saw her something was not right. Sure enough a look in the stall was all it took. There lay a pinto colt, still in the sack. Even if he had been born alive and we had been there he would have never survived since he was not due for another three months. The best we can figured ( with advice from experienced breeders) is the cord twisted and cut off the blood supply to the fetus. At least Dreamie does not seem traumatized by this. Can't say the same about us.

A Day of First

2009-02-01T12:04:00.004-05:00

Seems today is a day of first..
The first of February. Not sure that really means anything, except that January sure passed by fast!
Could this be the first signs of spring? Since our little "farm" was once an old homeplace( and part of a HUGE working farm in 1908) The place is covered with "old fashion" plants and flowers. each spring there are literally thousands of daffodils blooming all over the place.

Even though we know Spring is a bit aways the first yellow blooms always give promise to Spring is near. Not to mention it sure feels like spring today. Mid 50s and sunny.

First day the pups got to explore a new area of the house one at a time. ( a good way to evaluate temperament and fear response) I am happy to say they all passed with flying colors. In two weeks we will do a complete temperament test.

The Kialet at five weeks.

2009-01-31T12:34:00.002-05:00

I am so impressed with the quality of this litter. Yep I know I may be biased, but I think they are a darn nice group of pups. I will others look at them in a couple of weeks when we go to shows down in South Carolina. ( Just to make sure I am not being kennel blind!0

The puppies are now one month old!

2009-01-24T19:33:00.003-05:00

My where does the time go? Hard to beleive the little darlings turned a month old this week! Here they are the first time stacked on the table. Not the greatest photos but practice will make perfect.

On another note, we had the pleasure of attending the East Coast Miniature Horse Club meeting today. Could not have met a nicer group of folks.I was really impressed at how everyone jumped in to volunteer for upcoming events. We look forward to joining the club.

SNOW!!!

2009-01-20T10:54:00.006-05:00

Today we awoke to a rare site here in Central NC, SNOW! ( at least enough to cover the ground) We get snows like this only every couple of years. The horses seemed to care less. Even though they all have access to shelter looks like none of them chose to use it. I guess the fact that the snow does not melt on them says a lot about the insulating properties of their coats.

The dogs took a bit more coaxing but once they got over the inital shock they had fun running around for a few minutes.

The Iggy babies are now three weeks old!

2009-01-13T17:58:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe they are already three weeks old! Hopefully I can get some individual photos this weekend.

The puppies are now two weeks old

2009-01-06T19:27:00.002-05:00

My where did the time go? Hard to beleive it was just two weeks ago the little slugs arrived. They are doing great. Fat and happy. Eyes started opening at 10 days 9 a bit early for my guys) and they are crawling all over the box.

The horses get a body score

2009-01-02T16:51:00.004-05:00

The Purina Equine Nutrition Expert was out today to evaluate my feeding program and the weight of the horses. The good news is everyone is in great condition with body scores of 5-6.5. Both Romeo and Dreamie came to us in June both were extremely obese. Six months on Purina Wellsolve Weight Control worked wonders. Everyone is now on Strategy and they seem to be maintaining their weight.
The fencing is going well. About 3/4 of it is now complete. The the additions to the barn will be next.
Its been wet. cold and very muddy. The horses look like muddy Yaks!

Of course they never seem to mind being muddy or wet.

The puppies are one week old today

2008-12-30T21:59:00.003-05:00

Today marked one week since the little bundles of joy arrived. They are growing like crazy. Kia is still being a fantastic Mom. I still have to bribe her to leave them to go out for a potty break.

The Importance of Early Nuerological Stimulation

2008-12-29T19:41:00.000-05:00

I am a firm believer that this really does work. From day 3 to day 16 each pup is exposed to a series of short ( 3-5 seconds) "exercises" that were designed to stimulate the pups neurological system.
For more information on this go to
http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/early.pdf

The babies day three- individual photos

2008-12-26T17:56:00.000-05:00

I managed to trick Mom Kia into going outside for a brief time so I could get photos

The puppies Day 2

2008-12-24T11:54:00.000-05:00

All the pups are doing great. Eating like crazy and seem fat and happy. They were a bit tick at me today as I removed dew claws. I think they are actually more upset about being restrained than actually haveing the dew claw removed.

I hope to have individual photos before the end of the week.

We have puppies!!

2008-12-23T12:59:00.000-05:00

Staying true to form Kia kept me up most of the night while she delivered her puppies. First one was born around midnight with the remaining four coming by 3am.
Four girls ( 3 blue, one seal)and
One boy ( seal)
Mom and babies are doing great. Will get individual photos either tonight or tomorrow. ( right now Mom and babes are enjoying bonding time.)

Puppies any day now

2008-12-20T16:23:00.000-05:00

At this point poor Kia seems to never be able to get comfortable. No wonder when you see how big she is. The pups are due any day now. I am somewhat hoping they come on the 21st. Winter Solstice would be a neat theme.

Romeo

2008-12-16T07:23:00.000-05:00

This is Romeo (picture from this summer) our resident Miniature Stallion. If you had told me a year ago I would have a stallion on the property I would say you were crazy. But he is a sweet boy and very unstallion like (even with the girls in season)

How the dogs spend a dreary day

2008-12-14T12:24:00.000-05:00

With the weather in the 40's and no sun in sight, the girls would much rather spend the day curled up in a chair.

The boys on the other hand don't seem to mind going out.
The old girls appreciate a warm jacket even when in the house.
Kia being very much pregnant (due next week) well I cant even find one to fit her if she would wear one.