... on a positive note, both cuttings of Hay are in the barn!

I bet we are one of the few farms in the area who has two cuttings of hay off their fields and in their barn -- without any mulch hay!

Kim did a great job timing the weather. There have been very, very few windows to put hay in this summer. As I wrote when we did the first cut, you need to have a few days of dry weather to have the hay dry out enough to bale safely and put in the barn. We got a very light rain on the second cut and then had to race to let it dry out enough before Tropical Storm Danny came this last week.

This morning we put the last two wagon loads in ... we had to speed them in to Kim's barn on Friday afternoon when it started to rain. The second cut looks great!!!

Here is a great picuture Krissy took with all the hay cut and on the ground before we baled it.

Send Good thoughts Bam's way ....

Yesterday morning we discovered Bam in the paddock very lame. Dr. Dowd was here most of the day and Bam has a splint on. His injury is in the same spot as Fritz -- high up in the shoulder where portable x-ray machines don't do a lot of good. Greg emailed the pics to the surgeon who could also not be sure what was going on. They did see one area of 'concern.'

Bam seems to be putting weight on his leg today and getting around a bit more. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he will have a full recovery.

Here is a picture of him prior to the injury!

Never a Dull Moment

Have my laptop back!

What a week on the farm. Just back from vacation, Chuck got stepped on by Junior. Unfortunately, his foot got infected and he needs to keep it elevated through the weekend. Of course, all this happens a week when we are putting in the second cutting of hay from our field (got it all in ... looks great, hooray) and there is a lot going on in my 'other' life.

Decided today to keep my regular Friday lesson and at least get to ride this week as I had been doing lots of barn stuff all day. Jacki, Linda and I did the long trail loop again and I was on Buck. Jacki rode Dixie and Linda took Hercules, because Mr. Tee seemed a bit lame when being ridden by the girls earlier.

Buck seemed really tired and sluggish to me ... I could ride with a really loose rein, which is out of character. It made for a really relaxing ride!

We got back and were getting ready to put in another load of hay when Dixie started to stumble backwards. In the end, we think she was dehydrated and she seems fine tonight, but it was a scary few hours.

Then, while Linda was bringing in horses to feed, and I was walking Dixie to make sure she didn't colic, and Chuck was on the phone with Dr. Dowd, two of the riders yelled to Linda: Bradley had thrown a shoe. What an afternoon!

All seemed quiet when I left for Boston tonight, but life on the farm is never boring!!!

updates, no pics

Besides being on vacation last week, my laptop went on the blink! All the pictures are on there, so for today I am simply going to do some quick updates.

This week is the last week of our Tuesday and Wednesday programming and we had a full house today.

As all our youth riders get ready to go back to school, we are trying to figure out fall scheduling. A newsletter will be coming out soon with options for securing your preferred riding slot for the fall so watch for that in the barn!

Today, Ginger is heading to Jeannie's farm. She had her feet trimmed by Matt today and with the new boots she seems to stay sound and not be in any pain, but we are convinced she can't be ridden. We are going to try out one of Jeannie's younger horses that might be a good school horse for us. It is a great solution all around, but Ginger is a real favorite around here so it will be sad to say goodbye today.

And, as most of our riders now know, we also had to bade farewell to Chandler last weekend who couldn't recover from his latest bout with colic. We are keeping him and Tasha in our thoughts and prayers.

Update on Chandler

One of the worst days for a horse owner is when their horse is sick. Obviously, it is hard to diagnose a creature that can't tell you their symptoms.

The other morning when Krissy arrived Chandler was lying down in the paddock and wouldn't get up. That is a really bad sign. And Chandler (a boarder) has had surgical colic twice before so we were very worried. We called the vet right away and started walking him.

The decision was made mid-morning to bring him to the vet hospital in Saratoga. He has been there for about 48 hours now.

He had some colic but also strangely had a good deal of blood pooled in his abdominal cavity -- but not in his stomach.

He was laying down again yesterday but was up and walking with his owner by midday. A second ultrasound showed that about half the fluid had been absorbed. That was a good sign.

The challenge is to figure out what caused the blood to pool so that they can determine treatment or even if it is treatable. The best news is that his heart rate has stayed normal which means he is not in extreme pain or duress.

We are thinking about him.

Featured Rider: Amy

Promised the riders in the barn that I would begin a new item occasionally on the blog: a featured rider. They all filled out questions for me and our first featured rider is: Amy! (Her barn name, not her real name....)

Amy has been riding for two years. This summer, she and her mom are sharing a lease on Sweet Pea so she is getting to ride quite a bit. During the school year she tries to ride once a week.

Her favorite lesson horse is Hercules, but for a show give her Sweet Pea! Great choice -- he cleans up nice and doesn't get too rattled.

Amy hasn't done a trail ride yet, but her choice for a trail ride is Buck. Buck has a well deserved reputation as a great trail horse!

Amy hopes to become a professional rider one day. And she keeps coming to Cobble Hill for the FUN and the HORSES!

More riding -- experienced rider summer fun

The most experienced riders are always looking for a new challenge. One of the great assets of our farm is the 1/3 mile training track that Chuck's Aunt Alice built to train her horses on jog carts for trotter and pacer races. Today, it serves as a great place for a first trail ride. The views (as you see from this picture!) are gorgeous. And it is a pretty safe area.

Now, our industrious riders have worked with Chuck to put some hunter/jumper type obstacles (I am sure all my verbiage is wrong -- way out of my element) down there to make a fun course. Safety is always a priority, so Linda has told the riders with permission to use the 'course' that they must be supervised by her AND they have to wear a flak jacket. As you can see in the picture, it doesn't seem to diminish the fun!

Summer Riders DO ride!

I realized that most of my posts of our summer programming are of the riders doing non-riding events. And, with Jacki's amazing leadership, we are certainly doing lots of great non-riding activities. However, it is the riding that is the real attraction.

In one short year I am proud of Chuck, Linda and Krissy -- they have really developed the vision of having well-taken care of horses who are well-suited to instilling in young riders the joy of horseback riding. There are so many aspects to riding that are positive for kids: balance, needing to focus and take direction. The self confidence that the riders gain being able to control something so much bigger than themselves is its own reward.

For the first time riders, they get our calmest, most dependable horses: Dixie, Hercules, Sweet Pea, Mr. Tee and Buck. All of these horse vary a great deal in size from Hercules who is only about 13 hands to Sweet Pea who is 16 and a half! New riders each have a leader, and in some cases a side walker. They learn balance, positioning, and just get a feel for the horse. To keep it interesting, Linda has them do a bunch of different things on the horse: around the world, posting at the walk with hands on hips. Alot of that is what you see here.

Once students are comfortable they get off the lead line but still have a leader near the horses head in case they get in trouble.

It is so interesting to see the riders different personalities on and off the horse. Children who are really tentative on the ground sometimes meld with the horses in short order, whereas kids who are completely confident on the ground sometimes take a little longer to develop confidence on the back of the horse.

It is an art and Linda is phenomenal at picking up on each horse's daily disposition and each riders' emotions. The result is meeting the goal of having everyone get off their horse with a smile on his or her face!

Happy Birthday Linda!

Last week Linda had a birthday. Our all access riders did a great job planning a surpise birthday party and Chuck did his part of sending Linda "off" on an errand. Here are some of the pics.

Tye Dye, Wind Chimes, Water Balloons

With our last 3 day riding experience of the summer kicking off yesterday, we had a very full house. I think nearly 20 riders at some point during the day. Four brand new riders to CHF who all seemed to have a great time. Linda really has a great way of making new riders feel completely comfortable on a horse. It is a gift.

Our non-riding events went well except that I may never get the Tye Dye off my hands! Because several of the participants are repeaters, Jacki did a great job of coming up with new activities. Wind chimes with a horse and shell theme -- perfect for summer!

Days like yesterday I think I should have been a teacher.

The calm before the storm!

I think we are going to have a record number of riders at the barn this week. Full Access lease has 5 plus Elizabeth, 3 day riding experience has 9 and we might get some Tuesday and Wednesday riders. Hopefully, we are going to have some nice summer weather .... wouldn't that be nice?

Will try to capture it all in pictures.