Faith arrives

Lending the perfect name to a wonderful season, last night Faith, a rescue mare, arrived from the Equine Angels Rescue Sanctuary (EARS). Her new owner and their family along with ours were here to greet her.

She has the most beautiful eyes and face and truly lives up to her name. The picture above is from the rescue website.

Chuck read to Elizabeth from the book that Frank Weller from EARS left last night about the plight of PMU mares and we were all disturbed and quite moved to learn more about the very difficult life these animals live in order to provide Hormone Replacement Therapy. As a woman of a 'certain' age, I must say I am relieved that I have avoided taking an HRT although it was more for the side effects it might have on me than from any knowledge of how they are manufactured.

Elizabeth is now determined to spend a week volunteering in Connecticut this summer and she and her cousin stayed up late last night designing their own Save the Horses blog to raise money for EARS. Check out wwwhelpthehorses.blogspot.com (no 'dot' after www ...)

Faith is in what our regulars will think of as Caesar's stall. As hard as it was to say goodbye to him, it feels great to have Faith take that spot in our barn.

The second picture above is Patty (who we are calling Peppermint Patty during the holiday season) chosen because it is a great shot AND the EARS organization actually has a medicine hat on their website and cards!

If you want to learn more about how Faith came to be rescued and got to our farm, check out http://www.foalrescue.com/.

Merry Christmas!

We have our work cut out for us tonight to insure no creatures are stirring but we are hopeful that Santa will forgive a few grazing horses, a hyper dog and affectionate cat.

As Chuck said at the barn party, we are extremely grateful to everyone who made our first full year in business such a pleasure and success.

We look forward to a great 2010.

For this post, you get Buddy and Sammie pictures. Both as photogenic as the girls and the horses!

New blankets

Three new horse blankets this week. Patty has a great purple one that will keep her warm and dry. She didn't seem to be bothered by this cold and her warm, winter coat is thick and soft. But the wind really does whip up here. Vixen has an equally attractive blue very warm new jacket. She has been getting cold -- she is one of the few horses in the barn who doesn't grow a warm, fuzzy coat. Her new blanket even has a 'hood' that is on in this warm weather tonight. And last, but certainly not least, Lizzy spent her birthday gift certificates at Country Tack for a very fashionable new blanket for Zeus. Chuck claims the dots are reflective! I just hope the other horses don't make fun of him for being dressed so fancy. :)

I have taken to mimicking the Chuck Uniform. With Krissy off for the week, I am spending a LOT more time in the barn cleaning stalls, turning horses out, etc.... I must admit those flannel lined overalls do keep you warm.

Despite the holidays and the cold, the barn still has quite a few riders coming for their weekly lesson.

Here is a pic that looks almost as cold as it feels outside. Now, back outside for Bradley's 8 pm feeding, cleaning the stalls of the horses spending the night inside so there is less work tomorrow morning.

Holiday Party 2009

We had a wonderful and festive event on Friday night ... thanks so much for everyone who came and brought food. What a feast!!!! Here are some pics ... the entire album plus some new horse pics are on Facebook.

Well, the cold has surely set in. None of our riders cancelled yesterday and all were dressed appropriately. "Andy" and Elizabeth officially launched the "its time to try riding bareback" season in their lesson with Karrie on Tuesday night. Elizabeth is an old hand, but it was Andy's first try and of course he loved it. Although Elizabeth says riding Magic at Oak Hollow bareback with all his fuzz and fur is the BEST winter bareback ride ever. I am going to take her word for it.

In the midst of all this cold, Jacki, Linda, Chuck and I are beginning to plan for the summer programming. We are going to try some new stuff out this winter and spring. Will probably do a pretty traditional riding day between Christmas and the New Year so if you are looking for something for your kids to do outside the house, keep an eye on the blog and posted in the barn!!!

I have WON the skating rink argument (did anyone doubt it?) but with some good input have recognized the best spot is up in the round pen. Hope to start this week ... will definitely let folks know when they might want to bring their skates.

Also, by the 1st of the year the 'boarder' tack room should be quite a good hang out for freezing, bored parents and siblings. If you haven't peeked in lately (or to the 'craft' room) check out Krissy's amazing work so far. The television, hopefully with cable access (FOR NON RIDERS ONLY) should be functioning in time for Bowl Season! :)

Lastly, in this cold weather we are going to use the 'real' door that enters through the tack room as our preferred entrance (hence, we will unlock it each morning). Keeping the garage doors down except when bringing horses in and out prevents the wind from whipping through but also will diminish the chance of spooking a horse in cross ties being brushed or tacked up by a rider.

Cheers!

Happy Holidays! Potluck celebration tonight

Festivities start at 6 pm.  Bring a dish, or just yourself and a friend.

Grab bag will be divided between adult or youth.

And riders, boarders, employees will get a special gift from the farm.  (If you don't make it tonight, make sure to grab your present the next time you are are the barn!).  Thanks in advance to Breann who spent tons of time and effort to help us pull off the Santa thing.

Here is a sneak preview of our holiday card photo (photo credit to the wonderful Krissy, of course).  Amusing that the level of enthusiasm in each girl's smile matches their enjoyment of riding!

Snow we can handle, wind can be a problem

First big storm of the year did some damage.  The newest run in shed -- as you can see -- got blown over by a gust of wind.

However, we are grateful no one was hurt.  Krissy and Chuck had been right next to the shed grabbing horses for the morning feeding 15 minutes before this happened.

We are counting our blessings -- and looking forward to a festive open house/potluck tomorrow night.  If only we could all be as happy as Lauren helping her dad to spread hay!!!!

First Snow, Ceasar's final day at CHF

It is stunningly beautiful on the farm this morning. Chuck is miffed that he hasn't finished everything before the first snow but the good news is it all gets covered up and looks beautiful.

It made Ceasar's departure last night all the more poignant. Chuck, Linda and Krissy have been thinking hard about winter, our program, capacity, etc... Ceasar, aka Chuck's Horse, has really aged in the last few months. He has been lame and just not himself. Last week Chuck mentioned to his last owner, our neighbor Nancy, that we probably needed to think about Ceasar's next home. She had always wanted us to tell her if we were going to sell him. And she had stayed in touch with the seller who she bought him from. Long story short, as Nancy told us last night, don't put her on a job unless you want it done! Ceasar's former owner and her young family arrived with an empty trailer (and a Christmas tree in the back of their truck along with two adorable young children ... really, you couldn't have picked a more idyllic looking family) and left with Ceasar for Vermont.

We already got a nice email passed along from Nancy that they arrived home safely despite the snow and were all settled happily on their farm. They have a few mares and Ceasar is great with the mares. Even though he was seldom used as a riding horse here, he has been an important part of our farm and our lives. The way he protected Vixen while she was pregnant and guarded over her and Patty that night they got out an open fence into the main paddock will be my best memory of the noble guy. He definitely lived up to his name!

Chuck is okay ... I was shocked he made the decision although it is hard to argue with whether it is the right decision. Krissy is here this morning and I don't envy him having to tell her. When she left on Thursday afternoon finding Ceasar a home was just a thought.

More changes likely coming ... going to have to spend some time updating the horse page on the site. Haven't put Zeus or Reno up there yet -- two great additions.

Holiday Party next Friday the 11th!

If you haven't seen the sign up sheet on the school tack room door, please check it out.  We are going to have a holiday celebration on Friday from 6 till 9 in the HOUSE (has been some confusion on that point!) ... casual, come as you are.  Bring a dish and a small (under $5) grab-bag gift ... or just drop in!

As we start the winter session of lessons Chuck and I continue to feel blessed with the wonderful riders, teachers, horses and families that have joined the Cobble Hill Farm family.  And, our wonderful support staff -- the vet, farriers, suppliers, etc....  We hope all of you will try to stop by!

We are looking forward to a wonderful holiday season and a great 2010!