It’s all anyone is posting on social media tonight around New England. Our family went outside and got to enjoy nature’s light show. Here are some of the pictures from our farm.
They all grow up
Even though Amanda is attending Marine Science Magnet High School, she still has a lot of friends in Griswold. Tonight, she is attending the Griswold Homecoming Dance with some of those friends.
Big E 2024
Thursday 9/26 through Sunday 9/29 was our annual pilgrimage to Springfield, MA with a herd of goats. On Thursday afternoon, Quinn and Amanda checked in at the Big E with 9 goats for the 4-H portion of the event which includes milk test, showmanship, fitting, breed competitions and more. Rob was a chaperone for CT young men and stayed in the dorms at the Big E with all the kids. This was Quinn’s final event in 4-H based on aging out.
Friday morning was the showmanship competition which focuses on things such as goat knowledge, correct handling of the goat, and understanding of the scorecards. After lunch, the kids went in the ring again for a fitting competition that focused exclusively on the preparation of the animal. There were a total of 53 youth present this year from the 5 of 6 New England States (none from VT) which is an increase from recent years. Quinn placed 3rd of 12 in showmanship and was in the bottom half for fitting. Amanda was 2nd of 14 in showmanship and also in the bottom half for fitting. Clearly our kids prefer the knowledge portion over the time required to do well in fitting.
On Saturday, the goats were shown in breed classes. Unfortunately, there was only 1 other junior Lamancha present (Carolina’s kid from last year) so there wasn’t much competition. That said, the goats looked great. Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene took Champion Senior doe, CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina took Best of Breed, and Sawfish AS Tesla took Champion Junior Doe. This trip to the Big E was Phaylene’s final show as she is being retired at the age of 9. The real win of the day was when CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina was chosen as Best Senior Doe in Show out of the ~75 seniors.
At the awards ceremony, Quinn was presented with the Ruby Morris 4-H Scholarship for $2000 towards college.
Once awards wrapped up, some of the youth left while new herds came in for the Open Show on Sunday. We received Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili’s awards for winning Recorded Grade Best of Breed twice at the Nutmeg show from May. Chili approved of the mugs.
The Open show was quick and fun. Luck 4-Leaf Red Hot Chili took second in her class of 2yo Recorded Grades. We are hoping she continues to mature as we expect and think she will be a competitive 3yo.
Fox’s Pride had some very nice 2yo does in milk that took Champion and Reserve, and Carolina was second to CH Argonne’s Khaos in Best of breed.
In in the Junior Show, Sawfish QS Mina swept the competition as the youngest junior doe to earn herself a restricted leg towards her championship as Junior Lamancha Champion.
At the final awards ceremony, Amanda received the Lamancha Premier Breeder plate based on the number of points her does acquired throughout the day!
Shagya Inspections and Evaluations
Anna and I took SA Jeeka’s Jessica (JJ) and SA Fiona to Vermont to participate in the North American Shagya-Arabian Society (NASS) inspections and evaluation program. The consistent quality of the Shagya-Arabian breed has been maintained by a rigorous commitment to breed standards, including the requirement that all potential breeding horses be inspected and approved according to the international Shagya-Arabian breed standards established by the ISG in order to produce registered Purebred Shagya-Arabian offspring. Evaluations are the assessment of horses for purposes other than Breeding Approval. Evaluations offer owners the opportunity to have horses assessed by the commission for educational reasons only and the results are not applicable for breeding approval. Since JJ and Fiona are “Part Shagyas” they were evaluated, not inspected. You can read more about the inspection program on the NASS website.
Inspections only happen about every 3 years in the US and this time it was in Vermont, about 200 miles from home. A total of 10 horses were presented from CT, VT, OH, and Canada. NASS members came from CT, RI, and MI to watch the event which was actually split between two locations. The five trailered in horses were presented at a lovely private farm on a hillside and then we went a couple of miles away to watch Hallie Goetz present 5 additional horses at her farm.
The inspection/evaluation starts with measuring the horse’s cannon bone circumference, height, and girth. Then judges evaluate the horse relative to Shagya-Arabian breed standards while standing, led at the walk, led at the trot, and free lunging through all gaits.
Once all horses are presented, the entire group is brought into the arena for the reading of results by the judges. Since Anna and I were both holding horses, we didn’t take any notes, but I’m sure the results will be published by NASS later. While it was a long day since we didn’t stay over, we had a good time meeting other Shagya-Arabian owners and comparing how our part-Shagya mares look relative to others in the breed.
Amanda starts High School
How is it possible my baby is starting high school today?
Wowsers.
Amanda is attending the Marine Science Magnet High School of Eastern CT this year. Following in the foot steps of her siblings, Amanda earned a spot at the school in the lottery. There are only about 271 students at the school, usually around 70 freshmen. MSMHS was the number 1 high school in CT in 2023 and has an impressive number of AP and ECE offerings, along with some unique class offerings in the marine sciences and aquaculture realm. The school boosts an 11 to 1 student to teacher ratio and we hope Amanda has a great first year of high school.
Brooklyn Fair 2024
We took the Sawfish goat herd to the Brooklyn Fair today and had a great day. Our friend Terrell Lavoie is the superintendent and we love supporting our friends. Things started off with Showmanship: Amanda took 1st in Intermediate with Sawfish AS Porsche, Quinn took 1st in Senior with Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene, and Rob took 1st in Open with CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina. Quinn took Best Overall Showman (limited to youth) and won a nice blanket, with Amanda Reserve champion.
Lamanchas were a popular breed at Brooklyn. Sawfish AS Porsche was 1st under 2yo milker, CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina was was first 3-5yo , and Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene was 1st aged milker (we didn’t have a 2-3yo entry). Carolina took Best of Breed and Senior Doe in Show (winning us a second blanket). Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili took 1st in 2-3yo milker Recorded Grade and Best of Breed for Recorded Grade.
In Juniors, Sawfish Chrysi took 1st in 4-8mo Jr Lamancha, Sawfish AS Tesla took 1st in dry yearlings, and Tesla was Champion Junior Lamancha. Sawfish Kipu was 1st 4-8mo Jr Recorded Grade and Champion Junior Recorded Grade. We had 4 daughter/dam combos with us and 3 placed in the top 6 of 16. We were 1st in Best 3 and 2nd for Git of Sire and Produce of Dam.
Overall, we were very pleased with the our placings and look forward to the next show on our schedule at Blandford.
Pine Tree Endurance Ride 2024
Last week we completed our annual pilgrimage to Fryeburg, Maine for the Pine Tree Endurance rides. The event is held at the Fryeburg Fairgrounds and includes 4 days of competition with a 25 and 50 mile offering each day. New riders can choose to do an Intro ride for experience that doesn’t count for AERC credit but is helpful for getting new horses exposure to the sport. We first attended Pine Tree in 2016 and other than 2017 and 2020 (when it wasn’t held) we have been there every year. This year, Quinn was the ride secretary so Rob and Quinn drove to Maine on Saturday and Anna, Alex, and Amanda drove the horses up on Sunday. Rob’s parents, Ken and Liz, made their annual trek from Alabama to Maine to spend time with the family.
The horses that went were Mojo, Amira, JJ, and Fiona. JJ did 2 LD rides before we owned her (1 in 2017 and 1 in 2018) and had a lot of time off since. Fiona had never competed and Quinn has been working with her over the past 2.5 years to get her ready. Wanda Clowater was present and we purchased a number of her photos. You can view all the images on her site at https://www.clowaterart.com/.
Monday morning, all 4 horses were tacked up for a ride down to the Saco River. The kids had a goal of riding JJ and Fiona separately and we weren’t sure if they would cross the river without Amira or Mojo who are quite experienced with the water. The water wasn’t very high, but the bottom of the river was very unstable. The flooding over the past year+ has really changed the sand deposited in the river. The crossing requires going into the middle of the river, turning upstream for about 200yds, then exiting. The horses hit some holes in the bottom and on the way back Mojo went down into the water and really struggled to get back up. However, no one got hurt and JJ and Fiona did fine.
After the river drama, all the horses still vetted in fine and we were ready for the week.
On Tuesday, Anna went out alone with Amira for 25 miles. The kids had decided (with some guidance from Mom and Dad) to include Mojo’s experience with JJ and Fiona. Anna ended up riding the first loop with Kate on her Mustang, Fez. Unfortunately, when they arrived at the hold 13 miles later, Amira was lame. At Pine Tree in 2023, Amira injured a tendon on her left hind and was pulled from the ride. Since then, she got 2 months of wrapping and poultice, 6 months of rest, multiple rounds of ultrasound imaging, and PRP injections into the tendon sheath area. The swelling had never fully gone away but she was sound in all the rehab work that started in the spring. Unfortunately, the reappearance of this means Amira’s endurance career is over. With another winter of rest we expect her to return to trail riding soundness, but she will never compete again.
On Wednesday, the kids rode together: Alex on Mojo, Quinn on Fiona, and Amanda on JJ. Of course, no ride would be complete without some stress and drama. This year, JJ provided that as she was lame at home on Saturday. As Quinn and Rob drove to Maine, Anna sent a video of JJ off on her right hind. The digital pulse and heat in the hoof indicated an abscess and it was treated as such. By Tuesday afternoon, JJ was sound and not showing any issues so we sent her out on Wednesday. By the end of the week, you could clearly see where the abscess had erupted at some point from the coronary band hair line.
There were 23 riders on Wednesday and the kids waited for all the other horses to leave before they started. Unfortunately for the front runners, a whole group of riders made a wrong turn and ended up off course. It took a while for them to get back on track, but the kids arrived at the hold much higher in the placings than expected. During the hold, all three horses vetted in just fine. The vets check the horse’s pulse, gut sounds, hydration, soundness, and other factors. None of the horses needed cooling before making the pulse criteria and all three were happy to eat whatever we offered. 45 min later the kids left the hold.
At the finish, the kids were in a 3 way tie for 3rd. We decided to have Mojo and Fiona stand for Best Condition and Fiona ended up tying for High Vet Score at her first ride! I guess she is well conditioned (genetics helps).
On Thursday, Alex took Mojo out for another 25 miles and Amanda got a catch-ride on Millie Turner’s horse Skippy Doo. Millie Turner owns Turner Tack and one of her many items we love are the wash bags for saddle pads and other horse items. It keeps the horse hair from getting all over the inside of your washer and Anna uses them for standing wraps too.
Skippy and Mojo had never ridden together but both are quite experienced and had no trouble working together throughout the day. They finished the day tied for 8th and we both horses stood for Best Condition. While they didn’t win BC or High Vet score, we were very pleased with Mojo’s overall condition after back-to-back 25s. He had ended Pine Tree 2023 lame and Alex worked hard to ensure Mojo was properly conditioned.
Friday was the last day of riding and it was raining overnight Thursday and predicted to rain most of Friday morning. A lot of people decided not to ride for various reasons so the field was very small on Friday. The kids had enough fun and didn’t want to go out again, so Anna rode JJ and our friend Caitlin rode Fiona. Anna had only been on JJ once prior so it was an adventure for both riders. We didn’t take a lot of pictures because it was raining almost the whole time.
Both horses completed with no issues and JJ presented for Best Condition with a 28 pulse (the vet was shocked) and won both BC and High Vet Score.
Anna and Alex took the horses home Friday evening as the rain was going to get worse overnight. Rob, Quinn, and Amanda stayed until lunch on Saturday to help around camp and for Quinn to finish ride secretary duties. Before everyone left, we did the traditional bubble blowing and family photo.
There has been an anonymous donor that has paid for entries for juniors/young riders. Our kids benefitted from that generosity yet again this year. If you are reading this, we thank you for your donation.
Sawfish Lamanchas 2024 Linear Appraisal
This afternoon we were a host herd for linear appraisal (LA). If you aren’t familiar with the LA program from ADGA, you can read about it here. This was our first time to do LA and we had 3 other herds trailer to our farm to participate. Here are the results:
Goat | DOB | Score |
Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene | 2/4/2015 | EVEV90 |
CH(pending) Majenli LK Carolina | 2/20/2021 | VVVE89 |
Sawfish Jasmine | 5/1/2021 | VGVA83 |
Sawfish Camellia | 4/11/2021 | VGVG85 |
Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili | 3/12/2022 | GAVV83 |
Sawfish AS Porsche | 2/18/2023 | GGEG84 |
FB Restored!
2 weeks ago my Facebook account was hacked and I lost all access. FB offers NO customer support for individuals. There are help pages that don’t (help). After extensive research, it seemed the only way people were successfully getting accounts restored was through the intervention of State Attorney General offices. So, after a week of no success on my own, I submitted a request through the CT State AG website with the details. The next morning I received a reply from an intern requesting some additional details, which I provided. I did have to establish a new email address not associated with a previous account. This afternoon, I received an email that FB had taken action on my account. I tried to login and I was able to successfully restore access. All the previous hacker email addresses had been removed and it looks like my account was actually locked out by FB the whole time as there are no suspicious posts or messages.
If you use FB as your business site, I SERIOUSLY recommend you rethink that practice. One thing I learned is people have way too much trust in FB to help them. FB only cares about the ad revenues and even those sites get abysmal support. I have added 2 factor authentication through an app as a requirement so a hacked email account doesn’t give up an access code again.
If you are reading this on FB and aren’t sure it’s me, contact me through my cell (number is on our website).
FB Hacked!
Last night, my (Rob’s) Facebook account was hacked. When I got up this morning, I had multiple email notifications about changes to my account. I had 2 different email addresses and a phone associated with the account. It looks like 1 email may have been compromised first and from there, the hackers loaded a email address, changed passwords, and removed all of my email and phone info. Of course, I clicked on all the “this wasn’t me” notices in my email.
This type of issue is one reason we maintain a family website and don’t just rely on social media for our communication. Facebook doesn’t have a helpdesk you can call or even chat with for personal profile issues. I don’t know if this will ever get fixed or not. I have found a ridiculous number of posts all over the internet that indicate people working on this type of problem for months.
For now, if you need to reach me, contact me via email or on my cell. I was able to make a post from my FB account on my cell phone and it was immediately replied to by a lot of people I don’t actually know. Don’t trust any of the comments on that post.