endurance, horse, kids, Uncategorized

A step in the right direction

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Two years ago in February we bought SA Fiona in KY. She’s been a bit of a challenge. She is 11 this year, but had never been broke to ride. She is sensitive and was very herd bound when she first came, making it a challenge to even work with her safely without another horse present.

We started riding her in October of 22, but the weather shut us down, and last spring we started again and she did most of her 100 miles walking trails and learned to walk and trot in the arena. We had some saddle fitting woes, and worked extensively on reducing her reactiveness to anything touching her, bugs, saddle bags, legs, plastic bags, ropes, scary things and did a lot of long lining.

Quinn has been riding her more since getting out of school in mid May, and taking Fiona on longer and longer trail rides. Last weekend Alex and Quinn did 8 miles in Pachaug. Exposure to dirt bikes, cars, screaming camping children, mountain bikes, is all a part of riding in Pachaug State Forest. Our property backs up to the forest and offers hours of trails straight out the back.

This morning Quinn and I loaded up Amira and Fiona, and headed over to Arcadia management area in Rhode Island. It was the first time putting Fiona on our trailer since she came. She loaded right up behind Amira with only the slightest bit of hesitation. Unloading at the Horsemen’s area, we discovered she really didn’t want to back out, so Quinn let her turn around in the tight space ( she was in the third stall of our four horse slant load). It spooked Fiona a bit, and she quickly exited leaving Quinn behind, but luckily I caught her on her way out. In hind sight, I should have collapsed the rear tack to make things easier and more open.

Fiona settled pretty quick with some grazing ( Amira is a good role model) and we tacked up tied to the trailer. Then we went into the large grass arena and walked on foot before mounting and riding around another few minutes. Fiona seemed to take it all in stride, so we headed out on an 8 mile ride down to midway and back. We walked and trotted and it was uneventful. Even with mountain bikes that didn’t stop and loose dogs, no one died.

Back at the trailer, we realized we had never sponged Fiona before…just rinsed her with the hose at home. Lots of things to work on. On the way home we flipped the position of the horses and loaded Fiona first, so she would have more room getting out. Amira prefers to back out anyway. We will work on some trailer loading and teach Fiona to back out should she ever have to ride in a straight load.

Quinn was very happy with Fiona today and it was certainly a big step towards Fiona becoming the horse we want her to be. We will continue to expose her to new things and plan to do a camping outing with the horses soon.

kids

8th Grade Awards

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The school year is coming to an end and with the transition to high school looming, 8th graders have a stacked schedule. We have already been to the last middle school band concert and field trips abound. Tonight was 8th Grade Awards night at Griswold Middle School and Amanda cleaned up. We didn’t keep exact count of everyone, but we are pretty sure that her 8 awards was the highest for an individual. She received:

Griswold Players Art Award for outstanding achievement in the arts

Sharon Kivlin Memorial Award for demonstrating a strong interest and achievement in Science while exhibiting positive attitude and work ethic

CT Association of Schools Scholar Leader (see Celebrating Amanda) for outstanding scholarship and leadership

Griswold Administration Association Award for highest grade point average in 4 subjects: Geometry (taken at the high school), Social Studies, Language Arts, and Science

Griswold Administration Association & Faculty Book Award for the two students with the highest overall grade point average

When she opened all the envelops, she found 6 books (only 1 she had already read) and checks totaling $115! I think she was happier about the books but plans to spend the money on more books.

kids

Celebrating Amanda!

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Our baby turned 14 on Saturday! Quinn took Amanda and two friends to the Providence Mall to go shopping, eat food, and play at Dave and Buster’s. We weren’t invited. In addition to a bunch of clothes, Amanda wanted a new tack set for JJ in her pink and purple colors.

On Monday evening, we attended the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) Scholar Leader Banquet. Amanda was one of two students from Griswold Middle School chosen for this award. The GMS Principal explained he allows the teachers to make the selection of awardees each year. The award is bestowed based on scholarship, leadership, and community involvement. The event was held at the Aqua Turf Club and included a formal dinner. Each student got to choose a teacher to attend with them and Amanda chose her 7th grade Language Arts teacher.

Amanda will be attending the Marine Science Magnet High School in the Fall.

goats

Nutmeg Classic 2024

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Last weekend was our first goat show of the year and the only ADGA sanctioned show in CT. The Connecticut Dairy Goat Association 2-ring Nutmeg Classic is held in Somers, CT and we took 8 goats. Quinn and Amanda did all the clipping to get the goats ready. Since the temperatures in CT this time of year can still be rather cool in the evenings, we opted to only use a 1/2″ guard to leave a longer coat to avoid dealing with blankets for the goats. For showmanship, the judge commented that the longer coat impacted placing for both Quinn and Amanda. Maybe next year we will do a shorter clip for the May show. The judges were Todd Biddle in Ring 1 and Aprit Hitch in Ring 2.

Both Quinn and Amanda used new goats for showmanship this year. Amanda chose E.B. Farms Sunstone Tulsi and Quinn used Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili. They clipped udders at the show on Saturday morning. Amanda placed 5th of 13 and Quinn was 2nd of 3.

Amanda clipping Tulsi’s udder
Quinn clipping Chili’s udder
Intermediate Showmanship lineup

For the breed classes, Chili is a recorded grade due to a DNA exclusion in her pedigree after we bought her. Unfortunately, there were not many Recorded Grade at the show, but she still won Sr. Champion, Best Recorded Grade, and Best Udder in both rings.

Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili
Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili
Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili

Tulsi was the only Lamancha milker we took. As a 2yo, 2nd freshener, she placed 8 of 9 in Ring 1 and 5 of 9 in Ring 2. While she isn’t as big as some of the others in our herd, her udder has great texture and capacity.

E.B. Farms Sunstone Tulsi
E.B. Farms Sunstone Tulsi

For the Junior Doe Show, we took 2 dry yearlings and 4 kids under 3 months old. Sawfish Kipu (recorded grade) is Chili’s daughter and was 2 of 2 in both rings. In the Lamancha under 3 month class there were 9 entries for both rings. Sawfish Chrysi was 2nd Ring 1, 1st Ring 2; Sawfish QS Bali was 6th Ring 1, 3rd Ring 2; and Sawfish Tahiti was 9th Ring 1, 4th Ring 2. For the yearlings, there were 11 entries in both rings. Sawfish QS Ferrari was 11th Ring 1, 6th Ring 2 and Sawfish AS Tesla was 3rd Ring 1, 5th Ring 2.

Baby goats tanking up before the show
Sawfish QS Ferrari
Sawfish AS Tesla

Overall, we had a good first show. In particular, we were very pleased with how Tesla looks in the ring and think she is going to continue to do better as she matures.

horse, running

Sometimes plans change

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Back in January, I posted about the Border Patrol Challenge and my running goals for 2024. In February, I got thrown from Gamble and had some down time due to the resulting bruising. I am happy report that I was able to recover and complete all 20 Border Patrol Challenge Trails for a total of 184 miles. Rusty completed 19 of the trails (I didn’t let him do the 26 miler).

Rusty making sure I don’t miss the trail marking
Running the 26 mile loop with Ian

During my CT scans in February, the doctors had noted bilateral inguinal hernias but told me not to do anything unless it became a problem . The weekend after I finished the last trail, I was running a local-ish 16 mile trail race when some pain developed – it became a problem. Since that race, I haven’t been running at all. I had to withdraw from the Traprock 50k and I’m now scheduled for surgery in June. I have been advised not to run until 4-6 weeks after my surgery, so sometime in July. That means the Twisted Branch 100k won’t happen either and I’m not going to get my 1000 miles in 2024. It’s disappointing but at least the issue isn’t more severe.

Gamble went to see Geoff Goodson for at least 3 months of training. It was definitely the right decision and Geoff is making some great progress and they are over in Salem so it’s close enough for me to stop by after work occasionally.

We have been doing a lot of projects around the farm, but we are trying to make time for relaxing occasionally. I put 4 shoes on Fiona for the first time and she was surprisingly chill about it. So this afternoon we took the mares out: Anna on Amira, Amanda on JJ, and I rode Fiona.

We will be putting some miles on the mares because they need wet saddle pads to build confidence and stamina. It’s likely to be a light year for our endurance riding but heavier goat shows. The goat status is a whole other post…

goats, kids, random observation, Uncategorized

The Spice Girls’ Baby Goats and Phaylene kids

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Can I just say crazy couple of baby goat weeks…We had 7 baby goats in mid March. Two from Tulsi, two from Carolina and preemie triplets from Jasmine.

On Monday March 18, Chili was giving me all the indications she was planning to out her babies, but she wasn’t due until Friday, so I left her out with the others. She is a drama queen goat, and doesn’t like to be isolated by herself.

Well, after morning chores I decided to check on her and then go deal with milk dishes. An hour later I came out to check on her and she had two babies on the ground already. An almost 9 pound buckling and a small 5 pound doeling. We named them Kauai and Kipu. Kauai got Chili’s frosted nose and ears, but Kipu certainly got her personality as she is a little diva already. Chili has been great settling into being a milking goat and is super easy to hand milk. She is still opiniated and will let us know if we forget to bring out the alfalfa.

Later that week, on Thursday, Rob and I had been invited to an equine educational evening sponsored by Flemings Feed. It was informational and dinner was great with some awesome desserts. We came home and went to check on Pepper in the barn, who was due Saturday, and low and behold, she had one buck kid on the ground and was pushing out a second! Pepper had eaten dinner on the stand 45 minutes earlier with the kids…

We named Pepper’s boys Principe and Palau. Our naming theme this year is Vacation islands.

Here are some pictures from the foursome being outside last week. The three boys are available as pet wethers, as is Tulsi’s buckling Trinidad, if anyone’s looking. Kipu is staying here.

Principe
Kipu in the pink collar
Kipu in front
Kauai has the frosted ears
Kipu

Last Tuesday April 9 Phaylene, our aged doe, kidded with triplets. We had been watching her all day, but it wasn’t until we left the barn to have dinner that she decided to kid. We sent Amanda out after dinner and she called the house screaming “babies!”. There were two kids out and a third on the way. Two doelings, one buckling, all pretty small at 6.6-6 pounds. Phaylene did great and is already cranking out over a gallon a day.

Phaylene’s triplets

Quinn and Amanda named the kids Minna, Malta, and Mykonos (where Rob and I honey mooned). These may be Phaylene’s last kids depending on how she looks this year, as she is 9 years old, and Quinn wants to retire her. One of Phay’s doelings is likely to be available.

The current baby goat count is 14, with one goat left to kid.

Porsche is our last pregnant doe, due May 10, with kids from Fox’s Pride KS Smooth Swagger. Amanda is really hoping for a doe kid out of this breeding, as she doesn’t have one yet this year from her project does. Porsche is a yearling, and while we don’t usually breed our yearlings, Porsche was on the heavy side and plenty big enough at 110 pounds last fall. Keep your fingers crossed for her!

goats, kids, Uncategorized

More Baby Goats!

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It’s been a busy few weeks on the farm. Rob has been traveling a lot, and when not traveling, he has been running, a lot, in preparation for his 50 K in April. Both Jasmine and Carolina kidded the first week of March.

Before Jasmine’s and Carolina’s kids arrived we were dealing with an abortion by Camellia about a month out from her due date. She ended up testing positive for CVV, Cache Valley Virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes and a threat to does in their first or second month of gestation. There is nothing you can do to avoid it, other than not breed until the mosquitoes have died off. This last fall was so warm, that wasn’t really an option. Does that contract the virus are then immune. Amanda was disappointed, of course, since Camellia is her project animal, and they have a special bond, but that is part of life on the farm. To top it off, Camellia ended up having a retained placenta, and we had to watch her carefully and give her some medications to help her clean out and recover. Camellia did not come into milk, so she will be taking the year off showing, unless she goes to a pet class or two at the fairs.

Jasmine was not due to kid until March 10, but went into labor on March 3. Her udder had been filling that weekend, so we knew something was up. She delivered three small triplet does, 6.5, 6.3 and 5 pound babies. They were 7 days early, and were a little quiet and needed to stay in the house a few extra days, but are growing and eating, weighing in in the mid teens currently. The kids named them Bahamas (Baha), Bali (the one with all the white), and Barbados (Barbie). The B babies are holding their own. Two of Jasmine’s doelings will be available. Likely Barbie, and Baha, but Quinn hasn’t finished deciding between Baha and Bali yet.

Baha
Barbie
Baha
Bali in front of Baha
Baha
Baha and Bali

Carolina kidded on March 5. She was due on March 7, but kidded two days early which is within the normal window. Her labor stalled and we had to investigate what was going on. We found two heads, and three feet (not good). After Quinn and I trying to push one back and find the missing leg of the other for a while, but they were tangled, we decided it was time to call out our vet. The kids were big, and we just could not dislodge the first one. Of course, Rob was on travel to DC. Our vet, Cara Kneser, lives close to us and was on site in less than 15 minutes. After some pulling, pushing and lots of lube, she managed to get the first baby (a buck of course) unstuck and out, and the second kid, a doeling, was pulled right behind. They were both alive, which was a miracle, and poor Carolina was super sore and needed some tlc for a few days, but she appears to be bouncing back. The kids named the buck Crete, and the doeling Chrysi (greek island). They are both retained.

Carolina’s kids, Crete and Chrysi barely an hour old

The kids are now living in the garage pens, and we took them outside in the drive way for some play time, Chili and Pepper are up next for kidding, due on Friday and Saturday next week.

Barbie in front and Baha
Bali
Barbie
B babies
Chrysi and Crete
Crete
C baby zoomies
Chrysi and Crete
Chrysi in front of Crete

We have also been looking at ways to save on our hay bill, because as we all know, alfalfa at $50 a bale and second cut upwards of $12, the cost has been rising here in the Northeast. We decided to try out using a round bale with the goats after sourcing some nice second cut bales. We used a combo panel to wrap around the bale and covered it with an easy up. So far, the goats approve. It’s also their new favorite napping spot.

food

Shop local

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Dinner tonight is 5lbs of ribeye steak purchased from Herz Homestead as part.of a half steer. We have been buying beef from Heidi and Adam for a few years now. In comparison, the cheapest ribeyes at Walmart were $16/lb so this would be at least $80 worth of meat. I’m not saying the overall price was cheaper, but we like supporting local friends in their farming endeavors and this is definitely better than the cheapest meat at Walmart.

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goats, kids, Uncategorized

First baby goats of 2024!

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Last Sunday Tulsi was due to kid. We had been bringing her in at night for a few days, as her udder was filled and her ligaments were getting soft. Sunday morning she was clearly uncomfortable breathing heavy and starting to paw, so we knew it was the day. We had ultra sounded her with twins, so that was what we were expecting. I fed her and went about morning chores. Not too long after that she went into labor and delivered twins, one doe and one buck. They were both nose and toes, though the buckling had one front leg bent back, so I had to assist a little with that.

The kids named the doeling Tahiti, and the buckling Trinidad. The doeling was 7.3 pounds and the buckling 7.5 pounds. Vacation islands is our naming theme for this year. Last year was car makes. Tahiti is the one with less white on her. The babies get to hang out with us in the kitchen for a few days, and then transition to living in pens in our garage until the winter weather has passed and they are ready to go live in the baby pen. We choose to bottle raise to socialize the kids to like people, which makes them friendly and easier to handle and show. Raising them separate from the does also allows us to keep their environment cleaner to reduce their parasite load and they can be sold sooner as bottle babies if desired.

Tulsi is doing great. She is producing a gallon of milk per day already, and her udder has increased capacity from last year when she was a milking yearling.

The babies have unfolded and are enjoying the attention they get from the kids when living in the kitchen, they got disbudded last night and starting tomorrow they will go out to the garage during the day, to stretch their legs and not make such a mess in the house. They are currently getting bottle fed five times a day, and will transition to the grey nipples and their lambar over the next few weeks.

Next up for kidding is Carolina on March 7 and Jasmine on March 10. Jasmine is huge, likely carrying triplets, so she might go early, Hoping for easy deliveries and healthy kids and mamas.

The story of our lives with horses. And goats.