Year's End

Closing out a busy year.
We got in chicken keeping this year, and our girls have grown up to be quite the big ladies. They have been laying eggs for a couple months now, and we are getting 4 to 5 eggs per day. It's more than enough for JD and me, so I have to give them away to make room for new ones each day.
The chickens are very funny. They love people! We let them roam the property when we're here, and they always run up to see us, clucking away.
I started running in the fall, and entered six 5K races. After the first three, I started placing in my age group, and have earned a first, second and third, in the last few races I ran in. It's a real sense of accomplishment at my age. Even in my 20s, I couldn't run 3 miles. Despite the snow on the ground and sub-freezing temperatures, I am keeping it up and even ran today in the wind and cold.
I did a lot of training with Sailor this summer, and even did a two-day clinic with her. She did exceptionally well, much better than I expected. We went out for trail rides a couple of times with me riding her and my neighbor Joan riding Titan. Both horses seemed to really enjoy that.
Titan's back was bothering him in early fall, so I called the vet and he got his first acupuncture treatment. He was very good about it, although Sailor seemed very distressed about all the needles. The results were amazing. He was much less back sore afterward, and the results have lasted. I think I will have him treated again in the spring.

Here's Titan's Christmas picture. You can tell he looks thrilled.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Chicks, man!

For a long time I've wanted to have my own chickens as egg layers, and on May 25, these five little Barred Rock girls arrived. It's been quite an adventured caring for them, and now they are all of 5 weeks old and last night, they moved outside into their coop. JD has been building it for weeks.

And here they are this morning in their coop. Can you believe how fast they grow? From what I understand, Barred Rock hens will grow to be about 7 to 8 pounds, so they will be big chickens that lay brown eggs. We'll have to wait until about October for that.

Their names are going to be Maggie, Maizy, Mabel, Fiona and Sadie. So far, I can only tell Maggie and Maizy apart, and maybe Mabel. I think I'm going to need a web cam to show them off, don't you think?

The horses are doing great. I took Sailor to a Tom Curtin horsemanship clinic, and we made great strides together. I'm back to riding her on the road, and my confidence level with her has gone way up. Titan is himself, which is my good old steady eddie. So now I have 2 good trail horses, which is amazing.

The Winter that wasn't

Looks like Titan is wondering what's missing from this picture taken today. Of course, it's snow! This is what my back pasture has looked like almost every day this winter. On the one hand, this has been my dream winter - temps in the 30s and even 40s, no snow to slog through, no blizzards to keep me stuck at home.
But the downside of this bizarrely warm weather is the environmental impact. Because there is no snow, the mold count never went down from the fall. In fact, according to my doctor, the mold count in this area is the highest it's been in 70 years. The result for me is an asthma condition, something I've never dealt with before. I'm on 2 different inhalers trying to get my breath back. I can't run or over-exert myself because I just about collapse. It's very discouraging.
The other downside is the tick scourge. We're already taking ticks off the dog and cats, and we're already putting Frontline on them. Usually that doesn't start until April. I shudder to think of how bad the tick infestation is going to be this year.
In another strange development, the sap has been running for more than a week or so, and JD has already made our first maple syrup of the year. It's much darker than usual, which I guess we can attribute to this weird weather.
You'll also notice Titan isn't wearing a blanket, which is usually mandatory in February in upstate NY. He's enjoying being naked on a day in the low 40s.
How's everyone else doing with the non-winter of 2012?

Ice Ice Baby

Well, it was only a matter of time before our fantasy winter with temps in the 30s and 40s came to an end. We had one warm day - Tuesday - when it rained all day. Then of course, on Wednesday the temperature plummeted, and our world froze. Everything at the farm is coated with a sheet of ice.
Since my horses have not yet learned to ice skate, this presented a problem. They spent yesterday morning stuck in the barn, while I waited fruitlessly to see if the sun might melt the ice sheet that blanketed the back paddock and pasture. By noon, that clearly wasn't going to happen.
So I got a long rope and a large barrel, and made a makeshift fence to keep them in a small area of the paddock just beyond the run-in shed. I sanded and salted thoroughly, and even even tossed around some old hay and manure for added traction.
They were able to go outside in this little area, which I hope helped their sanity at least a little bit. When JD got home from work, he improved my arrangement by making it a little bigger and sanding a bigger area.
But it was only 5 degrees this morning, and it's not supposed to get much higher than the 20s today. So my poor horses are going to be stuck for a while longer with a space not big enough to run around in. But the way I look at it, it's much better than going outside to find a tragedy.
Wish they could understand that, but there's not much else I can do.

Riding Mr. T.

Titan was kind enough to pose for me yesterday after we took a mid-afternoon ride. The weather was super - sunny and about 45 degrees, which is as good as it gets up here in northern New York in January. The two of us are coming along as partners. He is learning what I want and seems to want to please me. From what I've gathered from riding him, he was never ridden with any finesse or equitation skills. He neck reins like a dream, but leg cues are somewhat mysterious to him.
We've been working on simple transitions, like going from a trot to a walk. At first, he would continue trotting even when I cued him verbally and with my seat that his gait should change. Yesterday he was getting it, becoming consistent at slowing to a walk when asked. In the spring, I'm hoping to find an instructor who will come to my house to give us some lessons to refine these skills. He also needs help with collection, which is apparently something that has never been asked of him.
He's such a good boy, so pleasant and best of all, so unflappable. Learning new skills at 16 years old has been a little challenging for him, but he is trying. I can tell when something is new to him, because he furrows his brow like he is trying very hard to figure out what I want. I get the feeling he was always told he did everything perfect. Now he's being told that while his old ways were OK, he has to work a little harder to step it up to the next level. Without anthropomorphizing, I think his feelings get a little hurt when he is corrected. I make sure to praise him profusely every time he gets something right.
His papers from the APHA arrived the other day, so now he's officially mine! I'm looking forward to some great times with this big guy.