'Twas the night before Christmas...

We've had a wonderful year. So many people stepped up and helped out after our barn fire last December, and we'd like to thank you all again and again for all that you donated, shared and the care you gave our ponies and cows. Thank you, too, to all the volunteers who come and help on the farm - you make our lives much easier and give so much to the ponies and horses.



The barn is up, with 6 big (14 x 14') box stalls and 4 standing stalls, a partly completed tack room, and hay storage. Our cows, horses and ponies are all home again, too. Fences up, some with new gates, and our riding ring has some tile draining and a lot of new sand. There's a hydrant in the tack room, too, so we don't have to worry about the pipe freezing anymore.



Toro the bull came to visit for a while. We hope to have calves out of Aggie and Cooba again next summer. T-Bone and Lunch are growing well and should be ready for the freezer right around the time the cows calve again. Toro left a week ago - off to his new home with a pasture full of cows.



Dreamer (Dreaming of Willie), Annabelle and Daisy have gone to new homes. We added one new horse, CW's Totally Silver (aka Silver), a stunning silver Morgan stallion. He's broke to ride and lovely to handle. He came from the Galetta auction, and with a bit of sleuthing by mom and me on the internet, we managed to figure out his story and find the owner who holds his papers. We hope to have him inspected as a Canadian Sport Pony next year.



We also added a puppy to our menagerie: Jesse. He's a "Texas Heeler", but looks more like his dad, an Australian Cattle Dog. Jasper seems to be pretty happy with the new addition, but Stripe is not impressed by the additional competition for couch space. Jesse likes to herd the chickens round and round in circles - we'll have to find him some work to do (agility, maybe?) when he's a little older.



Two weeks ago in a snow storm, I found a black Labrador male dog in my driveway wearing a brand new collar with no tags. We named him Max and posted Found notices all over the neighbourhood, on Facebook, and in the Citizen. We also notified all the vets in the area (had him scanned for a microchip) and talked to all the neighbours. Since we couldn't find his owners, Susan B. has agreed to foster him until the 30-day wait period for adoptions is up. Once that's past, she'll adopt him and have him neutered. She's already taken him into her heart and home - and to the vet for a rabies shot. His new name is Samson (Sam for short) and I'm sure he'll be a regular visitor out to the farm.



We plan to participate in the International Spotted Horse Registry's All Breed Open Online Photo Competiton next year with as many of our horses and ponies as possible. It's open to both ISHR registered equines and those that are not, both patterned and solid. Check it out here: ISHR.



We're also looking forward to SummerFest Breeders Show next year - and hoping to bring Beauty's offspring to show again. We may bring a whole bunch: Beauty, Breezy, Firecracker, Spot (gelded now), Pebbles, the 2011 foal, Peanut, Silver, Jasmine and Spook, so the more helping hands we have, the better. Depending on how they do, we may even fill our own trailer to go to the Royal Winter Fair. I'm planning to show in dressage again, and may show Silver as well as Porto.



Mom gave me my Equine Canada, Dressage Canada and ParaEquestrian memberships for Christmas, so I'm nearly all set to show. Still need my Eastern Ontario Paint Horse Club, Federation Equestre du Quebec, and perhaps my CADORA and OADG memberships, but I'll get those one at a time. Now I have to start learning the new dressage tests for 2011.

That's it for tonight folks, time to get to bed so Santa can come. I'll add photos tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Spook-tacular Success!

Despite the snow and chilly temperatures, Spook-tacular 2010 was a success!

There were little children with parents leading their ponies, children leading ponies, and adults leading ponies. Parents helped out wherever they could and watched the others lead and ride through the classes.

The mucky footing meant that we shortened the show again and skipped a number of classes, like the obstacle course and the jumping, but everyone seemed to have fun and win a ribbon or two.

The $500 in sand delivered and spread in the week before the show made the ring usable, but wet. Good thing we put the weeping tile in in the spring!

Heather Swan of Liberty Shots came and took photos. She's put a sampling up on Facebook already, but will soon post a gallery of photos for participants to purchase on her site.



Every participant received a green lunch bag, courtesy of Corbeil Appliances in the Pinecrest Shopping Centre. Thank you for your generous donation of bags and prizes!


Even Jasper got into the spirit of the day - he wore his wings all day long without a complaint.



Chilly spectators and competitors wrapped up warmly to watch the show!




Christine Allard, of Forever Green Stables in Glen Robertson, was our judge again this year. She brought along a couple of competitors to join the classes. Thank you, Christine! Maybe it'll be warmer next year?



Miella rode Leo and won the Junior High Point Championship! Congratulations, Miella!

Jennifer S. (Miella's mom) rode her horse, Leo, and won the High Point Adult Championship! Congratulations, Jennifer!

Miella and Jennifer each received a bag of swag to go with their championship ribbons, including items donated by Corbeil Appliances.

Patricia C.'s students rode Sneakers and several other horses and ponies, and the teenage volunteers (Daphne, Talia, Christina, and Mel) helped out whenever they could as well by holding ponies, moving props, manning the gate and keeping an eye on the kids between rides.

Serge rode Spook (Cool Blue Dream) - it was only the 2nd or 3rd time anyone had been on his back, but Spook took it all in stride. He even had one of the equitherapy kids on him because he was so quiet! Good boy, Spook! (Don't anyone tell him he's a stallion - we like him this way!)

Sue B. came out to help with Otis. She graciously lent him to the equitherapy students for the day.

There were costumes - Miella and Jennifer S. dressed Leo up as a sheep!

Patricia and Crooked Pete were hula dancers.

Mom dressed Miss Daisy as a clown.

Mom made six quarts of chili for lunch and it, along with a big bag of rolls, disappeared quickly when everyone came inside for ribbon presentations and lunch.

There was a cake (thanks, Mom!)

And lots of ribbons! (Mom made these ones just for our show.)

Pony Club meeting today

The EastWind Pony Club will meet at 1 pm today. If you're interested in being a member, and you are between the ages of 6 and 25, come on by for more information.


SPOOKTACULAR FUN SHOW
Our 2nd annual Spooktacular Fun Show is next Sunday, October 31, 2010. Classes start at leadline and go up to the level of the entered riders. The day ends with a costume class with both child and adult divisions. Entry fees help support the horse rescue and pay a few bills.

For more information or an entry form, email Eleanor at dreamscapeacres@yahoo.ca or Susan at sneakypony@yahoo.com. Entries must be received by Saturday, October 30 so we can figure out the timing for lunch.

Lunch is a good deal. $5 gets you a bowl of homemade chili, roll, dessert, coffee or tea.

Prizes, ribbons, treat bags for people and ponies - this show has it all! Come on out and have fun!

Show photography by Heather Swan of Liberty Shots.

Random bits and pieces - more catching up

Spot is now gelded, but Beauty managed to let him into the mares' paddock. She's now confirmed in foal to Spot My Dream for 2011. Hopefully this foal will be as wonderful as Pebbles. We hope to actually be able to choose Beauty's next foal's father next year: she and her new foal will be in the round pen (jail) to make sure.

Shawn was gelded at the same time as Spot, and when he was weaned, he was traded to Christine Allard of Forever Green Stables for a cute pony mare named Jasmine. Jasmine is a medium pony.

Lori showed Cool Blue Dream (Spook) at Paint O Rama again this year. He won his 3 year old Stallion class and placed in the Overo class. He also won the High Point Stallion trophy for the Eastern Ontario Paint Horse Club again this year, and added the High Point Overo trophy.

Toro is back - he's bigger than he was last year!

Aggie and Lunch in the shed.

The paddock beside the barn is now fenced and has a new electric fence charger. The cows are in there with Toro the bull. Toro fathered two bull calves this year: Aggie has Lunch, and Cooba has T-Bone. Both are now steers - the elastrator made sure of that. Next year we hope to have two more calves - and more beef for the freezer.

Mom bought a harness for Spot at Lachute. He hitches beautifully, and now that he's fully healed from being gelded, seems to have found his brain. He's a very sensible pony now and can often be found mowing the grass on the dog tie behind the house.

Forever Porto is now my horse. Christine Allard of Forever Green Stables found sponsors to buy him for me. Many thanks to Jacques and Serge Buy, and Larry Rivet for their kind gift! It was such a surprise - and many tears of joy were shed that day. Porto now lives at Dreamscape Acres - and now that this year's show season is over, his shoes are coming off so he can relax.

Porto and I went to Les Jeux Equestre du Quebec in Bromont. Mom came along for moral support and took a few pictures. We didn't do as well as we hoped, but it was an experience to ride in the Olympic Horse Park.

The team from Forever Green Stables did well - Fancy Pants showed in Dressage and Cross Country as well as in the Kur. We were very proud of Mariepier and Fancy Pants!

I rode in the AERSO shows this summer at Forever Green and St. Lazare (Equetrans) in Training and First Level dressage with Forever Porto, and won the gold medal in Training level, as well as the trophy for High Average Dressage Score. Both trophies were presented at the banquet in Dollard des Ormeaux. Thank you, Christine, for all the encouragement and coaching - and for ensuring that Porto became my horse. Without you, none of this would have happened.

Pebbles and Anabelle went to Elisha's place to be weaned in September. Pebbles will be going to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto in November, so Elisha is working with him so that he'll behave appropriately at the show. We'll trailer down with other horses on Friday, stay the weekend and show Pebbles in his class on Sunday morning.

Peanut went to his new home last Sunday. He'll be living in Mountain with Julie and her boys.

We took Sneakers with us, along with the cart, and had a great afternoon driving around Julie’s farm and giving her boys a ride or two.

Candy (Donna's foal) will also be leaving for her new home soon - Susan B traded her to Christine for lessons.

Susan B bought a new horse. He's a Canadian and his name is Twist. He has a bent ear (he had a hematoma in it a long time ago).

Patricia C. bought another Canadian. His name is Crooked Pete. He'll be used for hippo-therapy for the kids once he's trained. He had an injury to his right front leg as a young horse and it's crooked, but it doesn't slow him down at all

Both Twist and Pete have made themselves quite at home!

Sad news: Reba (My Jet Star) died on Sunday, October 11, 2010. She had congestive heart failure. She was 38 years old - a good age for a Paint. She'll be missed, especially by Serge. Reba was definitely Serge's horse - she loved him and he loved her. She'll be forever in our hearts. Rest in peace, Reba.

I'm sure I've missed something, but when I remember, I'll add it to the next post.

Summerfest Breeders' Show 2010

Yes, I know I'm way behind. The gremlins in my computer ate the post that I wrote way back when, so now I'm going to try to catch up.



We took Beauty, Pebbles, Daisy and Peanut to the Summerfest Breeders Show at Kemptville College on August 1st, 2010.



Daisy and Beauty went in the Broodmare (Pony) Class, and Beauty placed 1st, with Daisy placing 2nd. I showed Daisy, and Mom showed Beauty. Susan B and Serge took care of the foals.

Next was the Pony Foal of 2010 class. Peanut and Pebbles were in that class, along with another foal. Pebbles won the class and Peanut placed 3rd. Serge did a great job with Pebbles and I showed Peanut - both of them were so little it seemed like an awfully long run around the ring, even though the judges had us only use half of the outdoor ring.



Since Pebbles won his class, he had to go in the Champions class. In that class, he was up against a lot of much bigger ponies - yearlings, 2-3 year olds and more.



Pebbles won that class, too, qualifying him for the Sport Pony Challenge at the Royal Winter Fair in November!!!! He won a Champion ribbon, a Sport Pony ribbon, a cooler, and a bag of feed.

Beauty went in the Champion Broodmare class, showing against the winners of the CSH and Open broodmare classes. She was Reserve Champion!! Pretty amazing for a little mare that mom bought at Galetta Auction a few years ago, along with her daughter, Firecracker.





Poor Peanut! He was so tired at the end of the day that he fell asleep with his ribbon back at the trailer. He was only 1 month old - and had to run with his mom in every class.



Mom with Beauty and her 1st place ribbon.



Beauty and Pebbles, both showing off their ribbons.



The end result - a ton of ribbons, a cooler (for Pebbles - and all his friends), feed, treats and other stuff.



Pebbles' ribbons and cooler!

We're not sure that he'll ever grow into it, but it's a pretty cooler and we'll find a pony to wear it eventually.

Thank you very much to Susan B for all her help - we couldn't have run all those circles without you to help with the ponies.

Liberty Shots - Heather Swan

Heather Swan of Liberty Shots came out to the farm early one morning (July 10, 2010) and spent a couple of hours taking fabulous pictures of the horses and ponies. Mom was here, too, and took a few pictures of Heather taking photos - and smooshing on the ponies.

Pebbles was his usual human friendly self and presented himself for scratchies!

Heather and me being mobbed by the ponies - Breezy thought scratchies while she was lying down were a great idea!

If you ever want to have professional portraits taken of you and your horse/pony, be sure to call Heather. She is patient, horse-friendly, and takes amazing photos.

Heather has graciously given us permission to use some of her photos on the blog (with attribution) and several prints of our favorites. She also came to our Open Barn and donated a print of one her shots of the McCullough Peaks Wild Horse Range mustangs to our silent auction.

This is a picture that Heather took of Pebbles (Dreaming of Chocolate) when he decided to have a nap.

There are many other, equally adorable, pictures of Peanut, Shawn, Candy and Anabelle - it made it really hard to choose which ones we should have printed!

Thank you very much for coming out to the farm, Heather! Feel free to come back any time.

Open Barn a Success!

Despite a sudden shower just as the barbeque started, our first Open Barn was a great success!



Thank you very much to all those who came, ate, bid on our silent auction, and enjoyed the day.



Andrew Droppo brought his hay steamers to show them off (the hay smells very good when steamed - and the horses were delighted by the special treat), Heather Swan of Liberty Shots brought her husband and son, and donated a gorgeous print to our silent auction, and Natalie Munro created and donated solid benches for people to sit upon - and brought her cooler and ice so we could keep the hamburgers and hotdogs cold until they were cooked.







Andrew Droppo and Andrew Chaplin graciously stood out in the rain and continued to cook the hotdogs and hamburgers. The rain didn't last long, and the sun came out and dried things out pretty quickly.



Many other people donated fabulous stuff to our silent auction, including Granny and Grandpa, Mom, and Mom's friend Karen N (who put together themed gift baskets for our auction!). Mom organized the auction stuff and paperwork, picked up the hamburgers, hotdogs, buns and other stuff. Granny made a double batch of iced cupcakes for everyone to enjoy. Lori brought homemade bread and more cupcakes.

A donation tin on the food table received a number of generous donations. Thank you to everyone who made a donation. The money paid for more hay and grain for our rescued horses, so they thank you, too.

Jasper and Daisy were very helpful and cleaned up abandoned plates and cheerfully accepted handouts. Jasper happily played with the visiting boys on the rock and sand piles - running up and down with them and letting them hug and pat him.



Patricia C. and her children demonstrated Equi-therapy with Sneakers. Patricia uses Equi-therapy to help her son with his language skills and her daughter with her anxiety disorder. All of her children and foster children love to come and have their time with the horses, and Patricia has noticed significant improvements.

Mom would have taken more pictures, but she was busy keeping things running smoothly. Thanks, Mom!


We look forward to hosting another Open Barn event next year!

Big Open Barn Party!

OPEN BARN - July 17th

What's that, you say?

Well, we're having an Open Barn event to thank all the people who helped us in so many ways to get on our feet again after the barn fire last December.There will be a barbeque, and informative tables and demonstrations by local equine professionals.

Some of the participating people include Liberty Shots, Saddle Ridge Stables, Dr. Jeff Sleeth, and Andrew Droppo will demonstrate his Hay Steamers. There will be a equine therapy demonstration, too.

We'll also have a silent auction to raise money for the horse rescue. Some of the items in the silent auction - a breeding to Mr. Maple, a Newfoundland stallion; gift baskets, bird feeder and seed, summer fun basket, 8 place settings of stainless steel cutlery, and a print from Liberty Shots.

The barbeque (hamburgers & hot dogs) runs from 11 am to 1 pm, but the displays and other happenings continue until about 4 pm.

See you at the barn!

1280 Route 500 W, Casselman.

New arrivals this week

First came Peanut. He was born to Miss Daisy on Thursday, June 24th, sometime after the MareStare link was turned off and before morning chores. He's by Spot My Dream out of Miss Daisy and will probably finish around 10 hh. Peanut is Pebbles' half brother.



Next, Candy arrived on June 27th, Sunday morning, about 2 am. Donna, too, managed to foal off camera. :) Delicious Cot'n Candy Dreams belongs to Sue B. and is by a black and white Paint stallion out of Donna Delicious. Candy is Reba's (My Jet Star - Serge's 38 year old mare) great granddaughter.



On Wednesday, June 30th, Anabelle arrived. She's out of She's in Our Soul by Classy Bingo Bar. Soul wasn't expected to foal for another week or two, so the camera wasn't even on. It was quite a surprise to come down and find Anabelle, still damp from her bath (Soul is a great mom) in the stall. We're not sure what colour she'll be, but it looks like she may be a gruella.



That's it for foals for this year. Now we're waiting for Aggie and Cooba to calve. They're both due this month, too.

Happy Canada Day!

Catching up - spring news

Upcoming Events



Coming up in July:


OPEN BARN - July 17th



What's that, you say?


Well, we're having an Open Barn event to thank all the people who helped us in so many ways to get on our feet again after the barn fire last December.



There will be music (possibly by Dog & Pony Sound, Ottawa's top karaoke company), a barbeque, and informative tables and demonstrations by local equine professionals. Some of the participating people include Saddle Ridge Stables, Dr. Jeff Sleeth, and Andrew Droppo will demonstrate his Hay Steamers.



We'll also have a silent auction to raise money for the horse rescue.



Watch for more information right here and on FaceBook.




Spooktacular Fun Show


Mark your calendars now! Our second annual Spooktacular Fun Show will be on Sunday, October 31. There will be leadline and mounted classes, games, a potluck lunch (Mom's making her chili again), and of course, a costume class.





News


Forever Green Stables held their first AERSO dressage show on June 12th. Porto and I did well, achieving scores of 65.65% and 65.36% in our two classes. We brought home first, second and reserve champion ribbons! Our next AERSO show is in St. Lazare on June 26th.




The rain stopped in time for the classes and it was nice and cool for showing.


We're still waiting for Donna and Daisy to foal. Donna looks like she'll foal sometime this week. It would be nice if it happened tonight as I'm off tomorrow.


Classy (Classy Bingo Bar) is sold. He's being picked up tomorrow from Forever Green Stables where Christine was trying to start him under saddle. He's just not interested in being a riding horse, so I felt it was best to find him a new home where he could just stand at stud. His new owner is pleased with her purchase and has agreed to allow us to breed Donna and perhaps Delilah to him next year, as well as honour the breeding contract for Little Girl, Lori's pony.


Shawn (Dreaming in Technicolour - Delilah's colt) and Spot (Spot My Dream) were gelded on Friday, June 11. Both are recovering well. That means that Spook (Cool Blue Dream) is now the only stallion on the property. He's only available for breeding by artificial insemination (AI) and lives in the paddock with the cows.


Aggie and Cooba are both expected to calve soon. We check their paddock regularly to see if there are any new additions.


Dreamscapes Delilah is now a Canadian Sport Horse approved mare!!! She took Second Premium with a score of 71%, with a score of 9.5 out of 10 on her trot. We are thrilled! Thank you very much to Julie and Elisha for arranging and hosting the inspection.




Delilah was exceptionally well behaved throughout the whole experience. She's quite a different horse now than she was a couple of years ago when we rescued her off the meat truck.

Doesn't she look good with her trimmed feet and beautiful red ribbon?
Pebbles (Beauty's colt) and Shawn are both growing well and getting bigger every day. Both colts are handled daily. Shawn will be registered as part Canadian Sport Horse now that Delilah is an approved CSH brood mare. Pebbles will be registered ISHR. They're both for sale, too.








Pebbles and Shawn play together every day. Pebbles is much faster, though, and very nimble. Shawn can't scoot under any of the mares' bellies anymore: he's too tall.



Perfekt Song, the Selle Francais mare that Elisha and Julie adopted, had a beautiful filly. Her name is Muzik. She's very sweet. We're very happy that Song has a great home with wonderful people.






EastWind Pony Club news

Miella participated in the D Rally at Kemptville College on the long weekend in May. She did her D level test and got excellent marks! Congratulations, Miella! Miella's team also placed first in the Stable Management competition. Great job, Miella and Kiana (United Counties Pony Club)! I'm glad to know Sneakers was in good hands all weekend.


We have raffle tickets for sale for the SLOV raffle. Tickets are $2 each, or 3 for $5. Pony Club parents have tickets to sell, or you can email our DC for some. The prize is a handmade tack trunk filled with all sorts of goodies, including brushes, bandages and a saddle bag. The draw is in October.



Two more potential members hope to come to our next meeting. If they join, that will push our membership up to six - the biggest number of members so far.

Dreaming of Chocolate is here!

Born sometime between 1 am and 3 am on Thursday, May 20, 2010, it's Dreaming of Chocolate (aka Pebbles), a cute and friendly little pony colt! Finally! Beauty's pregnancy went 375 days - well over a month past her due date.



Out of Beautiful Dreamer (Beauty) by Spot My Dream (Spot), he'll be a little pony - probably around 10 hh - when he grows up.


Spot My Dream, Pebbles' father.

He's very friendly and we know Beauty is going to bring him up right. Half sister to Firecracker and Breezy, he's got a white sock in the back, a white coronet band with a splash up the back of his foreleg, and a cute little star on his forehead. No sign of spots, but it looks like he'll be a silvery bay with a chocolate dorsal stripe.

Pebbles almost needs his hooves trimmed as he was so late!

Delilah and Shawn checked him out through the riding ring fence. Shawn wanted to know if he could play with Pebbles, but Pebbles was concentrating on getting lots of milk from mom.

Aggie Moo-Moo has a fly mask on to keep the bugs out of her eyes - she looks like some sort of alien. She quite likes it, though, and doesn't try to rub it off at all.

EastWind Pony Club news

We have two new members! Welcome, Dawn and Emma! We hope you have lots of fun in Pony Club.

Miella and Kiana (from UCPC) are taking Sneakers to the D Rally at Kemptville College this weekend. Miella and Kiana have had a couple of practices with Sneakers to make sure they're ready for Rally - both for the schooling part and for testing on Monday.

The smiles say it all!

The girls had a bit of a challenge as Fire, Breezy, Serenity and S'Heir looked on and occasionally wandered across their path.

Kiana led Emma around the field. Emma even went over the trot poles with Sneakers! Good job, everyone!