Ecurie Dreamscape Acres

Puddles is here!

2011-05-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

Mom got her wish: Puddles is a filly! She's about 16 hours old in the picture.

Born at 2:10 am on Sunday, May 29, 2011, Puddles is a big bay filly. She has a star in the shape of an apostrophe, just like her full brother, Pebbles.

Mom hasn't completely decided on her show name, but is leaning towards Rain Dance Dreams as it was pouring rain when Puddles was born. We both got to see the whole birth, thanks to the wonderful people at Mare Stare who called me. Mom watched from home, and I stood by in the barn in case Beauty had a problem. I have a video of the birth and more pictures on FaceBook.

After an exciting night, Serge and I showed in our dressage classes at Forever Green Stables. Serge rode Raven in the Senior Walk/Trot division and did very well for his first ever English show - and we're especially proud of him since he's only been riding Raven for 3 weeks! I earned two 2nd place ribbons on Porto in the Senior First Level division, and a 1st place ribbon on Reo in the Senior Walk/Trot division.

Silver was a very good boy for me in the Senior Walk/Trot division, scoring just over 50% even though he was scared. He tried very hard to be a good boy - and got 7s for his halts. It was his first time at a show since we've had him, and may have been his first show ever. I'm sure he'll do better next time.

All in all, we were very pleased with the results of our first show of 2011.

Porto is home for the summer now, and I look forward to riding him regularly.

This Thursday, Lorraine and I are going to head off with the trailer to pick up a pair of Bashkir Curly mares. Lorraine's daughter is allergic to horses, but shows no reaction to the hypoallergenic Curlies. They'll be bred to Silver, and we hope that they'll have beautiful Curly foals next year.

EastWind Pony Club news

Pony Club meeting at the farm on Sunday, June 5th, at 1 pm. It's mom's birthday, so we're having cake for a snack. We may also have a potential new member visiting.

Bring your helmet and boots as we may ride (PPG practice) if the weather is good.

2011-05-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

We're still watching Beauty on Mare Stare. :)

http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=dreamscape

Her udder is full and the fluid is now whitish, so we're hoping she'll foal soon.

Otis has a new home. He has two little boys (3 & 4) to love him. They were very excited about their new pony! Otis went to his new home in Brockville on Sunday. Mom microchipped him with a Can-Trac microchip before he left, so we can track him - and identify him - if he's ever adopted by a different family.

Christina's family is having a garage sale to help raise funds for the farm. It's at Forest Valley Elemantary School, in Orleans, on May 28th from 9 am to 3 pm.

Come on out and buy something!

Mare Staring

2011-05-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

We're watching Beauty on the Mare Stare camera: Check out her link here.

Silver's identity confirmed!!

2011-04-22T17:33:00.001-07:00

I received this message from the American Morgan Horse Association today:

"the DNA results for your horse and they have confirmed that the horse you took the sample from is CW'S TOTALLY SILVER #163246. This new sample qualified to the sire and dam as well as matched the existing DNA type on file."

I sent his owner a message via Facebook and left a message on her home phone with the results. Now we just have to negotiate the transfer fee for his papers!

Hurray!

Happy Easter!

Don't forget to get your photos in for our Easter/Spring online photo show. To enter, go to our FB page and become a member, then post a picture of you and your equine dressed for the season. There's no entry fee, but there are ribbons (handcrafted by Mom) for the winners at each level.

April is halfway over!

2011-04-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

Life is busy, and updating this blog seems to be near the end of the ToDo list some days.

The American Morgan Horse Association sent me a DNA kit, so we're now waiting for the results to come back to confirm that Silver is truly CW's Totally Silver.

Even if he isn't, he's a lovely pony, and we'll have a few foals by him next summer.

He and Jasmine shared a stall for a few days last week, so we're expecting a March foal out of her. He's a very kind and considerate horse to breed, either in-hand or freely. Even with several mares around in season, he behaves well on the lead and can be ridden.

We love Silver!

I celebrated my 30th birthday in March. Mom baked and decorated a birthday cake. Daphne, Christina, Lori and her children, and Mom were here for a spaghetti dinner to help Serge and I celebrate. Granny and Grandpa took us all (Serge, Mom and me) out to the Rideau Carleton Raceway for dinner on the Friday.

Thank you all very much for making my birthday special.

Patricia brought a new pony home to use in her equitherapy lessons: Paddington. He's here on a lease and is only being used for ground work right now. He loves to be brushed and petted.

Susan B. bought two more equines: Sweet Pea, an older pinto pony, and Nikitah, an older Thoroughbred mare. She gave me Sweet Pea for my birthday.

Both Sweet Pea and Nikitah are well-trained, obedient equines, and both are delightful to ride. Sweet Pea is only suitable for young children or really skinny teenagers as she's only 10 hh, but Nikitah can be ridden by adults on a hack or in the ring. She has some age related issues that mean that she can't be jumped, but she does walk, trot and canter just fine.

Both Sweet Pea and Nikitah will be used in Pony Club practices for the summer.

For personal reasons, Susan B. surrendered Nikitah and Otis to Dreamscape Acres. That means that Otis is available for adoption or sponsorship again. Until he's adopted, he'll continue to be used in equitherapy and the Pony Club practices.

Dreamscape's Delilah has been adopted!

She's come so far in the last 3 years that she was ready to be adopted. We'll miss her, but know she has a good home as a warmblood/Canadian Sport Horse broodmare at Westbound Stables in Orton, Ontario. We trailered her to her new home on Wednesday and they were delighted to meet her.

Delilah wowed them with her huge floaty trot in the arena, and was happy to let them smoosh all over her. We can't wait to see her foals in the next few years - she'll be bred to top notch warmblood stallions and should produce more huge, gorgeous babies.

I have a new website for the farm. Check it out here: Dreamscape Acres Stable.

We sent in seven entries to the International Spotted Horse Registry Association (ISHR) first quarter online photo show, and Jasmine placed third in the Solid Colour category, and Spot My Dream also place third, but in the Spotted category. Each of them will receive a certificate for their record pages.

This quarter is the Foal to 2 Year Old online photo show, so we'll be taking lots of pictures of Beauty's foal when it arrives, as well as Breezy and Pebbles.

We're also looking forward to the Summerfest Breeder's Show this year - and plan to fill the trailer with ponies!

Patricia has a webpage for her equitherapy business now. Check it out here: Stable Foundations.

She's planning to be a full-time therapist come the fall.

EastWind Pony Club news

Our last meeting was all about Quiz. Every one of our members will be participating in Regional Quiz for the very first time. We practiced some of the games that will be played at Quiz and everyone did quite well.

Not only are all the members going to Quiz, we have at least three volunteers going to help out. Thank you very much for being so active in Pony Club - it's as good as you make it, and by volunteering, you help keep the costs down.

Daphne and Christina will be on a Level 3 team with a member from another branch, and Miella, Emma and Kaitlyn will be a Level 2 team. Good luck everyone!

Halfway through March!

2011-03-15T06:29:00.001-07:00

Well, life has been busy!

The vet came out and did teeth at beginning of February. He floated and inspected a lot of horse teeth, and pulled two rotten teeth out of Sneakers, and one out of Beauty. Mom saved the teeth for our collection, and put them in the corner cabinet in the kitchen for safekeeping - and so Jasper and Rusty don't eat them like the caps off Spook's teeth. Christina, Daphne and mom came to watch and take pictures - and hold ponies. Pebbles was also gelded that day - and the girls were a big help holding his legs. Thanks, Christina and Daphne! I'm glad your parents let you come out for the day!

Bobbi (Bobbing for Dapples) has a new home. She came from Aspen Creek Stables in the hopes that she would be another large pony for the girls to ride, but she just wasn't suitable. She's better off being a one-family horse than ridden by a wide variety of kids. Her new family loves her to bits, and she'll be a great "backyard" pony for them.

Peanut came back to visit for a couple of weeks with his buddy, Allie (a minature mare) while his owners were on vacation. They brought Peanut and Allie over in their minivan, and picked them up a couple of weeks later. He's really grown! Allie is cute, but bossy, so she had some extra manners work done while she was here. Pebbles was glad to see his brother again.

Breezy, Firecracker and Delilah are available for sale/adoption. We thought that Delilah was going away on a breeding lease, but those plans fell through. Hay is so expensive that we can't keep all the wonderful ponies that we have, so we need to downsize.

Cinder, one of our rescue ponies that was adopted last year, had a beautiful colt this weekend. Her new owners sent us pictures. Even though she's a bay, her foal is a pinto - and awfully cute.

Puppies!

We have puppies! The Lake of Two Mountains Hunt had some 'oops' puppies (Patterdale Terrier and Foxhound mix) and we agreed to foster/adopt them to help them all find new homes. There are three: Rusty, Rufus and Jewel. Rusty is ours, mom is fostering Jewel, and Sue B. is fostering Rufus. They're all adorable!

If you are interested in adopting a puppy, please contact me at the farm, either by phone or by email.

EastWind Pony Club news

Christina did her presentation for her Breeds badge at the last meeting. She chose Westphalian as her breed, and did a great job of putting together a poster and oral presentation for the branch.

All of five our members, plus two chaperones (Lorraine and me), spent the first weekend in March at SLOV Winter Camp at McSkimming. Mom was a clinician in the crafts area on Saturday. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we had a great time.

Everyone should be practicing for Quiz (April 17). Our next meeting is on April 10th at 1 pm - the week before Quiz.

End of January

2011-01-28T22:14:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you're busy!

Butterscotch

Kathy and Donna

We have a new pony: Butterscotch. She arrived on Friday. She's a half Arab, about 26 years old. She needs her teeth floated and her feet done, and lots of loving. Kathy D. has offered to sponsor her as well as Donna - thank you very much!

Peanut (Rock My Dreams) is sold. He's leaving today. He's moving to the farm behind us to be a friend for a 3 year old boy. They're looking for a companion for Peanut, too. Pebbles (Dreaming of Chocolate) is going there for a few days to help Peanut settle in. Peanut and Pebbles went to Peanut's new home in the back of the mini van. Talk about riding in style!

The girls came out to ride this week - they're done their exams for now. Back to school again on Monday, but we really enjoyed their company (and all the work that they do) this week!

We had great news about Silver. The woman who owns him has confirmed that she believes the horse in our photos is her stallion and is willing to sell us his papers. All we're waiting for now is confirmation from the DNA registry that he is CW's Totally Silver, and then we'll be able to market him as a purebred Morgan stud. He's such a sweet stallion! I hope to get him ready to do Training level dressage this summer.

Delilah is being considered for a breeding lease. She's a Canadian Sport Horse approved broodmare, and we found someone who would like to lease her to get a nice Sport Horse foal. If things work out, she'll go live at their farm to be bred and only come back after her foal is weaned next year.

Serge is making great progress on the tack room. Soon, we'll have an enclosed room for tack storage. We used Air Miles to get Rona gift certificates to pay for a lot of the materials. If you don't already collect Air Miles and would like to collect them to help us purchase more materials for the farm, please let us know. Mom can order more cards with the same number so that they all accumulate in one account. If you have Air Miles that you would like to redeem for certificates to donate, we'd love that, too. 375 Air Miles can be redeemed for a $50 Rona gift certificate - and that can buy a lot of fence wire, isolators, or wood for stalls and the tack room.

Thank you to all Mom's friends who keep donating shredded paper! It saves us a lot of money on shavings, and composts really well in the manure pile.

The vet will be out for "teeth day" on Thursday. Several horses need their teeth checked or floated, and Beauty (Beautiful Dreamer) needs two extracted. Pebbles and Peanut may also be gelded that day - the vet will let us know if it's the right time.
The farrier was out last week to trim hooves. He did about half of the herd and will be back next month to do the rest.

EastWind Pony Club news

We're up to 5 members this year: Miella, Emma M., Kaitlyn, Christina and Daphne. We have a couple more people considering joining, and Emma H. and Dawn C. are still considering renewing. Four of our members have signed up for Winter Camp in March already.

We're practicing for Quiz now. Quiz is in April, and all of our members will compete at the "entry" level this year. Mom found some old Quiz tests and we'll work through them in our meetings, as well as practice possible games. We're also practicing parts of the bridle and saddle and Pony Club grooming.

January news

2011-01-06T06:51:00.001-08:00

Serge rode Donna for the first time since she came to the farm!

We know Donna was broke sometime in the past, but she'd only been a broodmare for years before Sue B. bought her at the Galetta auction. Now that Candy has been weaned (and sold to Christine Allard), it's time to get Donna back into shape.

You can see by Serge's huge grin that he's thrilled to be on Reba's granddaughter, Donna.

The vet will be out sometime this month to do teeth. Silver, Beauty, and several others need regular dental work to deal with hooks and other issues. Regular dental check ups and care ensure that the horses and ponies can get all the nutrition out of their food that they can.

Our Pony Club, EastWind, has five members so far this year. We encourage all members to spread the word and see if we can add even more members. Dawn and Emma H. have not yet renewed their memberships, but we hope they decide to come back, too.

Winter Camp is coming up soon, and if you'd like to attend, you need to be a fully-paid up member (Pony Club and OEF).

Sad way to start the new year

2011-01-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

We lost our dear little blue puppy, Jesse, on New Year's Day. He was out with us when we put out the horses, but for some reason, he ran to the road and was stuck by a passing vehicle.

We didn't see him get hit, and the driver didn't stop. We don't know why he ran on the road as Jasper stayed in the back with us. Serge found him on the side of the road, unconcious.

We rushed him to the Alta Vista Emergency Clinic on Bank St., but although they did their best to save him, his internal injuries were too severe for him to survive. He never regained conciousness, so we hope he never felt any pain.

I hope there are plenty of places to explore, chickens to herd. and cewy squeaky toys for you on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. You weren't with us for long, but you'll be in our hearts forever.

'Twas the night before Christmas...

2010-12-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-11-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-24T06:35:00.001-07:00

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

2010-10-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-16T11:17:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-17T11:47:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-07-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

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!

Welcome Dreamer and Classy's foal!

2010-05-14T07:24:00.001-07:00

Born at 2:05 am, May 14, 2010 - his name is Willie B Classy (barn name Tobby).

Congratulations, Abby, on your handsome new addition!

What a cutie!

Another colt - that makes 3 so far this year.

Still waiting ...

2010-05-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

We're still waiting for Beauty to foal. She's overdue now, but she went past due last year, too when she had Breezy. You can watch her on MareStare when the camera and computer are on.

Dreamer, at Dusty Creek Stables, is also keeping us waiting. Dreamer's foal is already sold to Abby, the owner of Dusty Creek, so Dreamer is foaling at her place. You can see Dreamer on MareStare when she's inside.

Once Beauty foals, the camera will be on Daisy. She's due in May, too. After Daisy, it'll be Donna's turn, with Soul following in July. Aggie and Cooba (the cows) are due in June, too. We can't wait to see all the new babies!

Shawn is getting bigger every day! I'll post new pictures shortly.

Annie, the golden retriever, may have found a new home. She's gone for a week-long visit to see if she fits in with the family and their other dogs. Her possible new home has a large fenced yard, two big dogs as playmates. She'll be able to dig all she wants, too, as one of the other dogs is also a digger. We'll miss her exhuberance and sweet temperment, but are happy if she's found a loving home.

The vet was out and gave everyone their shots for 2010; now we just have to pay the bill. The farrier came out last Monday and trimmed 14 horses and ponies in 3 hours of intensive work. Delilah needs to be sedated to have hers done, so that'll mean another visit from the vet.

EastWind Pony Club news

Sneakers is back home from Summerset Stables (Miella, one of our Pony Club members, free leased him for the winter) and is getting ready for D Rally at Kemptville College on the long weekend. Miella and Kiana (a UCPC member) will share him at rally. Sneakers is thrilled to have kids loving him and riding him! Emma is joining EastWind Pony Club this weekend, but will not attend rally this year.

Kiana and her mom came last Sunday to meet Sneakers and Miella, and to practice riding and grooming him.

We plan to practice for rally this Sunday, and the girls (Miella, Kiana and Emma) will have a mock rally (no adults other than the instructor - me - and stable management judge - mom). I think it will be a fun and informative afternoon. Since this is the first time that either Miella or Kiana will attend rally, it should help show them what's expected.

EastWind Pony Club is still accepting members. Please email our District Commissioner at sneakypony@yahoo.com for more information.

More stuff

We're looking for an inexpensive wooden shed to convert into a chicken coop. Right now, the chickens are laying and roosting in the dog house. It's tough to get the eggs out when the door is designed for a dog rather than a human! It won't be warm enough for the winter, either.

Once we have a coop, we will get more laying hens. That means we'll have lots of eggs again!

Dreaming in Technicolour is here!!

2010-04-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

Delilah foaled out a beautiful buckskin tobiano colt last night (Saturday) at 8:26 pm!

Dreaming in Technicolour (Shawn) at about 14 hours old.

We got to watch the whole thing as we were in the barn doing chores when she went into labour. The Mare Stare camera couldn't quite see her as she chose to birth her foal in the one corner where she couldn't be seen. Oh well, we'll try again with Beauty.

His name is Dreaming in Technicolour (barn name Shawn) - he'll be registered ISHR. He's gorgeous!!

His half brother out of Allie (Abby's mare) was born on Friday. His name is Sprinkles on Top (barn name Cody) and he's got lots of colour, too. Allie is a Canadian Sport Horse, so Cody will be registered as part CSHR, ISHR and Pinto.

Sprinkles on Top (Cody) and Allie

Both Cody and Shawn are tall and will be big boys when they're full grown.

We thought Beauty would foal first as she was due first, but like last year, it looks as though she's planning to hold onto her foal for an extra month.

Pictures of both the boys will be added later today.

The barn is up!!

2010-04-04T07:13:00.001-07:00

March 2009

December 14, 2009

Fire debris - the barn, lots of saddlery, blankets and all our hay, destroyed by smoke and water (it didn't burn) - a whole summer's work, gone.

Most of the debris from the fire cleaned up, ready for the new barn.

We chose a CoverAll to replace the old barn.

Materials for the rebuilding.

Crew arrives!

Pouring the cement.

All support posts are in cement sonotubes.

Support posts for the walls installed, fill leveled.

Walls up.

Starting to look like a barn.

Frame up.

Canopy being pulled into place.

Canopy on, end walls in progress.

Vents in the canopy will help ensure adequate ventilation.

Roll up door at north end so the tractors can go in and out - hay storage at the back of the barn.

Barn doors at the aisle, man door for the tack room.

The barn exterior is up.

Water rises in the post holes for the stalls - even with 2 feet of stone on top of the ground.

Stalls are done!

March 2010

SPCA rescue - Available for adoption

2010-02-19T20:12:00.000-08:00

Tippy arrived at Forever Green Stables from the SPCA in Jan 2010.

(Above photos taken the day she arrived.)

She was so emaciated that she collapsed and had to be lifted to her feed with a sling hoist. She is up, eating, putting on weight and looking for a forever home.

These pictures were taken at the end of February. As you can see, Tippy has gained quite a bit of weight, but still needs to add a couple hundred more. She's a nice mare, sweet tempered and calm, and likes people and attention.

Not registered, but probably a Standardbred, mare, Tippy stands almost 16hh. She is a bay, with 2 white socks in back.

Tippy probably drives, but isn't in good enough shape to do any work for a while.

The SPCA adoption fee is $500, and a donation to the foster farm, Forever Green Stables, would be appreciated (to pay for part of the costs of fostering her). If you are interested in adopting Tippy, please email Christine at fgs@csur.ca.

Adopting a rescue means that more can be saved.

Progress!

2010-02-05T05:03:00.000-08:00

We have our building permit, and some parts for our new CoverAll barn arrived yesterday!

Work starts on Monday with site preparation (lots of pit run fill, crushed stone, and stone dust). The posts will be set then, and we'll start seeing changes in the yard.

YAY!!

We plan to hold an "Open Barn" on Saturday, July 17th, to thank all of our supporters for their generous donations. Watch for more details - there will be music, food, and door prizes, and perhaps a silent auction.

Thank you very much to all of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be this far along.

Stay tuned for regular progress updates (and pictures)!

We're excited!

Other news

Forest Lane Horse Farm is hosting two dressage shows this summer. There will be a silent auction fundraiser for Dreamscape Acres Horse Rescue at each one. If you would like to donate a certificate for a service or an item to be auctioned, please let us know.

EastWind Pony Club needs more members! If you're between 6 and 25, love horses and want to learn more and have fun, please email our District Commissioner, Susan (sneakypony@yahoo.com), for more information

2009 in review

2010-01-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a year full!

WE ARE NOT TAKING ANY SURRENDERED HORSES AT THIS TIME!

If you have a barn and would like to take owner surrender horses, please send us your contact info; we are still turning away 2-3 calls per week! Although we cannot accept your horses here (no barn, limited fencing until we rebuild), we may be able to help you place your horses/ponies.

Updates:

The Spooktacular Fun Show in October raised $200 for rescue horses and ponies. Thanks to all our participants, volunteers, and our judge, Christine Allard of Forever Green Stables, for making it a wonderful sucess!

We have re-homed over 30 animals since we arrived here in 2006. Thank you to all our volunteers, sponsors, supporters and new homes!

Thank you to everyone who sponsored a horse (or even a chicken) for us this year, we wouldn't be able to do it without you!

*** Stud fees for our stallions are to help cover costs for the horse rescue. We do not promote unchecked or irresponsible breeding!***

NOTE: We spay and neuter all our dogs and cats to prevent "littering", ensure all our animals are vaccinated against rabies and other diseases, and encourage everyone else to do the same. Only horses and ponies with responsible owners should be bred: adding more unwanted foals to the auctions is not acceptable.

Classy (Classy Bingo Bar, registered Paint stallion) is expecting up to 4 foals in 2010, all should be wonderful show prospects. He bred mostle Canadian Sport Horse mares this year and we can't wait to see the foal pictures. Stud fees have increased for 2010.

One in utero foal available. Classy Bingo Bar x Dreamscape's Delilah (buckskin WB type mare)

Spot (Spot My Dream, registered International Spotted Pony) is expecting 2 foals in 2010 Definitely should be super cute small show ponies for driving or children's pleasure mounts.
Spot's stud fees have not increased at this time. (One foal available in utero: Spot My Dream x Beautiful Dreams.)

Donna Delicious (pregnant registered Paint mare rescued from auction) is expected to foal in May. Bred to a 16hh black and white paint. Get your bets in as to what it will be!

Once Donna foals, there will be 3 generations on the farm, Reba (My Jet Star, registered Paint mare), Donna and foal. Reba is the foal's great-grandmother. Reba is 37 years old now, and still enjoys being groomed and occasionally ridden.

Breezy (Call Me A Dreamer, out of Beautiful Dreams by Call Me Starmaker) was Reserve Champion Sport Pony (Foal & yearling division) at Summerfest Breeder's Show

Spook (Cool Blue Dream, registered Paint stallion) tied for Eastern Ontario Paint Horse High Point Halter Stallion!

Spook will stand for his first season in 2010, by private contract, contact for info!

We still have horses available for adoption, please consider opening your heart and home to a rescue horse. See the sidebar for more information on Breezy, Firecracker and Serenity, among others. If you're looking for a new horse, let us know what you need, and we'll pass on any information from owner surrenders, too.

Porto from Forever Green Stables and I placed 2nd in our first national Para Equestrian competition, the 'Sea-to-Sea' Para-Dressage Video Competion Series. For information on Para Equestrian competitions, please visit http://www.paraequestrian.ca/

We started a branch of the Canadian Pony Club in the St. Lawrence-Ottawa Valley Region, EastWind Pony Club. We're a small branch at the moment, but open to new members. Email our District Commissioner at sneakypony@yahoo.com for more information.

Barn fire:

Thank you to Liberty Lane for giving us a Christmas tree! It helped bring back Christmas spirit.

The clean up has started; so far the cost is up to $3500 for clean up alone. This is well above the amount provided by the insurance company for that purpose.

Thank you to everyone who has offered us a helping hand, the help is apreciated tremendously.

Thank you to everyone who had made a financial donation, big and small. Every penny goes into the clean-up and rebuilding efforts! We will be better and have a greater facility to continue our rehab efforts for rescue animals.

Thanks to family and friends (old and new), just over $2500 has been donated to our facillity since the fire.

Thank you to everyone who has donated hay and offered hay. We have a limited ability to transport hay (our trailer is frozen in the ice from the fire hoses - and a pickup truck) that means we can't take all that is offered (even though it would be wonderful!).

If you have means to transport large square or round bales and are willing to haul some for us for free (or very inexpensively), please let us know!

We hope to have a reopening celebration in July so everyone can see what has been done. Keep watching the blog for updates and the date of the open house!

We can't say thank you enough to the barns who are fostering horses: Forest Lane Horse Farm (Breezy, Serenity and Firecracker), Aspen Creek Stable (Soul and Reba), Forever Green Stables (Classy).

Fostered ponies at Forest Lane are available for adoption.

Thank you to Horse World in Carp for their generous donation of blankets, halters, quilts and wraps!

Thank you to Becky Rogers of the International Spotted Horse Registry for their donation of halters and lead ropes.

Thank you to the Eastern Ontario Paint Horse Club for their donation.

Thank you to everyone who went through their tack trunks and donated various items (especially waterproof blankets, halters and lead ropes) that were needed!

Thank you to Dundas Veterinary Services (Dr. Jeff Sleeth, Dr. Glen Smith, and Dr. Heather Murray) for always coming when we call. We recommend them highly for their considerate and careful care for all our animals, and for their compassion when we have to euthanize an animal in pain or distress that can't be helped.

Gone to greener pastures

2009 saw the passing of a few animals on the farm.

May they enjoy green pastures with sunshine, cuddles and treats.

In memory of those that crossed the Rainbow Bridge this year

Belinda, Limosin heifer (unknown cause)
Princess, aged adopted pony
Chickens: including Mama, Chip, Blackie, Funny Feet, and the un-named Aracounas killed in the barn fire.
Dusty Diamond Rose, varnish roan Appaloosa mare (colic on December 31st)

Gone but not forgotten.

We are looking for donations of goods and services (not necessarily horse-related) for a silent auction in July to raise more money for the rebuilding fund. If you can help, please email or call.

May 2010 be a great year for everyone!

Donations and thank yous

2009-12-20T18:17:00.000-08:00

Donations

If you would like to make a donation, a PayPal account has been set up in the name of Eleanor Lorden (dreamscapeacres@yahoo.ca). If you'd rather mail a cheque, please email me for the address.

Thank you!

A very big thank you to Celine at Forest Lane Horse Stables, Jen at Aspen Creek Stables, and Christine at Forever Green Stables, Trevor in Crysler, and Kirk and Lorraine in Casselman. All have taken one, two or three horses or cows to live at their farms until we can rebuild.

Thank you very much, too, to those strangers, friends and family members who made financial contributions. Every penny will go towards the new barn and continuing our horse rescue efforts.

Thank you, too, to the Ottawa Sun for featuring us in an article in Thursday's paper, Ottawa Citizen (online news), the Jewel 107.7's Drive Home commentary, and to CTV's Karen Solomon (and the nice camera man, John) for filming a story on us for today's 6 pm news on CJOH.

A special thank you goes out to Horse World for their generous offer to replace the essentials and to set up a donation box for other items.

After the fire

2009-12-14T17:52:00.001-08:00

From the back porch, this morning - about 5 am. The fire fighters brought seven fire trucks and did their best to save what they could.

The fire fighters saved the tack room and the hitching post.

The backhoe came from Casselman Cement. It was used to dig through the wreckage so the fire fighters could thoroughly soak any hot spots.

The hay is ruined. It didn't all burn, but it's soaked and smoky. Some of it is still smouldering.

Serge's hitching post survived - the fire fighters tried to pull it out by hand and then with the backhoe, but it's still here.

The pile of ruined hay. We had 800 bales of good horse hay in the loft at the end of September. Some of it had been fed, but there were still 650-700 bales up there.

The tack room, hitching post and the dog run that we used for the chickens all survived. The shingles on the tack room are scorched and melted, as is the solar panel on the side of the tack room (Christmas lights inside the tack room).

You can see the melted and scorched shingles - but the roof is intact and we saved all the stuff that was inside the tack room.

As it grew dark again this evening, the lights in the tack room came on. Despite the heat and damage, the solar panel is still powering the lights.

Thank you

Thank you to all the generous friends, neighbours and strangers who have offered places for the horses and ponies to stay while we clean up, and to those who have donated cash, blankets, halters and lead ropes, and to all those who have offered labour when we can rebuild. You've all made this bleak day much brighter!

Serenity, Firecracker and Breezy are now at Forest Lane in North Gower with Celine, Soul will be going to Jen Pretty's place, and Classy will go to Forever Green this week. Lori has the healthy surviving chickens in her coop. I still have three chickens here in intensive care.

Thank you, too, to Serge at the Embrun Rona - Co-op for finding a couple of fence chargers for me at a very reasonable price - and for the "fire sale" discount on the rest of my purchases today. We're trying to stretch every penny right now and put aside what we can to put towards the rebuilding fund.

Devastation

2009-12-14T02:17:00.000-08:00

Our barn burned to the ground this morning. I called mom to let her know it was burning at 5 am. A man driving by the farm banged on our door to let us know - and I called 911.

As I write this, the firefighters are working hard to save the tack and feed room.

That means that we lost most of our blankets, all our carefully stored small square bales of hay, a few saddles, grooming gear, and all but one of our fence chargers.

Since most of our fences are electric, that means we're scrambling this morning to find alternate places for the geldings and the cows (their fields used the barn as part of the fencing), and to replace the fence chargers. If you have a spare solar fence charger, we'd love to have it until we can get a few more. If you have fence boards and fence posts, we'll take those, too.

The only good thing about this is that there were NO horses in the barn last night. It was mild, so they are all outside.

If you can help with a donation of equipment or cash, it will be gratefully appreciated.

Today on the farm

2009-11-29T17:24:00.001-08:00

Toro, the bull, has gone home. He loaded into the trailer pretty easily once we got the round pen panels set up as a chute and let him out of the field. Mom and Kathrine helped us with Aggie (she had to go in the barn as she thought the trailer was a new game) and by holding parts of the fence to guide him on his way. Serge drove Toro home once he was loaded.

Aggie misses her playmate and was mooing by the gate after he left. Cooba and Chuck don't seem to miss him as much.

Trevor was happy to see Toro in such good condition after spending time here - the last time Toro was out on a breeding mission, he lost a lot of weight. Toro gained enough weight (over 400 lbs) while he was here that he will have to go on a diet.

Sue B. adopted Otis. He now has a blue rainsheet (kinda muddy right now) and a brand new halter! Since Sue has Tabby and Rosie here, Otis will be staying, too.

Donna Delicious is Reba's (My Jet Star) granddaughter. You can see how much Donna resembles Reba in the two photos above. Serge owns both Donna and Reba, but Sue B. will own Donna's foal in the spring. Since we now know Reba's registered name, we confirmed her age. She's 37 years old! The vet thinks she looks pretty darn good for that age.

Miella received her Pony Club badges at our meeting in November. She was very pleased and excited that she had accomplished so much. Congratulations, Miella! Miella is still riding Sneakers every week and improving every day. Today she rode him all the way around the track while we stood by the driveway and watched.

Mork arrived at the farm in October. He belongs to Kim K. of Friendly Giants Dog Rescue. He's a Canadian, about 16 hh, broke to walk, trot and canter. Kim would like to sell him if she can get the right price as she doesn't have time to ride or work with him now.

The stallions are all out together in the front paddock and seem quite happy there. Mom took the pictures that I need of Spook for his ISHR registration today (front and back shots) and got some funny pictures at the same time. Apparently it's hard to take pictures of one of the boys without the others.

Classy and Spot.

Spot and Spook - and Classy's tail.

"Take my picture!" says Spot. You can see Classy in the background.

Spook giving the puddle the evil eye.

The stallion paddock.

The chickens are laying like crazy - I get 6-10 eggs a day! Anyone want eggs? Let me know - and bring your own egg carton.

Pony for sale - Pudding

2009-11-29T17:18:00.000-08:00

Allow me to introduce Pudding.

He is 12.2hh and 4 years old. He is broke, but needs miles. Pudding has good ground manners, stands for vet, farrier, grooming and tacking up.

He leads well and isn't pushy.

Pudding is UTD on his shots, and farrier and is only looking for a new home because no one if paying much attention to him.

His owner is open to offers, and just wants him to got to a home where is is going to be looked after.

I rode him, and it is clear he is green and out of practice. He did not buck or rear, but was obviously confused as to why he had to work. Pudding will come with his western saddle and bridle.

Pudding will be an excellent pony if someone is willing to give him the mileage he needs.
Definitely a confident rider is required.

Please pass the word, let's find Pudding a good home!

Catching up, again. :)

2009-11-09T05:55:00.001-08:00

The Spook-Tacular Fun Show was a success!

We had prizes and ribbons, with championship ribbons made by Mom. Mom also donated a lot of the prize items. Thanks, Mom!

Mom made a delicious cake and decorated it for the fun show.

Despite a miserable Friday and Saturday of rain, Sunday dawned chilly, but clear. The riding ring was too wet to be safe (or fun), so we made a new ring out in the big paddock in the race track. A haywagon provided a seat for spectators and the judge.

Hot food and coffee were in good supply to keep everyone warm and well-fed.

The Walk Division had the largest number of competitors: Jen G. and Ash, Sue and Spook, Kathrine and Breezy (Mom didn't get a picture of them), Earl on Leo with Jen S. leading, Serge riding Reba, Emilie with Sweetapple Scrunchions and Jake with Mr. Maple with Celine helping.

Miella and Sneakers and Serge and Reba competed in the Walk/Trot division and Celine rode Mr. Maple.

Jen S. was our lone competitor in the Walk/Trot/Canter division, as Abby's horse wasn't feeling well and she had to scratch. Abby did come to watch part of the show, though, and make a donation. (Thanks, Abby!)

Mom was supposed to ride Otis in the Walk division, but ended up too busy in the house to get ready and ride. The chili sure was good, but Granny and Grandpa were disappointed that they didn't get to see Mom ride.

Jen and Ash competed in the Walk division.

Sue took Spook in the Walk division, too.

Serge rode Reba and Miella rode Sneakers.

Emilie showed Sweetapple Scrunchions. Sweetapple Scrunchions and Mr. Maple are Newfoundland ponies that live at Forest Lane Horse Farm in North Gower. Sweetapple Scrunchions is for sale - if you're interested, please contact Celine at Forest Lane Horse Farm.

Jake showed Mr. Maple. Since Mr. Maple is a stallion, Celine stayed close to make sure that everything was under control.

Christine Allard of Forever Green Stables graciously volunteered to be our judge. Thank you, Christine! You were a wonderful judge!

Earl won the Walk division on Leo. Although Jen led Leo, she did it with such a long line, we knew she was just there to give her dad confidence.

Jen rode Leo in the Walk/Trot/Canter version of the obstacle course and won the divison.

Jake and Mr. Maple dressed as gangstas. Dan stood by for safety reasons. Note the fancy chain around Mr. Maple's neck and flashy "bling" stencilled on his shoulders and haunches! Good job, Jake!

Emilie and Sweetapple Scrunchions were fairies; both had beautiful wings!

Sneakers and Miella dressed as a cat (Sneakers) and a witch (Miella). Every witch needs a black(ish) cat!

Jen dressed Leo as a spider, and came as Miss Muffett eating her curds and whey. Earl posed with her for this picture.

Jen G. was a princess with Ash as a unicorn.

Emilie took home the trophy and prize basket for High Point Gremlin, and Jen S. won the High Point Old Nag plate and prize basket.

Everyone feasted on homemade chili, rolls, coffee, cake, handmade chocolates, rice crispy squares and Granny's chocolate cupcakes. Generous donations accumulated in the jar for the horse rescue, and everyone seemed to really enjoy the day.

We're already planning for a bigger and better show next year!

Adoptions and new horses on the farm

We have two new horses on the farm: Donna and Rosie. They both came from the Thanksgiving auction at Galetta. Sue bought them, but has since sold Donna to us.

Donna is pregnant, and Sue will keep the foal. Donna is Reba's great granddaughter, according to her papers, and looks a lot like her. Serge is absolutely in love.

Rosie is an older mare that's been there and done that. At the auction, they referred to her as the school bus, and put three kids on her back. She is slowly gaining weight and loves all the attention that she gets from Sue.

Sue has also adopted Otis.

Rudy, the Treeing Walker Coon Hound that we were fostering for Friendly Giants Dog Rescue was adopted by a lady in Limoges.

Jen G. moved Ash to Stubbe Horse Farm in North Gower so that she could go out and see him more often. Since she lives in Kanata, that makes a lot of sense. We wish them well and hope to hear good news about Ash's progress regularly.

EastWind Pony Club news

EastWind PC needs new members! Are you interested in horses? Want to be part of a club that offers education and fun with horses? Thinking about owning a horse sometime, or want to compete?

Pony Club is the right place for you!

You don't need to own a horse to participate, but if you do, that's great too. If you're between 6 and 21 and live somewhere around the Casselman/Embrun area, we'd love to hear from you.

More Dreamscape Acres news!

Spook, also known as Cool Blue Dream, won the Eastern Ontario Paint Horse Club (EOPHC) High Point Halter Stallion trophy at the banquet on October 23, 2009.

We were thrilled!

Cool Blue Dream will stand at stud in 2010, AI only, for a limited number of mares.

I was elected to be the Public Relations chair for the EOPHC, so watch for more information here on what's coming up next year.

Get your entries in now!

2009-10-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

Our Spook-tacular Fun Show is coming up on October 25th - just over two weeks away!

Entries close on October 18th, so get them in now. You can pay with a post-dated cheque or cash when you submit your entries.

The show goes on, RAIN or SHINE!

(but we're definitely hoping for sunshine)

If you need an entry form or class list, please email me at dreamscapeacres@yahoo.ca. There will be ribbons and prizes from 1st to 5th in all classes.

We will have chili and buns, coffee, tea and hot chocolate available to purchase, as well as some sweet treats.

All proceeds go to support our horse rescue efforts.

Christine Allard, of Forever Green Stables, has graciously agreed to be our judge for the day. Thank you, Christine!

End of September already!

2009-09-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we participated in two events - both fun, but completely different.

Serge, Miella, Jen S. and I rode in the Pink Ribbon Ride for Breast Cancer on Saturday - a 20 km ride through the Larose Forest put on by CEREC. Serge rode Reba, Miella rode Sneakers, Jen S. rode her horse, Leo, and I rode Otis.

On Sunday, I showed Spook (Cool Blue Dreams) in hand and drove Sneakers (Gone With the Wind) in classes at the Carp Fair. Spook and I placed fourth in Novice Showmanship, and Sneakers and I placed second in Utility Driving and Pleasure Driving, and first in Novice Driving.

Miella rode Sneakers in a couple of Western Games (poles and flag) and brought home a third place ribbon in Youth Flag.

All in all, despite the lousy weather, we came home quite satisfied with our placings, ribbons and prize money!

Paradox Flash, a pretty registered 4 year old Standardbred mare has been adopted! She arrived at the farm a couple of weeks ago as an owner surrender, and was delivered to her new home last Friday. Paradox is green broke to ride, seems very calm, and we hope she does really well for her new family. I rode her a couple of times before she left and she was very well behaved and responsive.

Natasha has chosen to go live with her father, stepmother and stepsisters, so Dash (her pony) and Panda (her calf) have gone to her grandfather's farm down the road. We wish Natasha and her animals well, and hope she continues to excel in school and in Pony Club.

That means that there was no one here to ride Fancy regularly, so we decided to loan her to Forever Green Stables for the winter. I get to check on her and hear regular progress reports when I go down for my lessons - and through Facebook and email. So far, she seems to be working out really well there. I'll bring her home in the spring so she can be bred to Classy and hopefully produce a beautiful, talented foal for us in 2011!

Our new chickens are laying lots of eggs. If you have any empty egg cartons, please bring them to the farm. If you'd like some farm fresh eggs to take home, just let me know!

We have a new foster dog, Rudy. He's a Treeing Walker Coon Hound and is about the same size and age as Jasper. He and Jasper get along wonderfully and love to play together. He is neutered and up to date on all his shots.

Rudy is just being allowed off his leash (an old lunge line) under supervision. If you are interested in adopting Rudy, check out the Friendly Giants Dog Rescue site and fill in an application form.

Friendly Giants Dog Rescue is still looking for more foster homes for their rescued dogs. If you can't make a commitment to adopt a dog right now, perhaps you can consider being a foster home. The application form for potential foster homes is on their website, too.

Classy has fully recovered from a busy season of breeding Canadian Sport Horse (CSH) mares and looks really great. We're looking forward to seeing photos of his babies starting in April, 2010. I'm thinking about starting Classy under saddle this winter or sending him to Christine at Forever Green Stables - he's such a wonderful horse that it would be a shame not to have him working and earning points in the Eastern Ontario Paint Horse Association shows.

Cool Blue Dreams (aka Spook) is tied for first in the Eastern Ontario Paint Horse Association High Point Halter Stallion standings! What a wonderful way to end his first year of showing.

Christine Allard of Forever Green Stables has agreed to be the judge at our Spook-tacular Show! Thank you, Christine!

EastWind Pony Club news

EastWind Pony Club registration is now open! Be sure to pick up your registration forms and get them back to us soon so that you don't miss anything. If you can't get to the farm to pick up your forms, you can find them on the Canadian Pony Club website under Downloads. Joining in September/October has benefits: for one fee, you are a member for the remainder of 2009 and for all of 2010!

All Pony Club members need to be members of the Ontario Equestrian Federation, too, and links to the forms for the extended membership are there as well.

Our next Pony Club meeting will be at the farm on Sunday, October 18th, from noon to 2 pm. This will be an open meeting, so bring your horse-loving friends along so they can find out all about Pony Club.

Spook-tacular fun show!

2009-09-17T05:14:00.000-07:00

October 25, 2009

starts at 11:00am

Come out and have fun, horsing around before Halloween!

$2.00 per class
$5.00 per division (3 classes per division)

Class list
*Please note: many classes may be completed in hand or mounted. Please indicate which on your entries.*

1) Walk on flat 10) Old nag costume (16 +)
2) Walk poles 11) Gremlin costume (under 16)
3) Walk obstacle course

4) W/T flat 12) W/T/C Flat
5) W/T poles 13) W/T/C max 2’6”
6) W/T obstacle 14) W/T/C obstacle

7) Eyeball and spoon 15) Devil’s Challenge Min 18” - max. 4’ (one jump)
8) Broomstick race 16) Trick or treat challenge 18”
9) Gourd and cone 17) Spooky Cross Fun-try (open field max 2’3)

Judge: Christine Allard of Forever Green Stables

The purpose of this show is to HAVE FUN!

Neat and proper attire is required but show clothes are not necessary.

Classes 1-11 may be completed in hand, but please indicate if you are showing in hand on your entry form.

Horses shown in hand must have a properly fitting halter or bridle.
Helmets must be worn at all times while mounted.
Proof of liability insurance must be provided.

Descriptions:
Obstacle: This class may contain objects to go through on the ground, overhead or on either side of the course.

Games: Based on time and accuracy. Games are re-named Pony Club races.

Devil’s Challenge: One jump, when you knock it down you are out.

Trick or treat challenge: Steady hand, scoop candy from the bucket and jump the jump, most candy wins!

Cross Fun-try: based on cross-country. One field, 6 jumps, optimum time, accuracy and safety.

Email dreamscapeacres@yahoo.ca today for a copy of the class list and an entry form.

Proceeds support Dreamscape Acres' horse rescue efforts.

A selection of snack foods as well as hot chocolate and coffee will be for sale.

Updated list of adoptable ponies

2009-09-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

So far, since we moved here, we have adopted almost 30 animals to new homes! Let's keep up the good work!

Thank you to all of our volunteers and adopters!

Half sisters ready for their new home(s).

Dream's Firecracker, 2 yr old bay pony filly (June 2007). Should mature 12.2-13 hh. Excellent prospect for riding and driving. ties and cross ties, loves to be groomes. Fire has worn tack in the barn. Sire was 14.2hh and Dam is 11.2.

Call Me a Dreamer, weanling (Apr. 2009) pony filly. Reserve Champion Sport Pony at Summerfest Breeder's Show. Perfect hunter and driving prospect. Breezy clips, ties, and trailers. Sire was 15 hh and dam is 11.2 hh.

Both fillies are by Appaloosa stallions.

$500 each or $800 for both.

Pony for adoption:

Daisy, approx. 7 yrs old 11hh pinto pony. Daisy foundered in the past but can be managed by restricted diet and exercise. Daisy was exposed to a 39" ISHR pony stallion and she would be due June-July 2010 if she caught. The foal would be eligible for ISH Registration as Pintaloosa.

Daisy is green broke to ride and has been ground driven. She has not been hitched to a cart. She stands on cross ties, ties, enjoys grooming and is UTD on her shots and worming. $800 neg to perfect home.

We need to find great homes for these ponies, so we can take more rescues in.

Please email me if you're interested in adopting any of our ponies.

EastWind Pony Club

2009-09-08T05:06:00.001-07:00

It's time to register for Pony Club!

Are you between 6 and 25 years old? Love horses? Want to learn more and have a chance to compete with others at the same level? Interested in testing to find out if you "make the grade" with riding and knowledge?

Last year our small branch competed in Prince Philip Games and in Regional Show Jumping as well as D Rally at the Raceway and C Rally at Hawkridge. We're already looking forward to Quiz next April, too.

We are holding an open house for new members on September 13 from noon to 2 pm at Dreamscape Acres Stable. We will have registration forms, information about Pony Club, and will explain what you can choose to participate in, and introduce you to some of our current members.

This year's EastWind membership fee is $110. Part of that money stays with the Branch, but most of it goes to Regional and National to cover their administrative costs. You can find the Ontario membership form on the Canadian Pony Club webpage under Downloads. We will have copies at the open house, too.

All Pony Club members must also be members of the Ontario Equestrian Federation. The OEF offers an extended membership (Sept 2009 to December 2010) for new members of Pony Club, but they have not provided the new form yet. As soon as it's available, we'll post a link here. Last year's junior (under 18) membership fee was $42. We don't know what the fee is for 2010 yet.

Our branch is able to keep our fees low as we received a very generous donation from David Duncan of Deerpark Management Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Duncan! We really appreciate your support!

Mr. Duncan's donation will help pay for badges, pins and clinics - and whatever else we choose to do.

Come on out and find out more about Pony Club at our Open House! We're looking forward to meeting you.

Regional Show Jumping results

2009-08-27T05:25:00.000-07:00

Natasha did well at Regional Show Jumping at Steven's Creek Farm on Sunday. She and Sneakers brought home a second and two fourth place ribbons in the 2 foot division!

Not bad for a 26 year old pony on wet grass - and both Sneakers and Natasha were very proud of their success.

End of August 2009 - busy times

2009-08-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

August 8, 2009 - Forever Green Stables Annual Horse Show

Natasha did very well on Christine Allard's horses.

She won the High Point Advanced trophy and Champion ribbon.

August 15, Van Kleek Hill Fair

Sneakers and Natasha did well in the under saddle classes.

Spook and Spot did very well in the in hand classes - Spook (shown by Lori) placed first, and Spot (shown by Eleanor) second in the Stallions class, and Spook brought home a division champion ribbon!

Lady was a guest at our house for a couple of weeks - we fostered her for Friendly Giants Dog Rescue. Lady is a mixed breed, medium size dog, best suited to a single dog family with no children as she has a few issues with sharing.

Mom fostered Bubbles - she is a young puppy, part Corgi and part Jack Russell. Bubbles got along with everyone - cats, dogs, kids. She was adopted within two weeks and is very happy with her new family. Mom misses her - she was a total cutebug.

For sale - a Canadian Sport Horse mare

2009-08-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

Nikita (aka Nikki) is registered with Canadian Sport Horse Registry as a broodmare. Born in 1998, by the TB stallion Briar's Echo, out of a Percheron mare. She did event, is broke to ride, but would need to get legged up again, and was never a beginner rider's horse as she is strong.

She has had 2 foals, one by Aliano, and the filly in the pictures is by a palomino QH pony stud. Good mom, EASY keeper. Bred AI and Live cover.

Nikki is CSH, International Sport Horse Registry (ISR) and Oldenburg approved as a broodmare. That means that her foals, by approved stallions, can be branded ISR.

Nikki and her filly by a QH palomino stud.

Her owner is asking $1100 for her, but is open to reasonable offers.

Please contact us if you're interested in this lovely mare.

Summerfest Breeders' Show

2009-08-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

On August 2nd, we took Beauty and Breezy, Spook, and Fancy to the big breeders' show (Summerfest) at Kemptville College.

I braided Breezy and Spook (mane and tail) and Fancy's forelock. All of them were polished until they gleamed from ears to hooves to tail - and we made sure they stayed that way all day.

Lori showed Spook, Natasha showed Fancy, and I showed Breezy. Serge and Natasha alternated holding Beauty (she wasn't showing, but Breezy was too young to be there without her mom). Mom helped out wherever she could.

First up was Breezy (Call Me A Dreamer) in the Pony Foals class. She was a superstar, standing and posing perfectly even though she's only 3 months old. She won first place in her class! That meant that she had to come back for the Junior Champion and Reserve class - and she brought home Reserve Champion!

Spook (Cool Blue Dream) was up next in the 2 year old of 2007 class. He and Lori did a great job, placing second.

Fancy (Dreams Fancy Pants) and Natasha were in the next class - 3 years and older mares. Fancy and Natasha placed fifth in that one.

Natasha and Lori took Fancy and Spook in the Dressage suitability class, picking up ribbons all around.

Natasha and I both placed in Junior/Novice handler - Breezy and I placed third, and Natasha and Fancy placed fourth.

Natasha saddled up Fancy and took her in the Open Pony Walk/Trot and the SPSS Pony Dressage Type Under Saddle classes, picking up even more ribbons!

To top it all off, I won the big door prize donated by Ritchies - a bucket full to overflowing with fantastic stuff from Ritchies including a saddle pad, 2010 calendar, horse treats and more! Thanks, Mom, for entering the draw for me!

All of us competed in the Sport Pony Starsearch Qualifier classes. Breezy's Reserve Champion ribbon along with Spook's second place ribbon means that they could qualify for the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto if the first placed ponies don't go. We haven't decided whether or not to register for the Royal yet, but entries don't close until the end of September, so we have time to consider the options.

We're all very proud of our well-behaved and well-shown ponies - and their good behaviour in the ring was appreciated, too. The judge stopped by while Serge was cleaning out the stalls and complimented us on their behaviour and our spotless stalls! Thanks to Pony Club, we all know how to behave at a show and how to make sure we're welcomed back by keeping stuff neat and tidy, and cleaning up after our horses.

You can find some photos of Breezy, Spook, and Fancy on the professional photographer, Cheryl Ogilvie's site: http://www.pixyourthis.ifp3.com/. Click on Gallery and choose Summerfest and look in the Foals, Ponies and other folders. Mom labelled all the pictures when she found them.

The lighting inside the arena wasn't great for photo-taking, but we did get one or two of Breezy and Spook.

Paint-O-Rama

2009-08-06T06:34:00.001-07:00

Saturday, July 25th was Paint-O-Rama at the Carp Fairgrounds, an Eastern Ontario Paint Horse Club show.

Cool Blue Dream (aka Spook) won four first place ribbons in his first class: 2 year old stallions. I showed Spook (stallions must be shown by an adult).

Dreaming of Willie (aka Dreamer) placed 5th in the Aged (over 3 years old) mare class. Natasha did a great job of showing Dreamer.

Both Spook and Dreamer placed in the Overo class.

For the first time off the property, both horses (and handlers) did very well! The show was inside because of the threatening skies, so there were a lot of new experiences for both horses.

Mom came out to take pictures, but the lighting inside wasn't good enough, so she took these ones outside.

Breeder's Show - Swallow Creek

2009-07-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

Natasha showed a horse for Jen L. at the Swallow Creek Farm breeder's show on Saturday. Victoria's Glory (aka Tori) is a two year old filly out of Jen's CSH mare by Ikoon.

This was her first time off property and her very first show. It was also the first time she was ever in an indoor arena (thunderstorms and heavy rain made it impossible to have the show outside). Luckily, the sun came out for a while so Mom could snap these photos.

Tori placed fifth in the Open 2 year old class.

Tori spent a lot of time in her stall so she would stay clean. She wanted to rub out her braids, so someone had to watch her all the time.

Tori and Natasha placed 4th in the Suitability for Hunter/Jumper class.

Jen was pleased with both Tori and Natasha's efforts today!

More C Rally pictures!

2009-07-16T06:04:00.001-07:00

More pictures of Natasha and Fancy at C Rally at Hawkridge Farm. These ones were taken by Alex Walker, the DC of United Counties Pony Club. Thanks, Alex!

C Rally at Hawkridge

2009-07-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Natasha spent the weekend at Hawkridge Farm participating in a C Rally. She had a fabulous time with Fancy (Dreams Fancy Pants) and her team-mates!

Thanks to Cat Hunter for allowing me to post the following photographs! Neither I nor Mom was volunteering at the Rally, so we weren't able to take our own photos.

There were lessons on the flat:

Stadium jumping classes:

Cross country lessons, a long hack on Friday evening, games such as the Three legged Race and the Sack Race, a stable management competition, and lots of other fun learning opportunities.

Natasha says that Fancy was wonderful - and that she had a great time. She's already looking forward to going again next year. Natasha really liked her coach. Fancy seemed to really enjoy walking, trotting and even cantering through the water - nothing fazed her at all. Yay!

Natasha was on a team with United Counties Pony Club members. Their team placed sixth in the stable management competition.

More updates on Simon

2009-07-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

The vet in Ste Hyacinthe says Simon can go to his new home today. Yes, that's right: Simon has been adopted!!

His last culture was clear and his digestive system is functioning normally. He'll be on antibiotics for a couple of weeks, and he needs a diet high in fibre (lots of hay) and unlimited water, but the vet says that he seems to be fully recovered.

Simon's former owner dropped off the signed owner surrender sheet along with his vet and farrier records, as well as a 2009 Coggins. We'll pass that information along to his new owner, Jeanine, so that she can add it to her records.

Jeanine plans to pick Simon up in Ste Hyacinthe, pay the remainder of his vet bill, and take him home to her farm this evening. We wish them both all the best and look forward to updates on his progress.

Many thanks to Christine Allard of Forever Green Stables in Glen Robertson, Ontario, for helping us find the perfect home for Simon so quickly!

More information and photos of Simon...

2009-07-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

I spoke with the vet in Ste Hyacinthe last night.

The vet says his prognosis is good. He's coming off the IV fluids this morning, but is still on antibiotics for a minor bacterial infection. He's passing manure again - and that's a good thing.

He had a slight arhythmia and an elevated heartrate a couple of days ago, so they are doing an ultrasound to check his heart. His heart rate and rhythm were fine yesterday.

I'll get another update today. If he is still improving, Simon should be ready to go home this weekend.

The following pictures were sent to us by his current owner.

Horse needs immediate adoption - please call

2009-07-07T16:55:00.000-07:00

Simon is a 16 1 hh Thoroughbred gelding, 15 years old, and fully trained English & Western. He's currently at Ste Hyacinthe Hospital for colic and needs to stay for another week of observation. He could make a great school horse.

Financial difficulties mean that the owners can't pay for the next week of observation - they need approximately $750 more to pay the rest of the vet bill. Pay the vet bill, and he's yours.

The colic was not severe enough to require surgery. We will call the vet to get more details tomorrow.

Watch this space for updates...

More catching up!

2009-07-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

Cooba had her calf yesterday! It was a bit surprise - she wasn't expected to calve until September. Chuck, her new bull calf, appears to be a full-term calf, so I guess she had fun with the bull earlier than recorded. Cooba and Chuck are in the barn now, but will probably go back outside in the next couple of days.

Natasha and Miella represented EastWind Pony Club at the Regional Prince Philip Games (PPGs) at Pony Express Stables on Canada Day. Miella rode Sneakers in a mixed team with members from United Counties Pony Club. Natasha was her helper and led Sneakers. Miella and her C-level PPG team placed second! Congratulations, Miella!

Natasha rode Fancy in her Masters level PPG team. She did really well handling Fancy at a new venue with all the excitement. Not only did their team place first in the Masters division, they also won against the A-level team. Natasha's team had riders from United Counties and Rideau Pony Clubs - and even though they never managed to practice together, they played well. Congratulations, Natasha!

Natasha finished her school year and is busy working on the farm and planning her next ride on Fancy, Dash, or one of the other horses. Exams are over, and I'm sure she did well. UPDATE: Natasha passed with flying colours! She has excellent marks on her report card! We're all very proud of her (okay, even more proud than before)!

Natasha is going to a C-level Pony Club rally at Hawkridge in July. She'll be on a team with girls from United Counties Pony Club. The C-level rally is a teaching rally, so Natasha will have a chance to ride on the flat, do stadium jumps, and cross-country. Hawkridge has palatial accomodations for the horses (beautiful box stalls), but the kids get to sleep in tents. I'm sure it will be lots of fun and learning. As with the D-level rally, there will be a stable management competition as well as other learning opportunities.

Many thanks to Lawrence for donating round bales of hay! The horses are enjoying it. Another farmer down the road donated his 10 acres of hay, too. We just have to cut and bale it. Yay! Every little bit helps!

Natasha has a new pony! Her name is Dreams Fancy Pants, aka Fancy. I bought her from Marie at Rosewood Stables so that Natasha would have a larger pony who could take her further than Dash or Coconut. Fancy is an Appy pony and loves to play PPGs.

Kathrine rode Otis while Natasha worked with Fancy out in the back part of the race track.

After Kathrine rode Otis, Mom rode him in the riding ring.

We have two new additions after the Galetta auction in June: Ash, a 4-year old Arabian gelding that belongs to Jennifer G., and Tabby, a 9-year old Paint mare (may be in foal) that belongs to Lori M. Both horses have settled in well already, but were confined to the riding ring (quarantine) for two weeks. They're now in the paddock beside Delilah's field.

Spot has a girlfriend in the round pen with him. Miss Daisy, a pinto pony co-owned by Jennifer L. and me. She's not really interested in Spot - she keeps looking longingly at Classy in the big field. Hopefully she'll decide that Spot is good enough and give us a foal next year.

Buddy, Jennifer N.'s Springer Spaniel stud, came to stay with us for a couple of weeks while their other dog went through her heat cycle. She had a litter of pups in the spring and they didn't want to accidently rebreed her this early. Natasha took good care of Buddy and he had lots of fun with Jasper and Daisy.

Warning!

Sneakers and Reba are loose on the property. There are a few binder twine "fences" to keep them on the racetrack and in the unfenced field at the back. Be careful if you plan to ride or walk out on the track - some of the strands of binder twine are hard to see. Reba and Sneakers are mowing the grass on the track and looking good.

Sneakers is on special ulcer medication and gaining his weight back.

Mom brought Annie, her neighbour's puppy, out to play with Jasper. Both Annie and Jasper had a great time playing in the water-filled ditches at the end of May. Both dogs were soaked - Jasper dried off outside, but Annie's fine fur needed a rinse. Annie got along with all the dogs (Daisy, Jasper and Tink) once she figured out that Jasper was the one who wanted to play the most! She was one tired puppy when she went home.

S'Heir has gone to Lisa L.'s place (just down the road) to keep Levi company for the summer. Lisa's sister Gina took her horse off to camp with her, and Lisa and her parents asked if they could foster a horse for the summer to keep Levi company. Natasha rode S'Heir (Lisa led S'Heir as she still doesn't understand the leg) to show how quiet she is. S'Heir is thrilled to be "chosen" and saddled up - and thinks she should stand absolutely still. I hope that she gets lots of love and attention this summer!

Lisa adopted Levi from us last year.

Breezy is growing like a weed! She's just 2 months old now and absolutely adorable.

Adoptions

Nikki has gone to her new home. We'll miss her, but know that she'll be well looked after. Her new owner says that she's doing very well.

Coconut and Maggie have been adopted and gone to their new home, too. Coconut is doing well as a lesson pony and Maggie will have surgery on her eye (she has glaucoma in the eye with uveitus and it needs to come out). Once she's healed, she'll become a lesson horse, too. Both Coconut and Maggie already have admirers and new friends at their new home.

Other news

Laura and Linda decided to move Gwen to DB Farms in Vars. We wish them well and hope that they let us know how Gwen progresses with her training.

All of the ponies had their feet trimmed in the last month except Delilah. Everyone is now up to date on shots and worming, too.
The chickens have a new run. Serge's brother donated a chainlink dog run which we've connected to the coop. That means that the chickens aren't out all over the farm (and the neighbour's) anymore. We're back to getting 3-4 eggs a day now that Lori has the chicks at her farm. We're looking for a few new hens (unrelated to Roo) to add to the flock.

The chickens really enjoy the flaxseed that I buy for them at the Bulk Barn - our eggs should be full of Omega 3 and other healthy components.

Mom bought tomato, pepper, cucumber (we hope - the labels in some pots had been removed or switched) and herb plants. Most of them are now planted in the garden by Classy's paddock with the cucumbers planted in the raised bed by the riding ring. We're looking for some raspberry or blackberry canes to plant, so if you know of anyone who has some who might be willing to share, please let us know.

Serge hung a gate at the end of the driveway (thanks, Kim and Randy). We'll be able to close it to keep out trespassers and to keep horses in. Brett helped Serge put in the fence posts across the front yard and I put the boards up with Natasha's help, so our property is now completely fenced along the road.

Kim F. and Brett came out to see Classy and the other horses. They plan to donate a gate and some cedar posts to us. They rescue Great Danes (and occasionally other large dogs) from "death row" all over North America. They also have a few horses and are thinking about breeding their mare, Lark, to Classy. Mom collects blankets, sheets and towels for their Great Dane rescue. If you have any old linens that you would like to donate, you can drop them off at the farm and we'll pass them along.

Classy and Dreamer have a sturdy fence around their paddock now, thanks to Kim and Randy in Simcoe. Kim and Randy of Jericho Stud donated the steel pipes and PVC pipes that we used for the fence, as well as the gate. After Serge and I put in the posts, Mom, Natasha and I attached the pipes and strung the electric wire. Now we just need to build a shelter in there and Classy will be all set for the rest of the summer.

Serge cut and raked some of the hay over on the property that we're renting. It's now dry and baled, and in the loft! The horses think it's yummy - lovely and green and very tasty. We still have more to cut, though. Hopefully it will stop raining soon and we'll be able to cut and rake the other part, too.

The swimming pool that Lori M. gave us last fall was up and filled. The water started to warm up, but then a combination of wind and water pressure (the ground wasn't quite level in spots) collapsed one side. We have to start over and relevel the ground before we can put more water in it.

Catching up ...

2009-06-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

Time flies - and Mom has good intentions, but doesn't always find the time to type in the blog and update it. :)

EastWind Pony Club news

We had a meeting on June 14th with most of our members and volunteers and a special guest, Natasha Yates. Natasha is a former Pony Club member from the Alexandria area and is interested in reviving Pony Club in her area or combining forces with us and adding her potential members to our branch.

We discussed Prince Philip Games, Rally, and the possibility of holding another teaching/testing rally at the Maxville Fairgrounds. We also talked about holding a Rally Prep clinic as a fundraiser for our branch.

Most of the members of our branch have ordered T-shirts now - and we have the stencil, fabric paint and T-shirts ready to go. T-shirts are $10 each, payable to EastWind Pony Club.

The members who were able to come to the meeting created thank you cards for their school bus drivers, and then Miella, Natasha M., & Jennifer S. went for a ride around the track to add more miles to our total for the Ride for 75 - part of Canadian Pony Club's 75th anniversary celebrations.

Upcoming events for Pony Club members

Practices continue every Thursday evening for PPGs - please let me know if you plan to attend. Practices go on, rain or shine. Miella and Natasha M. are playing in Regional PPGs on July 1st in Franktown. Even if you're not playing that day, you can come out to cheer them on.

Natasha and Fancy will also be going to the C Rally at Hawkridge in July as part of a team from United Counties Pony Club.

The date of the next meeting hasn't been decided yet, but I expect we'll have one in July. If you have a suggestion for an activity or craft, or want to participate in the PPG practices, please let me know.

Victoria Day weekend

2009-05-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

EastWind Pony Club news

Natasha passed her D2 test at the D Rally at the Rideau Carleton Raceway on the weekend!

Congratulations, Natasha and Coconut!

We spent the weekend (Saturday through Monday) at the Raceway with 50+ other eager Pony Club kids and their horses/ponies. D Rally is a working rally.

That means that the participants are completely responsible for all the work in the barn, grooming and tacking up their horse or pony, as well as being on time for lessons and other events. The stalls and other areas have to be spotless - there's a stable management competition - and a helpful parent costs the team marks.

Parents are only allowed in the stables at certain hours - and only to see what their children have done, not to clean stalls or tack. Each team has a helper to assist the team with tacking up and mounting.

Natasha was on a team with members from Ottawa Valley Hunt (OVH) (Abby, Rosemary and Katie) and their helper, Sarah, from United Counties Pony Club. Their team placed 10th in the stable management competition.

Sarah swept out the tack stall. All of the equipment, feed, tack and even the sawhorse had labels that identified the team, and horse and rider.

On Saturday, we met the rest of the team, set up the stalls, tack stall, and feed area. The Pony Clubbers were all divided into lesson groups for riding and stable management. I taught stable management classes on Saturday and Sunday, and tested stable management on Sunday, then the riding portion of the D level tests on Monday. It was a busy weekend.

The food was catered by the Raceway and was plentiful and tasty. We slept in our sleeping bags in a room in the Raceway and by the time lights went out at 10 pm, almost everyone was ready to sleep.

Natasha and I had a great time overall - and Natasha says she'd like to go back next year as a helper. Maybe we'll have a whole team at Rally next year!

Serge brought Coconut down in the trailer and then took the truck home. I had the car at Rally so that it was easier to get from the barns to the other areas. Mom brought the truck back on Monday and helped us tear down and pack up the Rally stuff. Thanks, Mom!

While we were away from the farm, Laura, Linda and Mom stepped in and did morning and evening chores as well as entertained the dogs and cat. Thank you very much!

We couldn't have gone to Rally without your help!

Dreamscape Acres news

Allie went home Sunday morning. She and Classy had a romantic few days and we hope that she caught. Classy's next "date" will be in June when we breed Hey You.

Aggie the cow ended up in the round pen after she demonstrated her agility and escaped from both the big field in the racetrack and from Delilah's paddock on Monday. Darn cow!

Drifter managed to pull the bottom wire off the fence in his paddock Sunday evening, shorting out the fence. Mom, Laura and Linda worked long into the night on Sunday (in the dark) fixing the fence so that they could turn the power back on. Drifter thought that he should be the stallion in charge even though he's a gelding. Silly boy!

Spook and Drifter slept comfortably in the sunshine on Monday.

Delilah, Dreamer, Nikki, Kane and Malachi had conversations around the hay in their paddock right behind Drifter as he napped.

Beauty and Breezy spent a lot of time outside on Monday in the sunshine. The hot wire around the riding ring is now electric again to ensure that Beauty doesn't graze her way out under the fence. She's rather fond of fresh green grass. Breezy keeps trying whatever Beauty eats, but she's not convinced that grass and hay are really food. Mom's milk is still much better!

Time for a nap!

The chicks are fledging now. Their adult feathers are starting to come in. Lori adopted all of the chicks and once they're fully fledged, she'll take them home to her new farm in Brinston.

Glenna says that Finnigan (now called Steel) and Tira are doing well and that both of them are happy and healthy in their new home. Thanks for the update, Glenna!

Mom posted on Full Circles for shredded paper and hopes to pick up a number of bags of shredded paper from various people this week. Every little bit helps save us some money on bedding. Thanks, Mom!

EastWind Pony Club news

2009-05-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

We held a meeting of the EastWind Pony Club last Sunday (Mother's Day) at Dreamscape Acres. Everyone turned up, although Sam and Alex were late because they had family obligations earlier in the day.

While the parents and other associate members (volunteers) discussed T-shirts, logos, and colours, as well as planned the program for the next little while, the members worked on their first badge: Equine Arts and Crafts. Miella, Sam and Alex all completed the Equine Arts and Crafts badge. Natasha helped the younger members and our members-in-training (Michael and Shayleen - both a couple of years too young for Pony Club, but eager to become members) when they needed a hand with cutting or glueing.

Our T-shirts will be royal blue with the EastWind Pony Club logo on the back in pink and blue. Once we have a T-shirt completed, we'll post a picture.

Susan provided Mylar to make the stencils and Jennifer (Miella's mom) volunteered her stencil burner to cut the stencils. We plan to use spray fabric paint from Michael's (the arts and crafts store) to make our T-shirts since we don't have enough members to warrant paying a set-up charge and buying a minimum order of shirts yet.

We'd thought about going for a ride, but the weather was a bit uncooperative.

Our branch is participating in the "Ride for 75" as part of Canadian Pony Club's 75th anniversary celebrations. All of the riding that all of our members and associate members (volunteers) do outside of a riding ring or arena counts towards the total for our club. That means that if you ride around the track, on the trails or on the road, it all counts. If you practice outside in an unfenced area in preparation for a cross country competition, that counts, too!

Please send a note to our DC, Susan (sneakypony@yahoo.com) with your riding kilometres regularly so that we can add them to the total.

If we send in at least 100 km ridden by our members and associates, the branch will receive a certificate. The top 10 branches in Canada are listed on the Canadian Pony Club website and updated regularly. The branch with the highest total kilometres ridden will be announced at the banquet and will receive a special award.

Since the other branches started accumulating their kilometres last summer, it's unlikely that we'll make it to the top, but we might as well have fun trying!

By participating in the Ride for 75, members can earn a special badge commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pony Club in Canada.

Natasha and Coconut are off this weekend to compete in the St. Lawrence-Ottawa Valley D Rally and Testing. I'm going as a chaperone, instructor and tester. I have really good memories of the D Rally when it was held at Maxville Fairgrounds when I was a member, so I'm really looking forward to this one. Rally is now held at the Rideau Carleton Raceway, so it'll be a new experience for both of us.

Natasha is on a team with three riders from Ottawa Valley Hunt Pony Club. There are stable management competitions, riding lessons, stable management lessons, and on Monday, testing. Natasha plans to do her D2 test - as it's her first year in Pony Club, she can chose the level for her first test. She did really well on the written portion of the tests.

Time flies!

2009-05-15T05:09:00.000-07:00

Beauty's baby, Breezy, is now two weeks old! She's happy, healthy, and growing - and those are good things.

Beauty and Breezy go out in the round pen regularly now and Breezy loves to canter along behind her mom. Her legs are so long that she still looks awkward when she canters, but she can really move. Jasper often helps herd Breezy into the round pen (and back to the stall at night) so she doesn't wander too far.

Breezy's full name is Call Me a Dreamer. The "Call Me" comes from her sire, Call Me Starmaker, and "Dreamer" comes from Beauty's full name, Beautiful Dreamer. Since she doesn't have any spots, we can't register her with the International Spotted Horse registry. If mom finds the money to have Beauty DNA tested to see if she's part or all Newfoundland Pony, we may be able to eventually register Breezy as a part Newfoundland. Time will tell - and Breezy may darken up to be a liver chestnut bay or roan out and develop a lovely lacy pattern.

Classy is having a great month. Delilah came into season last Sunday, so we turned Classy and Delilah out in the riding ring so that he could breed her when she was ready. We saw two successful breedings on Sunday, and Delilah was receptive to Classy's attentions until Wednesday.

Another mare, Allie, is here to be bred by Classy, too. Spot gets to tease her every day to see if she's ready to be pasture bred in the riding ring. She's interested in Spot, but not ready yet.

In June, we'll breed Hey You to Classy and then Lori plans to bring Little Girl to breed to Classy in July. Lucky Classy!

Natasha attended a Hunter Clinic at Rosewood Stables and did quite well. It was the first time that we'd taken Coconut off property and he was super! Here's a video of one of her jumping rounds:

Natasha cleaned all her tack, bathed Coconut, and put on her show clothes for the clinic. Don't they look handsome together?

Beauty had her baby!

2009-04-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

It's a girl!

She's a bay filly - born this evening between 8 and 9 pm.

As usual, we missed the birth, but Natasha went down to the barn to do chores and check on Beauty and found a newborn foal in Beauty's stall, still wet and slippery. Beauty is busy cleaning her up and getting to know her.

More details and pictures tomorrow - Mom will be out bright and early to visit her pony, Beauty, and the new foal.

Lots of news today

2009-04-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

Cedar (D'Heir to Dream) has been adopted by Fiona H. of Green Glen Farm Inc. and leaves tomorrow (Tuesday).

Nikki (Maack's Nikki) has been adopted by Melanie G. and will leave sometime this week.

Soul has a new sponsor: Michael Milligan of Milligan Iron Works sponsored Soul for him mom's birthday. Thank you, Michael!

Spot is now a registered International Spotted Pony in the International Spotted Horse Registry. His registered name is Spot My Dream. His stud fee has increased accordingly - see his listing in the sidebar.

Charlie the Yorkie has a new home with Mom's neighbour's parents. They'll pick him up on Thursday so he can be a companion for their minature dachshund. He'll be eating Urban Wolf food and living the high life with a lovely retired couple who take their dogs everywhere.

We're up to 5 chicks now. The hens are still brooding a few eggs, so we may have more in a couple of days.

Birth announcement!

Born to SR Silver Dewdrops (Dewey) of Pine Ridge Ranch and Call Me Starmaker (deceased June 4, 2008), a gorgeous colt foal who will roan out to a full leopard Appaloosa as he grows. He's only a few hours old in this picture, but isn't he beautiful?

Congratulations, Joanne!

Still no foal for Beauty, but it should be soon as she was bred before Dewey!

We have babies!

2009-04-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

Chicks, that is.

Roo is a proud father of three chicks (so far). They hatched on Thursday and Friday, and all the hens are really proud and protective of them.

Two are striped like this one, and the other is all yellow. Since all the hens have been brooding all the eggs, we're not sure who the mom is of each chick, but Chip was striped and Red was all yellow.

Roo strutting in the sunlight.

Spring news!

2009-04-15T06:32:00.001-07:00

April is underway, the grass has started to grow, and Beauty's baby is due any time now. Her due date was Easter Sunday, April 12, but we're still waiting...

Beauty stays inside her stall most of the time, but likes to go out for short walks and loves to be groomed. There are a lot of places that she can't scratch right now!

Mom came out with chocolate and other treats and then cooked the turkey (and all the fixings) for Easter dinner on Sunday. It was yummy! Thanks, Mom!

We made turkey pot pie with some of the leftovers last night and it turned out great. We all enjoyed it.

Mom knitted Natasha a cool sweater in her favorite colours as an Easter surprise.
Natasha loves it! She doesn't want to wear it in the barn because it might get dirty. (It's all acrylic yarn, so it's machine wash, machine dry.) It fits her perfectly, too.

On Saturday, I went to the Galetta auction with Lori, Laura, and Natasha. I didn't take the trailer as we're trying to downsize rather than acquire more horses, but I still bought one more. I couldn't let him go to the dealers or the meat man - he's S'Heir's half brother and looks just like her. What a cutie.

He's a little on the thin side, but very sweet and well mannered on the ground. He's also lightly started under saddle. Natasha will try him out later this week.

He's by The Royal Heir (S'Heir's sire) out of a grade pony mare. He's registered as a half Arab, too.

His barn name is Cedar (and he knows it well), but we're going to call him D'Heir to Dream. He's available for adoption now to an approved home for only $600, but his price will go up as his training progresses.

We also added another horse to the stable. In the riding ring, we have Drifter, a Paint cross gelding that is here for training. Natasha is working with him on the lunge line and under saddle. He's had a saddle on and has been led around with a rider on his back, but that's about it.

Drifter is for sale by his owner, Julie, for $3000.

Natasha is joining 4H and has a calf for her summer project. Panda is her newest addition - and Natasha feeds her 3-4 times a day with the bottle. She's a hungry little heifer!

We decided to let the chickens keep some of their eggs and brood them. Right now, the hens have about 10 eggs that they're brooding. Chicks take about 21 days to hatch, so if the eggs are fertile, we should have some chicks around the end of April/beginning of May. The hens seem to be quite diligent about keeping the eggs warm and protecting them, so we're hopeful that at least some of them will hatch.

We found out that Classy (Classy Bingo Bar) has a new foal on the ground this year. Her owner sent us pictures of her - she's a darling little filly!

We're looking forward to foals of our own next year by Classy.

East Wind Pony Club news

We have two new members, Sam and Alex! That brings us up to four. We'd love to have more members, so if you're interested, please let us know.

Available for adoption immediately

2009-04-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

4 year old male Yorkshire Terrier, purebred.

An an owner surrender, Charlie, has been in an adult home. He has separation anxiety, so would prefer a home with an adult at home during the day.

Owners are splitting up and moving to apartments where no dogs are allowed.

Due for shots in May, freshly groomed and clipped.

If you're interested in a small dog as a companion, please email dreamscapeacres@yahoo.ca.

Catching up - March and April

2009-04-01T17:55:00.001-07:00

My goodness, the last few weeks of March went by quickly!

Neala was adopted by Kim P. She left for her new home last week. Kim will stay in touch and let us know how Neala does. We're happy she has a new home and Gwen is putting on weight now that she's no longer nursing Neala. Gwen is out with Reba and a round bale.

Tira was adopted by Glenna. Glenna also adopted Einstein the rabbit (now renamed Eugene). Tira leaves early next week - as soon as Glenna's face heals after having her wisdom tooth out. (Ouch!)

UPDATE: Glenna decided to adopt Finnigan too! Both Finnigan and Tira are in their new home now.

We celebrated my birthday on the Saturday after St. Patrick's Day. Mom, my grandparents, Serge's children, and baby Karen came to celebrate with me. Mom made spaghetti, garlic bread and a cake, and Granny brought a green salad with homemade dressing and croutons. Yummy!

On Sunday, we held our Spring Fling open house. The kids made a craft out of horse shoes and various craft supplies that Mom donated.

Jennifer S. made a frog out of pompoms and googly eyes.

Natasha, Miella, Michael and I decorated horse shoes.

Tink let the kids decorate her with the stuff that we had to dress ponies. She's a good dog.

Even the dillyboppers didn't faze her.

Jasper wasn't as keen - Jennifer S. had to hold the hat above his head for this picture.

Miella and Natasha dressed Sneakers in green. He was thrilled to be chosen, and proudly showed off his green hat, blanket, wraps, and shamrock collar.

Miella wore all the trappings, too!

Mom made a cake to celebrate our third anniversary here, and everyone who came to the open house had a piece. Yum! Chocolate cake, chocolates on the cake, and buttercream icing.

Serenity

Serenity is now wearing soft casts on all four legs for a week at a time. They have to be changed every week so that she doesn't get rubs or end up with them moving out of position as she grows.

Although we thought about the Dynasplints - and thought they'd do a good job - they turned out to be too expensive for our budget. Even their "payment plan" put them beyond our reach.

Jeff Sleeth, our vet, came out and xrayed Serenity's legs. She was very good for the xrays - and for me holding the plates in place wearing 100 lbs of lead apron and gloves. Jeff took three pictures of her worst leg (near fore) and showed them to us on his laptop. He saved the xrays on a CD for us, too, so we have copies.

He didn't see any damage to the pastern joint, so he thinks that the soft casts (or the Dynasplints, if we could afford them) combined with stall rest, selenium and other minerals, and a restricted diet will help Serenity outgrow the contracted tendons. He also said that rather than the deep digital flexor tendon being contracted, it appeared that it might be her suspensory ligaments that were too tight.

After a week with the soft casts, her legs look better already! We're really hopeful that this will work.

The angles still aren't perfect, but with hand walking, soft casts, and lots of care, Serenity has a better chance at a good life now.

Her rain rot or rain scald is clearing up, too, and she enjoys a gentle grooming with a soft brush now - or a thorough scratch from a human. She's also finished her antibiotics for the infection caused by the open sores from the rain scald. She was a very good girl for her needles.

The snow is just about gone. Natasha, Kathrine and I spent a bit of time last Saturday opening little ditches to allow the water to drain off the fields.

The boys all lined up to watch us playing in the water.

Spot, Coconut, and Classy had a quiet chat in the sunshine.

Classy must have said something funny - Otis looks like he's laughing.

For sale

Maggie is still for sale. Jennifer N. needs to sell her soon. If you are interested in a beautiful, registered Paint mare, please scroll down to see her photos. Jennifer N. will accept any reasonable offer to sell her quickly.

Thank you!

Thank you to Serge Bergeron at the Embrun Rona Co-op for donating wormers.

Thank you to Glenna for adopting Tira, Einstein the rabbit, and sponsoring Serenity, plus donating hay nets, halters and an automatic water bowl.

Thank you to Kim P. for adopting Neala.

Thank you to Winn for donating a bag of cross-cut shredded paper.

Linda and George W. for donating a new to me used computer and their time.

Thank you to all our sponsors:

Alex for sponsoring Firecracker

Jennifer G. for sponsoring Delilah

Glenna for sponsoring Serenity

Laura and Linda W. for sponsoring Gwen

Without you, we couldn't help nearly as many horses. Thank you!

Thank you too for all the lovely cards for my birthday!

Aeva - for sale by owner through this site

2009-03-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

Aeva is a Paint-type mare (chestnut and white). Aeva is 2 years old, going onto 3 this year. She is not registered. You can see more pictures here.

She is just above 14.1hh and level from wither to croup. She has been dewormed and vaccinated against Influenza, rhino, EEWEE, tetanus and rabies. She was a rescue purchased through the United Pegasus Foundation, but the owner cannot afford to keep her. We want to see her go to her forever home now.

She can be microchipped at buyer's expense. Although the owner is asking $1200, her price is negotiable to the right home. It is not about the money. It is essential that she is matched with the right home or person.

The owner says "Aeva is really one of the smartest ponies I've ever met - I am currently taking her through level 1 of the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program. If you are familiar with horsenalities, she is innately a LBE and a RBI in learning situations. With Aeva, it's very much a balance between unconfidence and dominance. The biggest challenge has been to accurately read which one presents itself and respond appropriately. I believe that she would be suitable as a games pony, trail horse, etc. with the right amount of training, but not a child at this moment."

If you purchase Aeva through us, we will receive a small donation to help with our horse rescue. If you are looking for a horse, check out this mare. To make arrangements to see her, please call or email and we'll forward the owner's contact information.

March 17, 2009 - We have a new arrival

2009-03-15T17:03:00.001-07:00

Serenity arrived on Friday night.

She's a 6 month old filly, an owner surrender, with contracted tendons and severe rain rot (skin infection caused by wet fur). Her owner realized that she couldn't cope with the care that Serenity needed when the person who'd volunteered to do the twice daily wrapping had reneged on their deal. The owner did the right thing and called me to come and pick her up.

She's a sweet little girl - an unregistered palomino Quarter Horse.

The contracted tendons mean that she can't straighten her legs properly and that her pasterns are much too upright. That affects her joints and even how her blood moves through her body as the frog of her foot doesn't sit on the ground the right way. Pressure on the frog moves blood back out of a horse's lower limbs and recirculates it back to the heart.

Heather, one of the vets at Dundas, came out to see Serenity yesterday. She says that Serenity may need surgery to correct her tendon problems - and that'll be expensive. Jeff is coming out on Thursday to do xrays and help us prepare a treatment plan.

Mom searched the internet yesterday and found a possible noninvasive treatment: Dynasplints for horses. We've sent an email off to the company to see if they're available in Canada - if they are, splints would be less expensive than surgery (still pricey, though: $450 per splint - and she'll need four).

Saturday was a glorious day at the farm. The warm sunny weather means that the snow is melting away - and as long as it doesn't rain, the ground is drying up. Hurray!

We will need rain eventually - grass and other plants need moisture to grow - but right now, we're happy to have warm, sunny weather rather than torrential rains and overflowing ditches!

Mom groomed Beauty from head to tail on Saturday - she loved it. Mom says she was ankle-deep in shedded winter fur when she was done; and that Beauty really liked having her tummy scratched with the curry comb. It must be tough for Beauty to scratch now that she's so pregnant - only a month left before we find out what sort of Star baby Beauty is carrying!

Natalie came out and brushed Nikki, too, but Nikki doesn't have as much of a winter coat, so there wasn't as much fur on the floor to sweep up.

Neala and Gwen had people come out and look at them last week. Neala needs to be adopted or fostered off the property to be weaned. Neala and Gwen are improving every day!

Gwen had her feet trimmed for the first time ever on Thursday. Yvan Roy, our farrier, trimmed about 2" off her toes and reshaped the rest of her feet. Gwen thought her feet felt a bit strange without the ski toes, but soon got used to it.

Neala and Gwen are in the round pen for now - Neala learned quickly how to get out of the riding ring by crawling under the electric wires, and even adding a row of board fence didn't stop her. Gwen would panic when Neala wandered out of sight (she was visiting with all the other horses on the farm) and broke out of the ring, too. We've done a lot of fence repairs lately...

Maggie followed mom around trying to get her picture taken. She still had her blanket on on Saturday, but I'm sure that all blankets will be off soon - temperatures are rising steadily!

You can really see how big Beauty's belly is in this picture!

Hey You looks pretty good - and enjoyed the warm sunshine on her body as she nibbled leftover hay.

Firecracker thought it was a perfect day for a nap in the sunshine.

Tira is starting to lose a bit of her excess weight and enjoyed the sunshine, too.

Sneakers stood watch over Soul as she napped in the hay. At one point on Saturday afternoon, there were 11 horses lying down in the two "mare" paddocks (Sneakers is the only gelding in either paddock) - we're always amazed at how secure and happy the horses and ponies are here.

Cinder is starting to look a bit more pregnant now - she loves to be handled and stands nicely on the lead for photos. She's due to foal in July - the sire is a complete mystery, although he's supposed to be 16 hh, so like Delilah last year, we're looking forward to a mystery foal.

Happy Birthday, Eleanor!

Don't forget the Spring Fling on Sunday - we'll be celebrating St. Patrick's day a bit late as well as Elly's birthday. Come for noon and bring something green to decorate a pony - or wear green yourself.

Pony Club News

We have two members signed up now and we're looking for more. If you plan to join, please bring your membership form with you on Sunday.

If you're interested in more information about Pony Club, check out the Canadian Pony Club website and the one for our region, St. Lawrence-Ottawa Valley (SLOV) Region.

You can find copies of the membership forms on the Canadian Pony Club site under Downloads.

Random thoughts - and photos - from the weekend

2009-03-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

It's been three years since we moved in. It may be hard to believe, but when we moved here, there were no fences, no fields; just the barn and the swimming pool and a small area cleared where the winter paddocks are. Everything else was bush and scrub trees.

In the last three years, we've cleared fields for paddocks, cleared trails in the bush, put up miles and miles of fences and fence posts, and rescued and put up for adoption many horses.

Happy third anniversary, Dreamscape! We hope we have many more happy anniversaries here and make still more progress this year. Maybe we'll finally find the money tree and be able to build an arena, new barn, and put up more post and rail fences... No sense in keeping dreams small - we might as well dream big and hope we can do even more.

Laura and her Mom came out to see Neala and Gwen on Saturday - and fed them Apple Snax. Both Neala and Gwen really like Apple Snax - really, really like them. Laura brought Neala a new blue halter, too. It's not on in this picture, but it was before Laura left. Both Neala and Gwen are learning a lot - Neala is an escape artist and if she's outside with her mom, she gets out of the electric fence and goes exploring. We're adding boards to the riding ring (where we have them quarantined for now) to keep her in. No one likes to go out and catch horses at 3-4 am in the dark!

Roo has most of his feathers back now. He is very happy in the coop with the hens and happily strutted around in the pen yesterday in the mild weather.

All the hens lay eggs now, but not every hen lays an egg every day. Some are still pretty tiny, but they're getting bigger.

Chubby Cheeks, the rabbit, was renamed Einstein. He has wild hair much like the photos of the scientist, Albert Einstein, especially when it's a bit static-y from being brushed. Einstein is very patiently having his mats removed - he likes to be brushed, but some of his mats are thick enough that we have to cut them out.

He's a big fuzzy rabbit - and he's not afraid of the cat (Stripe is afraid of him, but curious) - or even Jasper.

Jasper was shocked when Einstein hopped up on his back when he was snoozing in the living room! Jasper was very good, though, and didn't hurt Einstein even though he couldn't figure out how to play with him. It was very funny to watch Einstein crawl all over Jasper and even under him. Mom and I giggled for about 20 minutes as Jasper tried to figure out what to do about the rabbit.

Thank you!

Thank you to Laplante Chevrolet in Casselman - they donated shredded paper for bedding last week. I traded in my Neon on a newer used car there, too!

March onwards ...

2009-03-05T05:19:00.001-08:00

We have a new resident - Chubby Cheeks, an Angora-type rabbit, donated by Jennifer N.

He's very friendly and is turning into a big puffball as we brush him. Pictures will be posted this weekend.

Jeff Sleeth of Dundas Veterinary was out on Tuesday to give some of the horses their shots. He gave Neala and Gwen a thorough check up, too. Jeff will be back later in the month to do the rest of the horses.

Mom came out to lend a hand herding Neala into the barn while I led Gwen. Neala appears to be learning that leading isn't all bad. Yay!

All of the horses in Soul and Reba's paddock got their shots, as did Spook, Neala, Gwen, and most of the boys in the bachelor paddock.

Last night was the third session at Kemptville College for the free OVLAC seminars. This one was on parasites and pasture management.

Melanie Barnam, DVM, recommended that horse owners use the different types of dewormers in rotation, something we do already, to ensure that parasites don't become immune to the wormers. She warned against using daily wormers (currently only available in the US) as they may produce more resistant parasites.

If you suspect a horse may have a heavy parasite load (some of our rescues have not been dewormed regularly or properly), Melanie recommended a fecal test where the number of eggs and larvae can be counted. Once you know how bad the infestation is, you can work with your vet to plan a safe procedure for reducing the load.

She also recommended that paddocks be dragged to break up the manure and spread it out so that the sun can kill off any larvae and eggs. Pasture rotation helps, too, as do our cold winters.

We drag and bush hog pastures regularly in the summer to keep weeds under control and to control parasites and rotate the horses out of the "winter paddocks" once the ground starts to dry up. That helps reduce the reinfection rate, too.

As part of the clinic, we had an opportunity to have a free "float" fecal test done, so Mom took in a piece of Sneakers' manure and Tash and I took in one from Gwen. Since it's still wintery, neither showed much in the way of parasite eggs. Gwen and Neala will get a full test done in April before we deworm them, just to be sure.

You can read more about parasites and their lifecycle in horses here: http://www.myhorse.com/assets/Health/Natural-Holistic/asset_upload_file589_11959.pdf

Caution: Graphic images of worms - not for the squeamish!

You can find lots of interesting articles on horses and horse health here: http://www.thehorse.com/. You'll have to sign up for a free account to read some of the articles. Many of them are written by vets, and verified by other vets.

Dreamscape Acres is starting a herd health program for worming that will be administered by our vet. Deworming costs will not increase because of this - but it will ensure that we give the right wormers at the best possible time to get rid of parasites.

Pictures of Maggie

2009-03-02T06:21:00.000-08:00

Added April 9 - photos of Maggie as a foal and under saddle provided by Jennifer N.

Maggie as a foal

Maggie under saddle - Fall 2008.

Maggie's face.

Peppy is Maggie's dam. Photo taken in 2003.

Maggie - the day she arrived at Dreamscape Acres (September 2008 - photos by S. Lorden)

Maggie playing in the field in January 2009.

Maggie playing in the field in October 2008 - showing off for the geldings in the paddock across the driveway.

Maggie is for sale

2009-03-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

Sadly, Jennifer N. must sell her gorgeous APHA mare.

Dusty Doll Bonanza is near 14 hh bay and white broken overo mare. "Broken" means that she has a frame pattern broken by white crossing the back.

3 great gaits (WTC), well started under saddle.

'Maggie' had unlimited potential. She has shown cow sense, and loves attention, has been ridden by kids (under supervision), and adults. She is good for the vet and farrier, cross ties and ties.

Maggie would be ideal for a school, show home or as a family horse.

She is not for a beginner family, would suit an intermediate rider or perhaps a strong beginner with coach supervision. Super easy keeper, in or out, hay and water. Gets along well with other horses.

Maggie has learned a great deal in a few short months, and is eager to keep learning. Her beautiful movement, good looks and cheerful personallity are sure to win your heart.

$3500 very neg. to good home. Winter blanket also available.

Contact me if you're interested, and I'll give you Jennifer N.'s contact info.

Catching up - it's the end of February already!

2009-02-26T07:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few weeks since my last post.

We had a Valentines party on Sunday, February 15th combined with a contest to determine the winning logo for our new branch of the Pony Club. All of the Valentines party attendees had a chance to cast their vote for one of the logos entered by Sunday afternoon.

We had four submissions to choose from:

All were carefully thought out and drawn, either on the computer or by hand, and every one got at least one vote.

The winning logo was submitted by Jennifer S. Her daughter will be joining the Eastwind Pony Club in March.

Jennifer coloured the pony dark blue grey (in honour of Sneakers, perhaps?) on the printed copy that she submitted for the contest, but we could pick another colour if the members feel strongly about it. The font is called Jokerman - I'll look for it online and if I can find a free version, we can use it for letterhead and thank you notes (for clinicians and volunteers).

Thank you to everyone who participated by either submitting a logo or voting!

Natasha created a great themed costume for Dash with lots of hearts. He looked absolutely adorable in his flashy multicoloured halter and the heart covered breast plate.

Natasha took Miella out for a ride on Dash in the field.

Natasha later helped Alex saddle up Reba to ride and took her out for a stroll, too.

It was too icy to go very fast or very far, but I know Miella and Alex appreciated the opportunity to ride a little bit.

Thanks, Natasha! You're a big help and a good sport!

Farrier

Our farrier (Yvan Roy) came out on Tuesday, February 17 and trimmed some of the horses. Serge held Malachi and Kane (Katherine and Michael's horses) out in the field and both of them were very good. Neither of them like to come in the barn for a trimming, and Yvan is happy to accommodate them.

Cinder and Finnigan had their feet trimmed, too. Both of them were well behaved.

Arrivals and departures

Scrappy left for Petawawa on Saturday, February 21. I hope that Amelia and Scrappy enjoy their new homes!

Two new horses, Gwen and Neala, a 9-12 year old mare and her 6 month old filly, arrived shortly after Scrappy left. They were rescued from a neglectful situation by Laura W. and her mom. They plan to continue to sponsor them and work with them this summer.

Gwen is a bit thin, but has already put on weight since she arrived. Neala had never been handled - she's wearing her first ever halter now! Gwen likes people, and especially enjoys treats. Neala needs some regular handling to teach her how to behave around people. She's very curious, though, so we hope she'll learn quickly.

Neither was sure how to drink water from a bucket - there was no water in the field that they lived in previously - but they figured it out pretty quickly. Both need work on their feet and a full course of innoculations (Jeff, the vet, will be out next week). Gwen and Neala's feet are way too long and Gwen has "skis" because her toes are so long.

Neala is available for adoption for $300.

Announcements

Happy birthday to Jasper! He's a whole year old now - maybe he'll finally stop growing!

Spook (Cool Blue Dreams) turned 2, too! He's really grown in the last year and doesn't look like a baby anymore!

Upcoming events

March brings us St. Patrick's Day and hopefully the start of spring. The vet will be out later this month to start doing shots and Coggins, so please let us know if you want a Coggins or think your horse(s) need their teeth floated or anything else.

The vet checked Beauty and confirmed that she's carrying a healthy foal. She's due around April 12, 2009. He checked Cinder, too, and thinks her foal is due in July.

We're planning an event on Sunday, March 22 to celebrate everything green! Look for more details here soon. Hopefully everyone will be back from their March break vacations by then.

(Note from Susan: Elly's birthday is on March 17, so we can celebrate that, too. :) Sssshh! It's a secret for now.)

Natasha, Mom and I attended the second of six lectures put on by the Ottawa Valley Large Animal Clinic (OVLAC) at Kemptville College last night. Last night's lecture was all about breeding and gave us all a lot of useful information. Next week's lecture is all about parasites.

The roosters have a home!

2009-02-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Feet, Phantom and Harry were adopted today. I met a farmer at the Co-op who breeds fancy chickens and invited him to come and see Happy Feet, Phantom and Harry. He liked them, and took them home.

Each of them will have a group of hens to keep them company - no more fighting!

Roo and Momma chicken have mostly recovered from the feather plucking by Happy Feet, so now that Happy Feet has a new home, they'll be moving back out to the coop soon.

Hey You and Coconut have been moved from the riding ring into their new herds. Hey You is pretty sure that she doesn't belong there, so be careful when you open the gate - it's electrified to keep her from bashing into it. She may try to get out if you're not watchful.

S'Heir and Scrappy are in the riding ring for now. S'Heir grew again and needs some grain to put some weight on. Scrappy is in the ring to prepare her for her trip to Petawawa with Amelia.

Don't forget to create a logo for our new Pony Club branch, Eastwind. Bring your drawing to the Valentine's party on February 15th and we'll all vote on them. Bring a costume for a pony and Mom will take pictures and post them on the blog.

Don't forget to bring your completed application and cheque for your Pony Club and Ontario Equestrian Federation membership, too!

End of January - We're starting up a Pony Club branch here!

2009-01-30T18:25:00.001-08:00

Updates:

Dr. Jeff Sleeth of Dundas Veterinary Services confirmed that Cinderella is pregnant and due in July 2009.

We have two new horses (currently in quarantine in the riding ring): Hey You is a Thoroughbred mare with Canadian Sport Horse (CSH) breeding approval - she's here on a breeding lease and will be bred to Classy Bingo Bar (Classy) in June; and Coconut, a 5 year old pony gelding that's been started walk, trot, and canter. Coconut is available for adoption to the right home.

Natasha rode Coconut today and he was very good.

Natasha finished her first week at her new school and is very happy. She really likes the short bus ride to school and back home - she's the last student picked up and the first to be dropped off. I hope she continues to enjoy school and living here - I know we're really happy to have her here!

We're still looking for homes for two roosters, Happy Feet and Phantom (formerly known as Ugly because he was a very odd looking chick). Roo is quite happy living in the house in the old cockatiel cage, but Serge is getting awfully tired of his crowing! Roo is very affectionate and likes to sit on Natasha's shoulder.

Amelia and Scrappy are moving to Petawawa at the end of February. Be sure to give Scrappy a goodbye scratch and hug before they go. Amelia also adopted Whisper, so he'll be leaving at the end of February, too. We'll miss them all!

Serge, Natasha and I have started going to the Embrun Chiropractic Clinic. I find it's making a huge difference in my back and enthusiastically recommend them! Dr. Greg is fantastic!

If you're interested in finding out if a chiropractor can help you, please contact Dr. Greg and tell him that Eleanor recommended him. You'll get a free assessment and explanation of how adjustments can help you.

Mom sees Dr. Rick in Barrhaven at the Village Square Chiropractic and sent us a referral for Christmas. What a wonderful gift!

Farrier:

Yvan Roy, our fantastic farrier, will be here next month to trim hoofs as needed. Please make sure that you bring out an extra $30 per horse to get your horses trimmed.

Vaccinations:
Jeff will be back at the end of February, beginning of March, to do all the horses' annual shots. Dundas Veterinary Clinic will bill each owner individually.

T-Shirts:

If you'd like to support the farm and show you care, you can now order a custom T-shirt with the farm logo and the name(s) of your horse or pony on it for $20. We can get just about any colour (within reason) and will paint the logo and names on it. All the T-shirts and fabric paints are machine washable.

Pony Club:

We are starting up a new branch of the Canadian Pony Club at the farm. We'll be part of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa Valley Region of the Canadian Pony Club.

The proposed name for our branch is Eastwind.

Pony Club is a wonderful way for kid between the ages of 6 and 25 to learn more about horses, have a lot of fun, and meet many other people who love horses, too. You can choose to compete in branch and regional events from Quiz to Tetrathlon to Prince Philip Games (PPGs) to Show Jumping to Rally to a Winter Education weekend.

You do not need to own a horse or a pony to be a member.

Click on the link above or in the sidebar to get more information - I was a member for 12 years and learned a lot, met a lot of interesting people, travelled to Edmonton and to Fergus to compete in PPGs - and had a great time !

We have volunteers for District Commissioner (DC) , treasurer, and secretary already, but can always use more volunteers. Natasha will join for sure, and Sam and Alex want to join, too. If you, or someone you know wants to know more or join, please email me and I'll give you all the information.

All Pony Club members must be Ontario Equestrian Federation (OEF) members as well. The OEF provides insurance for Pony Club events.

The cost to join our branch of the Pony Club will be approximately $100 a year, plus the cost of the OEF membership. We plan to meet on Sunday afternoons (at least to start) at the farm.

Logo Contest:

The first item on our agenda is to create a logo. Since the input of our members (and potential members) is very important, we're holding a contest to see who can design the best one. It starts now and ends on February 15th.

You can create your logo by hand or on the computer.

Everyone will have a chance to vote for their favorite at the Valentine's Party on February 15th.

We'll use the winning logo on T-shirts and on the blog and branch website.

Valentine's Party:

Dreamscape Acres invites you to a Valentine's Party on February 15th from noon to 3 pm or so. Bring a costume for your pony and decorate your helmet in honour of Valentine's Day.

We'll provide hot chocolate and other beverages and plan a Valentine craft.

Depending on the weather, we may hitch up the hay wagon and go for a ride around the track again.

Thank you!

Thank you to all our volunteers, sponsors and donors! You make a huge difference in the lives of our horses, cats, dogs, chickens and cows - and let us rescue even more animals.

Thank you to Grandpa, Granny and Serge for working on the bathroom! It's getting better every day.

Holiday celebration - Sunday, January 11, 2009

2009-01-14T08:33:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful - no snow in the forecast, not too cold to be outside, and best of all, no rain.

The previously postponed holiday gathering began as promised at noon when Katherine and Michael arrived, followed shortly by Alex, Sam and Greg. Laura (our new volunteer) and Natasha had almost finished cleaning the barn, Serge had the hay wagon hitched to the tractor, and I had a fire started in the freshly dug out fire pit.

After a bit of play with kittens and dogs and ponies, we all piled on the hay wagon for a trip around the track. Serge drove the tractor past the barn and the winter paddocks.

Jasper ran alongside the hay wagon in the deep snow, loving every minute. About halfway around the track, we stopped to pick up sticks for the fire (remnants of the last freezing rain storm) and put them on the hay wagon.

Once we'd loaded a bunch of branches, including a large log that Michael found and Serge and I dug up, we headed back the house. Daisy ran alongside the wagon, Jasper ran ahead of the tractor, and Tinkerbelle rode on the hay wagon with Mom and all the kids.

I had everyone pose for a picture at the end of the wagon ride, then after they unloaded the sticks and log, we had hot chocolate, milk, tea, cookies and treats in the house to warm up.

Katherine and Michael had to leave as they had another commitment that afternoon, but the others saddled up the ponies and went for a ride around the track.

Sam and Serge rode Grandma Reba partway around the track, then Serge led Reba the rest of the way.

Natasha rode Dash, Alex rode Sneakers, Laura rode Otis, and Serge led Sam on Grandma Reba. Everyone came back with big smiles!

Alex, Sneakers, and Jasper.

Laura and Otis.

Serge took Reba around the track again after everyone else was back at the barn - she wanted to go faster than was safe with the whole gang.

I know that we enjoyed the company of our boarders, sponsors and volunteers on Sunday - I hope you all had fun, too!

Thank you to all of you for your help in the past year; the horses, ponies, chickens, cows, kittens, and dogs all appreciate your visits!

Thank you!

Belated thank yous to John R. for all his help with the electrical in the barn (and the wonderful lights in the riding ring) in 2008, and to Ray M. for his help early in the summer in the barn and in the garden.

Thank you to Joanne for the shredded paper - and the promise of more! We use it to supplement the shavings in the stalls.

Thank you to Jennifer S. for donating a bridle, reins and a bit to the farm.

Thank you to Andre L. for his help with the shelter in Grandma Reba's field - it was a lot easier to put up with two people!

Thank you to Sam for sponsoring the chickens. They got a bunch of live crickets from the pet store as a holiday treat. The chickens give us an egg or two almost every day now.

Welcome a new volunteer!

Please welcome Laura to the farm. Laura volunteers one day each weekend (work permitting) and helps with barn chores.

Roosters available for adoption

We have four roosters available for adoption as pets. They're not ever going to be big enough to be meat birds. All four are friendly and fairly well handled, but they're starting to peck each other in the close quarters of the coop in winter.

If you know of anyone who has room for a new rooster or who would like one as a pet, please let us know.

School volunteer hours

You can volunteer at Dreamscape Acres for your volunteer hours for high school. We have lots of different chores that can be done, from grooming horses to repairing fencing to building shelters. Call or email to arrange a volunteer position!

New Years Eve

2008-12-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

Just a short post to wish all a very happy new year!

Best wishes for a safe, happy, healthy, horsey, and prosperous New Year! We look forward to seeing everyone in 2009.

Eleanor, Serge and Natasha
Daisy and Jasper
Whisper and Stripe
and all of the horses, cows and chickens!

Holiday gathering postponed

2008-12-28T05:54:00.000-08:00

The weather is balmy and warm, but after yesterday's freezing rain, followed by more rain, the fields are full of ice and snowmelt (water).

We've decided to postpone the holiday gathering for two weeks to January 11, 2009. Hopefully the weather will be better and we'll have some fresh snow on the ground to make walking or riding about a bit easier.

If you do come out today, bring your rubber boots!

Christmas Eve 2008

2008-12-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

December is almost over - and Santa comes tonight!

Thank you to Lisa M. for donating about 25 bales of straw and old hay. We're using it to bed the shelters for the winter.

Thank you to Jennifer (from Full Circles - a Yahoo group for free stuff) for saving all the shredded paper from her office for us - mom picked up ten bags of shredded paper on Monday. Cross-cut shredded paper makes wonderful absorbant bedding for the stalls - and you can bet no one will ever put your VISA bill back together again after it's been in a stall!! It composts really quickly, too.

We've had snowy days, cold days, and apparently we're going to have some warm weather this weekend. Finnigan and Cinder are out of quarantine now and are turned out with Reba's herd.

Mom came over and baked gingerbread and shortbread cookies.

Natasha and I decorated the gingerbread - I did the fancy icing with mom's decorating set.

Stripe and Whisper spend lots of time napping on the dryer and looking adorable. Although they're officially barn cats, they get to come in the house to eat and sleep.

Finnigan and Cinder both need blankets when they're outside. They're outside for longer now than when they came.

Finnigan likes to be brushed and fussed over. He's such a good boy! We're looking for a good home for him. Finnigan fell asleep when Yvan came to trim his feet - he's definitely an old pro.

Cinder was unsure, but behaved wonderfully considering she'd probably never had a farrier touch her feet before.

Both Cinder and Finnigan still come in at night since they don't have good coats.

Thank you to all of you for all your support this year!

2008 Sponsors

Jennifer G. - Delilah

Alex - Grandma Reba

Sam - Kittens and chickens

Natalie - Nikki

Lynn - Otis

There's a small gift for each of you in the house. Please stop in when you come to visit your sponsored horse.

2008 Adoptions

Grace and family - Princess

Susan - Beauty, Fire, Spot

Lisa - Levi

Elisha - Squish

Leisa - Finn

Elmer - Gypsy, Queenie

Natasha - Dash

Jenidy - Julie

2008 Volunteers

Kirsten

Natasha

Susan

Don't forget the boarder, sponsor and volunteer holiday celebration on Sunday, December 28, 2008 starting at noon. Please let us know if you can make it out for a cup of hot chocolate (or coffee, if you prefer) and a cookie or two.

Merry Christmas!

December news

2008-12-08T03:34:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog. Mom's employer laid her off, so she had to send the fast laptop back to them. She bought a new one, so the blog can now be updated.

Big news!!
Autumn was adopted by S.K. and family. Autumn left on Saturday, November 29 and went to Dr. Butler's Ottawa Valley Large Animal Clinic to be evaluated. Her new owners want to be sure that she has the best of everything -- and we're very happy for Autumn. They promise to stay in touch so we can see how she grows up. The latest update is that Autumn is eating well and gaining weight.

Dreamer doesn't seem to miss Autumn at all.

All of the fluffy kittens have new homes! Hurray!

The last one left on Friday afternoon. I miss the entertaining "kitten TV" that happened in Jasper's cage every day, but Jasper is happy to have his cage back.

New sponsors
Thank you to Sam for sponsoring the barn kittens and the chickens! Sam shaved her head as part of her campaign to raise money to fund cancer research and donated her hair to Locks of Love, an organization that creates wigs for children with cancer. Sam is Alexandria's sister - these are amazing kids who do more for their community than many adults. We're proud that we know them - and thrilled that they chose to support our horse rescue, barn kittens and chickens. Thanks!

Nikki has a sponsor! Thank you to Natalie Munro for sponsoring Nikki! Natalie is a real estate agent and mom's friend. She's helping mom look for a house closer to here.the farm.

Reminder
Barn hours are from 7:30 am to 10 pm. Please respect our privacy outside those hours. We have to get up early every day. We can't go to bed until all the horses are tucked in for the night and the barn closed up (especially in the winter).

New horses on the farm
I picked up two new horses at the Galetta auction on Saturday. Both would have gone to the meat man if I hadn't bought them.

Finnigan (Dream's Nice and Easy) is an 8 year old grey gelding. He's well broke and was a family horse. He's just 14 2 hh on the nose, steel grey with a silver mane and tail. He has excellent ground manners. Natasha and I rode him yesterday in the riding ring and out on the race track - he's well behaved and has wonderful gaits. He's for adoption for $800 to a good home only - no dealers.

Cinderella (Cinder for short) is a 13 hh chestnut pony mare, 3 years old, in foal to a Paint stallion (chestnut and white tobiano) (due in July - should be a foal with colour with all that colour in its background!). Her mom was apparently a pinto pony and her father another Paint stallion (tobiano). She's missing her right eye as her mom kicked her when she was a foal and then abandoned her. She's not started yet, but now that she's in a calmer environment than the sale barn, she leads well, loves to be groomed, and picks up all her feet. You can adopt Cinder for $300 - Absolutely NO DEALERS!!!

Both Finnegan and Cinder are in quarantine at the moment, so please do not use brushes not specifically labelled for them or mix up their water buckets. If you want to pat Cinder, make sure you talk to her so you don't startle her - and approach her on her left side where she can see you.

Seasonal gathering
We'd like to celebrate the holiday season with you, our friends, boarders, sponsors and volunteers!

We're holding a Seasonal Gathering between Christmas and New Year's on Sunday, December 28 starting at noon. Come down to the farm for some hot chocolate, cookies and fun with horses. Please let us know if you can make it - we'd love to see you!

More November news

2008-11-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

Elisha came today and adopted Squish (Perfekt Song)! She's gone off to her new home in North Gower - we hope that she settles in well and enjoys the "princess" treatment. Squish will have a stall as well as regular turnout there, and hopefully, provide Elisha with a foal in 2010.

Elisha dressed Squish in shipping boots and her winter blanket before walking her into the trailer.

Elisha's friend adopted River, the female kitten, when they came out to see Squish last week. River is now an adored and loved house cat.

Whisper and Stripe are busy chasing bugs and mice in the barn. They're both boys, so they can stay. They'll be neutered as soon as they're old enough so that they don't stray looking for the ladies. They know their job and have already caught a mouse or two even though they're only 10 weeks old. Good kitties!!

Whisper has more black on his head and Stripe has a white bib under his chin. Whisper had a collar on, but managed to lose it within a day.

Many thanks to Jennifer G. for cleaning out her garage and donating all her horse stuff! It is very much appreciated - and all of it will be put to good use. Jennifer was out today and brought Delilah in and groomed her thoroughly - Thanks, Jennifer! I'm sure Delilah enjoyed the brushing, and it's really good for her to be handled regularly.

Kirsten, the lady who leased Gilligan when he was here, was out today and rode Nikki. She brought her dog, Sky, and took all three dogs with her when she went out for a hack. Jasper is tired out after running with Sky and Daisy - he's sound asleep now.

Jennifer N. would like to find someone to part lease Maggie. She's found that money and time don't stretch as far as she'd like now that she has children, hubby and job to squeeze in as well as "horse time". If you, or someone you know, would like to part lease Maggie, please let me know and I'll pass on the information.

If you part lease, that means that you pay part of Maggie's board, farrier and vet expenses in exchange for riding privileges. The cost would be negotiated between you and Jennifer N.

Kittens for adoption

Some inconsiderate, irresponsible pet owner tossed a cardbox box of kittens in the ditch out front earlier this week. The kittens were filthy and encrusted with feces when I caught them walking up the driveway. Six hours later, all four were clean and dry - and I only got one small scratch!

We've named them Eeney, Mini, Miney and Moe for now. Two are male and the other two female. Mini had a dislocated hip, so he's already run up a $90 vet bill and Miney is on antibiotics to clear her eye infection. All have been dewormed and are litter trained.

If you'd like to adopt a cute little kitten, please let me know. They all have long fur, so they're not suitable for barn cats. I'd like to find good homes for all of them - and Jasper would like them to get out of his cage (they're in there so I know where they are).

Bart-allo-Mew is missing
Barty-cat disappeared a couple of weeks ago. He's gone exploring before and been away from home for a day or two, but never this long. We walked all over the property calling and listening for him (he got stuck in a tree once), but didn't find him.

He may have found someone who let him in, fed him and turned him into a full-time house cat. Bart delighted in lounging on the bed and couch, so I hope that's where he's gone.

We miss him, but hope that he's happy wherever he is.

The chickens now have a heat lamp in the coop to keep their water from freezing. Please make sure the big door stays closed so the heat stays in - the chickens come out during the day and go back in at dusk. We still have eleven chickens - Mama hen still protects them from Jasper and any other perceived threat. We haven't found any eggs yet, but they may start laying in the spring since we don't keep them in the coop all the time.

Correction: We new have 10 chickens. Fluffy (black and white with yellow legs) refused to be caught and didn't go in the coop last night. He died of exposure. RIP, Fluffy.

Alexandria, who sponsors Grandma Reba, runs a pet service to help raise her sponsorship money. It's called Pet's Matter, and she offers walking, feeding, and visiting services in her neighbourhood in Orleans. You can see Alex's website here. If you need a responsible pet sitter and you live in Orleans, why not contact Alex?

Sponsors...

2008-11-21T13:54:00.000-08:00

We love our sponsors!

They make it possible, through their monthly donations, for us to continue helping horses. It's tough, though, when we get a sponsorship promise, but the sponsor forgets to pay. Should we call and remind them, or just help fewer horses?

The bills for vet, farrier and food don't wait, so while we wait for our sponsors to fulfill their promise, we sometimes have to turn down horses that need help.

If you're one of our sponsors who pays promptly, thank you. If you're one of the sponsors who might be a bit late, please think of the horses and send your cheque now. They need your help.

We ask for a minimum four month commitment so that we can plan ahead when we take on a new rescue. All of our sponsors can choose to continue past the four months, of course.

Sometimes horses are adopted quickly, others spend a long time here. All need to be seen by a vet and the farrier, and some need special supplements or drugs to get better.

More changes...

2008-11-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

Classy is here! I picked him up last Thursday. He's in quarantine in the riding ring right now (let me know if you want to ride in there and I'll move him) and has settled in just fine.

This month we sadly say good bye to Gilligan. His owner, Natalie, sold him and he went to his new home on the weekend. We wish him well and hope that his new owner loves him as much as we did - he's a sweet guy.

Roxy is also leaving. She's going off for training for the winter. Natasha is pretty disappointed - she'd hoped to show her next spring and summer. There are other horses here for Natasha to ride, as well as her pony, Dash, so she'll be okay.

That means that we have two spaces available for outdoor board immediately.

Delilah comes back from Saddle Ridge tomorrow. She's been there a month already - and has made a lot of progress. Reuben and Karina got her to the point of accepting a saddle on her back. She's not ready to be ridden yet, but with lots of patient handling, she will continue to improve. If you go to the Saddle Ridge blog, you can see photos of Reuben and Delilah working with the saddle.

Many thanks to Dan Angell of Animal Care Solutions - he gave us a great discount on the ANIVAC System that should arrive here on Friday. This system will allow us to wash horses even in the winter without leaving them soaking wet or leaving huge puddles in the barn or yard. It'll save water, too - that's important when all our water comes from a well. It's a portable unit, so you can even use it outside (not in the depths of winter, though, the water in it would freeze). We'll make sure everyone knows how to use it safely.

Natasha, Mom and I spent the weekend in Toronto at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. We spent all day Saturday (from 8:30 am until 10:30 pm) and most of Sunday there. We rode the mechanical horses, shopped (I bought two more winter blankets, and Natasha and I both bought new helmets), handed out business cards, watched the horse shows, and collected free stuff.

Although our hotel room was tiny, it was clean, and we had a microwave and fridge. A continental breakfast (muffins, coffee, juice, waffles, apples) came with our room, too, so that saved us money on food. We had a great time, but we were still pretty happy to be home and to sleep in our own beds again.

Serge did a great job of holding down the fort at home. He took care of Mom's dog, Tinkerbelle, as well as our dogs, Jasper and Daisy, the three new kittens, all the horses, the cows, and nursed Stew (the Jersey steer) back to health after an episode of bloat (another vet bill). Serge seemed pretty happy that I was home when he got home from work on Monday!

Lest we forget

2008-11-11T07:14:00.000-08:00

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada.

On November 11, at the eleventh hour, we pause to remember those who sacrificed their lives so that we could be free. Many others lived through the wars, some physically injured, others with memories of horrible sights and experiences that continue to haunt them. We thank them for their sacrifice, too.

We thank them and promise that we will never forget the terrible tragedy of war.

We also thank those who enlist and serve as peacekeepers and teachers to preserve our freedom, the men and women who stand guard for Canada and Canadians around the world, the men and women now in Afghanistan, and all who prepare to pay the ultimate price to make our world a safe place.

We also thank the story tellers who keep the memory of why, who, and how alive, so we can remember and can pass that wisdom onto the next generation.

We also remember the animals, birds, dogs and horses (and one cat), that give their lives to keep us free and to save the lives of humans.

Thank you.

Halloween Fun Day!

2008-11-02T18:47:00.001-08:00

Natasha's mom came out on Wednesday and brought Natasha another birthday cake. Lucky girl - two birthday cakes!

Halloween Fun Day

Although it was a little cooler today than we hoped, the sun shone, people came, and the ponies showed off their costumes! Some people couldn't stay for long, but I'm really glad they dropped by.

First, though, I have photos of Sneakers and Dash from Halloween night. Sneakers was a cow - Natasha was a cowgirl, and rode him - and Spot was a unicorn. I led him - he's too young (and too little) for me to ride.

I parked the trailer in the parking lot by the Tim Hortons and we walked around from there. Both Sneakers and Spot were exceptionally well behaved -- and a big hit with the townspeople!

Sneakers and Spot both love children and both of them were pretty happy to be petted and told that they were good boys. Some generous people even made sure that they added an apple or two to Natasha's treat bag just for the ponies!

If you even has occasion to tie Spot, be aware that he knows how to untie a quick release knot. He untied himself from the trailer, but didn't go anywhere. You have to keep a close eye on him if you tie him!

We decorated the living room and dining room for the Halloween Fun Day.

Spider webs and spiders lurked in the corners. I put together treat bags and tiny pumpkin cauldrons of treats for everyone. Mom gave me a bunch of stuff from when she did more Girl Guides and Pony Club parties, so I didn't have to buy much.

We had a couple of new horses arrive today... They just came to visit, not to stay.

Michael rode a sorrel stallion into the living room.

Jasper was intrigued by ponies in the house and had to sniff him all over!

A pinto pony came, too!

The kids made ghosts out of felt, pipecleaners, and sparkle glue. I hung them from the curtain rod to dry.

Then the ponies were decorated.

Reba became a big green uni-dragon!

The pinto pony rode the uni-dragon.

Super Dash!

Jack Sparrow and his pirate pony (aka Otis), escorted the Princess.

Everyone lined up in a dry part of the field to be judged. Mom did the judging and handed out the ribbons.

Otis the pirate and Jack Sparrow give us their best pirate faces.

Otis the pirate took the ribbon for most original costume! Congratulations!

Levi was a purple princess. I know he's a gelding, but doesn't he look pretty?

He was very good, standing quietly to be brushed and dressed in many layers of purple.

Princess Levi took the ribbon for the creepiest costume - it's just wrong for a gelding to be a princess. :-)

After all the ponies were undressed and brushed, five of us (Otis, Dash, Levi, Sneakers and Reba) went for a short trail ride around the track and through the trail in the bush.

Then it was time to turn everyone back out into the field.

I had a great time - and hope everyone else did, too!

Thanks for coming out and making our first annual Halloween Fun Day a fabulous event!!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T13:30:00.001-07:00

This week brought a real mix of weather. Sunday was glorious and sunny, Monday was cooler, and on Tuesday, it snowed.

And snowed.

And the wind blew. Most of the horses had either a winter blanket or a rainsheet on to keep them dry and warm in the heavy, wet, blowing snow.

The heavy wet snow bent a lot of trees down. It was almost as though we were headed for another ice storm (January 1998 - Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec were devastated by days of freezing rain).

Then, on Thursday, the sun came out.

Now, on Friday, it's 15C (about 55F), the sun is shining, and most of the snow is gone. The weekend is supposed to be a bit cooler, but the high for Monday is warmer than today.

We have a new stallion arriving early next week. Classy Bingo Bar, a registered APHA Tobiano. He'll be standing at stud next spring (2009) at an introductory rate of $200 (plus mare care).

Call or email to book your spot now! I'll post more photos when he arrives so you can see how handsome he is from all sides.

Levi has been adopted!

A 14-year old girl down the road from the farm adopted Levi last night. He'll be here at the farm for two more weeks, then moving down the road. She hopes to compete locally with Levi next spring and summer, and he'll be a companion for her sister's horse.

Grandma Reba has a sponsor! Alexandria decided that she will sponsor Reba since Levi was adopted. Thank you, Alexandria!

We're still looking for a sponsor for Soul. She's in Our Soul is a ex-racehorse that won quite a bit of money at the track and had a couple of winning foals, but was discarded when her owners decided that she wasn't useful anymore. She ended up at a sale barn where she starved because she wasn't dominent enough to push her way to the hay bale. She got the leavings, and ate a lot of binder twine (the vet had to remove it from her bowel), further hindering her ability to absorb nutrients.

When she came in March 2008, the vet thought she wouldn't last another week as she was so emaciated. You could see every bone in her body - a walking skeleton. A month later, the vet didn't recognize her as she looked so much better.

She has put on about 300 lbs and she's still gaining weight slowly, and the vet says she's healthy now. She'll never race again, and will always be lame as the tendons on her front legs are badly bowed and have been fired at least once.

Soul is a sweetheart to handle and loves to be groomed. She'll stand in the aisle for hours if you have a brush in your hand. If you'd like to sponsor Soul, please send us an email.

Remember: Our spooktacular Halloween Fun Day will be on Sunday, Nov. 2nd, starting at noon! Bring your pony costume stuff and your own costume. There will be prizes and loot bags!!

Natasha and I took Sneakers and Spot out trick-or-treating in Casselman. Natasha was a cowgirl, Sneakers was a cow, and Spot was a unicorn. Spot and Sneakers were a big hit - and both were really well behaved. I'll post pictures later.