It's hard to believe

But tomorrow's forecast includes the possibility of snow flurries! I'm not ready - are you?

The ponies have good winter coats of fur - and warm blankets in the tack room just in case.

Gillgan appears to enjoy the fall weather in this photo. He's found some grass and some sunshine and a beautiful spot to relax by himself in the boys' paddock.

We had a busy weekend.

On Saturday, we went to Kemptville College to watch the Canadian Sport Horse (CSH) Mare Inspection. Natasha, Mom and I met up there and watched four mares go through the inspection process. The inspectors described how each mare met the criteria to become an approved brood mare. That was very informative. We hope to bring Delilah to an inspection next spring. We already know she makes great babies!

After that, we had lunch at Broadway in Kemptville, then went down to visit Delilah at Saddle Ridge Stables where Reuben and Karina are working with her to get her to be more comfortable with humans. Reuben let us watch him work with Delilah - she joined up with him really well and let him pat her all over and even run his hands down her legs. She's still a bit anxious about his hands on her legs, but we could see the improvement.

Then it was home to do chores.

On Sunday, we had a lot of wonderful visitors. Jen L. asked us to post Roxy on Equistation and several people called or emailed about buying her within minutes of posting her photo in the ad.

Lynn V. came to see Roxy and bought her!!

Congratulations on your beautiful new horse, Lynn!

Welcome to the barn as a boarder, too!

Yes, Roxy will be staying here as a boarder, and we're thrilled. Natasha looks forward to showing Roxy next spring and summer, too.

Lynn V. has also decided to sponsor Otis. Thank you, Lynn, for your generosity!

Alexandria Clarke came to visit the farm with her parents and decided that she wants to sponsor Levi. Thank you very much to the Clarke family, and especially to Alexandria. We look forward to your visits.

Two more of the chicks have names: Fluffy and Rosy. That means that six out of our eleven chickens now have names. If you'd like to name a chick, we'll tell you which ones are which and you can name one of the last five. So far, we have Fluffy, Rosy, Chip, Harry, Nemo, Red, and Mama. They live in the coop by the barn - they'll be part of our fly control program next spring and summer. We hope that they'll lay eggs for us over the winter, too.

Otis is a bit of a ham. Natasha took this picture as he appeared to laugh as Mom tickled him on his neck. Standing still is one of his best tricks, so it's easy to get photos of him. (Sorry, Natasha, it's hard to tell who took which picture when we all use Mom's camera.)

Despite his short stature, he's happy to have one or two children or an adult on his back for as long as they want to be here. He's got really good ground manners, so he's a pleasure to lead, too.

Fire is growing up. She's a year and a half old now.

Mom listed Dreams Firecracker (aka Fire) for adoption for $500 on Used Ottawa. I know she'd rather not sell her, but I think she'd make a wonderful child's hunter pony. She's about 13 hh now and should finish about 14 hh - not too tall for a child. Beauty, Fire's mom, is due to foal again in April. Mom doesn't really need five ponies - with Beauty's new foal, she would have six. Someone has to go.

We'll make sure Fire gets a good home and we'll ask them to keep us up to date on her progress and send pictures.

Bart, the beautiful black barn cat who thinks he should be a house cat, brought me a salamander the other day. It's a Blue Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale). Blue spotted salamanders have a range that covers most of North America. Mom found a lot of references to variants of blue spotted salamanders all over Eastern Canada and down into the United States.

The salamander had an injury to his tail, so I put him in the aquarium with some rocks and some water to let him heal. He's all better now, so I released him in the woods so that he has time to burrow or find a den for the winter. You can see the notch in his tail in the photo that I took. The picture that Mom took through the side of the aquarium shows his blue spots.

It's a plastic aquarium designed to hold a Beta fish, so it was tough to get a clear picture. We didn't want to stress him by picking him up repeatedly, though, so Mom did the best she could.

Congratulations to Amelia on her engagement! We wish you all the best and hope your beau loves Scrappy as much as you do.

Serge finished the run-in shed in the cow field. I think he did a marvellous job - take a look and be sure to tell him how great it looks. Spook, Aggie, Belinda and Stew will enjoy it this winter. We hope to build some new run-in sheds in the other fields soon, too. If anyone has a few money tree seeds to spare, we have lots of room to plant them and good fertilizer, too!

Reminder: The Halloween Fun Day is this Sunday. Be sure to bring costume stuff for your horse or pony - if you don't have one of your own, you can borrow one of ours.

This weekend coming will be a busy one, too. We plan to attend a Breast Cancer Benefit for a friend of Mom's on Friday at the Lucky 7 in Embrun. Saturday is Natasha's birthday (Happy Birthday, Natasha!!) and the Oxford Downs Pony Club Used Tack Sale at Rooneys in South Gower, and of course, Sunday is the Fun Day.

I only bought one...

Saturday was the auction at Galetta. Natasha and I took the trailer and spent the afternoon and early evening there. Although there were many wonderful and pitiful horses for sale - some at very low prices - the highest sale was about $1500 - I only bought one.

He's a chunky gelding of unknown breeding. Natasha and I decided to call him Otis or Odie. He's about 6 years old, calm, sturdy and quiet. He doesn't have much training yet, but he's willing to learn.

Mom came out to see him on Sunday. I bought him for her to ride - she doesn't like heights or narrow horses, so he's perfect for her. At about 13 2 hh, he's not tall, but he's built like a big comfy couch.

He's got some wear marks and scabs in his fur that suggest that he might have worn a collar and harness as a driving horse, but other marks on his neck suggest that he might have just been leaning over a fence and rubbing, too.

We saddled him up with Mom's big western saddle and Natasha got on him first. She rode him bareback in the pen at the auction, so she was pretty confident that he'd be fine. Just to be sure, we put the saddle on first, then patted it all over to see if we could provoke a reaction.

He stood calmly by the mounting block and waited for Natasha to get on.

Natasha rode him around the ring in both directions. Walk and whoa are his favorites. That's perfect for Mom. With a little help from verbal commands and a tap of the whip, Natasha got him to do walk, trot (very bumpy) and canter in both directions. Whoa was easy - if you stop pushing him, he stops.



After Natasha got off, Mom got on.

She did walk and whoa in both directions, and then she and Natasha (on Dash, bareback) went out around the track. They did one full circuit around the half mile track.

Mom hasn't ridden in about 4-5 years, so this was a big step forward for her. I think Otis/Odie will be a perfect mount for Mom - he's the right height and width for her to feel comfortable - and he's not inclined to go fast.

Odie was a bit hot and sweaty after his workout this morning, so we hosed him off and Mom scraped the excess water out of his thick winter coat. He's well dressed for whatever winter throws at us this year - his winter coat is already several inches long.

He needs his feet done and until he gets his okay from the vet, he'll be in quarantine. Right now, he's turned out in the riding ring beside the cows. He knows what electric fence is all about, so he's safe there.

We moved the horses around to prepare them for the winter paddocks. We put almost all the mares together and did the same with the geldings. As you can see, Maggie and Beauty had a great time racing around in the new paddock!

They're in with Roxy and Nikki now, along with S'Heir and Soul. S'Heir thought the chase me game was wonderful, as an Arabian, she's always up for a run around the field.

Autumn decided to look adorable and check out the salt block. She loves to rub her gums on it - I'm sure the hardness helps with her baby teeth. Hard to believe, but she's only 3 weeks old now. She's already eating hay beside mom at the big round bale.

It's time to go put Delilah on the trailer to go to Saddle Ridge Stable for the next month for trailering. Serge is building shelters in the fields today, so if you want to give him a hand, come on out.

Reminder: Today is the last day to let me know about the Halloween Fun Day! I've heard from some of our boarders and regular visitors, but not all. Give us a call, send an email or leave a message when you're out - it should be fun for all ages.

October updates - wishing for warm weather

First, I'd like to thank the treat fairy who stopped by with carrots for the horses on Sunday - and cleaned the stall that Natasha used for Dash! What a wonderful surprise when we went down to the barn after staying most of the day at the Metcalfe Fair.

Don't forget to RSVP for the Fun Day coming up on October 26th. We'd like to hear from everyone by Sunday, October 12 so we can plan activities for the right age groups.


Cool weather means that Autumn and Dreamer spend more time inside - at least until we get a blanket that fits Autumn.

The person who part leases Gilligan came by this week, bringing her dog, Sky. For a moment or two, I thought Mom must be visiting. He is almost identical to Tinkerbelle! He is a bit smaller and has a touch of brown that Tink doesn't have, but he is just as cute. Jasper enjoyed his visit immensely. Where Tink is a bit afraid, Sky is happy to run and leap and play with Jasper.

The pictures of Autumn below are ones Mom took (and cropped) on Sept. 28 - hard to believe, but she's only 6 days old in these ones.





Whee!






Keep up, Mom!

What's that??




Yippee! I can leap into the air!






Run, Mom! It's fun!

Let's run again!

Oops! Mud is slippery when I'm going too fast!

This funny green stuff is a long way down and tickles my nose!

Someone asked me to post a new picture of Sneakers (aka Gone with the Wind) on the blog - here's one of him at SuperEx in August. Mom will try to get some new photos of all the horses on the weekend to update their pictures now that they're growing their winter fur and, in some cases, changing colour.

This one was taken the last morning of SuperEx in August before it opened to the public at noon. We rode both our horses (Reba and Sneakers for the first couple of days, then Nikki and Sneakers for the remainder) every morning to give them a chance to stretch their legs.

The stalls are large enough for the horses to move around, but all of our horses are used to daily turnout in large paddocks, so a stretch is welcome. Sneakers wears a hackamore (bitless bridle.


Elaine Kenney, author of Guide to Riding in Ottawa and Surrounding Area, has a new project on the go. She's compiling a database of horse related links and advertising on Ottawa Kiosk. If you know of a local, provincial or national horse organization that isn't listed, send Elaine an email with their contact information so they can be added to the list. Contact Elaine, too, if you'd like to list your horse-related business (for a fee).

Delilah will be at Saddle Ridge Stable in Mountain for training for a month starting on Thanksgiving Monday. Reuben and Karina will work with her to try to overcome some of her fears and insecurity around humans. We don't expect them to make her into a safe and sane riding horse in one month, though.

Mom and I visited Saddle Ridge Stable to meet Reuben and Karina and to watch them work with their horses. We like their style. Both of them are calm and confident around horses and don't use any force in their training methods.

It's the last week of September!

Blame it on a busy mind. I typed Amelia instead of Abby when I wrote about who was interested in buying Autumn already. I edited the other post today.

Daisy went home to Jenn. L's place on Thursday. She'll be turned out for the fall and winter with Jenn's thoroughbreds. Jenn may get a lot of exercise trying to catch her in a big field - she's not keen on being caught, although once you catch her, she's pretty good. Spot is back in with the boys and misses Daisy.

Levis is home again. He has new aluminum navicular shoes on his front feet. The farrier warned that they may come off easily, so if you're in the field with Levis, check to see that he still has both of them. Mike, Jenn L's farrier, donated the shoes. Thanks, Mike!!

Caution: Reba is loose on the property to eat grass around the racetrack. She goes in at night. We're trying to fatten her up for the winter. If you see her in the front yard on the lawn, please lead her back to the racetrack. She scares the drivers on the highway when she grazes on the front lawn.

She's thin because she's old - the vet estimated that she's probably over 30 now. Her back teeth are really worn down and they don't grind her food very well, so that affects her ability to digest it. She gets grain and extruded feed (more digestible) every day to supplement whatever grass she eats.

If you're riding out on the track or trails and find her annoying you, feel free to put her in a field.

We're looking for wood to build shelters and volunteers to build and erect them. We'd like to make sure each winter paddock has a solid shed this year - and perhaps even put a large shed in the big field in the racetrack. If you'd like to help, please let us know.

You can book your place now for breeding next spring to either Spot My Dream (POA-type pony aka Spot, soon to be registered as an International Spotted Horse) or Cool Blue Dream (Paint stallion - aka Spook). Send us an email soon.

More September news

Busy, busy, busy! Lots of things happen every single day on the farm.

Yesterday, Mac and Levis headed off to Jenn. L.'s place. Mac is staying there for the winter so he can hang out with other thoroughbreds and enjoy "fat camp". He'll gain weight on Jenn's grain and extruded feed ration plan and have a stall and blankets and all the extras. Jenn's mom may ride Mac, too, if she feels comfortable on a 16 hh horse. Mac is very quiet and very good for everyone.

Levis will be back at Dreamscape Acres on Thursday after he has his feet looked at. He may just need his shoes pulled for the winter - but we'll let Jenn's farrier give his expert opinion on Levis' lameness.

We have a new horse on the farm: Roxy - a 2004 registered APHA mare - is here for the winter for training and to get a few miles on her. Her registered name is Strike Me Magnificent and she's a (very rare) blue roan and white overo Paint. Roxy belongs to Jenn L. She's lightly started under saddle, but needs some more work. She's for sale for $3000. Once we have some photos and a video or two, we'll post her for sale on Equistation.

Elmer picked Gypsy up today. The vet didn't make it out yesterday, so she didn't get her pregnancy check. It was great to see Elmer and he made a big fuss over Gypsy and gave us all the news about Queenie. Queenie is happy and healthy and ridden about three times a week on the trails on Elmer's 200 acre property. Although mom is sad that Gypsy was adopted, she's glad Gypsy has a good home.

The vet came today and checked Nikki. She's not pregnant. Darn! Oh well, we'll try again next spring.

Autumn got the once-over from the vet and he gave her a shot to relax her tendons a bit so that she can put her tiny hooves flat on the ground. He said that tight tendons are pretty normal for foals and that it is unlikely to affect her in the future. Abby J. is in love with her and may buy her before she's registered.

Mom will take more photos of Autumn on the weekend. She gets to go outside with Dreamer every day while the weather is nice. She delights in cantering around the paddock and leaping and bucking to burn off some energy while she's out. Dreamer gets a bit worried when Autumn gets too far away, so she's getting her exercise, too!

While Jeff (our vet from Dundas Veterinary Clinic) was at the farm, he took a look at Maggie's eye. Maggie has uveitis, as does Scrappy. Uveitis is sort of like glaucoma in humans - sometimes early medical intervention can stop the damage, but other times, the disease progresses very quickly and there's little you can do to stop it. Uveitis can be triggered by an injury, bacterial infection or allergies. No one knows what triggered Maggie's uveitis.

Unfortunately, it looks as though Maggie will lose her eye as the disease has progressed too far for drugs to help. Removing her eye sounds harsh, but she can't see out of it at all, and if the pressure continues to build, it could rupture and cause excrutiating pain. She's got some drops to help for now, but she'll have to have surgery soon.

Scrappy's uveitis means that she's blind and needs occasional steriod treatments, but it hasn't slowed her down much.

Horses with uveitis are often extremely light sensitive, so both Maggie and Scrappy wear their fly masks all year round - they can have them off at night and when it's raining or overcast. Bright light can make the iris go into spasm - and as you can imagine, that hurts. Their flymasks act sort of like sunglasses and cut down on the amount of light that gets to their eyes.

Natasha came out on Monday to see Autumn and she'll be back tonight to ride Dash. We like Natasha and enjoy her visits! She's doing really well in school this year - she knows that if she lets her homework slip, she won't be able to come out to visit as often.

September news!

It's been a busy month - and it's not over yet.

Dreamscape Acres welcomes Natalie and Gilligan (aka Gilly). Gilly is a very handsome gelding - at least that's what Soul and Scrappy say.

Jennifer G. has chosen to sponsor Delilah. Thank you, Jennifer G.!

Sponsors are always welcome to come out and pet, groom, and if the horse is broke and healthy, ride "their" horse. It's a great way to have the benefits of horse ownership without the unknown costs - you pay a fixed amount each month that goes to the care and feeding of that horse and frees up some more money for other rescues.


We picked up Dreamer (Dreamin' of Willy) on Friday. She was very pregnant - due anytime between now and the end of October. Her former owner, Caroline B. H., wasn't sure of her due date. This photo shows Dreamer's rear view - that bulging belly is all baby!

Dreamer has one and one half ears - no one knows quite how she lost the tip of her right ear. It could have been frostbite or an injury, but whatever it was, it's well healed and doesn't bother her at all.




Dreamscape Acres also welcomes Jennifer N. and Maggie. Maggie is a young Paint mare. Jennifer N. is also considering an on-property lease of Sneakers for her daughter to ride.

We got a great deal on a "floor model" wooden shed from Home Hardware. The shed will be our new tack room once it's insulated and we install saddle and bridle racks. That means that the tack will be close to the barn and I should be able to park my car in the garage this winter. Hurray!

Thank you to Mirka for donating (through FullCircles) several sheets of hardboard to finish the inside of the new tack room after it's insulated.

Thank you to Gabriel (Natasha's grandfather) for the round bale of straw that he delivered on Saturday - it came just in the nick of time!

The chicks will soon have all their adult feathers. As you can see, right now they're covered in fluffy down with their wing feathers. Some of the chicks have very tall tail feathers now, too. They love grasshoppers, leftover greens from dinner, and the chicken scratch that we give them every day. Daisy loves to stick her nose in the chicken pen as we feed and water them - we're not sure what she thinks they are, but she doesn't hurt them, not even when they get out of the pen.

Serge made great progress on the chicken coop - it's up, has a roof, walls and insulation, and even a trap door so the chickens will be able to go out into their run in the summer.

Thank you very much to John R., a certified electrician, for donating his time and some supplies to fix the electric in the barn, install lights in the outdoor arena, and wire the new tack room and chicken coop.

Jennifer L. brought us Levis - a 6-year old Quarter Horse gelding in need of some rest and relaxation to deal with some lameness issues. Natasha will do some light work with him on the trails.

The vet comes tomorrow to check Nikki to see if she's pregnant. While he's here, he'll check Gypsy, too. Elmer is coming to pick Gypsy up on Wednesday and mom would really like to know if she's pregnant before she goes.

Gypsy and Levis enjoyed riding on the new trail that goes around behind the race track. Gypsy is a kind, gentle mare - no saddle or bridle required with this horse! I hope she enjoys spending time with Queenie and Elmer at his place in Portland.









And finally, thank you to Dreamer for a beautiful palomino filly! Jigs Autumn Dream arrived this morning (Sept 22) about 2 am. She's gorgeous! She's about 6.5 hours old in this photo. Autumn, unlike Finn, had no problem finding the milk bar and needed a nap after a healthy drink.

Autumn will be registered as an International Spotted Horse. Although her mom is a registered Paint and it's obvious that Autumn is also a Paint, her sire is an unregistered cremello Quarter Horse stallion (Jigs). We plan to breed Soul to Jigs in the spring.


Upcoming Events:
Sunday, October 26 - Halloween Fun Day

Everyone is invited!

Bring your kids and your spouses for a fun afternoon at the farm.

There will be games and prizes for all the kids and "kids at heart". You can dress up your horse/pony or one of ours. Prizes for costumes on kids and ponies - and even pony treats for our friends.
Let us know as soon as possible if you're able to come so we can plan the games.


We'll have a potluck dinner at the end of the day and a bonfire. If the weather is miserable, we'll postpone it to the next week. Hopefully we'll have a glorious fall day!


Parking:

Lastly, a quick note about parking. We love to have you visit, but find it difficult to get the farm chores done if you park in the laneway to the barn or in the driveway. Please park up by the house on the lefthand side under the trees - we'll make sure that area is plowed for parking in the winter, too.

September days

Well, things are looking up. All of the indoor board spaces are filled - or are booked and will be by mid month. We can bring in one, possible two, more horse(s) on outdoor board. Call soon, or there won't be any room left.

Jennifer L. and I picked up a new pony at the Lachute Auction on Tuesday. Daisy is a sweet little pinto mare - a bit chubby - that will be a girlfriend for Spot (mom's little POA-type stallion) after her quarantine period is over. Once she's bred, she'll go to Jennifer's place for the winter and to be used as a lead line pony for her sons. Daisy (the pony) will come back when she comes close to her foaling date next August and stay until her foal is ready to wean.

Jasper gets bigger every day! He just about fills the big Lazyboy chair in the living room now. He likes to go for walks around the half mile track and play with Tink when she comes out to the farm. Daisy (the dog) is still top dog, though, and she doesn't hesitate to tell him when he's out of line.

Mom's working on figuring out how to put the website back up. A friend generously donated space on his server (http://www.canadianisp.com/ and http://www.pennypinchernewspaper.com/) so the website should be live again soon. Once we figure out FTP and whatever else we need to know, we'll update the photos and other information on the site - and keep it that way.

We have lights in the riding ring now! That means that we can ride in the ring after dark safely.

Natasha is out for the weekend again and giving every horse (especially her pony, Dash) a little loving and some riding time. Thanks, Natasha!

Mom photographed a neat spider when she was out last week. It appears to be a female Banded Garden Spider, Argiope trifasciata. It has a white, yellow and black striped body and is living in the cucumber plants. Despite her size (she's about an inch and a half long and about an inch across - and that doesn't include her legs), she doesn't seem inclined to bite. She's hiding under the leaves of the cucumber plant, perfectly camoflaged by the shade and bright spots caused by the sun shining on the leaves.