December 30th:  The snow has melted so much that there isn't enough to use the sleigh and our fore cart has a hole in the tire... I guess ground driving is it until we get the cart fixed.

December 27th:  It rained all day today!  Dr. Bochino came today to give Holly her 7th month Pneumabort vaccine this morning.  Holly was her usual upset self around the doctor until Dad cupped his hand around her eye so she could not see what we were doing.  As Dr. Bochino said "Holly is more upset with the sight of the needle than the actual vaccination itself"!  Dr. Bochino also noted that Holly is going through a growth spurt right now and was pleased to see that she was in good health and weight.  We wanted to bring out the bobsled, but we had a thaw/freeze/thaw and since then it has been too icy to take out the team.  I hope it thaws some more so we can start fresh with some (but not too much!) snow and no ice! 

December 25th:       Merry Christmas!

December 22nd:  Beautiful day (for December anyway).  We sent out the registration forms for Sam and Daisy this week.  Today I moved enough hay in the barn so we could access our bobsled as there is enough snow now for a sleigh ride.  I worked with Daisy and trimmed her feet using the rasp.  I prefer to work slow and easy on the youngsters feet and take just a little bit off at a time.  I wanted to hitch the mares but I had to drive down to Syracuse this morning and after that and chores there wasn't enough time before it got dark.  I wonder if they make headlights for harnesses? :)

December 15th:  Dad and I spent the morning traveling to Romulus to pick up a horse collar and mended harness from Mr. Henry Esch.  The temperature was only 10 F  today and the wind chill was -2 F so it was a good day to travel in a warm truck!  We decided to enter Holly's expected April foal into the 2008 New York State Percheron Futurity.   I hope her foal turns out healthy, sound and beautiful!   We agreed that if her foal looks good we will try to breed all the mares to the Prince horse. If it doesn't look so good we will try to go back to the Stermers in Erin, NY.  The stud they have there has such different bloodlines from all of our mares it would be a nice outcross for us.

December 10th:  It seems that we have a break-in artist on our farm.  Today, sometime between when Dad left to pick up the kids from school and when they got back, one of the horses managed to open the front barn door to where we store the hay.  Now to get in that way requires to slide a 12-14 foot door open to the right. (Not to the left because then the door falls off the track!)  The hay is still stacked close enough to the door that the horses were able to reach in and haul out a bale which they did and three of them were happily eating the bonus meal.  However one of them was not satisfied with the grass and timothy bale that was pulled out and wanted to snack on the better hay.  Holly, our black pregnant mare, managed to jump uphill and up 3 feet into the barn and was standing there browsing on some of the second cutting alfalfa bales.  Dad and the kids had to be very careful in getting her out because of the snow/ice on the hill.   Holly managed to jump out the way she came in and its a good thing too because the only other way out is down a set of stairs to the stalls below! 

December 8th:  We cut a tree for the house today but as it was 18 feet tall and too big and heavy for the kids and I to drag it up from the back woods I had Candy drag it out.  It was lots of fun and she did beautifully.  Our well has water in it now but it is not fit for the horses to drink as the odor and turbidity has not cleared.   We are discussing drilling a new well this coming year and just using this well to water the garden.

December1st:  Cold, cold, cold, cold!  Too cold to hitch the team today.  Maybe tomorrow.

November 28th:  We harnessed the mares again after work today.  They still need a lot of work after having so much time off raising foals.  If the weather cooperates I will harness them Friday afternoon and this weekend too.  I put a video of Dad driving them today on our fun photo page.

November 25th:  We spent the day ground driving Mae and Candy as a team for the first time since they foaled.  They were pretty raw for the first hour of driving.  In fact they came out of the barn like a couple of thoroughbreds out of a starting gate!  But by the end of the day they were listening and responding nicely.  It was a great day to drive sunny but not too warm.  We took some video of the horses but our battery for the camcorder didn't last long.  We will try getting some more next weekend.

November 22nd:  Happy Thanksgiving!   

November 21st:  Two days of rain have produced enough rain to wet the bottom of the well.  The forecast calls for even more rain so there is a good chance that we will have water in the well in time for the winter.  The only bad part about the rain is that I hate to harness and drive horses in it so no one is getting any practice.  I stopped by the Phinney farm to get Daisy's registration papers signed today.  Bill wasn't there so I left the paper with his son.   Daisy is really starting to calm down now as keeping her with Sam helps ease her anxiety about being separated from her mother.  They still call to each other across the pastures but not as often now.   The four older horses go into the large pasture together and get along fairly well, however Carbon is a prankster!  If we don't put him out last he will tease the others while their halters are being removed. Then he will prance out of the way when the mares turn after him.  Thank goodness the mares seem to know he is just a youngster still and don't really try that hard to chase him down. 

November 11th:  We started to wean Daisy this past week and now she is completely separated from her mother.  For some reason we haven't figured out she has become very shy.  She started this behavior 2 days before we weaned her and while it was getting better, today she had a relapse of shyness and spooky behavior.  The only difference I could see today was that we were not at the barn for most of the day.  Other than that she has the same feed the same pasture the same stall next to her mothers. 

November 3rd:  I fixed one more gate today that Daisy ran through yesterday while getting ready to come in for evening feeding.  That filly looked right at the gate then decided to go on through it while her mother stood there looking worried.  I wish I had had the camera on then because she looked so mischievous.  We think that with the dry ground and her thick hair that she didn't get much of a jolt when she touched the wire.  Samson was introduced to a tarp today.  The kids dragged it around then left it on the ground and he was brave enough to go right up to it.  Carbon had a change in his feeding about a month ago because he wasn't putting on any weight.  The big change was to tie his grain bucket up on the wall so he couldn't knock it over (very high tech!) and now that he is eating the grain instead of using it for bedding he is looking terrific.

October 28th:  This weekend was a weekend of repairs.  The younger horses had gone thru a few gates and the fences in general were in need of a few repairs.  I addition to this I looked over the harnesses and made a list of parts that were showing wear and need replacement.  Holly was measured for her own collar (she has been 'borrowing' her mothers collar until now) and Dad plans to order one this Tuesday from the harness shop.   Saturday gave us more rain which we needed badly but Sunday was dry most of the day.  The weather has been nice enough to let the horses stay out all night but with upcoming Halloween we thought it would be safer for our animals to stay in the barn at night.

October 23:  It rained all day today!  All of the horses were put out in the rain to help wash off some of the dust and dirt from over the summer.  The barn well has water in it but it is so turbid that we don't give any of it to the horses.  If the well water doesn't clear up soon we will have to haul warm water to keep the barrels from freezing.

October 21st:  Drove Holly and Candy today as planned.  Dad was cutting wood at the end of the pasture so they were exposed to a lot of noise and visual excitement today.  They both drove really well separately.  When they were together it was a different story though!  Holly was better at gee, haw and whoa but Candy was better at getup and go!   Holly sure didn't like being drug along but she got the hang of it and had no trouble stepping out with her mother after a few moments.

October 20th:  Dr. Bochino came on the 16th and the horses had their vaccinations as planned.  Today I ground drove Holly again but it was raining so I kept it short.  Tomorrow is supposed to be better weather and I will drive her and Candy separately then together for the first time.

October 15th:  Out where we live it is not uncommon for our neighbors to toot with the car horn a friendly hello/goodbye, so our horses are fairly used to the noise from a distance.  However it seems one of the residents of the county has found a new pass time... Honking their very loud truck horn right next to the pasture to get our horses to run.  Unfortunately the cowardly cur drove off in his battered old truck when Dad went out to see what all the noise was about.  Next time we will get the reprobate's license plate number and turn him into the sheriff.  

October 13th:  Cold weather is here and the horses are putting on their winter coats on.  We talked about bringing 3 horses to the PA Draft Horse Sale but decided against it.  The weather is so unpredictable then and it is such a long drive that it would be safer to stay home.  So for now it is time to winterize our barn and look into putting up some more hay for the 3 extra mouths to feed this winter.  Sam got into some ground hornets this afternoon and now has several large lumps around his head.  The poor baby, it hurt to put his halter on to come in for the night.  We put Candy and Carbon in the same pasture today and they got along well.  Carbon, we thought, needed an older calmer horse to let him know that he doesn't have to be so jumpy at everything.

October 11th:  We have had a little bit of rain in the past week but if you dig down more than 8 inches you still hit dry soil.  Our well still does not have adequate water but at least now we can draw about 5-10 gallons a day from it.  The vet is coming on the 16th to give Daisy her rabies vaccination and Holly her Pneumabort vaccine. 

October 1st:  Still no rain and above average temperatures.  Our pastures are dust, our well is still dry we are hoping for the fall rain.  We think if 4 inches of rain would fall we would have enough to replenish the barn well. All of the farms in our area and north of us are having the same problems.  Global warming is not our future it is our now!

September 20th:  Samson is being weaned and is doing very well.  He is shedding his baby fuzz and turning a sleek looking grey.  We had two days of rain but it wasn't enough to replenish the well so we continue to haul water. 

September 7th:  Still no rain and we continue to have to haul water in for the horses.  We are hauling the water in 55 gallon barrels and the horses drink about 2 barrels a day.  However, with the 90 degree heat the past 2 days they have used slightly more than that.  Since the end of June our farm has only received 2 inches of rain (and that was in July) and the pastures have long since turned to dust.

August 30th:  This summer has been very dry at our place... Our barn well went dry tonight so until we get some rain (or snow) we are hauling water for the horses!

August 5th:  We just found out that we are not going to the state fair this year.  Holly's leg is better but our vacation in Arizona is during the draft horse show!   

July 28th:  Today was the date for the Ontario county fair however we did not attend because Holly has a swollen hock.  We moved some horses around last week and she didn't like her new stable mate and proceeded to kick the wall at him until we moved her.  But before we did that she managed to kick off her hind shoe and strain her hock.  All the horses were de-wormed today instead of going to the fair.

July 23rd:  Disappointing news...Dr. Howard just checked Candy and she is not in foal.  We will not try to breed her via AI again.  Instead we will wait until March then start with artificial lighting to have both mares cycle and breed them in April of 2008.

July 18th:  Daisy had a visit from the vet today.  She had a bug bite that caused her eye to swell and the lower lid invert.  Dr. Bochino flipped her lower lid back out and applied some ointment and she already looks better. Both she and Mae are doing very well after such a hard birth.  We have had lots of visitors to see both of them and Mae takes all the commotion very well.

July 12th:  I watched Mae until 11:30pm then went to bed knowing that Dad would be up at 12 to watch her next.  Shortly after 2 the phone woke me up and it was time.  I was in the barn by 2:15 and dad said she had been in labor for about 5 minutes.  At 2:20 her water broke but by 2:37 there wasn't any sign of the foal and the mare was constantly changing positions so I called the vet.   3:10 Dr. Bochino arrived and quickly assessed the situation.  Bad news!  The foal was breech!  Ropes were fed into the birth canal and tied on to the hind legs then Dad and Dr. Bochino started to pull while Mae was standing.  Things didn't look so good but then Mae pushed and there were the back legs!  We paused in the pulling to get the hocks out and then with that pressure relived off of her hips/spine Mae lay down and with Dr. Bochino and Dad pulling the foal was delivered.  At 4 am the foal was out but not breathing.  The foal's rump was pulled up onto Mae's hind quarters in order to utilize gravity to help drain the fluid out of her lungs.  After about a minute she was breathing and by 4:30 Mae was eating and the foal was resting comfortably.  For photos of the foal and a video clip of her taking her first steps on her own go to our fun photo page.

July 11th:  Still waiting for the foal to arrive. Dr. Bochino was here today to give Samson his first vaccinations.   She looked him over and was quite pleased with how good his hock looks and was quite encouraging with his prognosis. 

July 10th:  Still waiting for Mae to have her foal! 

July 4th:  Today we started the day with a trip up to Sandy Creek for the Oswego county fair.  We only took Holly to show in a halter class and she took first place in her class and then grand champion.  She was the only Percheron mare there that day but she didn't mind going against the Belgians!  After the show we hurried home for a family reunion/4th of July celebration.  Aunts, uncles and cousins came in from Arizona, West Virginia and central New York.  When Dr. Howard showed up at 1:30 to breed Candy again they all went out to the barn to watch. 

July 3rd:  Candy was bred today artificially by Dr. Howard.  The semen looked good under the microscope and she has a nice soft follicle.

June 29th:  Dr. Howard just finished with the ultrasound with Candy and there is no pregnancy.  We called Windermere Farms and left a message that we need more semen shipped out on Monday.  Breeding artificially sure is expensive!  The cost of the vet visits, the cost of shipping the semen, and the cost of returning the semen shipping containers adds up very quickly!  Oh and 14 more (or less) days to go before Mae foals!  She looks quite happy to nibbling on the parched pasture for now.

June 27th:  More hay was baled yesterday.  To give  you an idea of how much fun we had let me tell you the temperature was 90 and the humidity was 60% and we were loading out on a road from the hay wagons onto 2 stock trailers to transport the hay to 2 different barns. 

June 18th:  We tried a new fly spray the other day and while it worked like a charm, the next day I began to notice these strange raised areas on the horses.  I turns out that the fly spray, Bronco Gold, caused all of the horses to break out in hives and have severe topical allergic reactions.  The worst of the group is Holly.  She has large patches of hair missing now from her face and her body.  I rinsed her today which she really liked but the damage is done.  I hope her hair grows in soon.

June 16th:  More hay was put up in the barn today.  We had some help so it only took us 25 minuets to put up 133 bales.  Mae has 27 more days to go before she foals but she looks enormous!  Time to get the camera up and running in the foaling stall again.

June 13th:  Candy was bred again using the new shipment of semen but it doesn't look good.  We could not find any sperm in the sample and the vet said that she had ovulated already.  Another hay load was put up today so we now have 1/3 of our years supply.  Now if we could just keep mom from turning the pastures into lawn with her mower....

June 11th:  The sample from Windermere arrived at last and the vet checked Candy and used one of the packets today to breed her.  Unfortunately when we examined the semen sample under the microscope only one percent of the spermatozoa survived the extra long stay with US Airways cargo.  We immediately  reordered a new sample from Windermere Farms that will be shipped via UPS.  We also put up another load of hay today.

June 9th:  US Airways has done it again! They did not put the semen on the plane. When they finally shipped it, it was so late that the cargo office was closed so we can not even pick up the package until Monday!  Nick, from customer service, only suggestion was not to ship on weekends!  Gosh I guess Nick doesn't know that we do not control the ovulation cycle of our mares! We would like to ask the manager of US Airways cargo: Why offer the service if you cannot provide it?!  We consider this false advertising on their part.  Nick finally directed us to the claims department... No one was there (that was not surprising).  We believe that for the next breeding it will far less frustrating and cheaper if we just drive to Pennsylvania and back.  One thing is for certain we will never use US Airway Cargo again.

June 6th:  The weather has been very cool and windy for the past 2 days.  The honey locust trees lining the driveway are deliciously fragrant and the creamy blossoms look beautiful on the branches and drifting along the grassy edges of the driveway.  Dr. Bochino did the coggins tests today for Holly, Candy and Carbon.  Candy had her yearly vaccinations at this time too.  Carbon was gelded and is recovering.  Oh and I saw the wood ducks again!

June 1st:  Sam likes not having injections twice a day and there is no sign of flare up in his joint and he looks good.  Over the memorial day weekend all the horses had their first baths of the season.  Carbon, after some nervousness, seemed to enjoy himself.  The grey mares looked so good... too bad it only lasts a day or 2!

May 29th:  After talking to Dr. Bochino we have stopped using antibiotics on Sam for now and will try DMSO on his hock for 2 days.

May 25th:  Dr. Howard confirmed today with ultrasound that Holly is in foal.  He also examined Sam and advised to continue with the penicillin for now and said that while he wishes the swelling was less it was a good sign that Sam is using the leg and doesn't show pain with palpation. 

May 22nd:  Sam continues to have swelling in his hock so we are switching the topical treatment to see if there is something better than icthamol to reduce the swelling.  He shows no sign of lameness and is getting quite strong.  when he sees the syringe coming he jumps and runs to hide behind his mother.  Fortunately Candy doesn't seem to mind our handling of her baby even when we have to lay him on his side for treatment.  Now the news from the other side of the barn... Carbon had his front feet trimmed on Sunday. It was the first time he was trimmed in the stocks and once in he seemed to forget how to back out!  After some pushing and gentle coaxing he finally figured it out though.

May 17th:  Dr. Bochino has checked Candy and we can stop her Penicillin injections.  She has cleared the infection and is in a strong foal heat right now.  All we have to do is keep an eye on her temperature to make sure she stays healthy.  Sam is to continue on his twice daily penicillin injections, aspirin and yogurt routine.  He is to get as much exercise as possible too.  Even though his hock is swollen there is good news that he uses the leg and the swelling is soft.  (which means that as of now there is no permanent damage)  We put down our good natured horse General today.  It made it easier to know that he will no longer be in pain.

May 13th:  Sam now is running in the stall around his mother.  His hock is still swollen but he will put all of his weight on it now and he fights the penicillin injection (a very good sign) so it takes 2 of us to hold him still!  Our daily routine for him consists of: Penicillin 8 cc's every 12 hours; yogurt mixed with 2 regular strength aspirin twice a day; temperature taken every morning; dip navel in iodine every time he is up and we are out there (about 12 times a day).   I have been checking Candy's temperature every day since foaling and until tonight it was normal.  Candy is now running a fever (104.2) so I started her on penicillin.  We will check her twice a day and check her feet for any heat (a sign of laminitis that is serious condition).  Oh and Happy Mother's Day!  If it wasn't for my Mom taking care of us all (making sure we are fed, get some sleep and watching my kids) we would have never made it this weekend!  You are the best Mom!

May12th:  It's now almost midnight and Sam has shown a small sign of improvement.  He can now get up on his own and he can slowly walk around  but with some difficulty.  His temperature remains normal and he still nurses vigorously.  We still go out every hour to make sure he nurses and to dip his navel.  He takes his yogurt well and the salve we rub on his hock is helping reduce the swelling.   

May 11th:  Sam took a turn for the worse over the course of the day.  His left hock became swollen and he could not support any weight on that leg.  Dr. Bochino came out to the barn at 9pm and diagnosed joint ill and gave him a 50/50 chance of survival.  He is now on antibiotics and we have to pick him up to nurse every hour.  The only bit of hope is that he nurses vigorously when he is up.

May10th:  Candy had her foal at 9 am this morning.  She was positioned so that the foal was born right in the door way!   The foal was trying to stand up even before it was completely out of the mare.  Dad thought he was a strong foal thus the name Samson.  All black right now but he will turn gray.  Holly was bred one more time via artificial insemination.   All in all it was a busy day!

May 9th:  Holly was bred May 8th and today via artificial insemination. Now we wait to see in 14 days if she is in foal or not.  It's going to be a long wait for us!   Candy is larger than ever and her udder looks like it will pop if it get any fuller.  She is due to foal in 2 days.

May 7th:  The highly overqualified people at US Air forgot to put the semen on the plane!  When flight 3810 arrived in Syracuse we waited unknowingly an hour at the cargo counter for it to unload.  It was only when we discussed calling the vet to inform him of the delay that the 'helpful' man behind the counter called to find the package. Now the vet has to make another barn call tomorrow and dad has to drive another 100 miles to the airport  tonight. 

May 5th:  The little black biting flies are out in force now and unless you wear a veil they drive you inside.  The poor horses spend most of the day in the barn because of them.  The vet came yesterday and Holly has a follicle developing and will be ready to breed by Monday.  Dad called Windermere farm to set up the delivery time and date.  Candy is very close to foaling now she has started to wax and we should be expecting a foal in the next week.

April 28th:   Today I spent part of the rainy day moving a fence line to make one pasture larger.  After all why spend the money on gas to mow the grass when the horses can eat it! 

April 21st:    The snow is gone for now and the fences are going back up again.  The barn camera is in place for foaling to be monitored but we should have another 20 days to go.  Holly went through one Estrus cycle during the nor'easter snow storm so we will have to wait until her next cycle to try AI.  In the mean time she continues with her driving lessons.  For a video for her being driven check out fun photo page.

April 16th:      So much for fixing fences!  Thanks to a spring snowstorm and ground that is still soft, all of our hard work has been undone. It's helpful to have a sense of humor when you are dealing with kids, animals and mother nature because they can all make you look like a fool. 

April 13th:    Candy, who is due May 10th, has already been moved into the foaling stall.  We will be setting up a camera in the barn to watch over her every night until she foals.   Right now her belly is so wide she can't fit into the shoeing stocks to even get her feet trimmed!   We are trying AI for the first time with Holly.  For the past 2 months we have been carefully recording Holly's temperature each day to help determine her Estrus cycles.  We are starting to see a pattern and we are very anxious to see her settled. 

 April 10th:        Dr. Howard from North Country Veterinarians made a farm call today for the horses annual vaccinations.  On his recommendation we did not vaccinate Candy because of her impending foaling date and will vaccinate her after she foals.  Dr. Howard took the time to discuss our plan for breeding our mares this year and gave us some helpful pointers on using an AI system for breeding. 

April 8th :     It is spring and in spite of the extra inches of snow on Easter (the photo of the deer was taken Easter Sunday) and the sleet and the rain  and flooding we are making progress fixing pasture fences.  It seems this year all of our fences were torn down by snow, wind or deer.  Our 2 turn out areas are the only fences fixed at this time, but if the weather holds the rest will be fixed by the end of the week.