Dapplewood Percheron Horse Diary

What's new with Dapplewood Percherons... 

August 19th:  The cool weather and strong breeze today made it possible for all the horses to spend the day outside, which in turn gave the us the chance to clean out most of the accumulating cobwebs.  The horses loved being out and for the first half an hour they ran, bucked and played.  Poppy got carried away with her racing around and took down a short section of fence.  A slice of hay thrown to the mares stopped the high spirited antics so the fence could be mended while they ate. 

August 11th:   Today Poppy's registration papers and DNA confirmation papers came in.  She is now 4 months old and growing like a weed.  Yesterday afternoon we had some heavy rain and hail come through.

August 9th:  All horses were de-wormed today.

August 6th:  We picked up a little over 80 bales of straw this morning from the Hallet's farm.  It was great timing because we just ran out of straw the night before and the stalls need some deep cleaning.

July 22nd:  The DNA collection paperwork arrived today for Poppy.  We collected hairs from her tail, taped them as directed and will mail it out tomorrow.  This is the first time we have had to do this so I hope we did it right!  As a thank you for pulling out her tail hairs she kicked Dad on the way out to the pasture...  Naughty girl!  Once out in the pasture I noticed that one of the fox kits was watching the horses from under the trees.  Two nights ago there were a pair of kits on the barn ramp hiding in the tall grass watching as the horses went out.

July 14th:  Dr. Mary Bochino came out this morning and vaccinated all the horses against West Nile and gave Poppy her boosters plus rabies vaccine.  Carbon, Daisy and Sam all had their coggins done.  Sam was embarrassing as he refused to get up and continued to rest in his stall and munch hay while I pushed, pulled and bumped him trying to get him up.  He could have cared less about getting up to see the vet and looked quite content to continue to lie there and eat hay.  He had Dr. Bochino laughing at his laziness and utter lack of caring at all of my prodding.

July 7th:  This morning dad helped Allen Hallett deliver hay to another horse owner with their two horse trailers.  Then this afternoon Dr. Howard confirmed that Holly is pregnant while Candy is not. 

July 6th:  Once more we were at the Hallett Farm to get another load of hay.  We now have enough 1st cutting hay, about 660 bales,  and just need to get some second cutting alfalfa and some straw.   By the time we finished unloading it was getting dark so we put the horses out.   Poppy is now separated from her mom while we transfer from barn to pasture.  She was getting curious enough not to follow her mother and was headed toward the road the other night.  Dr. Howard is supposed to be coming out tomorrow to see if Holly or Candy is pregnant.  We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed!

July 5th:  We helped Allen Hallett put up some hay in his barn and then brought another load home for our horses.

July 2nd:  We went to Allen Hallett's farm today and picked up 165 bales of hay. 

June 22nd:  Dr. Howard came today and checked Holly to see if she ovulated... and she did!  So he did not have to artificially inseminate her again.  Hopefully with artificially inseminating her yesterday and Friday she will be pregnant.  We will have to wait until July 7th to find out, and that seems like such a long time to wait right now.  There is a very good chance that Candy is not pregnant.  It seems that what he thought was a follicle was really something else in her ovary.  The technical term is "anovulatory hemorrhagic follicle".   All that time and effort and we probably won't have a foal. 

June 18th:  Dr. Howard bred Candy again and feels that Holly will be ready on Friday.  The horses are enjoying a break in the hot weather and have spent the past 2 days and nights outside.  They only come in when the veterinarian is due at the barn.  We have a family of foxes that have a den in the back lot of Christmas trees.  We have seen them around the barn a lot lately in the evening.  They are bold little creatures and watch us while we bring horses in and out.  I hope the barn kitty stays out of their way.

June 17th:  Dr Howard bred Candy and will be back tomorrow to check Holly again as she wasn't quite ready today.

June 13th:  We put the first load of hay in the barn tonight. 

June 9th:  Dr. Howard came today and determined with ultrasound that both mares are not pregnant.  He did see Candy has a uterine infection.  When she cycles into estrus (in about 4-6 days) he will infuse her to treat the infection.  This is very disappointing news for us.  We will try a different technique to keep the mares home and use Artificial Insemination instead.  Dad and I feel that the stress of traveling was too much for them to relax enough to conceive.  All horses were de-wormed today including Poppy for the first time.

June 5th:  Poppy had her first vaccinations today.  Holly had a bath to help shed some dirt.

June 3rd:  Holly's temp is back down to 101 and both she and Poppy are looking good tonight.

June 2nd:  Holly spiked a temp of 103.3 today.

June 1st:  Holly and Candy are back from Pennsylvania.  We left at 4 am and got there at 9:10.  We were back home at 2:30.  Both Poppy and Holly had snotty noses but everyone's temperature was normal.  They were all happy to be out in the field.

May 31st:  We went to the New York State Percheron Association Youth and Novice Clinic.  The kids had a good time and we learned a bit.  Stacie and Brain Lynch could not have been nicer. 

May 24th:  Gerald and Melissa Allebach couldn't be nicer helping us breed our mares.  Their barns were full yet they found a place for our girls to rest after the long trailer ride.  They showed us several ultra sounds and wanted to show us more of their breeding routine but we had to get on the road for the long trip home.  Candy, Holly and Poppy seemed to handle this trip a bit better than the last time we brought them down.

May 22nd:  Dr. Howard checked both Candy and Holly and both are open so we called Windermere farm and are bringing the mares back down tomorrow.

May 15th:  Poppy fought the antibiotic injection tonight which was great!  I always feel better about a horse's recovery when they start fighting the treatment. Her bottom was coated in manure so she had a mini bath which she loved and then ointment put on to protect her skin. 

May 14th:  Poppy's temperature is down to 101.1.  Her behavior improved but the diarrhea persists.

May 13th:  Poppy started having diarrhea with a temperature of 102.7.  Her behavior was subdued and not her usual 'popping' self.  We started antibiotics per Dr. Bochino's orders.   She is also getting yogurt to restore the good bacteria of her digestive tract.

May 11th:  We picked up the mares from Windermere Farm yesterday.  It was a long trip and we were all tired when we got home.

May 4th:  We drove Holly, Poppy and Candy to Windermere Farm yesterday.  It was only a 5 and 1/2 hour drive there but 6 hours back.  Mr. Abe Allebach was kind enough to give us the tour of their fantastic percherons.  We were able to see the mares, stallions and foals at the farm.  Today it was breezy and cool so Carbon was ground driven after the barn was cleaned.

April 26th:  Holly had a spring time bath today thanks to the above average temperatures.  Poppy was  sprinkled as she walked around her mom and enjoyed having her back washed.  We have noticed that Poppy has a funny habit of sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth when playing.  We catch her doing that when resting as well as when playing.  Poppy now has her front teeth in and likes to chew, lick and taste everything.  She took a bite out of her mother when nursing the other day and Holly let her know that is not allowed!

April 25th:  We contacted Gerald Allebach from Windermere Farm Percherons today to set up a date to bring 2 mares to his farm to breed.

April 19th:  This spring is starting to worry me.  We haven't had rain in 2 weeks and this is April!   I hope we don't have another drought like last year.  Carbon is still being ground driven and he is slowly improving.  He responds so quickly to voice tone...  If I use my "I mean it" voice... boy does he jump!  Candy was given a bath yesterday to help her shed out a little faster.  She and Sam are the only ones with long hair still.  Due to the unseasonable high heat today the horses came in at noon.

April 16th:  Trimmed Carbon and Daisy's feet today.  Ground drove Carbon in the afternoon.   The forecart wheel still is not fixed or I would have hitched the mares.   Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm so someone might get a bath.

April 14th:  Dr. Bochino came and did the 3 coggins tests today.

April 12th:  Holly and the filly went out for a short time today.  It was very wet, muddy and cold.  The filly ended up going through the back fence line.  Fortunately she did not have any scratches or other injuries and while her mom was quite upset at the separation, everyone calmed down as the reunion happened quickly.  

April 11th:  Holly went into labor at 8:30 and by 8:55 her foal was born.  By 9 pm the filly was trying to stand up.  At 10 pm she was nursing and by 11 we were ready to call it a night.... Now to find a name for this filly.....

April 6th:  Spent the weekend fixing fences. 

March 30th:  Holly is showing significant changes now.  She is really starting to bag up and her tail head is softening.  She is still very ticklish around her flank and that worries me that she won't stand still to let the foal nurse when the time comes.  We work with her every day to get her to stand still and she is improving.  The kids started practicing how to show with our older mares. 

March 24th:  Drove Carbon on the long lines today and introduced the clippers to Daisy and Sam.

March 21st:  Trimmed Daisy's feet and Candy's front feet today.

March 16th:  Holly's udder is just starting to swell now and her belly looks enormous.  I stopped at Karen and Allen Hallet's Belgium farm yesterday and talked horses and kids for a while.  (Dad was already there helping Allen with a house project.)  Their horses look good... shaggy with their winter coats and big and healthy.   

March 9th:  Bad weather this weekend is forcing us to keep the horses indoors.  The video camera was brought out and set up in the foaling stall.

March 5th:  We had a small ice storm last night but it is quieted down this afternoon.  Dr. Bochino vaccinated all 6 horses this morning for Rabies, Tetanus, WEE, EEE and Influenza.  

March 2nd:  Drove Carbon on the long lines again today.  He spooked a little at the kids playing in the woods.

February 24th:  Drove Carbon on the long lines today for the first time yesterday and again today.  I kept the lessons short as he had never had a bit in his mouth or wore a set of blinkers.  He did well learning Gee (turn right) and Haw (turn left).  Several weeks ago we changed how we turn out the horses.  Pasture buddies needed to be swapped to help even out tempers and keep young ones calm.  Now Candy and Daisy are keeping each other fit playing together.  Holly and Samson seem to be a good match... she wants to be the boss and he just wants to be near any horse.  Mae and Carbon are only fit for each other.  Mae is our dominate mare chasing all others and Carbon is usually  rambunctious and needs to be chased!

February 19th:  Carbon wore a harness for the first time in a while today.  He did well, only twitching a little when the crupper went under his tail.  Daisy wore a training surgical for the first time today.  She kicked once as I tightened ( I think I pulled her long winter fur a bit) but other than that she didn't seem to notice she had it on.  I even put her out in the pasture with Candy to run a bit to see if she would notice it then but she was oblivious.  Candy wanted to know what it was though. 

February 6th:  The melting snow has frozen and turned the entire area around the barn into a giant ice skating rink.  It is dangerous to take horses out of the main doors now.

February 3rd:  Dad and I trimmed Daisy, Samson and Carbon today.  Their hooves have been needing some work for a month now and I am glad we got that done.

February 1st:  De-wormed the horses today.  All horses stayed in the barn because of the icy weather.  The ground in front of the barn is so slick Samson almost fell yesterday and more ice fell today.

January 26th:  This past Thursday Daisy turned six months old and Sam turned eight months old.   Holly has 12 more weeks to go until her due date.  

January 21st:  Snow...  Since Saturday night we have received about two and a half feet of snow.  This morning was the first time we let the horses out since Saturday because of the poor weather.  ( I missed the worst part being sick in bed while Dad tackled all the chores by himself)   Daisy and Samson were quite excited as this was the first deep snow they had ever seen.  Daisy walked the whole way out to the pasture with her nose stuck in up to her eyes snuffing, snorting and licking at the snow. 

January 14th:  Mae came in limping tonight.  She and Carbon have been playing rough and her upper front left leg is swollen and sore.  We will keep them in separate pastures until she is back to normal.  Carbon's eye is looking good.

January 13th:  Had the 3 youngsters, Carbon, Sam and Daisy, practice getting in and out of the horse trailer.  Daisy had her hooves trimmed. 

January 12th:  We hitched the mares Candy and Mae today and drove them for about an hour.  They are quite green and need more work but they are fun to drive!  

January 10th:  Carbon came in today with a swollen and scraped right eye.  A regular 'shiner' probably form bothering Mae too much.

January 7th:  Moved Daisy into the mares pasture for the first time today.  She learned that Holly and Candy won't put up with any nonsense from a youngster like her very quickly.  Mae and Carbon will stay separate from the others as they tend to bully the others and poor Sam has to stay by himself until he is gelded.

January 6th:  Should have hitched the horses to keep them in practice but instead I spent the weekend taking down the Christmas decorations, cleaning house and fixing weak fences. 

January 1st:  Started off the new year with shopping for a horse.  Looked at several at the Phinney farm but we didn't see anything at this time that would fit our needs.