Back to the Barn

I have been trying for over 2 years to get back to the barn on a regular basis. During a very difficult pregnancy, with my youngest child, I was put on bed rest, and was threatened with hospitalization, if I didn't be a good girl and stay out of my barn. After she was delivered, she was a very high needs baby that ended up with colic and reflux, she also was so overly attached to me that it made it very difficult for me to even do household tasks.

She is now 2 years old and is still high needs, but it is more emotional than anything else, these days. I try to get to the barn, but she would scream the whole time I worked with the horses and it really wore on me, making me choose not to hear her scream, so I stayed in the house, letting my wonderful husband do most of the horse work.

It has depressed me not to get to be with my horses, so I am now pushing the issue and thankfully, so far, she seems more receptive to being at the barn. Now old enough to communicate more, she can talk to me, from her stroller, as I work, and she can talk to her sister, or the horses.

On Sunday, as a family, we all went out to the barn. My oldest daughter, now 6 years old, got a set of kid sized horse brushes for her Birthday and it was time to truly teach her how to properly groom, versus just taking a bristle brush to the horse's coat for a few minutes.

My husband took the camera out and snapped pictures of the two of us, as I taught her how to use the curry and a more proper use of the stiff brush. He also kept an eye on our younger daughter.

Our oldest suffers from allergies, which unfortunately, does include a mild allergy to horses, so after about 15 minutes, she started to sniffle a bit, so I let her go play, while I finished grooming Belle.

Belle, who has been featured in some of my recent stories, is now 8 years old, and despite being 3/4 Arabian and 1/4 Thoroughbred, is one of the calmest horses on the farm, totally blowing the theory that some people have that "all Arabians are crazy" or "All Thoroughbreds are hot." She stood so calmly for my daughter's grooming lesson, I was so proud of her.

After I was done grooming her, I took her out of the barn and stood her up for a conformation picture, something we hadn't done with her in years. It took only one take, to get the above picture. Belle is the bay, you can't see it, but she has a huge blaze on her face, to go with the 4 white socks.

After I put Belle back in the stall, I pulled out her half sister, Myra, who is a 6 year old Half Welsh Pony. They are both daughters of Bunny. I have not gotten to Myra's story, yet, and I will, trying to go in order, somewhat, in my horse stories, unless something just comes to me.

I groomed Myra and then took her out for her photo shoot. Like Belle, I had not taken any conformation pictures of Myra in years. I cleaned them up as best as I could, but there are some mud stains on them, due to all the rain we've had. Myra is a grey, now almost white, so I did as much as I could, luckily, she wasn't too stained.

While Gordon continued to watch our girls and take pictures of them, I put Myra back in the barn and then fed the horses. It felt so great to be out there and working with them. I felt so lifted and energized, that not only did I go in and make 2 pizzas for dinner, I added brownies as a dessert!

Today, I took both girls out, before my husband got home and fed the horses and was so happy that my youngest didn't fuss one bit! She just talked to me as I came near her and talked to her sister and to the nearest horse to her, Mayo. She was so good and it makes me so enthused that I can actually now start going out to the barn, again! I can really truly start working with the horses, training Myra and Belle, grooming everyone on a regular basis, and just getting to know them all again. I can't tell you how happy I feel right now.

First Miracle at Perfect Peace Farm

Bunny had given me my dream horse, Belle.  Belle was perfect in so many ways and from the beginning, she was so friendly, sweet, and easy to train.  Her first month of life flew by, with her learning daily and our bond getting closer and closer.

When she was about a month old I came out to the barn to do the morning feed and turnout.   I found her sprawled out in the middle of the stall.  She was trying to nurse from Bunny, while laying down.   Bunny, being such a great mom, stood still and let Belle do this.   As I entered the stall, I realized that they had moved all the bedding out of the center of the stall and had exposed to the stall mats, which were now slick with urine.

Belle could not get up on her own, on such a slick surface.   I quickly moved bedding out of the corners to try to help her get some traction, but she still required my help to stand.   I checked her over, and she was weight baring on all legs, so I just hoped she had bruised something and she would be fine.   When I turned her out she was a little lame behind, but it did not appear too serious, so I decided to watch her and see how she was in a day or so.

But the next morning, when I came out to the barn, she was down, again, but this time there was plenty of bedding under her, she had not moved it out of her way and she was not getting up.  I went into the stall and again, had to help her get to her feet.   It was at this point that I realized that there was something wrong, so I fed them and went back to the house to call the vet.

The head vet came out a few days later, as they didn't consider what I was describing a true emergency.  He looked Belle over, as I told him, there was no heat, no swelling, nothing outward to indicate what was wrong, but she was obviously favoring her hind right.  I told him she had gotten more lame over the few days, so he continued with the exam.  He started blocking nerves, starting with just above her hoof, no change.  Then he numbed her pastern, again, no change.  Next her ankle was blocked, same result.  The last attempt to locate the injury was to block her hock, but again, as before, there was no change.

He felt her stifle and did not think it was that joint, so at that point he started to think it was her hip.   However, we could not be sure what was going on without x-rays.   Since it is very difficult to get x-rays of the hip, I was told I'd need to bring her to the clinic, where she'd be put under sedation to get proper x-rays.

I called a friend of mine, Katie, and she and her father came a few days later to help me transport Bunny and Belle to the vet clinic for the x-rays to be done.

It took some effort, but I finally got Bunny on the trailer, as she remained hard to load from her bad experience years before.

When we got to the clinic, I took Bunny and Belle to a waiting stall, with Katie's help, and one of the junior vets and a tech met us and then sedated Belle.   Bunny remained remarkably calm as they worked on Belle, flipping her onto her back so that a proper image of her hips could be taken.

After the first image, he wasn't satisfied and another one had to be taken.

About 20 minutes later, I was given the bad news.  Belle's hips were fine, but her pelvis was fractured.  I was told that Belle would need at least 6 months in the stall and she still may not be 100% sound, only time would tell.

We loaded Bunny and Belle back up on the trailer, this time Bunny went right on for me, I think she knew we were going home.  

When we got home, I put them in their stall and cried.  My beautiful dream horse had a fairly serious injury.  She would probably live, but I may never get to ride her.  I had given up riding her mother several years before, due to Bunny's mental stress, from what I believe was abuse by a previous owner or trainer, I just couldn't believe I may never get to ride her daughter, who I'd dreamt of having for so long.

I was very worried about how Bunny might handle stall rest for 6 months, with Belle.   Bunny had gone through 6 months of stall rest, herself, in September 1996 to March 1997.  I did not know if she could handle it, yet again. 

So, I started to research how to raise an orphan foal, as Belle was only 5 weeks old, at this point.  I even called a farm in PA that was considered one of the authorities on raising orphans and got some great advice.

After another week, Bunny was starting to show signs of stress from the confinement in a 10 by 12 stall.   I could open up the foaling stall, but I was told not to, because they didn't want Belle moving that much, just yet.  So, I talked to Bunny, because I seriously believed she understood a lot of what I said to her.

I told her that Belle really had to stay in the stall and I didn't want to have to wean Belle at 6 weeks, but if she couldn't handle being in the stall, I would let her go out.  

Bunny remained a bit nervous or high energy, so after my husband got home, I decided to let Bunny out and see how things went.   I held Belle as my husband opened the outer stall door to let Bunny out, and then close it, separating mother from baby.   Well, Bunny went absolutely nuts that she could not get to her foal.  I let her run around outside of the barn for about 10 to 15 minutes and then I let her back in with Belle.  I told her that she had to calm down to get to stay with Belle, and I swear I never had any other problems with Bunny after that and her getting too high of energy.

After about 2 months of stall rest, only going out to walk down the barn aisle to be moved to another stall, I had the vet come out to evaluate Belle's progress, because she was becoming more and more sound as she walked.

At that point the okay was given to open up my foaling stall, which gave Bunny and Belle an area of 12 by 18.   They had two outer stall doors that I could open the windows to and two inner stall doors, but I kept those closed, so I could hang fans, as it was starting to get hotter, as spring was over half way through.

Bunny would calmly stand looking out of one of the stall door windows and Belle would pace back and forth from one to another.  I wish I could have closed one of the windows, but it would have gotten too hot.  So, I figured if she developed a slight pacing habit, I could live with that and maybe she would grow out of it after she healed.

When Belle was 5 months old, 4 months after the injury, the vet came out to evaluate her progress, again.  He could not believe what he was seeing.  She was so sound in the stall that while he was there, he had me turn Bunny and Belle out in the small 1/2 acre paddock, that came off their stall.  Belle behaved herself and did not run around like a maniac, like a foal who had been stalled for 4 months.   She did move around at a walk, trot, and slow canter, enough for him to realize that she was healing a lot faster and a lot more complete than he could have ever imagined.  What should have taken a minimum of 6 months, only took 4, it really was a miracle that she had healed in such a short period of time.

He told me that Belle could start going out on limited turnout, for a few weeks, slowly increasing the time she got outside.   After about a month, Belle was out with the other foal that had been born on the farm that spring, and happily playing with him.

For about another year, she would sometimes stand cross legged, behind, which is what she did, at times, to rest her pelvis, but slowly she did it less and less.   She was sometimes difficult to work with her hind feet, but by her 2nd Birthday, she was fine and the farrier was happy, too.

I continued Belle's training and she would trot in hand, knew all kinds of voice commands, and if i stood in front of her, she would put her head on my shoulder and give me a Belle hug.

Belle has never been broke to ride, there is a chance that her pelvis could be a bit weak, but maybe one day I will get on her back and see if she can handle my weight.  I had the vet check her, when she was 5 years old to see if she would be able to have a foal, safely, and the report was good news.   She stands only 14.2 hands, Bunny was 14.3 hands and Belle's sire, Rho-Quest (Khemosabi) was 15.1 hands, so she definitely ended up a bit smaller than I expected, but the vet said I could breed her, I'd just have to limit it to pony stallions who are known to sire smaller sized foals, even when bred to larger mares.   Belle has not produced a foal, yet, on two tries.  Once she didn't get in foal and the other time she did, but lost it at about 7 months gestation, out in the field, where we never saw it.  I am hoping to try breeding her in 2012 to Land's End the Colonel's Fox, who sired one of Belle's half sisters.  Perfect Peace What a Blessing is cleaning up in the show ring and I'd love to get a 3/4 sibling to her.

Belle, my dream horse, remains the first miracle to happen here at Perfect Peace Farm.  She has a life long home with me, she will never ever be sold or given away, she's mine forever!

My Dream Horse

For a very long time I had dreamt of having a spectacular blood bay with a blaze and 4 high white socks.  I even drew pictures of such a horse when I was in middle school.   I always figured I'd have to find one to buy, at some point in my life.

Since Bunny was not rideable, and I had learned that since I had rescued her, several of her foals had started winning big at A rated shows as hunter ponies, so I decided I would breed her, again.   I had sold Petey, her colt, that she had in 1999, as a yearling, so it had been a few years since her last foal, it was time to breed her again.

I had sold Mayo the month before and paid off all my bills and I had some money leftover, plus I was in a steady relationship with Gordon.  Though he hadn't asked me to marry him, yet, I think we both knew it was heading in that direction.   So, I discussed breeding Bunny with him and we agreed that it was the right thing to do and he would help me a little bit, in accomplishing it.

I started looking at stallions, ponies, Arabians, and small Thoroughbreds.  I did a lot of praying, thinking, and research.  I decided that it was time to try to breed to get a horse for me to ride, hoping for Bunny's superb movement and I would hope for a filly that I could always keep and that would also eventually be Bunny's replacement as a broodmare in my pony breeding program, that I dreamed of.

I had not started out wanting to breed ponies, but Bunny's first 3 pony foals all did well at the A circuit and in Virginia, which is very tough, so I kind of fell into it, but decided I liked it, too, and wanted to continue Bunny's legacy.   The free horse that no one had wanted had proven that she was worth more than just about anyone else had thought.

So, I decided, for this breeding, I'd look at Arabians and small Thoroughbreds, so I could get something big enough for me to ride, since I'm 5'7" and I'd look really funny on a pony.

I just couldn't seem to find a Thoroughbred that fit my needs.  Bunny being only 14.3 hands, I did not want to risk breeding her to a large stallion.  So, my focus then turned more towards Arabians.   If it was to eventually be a broodmare, if I got a filly, for me to cross on ponies to get hunters, I needed a specific type of Arabian.   It could not have too much knee action and it needed to have similar movement to Bunny, who was and Anglo-Arabian, sired by a Thoroughbred and produced out of an Arabian mare.

From my previous research, I knew that Bunny's Arabian side was over 90% Crabbet, about 95% CMK, and the other part was Davenport, as her tail female line went to a mare that Davenport brought to the US straight from the desert.

I narrowed my search further to high percentage CMK stallions and in doing so, I stumbled on a stallion standing not 5 miles from where Bunny was boarded.

His name was Rho-Quest a Champion son of the legendary Arabian stallion Khemosabi.  Granted, there are a lot of sons of his at stud, but I saw something I really liked int he pictures of Rho-Quest, so I made contact with owner.

I made arrangements to go see him in person and one Saturday morning Gordon and I went over to take a look at him.

He was very nice, a gorgeous sleek 15.1 hands, beautiful bay with 3 socks and a star that looked almost like a questionmark on his forehead.   His owner put him int he round pen so I could see him move.   I liked his trot, but when he picked up the canter, I was sold!  That was the stallion for Bunny.   It wasn't an identical canter to hers, but it was the closest I had found. 

No, with my vision being bad I can not see how a horse is moving like a sighted person can.   I can see a little bit, but what I can tell is with my ears and I can tell a lot more with my ears than most sighted people can comprehend.   I can tell how long a stride is, how sound a horse is, how heavy or light they hit the ground, and I believe I can get a good idea of how much knee action or lack thereof, by how they sound.

I can also use my hands to tell me a lot about a horse's condition, conformation, etc as an added assistance to my limited eyesight.   I can tell a lot in conformation and condition with my eyes, but I will admit I can miss some flaws, as they are harder to judge visually for me, but my hands can pick up the slack there, quite a bit.

So, I signed the breeding contract for Bunny to be bred to Rho-Quest and they came and picked her up a few days later.   I believe it was early June of 2001.

Bunny was kept there for a few heat cycles, but never conceived.  I had asked the vet about giving Bunny a shot to help her ovulate, but he didn't think it was necessary.   I told him that she had been given one when I bred her and got Petey, but he just argued with me about it not being necessary.   And the breeding season of 2001 ended with Bunny not pregnant.   The vet just said she was getting old and maybe was done.  But I knew different, she was 19, which is getting older, but my intuition told me the vet was wrong and had made me lose money and a breeding year.   But I trusted God and that he knew what was best and that there was a reason.

But the following year, I decided to get an early start, just in case it took a few tries to get Bunny in foal, but this time I absolutely insisted Bunny be given something to help her ovulate.   Since it was early March, he didn't argue with me this time, and Bunny was given a shot.

Well, she was bred and 18 days later she was confirmed pregnat!

I was so excited and started hoping for that filly that I so wanted, to continue on Bunny's bloodlines.

Gordon and I got married in July 2002 and in August the barn went up on our property, followed a few weeks later by the first round of fencing.   Baron was the first to arrive on the farm, actually two days before the fencing went up, so he lived in the brand new barn, by himself, but I opened up the foaling stall, so he'd have plenty of room and then I also put him in our backyard, for a few hours, to let him stretch his legs and graze a little bit.

Leia arrived the day after the fencing was completed and Bunny and Angel arrived a few days later.   I will write more about Leia and Angel in future posts, and the stories of how we got them.

Bunny settled right in here at Perfect Peace Farm, happy to be with her buddy, Angel.   She also made quick friends with Leia.

As winter approached and Bunny and Leia's pregnancies got further along, I separated them from Baron and Angel.

Bunny was due February 11th, a lot earlier than I had really wanted, but I would deal with any issues of it being cold, as they arose.   That January had been so cold that the water pump infront of the barn was constantly freezing and I was having to tote water from the house to the barn on a daily basis.

Bunny's udder started to develop in early January, so I started to worry about the foal coming early, but I also knew she had taken her time with Petey, carrying him 21 days past her due date.   But as her udder filled, I started watching her closely.

We bought a security camera and cables, placing the camera in the foaling stall, running the cables to the house, and hooking them up to a spare TV, so I could watch her from the house.   Bunny liked her privacy and I wanted her to have it.

February 11th came and went, with me diligently watching.   The lady across the street wanted to see a foal being born, so she was on standby and was getting daily updates from me.

On February 21st things were a bit different and I had a feeling she was even closer.   When Gordon helped me milk a drop of milk from her that evening, it was bright white, so I knew then we were in the homestretch.

At 10 PM, Gordon and I went out to the barn to do our nightly check of water buckets and I put my hands on Bunny to see if there was any change from the 6:30 check and sure enough I could feel a bit of sweat starting to develop on her coat, despite the temperature being in the 40's.

Gordon and I raced back to the house to gather up the supplies, grab the phone, etc and as we were doing this, I saw Bunny lay down and suddenly heard her water break.   I started calling for Gordon to hurry with what he was doing, as she was about to give birth.  I called the lady across the street as I raced back to the barn.

Bunny and I had a special connection and as I re-entered the barn and opened up her stall door, she got up and met me.  Now, I may not be able to see very well, but I can tell you I can sense things and what I sensed from Bunny was the message, "You came back!  Thank goodness!  I need you!"   

I gave her a reassuring pet and she circled the stall and laid back down.   Gordon made it out to the barn at this point, as I was kneeling behind Bunny to check for the foal's birthing position.   Everything was fine, as I reached my hand in, I felt one hoof, then another slightly staggered, and then a nose, just above the ankles, so everything was good.

As Bunny pushed with her contractions I kept talking to her and she started nickering to her foal who's head wasn't even out, yet.

Soon I saw the first white foot, then the other front, which was also white.  My heart started to pound in my chest even harder.   Bunny did seem to be having some trouble, so I grasped the foal above the ankles and gently helped pull when she was pushing.

The lady from across the street arrived as I was helping Bunny deliver the foal.   Once Bunny got the shoulders passed, she was able to get the rest of the foal out with no trouble.

I ripped the sack and exposed the little foal's nose and head to the air, as it took it's first breath.  It had a huge white blaze on it's face and we also now knew it was a bay.   The hind feet then came out and the foal had 4 very high white socks, to go with it's blaze.   My heart was leaping in my chest, it was the horse I had dreamed about for so long.   I quickly reached my hand under it's tail to find out it's gender.   My face lit up like a Christmas Tree, I'm told, and I could barely speak as I gasped, "It's a filly!  It's a girl!"

I immediately knew what to call this beautiful dream filly, "Welcome to the family, Belle!"

As Belle grew and learned how to use those beautiful long legs of hers, within a few days, I knew, Belle had received her mother's movement.  I had gotten everything I had hoped and prayed for and more, Belle was unbelievable, so perfect.   I was beyond happy with my dream horse.

Belle's formal name became Bella Serhafina, which means "beautiful heavenly angel", because that is what she was to me.  I put the "rh" instead of just the "r" in the Serhafina, in honor of her sire, Rho-Quest, and his sire, Khemosabi.  Belle bares a striking resemblence to her grandsire, Khemosabit, down to the same jagged sock on the same front leg.   What a blessing she is and a wonderful addition to Perfect Peace Farm.