Avalon1984-Chicken, horses, pigs, oh my!

[Icu4dzs]

Your life in Post-war Germany must have been an amazing experience; which I for one, would prefer to have avoided, Thank you very much. I watched things on TV during those days because I grew up at that time and watched how the life for folks in East Germany was so horrid. I am glad you have escaped that. Many folks died trying.

I would be interested in hearing a lot more about your life in east Germany if you are at all interested in sharing that. People in this country would be very interested in knowing what you lived through. We can't even begin to imagine how that must have been or how it affected you. But, I really believe we should learn about it so that it NEVER HAPPENS TO US HERE!

By the way, you write very well.

I am excited to hear your adventures on this 14 acre horse farm. You probably need quite a bit of hay to keep those girls fed, given the fact that they are bred. How do you keep them warm in the winter? Do you have heat in your barn? It gets mighty cold in Michigan.

Keep us informed as to how this goes. I watched a breeding session once (what you called a "live cover") which required the lady who owned the stallion to act as what they call in the movies "the fluffer". It was her job to get the stallion "ready" to perform his task because I guess stallions don't really respond to "pictures of mares"(Playboy for horses. ) in "that way". Once she "got his attention" and she got him close to the mare, he took over from there and well, you know the rest. I also got to see an AI, which I have to say is a great deal more sedate in its activity level.
Trim sends
//BT//

 

[Denim Deb]

Icu4dzs, have you ever heard horses referred to as hay burners? There's a reason behind it. Digesting hay helps them to stay warm. That's why mine have access to hay 24/7-especially during the winter.

 

[Icu4dzs]

DEB,
I don't think I have heard that, but then I have essentially no real experience with horses. I have taken care of one for a few months this past year, but other than that, I know very little of their personality and traits. Perhaps I'll learn if I just stop working at all these hospitals all over the state and stay home for a while.

And now, we return you to our regularly scheduled thread from Avalon1984 on "The Quest to Independence..."

sorry, didn't mean to hijack your journal.

Best
Trim sends
//BT//

 

[Denim Deb]

I only know because I have horses.

 

[SSDreamin]

Avalon! Glad you decided to start a journal!

Can't wait to see updated pictures of your horses, they are so beautiful!
I saw a gorgeous draft just up the road from me the other day and wondered how you and the horses were doing!

No offense, but I like it much better when you guys on the shore get the lake effect snow, instead of it jumping and piling on us

 

[Denim Deb]

And I'm glad that I'm far enough east to not get it at all!

 

[Avalon1984]

Hey guys,

Wow, have you been busy. Many thanks for the warm welcome! I apologize for my lack of communication. My weekends are horrid this time of the year. My husband is a field engineer and this is his busy time too, so he is gone during the week, sometimes on the weekends too, and I spend my weekends trailering mares to make horsey love. Last weekend I trailered 800+mi to get the girls to and from their respective partners. Our trailer is older and I basically white-knuckled the entire trip. EVERYTHING in my body is hurting. Glad all the ladies are back home and under my care. I always get soooo worried. But Avalon and Megan, my 2 black Clyde mares loved meeting the stallion in person. Funny, Avalon would always get herself so sick fretting up there, but there seems to be something like horse feng-shui because we put her in a different paddock and she was a different horse. Didnt want to go back, as a matter of fact. If she is pregnant and has a filly (I will have her ultrasounded for the sex once we know she is pregnant) I am having myself a sold foal already. Sooo exciting. If it is a colt I will keep it. Her last colt we had to geld because he had a hard time with the hormones. He is now with the FL mounted police and people just adore him. We have some requests from down there as well, so we will see how many foals we have and how many will be sold by the time they hit the ground. We are planning on 4.

Trim, Deb is right about the hay. They eat lots and lots of hay, especially the big guys. Their diet is pretty much 80% fiber and 20% high protein. I usually plan for 300 square bales a head per winter (not counting fall or spring) and we have 6 head right now, 4 of which should be pregnant so I will have to elevate that number a bit. Thankfully we bought a hay elevator this year so we dont have to build a staircase of hay bales to load them into our hay loft. What a pain. I also forgot to mention that we do not have a tractor. The most motorized gadget we have is a lawn mower. Hopefully with the foals getting sold next year I can finally get me one. Moving 800lb round bales by hand just seems too much trouble.

Trim, I will be happy to tell you more about growing up in East Germany and answer your earlier post at length. Let me survive the next weekend (well be at the Clydesdale Sale in Indiana) and then I will have more time to sit down and write. I am one of these people that rather waits until you can do something right, rather than doing it fast and then regretting the quality of work. I learned that long ago building fences for the horses.

I was also at a driving clinic this weekend. It was great to see how the horses are harnessed up in this country. I used to drive double in Germany but everything seemed different here. Cant wait to have the time to teach myself to drive again, it is such a relaxing thing to do. And the horses get exercised without my thighs hurting, yeah!

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the farm.

Enjoy yall!

 

[Avalon1984]

This is Avalon, my 2002 black Clyde mare. She is the new "hitchy" type so she isn't built as solid as the older types. This makes her a great riding/driving mare.

This is Carmen. She is a 2008 Black Clyde mare. Very sweet girl. She was bred back at the old owners place to a Clydesdale stallion. Will know in 2 weeks if she is pregnant.

This is Megan, my pride and joy. We purchased her back in March. She is a semi retired show mare. Her old owner has been showing black Clydes for 30+ years. She is the type of mare that if you drop her name amongst fellow breeders, they know exactly who she is. We will show her halter at the Great Lakes International in Lansing.

This is Easton, our 2011 Shire/Friesian stud colt. He sold to Arizona. I love his headset.

 

[Avalon1984]

just lost everything. Ok. here we go again...

This is Ransom, our yearling stud colt. He too will go to Lansing to be shown in halter.

My sweet Nala. I loved this horse to death. We lost her Thanksgiving 2011 due to a small intestinal colic. She will be dearly missed.

This is Axel. He is Avalons colt and is now working with the mounted PD in Orlando. Give him a kiss from me if you see him.

This is Katie, our shire mare with Eastin when he was a foal. She was bred last weekend to a Friesian for another foal like that.

Here is my old lady River. She had a serious skin infection when I first saw her when she was 18. The vet wanted to put her down because of it and "Who would put so much work into a horse that is 18, a draft horse nonetheless?". Well I did and took her home with me. She is now 25 and I was able to cure that disease within 3 years. She can now live out her days at our farm.

 

[pinkfox]

JEALOUS!
they are stunning!
i grew up around shires...
i dont think i could ever own a horse that isnt at least part draft, i want fjords or vanners...want something big enough to ride/pull a buggy, small enough that if i come off ive not got 20ft to fall LOL
and while i love shures and clydes, i think id need something a little easier on the food bill lol

now if only i could win the lottery to afford fjords or vanners! lol