December
1,
2009
December 1, 2009
Click to enlarge
pictures below.
 |
I have
returned from the AQHA World Show and
decided that I need to take the time to
update the news.
Our
weather in October was so bad that I
wasn’t able to take many pictures.
Now,
November
was a different story-----in fact, it
was the best weather wise that we have
had for months. The
trouble is that the the horses now have
winter hair and do not look good in
pictures. I did
take some and will have Vicki show them
to you. One day it
was foggy and Leah and I were able to
get some really neat pictures.
I also took a few of the old
Tardee mare as she will soon be 24 years
old. I have been thinking that I don't
have many pictures of Janie so I found a
few of them to put up too. Janie is the
NN daughter of Kids Classic Style out of
Dandy Dee Gal.
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Click to enlarge
pictures below.
Rebecca
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Romantic
Janie and Olivia
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Pepper, Recipient Mare
Scout, Recipient Mare
 |
Going to be 24 years old!
Click to enlarge
pictures below.
Click to enlarge
pictures below.
Georgie is by Kids Classic Style and out of
Shanes Night Lady (Angelica) and is NN.
She is close to 16 hands as a coming 2 year old!
As you can see, she has been running out and
has a lot of hair.
Click to enlarge
pictures below.
Remember when
Olivia (Cooleah) had the splinters in her
forearm? Well, after Dr Fox
removed two of them, the wound still just never
healed. About 3 weeks ago,
she decided that she would lance the huge
swollen pocket to relieve some of the pressure
on it, and low and behold she found another
splinter of wood in it. I
kept her on SMZs for another 10 days and it is
finally stopped draining and has healed over.
Poor Olivia----she had to
be in pain for so long before we finally got her
back to normal.
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I
decided to turn the 3 yearling
fillies outside in a shelter for the
winter. It is
better for them and it sure makes a
difference in barn work.
They are doing really well
and I think I will leave them there
until spring.
I
also decided to winter the 2 baby
fillies and they have been outside
during the day but I haven’t the
heart to leave them out at
night---guess I am an old softie.
Today is the day that I start the
open mares under lights.
We leave them outside in a
shelter and have the lights go on
before dark and then off at 10
o’clock.
The
lights worked great last night but
Mike forgot to lock the mares in the
shelter pen so guess tonight will be
their first night of lighting.
Our
first babies will arrive in January.
Two of them will be by Malibu
Ken and then we have two in foal to
Mr Elusive. One
should come in January and the other
in February.
Then in March, the Kid Clu mare will
have her foal by TD Kid. |
The strangest things have been happening to me
lately. About a month ago,
I had a phone call from Kay Wilcox who lives in
Clovis, New Mexico. She
bought Bar Fly Bailey from us way back in 1971
and we used the money that she paid for him to
buy the 15 acres of land across the road.
We had a really nice visit and have kept
in touch since then
Well,
not long after that I had a call from Linda
Banks from Williamsburg, Virginia.
She called to tell me that the mare that
she and Joe bought from us as a yearling had to
be put down at the age of 34 and a half.
It is something that people from my past
are contacting me.
I have
left a message for Linda but have not talked to
her yet. I remember when
Mike and I delivered the filly to them and we
drove past the White House in Washington DC with
the horse trailer.
It has
been the only time that I have been there. You
can see how politically involved I am and I am
married to a politician.
Now
to the World Show:
The
weather was gorgeous and it was so good to see
people that I talk to during the year but never
get to see in person. Bill
and Marion Brakefield picked me up at the
airport and we met Jackie Hardwicke, her
daughter, Kylie, her mother, Ellen and her niece
Danielle for dinner. Jackie
is my great friend from Australia who I haven’t
seen for two years.
It was
wonderful to be able to watch the show with them
and discuss horses and conformation.
Jackie and I have the
same ideas about conformation.
That evening as we were leaving the
supper club, Lanis showed up from the airport
and then our good new-found friend, Russ Ellis
arrived. Jackie, Kylie,
Russ, Lanis and I went back in the place and
spent some time just talking horses over a beer. The next day the halter
classes started and we all watched them
together. Vicki Benker who
is one of my really good friends from
Florida met us and we all compared horses
together. I can’t even name
all the friends that I saw at the show.
Dr Pierce who owns TD Kid was there and
of course, Grace Berton and my friends Denny and
Mary Beth Reiners.
Denny
owed me a cinnamon roll and I opted for one of
those huge oatmeal, coconut cookies instead.
In looking back, I probably should have
had the roll. One of most
memorable people that I finally met at the show
was Kim Clark from Florida.
Kim is very active on the halter groups and I
have visited with her via email for years.
Meeting her and her husband in person was
such a great thrill. She was
so excited about being there---she reminded me
of the way I was the first time I went to the
show. She couldn’t stay long
as she was taking pictures of the horses in the
pen. I really appreciate that as she has been
sharing them with me.
Of course the
highlight of the show was when A Classic Edition
was named World Champion Performance Halter
Mare. What an
accomplishment for any horse to be High Point
Halter Mare in the nation for two years and then
to win it this year in Performance Halter
besides winning the Congress and now the World.
It couldn’t happen to a nicer lady
either. Gwen Zimmerman who
owns her has become one of my good friends and
on the last night of the show, Gwen, Lanis, Fred
and Vicki Benker and I went out to eat and made
a date to do the same thing next year.
As soon as I get a win picture of the
mare I will put it on the web site.
Who would think that little Buffy aka A
Classic Edition would accomplish so much in her
life. Gwen wanted to see
Kids Classic Style so Lanis and I took her to
Halvorson Ranch to see him.
He looks great and there is no better hostess
than Rebecca Halvorson to show horses to you.
Gwen said it was her second most
memorable thing about the World Show.
I guess I couldn't
write news without telling you about Fred. We
decided to send him for some training and
conditioning. I really do miss him though and
can't wait to go and see him. I have not seen
him since he left On October 11. I am showing
you the last pictures that I took of him before
then. We plan to go in about two weeks and I
will take lots of pictures of him and show them
to you. As you know, I have high hopes for him
and I hope that he is everything that I want him
to be. It seems like yesterday that he was
only a baby and soon he will be a two year old
stallion.
September
8,
2009
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September 8
Well, I started
on this news the end of August and I am
bound and determined to finish it. Bear
with me as things have changed since I
started writing and now. One thing for
sure is the weather change----the first part
of the news was when we were having really
cold weather and by the end of it, the
weather couldn't be nicer.
Click to enlarge
pictures below.
It is news time
again and I am sitting in my office
freezing. We could be
getting a frost tonight.
I sure don’t know what happened to Global
Warming----I think it missed Wisconsin.
Click to enlarge
picture below.
 |
Two of the four
splinters that came out of Olivia's
(Cooleah) forearm after she broke
the fence trying to find her baby.
(She is blind.) |
Things have
been happening at our place.
First of all,
let
me tell you about Cooleah.
She is blind in one eye and can’t see
very good out of the other.
Well, I had her and her filly out in
one of the small paddocks and neglected to
turn the electric fencer on.
The filly leaned through the boards
and got into the pasture with the three
yearling fillies. I
heard a huge crash and the mare had broken
through the front of the pen and was
whinnying and looking for her baby.
The bay was with the yearlings and
they were not even bothering her.
I was able to get the filly back with
her mother but the mare had cut her front
leg when she got out.
It was a deep wound but in a location that
could not be stitched.
We keep it clean and gave her antibiotics
for several weeks.
A
week ago it was still festering so Dr Fox
ultrasounded it and there appeared to be
something in the leg.
We
sedated the mare and after freezing the site
with lidocaine, she cut and probed in the
forearm with an instrument.
Low and behold, there were 4
splinters in her leg from the board that she
had broken. The poor
mare----she is now feeling better and I am
still doctoring her leg and giving her
antibiotics. I took some
pictures of two of the splinters and will
show them to you. It
amazes me that they could have been in her
leg for so long.
Click to enlarge
pictures below.
The two stud
colts are gone. Dana and
Judy Norman came and picked up Snickers on
Friday, August 14.
I
had weaned all of the babies on the 6th
and they really weaned well.
The Normans are wonderful people and
have high hopes for the colt.
I was so impressed the way the colt
loaded. My only regret
was that Dana and Judy did not stay very
long as they wanted to get back to Ohio
before the traffic got bad in Illinois.
Later that day, Dr Mark Pierce and
his wife Linda came to see Ginger, the filly
by his stallion, TD Kid and also Phenomenal
Affair, her dam, the mare that they bought.
Click to enlarge pictures below -
Ginger
We really hit it off with the Pierces
and I think all of us wished that they would
have spent more time in our area.
We had a great meal and Mike and Mark
acted as though they had
known each other for years.
I found someone who puts salt in his
beer like I do. I always
carry a salt shaker when I go out to eat and
thought that I was the only one who drank
beer with salt in it.
I
really like our TD Kid filly and even got an
embryo out of the old Tardee mare by him but
the recipient just didn’t take the embryo.
We are thinking at 23 years of age,
her eggs are not that viable any more.
We were able to get 3 out of her this
year and none of them made it.
Perhaps Fred will be her last foal.
I certainly hope not and will try
again next year.
Click to enlarge
pictures below. - Molly
The Pierces left on Saturday and on Sunday
Donna Preskitt and her friends came to pick
up the palomino stud colt for Marion and
Bill Brakefield. When
Donna stepped out the the truck, I
immediately knew that we had a lot in
common. She is a true
horse person and they all loved Clyde.
I told Donna that we should call
Marion and tell her but she said that upon
seeing him, she was too emotional to call
her. She thought that
Clyde looked so much like his sire, Malibu
Ken. We had a wonderful
evening with them and they loaded and headed
back to Alabama the next day.
Since then, I have heard how awesome
the colt is and how fast he is learning.
Remember his recipient dam is the one
who bit Mike and consequently the colt
didn’t get out normal amount of handling.
I waited a few
days since I wrote the above and our weather
has changed for the better.
It is absolutely beautiful here now.
The temperatures are in the 70s and
we have plenty of sunshine.
I have been trying to get a few
pictures of the mares before they grow their
winter hair. As you will
be able to see, they have gotten a bit fat
and the pregnant ones are looking quite
pregnant. I have decided
to cut back on the recipients and gave our
good friends Raven and Fred two of them.
Julie, the dam of Snickers is broke
to ride and Fred should enjoy her and Raven
wanted Ruby, the Clydsdale as she is
breeding cross draft horses for driving.
I am very happy that they have a good
home. I also found a
great home for Trixie.
She is a registered paint mare and Angel
Anderson is going to get her.
My friend, Debbie Schmitz found her a
home and from what I know, Trixie will be
well cared for and have an opportunity to
raise a good foal.
Our
neighbors, Gene and and Barb Gunderson gave
us some jockey statues.
They are very heavy and unique and we plan
to electrify them---we have them at the
walkway to the house.
The house that they bought on the lake was
owned by the Gills who had thoroughbred
horses in Kentucky and the Gundersons have
no use for jockey statues.
Click to enlarge
pictures below - Our Jockey
Mike and Dickie
have been busy repairing fences and Dickie
has continued to paint them.
It amazes me how “new” things look
with just a coat of paint on them.
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Dickie
painting! |
My friend Russ
Ellis took his cremello yearling stallion to
the Select World. Lanis,
who raised the colt, flew out to see him
show. As can often
happen at horse shows, the stud got sick and
they were unable to show him.
What a shame as I think he truly had
a good chance. I will
show you a picture of him and Russ.
His name is Supernatural Fella and he
has a link on my link’s page.
Click to enlarge
pictures below -
Supernatural Fella
Soon Ruthie
will be going to her new home.
Roch Morin will be here this week to
pick her up. She is such
a nice filly and has so much muscle for NN.
I snapped a couple of pictures of her
for Rock and will show them to you.
I am expecting great things out of
her. She is a half
sister to A Classic Edition, the leading
Performance Halter Mare in the nation and
also two time Halter Mare in the nation.
Click to enlarge
pictures below - Ruthie
Guess I better
close for now. An update
on Fred----he is continuing to improve and
grow and I like him more
and more. He has
developed dapples on his coat.
Of course, he still plays with his
ball and of course, I still take pictures of
him. I want to get Larry
Lemke out to hold him so that I can get some
good pictures to show you.
Please click on pictures to enlarge - Annie
On September
5, Larry and Ann did come out and Larry
held Fred so that I could take a picture. I
will of course, keep you updated on his
progress.
Sandy
Click to enlarge
pictures below -
Classically, Fred
August 1,
2009
August 1
We have had such a
cool summer. Our horses are
enjoying it because there are very few bugs.
Usually we have fans going in our outside
shelters to keep the mares cool and ward off
the flies but summer has really never come this
year. Now on to the news:
Our hay cutting was
slow as the drought in early summer kept it from
growing. The nice thing
about it was that we were able to bale it
without rain and we do have enough hay to feed
the horses all winter. Mike
is working on second crop now and of course,
guess what----we just cut it and it is raining
on it. Guess we should have cut earlier if we
wanted rain.
Please click on picture
to stop and
enlarge.
We had visitors in
July. Fred and Vicki Benker
came the Wednesday before Rita’s sale and Lanis
flew in on Thursday evening
in time to go out to eat with us.
Fred rented a Harley and toured
northern Wisconsin on Wednesday while
Vicki and I drove around the local area and had
a nice lunch on the waterfront in Fremont.
We all drove to Dixon, Illinois for Rita
Crundwell’s sale on Friday morning.
Of course, we had to stop at Lanis’
favorite lunch place and have a nice meal
outside on the waterfront on the way there.
What an impressive and
functional place Rita owns in Dixon, Illinois.
I have know Rita Crundwell and Jim
McKillips for years but had never been to her
place. As expected,
everything was first class, from the horses to
the help to the grounds.
That evening there was a free buffet and
margarita machine and cocktails
It gave us a chance to socialize a bit.
We then went to our motel and Rita had
advised the Candlelight Supper Club in Mt
Sterling to eat. Well, she
certainly has good taste in dining as we totally
enjoyed the meal and the bartenders working
there. Of course, it didn’t
help that we had already eaten some of the
jumbo shrimp at the sale grounds.
The next morning the sale started.
Jim told us that if we came early we
could see the foals so we were there at the
crack of dawn. Danny Salsman
gave us a tour of the pastures.
Most of the babies were on recipient
mares but we really liked the consistency of her
program. We really want to
go back and see the “great” mares when they come
home from Texas. The sale
was a good one. The horses
that were in it sold to the highest bidder and
there was definitely no “running” the prices
higher. I think that when
the word gets out that this is truly a
legitimate sale, people will flock to buy horses
there next year. The quality
was outstanding and buyers really bought good
horses worth the money. We
left early as Lanis and I drove back to Neenah
in time to go out to eat with Mike who
was taking care of things at the farm.
Now on to horse
news. I talked to Gwen
Zimmerman and A Classic Edition is leading the
nation by leaps and bounds in Performance Halter
Mares. She has her AQHA
Championship now and the amazing thing is that
she has never been beaten in Performance Halter
Mares. This is the same
mare that was High Point Halter Mare in the
nation the last two year.
Quite a feat, I would say and the fact that with
all the hauling she has stayed totally sound.
Gwen also gave me an update on Goldie and
Donna. She said that they
have been fitting on Goldie to make her halter
debut and Donna is still hanging out with her
other colt. I would expect
that they will get their chance when their time
comes.
I received a nice
email from Jennifer Lemon who bought Sissy.
Sissy is doing quite well in Canada. She
won the yearling futurity in the Maritimes and
has been standing Grand when she has been shown,
both in Canada and the states.
Jenn promised to send me some win
pictures of her so that I can put them on the
site. Sissy is by Kids
Classic Style out of Dandy Dee Gal.
Since I last wrote,
we have sold Snickers. Dana
and Judy Norman had been talking to me on the
phone about him. They loved
Malibu Ken and have a filly by him.
Well, they called one morning and decided
to drive here from Ohio.
Neither they or I knew how bad the traffic would
be in Chicago. It took them
3 hours at 15 mph just to get through Chicago.
They got here around 9 at
night and we were able to look at the outside
mares with the lights inside the shelters and of
course the other horses were in the barn.
I really hit it off with the Normans as
they have the same convictions about breeding as
I do. It was fun to visit
with them and I look forward to a long and
enjoyable relationship with them.
The EAA is going on
in Oshkosh. That is the time
of the year when I stay away from Oshkosh.
Millions of people come from all over the
universe to see the planes.
There are several movie stars and foreign people
who love airplanes the same way that we love
horses. I liken it to going
to the World Horse Show.
Please click on picture
to
enlarge.
Molly, our dog who
is like a child to us, had surgery two weeks
ago. She had been lame and
we just assumed she had arthritis in her hips as
she is a bit overweight.
After Rita’s sale, Gary and Diane Visseau
stopped on their way back to Canada to see the
horses and as soon as Diane got out of her
vehicle and Molly walked up to her, she
diagnosed Molly as having a torn ACL.
Diane is a small animal veterinarian.
We made an appointment to have her leg
looked at and the vet scheduled her for surgery
the following Thursday. Molly's recovery is doing better than expected.
She was supposed to have “bed rest” for
two weeks and not be able to put weight on the
leg for about 10 days but Mike calls Molly a
“miracle dog.” She was
walking on it the second day and it has been
difficult to keep her from running around.
She wants to play with her toys and she
has always loved chasing balls at night while we
watch television. She gets
her stitches out tomorrow and hopefully she will
be back to normal after that.
I guess I should say that she is actually
better than normal now as I think the leg has
had a partial tear for quite a while as she
seems to move better now than before surgery.
Weaning time is
fast approaching. I plan to
wean all of the babies on August 7.
I know this may sound silly, but I wean
by the moon and that is a good day to wean.
Rock Moran, the new owner of Ruthie will
be picking her up the end of August and Marion
Brakefield is going to send her good friend,
Donna Prescott to pick up Clyde.
I am anxious to meet Donna as Marion has
told me so much about her.
Dana and Judy haven’t told me yet when they plan
to get Snickers but I am assuming it will be
soon. Clyde’s recipient dam,
Ruby is going to a new home the day that I wean
him Raven and Fred, good
friends of mine from years ago plan to take her
and breed her to their perlino stallion.
It will be an interesting cross as Ruby
is a Clydesdale.
I have a new helper
after all these years of having Bob Luebker.
Leah Gloudemans has started working for
us. She is very capable and
very knowledgeable about horses as she worked
with Dr Fox in her breeding program.
So, when you see the pictures of the
babies it will be Leah holding them.
Please click on picture
to
enlarge.
Last, but not
least, let me tell you about Fred, or I guess I
should call him by his real name, Classically.
He is doing just great and enjoying
spending the cool days outside playing with his
ball. You would be amazed at
how much exercise he gets throwing that ball
around. His paddock is huge
and you would think that he could keep the
ball in the pen but he seems to run full speed
with it in his mouth and then throws it over the
fence where he can’t reach it.
I find myself getting my exercise
throwing it back to him.
I
measured him and it seems as though for the
first time he is not level.
He stands 15.2 at the withers and 16 hands at
the hip but his back is
strong and he doesn’t appear to be that uneven.
I can't wait for him to level up again as
I really like to look at balanced horses.
Please click on picture
to stop and
enlarge.
I have been trying
to Update the pictures of the babies so check
back soon to see those I don't have finished yet
and to see even newer pictures. I will also
include a few pictures of things around the
farm for you to look at.
Dickie, our good friend has been painting the
fences and does white paint make a difference in
appearance. The fences look
brand new. I suppose I had
better close for now and find some pictures to
go with this news.
Sandy
June
6,
2009
Please click on picture
to
enlarge.
Ginger
June 6
It is with great pleasure that I announce that
Marion and Bill Brakefield have decided to buy
Clyde. Although he can never replace Malibu
Ken, he will carry on Kenny's heritage. With
his incredible muscle and class and with Kenny
as his sire and That Perfect Clu as his dam, he
should truly be an outstanding show horse and
sire. We wish them the best of luck and we will
do everything possible to help promote
him. What a wonderful colt for two of the most
wonderful people I know.
I have a lot of
news to catch up on since the last time I
wrote. Our weather just doesn’t seem to
cooperate and warm up. One thing about it, at
least we don’t have mosquitoes and bugs to
contend with. The horses seem to enjoy the
cooler weather too. I had been telling Mike
that we need to get rid of our hay from last
year, but maybe he was right for not selling it
as it has been impossible to cut hay and get it
to dry so far this year.
The horses have
been doing great. We sold Ruthie, the NN filly
by Malibu Ken out of Cooleah to Rock Morin from
Quebec. I am so excited about him buying her as
he is a person who can put points on a horse and
this filly will certainly be a top show horse.
Her neck is stretching and she has such a great
back, hocks and hip along with a gorgeous head.
Look for great things from her in the future.
Please click on picture
to
enlarge.
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|
Above: Angelica,
Shanes Night Lady |
|
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Above: Sally, That
Perfect Clu |
Please click on picture
to
enlarge.
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Above: PDS,
Dandy Dee Gal |
Lanis, our partner
on several horses, came to visit and see the
babies. It is always fun when he comes to
visit. There were horse shows in Oshkosh at the
same time so we went to see the halter classes
and went out at night for some good food at
night. We also drove to Marinette to see Scott
Francois' paint stallion, Awesome Looking Kid.
Lanis and I bred Laced N Sensation to him and
Lanis had never seen him. The horse looks great
and we were very impressed with the babies from
his first colt crop. Lanis owns property in
Kentucky and that is where we foaled the
Kentucky bred babies. We recently did a little
“horse trading” and I traded my share in A
Legacy, the stallion that has been in
Mississippi, for his share in Juliet---the
Malibu Ken and Shanes Lady Romantic yearling
filly. I have always liked Juliet and am happy
to own all of her.
Please click on picture
to stop and
enlarge.
We bred Phenomenal
Affair to TD Kid for a full sibling to Ginger.
Dr Pierce, who along with his brother own TD
Kid, intended to buy the embryo but at the last
minute, decided to buy the mare instead. I love
the mare but am retaining an embryo by our young
NN palomino stallion, Classically when he is old
enough to breed. The TD Kid filly out of the
mare has is really a good one. I hated to sell
the mare, but she will go to a great home and I
will still have use of her in the future.
Please click on picture
to
enlarge.
Phenomenal Affair
Jackie Hardwick, my
friend from Australia gave me a stunning report
on the horses that she has exported from our
place. Horses that Jackie raised won all but
one of the top honors at their “World Show” and
Exceptionist sired the other Grand Champion. An
Obsession, a full brother to A Classic Edition
and half brother to Ruthie, was named National
Champion Get of Sire winner plus sired the Grand
Champion Mare. Quite an accomplishment for JVQ
Stud and I am so proud to have been a small part
of it.
As far as the
horses are concerned, everyone is doing great.
Last Wednesday, Dr Fox and Stacy Riehl came and
we put a muzzle on Ruby, the Clydesdale
recipient mare that bit Mike. We were able to
put her out in a small lot and let her palomino
colt get some exercise. She actually wasn’t bad
at all. I think she was just overly protective
of her newborn baby and that was why she was so
aggressive when we were handling him. I have
been able to get them out now and I took a few
pictures of him and will have Vicki put them on
his page. He is a muscle bound baby as you will
see from him pictures. He is truly a great
representative of what Malibu Ken produced. Of
course, his dam, That Perfect Clu didn’t hurt
his looks either.
Please click on picture
to
enlarge.
Clyde
We turned the
recipients out to pasture the other day. It was
like letting kids out for recess. I took a few
pictures of them as they ran around and ate
grass. We assumed that they would stay out
there but low and behold, in less than an hour,
they were standing in the shelter eating hay.
Just goes to show that sometimes the “grass
looks greener on the other side of the fence”.
Please click on picture
to stop and
enlarge.
I also took
pictures of the yearling fillies and some of the
mares that have been confined to smaller
paddocks when we turned them out on grass. I
guess the weather had been so great for picture
taking, I just got carried away with it. The
flowers are really pretty and it looks like soon
“polly peony” will be blooming. Last year, the
plant bloomed early but the weather has not been
conducive for vegetation to flourish.
Annie the orphan
filly loves me. She has no idea that she is a
horse. When we put her out to exercise, she
runs and plays but if I leave the paddock, she
whinnies and paces back and forth. I guess she
thinks I am her mother. I took some pictures of
her and will have Vicki put them on her page.
Last and not least,
I have to give you an update on Fred. He looks
like a two year old and I am getting more and
more excited about him. He has just about lost
all of his winter hair. He spends the day
outside and he has quite a time playing with his
basketball. It is fun watching him throw it
around and “attack” it. I could watch him for
an hour as I love to see him with all that
muscle playing with his ball. I am trying to
control myself and wait until he is completely
shed out and ready before I show him to you. I
promised Jackie that I would wait to put
pictures on the web site but I will show you one
of him playing with his toy.
Please click on picture
to
enlarge.
Fred
I bought a new
camera and do not really know how to operate
it. I will sell the one that I have used to
take all of the pictures on the web site. If
you are interested, I will sell it very
reasonable. It is a great camera. Give me a
call.
Sandy
May
17,
2009
May 17
I don’t think the
warm weather is ever coming to Wisconsin. We
had a small taste of it for about a week, but it
is cold and windy again. Mike tells me that we
have such a short “nice” season and this doggone
cold weather is making it even shorter. I was
afraid that “Polly Peony” had not survived the
winter but I noticed a few days ago that the
little shoots were popping out of the ground. I
don’t know if you remember, but Roseanne Albert
sent me a plant a few years ago when the Kid Clu
filly, Polly, broke her leg and we had to put
her down. I have treasured that peony every
summer. I truly have met some wonderful people
over the years through my horses.
It seems as though
my bad luck hasn’t changed yet. Casino Clu had
a gorgeous stud colt in Kentucky by TD Kid on
April 17. The colt was born with a ruptured
bladder and although we sent him for surgery to
repair it, he died coming out of the surgery. I
would hope that my bad luck will be over and
good luck will follow.
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Casino
Clu |
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We really have been
blessed with some beautiful babies this year.
The Malibu Ken foals are so powerful and
pretty. I hate it that he is gone as he was
really starting to make his mark on the quarter
horse industry. I am lucky that we have embryos
coming by him next year out of You Bet I'm Cool
and Kids Classic Gal. Ginger, the Kentucky
bred double registered filly by TD Kid is so
elegant and has so much hip and class. Dr
Pierce who owns TD Kid has become a great friend
of mine even though I have never met him. He is
truly a believer in his stallion and from what I
can see of TD Kid's produce, he has every right
to be. I am in love with our filly by him and
think that whoever buys her will make a killing
on the Kentucky Incentive monies plus the
Incentive Funds for both quarter and paint
horses. I really can’t say which of the
fillies is my favorite. Of course Mike is
partial to Annie as she is the orphan. You
would never know that she is being raised on
milk replacer as I think she is the fattest baby
that we have. Vicki has put the latest pictures
of the babies on the web site and since the
weather has been conducive to picture taking, I
have been taking advantage of it. Mike hates
the dandelions but they make for pretty pictures
with their yellow flowers.
I have found a new
friend in Kentucky. His name is Gary Hite and he
has been sending me pictures of Stormy, our
Kentucky bred paint filly by Zips Heaven Sent
out of Laced N Sensation. The filly is supposed
to be a pleasure horse but by the looks of her,
she will certainly halter. It is hard to
believe that she is NN but then, her dam is by
Socketts Sensation and out of the great quarter
mare, Sonnys Red Lace. What an opportunity to
capitalize on the Kentucky Incentive money with
her as she will both halter and pleasure. Lanis
and I decided that since the filly looks so much
like a halter horse, we decided to breed her
dam to Scott Francois' paint stallion, Awesome
Looking Kid. I really like this horse and can't
wait to see what she has by him next year. The
pictures of Stormy were taken by Gary and he has
been keeping me up to date on her progress as I
have never seen Stormy in person. He also sent
me some pictures of Casino Clue.
Fred, or I guess I
should call him Classically, is maturing into
everything that I could ask in a stallion. I
guess he is what has kept me going through all
the troubles that I have had this year. I
measured him yesterday and he now stands 15.1 at
the withers and he was orphaned at 2 and one
half months of age. I think that he is going to
set the quarter horse world on fire with all his
correctness, size, muscle and pretty and being
NN and palomino doesn't hurt him a bit. I
took a few pictures of his dam, Miss Bunny
Tardee at 23 years of age the other day and
yesterday, I snapped some of his half sister,
You Bet I'm Cool. That old Tardee Impressive
mare can sure put some muscle on her foals. Of
course, I guess it doesn’t hurt that Fred is
sired by Kids Classic Style. Soon, I will have
pictures of him for you to see. He is finally
losing his winter hair and I want him to look
his best when I show him to you. I guess I will
show you a head shot of him that I took
yesterday. lol
Fred / Classically
Pictures taken May 15, 2009
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Pictures taken May 8, 2009.
Miss Bunny Tardee at 23 years of
age. |
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Pictures taken May 15, 2009.
You Bet Im Cool |
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We had a little
accident Friday at our place. The second embryo
out of That Perfect Clue and Malibu Ken was born
last Monday night. What a cute palomino stud
colt. Well, the recipient, Ruby is a Clysdale
and she is very very proud of her first baby.
We had not been able to handle the baby as she
threatens us with her ears laid back. I thought
it was time to put a halter on the little guy so
Mike held the mare with a chain over her nose
and Bob and I put a halter on the baby. I was
washing the colt’s butt when all of a sudden, I
heard a lot of noise. Ruby grabbed Mike by the
chest and lifted him off the ground and swung
him back and forth like a pendulum before
dropping him. Bob had rushed over to his aid.
The mare bit through Mike’s sweatshirt and his
tee shirt and took a big bite out of his chest.
He has skin the size of a quarter missing and a
terrible bruise. ` I had to take him to the
emergency room where they did x-rays and took
care of it. He is doing great, but it is a
lesson to be learned. Sometimes we take these
horses too much for granted. I don’t think Ruby
will be a permanent part of our recipient
program in the future. The mares that I have
for recipients are wonderful to get along with
and you can do anything with their babies. I am
hoping that Ruby will mellow out when the baby
gets a bit older.
Better close for
now. I will keep taking pictures and will try
to get some of the mares as soon as I can. This
is the perfect time of the year as there are not
any bugs and the horses have not faded out from
the sun yet. Of course, if it doesn't warm up,
they will be growing winter hair again.
April
19,
2009
April 19
What a week I have
had!!! Last Saturday around 4:30 PM, Dr Fox
was here breeding an outside mare when Mike came
running in the barn to tell us that a mare was
foaling outside. Both Dr Fox and I rushed to
the paddock and the recipient carrying the
embryo of Malibu Ken and Dandy Dee Gal was
foaling.
We were able
to get her into a stall and attended a normal
birth. What a beautiful chestnut filly she
had. I still haven’t had a palomino this year
from Malibu Ken. The vet left and the mare
continued to rest peacefully for about an hour
(which I thought was unusual) She finally got
up and the baby nursed. By that time, I had
given the foal 8 ozs. of colostrum that I had
frozen last year. The mare didn't pass her
placenta, so I called Dr Fox and she advised me
to put her in the stocks and lavage her. She
then passed her placenta but for some reason she
just didn’t act right. The foal was nursing and
she was an excellent mother. I had given her
banamine and a bit of torb for her pain and
contractions. The mare was a bit early but she
did have milk. It was then about midnight and I
went to bed. Around 2 am, the phone rang and it
was Chuck from Kentucky, telling me that
Phenomenal Affair had foaled a filly. Of course
I was excited and couldn’t sleep so I decided to
go to the barn and get some colostrums from the
recipient who had foaled. When I came out
here, the mare was shaking all over and
breathing quite heavily. I gave her a bit more
banamine and things seemed to be okay. I went
to bed around 4 am and watched her on the
monitor. I must have dozed off and when I woke
at 6 am, I noticed the mare was up against the
stall wall thrashing with her legs. I
immediately came out here to find her dead,
with a prolapsed uterus. Our neighbors, the
Cowlings came down and helped get her out of the
stall with their skid steer. That was Easter
morning. Dr Fox told me not to get the baby on
a bottle if I could help it----to get her to
drink out of a shallow pan. I was able to do
that but had to feed her every two hours.
Between feedings, since it was such a nice day,
Mike and I took Cooleah and Baby Ruthie outside
and I took some new pictures of her. Talk about
a little block of muscle----wow, she really has
it. I came into the office and worked on
resizeing my pictures and sending them to Vicki
to put on the web page. When we put the outside
horses in the barn around 4 o’clock, I noticed
that Olivia (Cooleah) immediately laid down in
her stall. I watched her and she didn’t eat her
grain either and seemed quite depressed. I gave
her some banamine and we met some friends for
Easter supper. Upon returning at 7 PM, I
expected Olivia to be her old self, but she
wasn’t. I called Dr Fox and she came and
palpated her. She said that everything seemed
to be normal but that she had a lot of gut
sounds. She did not like the situation and
suggested we take her to the vet clinic for
fluids and monitoring. Just as we were going to
load her on the trailer, the phone rang and it
was the vet calling from Kentucky. They thought
that the filly failed to pass her meconium and
had some intestinal blockage. Dr Badger was
going to get his x-ray machine and look at her
intestines. We, after a long process, were able
to load Olivia and her foal on the trailer and
get them to the clinic for fluids. The mare is
just about totally blind, so she did not want to
load and when we got there, hesitated to go in
the barn. Finally we got back home around
midnight and had a message from Kentucky. Dr
Badger suggested that we take the filly to
Lexington in the morning for possible surgery.
What a night I had again. By now, the orphan
filly was drinking out of a small bucket but I
still tossed and turned all night wondering what
the morning would bring with the baby in
Kentucky and also Olivia. In the morning, the
local clinic called and Olivia seemed normal
and while I couldn't sleep the night before,
had thought about the Kentucky situation. It
was going to be a 5 hour trip to have the baby
taken to Lexington and 8 hours to bring her back
to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I
decided to try to get her closer to home.
Chuck May, who manages Lanis’ farm in Kentucky,
was able to take time off from work and meet
Mike and our friend, Dickie. But, first of all,
we decided to drive over the the clinic and pick
up Olivia and Ruthie. Now, do you think we
could get her loaded?? No way----not with 2
vets and 4 big men and me. After an hour and a
half, we had to leave her at the clinic. Mike
and Dickie than left on their journey to meet
Chuck with the mare and foal from Kentucky.
Chuck was wonderful, and plugged along with
urgency knowing that time was critical to the
well being of the foal. Mike and Dickie got the
foal to the University around 9 o’clock that
night (Monday) and we left the mare and foal
there. The next morning we got a good
report-----everything seemed normal with the
baby. Thank heaven for that. That morning
(Tuesday) we did an embryo transfer on Rebecca
(You Bet Im Cool) and My Intentions and did not
get an embryo. After that, Dr Fox and Stacie
Riehl and I drove over to the clinic to pick up
Olivia and Ruthie. Dr Fox must have some magic,
as in less than 10 minutes we had her on the
trailer and home. We decided to leave the mare
and filly at the University as they have an
excellent farrier that comes there on Thursday
and Phenomenal has some foot issues. Mike and
I picked her and the baby up on Thursday
afternoon and what a gorgeous filly we have. In
fact, we have two gorgeous newborn fillies.
I took a few
pictures of “Ginger” yesterday at 6 days of
age. She is sired by TD Kid , who is
owned by Dr Mark Pierce, and will be double
registered Paint and Quarter Horse, besides
being Kentucky Incentive Fund. I wish that
Phenomenal would take both fillies as they are
the same age. I am waiting for Dr Fox to help
me see if we can accomplish that feat. I will
let you know what happens. It would be nice if
“Orphan Annie” had a mother too and both
babies are absolutely adorable. It would be so
much better for them to have a mother than to
have an orphan.
NOW------tell me
if you don’t think that was an unbelievable
week????????
I have some
additional news to tell you. I forgot to tell
you that our paint mare, Laced N Sensation
foaled a tovero filly in Kentucky. Laced and
Sensation is sired by Socket's Sensation and out
of the great quarter mare, Sonnys Red Lace.
The filly is sired by Zips Heaven Sent,
the outstanding Paint pleasure stud. Stormy,
as Chuck named her is beautiful They sent
pictures of her and I will have Vicki show them
to you. Talk about color----she has it in
spades. She was born on February 27 and I have
not seen her in person yet.
Friday night,
Casino Clue foaled a stud colt by TD Kid in
Kentucky. This one will also be double
registered and Kentucky Incentive Fund. As soon
as I get pictures, I will show you what he looks
like. Chuck tells me that he is better than the
filly that was born there, but I highly doubt it
as this filly is really really fancy. Chuck
and his wife, Sherry have named the colt “High
Roller” as he is out of Casino Clue.
Last of all, I
would like to extend our deepest sympathies to
Marion and Bill Brakefield on the loss of Malibu
Ken. It was sudden and totally unexpected.
Kenny was loved by so many and he is making such
a mark on the quarter horse industry. We have 3
foals by him this year and one yet to foal.
Next year, we have an embryo out of him and
Rebecca and also Janie (Kids Classic Gal) is in
foal to him. What a loss to our industry the
death of this great stallion is.
I will close for
now and hopefully will have more normal news the
next time I write. Check out the new babies. I
wasn’t able to get many of the Malibu Ken orphan
as I cannot get her out of the stall yet. I
will show you her newborn pictures though. She
is awesome.
Sandy
