Congratulations to Sheila McFarlane of New Brunswick.  She has been updating us with Delina’s progress and we know that these two are going to have so much fun together! We have been so fortunate that our horses have all found very special homes.  It makes parting with them a little bit easier 🙂

Two of the mares have foaled.  Highland Lily had a beautiful chestnut colt by Dauphin on May 25 and EM Donatasha had  a lovely bay filly by Licosto on June 23.  So thrilled with them both and looking forward to Florencia’s Dauphin foal in July.  It is definitely a less hectic foaling season than last year with better spacing between the births!

Unfortunately, we had to euthanize Luxdon, our Londonderry gelding, the day after his first birthday (due to an injury).  It was a difficult day as any horse person knows.

Rebreeding is about to begin and Highland Lily is first up.  We are planning to breed her with frozen for the first time.

We have started our three year old Buchanan and he has been so much fun to work with.  He loves having something to do and is so laid back.  Between starting him and playing with the foals, some of the chores on the “to do” list are not being completed in a timely manner 🙂

Below is a picture of Delina taken last fall.

 

Well, it is interesting and unsettling times right now.   Eventually, some form of normalcy will take place, but it won’t come without affecting us all.

The weather is starting to show signs of spring. With that comes the shedding of huge amounts of hair.   Each horses has their special “spa day”.   Luckily, some are shedding out quicker than others so I can stagger their appointments. 🙂

There are loads of odd jobs to do around the farm so it is easy to keep busy.  With the warmer weather now, it is great to be outdoors without so many layers on!

The 2019 foals are doing great!  At the beginning, Darlequin and Luxdon were the largest of the three foals, but now, Bizette is holding her own with Luxdon and Darlequin is the smallest of the bunch.  “Quin” is at a friend’s place, for the winter as a buddy for her filly.

The ring still has a lot of snow in it and it looks like it is going to be the last place to melt as the fence and trees seem to have caught lots over the winter.  We are really looking forward to getting some more photos and videos.  Hoping Luxdon will show us some trot this year. His preferred gait is canter but we get glimpses of his trot and it looks lovely!

We had planned on rebreeding all three mares this spring but have not made a firm decision yet and may have to make changes to those plans.  It will depend on the arrival of frozen semen shipments from Europe and the US.  Working on a back up plan, just in case.

The video is Luxdon and Bizette with Luxdon clearly being a pest!  Bizette is such a good sport and pleasantly ignoring him….for now! 🙂

 

So far, this winter has been quite tolerable without the terrible ice that was present last year. The horses enjoy the milder days and spend lots of time out in the pasture, running, rolling or digging through the snow.

The 2019 youngsters have really grown.   A couple times a week, each one is brought in individually for some grooming and handling.  Of all the foals we have had so far, this crop has had the least amount of issues when they are separated from their buddies.

Unfortunately, there is too much snow in the ring  preventing us from taking additional video of the sale horses.

The mares are showing now and this spring should be less hectic than last year with respect to foaling.  Having three foals in seven days was a bit much!

This year Highland Lily is due in May, Donatasha is due in June and Floriencia is due in July.  Both Highland Lily and Florencia are bred to Dauphin this year.   Donatasha is in foal to Licosto.   Really looking forward to the 2020 line up!

The photo is of Bizette (Benetton Dream/DeNiro/WanderburschII) at four months old.

Well, the last two months certainly flew by!  The foals are weaned and it was the easiest weaning thus far.  I think the mares and foals were ready.  Luxdon, would rather have another colt to play with as the two fillies don’t pay much attention to him.  Once in a while, the girls will indulge him for some roughhousing!

We used the riding ring daily until the snow and frozen ground took over.   Having the new pastures fenced gave our other fields a much deserved rest.  Future plans include shelters for the new fields.

This is the time of year when we plan the 2020 breeding season.   Lots of reading up on stallions!

The video is of the mares and foals when they moved to the new pasture this past summer.

 

The foal inspection was held September 1, 2019.  The weather was fantastic and it was great to meet everyone.   The mares and foals trailered well and settled in nicely.  When it was their turn to be presented, Bizette and Luxdon both refused to trot and had a grand time bucking and cantering around the ring!  Darlequin rose to the occasion and showed off nicely at the trot.  A huge Thanks to Amanda Coggins for braiding our mares and foals, and Cindy Matheson for helping us with trailering.  Both Andrew and I appreciated their help:)

We finally have our riding ring finished!  It has been wonderful these last few weeks to finally be able to get video and start riding the youngsters.  The additional pasture was fenced as well and the horses are enjoying the new grazing area.  It will give the other pastures a much needed break before winter.

The photo is of Darlequin at the beach this summer.

 

So thrilled to announce that Brighton has been sold to Kristen Gallant of Massachusetts.  I had the pleasure of meeting Kristen at Houlton, Maine…..this sweet filly has a wonderful new owner :).  This was the first time I took a horse across the border myself.  All of the people that were involved in this process were most helpful.  It was a long day of driving but Brighton was delivered safe and sound.  Best of luck to Brighton and Kristen!

It was a very busy and somewhat sleepless ten days!  We had two fillies and a colt this year.  Donatasha and Floriencia  were due around the same time and Lily was due about two weeks later, but she joined in, and decided to foal as well.     Thank you to friends, Amanda and Connie, my sister Kim, and my daughter Erin who gave me a hand. Huge thanks to Dr. Mike Slana as well.

The foals are doing well and it so much fun to watch them 🙂  At this point, the fillies will be kept for our breeding program.  The photo is of the colt, Luxdon at one day old!

 

We are very happy to announce that Jocelyn and her daughter, Rowan Urbrick are the new owners of Dorval.  Currently, he is own his way to their wonderful home in Utah.  Congratulations to them both and we look forward to following the progress of this  special youngster 🙂

 

The paddocks and fields are finally drying out.   We have been shedding out the winter hair on the youngsters, Dorval and Delina.   Now that it is light in the evening, it is so nice to watch the foals in the field after their supper.  They always have “playtime” about 90 minutes after they are fed.  Lots of running about with a few bucks thrown in!   Last week, they had  a trailer loading session.  They have not been on a trailer since last fall (when they were heading to the inspections with their mothers).    Each one had to check out the ramp and test it, one foot at a time, but both foals were great!  Dorval was a bit more cautious.  His much braver half sibling, Delina, marched right in 🙂

The weather has been colder this winter than usual and it was very icy conditions for the horses. It was a long winter dealing with frozen water tubs!  Slowly, the signs of a much awaited spring are beginning.  It is so nice to do evening chores in the light.  Some of the horses  are starting to shed.

The broodmares look very much in foal.  I am hoping the foaling dates are staggered a bit so we are not too sleep deprived.  We are really looking forward to seeing these youngsters 🙂

Highland Lily – bred to Dauphin is 340 days on May 15,

Donatasha – bred to Benetton Dream is 340 days on May 25

Florencia –  bred to Londonderry is 340 days on May 29.

The Eastern Canadian Hanoverian Club Annual General Meeting  is on the Island this year at the end of March.  It will be great to see everyone 🙂

Photo below is our lovely mare Highland Lily at the 2018 Hanoverian Inspection.