The Deer Continued...

Tonight was a beautiful, cold, crisp night at chores.   The first night in a few that hasn't been gale force winds.   With no wind the deer have returned.   Large herds again tonight; in several different spots.  They seem to be fond of the fence line that divides pastures 5 & 6 from the cash crop land.  

Deer - Lots of Deer!

The longer I live the more I start to realize and accept that there is a rhythm that resonates just below the earth's surface.

It connects us all and the meaning of the quote; we all are one at some point in time, makes a whole lot of sense.

There have been moments in my life that make me believe that the universe is indeed not a random place but an intelligent place…I will share one of those such moments…

As some of you already know we have had literally hundreds of deer in our back field for the last several weeks.   They migrate in, forage for food and than move along, returning the next day and they day after that and the day after that.   The field has seen so much action that quite literally there is not a spot in the front 1/2 that doesn't have a hoof mark in it.   There are even deer "super highways" diagonally to the corner of our neighbours bush that are so beaten down that they are hard packed and flat.  Quite honestly it has been astonishing to me and I am still amazed by it even tho it has been going on for weeks now.

I believe there is meaning to this…meaning that I may not fully understand at this point in time and may never understand but I know it has meaning because not a single other person I have told this to can tell me they have ever seen this many deer in one place other than in captivity…like at Marineland!    

This is the making of a non-random event for me because so many incidences all had to happen at different times over the course of the last several months to provide this spot for the deer to come to and then for us to actually see them.   

By this I mean the following:

1. Last fall during the harvest of our soybeans the farmers combine broke down.
2. The part was a special order from the US and it was a several week wait.
3. By the time the part arrived the weather had turned rainy and the field was too wet to finish the harvest of the last ~10 acres.
4. The combine still sits in our field broken.  :-(
5. Mother nature has been particularly harsh this year.   We have had record cold for record length of time with a decent snow cover that has not melted and re-fell.
6. My mom on a whim decided that she would come to our house for a mini "vacation".
7. She was the initial person to have a siting of the large herd.
8. She walks the dogs at a time of day that we are not normally home or would not normally walk the dogs out back.
9. Since this initial siting the deer have been out back nearly everyday…eating the unharvested beans as a lucky find in this unforgiving winter.

All these small events are somewhat insignificant on their own but when you put them all together it makes for something very extraordinary!   This has been a tough winter for me for a few reasons and a good friend, Terrie, shared the attached link with me when she looked at the medicine cards for me.   There is no way the universe is a random place…it's an intelligent place; especially when my medicine card was Deer!

Medicine Card - Deer  

DH and I have looked for antlers since we moved here.   We know that this is the time of year that the male deer are shedding their antlers.   We have seen evidence of deer trying to remove their antlers on trees and stumps but have never been lucky enough to find a set.   Friends of ours had a lovely rack they found on their property at Christmas time and we oh'ed and awed over them.

Out on a Valentine's morning hack I found a lovely set from a ten point buck laying right in the middle of the field beside the "super highway".   I was thrilled to find these beauties and to think sometimes you just have to stop looking and wait for the gift.

A few additions to the things I have learned in the last few months.

• My dexterity for buckles, clips and zippers increases significantly after few months of wearing mittens.  Everything in Dec that I had to take my mittens off to do, can now be completed with mittens.
• Running on a treadmill is way harder then running outside.
• Even metal pitch forks can't compete with poo frozen to the ground at -25ºC
• Time with friends is incredibly valuable and greatly reduces the Feb blahs.
• Moving your feet less and eating the same more is first noticed in your middle.

More on the farm happenings in my next post...

Winter Learnings & Olympic Spirit

Once again this weekend found us learning more and more about life on the farm!

I thought I would start this post with a few points on what I have learned in the last few months.

• Frozen horse poo balls are weapons when they become projectiles from the PTO snow blower.
• Poop frozen to the ground will break a plastic fork if you don't take your time trying to pick it up.
• When you leave the hose hooked up to the frost free hydrant, it no longer works in frost free mode.
• The farmers' walk in strongman competitions is a real event and farmers really have to do that walk with 2 full pails of water in the winter when the water freezes at the barn.
• If you leave bagels on the edge of the counter overnight all that remains by morning is a ripped bag on a dogs bed.
• Gloves that are rated for -10F really aren't warm enough at -10C!
• The propane shortage in Ontario is real…and very expensive.
• Not running 5 days a week increases your clock time by ~30 sec per km.
• Two dogs are happier together than one dog on it's own.
• If the gate gets left unlatched the wind will blow it open.
• Cold weather brings out the beauty of Jack Frost on the windows.

I am sure I will have additions to this list in the coming months…stay tuned!

I wanted to show our Olympic spirit at the farm…so with DH's help I spent a little time dyeing the snow on the front hill of the house.    Go Canada!!

Marley is turning out to be a solid contributor to our home.   She is training us in new ways that we have never experienced.   Such as eating from the counter and opening doors!   We have the easy open latch style handles on our doors and she has figured out how to jump on the handle and open the doors to let herself out!   A dead bolt is now needed on the garage door to prevent the door from being wide open all day while we are at work!!

She has also gone on her first winter hack.   She was super and stayed with Molly the entire ride.   She was however exhausted when we returned home!   I don't think she has ever run 6K all in one stretch before.

The amaryllis that my mom gave me for Christmas is continuing to provide winter beauty.   Here it is with a new head ready to bloom in the next few days.

To help with the long, cold winter I bought a little pot of crocus for the bathroom window.   What a bright light in the dead of winter.

DH and I went out for dinner with Rob and Tracy (our previous neighbours) to celebrate Tracy's 50th birthday.   We went to The Combine in Simcoe…nice spot, worth a try if you haven't been before.

Here I am with the Birthday Girl!

The cold weather has been sucking the moisture out of everything.   The arena footing included.   The next treatmeant of MAG has been laid on the arena to hold the dust at bay.   

This is how defrosting the hydrant looked after I left the hose hooked up overnight and froze the water line.   After 3 hours of blasting it with heat, the hydrant was defrosted and I have learned one very valuable lesson about hoses and frost free faucets.

Izzy is once again sound and working wonderfully.   This weekend I had a lovely, forward, uphill and soft 2 days of schooling.   All the movements are starting to be well understood and we are now working through the finesse of the movements to pull them all together into a well ridden test.   

You can now clearly see the abscess that caused her the excruciating pain that made me nearly sick to see her moving around on 3 legs…it's just a black mark on her coronet band.   An abscess is kind of like a small microscopic cold virus to a human…you can't always see what is ailing you.

Rant, Trimming Feet, Finding Beauty and Riding Aside

Winter was back with its gusto again this weekend.

Seems the working lot can't catch a break from this wintery weekend weather.

I have a short rant for this blog post.   Please no one take this personally…this is just something I need to get off my chest.

For those people out there that keep telling me that having my horses out 24/7 is so much easier and cheaper than having them stabled in at night.

I want to just clarify a few things…

I keep my horses out by choice.   They all have stalls and they all have been in over night on several occasions when the wind seems to be blowing the "wrong" way or someone needs special care.

But on the most part, by and large, they are outside.   

My horses are healthy.  They are in good weight and best of all they seem quite happy.   

They have the choice of going into a shelter out of the weather or staying outside in the weather.   At times I think they make unusual choices.  In the summer, they may be out in the pouring rain eating grass but when I think about this it's a great time to eat when the flies aren't a nuisance.   In general tho, I think they make choices that suit them which makes them a happy lot in the end.

So lets get to the point here…anyone who has mucked out a run in shelter in a blizzard, with knee high snow drifts, 300'+ from the manure pile knows that it's WAY easier to just muck stalls.    I muck my shelters 2x per day…because they are like stalls to my horses.   That takes time and it's not always easy when the weather is bad, the mud is deep or the rain is hard.

Anyone who has carried water to heated troughs out at pastures knows that it's WAY easier to just fill buckets in a barn or turn horses out for a few hours with no water.   It's also cheaper to not have to run hydro to those heated troughs 24/7.

Anyone who has fed horses that stay out 24/7 knows they need WAY more hay to sustain good weight than horses stabled inside.   That colon needs stuff in it to keep that internal combustion furnace chugging away.   That volume of hay is not cheap…but horses with unlimited access to hay are also very happy horses.   (and I don't feed round bales…that's a whole other blog post for another day)

Just because I have outdoor horses doesn't mean they get fed grain along the fence on the ground and have a big round bale sitting in the middle of the field so they can eat free choice.   My horses are still individuals with individual work loads and dietary needs.  They all get tied in the shelter 2x per day to be fed grain, inspected and scratched.    Yes, it's work but I believe that horse health and happiness should not come at the cost of human convenience.   I know not everyone shares this same point of view and I don't push my way of caring for my horses on others…so please don't disrespect my choice with your opinions on how much easier and cheaper it is without all the facts.    Rant over…I feel better.   Thank you for reading…enjoy the rest of this post!

So…now that that's over… :-)

Lets get to an update on Izzy…

Seems her abscess was reabsorbed if that was what was wrong.  I may never really know but after a week of soaking, poulticing and worrying she is again sound and will go back to work this week.

There was a small soft spot along her outside coronet band that was slightly bulging but it has yet to blow through there.   I imagine as I trim her feet over the next many months I will see signs of this lameness and may make the discovery of what was wrong at some point.

On the topic of trimming feet…I had a wonderful farrier out this week to help me on my trimming journey, Terri Gerber.   This was my first time meeting Terri after she came recommended by several of the Woodstock crew that are using her with their horses.   She is FANTASTIC!!   I can't say enough good things about her.   She's a humble woman that knows her job and shares her knowledge openly and freely.   It was a pleasure meeting her, getting her feedback on my horses feet and I look forward to a spring session with her where she will also do some body work on my horses as she has studied Equine Bowen Therapy as well. 

I photograph my horses feet about every 6 months to have a record of changes and to view my work in a static state.   Sometimes seeing their feet in a picture can highlight improper trimming that needs to be corrected based on the lines and angles that can be easily seen when you have the 2 dimensional picture.   Balancing the feet based on the horse is an important element in keeping a barefoot horse sound and without injury.   

Here is a healthy foot from one of my horses with a nice wide, low heel.   

Changing foot geometry is a bit of a science and an art.   It takes time and patience and sometimes a belief that what isn't working right no, will, once the foot has time to grow and heal itself.

Because it was a blizzard and nasty cold this weekend, I thought I would try and find some beauty in the winter wonderland.

Check out how lovely nature can design…these are frost patterns on the barn door windows.

This is a sunset from our front window after the snow had stopped.

Here are the 2 newest BFF's beside the huge drift that blew in along the barn entrance drive.

DH spent his tea time with the newest family addition.   What do you think?  
Do you think she is fitting in?

Here they are as a trio.

And to end off this post, I have a video that DH took back in Nov of Izzy the first time I rode her aside.   She was fantastic and I can't believe I forgot to share that exciting first ride.

Stay warm!

Fun on the Farm in the Winter = Flooding, Ice, Cutting Wood and A New Addition!

There has been a flurry of activity on the farm since the turn of the new year.

We have cut down a tree, we have cut up a tree, We went to a small concert, we have endured the ice storm, the deep freeze, a burst pipe and flooded barn, the rescue of a new golden retriever and now a lame Izzy.

So here's the start

My parents cut down the dead Alder tree on the driveway.  It was a sad loss last summer as a tree lined driveway has always been such a fairytale for this farm girl.

We will have to find a new tree for planting in the spot to fill the gap this has created.  

Remember the Hickory tree we lost in the lightening storm last summer.   The beans are off and the ground was frozen so it was time to cut it up and burn the brush.   

Mom, Dad, DH and I (mostly Mom and Dad) spent a lovely sunny winter afternoon cutting wood.   It was also sad to lose this very old hickory tree.   However, the loss will generate wonderful heat next winter with this hard wood in our fireplace.

Molly spent the day with her pal Dora trying to help control the rodent population in the field.   

Here a wise rodent crawled up a bean stock to try and "hide" from Molly.  

Here are the crew members hard at work.

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming out and tirelessly helping us with our farm projects.   There never seems to be a shortage of things to do and the extra hands are genuinely appreciated.

DH and I went with our previous neighbours, Rob and Tracy to a really artsy venue in downtown Hamilton called The Pear Company to see their nephew drum for blues/jazz singer Paul Reddick.   It was a fun night out and the retro, artsy venue is a must go back to destination.

I got this beautiful Amaryllis from my mom for Christmas this year.   It ended up blooming twice!   So lovely to have something growing and blooming in the winter months.   Does make me long for spring tho.

Here is the first bloom

Here is the second

The ice storm and January thaw left our driveway an Olympic calibre luge and the pastures speed skating rinks.   DH broke up the ice with the box scraper to just make them passable.

We endured our second burst pipe in 2 winters at the barn.   The configuration of the stable water does not allow us to turn the water bowls off to the stalls separate from the water that goes to the wash stall.   DH replaced all the bowls and fittings on the south side of the barn last winter when we had a pipe give way.   You can read about that event here.   This year a pipe fitting on the north side gave way.   It seems we will be cursed for some time yet with the cheap and lazy silly antics of the previous owners. We have not fixed this water issue as it's a rather major construction job to rip up the concrete in the walk way from the pump room to the wash stall in order to correct the workmanship already in place.

Here are a few pics from the 8 stall flood.

Look who found the bed she first loved as a puppy when she came to the barn last winter!

This what she looked like many moons ago on that very same bed!   She has grown just a little!

In an effort to find a beneficiary of the burst pipe…I had a some very happy horses eating second cut hay that had got wet in the flood.   Wet or not, they were happy to have such a lovely green treat mixed with their first cut in the dead of winter.

Through all of this we found a new love in our lives.   World, meet Marley!

She is a sort of rescue case that my friend Lisa forwarded to me from Kijiji.  

She has turned out to be an exceptionally loving and gentle soul.   She is 4.5 years old, house broken and in general knows many of the obedience commands like sit, come, stay, down.   Still some work on the manners as she has a nasty habit of jumping up on people AND she is a counter surfer!   We learned this the hard way as our 2 breast of chicken that were thawing on the kitchen counter disappeared with just the traces of the bag and a 1/4 lb of butter with just a small square of the tinfoil wrap left.   When we came in Molly was proclaiming innocence and Marley was just thrilled to see us!   Lesson learned…no freedom to rule the entire house when the two legged's are out!!   Lock down in the mud room continues!

The double trouble that I now see every morning as I eat my breakfast at the kitchen counter!

I sadly have to report that my Princess Izzy is lame on her Left Front (LF).   Not 100% sure yet if it's an abscess waiting to blow out or something else but I am hunching that it's an abscess since she has been not unsound by the eye of those watching or my eye for that matter on the ground either.   But mounted this week I could feel something was just not 100% right.   I had a lesson on Saturday morning with Joe and she was a superstar, but every once in a while I could feel a funny step.…by Saturday afternoon she was on 3 legs and is dreadfully sore now.   There is some traces of swelling up into the back of the fetlock joint I am hoping that is just the lack of use from how much she is favouring it along with any infection that is trying to get out stuck in the limb.   Fingers crossed that it clears soon as seeing her this way is heart breaking.

Here she is with the soaking boot on.   Poulticing has also been on going.

Lastly, I must note that food is an important part of the farm.   If you have never tried bacon pancakes I encourage you to try them…because really how can anything with bacon ever be bad!

DH and I also enjoyed an evening in this weekend.   Making home made pizza and enjoying a few libations of Smirnoff coolers and Whiskey sours for me.   DH made his choice of Don Julio…which I attempted but was making that crazy face you get when you just choked down a tablespoon of Buckley's!  

Cheers!

New Year's Resolutions…Or Maybe Not

Happy New Year!

As the saying goes as you get older the time seems to pass more quickly.   Where did 2013 go?   It feels like it was just yesterday that we moved into the farm and here we are embarking on a new year already!   I know that time is our universal equalizer.   It knows no limits, no boundaries, no race, no colour and is fully impartial to our needs and wants.    Time passes; and it passes the same for everyone.  We all have the same number of hours, minutes and seconds in everyday.   It's how we make our choices in life that defines our time here in this space on this planet.   

At the start of a new year I like to reflect on where I have been and the choices I have made so that I can take those learnings forward to better my life in the next 365 days.   I know that you don't need to do this at the start of the year, it can be done at any point but a new years just seems to be the right time as it signifies a fresh start or a chance to write a new story for that coming year.   When I reflect back on 2013, I see lots of great choices, I see some new additions, some hardships and lots of opportunities to grow and learn to be a better human partner for DH, my horses, my family and my friends.  

I am not a person that makes a list of new year's resolutions and hangs them on my fridge to remind myself for the next 250 days how inadequate I am at sticking to my plan.  (Yes, only about 250 days, not 365 days because by about 250 days I have thrown the damn list away!!)   

Instead, I have found it helpful to have a go to word that helps me focus on what I want to get out of the coming year.   This year my go to word is "organize".   It seems I have a lot of physical, mental and emotional organizing I need to focus on in 2014.  Clearing up some physical clutter and getting my life and work more organized will free me to have more time to organize my play time with my horses which stabilizes my mental organization.   Emotionally, I always have room for better understanding of who I am, what matters to me and where I need to continue to develop to feel happy, successful and fulfilled.   So, in 2014 I am going to focus on organization in all senses of my life.

Cheers to 2014 and what awaits!

DH, Heather, Theresa and I spent our stroke of midnight at Niagara Falls this year.   It was a fun, cold night out.

DH and I

Me, Heather and Theresa

Speaking of cold…I really don't despise winter but today is not my favourite kinda winter day.   The thermometer on the window by the back door says -18C and if you add in the gale force wind chill you're getting pretty close to -32C.   Today I made no effort to ride even tho I am still off work for Christmas break.   It's just ugly out there!!   So I have decided to blog instead and do some indoor things that need organization :-).   

DH hung the TV in my studio today.  It was time side we had been moving it from flat surface to flat surface trying to keep it pout of the way and also off the guest bed when we had visitors.   He also spent some time hanging the surround sound speakers from his once upon a time man cave he had at the old house!   I know this house will never have a man cave like the old house but hopefully the other things it has to offer will offset the missing pieces.   I know that's how I feel about having a studio half the size as the old house…having an arena was more than a fair trade for less studio square footage!

I hope you all have resolved to be happy, healthy and positive in 2014!

 

Merry Christmas from HP Haven

Hello Blog Readers!

I am going to start with a short apology for being absent for the last many weeks.

I know I have been noticeably away from my blog.   Thank you to the friends and family that have comment about such.

I won't go into detailed at this time for my absence…maybe at some point in this journey I will be brave enough to share with my readers what has taken me away.   In the mean time, I have been working out some details in my life that have needed more of me present than in the past but I have not forgot about my blog.   On the contrary I have thought of blogging often and tried to make mental notes of things I wanted to share here.

Today is boxing day…the last of my family commitments have been completed and I am settling in by the fireplace to try and recap the significant farm events from the last several weeks.

Let's start with Christmas…

We had a house full as we did last year.

Here is our tree this year.   

After some deliberation around the Dunbar house neither DH or I wanted to put up the old tree that requires the lights to be put on as step 2 after erection!   So we made a household decision that it was a new tree or no tree…the new tree won!   This is our new pre-lit tree.   It was assembled and lit within 30 minutes of opening the box and figuring it out for the first time.   The old tree will likely find a new life in a brush box jump through the trail in the woods at some point in it's not too distant future!

As family traditions go for Christmas I can't say I come from a family that is steeped with grandeur and age old traditions that have been passed down for generations.   But now that we live on the farm the newest family tradition is a Christmas day ride with my nieces.   Best new family tradition ever!

Marina on Emma, me on Izzy and Bella on Wanda.

Working my way backwards to the my last post at the start of Nov…

I have made a decision to start Izzy into work and stop piddling about.   Not saying there has been anything wrong with the last couple of years as part of our training plan.   It actually was what the 2 of us both needed.   Her; some time away from the rigour of serious dressage training to let her mentally mature and me; some time away from the rigour of serious dressage training to get my life in order on the new farm.   But like many things in the last several months, it has been time for a change and time to move out of kindergarden and start to get a tad more serious about making the little horse into a competitive dressage horse.

We have been taking regular lessons again, with Diane Creech and the odd lesson with Joe Thauer when he is well and available.   It has felt wonderful to set some riding goals and have a drive again to progress and move forward in our training.  Diane has been such a magnificent influence.  She has a tremendous work ethic and she imparts just the right amount of empathy combined with a "I'm not taking any excuses" attitude so you feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment at the end of your ride.   It has been prefect to end each training session on such high notes every week but knowing you have all the right tools set out for you to use during the week on your homework for next weeks success.    Sadly, we have had to bid farewell to Diane as she has left for the sunny south in Florida to show her string of lovely horses on the winter circuit there.   We have been left with homework for the winter and I look forward to her return to share our progress and hear here tails of success from the sunny south.

Here is a pic of the Bennville group at the Royal in Nov after Diane won the Grand Prix Freestyle.

And since I am on the topic of the Royal…I must express my disappointment that the pull pork parfait place was not at the Royal this year.  :-(  The apple dumpling place however was and it's same location as it has been since I can remember going to the Royal.   Here we are, (Heather and I) with our delicious treats!

Here is a pic of Joe and I after a recent lesson in early Dec.   Hard to believe I have trained with Joe for nearly 20 years now!

The dog days of winter have hit the farm earlier this year than last.   We got snow in Nov this year and it has pretty well stayed.  It was nice to have a white Christmas this year.   The pets have felt the cold and have enjoyed the best spot in the house after a few hours at the barn!

Ironically tho, when DH and I decided to have a few romantic minutes together enjoying sue finger foods by the fire…everyone was wide awake!!

Late in Nov I spent a sunny Sunday morning with my girl friends at the Santa run in Hamilton along the pier.   A short 5K in a Santa suit certainly kicks off the Christmas spirit!

A special thanks to my friend Lynn who got me started with this run last year.   You can read about our adventure at the 2012 Santa Run here.

So there you have it folks…not a lot of farm news but I will try and be more diligent at updates again moving forward.   I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to new adventures and continuing your journey in 2014.