Winter Crashes Into New Hampshire !

After a wonderful extended Fall Season, we have been hit by back to back snowstorms.

The first was kind of a practice run.   We got 5 inches, which thinned down to 1 or 2 very quickly.   No plowing was required.   It was a good reminder of what WHITE precipitation is all about...   Mother Nature's way of giving everyone a couple days to prepare the snowplows and snowblowers, stock up on non-perishables, change to winter tires, buy a couple extra show shovels, and bring in more firewood.

That was a few days ago.

Today, we got hit much harder!   We had our first plowing event.   12 inches of the white stuff.   And wind that brings the phrase "windchill factor" out of storage and back onto the table again

Yup.   Winter is here again.

Before & After - The Kitchen Door Yard

The kitchen was another section of the house which received attention.



First, we put on new roofs, including copper flashing on the chimney.



Then painting began.



The kitchen door yard itself was tidied up, which meant transplanting all of the flowers and herbs away from the house.   With it, the butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees moved as well.   Now, grass and rhubarb are now the only greenery within the stone walled door yard.

Before & After - The Main House

Today, we sat down and went through the photo albums, looking at the progress we have made on the property.   The first and most noticable difference is in the main house itself.



The roof was given first priority after we moved in.   WIthin a few months, it was completely redone in a nice dark charcoal colour.   Painting was the next major improvement in the house...   a task which took several weeks time spread over two years.   There was no rush.

Big Ben & Piper Warrior at Play

The video says it all.....

Trailblazing Project

For the past week, we have been enjoying unseasonably warm November weather.   Temperatures have been in the 50's and 60's during the day.   Wonderful.   But even better, there are no bugs!   They disappeared after several frosts.

Taking full advantage of the weather, we've been giving our woodlands some long overdue attention.   We are finally restoring the overgrown riding trails and we're even blazing new trails!

The work is very manual and truly backbreaking.   Staying motivated is challenging, especially when the progress is slow.   But the long term vision of enjoying quiet hacks in the woods keeps things moving along.   And, after many hours of hard work, short test rides on the trails provide welcome rewards.

Hunter Jumper Barn?

Another winter is fast approaching...   A time when most of our riding will be done indoors.

As done in past winters, we will enjoy doing a lot of ground work with our horses, some light dressage work, jumping under saddle, and free jumping.   We'll also be getting the youngsters well started under saddle.   However, unlike our previous winters, this winter we'll enjoy a happy explosion of bright colors in our indoor arena with our brand new show jump poles!



Maybe we should designate Kearsarge Meadows as a Summer Dressage Training Center and a Winter Hunter Jumper Farm!     :-)

Pumpkins & Horses

The Courser Farm in Warner has tons of pumpkins for sale at their farm stand.   Prices are low and the pumpkins are lovely.   We've been purchasing lots of them, taking them home to split open for our turkeys and chickens to pick at.   They really enjoy the seeds and the flesh.

Today, just as a goof, we placed a pumpkin into one of the pastures.   It quickly turned into a toy for the horses.



Piper, our black 12 year old gelding, went after it first, quickly finding the stem and using it to lift the pumpkin off the ground.   Dropping it, it rolled away.   He and 3 year old Big Ben worked together to investigate, following it, and pushing it around a bit.

Soon, Piper returned to nibbling on grass.   But Ben, a youngster who loves to play, kept himself thoroughly amused for quite some time, moving the pumpkin around with his nose and his feet.

Tomorrow, more pumpkins will be purchased.   But instead of thinking just in terms of tasty food for the birds, we'll be looking for pumpkins that roll really well and have strong stems.

Sharing the Roads With Horses

October has arrived, bringing beautiful fall colors, crisp weather, and the end of the bug season.   And for us horseback riders, it also means great riding weather!   Now is when lots of riders hit the trails and roads.

This month's issue of the local "Warner's New Paper" contains an article entitled "Sharing the Roads of Warner".     The aim of the article, written by Kimberley, is to offer some advice to both equestrians and vehicle operators on how to safely share the road.

WNP owner, manager, and editor Richard Senor visited the farm to take a photo of Jeddien and Kimberley riding on the road.   Unplanned, a neighbor drove by, passing slow and wide.   It was a wonderful example of courtesy and safe road sharing on Kearsarge Mountain Road.   The photo can be found in the paper.

The original article, as submitted to WNP, can be found on the Kearsarge Meadows website here, in PDF format.   Feel free to share it with others.

Enjoy the great Autumn weather!   And stay safe!

Something to Crow About

We have a new rooster.   He's a real beauty and won a Blue Ribbon for his breeder at the Hopkinton State Fair earlier this month.   We admired him and purchased him on the spot.

Big Red is a young bird and had a bit of a time getting to know our hens.   The younger ones befriended him fairly quickly, but the older hens beat the...., well, let's just say he was at the bottom of the hen pecking order for a week or more.

This week, Big Red has been making some interesting noises.   We could tell something was up!   And sure enough, this morning, he CROWED!   Not once.   Not twice.   No, he has been trying out his new voice for the past half hour.

It's a proud little moment on the farm.   Our young rooster has learned to crow!

The Magic Box

We have a new horse game at Kearsarge Meadows, originally designed to help our most timid horse, Piper Warrior, learn to accept new things....   quickly!   As those of you who follow the Dressage Queen Blog know, Piper is not the bravest of creatures.   And this is not helping his career as a dressage horse.   A sport where the horse has only 45 seconds to "get over" spooking at the flowers, or the judge, or the puddles and get on with the dressage test!

So, the game:   We have a medium sized cardboard box most recently used to ship lovely smelling herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs.   It's open at the top and is 12 inches deep, 18 inches wide.   Inside it, we place bits of carrot, apple, and a couple of Canada mints.   We play with the box a little, making sure it makes some noise without being terrifying.

For Piper, this is very scary.   Even in the safety and comfort of a quiet barn.   The first evening, it took Piper several minutes to even consider coming to the front of his stall to look at the box we were playing with.   Even with us retreating away and reapproaching.   He worried.   It took a few more minutes before he would look into the box.   And a couple more minutes before he smelled the Canada mints.   But, in the end, he gingerly pulled the treats out of the box, enjoying an instant reward for his bravery.

Next, we decided to try the same thing with Big Ben, our 3 year old gelding out of Marja, not sure how the youngster would cope.   However, Ben walked right up to the box, shoved his head in, and dug out the treats moving the box around while doing so.   He showed absolutely no fear at all.

The first night, this was really turning into a fascinating exercise.   So, we kept moving down the aisle.

Next was little Bea Yewtee's turn.   She is our 3 year old filly out of Jeddien.   Bea is sharp and edgy by nature.   But also brave.   At first, she was totally spooked by the box.   However, her curiousity overwhelmed her fear and within a couple minutes, she was stealing treats.

Finally, we took the box to Jeddien who must have mentored Ben.   She not only ate right of out the box, she turned it over looking for anything else that may have been hidden.

The next night, the magic box was used again.   Piper was quicker to come forward, but still worried.   Meanwhile, Ben, hearing that the box game was underway, started stomping!   Bea was quite quick to have a look into the box when it arrived at her stall.   And Jeddien nickered at the idea of treats, box or no box.

All four horses are Dutch Warmbloods.   The youngsters were born on the farm and handled from birth.   Jeddien & Piper were both purchased as 2 and a half year olds imported from Holland.   All have been handled and trained with similar techniques and methods.   And yet, each is so completely unique in their personalities.

And that, in itself, is part of the wonder of horses.   They are all such amazing individuals.

Time to go play again....   Tonight, whole apples from a local farm will be rolling around on the bottom of the box.   Great noise.   Tasty treats.

Technical Difficulties

We recently moved Kearsarge Meadows's home page to a new hosting site. Things were going quite well at first.   However, with all things technical, glitches can occur and apparently, that is the case right now.   So, if you find Kearsarge-Meadows.com to be unreachable, we apologise.   The problem is being addressed....

Meanwhile, since you are sitting in front of a computer, here's a fun one.   Lift your right foot of the floor and make clockwise circles.   Now, while doing this, draw a number "6" in the air with your right hand.   Without letting your right foot change direction.

I'm guessing our website will be back up before you succeed in this little exercise.   :-)   Thank you for your patience!

At the 2009 USDF Region 8 Championships, Jeddien, our 18 year old KWPN Dutch Warmblood mare trained and ridden by Kimberley, earned the title of Reserve Champion at 3rd Level Open (Professional).

Jeddien was born in Holland, imported into the UK at the age of 2 and a half year, and started and trained by Kimberley through to Fourth Level Dressage.   Over the past 15 years, Robert Pickles, Fellow of the BHS was the biggest influence in Jeddien's development.   Clinics with Christine Stuckleberger (Swiss dressage star) and Jan Nivelle (German Grand Prix trainer & coach for Belgium) were influential along the way.   And of course, Pat Parelli's Natural Horsemanship programs and trainers made an impact.

The weekend at the Regionals is still underway.   But at this point, Jeddien has already proved herself a successful Dressage Queen.   Any successes that follow will just be frosting on the cake!

Frosting! - An Update

On Sunday, the last day of the Regionals, Kimberley & Jeddien also won the 2009 Reserve Championship title for the 3rd Level Freestyle.   Very exciting!

The 2009 Hops Harvest

Today, we harvested all of our homegrown hops.

We started our hops bines in 2007, with the purchase of 12 initial rhizomes from Freshops.com.   Georg built a 14 foot high, 36 foot long, single wire trellis with 12 full height biodegradable climbing ropes for each plant.   Following the clear instructions from Freshops, we planted one rhizome at the bottom of each climbing rope.   And then we waited.



By the end of the 2007 growing season, we had 3 foot to 6 foot tall bines, as expected.   The energy of the plants was being spent on developing a strong root system.   Spring 2008, after a cold winter, shoots soon appeared and the bines grew really well.   In September 2008, we harvested a few ounces of hop flowers and were very pleased with ourselves.   We used the hops to flavor one batch of homebrew.

But this year, we had our first true hops crop!   Nearly all the plants reached the top of the 14 foot ropes and started working their way down again.   The main bines were as thick as a finger.   And the flowers were bigger and in beautiful dense clusters.



Harvesting 14 foot tall bines, which by nature do a fabulous job of adhering to the ropes, is a challenge.   Ladders help.   And figuring out how to unwind the bines from the bottom helps, too.   It is the kind of work that requires a quiet patience.   Like most farm work.

After a few hours of work, and earning the multiple scratches from the rather itchy plants to prove it, we had gathered a whooping 10 full gallons of hop flowers!   They are now air drying and will soon be packed in the freezer for preservation until Kearsarge Meadows' BrewMeister, Georg, uses them to add wonderful hoppy flavor to his beer recipes.

Henniker Chili Fest

We will remember the weekend of August 22 -23, 2009 for two key events.

First, this was the weekend Hurricane Bill skimmed past New England, given those on along the shorelines a bit of excitement, but no real troubles.

Second was the Henniker Rotary Club's Annual Chili Fest at Pat's Peak.

The Henniker Chili Fest is a great afternoon out, with it's Classic Car Show, BBQ, arts & crafts vendors, and of course, the famous chili cookoffs. The 2000 or so people who attend the event, get to taste test over 40 chilis, then cast their votes for their favorites. And despite all of the threats of foul weather, the clouds held onto their rain until we got back home again.

We tasted between 30 and 40 different chilis. An ounce of each. Yes, that's approximately a QUART of chili. Our votes went to "Vindaloo", who used a lot of Indian spices to give their chili a very unique taste, and "Chappin" who had a very sweet chili.

We are already looking forward to the 2010 Henniker Rotary Club's Chili Fest.

Watching The Radar

Horses.   All day grass turnout.   Summer weather.   Thunderstorms.   Keeping safe.   That pretty much sums up summer time horse turnout management.   :-)

Most of our weather comes from the west, allowing us to see it approaching if we happen to be looking out the kitchen window.   However, if we're sitting at a computer, radar is our friend.

My favorite weather radar site is this one from Radar.Weather.Gov and allows me to view weather coming from all directions via the Adjacent Radars arrows.

I first learned about this site when a colleague at Sun Microsystems emailed out a warning to everyone in the Nashua office about a strong front speeding its way to New Hampshire in July 2005.   Thanks, Eric!

The storm of July 2005 was quite intense, rather terrifying, and caused a lot of damage including shearing many of our tallest trees and washing out the entrance to our driveway, as shown in this photo.   While we have not seen a storm as strong as that since, we still listen for rumbles of thunder, keep an eye on the skies and watch the radar whenever thunderstorm alerts are posted.

Like today.

New School Season = New Evening Grooms

"What happened to Summer?", seems to be the favorite question around these parts.   With June and July being a total wash out, August is providing the only true taste of summer.   And September is only 10 days away!

With the new school season starting up, we will be saying "So long & good luck!" to two of our employees, both of whom work in the afternoon / evening shift bringing in the horses and feeding dinner.   One is off to College!   Congratuations!   The other is entering the High School Senior year and will be deciding which College or University to attend after that.   Both will be missed!

We're now looking for 1 or 2 local people to replace these great kids.   It's a good physical job for someone with horse experience who wants to earn a bit of cash working no more than 2 hours per day on a friendly, beautiful horse farm.

If interested, contact us via our farm website, Kearsarge-Meadows.com.

Declaring War, Again

Too many emotions are experienced when a small scale farmer such as myself comes to find a collection of beautiful, soft, silky young chicken feathers on the driveway, feathers of young hens you know, young hens you raised from chicks.

Once again, another predator has made off with 2 young hens.   Both of the girls were born on March 23rd this year and were just starting to test their mature hen voices.   In another couple months, they may have started laying an egg here or there.   But, really, they were still babies.

Over the past few nights, twice I have seen a fox trot down our driveway around 2 am.   It sets off various alarms, including the dogs.   What a great way to wake up suddenly.   Anyway, it looks like that fox has been scoping out the farm, smelling chickens, and learning they hang out around the manure pile, where they eat fly eggs and various bugs.   One kill was done there, in the hen's own safe zone only yards from their box stall where they roost at night.   There is no sign of the other hen.

So, he came.   He found a plentiful source of food.   He killed.   And now you can bet your bottom dollar he will be back.   Most likely tomorrow or the next day.

This time, I will be waiting.   Yes.   This is war.   Again.

Got Rain?

April 2009 was stunning in New Hampshire!   May was pretty spectacular as well.   June and July, however, have been the rainiest &coolest summer months in a very long time.   So bad, in fact, that we have not had a BBQ in weeks.

With our farm on a hilltop, our pastures usually dry out very quickly after a storm.   But with so many storms stacking up like airplanes on final approach into Oshkosh, even the highest hilltops stay saturated a lot longer.   Fortunately, we somehow keep managing to squeeze in a few mowing hours here and there, allowing us to tidy up the pastures, our groomed riding trails, and of course, the front lawn.   But it is a challenge!

I don't mind riding my dressage horses in a light cooling misty rain.   But the kind of rain we have been having for the past couple months has even driven me to ride in the indoor arena more than the outdoor arena.   And on the few days that we have had hot sunshine, the humidity that arises from the saturated ground has been another good to avoid the outdoors!

While the horses, chickens, and turkeys don't seem to mind the AWOL summer season, our garden areas sure do.   The vegetables, grapes, and hops are all crying out for warmth & sunshine, and lots of it.   And I know our pooch would rather see more dry days on the calendar.   She is definitely not a water dog.

Tomorrow, August 2009 arrives.   The Meteorologists at WMUR Channel 9 promise it will begin with stunningly beautiful weather.   Here's hoping we will see lots of great August weather!   Until then, folks in town are maintaining their smiles, pointing out that "at least it's not snow!"

Got rain?   Too much rain?   We understand how it feels....

Hiring Farm Employees

One of the challenging areas of owning any business is in the recruitment and hiring of good people with the right skills and attitude to do the job and represent the business with pride.   Whether a high tech firm, a medical centre, a super market, or a horse farm, finding good staff is always critical to the success of a business.


(From the website http://www.apprenticesearch.com/ in Ontario Canada)


In general, we have been lucky in finding employees who have the knowledge, passion, and skills needed to provide the horses and our clients with the kind of care they need, deserve, and have come to expect.   Some people stay with us for years and some only for a few months.   No matter how long they are on the payroll, the good ones are a joy to have working on the farm.

As with all companies, we also run into our share of "misfits", people who do not care...   They don't last long at all.

At this time, we are expecting one of our fabulous employees to move on to another job in the next few weeks.   And so once again, we will be looking for the next right person to fill their muck boots.

It's actually hard work, recruiting.   It takes time & money to advertise, time to interview, and even more time to through the required paperwork, including IRS and U.S. Department of Justice forms.   But, when the right person comes along, it's worth it.

So, we are hiring again...   We hope to continue to find good horse people in the Warner area to join the team at Kearsarge Meadows.

Bird Eat Bird World

This week, we are happy to have visiting family from the Black Forest of Germany.   Georg's mom, "Oma", and his eldest sister Beate are enjoying a rather unique farm vacation!

Part of the fun of life at Kearsarge Meadows involves seeing the livestock that live here.   Of course this includes the pampered horses, friends' sheep and lambs who summer here, our egg laying chickens, and our newest critters, baby turkeys.

In less than 5 months time, the young poults will gain anywhere from 35 to 50 pounds.   In November, they will be the guests of honour at Thanksgiving Dinners in both Warner New Hampshire and Dunstable Massachusetts.

Having European guests gives us a fun opportunity to have an early Thanksgiving Dinner.   And so we stuffed and cooked a lovely little (14.5 pound) turkey, prepared 4 different autumn vegetables, and provided the usual fixings.   And of course, there was pumpkin pie.

With Ian Grey, our African Grey, suggesting "Who wants Turkey?" and interjecting lots of comments of "Gut Gut Guten Tag!!!", we all enjoyed a late afternoon feast.   Even Ian who truly enjoys eating turkey.

Green Grass, Blue Sky

Is it possible to have too much grass on a horse farm?   Hardly!   But what a wonderful "problem" to have!   :-)

Fabulous May weather has caused the grass pastures to grow really well again.   Of course, good pasture management is part of the overall formula.

Lime.   Fertilizer.   Controlled use of the fields.   Mowing, mowing, and more mowing!   All of these things have helped our fields become the lush greenlands that they are today.

Later this week, sheep will be moved into this field which is viewable from our Kearsarge Mountain webcam.   And occasionally, we let horses into the plusher pastures for some afternoon feasts.

Such a difference from only 8 weeks ago when white snow dominated this view.   But for now, it is green.   The songbirds love it.   The horses love it.   The sheep love it.   Our boarders love it.   We love it.

Today, the view is green.

Milk Snake

Sometimes farm life includes encounters with wildlife.   Twice in the past couple weeks, we have had such experiences with a "Milk Snake".   This one is not particularly large, as one can tell in comparison to the rather healthy May crab grass, but it was surprisingly easy to agitate.



Now I'm not a huge snake fan, but I must admit, this one is quite....   well...   pretty.   And knowing that it lives off small rodents, one has to agree it must be a good thing to have around in the fields and woods.

Assuming it manages to avoid capture by a hawk or other predator, maybe we'll see this fellow again one day...

Mowing

So, maybe it's sad, but it is true.   I love to mow!

But only because we have a Husqvarna Lawn Tractor.   A riding mower.   A true joy.   A wonderous machine.   My personal time machine.

Yes, put me on my Husky, with a full tank, and I can go for miles and hours, hours and miles.   Georg knows I am gone....

My boarders love my work.   Groomed riding trails around the property.   My neighbors probably like the work as well.   A tidy grass area around the outdoor dressage arena.   And of course, the lawn benefits...

I have enjoyed my jobs in the computer industry, programming, providing support, managing, and directing.   But mowing provides a level of instant satisfaction that none of those roles ever could.

I really love mowing.   Time Travel Season has arrived!

Gardening in April

With unseasonably warm weather this weekend, gardening is now underway at Kearsarge Meadows.   Our 2 year old hops vines are already breaking through the ground and the wine grapevines of the same age are budding out.   It's a good sign.

This weekend, early crops are already going into the ground.   Snap peas, onions, garlic, and strawberries.   Frost sensitive plants will be started indoors.

With temps expected to hit the 70's this weekend, little milestones will be reached.   For example, the baby chickens will see sunshine and grass for the first time.   Horse baths will take place.   Garden weeding and ground preparation will take place.   And the first motorcycle ride of the season will have to take place.

Spring with summer temperatures!   No problem!   Bring it on!

Big Ben is 3 Years Old Today

Today was Ben's 3rd birthday.

As planned, it was a Milestone Day, with Ben being ridden for real for the first time.   He has been sat upon a couple times in the past and led around with a rider.   But today was a different.   Today, Ben stood on his own to be mounted and then walked around a bit without being on a lead.



While he is still learning about steering and "Go & Whoa" aids from the ground, he did a super good job nonetheless today.   And the best part, he was never stressed out by the session.

Sigh.   Late at night 3 years ago, a tall leggy foal entered the world and our lives.   Tonight, a young riding horse sleeps in his stall.   We could not be prouder of our big KWPN Dutch Warmblood boy.

Freestyle Debut - The Movie

Mystic Valley Hunt Club
April 18, 2009
3rd Level Freestyle
Score: 70%

The First Show of 2009

The first USDF dressage show of Spring 2009 took place this weekend, April 18 2009, at Mystic Valley Hunt Club in Connecticut.

Jeddien and Kimberley competed there, contesting the 3rd Level Test 3 Open Qualifier and the 3rd Level Freestyle Qualifier. Both classes were won with qualifying scores of 64.884% and 70% respectively.   Having already earned one qualifying score for back in September, they have now finished qualifying for the 2009 USDF Region 8 3rd Level Open Championships.   To finish qualifying for the Freestyle Championships, one more score of 65% is needed before mid August.

While at MVHC, they competed at 4th Level, contesting Test 1.   In this, they earned 62% and came 2nd.

The first show of 2009 and truly a great start!

Then & Now

In New Hampshire, RSA (Revised Statutes Annotated) 79-D starts with the following information:

79-D:1 Declaration of Public Interest. – It is hereby declared to be in the public interest to encourage the preservation of historic agricultural structures which are potentially subject to decay or demolition, thus maintaining the historic rural character of the state's landscape, sustaining agricultural traditions, and providing an attractive scenic environment for work and recreation of the state's citizens and visitors.   It is further declared to be in the public interest to prevent the loss of historic agricultural structures due to property taxation at values incompatible with their preservation.   The means for encouraging preservation of historic agricultural structures authorized by this chapter is the acquisition of discretionary preservation easements by town or city governments to assure preservation of such structures which provide a demonstrated public benefit.

Now, I don't know if our old barn qualifies, but today, I submitted an application to find out.   While doing the required paperwork, I found the following comparison of photos kinda cool.

	Estimated to be at the turn of the century, more than 100 years ago.
	Today.

Aside from a few pasture sheds, a one car garage, and the annex being extended out and up in the 1970's, the picture is pretty much the same.   I wonder what things will look like in another 100 years...

Easter Chicks

Easter.   Aside from a big holiday, it brings to mind several wonderful memories...   Beautiful church services.   Visiting Nanny & Pa.   Spring flowers.   Newborn lambs playing in the pastures.   Visits from the Easter Bunny.   Tons of chocolate.   And chicks.

Watching healthy happy chicks can only bring a smile to one's face.   They jump, run, "fly", roll, scratch, eat, drink, fluff, and snooze.   All in the same few minutes.   Then repeat it again.



After the local fox (who, by the way, is still at large) got three of our hens, we obtained some new chicks.   Black Australorps and Araucanas which are also known as the "Easter Egg Chicken" as it lays really cool blue-green eggs.

There is something wonderful about new beginnings.

Clipping

Clipping.   The process horse people use to remove large quantities of hair from the horse and deposit it upon themselves.   At least, that is how it usually ends up.

Temperatures during the day are getting up into the 50's.   Jeddien's first competition is only a couple weeks away.   And yet, she is still sporting a full winter coat.   Too much of a coat for the practice we are doing.   I don't want her overheating.

So, out come the big heavy duty clippers tomorrow.   She will end up much cooler and happier.   And I will end up coughing up horse hair for a couple days.   :-)

PJ's Birthday

We just waved goodbye to Mark & PJ Hayden of Wokingham England.   They enjoyed a holiday on the farm as a special birthday present for PJ.   Mark kept the trip secret and packed PJ's riding gear without her knowing.   Even as I stepped out of the house to greet them, PJ still had no idea what was in store for her!

Mark had planned this trip specifically for PJ's birthday, with a focus on horseback riding.   PJ is just getting back into riding after a long hiatus.   So lots of time was spent with the horses.   We even got to use the outdoor arena for the first time this spring.   (Only a small amount of snow still remains.)

Riding Jeddien, our 4th Level / Advanced Medium Dressage mare, PJ got to work on all the lateral movements, flying changes, and piaffe.   They also popped over a few jumps, which Jeddien thoroughly enjoyed.

However, life at Kearsarge Meadows is not just about horses!

The Hayden's helped Georg and I with the hard work of collecting sap, chopping wood, boiling the sap, filtering, bottling, and of course, in the end, taste testing the homemade maple syrup.   And since this past weekend was the official New Hampshire Maple Sugaring Weekend, we visited 4 different sugaring operations.   Fun.   Educational.   And a nice way to meet some of the local people of Warner.

Over the course of the visit, we feasted on New England fare of "lobstah", "steamahs", and champagne, fabulous prime rib, locally raised buffalo from Keira & Brian Farmer's own Yankee Farmer's Market in Warner, and brunch at the Foothills Restaurant in the center of town.

With crappy "English weather" on Saturday, Mark & Georg headed to Best Buy in Manchester while PJ & I travelled to Dover Saddlery.   Much to my delight, when we arrived back to the farm, Pink Floyd was playing on new speakers in the indoor arena.   My long awaited sound system will soon be installed.   Yippee!

PJ and Mark will soon be back in the UK.   We look forward to their next trip to Warner...   a trip for which PJ will once again be allowed pack her own luggage!   :-)

My Last Day at Sun Microsystems

Spring 20 years ago, an awful lot happened in my life.

My first dressage horse, an off the track Thoroughbred (OTTB), was declared unsuitable by my trainer for advancement to the levels I aspired.   This was due to the toll racing took on his legs.   I gave him away to a coworker who wanted to trail ride.

I was laid off from Gould Computer Systems Division, in round 3 or 4 of post-acquisition reductions.   It was a difficult period for Gould employees, watching a great computer company slowly disappear.

My divorce became final and two weeks later, my ex remarried his new girlfriend.   I was very single.

Single, jobless, horseless.   AND I turned 30 years old.   Very depressing to say the least!

Within a few weeks time, however, my world was completely turned around again.

I purchased my first KWPN Dutch Warmblood from J. Ashton (Jeff) Moore, a fabulous big imported mahogany bay mare by Rubinstein.   No, I did not exactly have a job yet, but I knew I would soon.

Next, after receiving job offers from Cray, Sequent, and Pyramid, I joined Sun Microsystems as a UNIX Support Specialist only because the hiring manager understood about horseownership and knew what dressage was.   :-)   Hey, these things are important!

I had a new job and a wonderful new horse.   Things were good again.

That was 20 years ago.   A helluva lot of living has happened since then.

I lived in the UK for 12 years, wrote a technical computer book, became a Brit, became a Sun millionaire, married a European, watched my millions disappear when the markets crashed, trained and competed my new KWPN Dutch Warmblood horses, moved back to the USA, and got promoted to Director of Operations for Global Product Development.   Cool title, eh?

Sun was 7 years old when I joined 20 years ago.   There were tons of good times, and some hard times.   The hardest, it seems, have been recent.   And with that, we had a big layoff in January.   Mine was one of several thousand positions that were impacted.

My last Sun blog entry says good-bye.   (Snippet shown below)



So, Monday, March 23rd, is actually my last day at Sun.   It's strange to think about.   And again, laid off right before a big birthday, the big 5-0 no less.   (Ugh)   Not unlike a friendly divorce, this is definitely the end of a very long relationship.   I will miss Sun.

However, now rumours are rampant that the Sun Microsystems I knew and loved may not be around much longer.   Google "Sun Microsystems IBM"   And that may even be a little bit sadder.

See ya later Sun!   Good luck & all the best!

36 and Rising

As promised, today looks like it'll be another beautiful day.   Temps may even soar into the 50's!

We can see more and more patches of dormant pasture grass as the snow continues to melt.   Even the outdoor riding arena, which has a 12 inch border around it, is finally making an appearance after a long winter hidden under deep snow.

Everyone is itchy to get back to trailriding.   Bugs or not!   But until the trails are clear of snow and safe for riding, the driveway is our trail, as demonstrated here by Ann and her trusty steed, Sole Express (aka Sole).

Happy trails to all!

Mud Season Begins

Suddenly, it seems like there's lots happening all at once!

We have the perfect weather from a maple sugarer's perspective.   Freezing temps at night, mild days.   The sap is running!   And we've already boiled our first batch of liquid gold!

Of course with the milder days, so begins New England's 5th season:   "Mud Season".   Before it gets into full swing, we had my Miley horse trailer uncovered & extracted from the snow today.   Hitched up, we're now doing loading practice with some of the horses.   More work will follow tomorrow.

And two new employees started today.   I think as the winter blues melt away, working on a horse farm becomes much more appealing to real horse lovers.

With the temps now easier on both horse & rider, we are getting back into serious riding again.   Our first dressage competition is less than 5 weeks away, but we will be ready.   Training here includes "hacking" up and down the driveway and through any snow that is not too deep!

Clipping the competition horse's coat will be done this week.   And midweek, all of the horses will be getting their spring vaccinations and other veterinary attention needed at this time of year.

And new chicks will be ordered, replacing those lost by the killer fox.

As the snow continues to melt, the garden area will appear.   It won't be until the last week of May that anything will go into the ground.   But the crops that take the longest to grow can be started indoors... Right about now.   The seeds, pots, and seed starter soil is ready to go!   So, another thing to do!

It's been a busy little week!   And it's only Monday. :-)

Schooling Shows

The big goal for Kearsarge Meadows this year is to run our first Dressage Schooling Shows.

This historic farm has been host to many shows over the past decades.   We've even seen photos from the 1970's showing riders going over cross country fences that no longer exist.   But since our arrival in 2005, we've been focussing on making major improvements to the property (new roofs, painting, outdoor arena, sand & rubber footing, pasture renovations, and more).   All this while the goal of hosting shows has been kept quietly simmering on the back burner.

If all goes well, the final big improvement we're making will be completed this spring.   We're putting in a decent sized trailer parking area.   Being able to envision this happening, I'm now sitting down with various calendars to select SHOW DATES!

2009 Schooling Dressage Shows

So far in the plans, we will be offering Intro, Training Level, and First Level classes.   There may be "Gaited Horse" classes and "Stock Horse" classes as well.   No matter what the program looks like, emphasis will be on SCHOOLING and FUN for both horse and rider.

As I sit here looking out the window at the results of yet another impressive snowstorm, I find it hard to imagine that in a few months time, we will be handing out ribbons to riders sporting huge smiles.   What a wonderful vision!

Chicken Killer

Life on the farm.   It is very different from city life, different from life in the suburbs.

For us, life on a farm includes sharing our property with more than just horses.   We also have a small flock of chickens.



The hens and rooster spend nights in a stall fitted with nest boxes, suspended birch tree limbs for perches, shavings, hay, water, and feed.   During the day, they free range around the barn and house, scratching around for bugs and insect eggs, bathing in the dirt, and nibbling on plants.   Generally, they do whatever comes naturally.

Our hens were purchased as new chicks, spent their first week or two in a warm box in my office, and then moved to a heated nursery set up in the barn.   From there, they eventually moved to the big stall.   Within their first year, they started providing us with wonderful eggs.

I really like my chickens.   Apparently, so does a fox!

Yesterday, the 3 hens above were killed by a fox.   Right next to the barn.   Feathers are everywhere.   The two brown hens were carried away.   The black hen was left behind, throat opened, but otherwise intact.   It is not a pretty picture.

War begins.

Bea Yewtee

Bea Yewtee is out of our own Jeddien, by the grey 1990 17.1h Westfalen, Da Vinci (shown here).

Da Vinci, owned by South Gate Farm, was standing at Cornell University when Jeddien went through quarantine there as part of our move from England.   Since he was accepted by the KWPN, we used that visit to breed Jeddien.   Once she was done with quarantine, they simply moved her to the breeding barn and did the deed.   :-)

Bea is Big Ben's "sister".   Ben and Bea grew up together, sharing a big pasture for the first two years of their lives, at first with their Mom's, then with another young playmate during the weaning process.

Both Ben and Bea are registered KWPN Dutch Warmbloods.   Both are chestnuts.   Both were imprint trained from birth and handled daily ever since.   Both are very friendly and really enjoy being groomed & scratched in the right places.

And that is where their similarities come to an abrupt end.

Bea's personality is best described as "sharp".   She is edgy, sensitive, quick, and clever.   She is a fast learner, but not a pushover.   A lot like Jeddien.

Watching Bea play in the pasture this weekend, I wondered how many horse people would think she was part Arabian instead of pure Dutch Warmblood.   Tail in the air, showing off incredible movement, throwing in tempi changes for the hell of it, snorting and blowing, she makes us laugh.



Bea will be 3 years old in June.   Sigh.   The 2006 babies are growing up.   :-)   It's kinda sad, but also so great to see.

Riding Ben

Today, for the third time, I rode Big Ben.   Until he is better at working in driving lines, we are still at the early stage of just posing for photos....



...and going for "pony rides".   Sure, I know "pony ride" photos are not exactly exciting news.   Unless you are the pony's mom.   :-)



But then, Big Ben is only 2 years, 10 months old.   And still growing like a weed!   We have nothing but time ahead of us.



What's important right now is that Ben is becoming accustomed to the idea that humans can sit on him, and not just in his stall when he's lying down.   :-)   All while he's still unfit, unbalanced, and a bit unsure about this new activity.

Over the next few weeks, we will continue working in long lines, "driving" around the arena, developing responsiveness to verbal commands, and getting "pony rides".   We have no deadlines to chase.   Just positive experiences to share.   It's a precious time for the young horse and his first trainer.

(Thanks to Kyle for capturing these photos for us!)

2009 NEDA Omnibus

Winter blues so are easily crushed with the arrival of the NEDA (New England Dressage Association) Omnibus.

The 2009 issue arrived this week.   Before I even left the parking lot of the post office, I opened it up and soon found Kearsarge Meadow's full page ad on page 37.   Aside from the fact that the publishers goofed a little and used the 2008 ad instead of the 2009 ad submitted to them, it's still good to see....



Doing advertising is something I had to get my head around when we started the Kearsarge Meadows business.   However, I enjoy the design work involved.   I use Open Office, "The Free and Open Productivity Suite", to do all my presentations, spreadsheets, and advertisements.

Enough advertising for today.   Now we return to our regularly scheduled program.     :-)

Perfect Storm

Once again, we are getting hit by a wintery storm.   When checking the horses at 10:30 tonight, we had to trudge through 4 inches of new snow.

A quick pass up and down the driveway with the plow soon looked pretty pitiful with the snow still falling quite heavily.   But, according to Chief Meteorologist Mike Haddad on WMUR News 9, the back edge of the storm is not far away and hopefully, when all is said and done, we should top out somewhere between 6 and 9 inches total.   Fingers crossed.

Best part, however, is that the storm will have completely passed by the time we turn out the horses after breakfast.   Snug and comfortable in their stalls all night, this storm has no impact on them or their schedules.   Tomorrow, they will have sunshine, fresh snow to roll and play in, and lots of hay to munch on in the pastures.   Now THAT is a perfect storm.

Ben's Second Ride

President's Day brought lots of sunshine on a crisp winter day.   During the afternoon, I went to Ben's pasture gate, called, and soon had his warm breath on my face.   We went into the barn, tacked up, and started another training session in the indoor arena.

This session was the first where lines were attached to the rings of the bit as well as the halter.   Attaching the lines to both the bit and the halter would help stabilise the bit and lessen the movement it would have in his mouth.

Ben lunged fairly quietly on long lines at walk and trot.   At the walk, using the bit & halter for directional guidance, we did figure eights around the arena on driving lines.   Ben also quickly learned that the word "Ho", which he knows means "slow down" or "stop", was followed by pressure on the bit if he did not respond.   Once he BEGAN to respond, the pressure was released.

The work was generally calm and quiet.   There were a couple bucks and squeals, but nothing major.   And so, after a short session on the long lines, we switched back to a lead rope on the halter, removed the driving lines, and headed for the mounting block again.

Following the same routine as on Sunday, I stood above Ben, patting him, bouncing up and down against the saddle, and finally climbed on board.   Again, he stood still and enjoyed lots of praise and a few mints.

This time, Georg led us up and down the arena, left, right, around and around, stopping, going, and finally finishing the ridden work with a mint.

Sounds like boring work, huh?   :-)   However, watching Ben's big eyes get a little bit bigger, it is far from boring for him.   He is on a steep learning curve.   Every little step is a big one for this young horse.   And so far, he's making great strides.

Orchids

I love orchids.   Have for a very long time.   In England, I grew many Cymbidiums, most of which were in "resting periods" when I purchased them and, thus, very inexpensive.   These are what I refer to as "The Big Hawaii Orchids".   Inaccurate, but one of the impressions of my one and only trip to Hawaii was the Cymbidiums.   Bringing them back to full bloom was a job of patience and reward.

Wonderfully, for Valentine's Day, Georg took me to the New Hampshire Orchid Society's annual orchid show at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua.   Now, having visited England's Kew Gardens and their wonderful orchid house, and having read a fair number of things about orchids, I already appreciated that orchids come in an amazing array of shapes, colors, and sizes, but I had NO IDEA!   This was my first orchid show.   It blew me away!   And it wasn't even a big show!
By the end of our short visit at the show, my brain was overwhelmed by the immense variety of orchids on display.   I was most blown away by the absolutely miniature flowers which I had no idea even existed.   And scented orchids, while I knew they existed, were not something I had encountered in person.   What a treat!

By the end of the afternoon, I had collected the business card of a new orchid garden based locally in New London, NH that I will visit shortly, if nothing else but to get some orchid fertiliser, and had purchased 5 plants from another exhibitor, Marlow Orchids of New York.   After many years of owning the big Cymbidiums, the lady slipper Paphiopedilums, and a few "moth orchids" or Phalaenopsis, I found myself taking home orchids new to me.

Go add to my little collection at home, I now have 4 young Cattleyas as well as my first Oncidium, which won me over not only by it's miniature flowers, but by it's lovely scent of a hint of chocolate.

Orchids.   I consider myself a pre-novice, but I love them.

Ben's First Little Ride

Today, Big Ben was ridden for the first time, being led at the walk about 25 feet with a rider sitting in the saddle.   And that was the end of the lesson.

I know this reads like such a little thing, but anyone who has trained a horse from the very beginning knows today's lesson was a key milestone event.

Getting to this point has involved many hours of work scattered across the past year.   It included daily handling, groundwork, lunging, lunging under saddle, and lunging in full tack with a bridle & bit under the halter to which the lunge line is attached.

Today, while tidying up Ben's rather shaggy winter mane, he stood quietly in the crossties wearing his bridle and halter.   For the first time, he was able to eat Canada mints while wearing his chunky Herm Sprenger KK bit.   Another little milestone.

After the grooming session, I put his saddle on and lunged him a bit.   He was well behaved, happy, and as friendly as always.   When Georg joined us, he led Ben to the mounting block in the middle of the arena.

Standing on the mounting block, I wiggled the saddle, leaned on Ben, patted him all over on both sides from above, jumped up against his back, and finally, climbed astride.   All the while, Georg stood at Ben's head, letting Ben watch me while also making sure Ben paid attention to him as well.

While sitting on Ben, I continued to keep busy.   I leaned down & hugged his neck, sat up tall, wiggled around in the saddle, swung my legs, and even reached down and fed him a mint, all while watching for any sign of trouble brewing.

Nothing happened.   So, Georg took one step backwards.   And Ben took one step forward.   And then they did another step.   And then several more.   And then we stopped.   Big pats.   More mints.   I jumped off and kissed Ben's fuzzy face.

Little steps, but such a huge milestone for the 2 year, 10 months old boy.   What a fabulous feeling!   Tomorrow, we will try it again.

The Dangers of Wonderful Weather

Today, we were treated to a preview of spring.   Temperatures topped out briefly at 67 degrees on the farm according to our little Weather Channel weather station.   67!   Truly incredible.

And with that, two long awaited projects swung into action.   First, picking up the collection of winter poos in the pastures.   This is a necessary week long chore usually undertaken once the snow melts.   But, with the gorgeous weather, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get started.

Second, and concurrent to the pasture work, involved thoroughly watering the indoor arena.   Not just a sprinkle, but a real good soaking which hasn't been done since the fall.

After getting the watering started, I drove my fun little Honda Rancher ATV with the little John Deere dump trailer out to the pastures.   Melting down a bit, the snow was not too deep and the ATV was able to travel along just fine.   After gaining lots of confidence in the ATV, I decided to see if I could get the poo to the big poo pile out on the back 40 behind the indoor arena.   Sure enough, I got out there and dumped the poo.   However, as I started to drive back up towards the barns, I hit a deep spot.   And got well and truly stuck.   Stepping off the ATV, I sunk down over 20 inches into heavy wet snow.   Ugh.

Dressed for Spring, enjoying the unseasonably warm air and bright sunshine, it felt like anything was possible.   So, I walked back towards the house, moved the sprinkler as I passed the arena, and got into our Dodge 2500 Heavy Duty 4 x 4 pickemuptruck.   Aka "The Beast".   We would pull the little ATV out of the snowdrift area and get it back onto solid ground.

That was the plan.

Having learned the snow depths around the area where the ATV sat patiently, I drove the truck clear of the deep areas.   A long tow rope would be used.   Getting there was easy.   Turning around and positioning.   Easy.   Testing the run back before hooking up a tow line, there was no grip in the snow!   And the ever so slight incline of the land was not helping matters.

After working up a sweat shovelling & sanding, and making it half way back to the cleared roadway, I gave up.   Tomorrow morning, a neighbor friend and his trusty John Deere farm tractor will save the day.   Again.

That is the plan.

50 degrees & Snow

The title says it all.   Today, we had temps touch 50 degrees Fahrenheit.   Snow was melting like crazy.   Horsey poo piles long since buried in the snowy pastures suddenly made an appearance.   And all of the horses enjoyed a day of nakedness in the sun.   Rolling.   Grazing.   Basking in the sun.   Equine bliss.

Until it suddenly started to SNOW!   Yes, while it was somewhere around 45 degrees, we had a storm breeze through.   Snow.   Sleet.   Rain.   More snow.   Then warm sunshine again.   Very odd indeed.

New Englanders say if you don't like weather, wait an hour.   Today, this was soooo true!

Saddle Training

October.   Mere months ago.   We had GORGEOUS weather and no bugs.   It was simply marvelous, and some will say, the most perfect of New England weather.

On the farm, October 2008 was a little milestone for our youngsters.   Big Ben is shown below, learning to wear a saddle at the age of 2 years, 6 months.   Using the pastures where the babies and their pals are turned out as the training venue, they do not experience the same levels of stress that occur when being pulled from the field (and friends), taken to a secluded site, and trained.   Nope, we worked with the babies in the field.   And their pals watched.



In dead of winter, with temps dropping into the single digits Fahrenheit (and a few times below zero!), the amount of training we do is limited.   But this coming weekend, temperatures are going to SOAR into the high 30's, maybe even the 40's.   Translation:   HEAT WAVE!   :-)   And with that, another great opportunity to continue saddle training the kids.

Baby Teeth

Last night, a friend and I attended a lecture at TNT Equine in Dover NH.   The subject was "Managing Infectious Diseases", however, the speaker, David Pugh, DVM, MS, DACT, DACVN, Fort Dodge Animal Health, also spoke about general equine husbandry...   which includes, among other things, attention to dentistry.



Hearing about the importance of equine dental care was a quiet reminder that in three months time, a couple of my horses are due to see Deme Erickson, DMV, of TNT Equine again for a dental checkup.

Three months ago today, every horse in our barn was checked out by Deme and Super Tech Erin.   For most of the critters, only floating was needed.   However, some of the horses needed a bit more attention.   Especially the babies.



When Ben, 2 and a 1/2 years old, was examined, Deme was surprised to find 4 wolf teeth.   Usually 2 are seen, but he had upper and lower ones.   These little teeth, even if they have not broken through the surface of the gum, can be quite troublesome when training with a bit begins.   Ben also still had caps on his front upper teeth.   So, all of these were removed.   Throughout the whole session, at which these images were captured, Ben was extremely well behaved.   Of course, the mild sedation helped!

That night, Big Ben had 7 teeth to tuck under his pillow for the Horsey Tooth Fairy.   I hear he used the money to buy 35 pounds of carrots, which of course he shared with his pals.

Plowing Pastures

Mow pastures.   Plow driveways.   That is the usual way to do things.   Plowing pastures...   Now, that's not quite as common.

Last winter, we received around 10 feet of snow.   And while we had a couple thaws between storms, the snowbanks eventually became unmanagable with a pickup truck and needed to be moved by tractor.   During one of those occasions, as a goof, I asked my tractor operating friend to clear a little path for me at the gates of a couple pastures.   From there, I plowed a bit deeper into the pastures with my truck.   The end result was that it was easier for the horses to move around, easier for us to get hay out, and easier for us to get to the water troughs to top them up each day.



This winter, starting with the first snowstorm, I plowed paths in the pastures.   And what a timesaver it has turned out to be!   The ATV, instead of a sled, can still be used to deliver hay.   And the horses have the option of walking through deep snow OR walking on a cleared path, which they seem to appreciate.

We have another couple months of winter to go.   But so far, plowing the pastures has certainly helped make things a bit more bearable.

Speedi Worm

No, it's not a new food stuff.   Nor a new product.   It's just a well practiced process.

Every two months, we worm our horses.   We use the same routine at the same time of night, a routine which the horses have come to know, anticipate, and help us execute without stress or issues.

After giving evening hay and topping up the waters, Georg and I work our way through the barn.   One by one, we halter each horse, squirt the mildly pleasant apple flavoured dewormer into their mouth, instantly provide a cup of sweet grain, unhalter, and move on.

The horses know the routine so well that they stand at their feed buckets waiting to be haltered, wormed, and given their extra grain treat.

Tonight, we performed the job at an average rate of 1 minute per horse!   Now, THAT is speedi worming!

The Horse Tax

Q:   How do you make $1,000,000 in the horse business?

A:   Start with $2,000,000....

Last week, all hell broke loose in the New Hampshire equestrian community as Bill HB427 came into view.   The bill proposed a licensing of all equines in the state, as well as enforced vaccination for rabies.   40% of the license fees would go to the towns, 40% to the state in a "general fund", and the last 20% to the office of the State Veterinarian.

Now, I'm not going to rehash what a huge uproar this proposed horse tax created and how things proceeded from there, but I do want to comment about one assumption a lot of non-horse people have been making.   And that is that horse owners are rich and therefore can afford more taxation, or "licensing".

I wish.

There may be some who are, but I don't personally know any horse people who are rolling in dough.   In fact, most horse owners I know are fairly tight with their money and feel pain each time grain, hay, bedding, farrier, and veterinarian prices increase.

At the same time, many horse businesses I know are struggling to realise decent profits as basic running costs increase and incoming revenues from lessons and other fees stagnate.   Yup, the current economic blues are impacting everyone.

Taxing horse owners? Hmmm. Not my first choice for how to improve New Hampshire's budget woes.

Q:   How do you make $1,000,000 in the horse business?

A:   Start with $2,000,000...   Sad, but true.

Welcome to Kearsarge Meadows' Blog

On May 2, 2005, Kearsarge Meadows LLC was registered with the New Hampshire Department of State.   Since then, we have been providing board, horse training, and rider training for the local equestrian community.

During our first years here, we have kept things quite low key while we invested in the farm, formerly known as Elm Farm, and more recently, Runaway Farm.   Some of the improvements include:

• Pasture renovations
• Additional pasture shelters
• New outdoor dressage arena
• Sand & rubber footing in the indoor &outdoor arenas
• Screened windows in the stable area
• Bright stable lighting

Now, as 2009 gets underway, we are working to expand the business.   This will include us hosting our first schooling dressage competitions once the trailer parking area is ready.   Also, lesson hours will expand to include weekdays.   And Kimberley will be more available for judging, clinics, and lessons at locations in New Hampshire.

Hopefully this is viewed as good news for the local New Hampshire equestrian community.