Farm sitting.....

I'm farm sitting for friends of mine this week. They have such a neat crew. There's the semi-feral outdoor cat "Mopsy", who rubs against your legs while you feed him. You may sneak in a pat or two...but he's really suspicious of people. Especially people with cameras!

Then there are the two "brothas". These indoor kitties are such hams! Total love whores. I still cannot for the life of me remember their names....I call them grey and orange, or just "the brothas". They are littermates, afterall.

Then there are "the boyz". George and Skylar. George is the most lovely shade of red with a sprinkling of white over his hips and Skylar is a milky buckskin. Both are draft crosses and I swear are cut from the same mold! Great big horses, but so sweet and gentle.

Hey George, I don't think Skylar appreciates you taking a nip at his butt! :P

And who could forget Thelma and Louise! Two of the most adoreable miniature donkeys you'll ever see! I can't remember which is which, but I think Thelma is the one with the shaggy forehead. They were rescues and are very shy of people, but so very cute!

The Friesian got the day off today. :) It was windy as heck, and we were both tired from yesterdays 8 mile ride.

Deep Water!

Today we found the Hadley Rd Backland. I knew it was there, but the river at the Grist Mill was frozen and covered in snow before, so this was our first opportunity to try it out. The crossing was intense! Water swiftly flowing through the foundation of the old mill, and carving a deep path on it's journey to the swamp below. I knew it was deep, but I could see the rocky bottom, so I knew it wasn't boggy.

I asked her to cross.

After a moment of discussion, to my surprise, the mare crossed! Granted, once she realized how deep it was (almost up to my stirrups!) she tried to retreat back to the nearer bank, but I urged her on and on she went!

What a good girl.

Awesome, we explored new trails.....ones I haven't been on in many, many years, and never on horseback. At one point, we came upon an old well.....and it was uncapped! I didn't dare venture close enough to verify whether or not it was filled in, but I did venture pretty close and it didn't look filled in......totally creepy, "The Ring" style!

Mare was such a good girl. I'm so proud of her.

Spring is here!

Or at least the little flowers in front of the house think so. :)

Daatje and I had a great time on the trails today. For a horse who used to flat out refuse to cross water, she's done a pretty good job of overcoming her fears.

Here are two clips of her crossing the deep pool in the gully at the three corners. This was covered in ice and snow just last week! I think it's funny how she glances back at me as if you say, "you're kidding, right?". :)

I just realized that I talk to my horse (and myself) way to much when I ride. Product of riding alone all the time, I think. :) Who else is there to talk to if it's just the pony and I?

We did a 5.3 mile trail ride with lots of water crossings, deer sightings, people sightings (oh my!) and a flurry of activity among the birds and the small creatures of the forest.

Perhaps Spring has arrived. :)

UNH Spring Horse Trials 2000

Del View Easter Moro - that was his name. He was a little 14 hand Morgan gelding who introduced me to eventing. At 24 years old, he was still a little spit fire. I'll never forget that XC run. This was before the days when one was introduced at Beginner Novice. Novice was the lowest level and 2'11" was where you began. So Novice we went.

Me: 5'8"

Moro: 14 hands

Yup, he was short, but man could he JUMP! :) We ended up placing 7th in a field of 14 or so. We were first after dressage, but time penalties killed us on XC. We jumped double clear. There are days when I miss riding a horse like this....

Here are some photos.

I wish I knew what became of him. He was on lease to UNH for use in their equine program and a woman with the last name of Schultis owned him. He was recorded with the USEA....I'll have to look him up again. I doubt he'd be alive now...he'd be 34 or 35 if he were!

I will never forget that little black Morgan. Moro.

Some other Friesians I have known

The year Daatje was born, I was working for a Friesian stable and had the pleasure of riding and driving many horses that year, starting several under saddle and in harness.

This is Roeloff. He was a strapping 17.1 hands and a strong boy. Very spooky, he had a tendancy to spook/bolt and ask questions later.

This is Wietse as a 2 year old gelding, showing in hand.

This is Zwaantje as a coming 3 year old one of her first times being hitched. Zwaantje is Daatje's 1/2 sister. They share the same sire and Zwaantje's dam is the dam of Daatje's dam. I wish Daatje was as easy to train as Zwaantje was! This girl was such a peach.

Ah, the great Teake S. Here he is as a 3 year old, very powerful in harness. Simply a brilliant horse and another tall one standing 17 hands.

This is Paulus E. He was another very nice gelding I had the pleasure of riding. I think he was getting a bit strong on the track in this photo. :) Paulus went on to be a great dressage horse.

I learned alot during the two years I spent working for the stable. But the most significant result of my time there was that I was united with Daatje. I never would have met her had life taken me in a different direction.

Daatje turns one year old

Daatje as a yearling after her first body clip. :) These photos were taken by future husband, Jake.


OMG, I had blonde hair! And so young....both of us. Look at the look in her eyes. That is the Daatje look. So smug and entitled. She earned the nickname "The Friesian Princess" and this look is one of the reasons why!



Enjoying a good back-scrubby. She loves back scrubbies. :)


Here we are, practicing her work in-hand. We were planning on attending a few "horse colts and fillies" classes to get her exposed to the horse show environment and in order to do that, she had to handle well.

Taking a break.

I still can't get over the blond hair. I was teaching riding lessons to the daughter of a hair dresser and she would color/streak my hair for me for nothing. Absolutely killed my fine hair, but it was fun while it lasted! :) I think if I did that now, my hair would fall out. :) One of these days I'll post how I dye my hair these days. Henna and Indigo baby, Henna and Indigo. :)

The Sire - Ildert 355

Daatje's sire, Ildert 355. Unfortunately, he was disproved on offspring so he can no longer produce registerable foals with the FPS. He is the half-brother of the great Teunis and son of Gerlof 294. I often wonder what ever became of him. You never hear anything about him, what happened to him after he was disproved on offspring? I wonder....

Daatje comes home!

My very own Friesian. That had been a dream of mine since I was 17 years old and read an article on the breed in "Horse Illustrated" magazine. In August, 2001, that dream came true when I brought home the little orphan filly I helped bottle raise.

Her arrival brought a flurry of friends and family to meet this little black pearl.