Videos from the 2009 Keuring
These are of our horses. Tara made Ster with a 2nd premie. Ficus was 2nd premie and scored 7.5 on his trot. Freya achieved 2nd premie and was named Champion Filly. We had a nice day….
Tanbark Acres and the 2009 Keuring
We attended the keuring in Huntersville, NC yesterday and we had quite a good day!
First, thanks to the keuring hosts and organizers at Shady Nook Farm, as well as to Rick Simonetti who came down to help out. Everyone was just great.
Our horses had a wonderful day! Tara (Wander x Thomas), the 3 year old, became a ster mare with a 2nd premie and was second place in her large class of 3 year olds. She moved wonderfully, though she was a bit nervous. I thought she was gorgeous. Big thanks the Wiebe and Amy Dragstra of Dragstra Stables. As her trainers, they had her fit and happy and I do not think Tara could have performed much better.
Ficus (Mintse x Wierd), my sister’s colt who lost his momma in foalbirth this year, ran with my parents mare Hiltje. Hiltje is the alpha mare of the herd and she adopted Ficus. Anyway, Ficus got a 2nd premie and scored 7.5 on his trot!
Finally, the filly Freya (Heinse x Wander) was a hand full but once we got her in the ring she did a nice job. She received a 2nd premie and took Champion Filly honors for the day.
We left the grounds dirty, sweaty and exhausted. But happy and feeling fortunate.
I will work on pictures and video etc. as soon as I can. Also, the Tanbark Acres website is in desperate need of updating. That will be a top priority. But until the weekend comes and there is time for those things, I believe I will just sit back and watch my horses grazing in the pasture. Healthy, happy and lovely.
Photos courtesy of Sara Andrew of Dark Horse Photography
Horse transport day – Keuring prep
Today my horse buddy Sara and I got up at 5am, loaded Dahlia and Tara, and headed down the mountain. Tara is going to the trainer, Wiebe Dragstra, to get fit for the keuring and learn some basic harness skills in the meantime. Anyone who follows my blog knows I think the world of Wiebe and his wife Amy – no one knows how to train Friesians better than these two. Wiebe simply works miracles with teaching the fundamentals, along with discipline and carriage work.
Anyway, I only have 7 weeks for Wiebe to train Tara. Enough to get her fit and give her a foundation. But she won’t be winning any carriage horse medals after only 7 weeks. But that is ok. Get her balanced and fit for the keuring Wiebe, and I’ll be happy.
As we pulled Tara out of her stall at 6 am, Sara commented “she looks like a 2 year old”. Sara is right. Tara really could use another year to mature. Even though she is 3 she looks very immature and small. Well, I figure if she does not do well this year, I’ll hang on to her and try again next year. I really think she is such a nice horse. Just a late bloomer.
Since Tara’s departure would mean that her mom Dahlia would be in the pasture alone, I loaded up Dahlia too and dropped her off at the big farm where she will have company. I’ll pick her up after the keur. This side trip did allow me the opportunity to visit my little foal Freya, born just 9 weeks ago. Dad has been working with Freya every day to teach her basic ground manners. My dad – he is something with those foals. Anyway, Freya is growing and one day may actually fit her ears. We’ll see. She continues to be independent and perky. I think as an adult she is really going to be nice. Very nice. And one of the very last foals from the great stallion Heinse 354. I am lucky to have Freya.
Sara and I got to Dragstra Stables by noon, chatted a long chat with Wiebe and Amy, and managed to drag ourselves back to my place by 6. As Sara pulled out of the driveway she said “I am going to take a shower and a nap. I am pooped”.
And so am I.
I’ll post updates on Tara as she starts her new adventure. In the meantime, here is Freya and Dad from today.
Welcome to our new filly Freya
On Friday morning May 15 2009 at 4:45 am I got a call from my friend Jill in Oregon. Jill had been helping with foal watch during the late hours and that night she volunteered to stay up until 5am EDT (2am her time). “Cori is having her baby and you need to get to the barn.” I woke up Dawn and we headed to the car. Jill called again “Get down there NOW. The baby is out!”. When I got to the barn I hurried inside and heard a loud grunting. Sort of desperate sounding. I thought “that baby is not yet delivered – Cori must still be in labor”. But as I got closer to the stall I saw the foal with the amniotic sack around its head and twisted around its neck. It looked like a person with a white plastic bag on its head and duct tape around its neck. The baby was suffocating and the grunts were a desperate attempt to get air into its lungs.
I quickly reached through the wooden gate and grabbed the sack and tore it open right at the nose. The grunts stopped as the foal was able to breathe in. Another 5 minutes and that baby would have been a goner. Needless to say, I am hugely indebted to Jill and the foal watch team, as well as Edwin, who set up the webcam for us so people around the country could hep with foal watch. What a lucky twist of fate!
Other than that huge scare, the birthing was so routine I cannot believe it. Healthy foal, healthy mom. The vet came the next day for a well baby check and gave a big thumbs up.
Now to the other great news. This baby is so special. First, it is a filly from my 1st premie ster mare. And the baby’s father is Heinse 354 – one of the best breeding stallions ever. At the most there will be only 2 Heinse babies this year, and I have one of them! And a filly! Amazing good luck.
I named the baby Freya. Myth has it that this was the name of a great Friesian warrior priestess. Also the name of a Germanic goddess of love. Possibly the inspiration for the name “Friesland” as well as the word “Friday”. No matter how you look at it, this is a special name for a special little Friesian.
She seems special indeed. This little filly is full of spunk and curiosity, yet seems to really like having people around. Freya and her mom head to Tanbark Acres big farm next weekend for “summer camp” where Freya will learn good ground manners thanks to the intensive training my dad and niece do with the babies each day. I am going to decide about selling her once she goes to her baby keuring in September.
Freya has been running around the foaling stall like a racehorse. Today Dawn and I fenced in a little area behind the barn so Freya and her mom Cori could get outside in the sun and stretch their legs. Here is a quick video of my little warrior priestess. It is followed by links to some photo sets of Freya. Enjoy!
Pregnant Cori getting her feet trimmed
Today is day 339 of Cori’s pregnancy, which means she is due tomorrow. I have expected this baby for a week now and all of us who are staying up all night watching her on the webcam are getting pretty darned tired.
Today Blaine, the farrier, came to trim the horse’s feet. Dahlia went first, no issues. Cori was next and the poor thing had an awful time picking up a foot for him. She is soooo pregnant and soooo heavy that she needed all four feet to hold her up.
Three year old Tara starts training this month so she got new shoes in the front. I rarely put shoes on the horses since they are not working, bu since she is going into training, she will soon be working and therefore needs the extra protection. She did not like being shod, but for a three year old, she was not too badly behaved.
I really like my farrier a lot. He is good at his job, good with the horses, and a funny and nice guy as well. He and his son are going to help me get Tara into shape by teaching her to pull a work sled (Blaine and his boy have and train work horses). I also love Blaine’s accent.
I managed to capture a little video of Blaine working on the extremely pregnant Cori. Hope you enjoy it.
