Steamy July

The baby horses are growing up nicely. The mares and foals go out together in the round pen for some exercise and fresh air. Soon, we’ll have a proper mare/foal pasture for them, but any opportunity to socialize is a good one. Legacys Renoir's 2011 colt, "Junior", is picture with his dam, Not That Innocent. "Windy" is the Half Arabian chestnut filly sired by Goldmount Royal Design out of MAF Last Dance ("Mona").

Our barn is well stocked with square bales and we’ve got more stored at the farmer’s home who cuts it. We also laid claim to a good supply of 5 x 5 1000-pound round bales from another neighboring farmer. I always feel good when we’ve got our winter hay situation sorted out.

We have seven young horses that we want started under saddle this year so that we can sell them. We’re looking for a local horse trainer who is interested in doing the job at our farm at terms that we can afford. A 16-year-old daughter of a friend-of-a-friend looked to be a good prospect, until she didn’t show on day two or day four of week one. Consequently, there was no day five, which is too bad, because the horses responded well to her. The search continues with interviews of two local cowboy types. Ian and I know enough to know what we don’t want for our animals when it comes to training; which should help us to sift the wheat from the chaff. We do a lot with our animals, but we also know our limitations, as in we don’t bounce as well as we used to. LOL

The biggest news since the last post is that both of our stallions - Legacys Renoir and Goldmount Royal Design - are home on the farm. Roy has a paddock that is in the gelding pasture and Renoir has a box stall that Ian built in the barn. Roy has made friends with the outdoor boys and shares his grain with one of them. It’s nice to have them both here with us on the Auld Macdonald Farm.

It has been very steamy lately with warnings about the heat index. This is just another extreme example of Minnesota weather. I prefer this to the double-digit below temps.

Son Richard has relocated back to Minneapolis. While I miss his smiling face, I know that he is happier there able to more easily pursue his music career. So, it’s just Ian, me and the menagerie.

E-I-E-I-O