Welcome To My Blog! Life in the farm is interesting and fun, and I hope you enjoy sharing the ups and downs of a life full of animals.

Monday, August 29, 2011

We Survived!

Yep, I am indeed alive. As are all of the animals!
Actually, there was very little damage. We had a BIG tree fall in the field, lots of branches down too. The river also flooded....  Big time. Our field was like a big lake... which peaked in size at 6 A.M on Sunday and quickly receded. By the afternoon we only had a small lake left in our field, and the river looked mostly normal. Our basement flooded, but no damage was done. We had power returned yesterday afternoon, but the pump  is messed up so.... no water. We also do not have internet.... I guess Sprint's satellites are messed up. Oh well....
Thanks to all for the support, and best of luck to those recovering from  greater damage from Irene!

My computeer is resisting uploading of the flood pictures, so no go there.

That's all!
-- Quinn A.A.


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Storms, Cyclones and Hurricanes - Oh My!

I can't say I am excited for Irene. She is predicted to reach us Sunday afternoon. My area is in the high risk zone. We are predicted to get up to 70mph sustained winds, with gusts of up to 110mph. It is predicted to be a tropical cyclone type thing. The bad thing is, we live right near a river. As in, it borders our property. And that river fills fast, even with normal storms. Are you excited yet? Because I am not. We already are having a huge rainstorm today, with blowing winds, thunder and lightning. We had to go rescue the horses from the fields, and the chickens refuse to go inside.

I am preparing for the worst by filling water containers, cleaning coops and areas where animals stay so they are ready for for creatures to live in them through any storm/cyclone. I cleaned the fish tank so they would have clean water for the weekend. :)

Good luck to everyone who is supposed to get it worse... especially S.C.

Good Luck to all! -Quinn

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Saturday's Jumper Show.

On Saturday we made the journey to Top Venture Farm in Nottingham, P.A. for a little Stadium practice.

It was lot's of fun. Molly took Ankhe Pass and Tuxedo, Hannah came with Anna, Mr. Nunn brought Smilelikeyoumeanit and Red Horse Harry, Bryce brought Toulousse, and I took Google.

Google was very good. In our first class, a 2.6-2.9 Optimum Time Class, we went clear with a smooth round. In our second class, a 2.6-2.9 Power and Speed class, we had one rail. Our last class, a lm class that looked like it was actually set to 3.3, we had one rail, but it was our smoothest and best round yet. Google is certaintly prepared for his next Novice, in September.

Everyone else did wonderfully, and It was lot's of fun.

On Sunday I got a camera. Finally! Now I can provide you with clear pictures, action pictures, and videos. :)
In case you are wondering, it is a Panasonic Lumix DMC- FH27. It has smart touch and intelligent zoom capabilities, which are really cool. It automatically adjusts to any movement of your hand so you don't get blurry pictures. I love this camera already and would recommend it to you.

Yesterday, I went to the barn, and then to two hours of field hockey practice. Ouch.


That's all for now!


Cheers -- Quinn

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A Busy Week

It's been a very busy week!

On Tuesday we drove up to New Jersey to school at the Horse Park of New Jersey - Andrew, Shadney, Maddie, Molly, Hannah and I.
Google enjoying the afternoon sun.
And it rained, no, It poured. But we rode anyway, and got soaked. It wasn't all that much fun, but it was a very good experience for me, mostly because I had never ridden Google in the rain, or on slippery ground. He is green, and was unsure of the ground. It was a lot of work to get him around, but I did it. All of us were wet at the end of it, but I think we were all happy, or at least satisfied with the experience. It did stop raining after the first two sets went out.


Hannah's Anna wasn't sure she wanted her picure!

A metal horse at one of the galleries.
On Friday, Molly, her mother, Bryce and Hannah came over for dinner. My mom's friend, Pat Maykuth, who was staying with us for the weekend, was also there. The food was good, and most of it made from the vegetables in our garden, or from local gardens/ orchards. The talk was even better; we were an interesting group who had many things teado discuss.

On Saturday, Pat, My Mom, and I headed up to Saratoga while the barn crew headed to Waredaca for a rainy show weekend.
Saratoga was loads of fun- we stayed in a nice bed and breakfast, and walked around Saturday night. We stopped at a few art galleries, where I saw some really nice artwork. The Fasig-Tipton Yearling sale was on at the track, so we stopped there and watched a few horses get sold. That was very cool. Then dinner - a delicious cheese plate, from which I liked a soft cheese the most, and then 3 small, perfect Gnochhi. Yum, Yum, Yum. We walked back to our lodgings to collapse into bed.

The next morning I slept in, then had breakfast. Bacon, Egg, and Cheese sandwiches are a  great way to start your day. My mom went off for a Jockey Club meeting, and I visited the racing museum. I highly recommend it- great exhibits!

Our view of the finish line- WOW!
At Noon we were off to the races for the afternoon, and we started out with a success. Michael Matz's filly, Welcome Dance, broke her Maiden in her first ever race! The afternoon continued and anded well, and then we were off for home. It was a late night, but lot's of fun.

Veggies from our garden- a HUGE zuchinni, etc.


Yesterday I collected some vegetables from our beautiful garden! MMmmmm, Zuchinni, Cucumber, and tomatoes. Strawberry season is over, but earlier in the year we got lot's of those.






Tomatoe hornworm- with a few unfriendly followers.

Yes, Maddie and I know we are silly!

Thats all for Now!
Cheers -- Quinn A.A.


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Fred: The Grumpy Old Man

Sir Frederick is our oldest animal on the farm at a whopping 40 years old! He thinks that this gives him the right to be as grumpy as he wants. I disagree, but he doesn't care. In fact, he doesn't care about much except food and his friend Silver. I guess that's what happpens when you get old.....

Fred is a shetland pony gelding, who was originally black. Well, he has turned brown on his body and gray on his face. He was originally a stud pony in Canada, and then at some point he did some pony carting. Then my mom aquired him for my brother, John, to learn to ride on. He was the first pony I and a few others ever rode on. He is sweet, but he knows what he wants, and will be completely stubborn until he gets it.

Fred is nearly blind and deaf, and his teeth are worn down to nubs, but he is still doing alright. His thick furry coat insulates him from all weather, and so in the winter he is allowed to roam free on our lawn to eat the softer, greener grass. This incites many, many phone calls throughout the fall,winter and spring. " Your pony is loose on the lawn!". Yes, we know. He rarely wanders close to the road, but if he does he gets locked up in the barn for a week ( to his annoyance) .

Fred is free to live out his last years in our fields and barn, as are all the older horses we own. We hope he will live for awhile, enjoying the freedom of being old!

That's All!
Cheers - Quinn A.A


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Oliver: The Hundred Mile Cat

I thought I might do profiles on everyone, starting with Oliver!

Oliver has been with us since he was 4 weeks old, and he will be turning 2 this month. There is a very interesting story behind how we got him..........

One day, in September two years ago, the night I had a school dance, as it happens, my mother was doing vet work at a farm when she heard a kitten meowing. She searched for a bit, but didn't find anything. I went to the dance, and she went to get gas. When she got there, she heard a kitten meowing, so she searched the trash can's there for an abandoned kitten. Still, no luck. So she searched the inside of the truck, and didn't find anything.

An hour later, I was picked up from my dance, and my mom told me about the meowing. I heard it too, a few times, as we drove. We stopped to grab some food, and I peeked under the back of the car. There he was, sitting on the spare tire, obviously very scared of people. We didn't want him bolting across the road, so I tried, and failed, to get him out of the car when we returned home. We put the tire down, and set down cat food and water to entice him down. In the morning the food and water was gone, and the tire was put back up, with us thinking that was that. Wrong!

The next day, as my mom told this story to someone, they replied " An orange kitten? Like the one I saw in the parking lot this morning?" I was called in to search, but I couldn't find him, to my despair. To we went to an event, got groceries, etc, until we got a call from my mother's vet technician, Fenneka. It turns out she had found him hiding in the front of her truck, perched so that falling would mean death! She caught him for us, and I took him home and gave him a little milk, water and food, as he hadn't had any for about 36 hours, and had driven about 100 miles. The next day we gave him a bath, and he purred the whole time. He also really liked spending time in between my shirt and sweater, so much that I took him to a party like that. He enjoyed the party. :) .

Now, at almost two years old, he is very sweet, and I am his favorite person. He hasn't ventured into any more car engines or tires, as we feared. He is not trusting, and is especially scared of tall men, especially when they are wearing boots. Approach him quietly though, and he may stick around and let you pet him. He has a soft, kitten-like coat of a light ginger orange color, and he was lucky to grow up with a 6 month older kitten, who unfortuanately was caught by either a fox or a coyote we saw around the same time as he dissapeared last summer.



That's all for today!
Cheers, Quinn A.A

Monday, August 8, 2011

Phone Pictures


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Oliver has a nap after a night outside








I apologize for the bad quality pictures so far: I plan to get a camera soon, but for now I am stuck with my phone camera. The one advantage to my phone camera is I can put effects on the pictures, and that is what I did yesterday. So, a few animals from around the house!

Blossom letting me take her picture.



Original picture of Blossom- edited ones are from this!


Pencil?




Beware the 2 headed cat!

That's it for today! Cheers- Quinn A.A.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Fair Hill Recognized Event: Groom

So here is my first real post. I am new to this blogging thing, so forgive me If I skip around.

Today was a recognized event at Fair Hill Event, and Molly had two horses  competing training, so I offered to groom, along with my friend, Hannah. Molly also had a student, Andy, competing with his horse, Beau. The two horses Molly had, Indie and Tux, were both going Training level.  The day turned out to be very humid, although not super hot.

Indie had a very nice dressage test, putting him in fourth after it. Unfortuanately, he had one rail in Show-Jumping, but had a clean Cross Country and put out a great effort in everything. He moved up to third, although he would have gotten first if not for the rail. 

This was Tux's first training level, and he did very well. He had a clean cross country jump, and he jumped around his biggest SJ course with glee. His dressage needed a little more consistency, but that's ok. Molly was happy. :)

I didn't here how Andy and Beau did: I will post it when I know.

Pictures!


 The ever handsome Beau!

L- Hannah and TuxR-Indie getting his braids taken out.

Indie likes his picture taken!


It was a very succesful and fun day, and relatively easy, due to the fact we only had to groom two horses. What a treat!

Friday, August 5, 2011

First Post

Hello everyone, I am Quinn, posting for the first time on my first blog!
This blog is going to be about my farm, animals, and riding. I love riding.... I can't find words to explain it. I also like crafting (although I tend to get distracted, then come back to a craft later), writing (in private) and exercising.
I live on an 18 and a half acre farm in Pennsylvania- its beautiful! In this wonderful place we have chickens, Dogs, cats, horses and fish. So I will try to update often. You are going to notice me talking about Molly Rosin a lot. She is my role model/hero. Whatever you call it :) ! She is an eventer, an amazing one at that. Her understanding of horses awes me... hopefully one day I will  have that understanding. Another person I will talk about is Andrea, but I will call her Andy on here. She is an amazing, kind person, and she works hard. Currently she is living in a cottage on the property, so I get to see her often.
And then there is my mother: A horse vet. She is so kind, and always makes the right choice for the horse. She loves her work, although it is hard with long hour.
Thats all for now! Cheers -- Quinn A.A.