Wearing Weather

Here we are continuing to whine about the weather… Up until 2 days ago—the weather was definitely wearing me down. Every day—rain. Award winning weeds are growing in fields I just clipped. Generally around this time, I can clip down the weeds in a field and have them dry up… giving plenty of space and sun for the grass to grow. Not so this year. Even the flowers are feeling soggy.

I spent a couple of days mowing through smartweed. This is a weed fond of moisture-- so it's a banner year for this plant with many old time uses. I read if a bit of smartweed was tucked beneath a horse's saddle will keep the horse from feeling hungry or thirsty over a long ride. Well, for me, it's become an exuberantly nuisance weed.. full of noxious pollen which flies out as you mow.

There are more Indian Pipe than usual it seems—and I suppose that’s due to the extra falling water. This odd white “flower” is a food source for bumblebees—I can’t imagine it having any tasty nectar but apparently it does. The ghostly plant is in the blueberry family.

I have had to also pay special attention my water bars on the road way up my little mountain. Each time I travel up, I back down to use the bucket on my tractor to tidy them up and smooth out the ruts which hold water and make for excellent new wash out stream beds. Some parts of the road are a little steep – and when you dip down into the water bar, then head up the rocky uphills.. it’s a matter of just looking straight ahead, hold tight and GO ! The other day, my sister came for a visit and I took her for a ride on the ATV up the little mountain. She was a brave passenger and when we got the top, I said—great job staying on.. if I am the passenger I always hop off and opt to walk. It didn’t occur to her that was an option. We took walks along the horse paths--- and sat by the pond for a nice restful afternoon.

I always thought having an ATV was more of a toy or luxury item on the farm until I actually acquired one… I use it a lot and it has proved itself to be invaluable for so many jobs… I can load it up with fence fixing tools and navigate myself almost anywhere in the fields or woods. It carries the chain saw, a bale of hay, and we also use it to lead horses to and from different pastures. It’s a great horse exerciser too… It’s kind of fun to see when the horses are tied to the back rack how fast they will trot out since it has a speedometer. Our tall elegant beauty OYY Elektra can easily and gracefully jog at 12 miles an hour effortlessly and she enjoys it too. OYY Niobe is our fastest traveler, with her extended trot at 14 miles an hour. Yesterday I tried to capture a photo of OYY Ivan and OYY Dante trotting behind the 4-wheeler. All I could manage to get was a head shot as he trotted alongside.


About 3 weeks ago, I heard the cicada’s for the first time. Usually August is the month of those very hot dog days of summer. This year, rainy and somewhat cool—the cicada’s are still buzzing, warning of the first frost which is predicted to arrive 6 weeks after you first hear them. Yikes—we have not even truly had a summer yet! Red leaves on the maple tree—turning early. The apple trees are nearly toppling over with the weight of fruit this year.. more than I have seen in a long time. This is also a predictor of heavy snows and a long winter. I guess we’ll find out in a few months.

I seeded my new field which used to be brush and new growth trees.. it’s now covered in a lovely green fuzz – very exciting !!

OYY Salvadore is pulling an evener quietly and will graduate to a cart soon.

Cherokee Storm is getting the idea of long lining well and becoming supple and responsive.

Saturday, someone came to look at OYY Dante. We headed into the indoor to put him through his paces—and suddenly—incredible downpour of rain mixed in with hail half an inch in diameter ! Deafening on the metal roof but Dante was completely unfazed by it all. Great little gelding. My grand-son Dominic was amazed by what he called the big ice cube storm! I have never seen hail that large in my lifetime. Crazy.

We just experienced the sturgeon full moon of August... and the hint of change. The sun is setting earlier and the evening shadows are noticeably longer.

On the way back to the house after working horses in the evening- I snapped photo's of my little "box" garden and my cleome, which is thriving this year.

Enjoy ~

Finding Faults and other "Whoops" !

Last week I noticed my fence charger was not putting out as full of a charge as usual—which by the way is a BIG charge. Since I have over 80 acres fenced and cross fenced I bought a powerful charger and I love it.. I have cut out switches along the fence which allows me to isolate areas and aid me in detecting any “faults” or shorts in the fenceline. I enlisted my daughter Zoe’s help--- as we armed ourselves with our cell phones, I walked and rode the ATV, opening and closing the switches as she reported back to me the effect on the charger’s output. I never thought I would find my cell phone to be so helpful. Sometimes technology is a good thing, once you learn to use it to your advantage. For a cell phone to be of any use to you however, you have to remember to carry it with you and also remember not to leave it in your pocket when you do a wash.


August is really the month for clipping fields- Lots of weeds with seed heads that must be mowed down. Since we have had rain nearly every day… I have to sneak it in when I can… kind of hurrying and feeling pressured to get it done. I hitched up the brush hog one afternoon, merrily tootling off to mow. I heard a jingle and clank, looked behind me and decided it was just the chains and chokers knocking against the back of the 3 point hitch. I always have my chains and chokers with me as my motto is—never travel “empty”. If I have to head out for one reason (carry hay or whatever) I generally hook onto a log and drag it back to my log area for cutting and splitting (winter’s fuel supply). I have lots to do so I just need to keep at it and FINISH, but I took a closer look as I kept hearing the noise…. WHOOPS… my longer chain was dragging under the mower and I actually mowed off a goodly length of chain and the hook. Uh-oh. Oh well, easily remedied.. just a shorter chain now.


August is also the month I try to spread manure. Some of the areas where horses congregate need to be scraped off. I make a BIG pile and then go to work. The spreader is a very old John Deere ground driven spreader which is pulled by my sweet old Ford 8N. My new and very useful Kubota does the loading. The last few years I have been working on an 8 acre area which was new growth trees and brush, clearing it off and planting for pasture. It’s coming out beautifully. I have been taking the manure load by load in my handy dump trailer and making a pile down there. I have to load and haul with the Kubota, since the 8N does not have the hydraulics for dumping. So load after load, I hitch on, travel, and dump… return, un-hitch, load again. Tedious repetitive work. Sometimes a tad scarey as most land in Vermont is what we call “side-hills”. Not somewhere you want a big heavy load pulling at you the wrong way.

Well, the trailer was all loaded, I went to hitch—got the hoses hooked, hopped on the seat and took off----- WHOOPS…. I forgot to raise the jack. Actually, you take this off and hang it off the side of the dump trailer, neatly out of the way while you are in motion. It’s bent badly enough that I could not remove it, nor could I raise it for traveling. Well, easily remedied…. With a BIG old sledge hammer (which by the way is always with me behind the seat of my tractor- you never know when you need to bang something into submission)--- beat the thing into position… and pretend it never happened. Sometimes denial works best on the farm, especially when you are busy.

As I was back and forth with my loads, I wondered to myself… why is it there are several yellow jacket wasp things following me everywhere? Next day—I figured it out – on closer inspection, there was a nest under the lip on the side of the dump trailer. So even after all these years of working on my farm… I am always learning new rules.

· Check your equipment out for wasp nests before you hook onto it.
· Look behind you before you drive off and make sure the jack is UP.
· If you hear noises of clanging metal when you are mowing it’s probably something you should stop and check.

One important “rule” I learned a long time ago --- LOAD LIGHT AND GO OFTEN.
It’s better to make extra trips than it is to overload and get in trouble. As I age, I am realizing this applies to myself just as well as my equipment.

So you too—load light, go often and Enjoy the day ~

Harnessing Stormy

Cherokee Storm has met with all his challenges so far quietly and respectfully. It's time to bit him up and put on the harness for some ground driving training. Stormy was fitted with another horse's bridle but did get his own brand new bit. Around here, when a horse reaches a certain level of training nicely, then they get their very own NEW bridle.

Stormy stood quietly in the round pen for harnessing up, only moving away from the crouper a couple of times. All the previous work with the tarp has paid off.

We use a driving harness minus the breast plate and tugs instead of a surcingle because it does add the crouper in for added exposure to "stuff" on his body. Many of the horses in training do go on to drive, others progress to training under saddle when they are ready.

Stormy does so well his first time. He is loving his sessions, always cantering up to the gate when it's time to be caught. He's eager to please and learn. His offspring so far also have all been smart and catch on quickly to whatever the task is at the moment. What a great fellow !

Tonight ~ OYY The Doctor of Dreams, aka Sigmund, is up next. It's been quite some time since he has been out for a session. Earlier in the year he was being ridden lightly in the indoor and down the driveway once. Since then, he has been turned out with his other two stud buddies, OYY Finnegan and OYY Salvadore. Sigmund's biggest issue is his wish to be CLOSE to you. He's a big gentle moose who has not figured out personal space yet. He's a big boy and needs to become a little more aware of his body parts.

After his work, he is allowed some free lunging.

We try him over the jump for fun. He's a horse that is never going to be in a rush.

Poor Chip has suffered a minor injury and is on bed rest. I can tell he's missing his lessons and riding. We give him extra grooming time and still practice quiet work in the stall like head and neck bends. When he was off, I called a vet who specializes in lameness. This vet had never seen a Curly before, and was so impressed by Chip's conformation-- loved Chip's shoulder, legs and feet-- really nice horse he said. That was nice to hear. When Chip is ready, he'll be back working and we plan to get him driving.

Back in April, I brought 2 Banty chicks home from the grain store. They have several "chick days" where the store is jam packed with little cheepers of all varieties. Often there are leftovers after customers pick up their order. So now I have Bob and Peep, named on the first day. Now that they have grown enough -- I am pretty sure they are indeed a rooster and a hen. Bob is beginning to crow now... a little shakey still... he leaves off the last few notes of the cockle doodle doo, but he'll get better. Maybe next year they'll hatch a few clutches.

Enjoy your day ~

Little girls love Ponies

Last night, my trainer, Lisa, brought her 3 daughters to ride two of the ponies we have under saddle, OYY Pal's Job and OYY Arcus. It was just like getting ready for a show-- bathing, grooming and cleaning up their tack. The girls had fun and the ponies LOVED the extra attention.

Job says - I could get used to this !!

Julie rode Job first and did a great job. A handsome duo ~

Emily is concentrating on getting everything into the "keepers" - neat and tidy. She is up next in the saddle with Arcus, 12.1 hand curly pony. Arcus is a super pony mount, brave and handsome. I even like to ride him sometimes !
In this photo from a few weeks ago, Arcus has red easy boots on-- how adorable is that ?

Before the boys went back out to their pasture, the youngest, Sarah had her chance to try a pony.

OYY Aztec, curly palomino pinto filly out of Ptesan-Wi and Cherokee Storm, had her first bath tonight also. My grand-son, Dominic, shows her off. She has excellent manners on the ground and is an amazingly SMART little girl. Now that she is all shed out, you can see she has unusual markings. On her body and legs, are palomino reddish freckles and she has beautiful greenish grey eyes. Very pretty filly. She will leave for her new home soon now that she is "trained".

OYY Salvadore was harnessed for some more long lining. He is really coming along beautifully. I love this guy !

Salvadore enjoying a little lovin' from the girls when he was done for the evening.

Today is raining (not surprising given the weather patterns of late), so I can't work outside much. I suppose it gives me time to catch up on the blog. I have been blog "tagged" by Adria of Green Mountain Curlies . I have to choose 2 other fellow bloggers to "tag" and also share 6 facts about myself--- hmmmnn... this needs some more thought.

Enjoy your day ~

Stormy Meets a Tire

Last night, Cherokee Storm was introduced to the big tractor tire. Another obstacle to encourage listening, trust and self-confidence. He sniffs it a few times. He is not afraid of it, but does not want to step into it either.

Each time he approaches the tire, he is rewarded with a scratch and praise, backed off and asked again. After a few times of trying, he finally steps in from one direction and follows through quietly. Let's try it from another angle.

Hey, Stormy, that's cheating.. !! Schooling over jumps will come later in your training !

After some work on that side, Stormy does walk through nicely from all directions and angles. By the end, Stormy is able to stand in the tire and move his haunches around.

Here is a photo of Stormy standing on the bridge-- very proud young man. I am not sure what our project will be for tonight, but Stormy is ready for the challenge.

OYY Salvadore ICHO 882-D is a wonderful, handsome, sporty little 12.2 hand curly colt sired by Mead's Chocolate Chip. He is also now in training. He has completed all the obstacles easily and willingly. He LOVES to jump ! Here he is practicing some neck/head bends. Last night he was long lined with blinders for the first time. It's so great when you have not only a very handsome horse.. but a very SMART one too !!

We ended the day working with OYY Pal's Job, a fabulous smooth coated pony out of Frostfire's Tadpole. Tadpole was leased from Sharon Williams - a knowledgable Curly horse breeder who sadly passed a few years back. As the offspring of Tadpole's grow and advacne in their training, I miss the opportunity to let her know what super foals Tadpole has sired. All his foals are easy to train and have such nice attitudes. Job was a driving pony as a 2 year old. He is being ridden now as a 4 year old and working on his collection and smooth transitions in the ring. He's just the right size for an aspiring youngster or smllaer adult. He'll make a great trail horse-- but also shows potential for pony dressage... sensitive and responsive.

Last night ended earlier... the sun was still bright but low in the sky. I captured a photo of some of my day lillies on the way back to the house.

Enjoy your day ~

Cherokee Storm meets the Tarp

Last night trainer, Lisa Wheelock, introduced Classic Dreams Cherokee Storm ("Stormy") to the tarp. We have working with him-- our goal is to have him under saddle. He has been doing some obstacle work.. which I find really builds trust and respect. He mastered the bridge-- so on to the tarp. Here he is .. flipping the tarp at him for the first time. Stormy has to stand still for 1,2,3 touches, each side. then, Lisa goes on to rub each side with the tarp all over, front to back.

Left side and right side.. until he stands and accepts it quietly with no response.

In addition to being rubbed with the tarp, Lisa throws it all around his body.

In the end, Stormy can walk around "wearing" the tarp and walking on it slowly.

Stormy is smart and catches on quickly. He's also a great stallion, with some super offspring. OYY Finnegan is, so far, the only offspring of Stormy's that is old enough to in training and he is quiet, willing and also very smart-- picking up his driving training like nothing !! Stormy is 14.1 hands, so he is a great stud to make ponies or horses.. and add his cremello coloring -- I am pretty pleased to have him in my breeding program.

By the time we were done, the sun was setting -- I snapped a photo on my way into the house for the night--

Enjoy your day ~

It’s been such a looong time since my last entry, I am now wondering – with so much to report from Top O’ The Hill Farm – should I attempt to catch up in one lengthy blog post ? or use all the old news to fill August up with July’s events?

Last time I “blogged’ we were lamenting DRY weather and wishing for rain. Well, rain we have received--- for awhile it seemed as though we were living in the tropics instead of Vermont, as we experienced daily afternoon booming thunderstorms, with intermittent oppressing humidity. The main concern is of course… how to get in a decent crop of hay. It’s still raining almost every day (or night), with over 4 inches two nights ago.

In addition to hay concerns, each time we plan a trail ride, we worry if we’ll get caught in a sudden downpour accompanied by BIG boomers and lightening. One Sunday morning, I went out on a new trail by myself, managed to get lost, (which comes easily to me). The skies darkened quickly, so we just finally took a trail I thought would lead down to the road home, knowing it would be close. The sky opened up to release BIG torrential drops of rain, so we had to power trot through some rough goings in order to get home any old way that would get us there. I have been back on that trail since and learned the way—sort of.

The pattern of afternoon thunderstorms has made working with Mead’s Chocolate Chip challenging. His trainer, Maya Dobush, rides Chip usually after 3:00… so she has been rained out quite a few times. Chip had his first off the farm foray on July 4th. That day was gorgeous sunny weather and Chip was superbly well behaved. He stood tied to the trailer, waiting for his turn in the dressage ring—not a single whinney – a calm and cool dude. Chip came to Top O’ The Hill Farm as a 4 year old from Wisconsin in September of 1998 and has been strictly a pasture stallion until this summer. We are very proud of him !!

The Vermont Morgan Heritage Days (2 days of dressage and driving competitions) takes place on the Tunbridge Fairgrounds, home to the "Tunbridge World's Fair," one of the oldest continuing agricultural fairs in the country, as well as host to a variety of events held every year throughout the warmer months. The Fairgrounds' racetrack is one of the few half-mile tracks remaining from the days when trotting races were a regular and much-anticipated feature at country fairs throughout northern New England. Chip was the only Curly present, and did attract a few quizzical looks from the other Morgan horse breeders and owners.

Tunbridge is a beautiful quintessential Vermont town nestled in the green rolling hills - the fairgrounds a classic country setting. The show was busy, with many arenas set up and dressage tests of every level taking place. We arrived in plenty of time for Maya and Chip to ride the fairgrounds and warm up. Chip was entered in the

introductory walk/trot class since he was new to his show career

and still somewhat green under saddle. We were pleased with the results - Chip and Maya earned a fifth place ribbon in a class of 10 entries.

Most of all, Chip impressed us with his behavior and willingness - an old man learning new tricks with grace and style.

On the way home, I stopped to photograph a wonderful barn along the way.

A great way to celebrate the Fourth !

For all of you who visit my blog and look for news -- I will try to add more each day and catch up on all our goings on.

For now-- Enjoy your day ~