Ponies, Ponies, Everywhere!

I think you would be pretty hard pressed to find anyone who, at one point or the other in their lives, didn't dream of having a pony. It is funny how after years of owning big, bold, beautiful draft horses, I am suddenly realizing how fortunate I am to now have PONIES! All the obvious things aside, like the ease of keeping them, cleaning up after them, and harnessing and hooking them, what I love about ponies most is that they are spry, willing, and plain adorable.

We bought Buttercup last summer, and as most of you know, he has been a fun addition here. Skittles was given to us, completely unbroke to harness. Less than four weeks of training has turned Skittles into a wonderful carriage pony. We have terrific plans for these ponies. Stay tuned to see what is in store!

Training the Fillies

 It is late in February, but it feels like Spring. The temperatures have been in the upper 40's, some days high 50's. It has been a lousy winter for sleigh rides but a good winter for most everything else. It is nice not to feel the bitter cold when doing chores. It is nice that the wood pile hasn't had to work so hard at keeping us warm this year.

Another benefit to the warmer winter weather has been the ability to work the youngsters and the ponies. Leila and Jessie are in the early stages of training, now being harnessed with Diesel and ground driven. They are learning to keep up with him (although often failing miserably), learning to stand patiently (doing exceptionally well with that skill, I must say), and learning that cars, trucks and mailboxes on the street won't eat them up. The mailboxes have been a bit of a challenge for Leila but she has caught on fast.

Soon, very soon, the girls will make their way to Pennsylvania to work the fields. They will learn to plow, harrow and spread manure. They will be expected to go to market. I expect them to do very well. Once they return, it will be light work until they are three. Then, we will have a sharp pair of black Percherons on the job!

Leila and Diesel, day one.

Laila and Diesel on their way for training in the back pasture, day two.

Elaine with Diesel and Leila, day two.

Jessie on her first day with Diesel.

Sleigh Ride

Yesterday, we finally had some accumulative snow. I had heard we had a little snow earlier in the week, however I had accompanied Terry to one of the big draft horse sales and missed the only snow to have fallen up till that point since that strange October blizzard. Temperatures rose enough the next day to melt most of it, and our barnyard looked like a chilly desert of frozen earth when we finally got home later in the week. Saturday's snowfall gave us something to work with, though. Sleigh rides ensued through the fields, blanketed in light, fluffy snow. Tomorrow promises to send temperatures up near 50, and heavy rains are forecasted to fall in eastern Connecticut. If you didn't get a sleigh ride today, you may need to wait for the next "snow event" to cover New England! 

A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

to all our Friends and Family!

~ Elaine & Terry, Cedar Knoll Farm

For more information about our good friend and equine photographer, Tory MacDonald, or to order a copy of the above image "Sleigh Bells Ring", please visit her Facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/tory.macdonald

Kicking off the Season Right

Just a few pictures from one of this week's parades, a Baraat, and a light festival in Hartford. 'Tis the Season, AGAIN!

Sioux Country and Back Again

Funny how life gets in the way of documenting Life. For example, it has been two weeks since Terry's trip to North Dakota, on his quest to bring back a small herd of PMU babies for Equine Angels Rescue and Ray of Light Farm. For those not familiar with the term, PMU's are the result of breeding "premarin mares" for their urine that is collected to make a drug for women in the menopausal stages of life. The babies, quite literally wild, are often adopted out for what is hoped to be a much more rewarding life than the dinner plate.


Good friend Joe was brave enough to take the five day trip into Sioux Country with my cowboy. Once there, they were greeted by a well seasoned rancher and his Sioux wife, who, it was learned, spoke very little English beyond, "Here! Cookies! You!" That is all Terry needed to hear for him to fall in love with her and her 90 year old smile. 


The babies, on the other hand, greeted them with less enthusiasm. Eight were destined for Ray of Light, but were not yet chosen out of the larger herd. Terry had the dubious task of sizing them all up, and choosing what he thought looked like the best put together animals. Herding them into the trailer wasn't that big a problem, but weeding out the ones that would later stay in North Dakota, was. Wild and frightened, the herd huddled together in the trailer, backs to their wranglers, literally trying to climb the walls when anyone came near. The rancher asked Terry if he knew how to rope, and Terry said, "A little". He went and got Terry a lasso, but it wasn't the best — likely figuring a guy from out east wouldn't know the difference between a rope and a lariat. Terry tried using it and complained of its quality, so the rancher went and got him a better one. One by one the herd was culled (not always gracefully, I might add), provisions were added to the cargo, and Terry, Joe and the PMUs were on their way across country again.


Photos: At Ray of Light Farm in East Haddam, CT, the arrival of the PMUs each year is an exciting occasion. At Ray of Light the babies will be gentled and later adopted out.

November in Pennsylvania

Terry teaching Jen how to drive a team of Percherons while raking corn shucks into windrows.

Jen's most important lesson was learning what "Whoa" means.

Five of Paul's 40 horses.

Horse power and fossil fuel power rule on this Menonite farm.
But mostly horse power.

On our way home, we witnessed a hot air balloon flying
over the Pennsylvania farmland.

We were in Pennsylvania for a few days this week, and took the opportunity to meet up with my cousin Pam, and her daughter, Jen from Virginia. Unlike most people, who plan a "vacation" around places to see and things to do that are usually found in a tourist guide, we took the two on a working adventure through Amish and Menonite farm land. By default, Jen learned a thing or two about farming with horses and what it would be like to live without TV, computers, and phones (OK, well, we weren't exactly without phones, but whatever).


The highlight for Jen was learning how to drive a team AND rake corn shucks into windrows for baling - all at the same time! Naturally, Jen would tell you that the REAL highlight of the week was shopping, and ordering heaping side dishes of bacon. But I regress.


Terry, Pam, Jen and I stayed with our friends, and spent our days and part of the evening hanging out with Paul. Paul and Terry, for those of you who may not know, are twin sons of different mothers. The only difference between the two is Terry's white cowboy hat and Paul's black Menonite hat. Still, they think the same, talk the same, laugh the same, and all too often smell the same. This is because of their constant handling of sweaty work horses and the occasional driver. "Driver" is the Amish/Menonite term for "buggy horse". Funny, but the word "team" is sometimes used to define a particularly quick moving, well conditioned family horse of racing lineage as well. It is why we use the phrase "Team Menonite" to describe the order of Menonite that does not use cars - not every Team Menonite drives a team of horses, but each one drives a Driver. A "car Menonite" drives, you guessed it, a "car".


While on the subject of Team Menonites, Drivers, and cars (notice I have spelled "car" with a lower case "c" as it does not hold the same importance as a Team or Driver does, unless someone else is driving it for them, of course) — both Jen and Pam learned that in Lancaster County, Team Menonites drive black buggies and the Amish drive grey buggies. For those of you not fortunate enough to live or work amongst them, there is no such thing as a "team" or "car" Amish - because if you are Amish and you haven't been shunned from the community, you only drive a Driver.


Which brings me to the subject of an honest day's work. While waiting for Pam and Paul to get back from a short business trip in Pam's car (since it was faster than hooking up Paul's Driver), Terry commandeered the hay rake and a team (lower case - here it literally means more than one horse) and made Jennifer WORK. He stood with her on the forecart and taught her to drive the Percherons around in a giant square, then finally jumped off and said, "go to it!" Before Paul and Pam had a chance to get back from their galavanting in the car, the rows were raked and the hired baler (not horse drawn, sorry...) was already scarfing up the shucks and turning them into hard packed, huge bales. These bales were later picked up by Paul's son Wes with the skid steer. Wes, incidentally, is Jen's age and already knows more about working hard then Jen may ever know in her entire life time. Paul drove a new team on a hay wagon to carry the load back to the barn, where it will be used as bedding.


We did a whole lot of other stuff, like went to the auction, searched for a load of hay, shopped and ate. I tried to get Jen to go from the sale barn to the house in Wes's spring wagon, but she was too shy and didn't experience the unique excitement of driving a Driver of Standardbred/Dutch Harness lineage. I suppose she will have to settle for bragging rights with a team of Percherons.