Scrapie Inspection Day

We had our annual Scrapie inspection today. We're in the voluntary Scrapie Free Flock Certification Program, which means that once a year, a state vet comes and inspects both our flock and our records. We have to keep track of every sheep that comes and goes from the farm. We've been in the program two years now. After five years, we'll be certified Scrapie free. (Obviously, our flock IS scrapie free, but it takes five years to become certified.)

It sounds like a big hassle, but it's actually not that hard. The vet that comes here to do the inspections is very nice. He speaks kindly to the animals, does the inspection quickly and efficiently, and chats about life in general as we walk from paddock to paddock. So, I don't mind doing it. Before he left, he said he wished everybody kept as good records as I do, so that made me feel good.

We originally got into the program because it was a requirement if I wanted to own any sheep that were the result of AI breedings from Iceland, but I've heard that that rule is about to change. I guess I'll still stay in the program, since we've come this far. In a few more years, we'll be certified.

I also took Penny out and worked with her again this afternoon. She's actually eager to come with me and do the lessons now, because I use the "attitude adjuster" which is a Gladware container full of grain I keep in my pocket. Whenever she succeeds at doing something new without losing her cool, I give her a bite of grain. This answers her basic underlying question, "What's in it for me?"

I don't use the grain exactly as positive reinforcement. I use pressure and release of pressure as my signals and rewards. The grain is just something I use in between sections of the lesson to help keep the foal's mind open to the idea that working through the lesson is a fun thing, not a stressful, anxious thing.

It's amazing how quickly it works. I mean, I did it a couple of days ago when I last worked with Penny, and ever since then, she's been asking me to take her out and work with her again, every time I go in the paddock. So today I did. Far from being worried about having me work with her, she was eager for it.

She led right out of the paddock away from the other horses, followed me calmly even when the other fillies were running along the fence line whinnying to her. I tied her to a post and made her stand quietly---that was a first, I'd never made her stand tied before. She fussed only a little, and then calmed down.

I lifted her feet, which she does very easily, but then I also slapped them gently on the soles, mimicking some of the weird feelings she may get when the farrier works with her. She hopped around when I did it to the first hoof, but after that, she stood still as if nothing at all was happening.

Then I took her out to the round pen. She was excited to be outside of the yard for the first time in months, and she spooked at a bush. But the great thing was, even in mid-spook, she yielded completely when she got to the end of the lead rope. Rather than pull hard on the lead rope, she yielded and turned around so suddenly she sat right down on her butt---never yanking on the rope at all.

Senter is extremely good about yielding to pressure on his halter too, so it's great that Penny is like her dad in that way.

I let her loose in the round pen and let her trot and canter around for a few minutes. I was just basically giving her a chance to experience a new location, a new scenario, rather than trying to get any specific action from her there.

Then I led her back, tied her to the post again, and repeated the lesson of lifting and tapping on her feet.

She did so well! I just can't believe how easy Senter's foals are to work with, how willing they are, and how quickly they learn. Even though today was her first time ever being tied, she was very well behaved---even when one of the sheep came up (interested in the grain I'd been handing out) and started nibbling on her tail!

Springtime in December

We've been having warm, damp weather in the mid-70s this week, very balmy and pleasant. Outside, some of the birds have been singing their spring songs, and some of the ewes, when I let them out to graze in the yard, started bouncing around like April lambs, stampeding up and down the driveway, hopping straight up in the air like Mexican Jumping Beans, and clashing their horns together in big, dramatic, mock-battles.

It's fun to see them so happy and frisky, enjoying the weather. By the time the weather gets this warm again, they'll be heavy with lambs, and won't feel much like bouncing, so it's nice they get the chance to play while they can.

I again spent most of the day at the computer, doing horse, sheep, and fleece related emails, and putting the finishing touches on my Sheep Inventory paperwork I need to have prepared for our Scrapie Inspection tomorrow.

I had most of the Inventory done two months ago, but then we sold another sheep and this year's lambs registrations numbers are in now, so I updated that info and then checked the whole thing over for errors or omissions. It feels good to have it all organized---and I'm really relieved that Ken saved all my files when my computer died, so I didn't have to redo the whole 14-page Sheep Inventory list from scratch!

A couple of fleece buyers who have been thinking about fairly large orders contacted me today to finalize their orders. If their checks arrive soon, we might have enough money to buy the next batch of hay, and possibly pay the electric bill.

With luck, it will be just enough to tide us over until I can finalize a few of the horse sales that are pending!

I also found out today that a friend of mine has had a wonderful new opportunity come up in her life that means she will be dispersing her flock of Icelandic sheep. She has given me first dibs on purchasing a group of her best ewes next summer, which I'm very excited about.

Not only will it give me a chance to expand my flock (which I've been wanting to do as soon as we have sufficiently reduced our horse numbers) and add several excellent unrelated bloodlines to my flock, but these sheep are also pre-selected for good heat and parasite resistance, which is one of my top breeding priorities here. So, now I have until next summer to save my money to buy those six ewes.

She's also offered me her trained Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dog. We're seriously thinking about it. There are coyotes, foxes, and occasionally bears in our area, so a guardian dog really would be a good idea. But I know that they are not like other kinds of dogs, so I'm doing more research before I say yes, to make sure I'm prepared to do it right, if I take him.

If we get him, we'll probably try to find a good home for our other two large dogs, Ruby and Jesse, which is something we've been thinking about anyway. They are great dogs, but now that we live on a farm, they get very little attention and serve no useful purpose. I really think they'd be better off with someone who would play with them and enjoy them more.

But all that can be decided later. Now I just have to print out my Sheep Inventory and get ready for bed!

Busy, Busy

My days are filled with emails and phone calls about potential horse sales. This is a very good thing, because we desperately need the money. But at the end of the day, it does leave me wondering, "Where did the day go? Did I actually accomplish anything?" because it's hard for me to believe that that's how my WHOLE day was spent.

I have several good possibilities of people who may buy horses, and the vet is scheduled to come out to do Coggins tests, shots, Bonnie's pregnancy check, and health certificates.

Yesterday, I spent a little time working with Penny, who has not been handled much lately. Usually in the paddock at feeding time or out in the pasture with the other fillies, she's pretty matter-of-fact and doesn't put on much of a show. But when I took her out into the yard by herself, I got to see her put that tail in the air and do a beautiful, big, powerful trot with tons of gorgeous suspension. Even Ken, who is not an experienced horse person, said, "Wow, I'd never noticed how beautiful she was before!"

She was a very good girl, though, and was very polite about yielding to pressure even when she was excited to be off by herself. All of Senter's foals seem to be extremely easy to work with (especially compared to the Art Deco fillies, who are much more challenging).

I did a second session with her later in the day, and she was just as calm and peaceful as she could be. What a good girl!

A Recipe for Me

My friend River occasionally posts links to entertaining quizzes on his blog, and sometimes if I have a minute, I take the quiz. This one, "What is your personality recipe?" from Quiz Galaxy came out particularly appropriate for my personality, so I thought I'd post it here, just for fun.

Nancy - 1/4 cup of crazy - a heaping teaspoon of intelligence - 1/4 cup of honesty Mix on high, and serve immediately.

'What is your personality recipe?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Silly, I know, but it's refreshing not to be serious all the time.

What's YOUR personality recipe?

Callisto's First Ride

There was a lot of activity today in Taj's "Sheep Mahal" sheep shelter that Ken built. Two of Taj's ewes (which represent a full 1/3 of his breeding group) were in heat today, so he was busy all day making sure they got as pregnant as possible.


Later, I went out to take some measurements of Bonnie (saddle, blanket, and halter sizes) for the people who are buying her, and I ended up spending a while out in the pasture just visiting all the mares.

I especially spent time cuddling with Callisto. She has turned out so nice, I really don't want to sell her. For two years, I've been looking forward to riding her, and now she's almost old enough. I really want the chance to be the one to teach her. But with our finances the way they are, if she sells, I have to let her go.

So, just to avoid missing my chance entirely, while I was standing out there with her, I tipped the water trough upside down to use as a mounting block, had Ken hold her halter for me, and got on her back for the first time.

She knows me, and she's calm about everything anyway, so she didn't much care. She was a little surprised, and looked around to touch her nose to my toes on each side of her back. But she was happy enough to have me there.

She's a nice size for me, I think, although she's not as wide as Char. Char is so broad and well-cushioned, riding her is like sitting on a big, comfy, rocket-powered couch. I didn't ride Callisto around at all today, just sat there for a minute and then got off.

I could start her under-saddle training now, but I'm not the lightest rider in the world, so I'd rather wait until her third birthday, just to give her joints a few more months to mature before I make her carry me around very much.

Still, it was fun to be up there on her back for the first time, if only for a couple of minutes!

Sold One!

The people who were thinking about buying Bonnie decided today that they would definitely buy her, as long as I get her vet checked to verify that she's pregnant. I've seen Bonnie's belly changing shape these past couple of months, so I have no doubt that's a test she can pass, no problem. So it looks like Bonnie will be going to live in Massachusetts pretty soon.


I also spent a very pleasant couple of hours this afternoon talking with a lovely woman from Charlottesville who has fallen in love with Icelandic sheep, and wanted to come visit the farm. She doesn't own a farm yet, so she wasn't actually sheep shopping, just coming to see the sheep in person and getting to ask lots of questions.

I had a lot of fun talking with her. It's strange to think that I was pretty much in her shoes only a few years ago, and now I have a farm and sheep and horses (and all the attendant bills and worries) and am the "expert" who can answer all her questions. I've learned so much in such a short time, it makes me proud of myself. And I really enjoyed encouraging someone who is just in the very beginning stages of thinking about starting a farm someday.

(I did tell her not to invest in horses though!)

I have at least two other people who sound like they're pretty seriously considering purchasing horses, plus a lot of others who have made initial inquiries. Gotta keep that momentum going, sell some more horses soon!

Turning Point

I was lying awake last night, as I often do, when all of a sudden I got the feeling that our farm's financial crisis has reached a turning point. I have no logical reason to think that yet, but the feeling came all the same.

I feel certain that some of the dozen or so people who have inquired about horses in the past few days will turn out to be the right future owners for some of the horses on my sales list. I feel certain that we will pay our bills, rebalance our farm plans into a more sustainable scale, and by spring perhaps be in a position to actually start enjoying owning the farm again, instead of just worrying all the time about how we're going to keep it.

Like I said, I have no logical reason to think this yet. And maybe I won't feel that way tomorrow. But it sure is a relief to feel that way today.

I got a few more new horse inquiries today. The people who made an offer on Bonnie are now considering my counter-offer. And I got to meet a couple of very nice local horse women who came out to meet the herd this afternoon. It was a busy day, but all in all, I feel pretty good.

For that, I'm very thankful.

Horse-Shopping Feeding Frenzy

So apparently I've discovered the secret to writing horse ads is to sound really, really desperate.

When I updated my ads recently, I didn't really change much of anything in the descriptions except to add an "Emergency Herd Reduction" statement at the top of each one.

I did this two days ago. Since then I have TEN different people interested in horses, including four who say they want to schedule a farm visit and one who has made an offer on Bonnie. Bonnie has become very popular. I have FIVE people interested in her.

This is so weird. I mean, I'm happy about it, of course, but where were all these people all spring, all summer, all fall, when they could have gotten a horse in time to do something with it while the weather was still good (and saved me from feeding them all for all these months)?

I've had more inquiries in the past two days than in the past 4 months combined.

Mystifying.

Still, it's good news, so I'm not going to complain. What I'm going to do is answer a lot of inquiry emails and phone calls and schedule a lot of farm visits. Which, with luck, will lead to selling a lot of horses and stopping some of the money that has been hemorrhaging out of this farm in the form of hay bills.

It will be nice to be able to pay all the people we owe money to. It will be nice to be able to sleep at night without having to lie awake wondering how to afford the next shipment of hay. It will be nice to have a shipment of hay last more than a week!

I just hope I am able to make the right judgments and find the RIGHT home for each of the sales horses. They're good girls, every last one of them, and they deserve good homes where they'll be loved and appreciated.

A Few Steps Forward

After so many depressing posts in a row, I finally have three good things to announce today:

1. After that sheep shelter ripped itself to shreds in the wind yesterday, Ken went out today and built the Sheep Mahal---a big, sturdy shelter that (we hope) will withstand the rest of our winter winds. Just in time, too, since we're supposed to get our first snow of the year tomorrow. Poor sheepies---I feel bad for them being sheared a whole month later than usual. Usually by this time of year they would have a nice little coat of warm wool started already. But this year they're still nearly bare. BRRRRR!

2. Sheep breeding season is progressing. So far, the sheep that I know for sure got bred (because I saw it happen) are Trouble, Paris, Poppy, Tansy, and Salem. Lots of lambs in the making. I can't wait for spring!

3. Now that my horse website is updated, and I spent the past two days adding or renewing my online horse-for-sale ads, FINALLY the inquiries are starting to come in again. Just today alone, I got inquiries from 5 new people. Obviously, inquiries are not the same as buyers (Heck, based on the last person, even "Yes I want to buy her, I'm putting the check in the mail today" people are not necessarily buyers!). Still, it does give me reason to hope!

Keep your fingers crossed for me, that some of these horses will find great homes, I'll earn enough money to buy hay for the rest of them, and we'll all live happily ever after!

Against the Wind

Senter's new house withstood the rain all night and---even more important---the tremendous onslaught of gusty wind all day today. It's getting to be the time of year when I don't appreciate living up here on the hill. The wind rips and rattles and crashes everything.

Our wind chimes, so soothing all summer, batter themselves to shreds. Anything we leave on the porch---lawn chairs, cat carriers, charcoal grills, you name it---get lifted, tossed, and sometimes tumbled to the other side of the yard. And unfortunately, the largest (and least sturdy) of the sheep shelters we built disassembled itself.

I knew it was going to happen, watching the way the wind was lifting it. I told Ken we needed to reinforce it before it tore itself to pieces. But by the time he finished Senter's shelter, it was getting dark and he was tired. And during the night the wind came.

So now, tomorrow we have to make a new shelter with a somewhat more permanent design, to withstand the wind.

I worked until midnight last night getting my horse website updated, and finally managed to post it online this morning. Today I've begun updating my online horse for sale ads, which ends up being ridiculously time consuming for how simple a task it is.

There's always something more to be done. It just seems weird that being a farmer ends up meaning I spend 90% of my time trying to market my items or livestock, and only 10% of my time actually working with them. And considering how much time I spend on marketing, you'd think I'd have a few more sales to show for it.