More about the PRS staff

Just wanted to update on the staff from PRS.  I already mentioned that Cate and Cory will be living in the house there, in fact, they are planning to be married in the old barn when it is all cleaned out and painted.  Little Jacob, now in second grade, is so excited because he will be getting his first "big boy" horse.  I may let him take my older gelding, Doc.  They already have a great rapport.

Wow, crazy month!

Where to begin?  The highlights, then a more in depth explanation, I guess.  So, Memzie was fabulous in her first show, Brownie is now a beginner champion and, oh, yeah, I have closed Prairie Rose Stables.  

Breeding for year 196

I did not breed any foals last year and it has been a little sad with no new babies to play with this spring, but I decided to breed 2 for the upcoming year.  I am very excited as one is a proven fabulous cross and the other is my very first Ardennais foal by my lovely custom boy.

Memzie's first show...

I have been working a lot with Memzie, one of Panama's last foals, and she is finally ready for her entry into the show world.  Andrea is very excited, as she is going to be showing her in her very first halter class.  She hasn't had much training, but these first couple of shows will let us know where she stands.

Back in the swing...

So, I have been gone for a few days visiting my adorable baby granddaughter.  I came back to find things running smoothly, as usual, but it appears we have a new romance brewing between our two ranches.  Cory seems to be spending an awful lot of time over at PRS, taking private meetings with Cate!

Precocious filly!

I have been very eagerly awaiting the birth of my first Saffi foal, and early this month she had this wonderful filly!  But, as if beauty and fabulous sweet temper weren't enough, she blew me away in her first month of training!

It's A Filly!

First foal of the year and she's a beautiful little bay filly!  Very exciting to have the first one on the ground.  I have had the vet out, she is doing great, although she did not like the blood draw and the vet's assistant is going to

Foaling Cams

Finally got the rewiring done and the new cams in and just in time!  The mice played havoc with our system over the winter, but we have added two amazing little barn cats, Lucy and Yeti, and we should not have a repeat of that issue.

Lots of Good News!

Sachio had a fabulous showing in the open plowing class at Southlake today and snagged his final point in Intermediate and has now moved up to Advanced level classes!  We are all jumping for joy around here.  Absolutely amazing to have a first generation rare breed doing so well.  So next month I will be training him myself to see where he stands and to get him whipped into shape to move on.  I am really excited about working with him.

Handsome Hokkaido

I just had to share this lovely Japanese Hokkaido with y'all.  His name is Sachio and he is performing in Draft in-hand and plowing and pulling classes.  He continues to bring home points every day and is a sweet boy to work with and show.  I will be gearing my Hokkaidos toward steeplechase from here

BIG WINNER TODAY!!!

We had our first futurity winner today since I started training myself.  Lotti was entered in mares and fillies trail and in- hand and she took home the blue in trail, with a score of 50.76, and the yellow in in-hand, with a score of 57.23.  We are so proud of her!  She now has over $13,000 in earnings and a nice little title to follow her name.  I really like saying Futurity Winner Lotti.  :-)

Training Woes

I am still struggling with figuring out a training schedule that blends what my horses need and the time and energy available to fulfill those needs. I will have my first futurity entry in English in-hand and trail tomorrow and hopefully that will give me some idea on how my training is working out.

Poor Zorro!

I have some sad news. I was working with Zorro this month and that is when I noticed again this issue with ground driving. I was trying to teach him to rein and he was flipping out when the reins touched him. How he made it to intermediate champion I will never know! Anyway, I didn't feel safe on his

Staff Meeting

I really like to know what the staff is doing and thinking, and I like to keep them apprised of what I am doing and thinking, so we hold a staff meeting on the last Friday of the month. Religiously. Well, this month, I had to get to the bottom of the ground driving issue. I have noticed

FIRST PLACE!

Anni placed first in the open in-hand class on Haal 15th!  Even better she was the high point earner for the whole event!!!  So many blue ribbons she already has.  Love my Anniken!

The Future

So, a little about my future plans.  I am in the process of a coming up with a 10 year plan toward early retirement.  At the end of that time, I do not want to have an outside job at all.  I would like to be training my show horses with the help of hired exercise attendants and a few groomers.  I will keep Jack on, until

Training Day

I was visiting my other ranch, Prairie Training Stables, this month and decided to do some training myself to see how the horses were doing. I chose to train Edi, Lotti, and Blue. Edi was just recently purchased and I was not sure how much training she had when I got her as a rising 3 year old,

A bet with my foreman!

I made a bet with my foreman that I could get one or both of my 2 year old fillies saddle broke enough for a trail ride in one month. I don't know what I was thinking, as I have not actually trained a horse in quite some time! But, today, on the 30th of Eyz, I was able to get Rouge all tacked up and ride her around the paddocks and through the show barn. So, now, what to do with this extra $100 burning a hole in my pocket?

Our new Blog is up!

This is going to be the place to find out what is happening at Prairie Rose Farms. I am hoping to be fairly regular at posting here and keeping y'all up to date with all the goings on of our ranch and our horses. I will also be posting little tidbits about my hired hands and their lives, on and off the ranch. For instance, we have a wedding