These frigid nights have caused some water line freezing problems, frozen hoses, foot thick ice in the troughs. It's been a nightmare quite honestly. Not laughing till today. The ice was broken-metaphorically speaking.

In my attempt to fill empty troughs with 14 horses waiting patiently, I fire up the generator and find not a drop of water coming out of the hose. ARGHHHH. I spoke a few choice words under my breath and sighed. Off I go to town to purchase a blower/heater to defrost the line, figuring it's a repeat of last Sunday's watering experience. I spend an hour in town explaining my needs to the local farm supply store. They lent a sympathetic ear but had nothing I could use.

Defeated, I go back up the Center and thought I'd try my little propane torch-hoping not to melt the plastic water line. As I ignite the torch and spend half an hour sitting in the snow defrosting things, I look over and notice the plug to the generator laying in the snow. My clue that I never even plugged the pump into the generator!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I couldn't believe it. Well..yes I could actually. How stupid could I be?! Duh. No wonder there wasn't water coming out.

As I confess my embarrasing error, I realize I was the only one who knew what I did. However, I did have a dozen horses looking over the fence at me! Happy that I keep them entertained.

Short version of 2010

Looking back on 2010 there sure was a lot of developing, goal setting and progress that occurred for us at The Center.. Let's take a little walk down memory lane...

January- An 8 member board of directors were formed.
February-I spent many hours with a professional in the field of "branding" our organization, coming up with a name and mission statement and much, much more.
March- Begin to make plans for relocating 11 horses to the new property which had not one strand of fencing on the 70 acres.
April 10th- moved the horses to Johnson! April 13- Thirty volunteers show up on a snowy day to help out!
May-spent two great weeks in Switzerland training and teaching! Followed by a grand promo event at Belmont Race Track.
June-Reality sets in. We have a lot of land and need a lot of help.
July-volunteers come out of the woodwork. Horses coming and going for training, lots of lessons, visitors and MORE HELP comes!
August- The height of the season and I'm teaching, training and out promoting the horses full time +.
September- We become officially incorporated in the state of Vermont! Plans for indoor arena begin, thanks to a generous donation.
October-Winter right around the corner and we continue to nail down our programs, goals and short and long term plans.
November- New website is up and running with Paypal!
December-Continue to haul, lug, drag, carry and shovel our way into the new year as we not so patiently await the delivery of the indoor arena.

We're gonna ROCK 2011!

half full, or half empty?

It's been that kind of a day. Or week, or month, however I want to look at it. Looking at the glass as half full is always a good thing, too. Maybe it's because of the rare occurance of the winter solstice, full moon and eclipse all on the same day but something is going on beyond my control.

Truck breakdown, new fencer battery dead, horses playing Houdini, generator not working, hoses frozen on watering day, etc. etc. etc.

Many people I've spoken with in the last few days are experiencing multiple headaches (not literal headaches in some cases, but major inconveniences we can call them.) I'm just trying to stay afloat physically, mentally and spiritually. And humorously. It's hard to laugh at myself when in the midst of "inconveniences". Looking at it from, "it could always be worse" perspective or, "there are those with much worse problems and I -should -count -my-blessings -this- is- all- I- have- to -deal -with" train of thought is helpful. Perspective is important. Continuing to be grateful for all that I DO have and grateful to those that reach out to help in so many ways.

Thank goodness for good health, good friends, and goodness of people that are known, and unknown. In these challenging financial times many have reached out to support our work and with out their generosity The Center for America's First Horse would not be where we are today, both literally, and figuratively speaking.

In the spirit of the season,

Stephanie

Minko's lucky day!

The Center for America's First Horse has a special friend in Pennsylvania. She has fallen for Minko, a young Choctaw colt she first met when he was only months old. Now Minko is three years old and they've reunited over the internet.

Annie sent Minko a generous care package today. He can hardly wait to try on his new halters, eat his treats, and wear the beautiful mane decorations. Christmas came early for him!

Annie signed her note to him, "From your foster family. xoxoxo"! We are very lucky to have Annie and her husband Ralph part of The Center. Thank you!!!!

A taste of humble pie

Mmmmmm, good!

Working with horses can be a humbling experience. Caring for them can be a humbling experience. Caring for them in an environment which is not really even suitable for the human to be exposed to can be humbling.

That pretty much sums up my week so far! Our lovely Vermont weather has been in full swing. Big snow, followed by big rain, followed by ice, wind, then more rain and finally snow again today. We went from 40+ degrees to about 15 degrees in less than 12 hours. No problem if one has an office job and a short commute home.

No need to go into details of what fun I've had. I've been rescued more than a few times in the last week by my peers, friends, and volunteers. Thank goodness is all I can say because if it wasn't for their help I'd have lost my sense of humor a long time ago.

Each day is certainly a new adventure--counting the weeks till the arena is delivered and installed. Can she persevere?!!!! Stay tuned for tomorrows blog to find out!

Holiday Festival

Join us on Saturday, December 11 for the annual Johnson Holiday Festival from 11-4 at Johnson Elementary school.

Oscar and Montego will be on hand to greet the community and we'll have a table set up inside selling our merchandise! Should be a fun time and let's hope not too cold since I'll be standing outside with the horses while Jo and Joanne tend to the table inside. Where it'll be warm. And cozy. And they'll probably be sipping hot cider!

Thanks goes out to two Johnson State College students, John and Lucas, who put in some volunteer hours today! Awesome job with the shovels, guys! AND...they're coming back tomorrow to help move hay. I felt like a queen not having to break my back shoveling the trailer out and making paths.

Please continue to spread our message by sharing our website with your friends! Our sponsorship program, buy-a-bale for $5, gift certificates and more are all available at our online store. New items coming up soon! http://centerforamericasfirsthorse.org/e-store.html

The storm left us with almost 2 feet of snow. oh joy. Not to sound like sour grapes but it really wasn't what I needed right now. Still struggling with frozen water source, trying to avoid spending big bucks on plowing the monster of a driveway, and to top things off my round bale delivery was postponed due to the storm so that means some serious shlepping of hay.

Thank goodness for volunteers!

It has stopped snowing. Will dig out today, get the driveway plowed and hope hay comes Thursday. It's all about one thing at a time.

a White Christmas?

A lot of white stuff falling out of the sky. I'm expecting close to 2 feet once all is said and done with this storm. Makes for some creative watering, feeding, cleaning, driving.

Good news...we've had great response to our new site! Thank you everyone for you kind comments and encouragement.

The paypal button is working great! We've already sold half of the first printing of our Holiday greeting card. A one of a kind card featuring Iktinike, the Choctaw stallion who sired Little Creek and Minko. 6 for $15 or $3 each http://centerforamericasfirsthorse.org/e-store.html
There's still time to order yours now!

Or consider gifting a horse sponsorship for one month . A great idea for that person on your list that already has everything. They'll receive a sponsorship packet and a special gift!

Happy Holidays!

work smarter, not harder

I'm always looking for ways to work more efficiently, save money and spend more quality time with the horses.

Round bales are my current answer! Was fortunate to find a supplier of good quality rounds for a good price-about 50 miles away but worth it. Got a sample bale for the 4 boys and Maya living together to see if they liked it before I purchased a months worth. They looked at me this morning like, "I'm stuffed!"

If it works out like I plan where all three groups of horses can be served a free choice round bale, then I may cut my hay bill in half. That's significant. It's a win win situation since they'll be able to eat all day during the cold weather we're coming into now. May have some plump ponies by the end of the winter but that's okay since we get 5 months of cold, wet, windy weather. I'll not have to worry about them as much. There is always something I'm worried about with them though!

Destiny will most likely use the hay for a nest. If Shy allows her too. Shy rules that roost although I was spying on them the other day and noticed them standing very close to each other napping. Once Shy saw me, she glared at Destiny who took orders and moved over about 15 feet!

A friend in VA has had good luck with a large bale hay net for her Spanish Mustangs. Wasted hay is not an issue any longer for her since she's used the nets. They are pricey but in the long run would save even more money. Maybe Santa will bring one for the ponies?!

Watching Eliza (all 70 lbs of her) and I pushing a 700 lb round bale out of the back of the truck must have given the horses a giggle. It almost got away and rolled down the hill. She went chasing after it, with me hoping it wouldn't crush her flat. hehehehe like in the cartoons!!!!!!!!! I had to laugh out loud. oh, right, that's lol.

Always an adventure at The Center. The next one is probably unloading 10 bales off a flatbead. A tractor is on our wish list, too!

Get your Holiday Greeting cards

A beautiful Holiday card has been designed by Wingspan arts, Intl. www.wingspanartsintl.com to benefit the Center. The photo used is of Iktinike, the Choctaw stallion belonging to Dr. Sponenberg, who spent two years at Red Road Farm when I was working with that preservation program. I took the photo on a wintery day and the photo has been digitally enhanced to look just magical. You can view it on The Center's Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-Americas-First-Horse/10150104999335094 My apologies for not being able to upload it here. Until I get high speed internet, I'm limited.

Cards are available for $15 for 6, or $3 each. We will have them in our e-store on our site next week. A limited number has been printed and they are going fast. We may have time to print more before the Holidays.

All proceeds from the sale of the card go directly to The Center. Thank you for your support!

New Website is up!

If you haven't heard...our newly designed website is up and running and it's just FANTASTIC!!! ! www.centerforamericasfirsthorse.org

Many many thanks to MaryAnne the webmistress, and Elsie as the assistant and note taker. To Brie Hoblin for her technical assistance, and Brenda for helping out when needed.

We still have a few minor things to work on but Paypal is ready, links work, and we're rollin'! This is really exciting for all of us.

THANK YOU for visiting our site!