Duty Calls

It takes a lot to keep Sadie Acres running, time and money. These guys eat a lot...yeah, I'm looking at you, horses!  

That being said, as smart as the rabbits are, they have yet to get a job!  And although I'm up to $1.97 this month in ad revenue from the blog (don't laugh, it's something!), that won't quite pay the bills either, so duty calls this week and I'll be working out of town until Tuesday Feb. 3rd.   

The bad news is there will not be as many blog updates from Sadie Acres, the good news is when I get back Denali will have arrived!

Sorry, Rowdy, you can't come with me :(

11 days and counting...

It's only 11 days and counting until we bring little Denali home, but that didn't stop me from taking advantage of an opportunity to go see her! 

My Mom and I took a little road trip to Pueblo today, and it just so happens that Denali is just a short detour on the way home :)  Ruth and Jerry, the wonderful people I am getting Denali from were kind of enough to let us come by and get some playtime in.

It was probably just wishful thinking, but it seems like she maybe remembered me.  Either way she was happy to see us and greeted us with lots of wiggles and puppy kisses.

She's 9 weeks old and about 10 pounds, she's a solid little girl, but I was glad to see she hadn't gotten too big since the last time I saw her.

I have a new appreciation for the awesome pictures Ruth has been sending me over the past month, Denali is constant motion and most of the pictures I took were of Denali blurs, but I still managed to get a few :)

She has the cutest little beauty mark, and look at those big paws!  

Big personality in this little pup!

She loves her kong with peanut butter.

She's a smart pup and knows who is going to spoil her, she is already quite fond of Grandma!

Before we left we had to get a little playtime in outside.  She LOVES the snow and is so cute playing in it.

You can't help but be happy watching this little ball of cuteness running towards you!

Waiting has been hard, but leaving her today was the hardest!  We'll see you in 11 days Denali, I'm sure this is the first of many posts about our newest Sadie Acres resident!

More than just a pretty face??

We always talk about how smart the horses are, Dolly loves to learn tricks, Penny "feeds" Dolly when the mood strikes her, the horses get a lot of barn credit for their smarts as do the dogs and even our little bird brains often surprise us with their hen cleverness.

Chloe and Oscar, well, they're the cute ones and possibly the sweetest at Sadie Acres.  Recently, however, I've realized there's maybe more than just a pretty face there...

Oscar doing his best Blue Steel

The bunnies love attention and will often make noise in their cage if you aren't paying enough attention to them, they'll toss stuff around and move whatever they can that will make a ruckus.  Over the last couple weeks though, I started to notice a trend in those noises when they knew it was almost oatmeal time. These two LOVE their oatmeal!  

After observing carefully for a few days I realized they work together to move their oatmeal dish front and center to where I always put it during feeding time.

Sure enough, they knew it was almost oatmeal time and they knew getting that dish moving would help remind me, just in case I forgot!  

This evening confirmed my smarter-than-we-gave-them-credit-for suspicions when after they got their plate in place, each time I said "oatmeal" Oscar would move the dish.  

Beauty and brains, what more could you ask for?!

Napping with full oatmeal bellies!

Chicken Run!

When we first got our chicks we tried to handle them a lot so that they would be comfortable with people and nice and tame.  It was so much fun when they began walking onto our hands voluntarily, they really appeared to be warming up to us. We seemed to have done everything right so you can imagine our surprise when we seemed to lose ground with them. As they got larger and moved out to the barn they went back to being very skittish and not very people friendly.

We didn't know at the time that once they reached maturity everything would change again.  Lady Mary was the first to warm back up to us.  One day we went out to see them and she did this little squat as we approached her.  As we always do, we went to work doing our research.  We found out that this is a sign that they've reached maturity (also coincides with when they start laying eggs), it's a sign of submission and our girls do it when they want to be pet or picked up.  

Mrs. Patmore followed shortly after, and then Edith.  Lavinia still has not, and based on her breed (Golden Spangle), she may never warm up to us like the others.  Her breed tends to be very standoffish and independent.  That's ok though, we have our hands full with the other three!  

Now that the girls have matured they want to be with us constantly, they literally follow you everywhere!   I go into the feed room, they go in the feed room, I go into a stall, they try to go into the stall.  They are never very happy when I shut the door on them, but they wait patiently on the other side.  

Today I decided to have a little fun with them.  I needed to let Sadie out so I was trying to shake them off, no such luck! This is also the sight you see when you open the barn door, it's quite the greeting to have 3 chickens run full blast towards you!

And now one in slow motion because what's funnier than chickens running in slow-mo?!

These girls are made for sprints definitely not distance.  Mrs. Patmore immediately found the highest perch to celebrate her come from behind victory in that last race.

Sadie Acres hits the trail

We are finally thawing out here at Sadie Acres, with a high of 57 today most of the snow has melted and I haven't had to break any ice in almost a week...yay!! 

That being said, we have some really muddy runs and some super dirty horses!!   

Sadie's run may not dry out until spring!

So, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather, clean up the horses and hit the trail!  

Dad and Rowdy patiently waiting on the girls

After an incident a couple months ago when Sadie slipped in mud and fell with me on her (we were both ok, thank goodness!) we took it nice and slow today, which is just the pace Dolly and Daisy like.  

Quite the caravan, can't wait until we have our little Bernese Mountain Dog joining us on the trail!

I continue to be amazed at how well these two do on the trail together.  Dolly is such a trooper keeping up with those short little legs and Sadie has endless patience with Dolly's complete disregard of her personal space and her endless attempts to speed up and get a quick bite to eat before she runs out of slack :)

Giving Dolly's little legs a rest

One of the best things about our "herd" is they truly love being around people. Even when they are free to go graze after their ride, they still would rather be with their humans :).

Penny tends to be the least affectionate of the horses, but she is sure getting bonded to Mom!

You sure you don't have any more peppermints??

It was a fun day, I could get used to these temps...how many more days until summer??

Dolly, is that you?!

I think I'm one of the unusual horse owners that loves it when my horse starts to grow her winter coat.  Sure, I love how slick and beautiful they are in the summer, but there is just something about hugging them when they feel like giant teddy bears!  

Soft and fuzzy Sadie!

Dolly's winter coat takes the teddy bear look to a whole new level!

As I was looking back at previous blog posts the other day, I couldn't believe how different she looks!  

There is one thing that is always unmistakable about Miss Dolly though, that smile...

A Rare Moment...

One of my favorite things about working from home is getting to capture rare moments like the one I did today.

It's not uncommon to find Penny laying down relaxing in the sun, but I've never seen these two sleeping right next to each other.

I had to sneak up on them to get pictures before they woke up.  Not an easy task in the ice and mud, but they were both sound asleep!

It's a sign of trust when a horse will lay down with you nearby since that is their most vulnerable position, our horses definitely don't have any trust issues!  These two were in no hurry to get up from their nap!

A very un-Rowdy moment

Spa Day at Downhen Abbey

What group of girls doesn't enjoy a nice relaxing spa day?  The girls of Downhen Abbey certainly do, but it looks a little different than your typical spa day...

This is what you call a chicken dust bath, chickens use dust baths to clean themselves, to relax and to socialize.  

Clean themselves?!  Sounds odd, but it's true, chickens care for their feathers by digging down into the dirt and rolling around and tossing it onto themselves.  The dirt settles next to their skin and absorbs excess moisture and oil.  It also prevents parasites and lice from finding a home in their feathers. 

Our girls then stretch out and nap in the sun before they shake off and groom their feathers back into place.  

Lady Edith is very proud of the end result!

Oh, I did forget one rule of the Downhen Spa...no rabbits allowed!  Poor Chloe :(

** no rabbits were harmed in the making of this blog post.  They do, however, need a bath now!  **

The Battle: Penny vs Dolly

Like any herd, feral or domestic, there is always a dominant member.  We always thought that was Rowdy, he's always trying to boss his mares around and definitely causes the most mischief, but after reading up and watching their behavior closer we have discovered that Penny, our senior mare, is definitely the alpha mare of the herd.  

I recently read this: "The dominant member of a herd is always an alpha mare. This mare decides where the herd goes and, as the high-ranking member, gets first choice of food and water."  Well, this explains a lot! Every single morning we witness an entertaining battle between Penny and Dolly.  

As soon as they spot someone coming to feed them Dolly lets out her ear-piercing whinny, tosses her head and Penny charges her with ears pinned.

They continue their battle into the stalls and bite at each other through the bars.

Penny is a smart horse though, their battle used to be a lot more intense, she would kick her stall (which would get her in big trouble with me) and would kick the rail until she realized that hurt!  Now she just gives little "warning hops". 

Even after Penny gets her feed she makes sure to chase Dolly down the run and give one more warning that she better not try to get her food!

With this happening each morning you can imagine our surprise when we found out what happens after we leave the barn...

After making sure she has picked out all of her senior feed (her favorite!) Penny actually drags her feed bin out of her stall over to Dolly and they finish the rest together.  Seriously, we couldn't make this stuff up?!  

I guess being the alpha mare she is, as long as it's on her terms she's happy to share :)

Source: netplaces

Big Brother Schumi

As we eagerly await Denali's arrival to Sadie Acres, I am reminded of how much fun, and how much work having a puppy is!  

Schumi was born on March 10th, 2006, it's hard to believe he is almost 9 because he still has so much of that puppy charm!   

The first picture I saw of Schumi, this was sent by the family before I even picked him out!

Schumi was always a napper and always loved to cuddle.  

The family I got him from had a little girl that was about 7 at the time he was born. She immediately selected him as her favorite of the litter and would carry him everywhere and gave him TONS of attention. The day I picked him out I actually pulled her Mom aside and told her that I couldn't take this puppy from her daughter. She said he was going regardless so it may as well be to me. 

I kept in touch with the family for quite some time and give that sweet little girl credit for what a loving dog Schumi is and how good he is with kids.

Mauzzy was 9 years old when I got Schumi and a big part of my decision to get him was to help keep Mauzzy young...it definitely worked!  We were so lucky to have her 8+ years after that.  I hope he and Denali get along as well as these two did and she helps keep him young and active.

She was so patient with him!

Mauzzy definitely "mothered" Schumi, this look says it all!

My favorite pic of the two

Schumi is definitely the typical Beagle that requires a lot of patience and rules, but overall he was a good puppy, he never was too destructive and loved to play! 

This gorilla was his favorite toy as a pup

He's a bit of a Momma's boy so hopefully he won't be too jealous of Denali in the beginning :)

Come out and play!

The sun is shining, the snow is melting and everyone is feeling good!

With the sun out and the temps a bit warmer it was a good day to get Sadie and Dolly out of their muddy stalls and let them run around a bit.  

As usual, Dolly had more interest in eating than playing.  Sadie running crazy does not even phase her, she never looks up :)

Sadie and her best bud Rowdy would love to be out running together, unfortunately, he likes to kick at her so we keep them separated.  

 

He likes to kick at Penny too, but after years together she's pretty savvy to his ways!

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The girls enjoyed their play time, but were more than happy to head back to the barn as the temps dropped again and dinnertime approached.