Jewel-B-Lee Farm Archived News

Wally got weaned on Saturday. It was time, he's 6 1/2 months old and Jewel was dropping weight. He's handling it quite well. I really like leaving them till they are a bit older, seems to make it much easier on them. His extended family is watching over him.

Teyegris has a new home. Erin Pearson has provided her with a great home. She's going to try and get her in foal plus put her under saddle. She is such a beautiful mare. We wish Erin and Teyegris the best of luck. She's not that far so we can go see her but I already know she's going to love it there.

The rest of the crew are doing great. Thumper is now 15.2 ½ hands at 17 months. She is going to be a tall girl. I still think she will be destined for the jumper arena. Fancy continues to have the "been there, done that" attitude. She is going to be a great show hunter not only with her movement but with her mind. I'm looking forward to backing her in the Spring and preparing her for the International Hunter Futurity, 2 year olds under saddle class at Warrenton in the Fall.

Jewel and Wally went to the ISR/Oldenburg inspection on 18 September 2005. They were great. Jewel was approved for ISR in the Pre-Mare Book since we don't have any proof of pedigree for her. Therefore Wally was then approved for ISR also. They did great other than the fact that Wally wouldn't trot so he didn't score as high in movement as he could have.

Chip has been doing outstanding in his training. He's being ridden in the small paddock and then taking walks around the big fields with Ranger as his companion. I gave him a week off in order to let his brain digest all that he has learned. Tomorrow, he's going down the road to a friend's place just to get him out and about.

Unfortunately, Teyegris did not get in foal this year. We had a uterine biopsy done and she's a grade 2B which means she'll need some assistance to get in foal. We are not going to try anymore, so if you are interested in a companion or baby sitter, her price is very negotiable if you can provide her with a good home.

Well, it's finally happened...Chip has officially been backed and is under saddle. He's been a super star. I'm sure he's going to test me as soon as he starts to figure this thing out, so for now, I'm thoroughly enjoying our brief sessions. So far, since I only do him about 2 -3 times a week, he has walked and trotted around the round pen and we've started learning about turning. Our latest adventure was walking around the pasture with Tom and Ranger practicing turns, walking on, and halting. He spooked once when George (our dalmatian) jumped out of the woods but the good part of that is he didn't use it as an excuse, he just spooked a few strides and then stopped. On the days that I don't actually tack him up, I just jump on him bareback from both sides and then walk him out to eat some grass while I move all over him. Next week, we will start our walking and trotting in the small grass paddock.

Jewel and Wally are currently in training with Tommy Doyle and Sarah Faerber in Gordonsville. We are presenting Jewel for approval in the Pre-Mare book of the ISR/Oldenburg Registry. We'll get Wally approved at the same inspection. The inspection is September 18 at Chestnut Lawn in Remington, VA.

Once again, Thumper never does anything easy. She got an abscess in her front foot so after being up in the stall for a few days, she also got impacted. It was not a fun week, tubing her twice a day, but she is fine now. She's just the "hard luck kid".

Everyone else is doing fine. I've updated the galleries on most everyone, so take a look! (Links on the right side of the page)

Wally is growing up and thinking he's a big tough stud now. Everyone is out together now and he loves his extended family. We purchased a round pen to help with the training of the youngsters. Chip is doing so much better in it now that I have some space control. He's listening and focusing on me. Fancy has started some basic round pen work and doing great. She has a fabulous mind on her and will be a great show hunter. Teyegris got bred to Romantic Star on the 13 and 14 of June. Hopefully she took. The rest are doing well, also.

We bought a used bison 2-horse trailer, which we then got painted. We'll use it for trucking around town locally. We also put up a new run-in shed. The old one has been here since we bought the place in 1994 and has seen better days. Once the new one is completed, we'll tear the old one down. Then we just have to put up another one for the other big pasture. It would be great to be able to let some of these horses live outside and not worry about the weather or the bugs.

We didn't get Wally to Upperville but plan on taking him to Warrenton in the Fall. He has some wonderful bone and substance, just like Chip.

Just couldn't wait to tell everyone - Chip had a major break through today - I trimmed his whiskers with no tranquilizer and no twitch! I am so proud of him! I've had to back off on the lunging and go back to more basics on ground manners and respect. He's gotten so much bigger and stronger and was starting to realize it. Right now, we work on the ground teaching him to respect my space - the Clinton Anderson technique - de-sensitize. It seems that it is paying off. I just never thought that I would see the day that I could trim him with no restraint of any kind!

Wallstreet 2nd Edition (Wally), has stolen our hearts. He is so curious about everything and just like Chip, enjoys a good scratch. He had his first turnout on 6 April. He is still a bit down on his pasterns behind, but we wanted to get him out in the sun for a bit. Each day his hind leg strength is improving. By the way, Mom is doing fine also. First Turnout!

Finally! Jewel foaled at 10:50 PM April 4. 344 days. She did things differently this year...I went down around 9:30 PM to pick her stall. She was streaming milk and in a bit of a sweat. For anyone out there that uses Foal Watch (the calcium tester), at 5 PM when I tested her, she barely turned the fluid blue at 200. It was the first time she had hit 200, so she was in the 54% probability that she would foal within 24 hours of first hitting the 200 mark. Anyway, I finished and went back up to the house to watch. The past two foalings, as she went into labor, she would do a lot of pacing and run her teeth up and down the stall bars. This time she was eating hay, laid down once, got up and ate some more hay, laid back down and when she got up I saw the sack! Boy did I go running back down to the barn. It was 10:25 PM. He's almost the spitting image of Chip! Within 2 hours, he was up a few times and had two good meals. First pictures!

Well, we are still "Jewel watching" and no foal. Today marks 341 days and her due date. Her bag is progressing as it did with Chip, where it's just not full yet, but with Chip, she waited till the day she foaled to get a full bag. We have been using the calcium tests, Foal Watch. Last year, it was accurate for both mares. We are using it but at the same time, using our common sense that tells us there is always the exception to the rule. We'll keep you updated.

Thumper is doing great. I have never been around such a sane little girl that's been on 4 months of stall rest. She's been going out with Ranger, the babysitter, and then this week we introduced her back to Fancy, then Chip. Today is a first, she's out with Fancy, Ranger, and Chip. Needless to say, Jewel's been a bit on the cranky side, so leaving the two mares separated. Both Fancy and Thumper are going through growth spurts. I measured Thumper about 2 months ago and she was 14.2 hands at 9 months! She is going to be a tall child, still hasn't grown into those legs!

The others are doing fine. Haven't been able to do much ground work (lunging) with Chip since we keep having so much rain. The footing is terrible once again. We have been doing other things with him, working with the hose and grooming on the cross ties (I have a tendency to groom in the stalls and then never make the transition). He's been doing great. We've started the two fillies earlier with their training then we did with Chip. Every few days, the girls come into the wash stall and get their feet and legs hosed down. Trying to introduce them to as much as possible before they get too big.

Thumper is a star. Things look good, the fusion is progressing as expected. She's now allowed to start some turnout for a few hours a day. Needless to say, we started today. Gave her a bit of ace and turned her out in the small paddock with Jewel. She did a few airs above the ground but all and all, remained fairly calm. You could tell that Tom and I had been her "parents" for the past four months, since if we moved, she panicked and would come looking for us. That will change as time goes on. We will gradually increase the amount of time that she is out. She has to stay in the small paddock for about 45 days and then if all goes well, she can go out in the big field. She was a star at the equine hospital and on the trailer ride.

What a winter! On the 21st of this month, we take Thumper for another evaluation at the equine hospital. She's been hand walking for two months now and the hope is that her pastern will be fused enough that she can start limited turn out. She's been wonderful for a foal that's been in a stall for 3 months.

The rest of crew are doing fine. Fancy had an issue in December. She had just been returning to turnout after the bump on her hind leg had healed. I decided it was time to turn her out with the rest of the crew. My mistake, should have done it one at a time, but then hind sight is always 20/20. Everyone came galloping up to see her and it caught her off guard. The footing was bad and we think she must have done an outwards split with her hind legs, resulting in a pulled muscle. It took about a month of stall rest for her to recuperate. We just started turning her out again with her Mom (she's the quietest) and doing well. I'll probably give her another week with just her Mom and then start introducing her back into the herd, one at a time.

Jewel-B-Lee Farm Archived News