Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A lovely day for a sleigh ride...

Yesterday was great. My friend and I went up the road to another neighbour's farm. She has a great collection of animals, and she rescues some real sweeties (horses, donkey, etc.) Her hubby just finished building a magnificent new chicken coop. Here is one hen enjoying a heat lamp:


What a lovely girl!



Mmmm, snacks! (Yes, there's popcorn in there.)



Chicken bum poking out from the laying box compartment (or whatever it's called!)
The chickens are really happy in their new digs, and egg production is up.

Our neighbour has a pair of lovely old horses there (among other things!) One is 39, the other 26 years old. She also had a dwarf miniature horse (i.e. the mini part is normal, but the dwarf bit is not. He is a rescue and has some health issues, but is tiny, sweet, and adorable.) Here is the little one trailing behind one of the two elderly horses. He hangs with them and they get along very well:


And a close up! He's so fluffy and tiny. He weighs less than my dog Tristan!



A barn cat enjoying a toasty perch.


And the adorable resident goat...


He enjoyed the scritchies I gave him.

Just look at these lovely horses! 39 is pretty ancient, from what I understand, but he (she? I forget!) is doing quite well. And the wee one is right behind:



Heading off to the warmth of the horsey shelter.


After this, my friend took me back to her place and I was treated to a sleigh ride with two of her Clydesdales! She and I and the dog shared the sleigh while her hubby drove the horses:

Note the dog butt in the foreground!

And here are the Clydesdales after our beautiful outing. It was snowing but not too cold (unlike today, which is absolutely frigid):





And King the dog had a great time too:


I am feeling quite lucky to be living where I do! Sleigh ride on a weekday afternoon? Perfect!!

9 comments:

  1. I enjoyed these photos - I would've spent all day there and made sure I pet every animal! Didn't realize horses live that long! I would love to have such a variety like your neighbor has! Right now I just have a cat and soon I will have a BIG DOG. Now how do I go about convincing the hubby to get horses, chickens and goats??? lol!

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  2. Awwwwwwwwww....loved the little itty bitty horse. I think I've seen those in the zoo here.

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  3. I was tell my son the other day how much I miss my chickens. I'm sure those chickens really enjoy having a heating lamp during your winters. From what I understand, egg production goes down with cold weather.

    I love the little pony. He's no bigger than my chihuahuas.

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  4. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon!

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  5. SO are you going to get a pair of Clydesdales and learn to drive??

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  6. It is HIGHLY tempting. Actually we are both keen on draft horses, but we have MUCH to learn first!!

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  7. Oh how wonderful! I want that too! Never mind the snow, and freezing temps. You are so lucky!

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  8. Anonymous10:52 am

    OH . MY . GOD

    What a LIFE!!! you're RIGHT ... sleigh riding in the middle of the week...visiting all those LOVELY animals .. the snow .. Ooooooooooo.

    The Clydesdales are GORGEOUS!!! What beautiful horses. And I love the old guys and their little mini-horse. He apparently thinks he's just one of them :) sooo cute.

    I love the chickens and their warm roost. They are beautiful. The goat is, of course, darling also.

    and my favorite pic is the sleigh ride with the snow falling. EXCELLENT!!!!

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  9. SHellmo, I didn't realize horses lived that long either, although I think 39 is exceptional. As for your hubby, just tell him the horses, chickens and goats are rare breeds of dog!

    That itty bitty horse is SO tiny. He's tinier than a miniature, of course, because he's s dwarf. He's very sweet.

    I was feeling exceptionally lucky the other day, sitting on the sleigh. Even luckier, we may get another sleigh ride tomorrow if the weather cooperates and the horses are up for it!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!