Oldenburg Inspections

Yesterday I was lucky enough to catch the last few hours of the Oldenburg foal inspections at Hill Top Farm in Colora, MD.

According to the Oldenburg Registry... "The Oldenburg horse is one of Europe's oldest warmblood breeds. Anton Gunther von Oldenburg... developed teh breed in the 16th century, using mares of the Fresian breed as well as selected stallions from Spain and Italy. His purpose was to develop a grand coach horse."

Well, he certainly did develop a grand horse!  These days, Oldenburg horses are used for dressage, show jumping and eventing.  They are known for their smooth, elastic movements and beautiful performances in the show ring.  Each horse must be inspected in order to be accepted into the Oldenburg registry.  The foals are inspected sometime during the same year of their birth, and are branded with either the Oldenburg brand (an O topped by a crown, with N and A accompanying) or the International Sporthorse brand (an intertwined S and I, surrounded by a circlet of leaves).

The latest inspection and branding was at Hill Top Farm, a beautiful facility located on acres and acres of phenomenal green pasture.  Yesterday bustled with heavy mares and naughty foals, and there was perfection abounding!!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the inspection...

A view of one wing of the spectacular barn at Hill Top

We saw a lot of naughty babies!

The ISR Official, heating the brands

 

To learn more about the Oldenburg horse and the International Sporthorse Registry, go to www.isroldenburg.org

To learn more about Hill Top Farm and see pictures of their beautiful facilities and equally beautiful equine residents, check out www.hilltopfarminc.com

- SMY

Early Morning Breeze

Up before dawn on a Friday morning to catch a breeze may not seem like it's worth the trouble. But it is if the breeze is accompanied by the thunder of galloping hooves and the rhythmic whoosh of warm air from the noses of working horses.

Fair Hill Training Center is a hub of activity in the early morning hours, not the least of which is exercising racing thoroughbreds.  We were lucky enough to catch a few hours of these workouts with Dr. Ben Martin, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine. He is a wealth of information about thoroughbreds and racing culture, and it really was a great, informative morning!

The fog lays low, that early in the morning - but as it burned off with the rising sun, the day became a beautiful, sunny testament to the beauty and grace of thoroughbred racing.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from that morning...

Learn more about Thoroughbred racing and Fair Hill Training Center at www.fairhilltrainingcenter.com

- SMY

The Big Apple

The Big Apple, The City That Never Sleeps... New York City.

Three beautiful generations of Morgan's family came to visit in August - what a weekend!! The busiest day was Saturday, when we got up in the dark hours of the morning to hop a Megabus and head to NYC!

Of course, we had the most phenomenal tour guide money can't buy - Dennis lived there for lots of years, and was gracious enough to herd our gaggle of gossiping women around the city all day - we loved it! And if we're gonna be honest, I bet he did too. :)

We had great brunch right outside Penn Station, saw Ground Zero and the Bodies Exhibit, shopped a wonderful street fair at the South Street Seaport and the scary back-rooms at Canal Street (we had to buy purses!), played in FAO Schwartz, skipped all the lines at the Central Park Zoo, spent lots of time maneuvering the subway system... and had an all around great time!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the Empire City...

Fresh Veggies at the Union Square Farmer's Market 

Here's to more fun in the sun in NYC.

-SMY

58 Years of Home Grown Fun

The Cecil County Fair!!! Nine days of delicious fair food, spruced up farm animals, bright colored lights on twirling rides and beautiful, crazy, brilliant hand-made crafts... and a few nights of bronc-bustin' bull-ridin' barrel-twistin' rodeo!!

We went with my beautiful friend, Amanda - so of course it was like being there with a celebrity - we were practically famous!! And it was so much fun.

I hope I'm lucky enough to always live somewhere that counts the local fair as one of its best weeks...

-SMY