A very calm buggy horse

animals

An Amish neighbor was riding down the road in her buggy when a line of canning company equipment went by. I didn’t think to video the huge machines, but I did get the last of the convoy. Notice that the horse attached to the buggy remained calm as the vehicles went by.

It was quite amazing to watch as the horse stood. My friend Sarah had hoped her neighbor would have turned into the driveway to get off the road, but that seemed unnecessary.

The well-trained horse did what it was supposed to do.

Until next time, that’s it from Sunnybook Farm.

Copyright © 2021 Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

An old mare gives birth at 22

animals, Friends

Continuing with my visit to an Amish farm.

This mare doesn’t look her age. Not too long ago she came to live on my friends’ farm. She was a gift to their adult daughter. I don’t know more of the horse’s history.

I was surprised when I learned the age of this new mother. She was 22 years old when she gave birth to her first foal this past June. Both are doing great and are much loved.

Twenty-two-year old mare
her 2-month-old foal

Until next time, that’s it from Sunnybook Farm.

Copyright © 2021 Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Horses on an Amish farm

animals, Susan, Wisconsin

I visited my friends in Cambria on Monday, August 23, and took some photos of the animals on the farm–photographing the Amish is out of the question.

They are very proud of their horses, so I had no problem taking photos and videos of the horses. This team was harnessed to pull a hay rake. . Notice that they did not walk away even though they were not tethered. A little later, they calmly walked to stand by a hitching post. Soon after taking their photos were taken, they were put to work

I had a wonderful visit with my friends the Ottos. They treated me to lunch and we shared memories of Bob.

It took a bit of courage for me to take the 2+ hour trip to the Otto farm without Bob, but I’m happy I did. To make it less stressful, I didn’t go on Highway 41, but took a country route instead. The absence of the crazy highway traffic made for an easy drive and only added 15 minutes to my trip. I won’t wait so long to go to visit my friends again now that I found this peaceful route.

Until next time, that’s it from Sunnybook Farm.

Copyright © 2021 Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Mom, do you need that? asked the cat.

Car-E, cats

I was right there, actually using the radio remote. At that moment it was set to mute.

Car-E saw no need for the gadget to be on the table. Off it went.

Nothing stays forever in its place if Car-E is around.

I just found a cherry on the floor. Maybe I had knocked it out of the refrigerator. Or maybe Car-E had plucked it from the scrap food bucket that was heading to the chickens.

It had to be Car-E. He was after the cherry again when I replaced it in the bucket. I guess it had a good wobble role on the floor and Car-E thought it a fun toy.

Oh, that darn cat.

Until next time, that’s it from Sunnybook Farm.

Copyright © 2021 Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

A treat for Bonnie

Chickens

Every day, I hand my hens a little treat. Bonnie is the only one who will take it from my fingers.

This video shows her taking a bit of bread. Pecking a bite from the slice was too much for her, though if I set it down and stepped back, she and the other two hens would peck away at it.

My other two girls watched from a distance. They will not venture this close.

Bonnie was hand-raised by my friend Kathy. When it was impossible to keep her chicks in town, they came to me. Bonnie is the only one remaining.

Once in a while, I made popcorn for them, but they had that every day and off of it for a while. Now I share stale bread, melon rind, and other table scraps.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to temp the others to come if I bring them grapes. That’s the girls’ all-time favorite treat.

Until next time, that’s it from Sunnybook Farm.

Copyright © 2021 Susan Manzke, all rights reserved