Tischer Creek Farm

The digs @ Tischer Creek Farm as viewed from the pasture

On September 1, Rhio and Cricket moved to Tischer Creek Farm, Gesa’s place.  Gesa came to pick them up in the evening, with her new little 2 horse bumper pull stock-combo trailer (yay!  Wheels!). Rhio had to be convinced to load, but load he did without an undue delay (I didn’t expect it to be worse than it was, but for the first time he’d seen that trailer, it could have been a lot worse), and Cricket walked right on after him.  It’s been 2 ½ years since Cricket was trailered anywhere (Wow – we’ve been at Meadowbrook that long?  We were all so happy at Meadowbrook that time flew by without notice, I guess.) but he thought jumping on to go somewhere was a good idea.  When he was wandering loose to graze and a trailer pulled in, he usually came over to investigate and I think, given the opportunity, he might have self-loaded into one.  My horses who actually travel for rides & events are never so eager to load – it would be convenient if they were.

As the dogs & I followed the trailer over to Gesa’s, the storm clouds building in the distance got ever closer and we began to see cloud-to-cloud lightning.  Hmm, this maybe isn’t the best time to be moving horses and introducing them to a new home!  We pull into the driveway with the clouds pressing down, thunder rumbling, and the first drops of rain in the air.  We did what probably any expert would advise against, and just turned the horses loose in the pasture as the thunderstorm broke.  I did not have my camera with me (plus it would have gotten wet had I had it along), but of course the horses put on a show for us, running with their tails flagging in the wind and their necks arched.  Even old Cricket looked the part of a movie-star Arabian! 

Cricket keeping one ear on his buddy Rhio

Gesa had finished the fenceline dividing the two paddock/pasture areas, and her young ones have the left side while Paco was on the right side waiting for his new friends to join him.  Of course Paco & Rhio know each other well and have camped together with no issues many times.  Paco & Cricket have also met when Paco came to Meadowbrook to have his dental work in July.   Upon being set loose, Rhio took a lap around the paddock area with Cricket flanking him like a pair of synchronized swimmers before finding the open gate to the pasture and heading out there.  Meanwhile, the young ones galloped along their fenceline and Paco hovered near the shelter staying out of the fray. 

Paco wondering what to do about his new roommates

With the rain, there was some jostling for use of the shelter and Cricket was left standing out, as I would expect.  The shelter is plenty large and has two doors, so it shouldn’t be any problem for three horses to share – but that will come later once they’ve settled into a cohesive herd.  For now, they only stayed in the shelter briefly and then made the choice to go graze in the warm rain anyway, and it was a non-issue. 

Rhio says: "Where's the treats, Mom?"

We left them to their own devices in the thickening darkness (luckily it only rained for a little while), and unloaded the food I’d brought over, and got their meal plans all set up for morning.  I left without any worries about their care, which is such a huge thing when you are dependent on boarding your horses. 

Sefira, one of the young ones, *very* interested in the new boys across the fence.

The next morning, I stopped out bright and early on my way to finish packing my own belongings and cleaning the farmhouse, as I am also moving on.  They were happily grazing and Gesa reported no problems with the morning feeding routine; Rhio & Cricket acted like they’d done it all before a million times.  This is great, as sometimes training them in to a new routine can be a challenge, and Gesa brings each horse into an individual stall to eat versus their old routine which was to be fed in the pasture (well, right outside the pasture as Cricket was allowed to eat at leisure and then wander off to graze at will).  There will be some adjustments for all the horses, and for Gesa in her normal routines, but so far things seem to be going incredibly well.  It will be great to have a chance to do more riding with Gesa, as we’ll have the opportunity for just a quick ride here & there now (we hope), as opposed to always needing a half or full day to trailer out somewhere to ride.