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Hi Everyone,
PRESIDENTS LETTER :( AND SHARON)

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS NOVEMBER ALREADY, AND WE ARE JUST WEEKS FROM THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS. SHARON IS GETTING THINGS READY FOR THE SHOW NEXT YEAR SO IF ANYONE HAS INPUT NOW IS THE TIME. WE HAVE 2 MARES BRED FOR APRIL BABIES, BOY ARE THE MARES FAT. ALL OF THE HORSES ARE OUT ON PASTURE SO MOST OF THEM ARE FURRY AND FAT. IT IS FUN TO WATCH THEM RUN AND BE HORSES. SHARON WILL HAVE TO DO LOTS OF CONDITIONING WHEN WE BRING THEM IN AFTER THIS WINTER. SHE HAS HAD BAILEY GELDED AND WANTS TO BREAK HIM TO DRIVE, HE WILL BE IN THE SHOW STRING NEXT YEAR. HOPEFULLY WE CAN ATTEND MORE SHOWS; WE ENJOY THE TIME WITH ALL OF YOU AT THE SHOWS AND JUST BEING AT THE SHOWS. DON'T FORGET DUES HAVE TO BE PAID BY FEBRUARY TO QUALIFY FOR THE UNLIMITED CLASS'S NEXT YEAR SO GET YOUR DUES IN TO BRANDY EARLY SO YOU DON'T FORGET SHE WILL SEND YOU REMINDERS, BUT WE WANT IT FAIR TO EVERYONE SO PAY YOUR DUES ON TIME. WELL NOT MUCH MORE GOING ON AROUND HERE HOPE EVERYONE HAS A LOT TO EAT FOR THANKSGIVING AND GETS LOTS FROM SANTA. AND IF YOU ARE A HUNTER FILLS ALL THEIR TAGS. SEE YOU ALL SOON CLIF AND SHARON

Hope you are all ready for winter! I know I am prepared but not ready. It seems the older I get the less mentally I am ready! I found this article and thought it might be interesting.

Poisonous Plant Risk Increases as Pasture Grass Goes Dormant
by: Jodi DeLong
October 10 2008, Article # 12869
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As autumn rolls around, pastures become depleted as grasses and other plants slow their growth prior to going dormant for winter. It's not surprising that this time of year can also bring an increase in reports of horses becoming ill from eating something they shouldn't have.
Karyn Bischoff, DVM, MS, Dipl. ABVT, a diagnostic toxicologist at Cornell University's New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center, said it does appear there are more suspected cases of poison plant ingestion in late summer and autumn, but also says these are difficult to diagnose.
"Plant ingestions over time can cause chronic disease, so by the time the horse is noticeably sick, the plant is gone because it was all eaten, it's out of season, or the horses were moved to another stable or pasture after exposure," Bischoff explained.
She added that plant toxins can be difficult to find in the body as the particular toxin are sometimes not known, there are no good tests for it, or the toxin has metabolized and gone before the horse presents clinical signs of serious illness.
Happily, most toxic plants are not very palatable, and horses tend to avoid them.
Jack van Roestel, MSc, a longtime horse owner and forage consultant with AgraPoint in Kentville, Nova Scotia, stressed that prevention of poisoning begins with good pasture management.
"When it comes to grazing, it's good to have several paddocks that are rotationally grazed, with proper entrance and exit heights, rest periods, stocking numbers, and applied fertility," van Roestel said. "By having a fairly competitive grass stand, weed problems will be reduced."
Bischoff agreed that good pasture management goes a long way in preventing poisoning, but also stressed that horse owners should contact their veterinarian whenever they have concerns about health issues. "If they can't answer your questions right away, they are usually going to know the best places to find trustworthy information for you," she said.
Some wild plants to watch out for
Toxic plants will vary by the region you live in. Contact your local extension office to find out more information on noxious plants for your area. The botanical name is given first: the abbreviation spp. indicates there can be more than one species involved.
• Senecio spp. Tansy ragwort, groundsel, or stinking willy
• Prunus spp. Cherries, apricots, peaches and plums
• Cicuta maculata. Water hemlock is one of the most poisonous plants found in North America.
• Taxus spp. Yew (often used as an ornamental)
• Sorghum halepense. Johnsongrass
• Robinia pseudoacacia. Black locust.
• Asclepias syriaca. Common milkweed
• Phytolacca americana. Common pokeweed.
• Pteridium aquilinum. Bracken fern.
• Crotalaria spp. Rattlebox or rattlepod
• Solanum spp. Bittersweet, nightshade. *Other members of the Solanum (nightshade) family including Physalis (Japanese lanterns, an ornamental) Datura (Jimsonweed) and the tomato (Lycopersicon) are also highly toxic.
• Acer rubrum. Red maple. *Wilted leaves of red maple are especially toxic, but avoid feeding leaves of any maple species to horses.
• Juglans nigra: Black walnut. *Avoid bedding made from sawdust or shavings of black walnut as these can cause laminitis in horses.
• Astragalus and Oxytropis spp. Locoweeds. *These plants are not only toxic but addictive. Bischoff said once a horse has started eating the plant it must never again be in a pasture where locoweed is present, because it will seek the plant out.
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/resource-room/reprod/all/animations/placentation_horse.htm
This is a very informative site. Thanks Sharon for finding it!
Farm News:
DoubleDay Farm-
We sold three horses in August, and I was shopping for a gelding so knew we'd eventually have one more. I ended up with two... a mare found her way home with the new guy. They came from CA. and are really some nice ASPC/AMHR horses. The mare is due in February or March so we will have to fix her up a nice place to foal. We usually wait until at least April, but it doesn't get so cold in CA. so they breed for earlier foals. I will still have 2 or 3 for sale in the Spring-time, I can't show them all and I am not going to be doing a lot of breeding in the future. We'd like to be back down to 5 when we retire and move (2009 or 2010 depending on if you talk to me or Jerr! teehee)
I hope you all enjoyed the fall; I think winter will be here soon. I've tried to work with the horses a few days a week and start the young ones on some of the easier obstacles and over small jumps. I only have one trained performance horse now, so I need to get busy!
We just finished getting new counter tops in the kitchen, so while we had it torn apart I went through and spiffied everything else up. New shelf paper, re-organized all the cabinets etc. Seems like a whole new kitchen now.
Still working full time, but hopefully will be furloughed for the holidays. I like to relax and enjoy them, and the thought of driving to work in the snow gives me a headache! So, any time I can get off and not worry about that is a plus.
You all enjoy your Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for here. Your friendships are one thing on my list. Hope to make the shows and get to see more of you next summer.
Luwana

  Rhinestone Miniatures:
Happy Fall everyone!!! Boy, it’s nice to have this cooler weather finally here! I've been cart training 3 horses so far. This time change sure isn't going to help, but I just have to get into a new groove. :) The basement is still under construction, but getting closer. Carver was a dragon for Halloween. He had fun and understood the trick or treating a little bit better. Thank goodness for the wagon! Sure made trick or treating easier with a toddler. Mike's been busy with all the hunts. We hope everyone is enjoying their nice fall weather! Check out the classifieds for some things I have for sale.
Mike, Keri and Carver

Classifieds:
2 year old silver dapple mare. 36". Bite and legs are good. A real sweetheart. Baths clips and trims very well. Has been shown in halter and places consistently in the top 2-3. Dad is HOF in halter and driving. He took a national top ten at nationals again this year. Mom is a great driving horse. She'll be awesome in the cart. Love to see her go to a show home. I'm open to offers as I'd like to see her in training for the next show season. She's not a cull, just decided to only keep one of each height division to show. You can see her on my website www.rhinestoneminiatures.com, mares, Jezzy. Also have winter wooly pics of her. Email rhinestoneminiatures@frontiernet.net for more info.

BKM size medium halter. Gold hardware with gold/silver noseband. Brand new. Only tried on my horse and decided to go with a different one. $85. Used size large, closed ring, silver hardware, silver noseband show halter. In great shape. $50. Email rhinestoneminiatures@frontiernet.net for more info.
  Burnin Daylight Minis:
We have a nice home for Storm, our granddaughter’s horse. She will have another 10 year old to love her, we are so happy. Now we are down to 6 horses and will work on cart training Ebony. We have a new member of our family, a 2 month old Yorkie puppy that we named Brie. She is so much fun. Cam is still limping around but her splint is off. I think Brie is helping her with physical therapy.
We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving with lots of good food and friendship.

  JP Miniatures
I'd like to announce the arrival of our new stallion Countrylanes Dances Wildside aka "Willy". We purchased Willy from Tracy Conrad of Country Lane Miniatures. Willy was shown at the 2008 Nationals and received two top 10's in youth two year old stallions and also open two year old stallions in the over division. Willy is a son of Flying W Farms Little Wardance and out of an Orion bred mare. We are hoping to get him ready to campaign in the driving arena in 2009.
News from the Kalispell Club, Little Hooves and Harnesses:
Here are a few things from our area..
11/01 Little Hooves and Harnesses sponsored a Fun Day for kids, those who did not have horses used one of ours. I think the kids enjoyed it and it was fun for us to watch our horses adapt to a child.
11/8 we are having our meeting/potluck 5:30 Saturday at Bob & Kim Suttons place. He is going to cook salmon or chicken, each person attending needs to let him know which they want. We will be electing new officers. We will also finalize the dates for our fund raiser, pictures with Santa in Cart and Mini (Bud is Santa :) :)) we plan to do this 3 times if possible. We will also be in the Christmas parade. Our official Christmas Party will be at Bud & Patti’s, not sure of the date, but it will be on a Saturday evening and we hope everyone can come up and play..
  Marian brought her stallion, Willie, home after he placed 6th in the World competition. Janet (marian"s mom) is visiting in California, we sure miss her. But she will be back for Christmas..
Let me know if you have questions about any of these activities..
Wow! Thanks everyone for all the good news….glad all is going well with everyone.

Lilac Meadows Miniature Horses. I have been so busy this fall. The good news is I found a decent job in Missoula and we aren't going to move. I started in mid-September as the controller of Missoula Freightliner. A few weeks ago they downsized the general/sales manager position and I got more responsibilities because they aren't replacing him so I'm now the controller/branch manager. Along with the new job we finally got started on our front porch at the end of August. It's been a big project taking up all our time after work and on the weekends. We are going to continue to fix up our place and hopefully sell it in the next year or two and get someplace with some flat land so I can drive the minis.

I just sold Lady and Fancee to a family in Idaho last Sunday. They plan on showing in 4-H and some sanctioned shows. May is still for sale. She will make a great driving & overall show horse. She has a beautiful trot and I have a short video of her online if anyone knows someone interested in a future driving champion please let them know about her. I also gelded Rhett; that was a difficult decision but I've decided it's not the best time of my life to breed the minis and he'll be happier as a gelding. I'm going to continue to show and go to local events with the minis. Also I've been tossing around the idea of doing the show in Hamilton next year. Kimbra thinks she has time to do it again too. Mark your calendars for June 20 & 21 and let me know if you're interested in attending or helping.

Congratulations to all those who did so well in 2008 in the show ring. Rhett is only a few points away from his second driving HOF . Envy and Jackie also did very well at the shows in Great Falls earning several more HOF points.

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