Homesteading: Horsetails
and other tall tales
It has been a long week of mostly travel, which has left Jill and me a little fatigued. But luckily, we did not get sick, and are starting to get back into the swing of things here on the farm.
On Saturday, we had some very nice people from Ottawa, Canada, buy our homebred mare, Magnolia CAL (Maggie). Maggie is one of the best we have bred, with a super high inspection score from the Portuguese government. Selling her was a little heartbreaking, particularly for Jill. Maggie is nine years old and has been with us since birth. I was there when she was born. We rarely sell adult horses - and we have a very special bond with our mares. Particularly those that we birthed and raised.
Her mother, Tantra CAL and her grandmother B-Caranja will be with us until they die. Caranja is eighteen years old, and 13-year-old Tantra is another homebred. Tantra broke her pelvis as a youngster and so can’t be ridden heavily, and Caranja has reached “old lady” status - although she has another foal due next June.
Likewise, Maggie is pregnant and will give birth to her foal at her new owner’s farm.
Here we are, walking down to the barn to be loaded into the trailer.
Maggie did us proud. She walked right into the horse trailer, handled the 12+ hour journey like a pro, and is now safely at her new home. They are thrilled.
We have now completed our planned downsizing and are down to eight horses. A couple of weeks ago, we shipped our young stallion Ghost (Travertine CAL) to his new home in South Carolina. We had kept Ghost here for the past two years for the sole purpose of keeping our other young stallion Topazio CAL, company. Young stallions need friends, but at a certain point, they can get testy with each other and need to be separated. As Topaz is now two years old, it was time. So, with regret, Ghost was sold - he is a super sweet and easy-going guy. Topaz has been put in with Quieta, a pregnant mare that we are keeping. Quiea (another homebred) has the most open heart - she is one we couldn’t part with.
Below is a little video of when the two were put into the pasture. Topaz did his best to convince her that a little “huma-huma” was in order. She quickly told him otherwise with a swift kick to the side.
After that, he decided that it was time to explore the run-in shed.
Now, they have settled into a “platonic” relationship -where she is boss mare… and he knows he is not the boss of her, and all is well. There is nothing better than a pregnant mare to teach a young stallion about the “right and proper” pecking order in a herd.
I have taken on Quartz’ riding until next week, when we have more travel, and then it will be back to the trainer for him until winter kicks in.
Long-term plans are to stand both Jade and Quartz next spring, continue training, and show.
We have three mares, all of which are pregnant. Next year, it would be amazing if we got B-Caranja pregnant again, so it will probably just be two mares being bred in 2026.
The horse breeding business is a lot of work, but very rewarding.
As we have discussed here before, for a homestead or small farm, it is wise to choose a niche market. For us, that has been Lusitano horses, as that is our passion. But I know people who have made money breeding, training, processing (meat, dairy, fur, or wool) a wide variety of animals.
This all fits in very well with homeschooling - if there are children at home. And a situation where one person works outside of the farm and the other “holds down the fort.”
Fall has settled in now, which for Virginia means the weather is most excellent.
Most days reach about 80 degrees, and the nights fall to around 60 degrees. There is little rain and a stillness to the air. The birds are done breeding and have gone quiet, as they work to find food to put on weight for the winter.
The tomatoes are starting to peter out, the carrots left in the soil are a bit woody, and the basil is going to seed. The sweet potatoes are still working hard, creating tubers- so those aren’t harvested yet. We haven’t had our first frost, so most plants are still hanging on.
We have been remiss and have not planted out a winter crop. Jill intends to get seed in the ground this week. The spinach and lettuce should germinate, even planted this late. She also intends to get garlic in the ground. We just use locally grown (organic - if we can find it) food-grade garlic for the seed stock. It seems to work just fine and is much cheaper than what you can buy in the retail nurseries or online.
The citrus in the greenhouse has green fruit, and we are hopeful for a good crop of lemons around Christmas time. The one “lemon” tree, which seems to be an Amalfi lemon, given the huge mass of the fruit, is laden with young citrus. Each of these is about 2 pounds and yields a lot of lemon juice! Jill cuts these lemons into slices (about ten slices per lemon) and then freezes them. Once thawed, she then uses the frozen slices as one normally uses fresh lemons.
Our limes are doing well also -with lots of green limes, some are soon to be ripe and others, will be - come mid-November.
.Jill has now frozen countless jars of frozen tomatoes, sauced tomatoes, crushed basil (in oil), bell peppers, blueberries, and blackberries, all harvested and processed over the summer.
She plans to pick the sage this week to dehydrate. Then the plant will get re-potted and put in the greenhouse for the winter.
Soon, we will have to move the tender perennials into the greenhouse, but with luck, our first frost won’t happen for another month. Time will tell.
The pumpkins are mostly picked, with a few more in the field still to be harvested.
They have been placed in a cool, dry place on cardboard for storage.
Next Sunday, we will have 20 people here for a farm tour as part of our friend group. We have four farms and homes to visit, each with a unique small farm or a setup for living in the country.
It has been requested that Jill and I do a demonstration with the stallions, so for the first time ever, we plan to ride father and son - Jade and Quartz- in the arena together. This week, we will be doing some practice runs - just in case something might go horribly wrong. But Jade and Quartz spend a lot of time stalled in the barn near each other and seem to enjoy each other’s company.
Next year, Topaz will be joining them, as he is now beginning his journey into being a riding horse with simple groundwork exercises.
Below is Quartz as a two-year-old in 2023 (upper row) and Topaz (lower row), also two this year.
