# Yankee'N'Moxie--My life with horses and chickens...



## yankee'n'moxie (Mar 5, 2012)

Hello all! I just heard about his and I wanted to start one, it sounds like lots of fun! So, just to introduce myself, I will answer some of the starter questions below! Look forward to hearing what you guys think!

What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?* I am in Maine, USA (obviously). And our summers get up to around like 95 at the hottest, and winters are around -10 at the coldest.*

How many people are in your family?* 5*

Is it a hobby or an occupation? *Hobby*
In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?*I took lessons in Western for a short time (one summer) but I know that there is a ton more that I can learn. I have learned a lot riding by myself, but I would like to do things more "properly". My horse reins the English way (with two hands) because he was a pacer. SO it is hard to teach myself Western, when riding him. I would love to get into Western stuff like team penning, or barrel racing, but that is not too easy with a horse that is afraid of cows, LOL*

Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? *I make jewelery out of wire, and sometimes out of hemp, with beads of all sorts.*

Do you have any livestock? What kinds?*I have 2 horses and 14 chickens. I also have an indoor dog and cat, and a hamster*

How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country? *20 acres, in the country.*

Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? *We have a wood stove in the basement for a little heat, but our home is heated mostly by oil.*

Are your family or friends also interested in animals? *My little brother likes to ride, but isn't interested enough to want his own horses. My parents like the horses, and walk them, scratch them, etc. but aren't crazy about them. My friend is an eventer. And my other friend wants me to teach her to ride.*

Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? *I don't like to cook, but we do buy raw milk, straight from the farm and we eat our own farm fresh eggs, produced by our flock.*

What was your best animal experience? Worst?* I think that my best animal experience has been getting to know my horses as individuals, and realizing that they do all have different personalities. And the worst? Hmmm.... LOL, I don't think that I could choose a worst, as they have all been great learning and growing experiences.*

Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? *My dad does the hunting, LOL*

In what do you trust?* God*

Do you make and fix things yourself to save money? *Yes! We are just finishing up on an 8X12 horse run-in. That will make two of them, one for each horse...*

I mentioned above that I have 2 horses, they are a Standardbred, and a Standardbred X Appaloosa. The STBD is a gelding, and his name is Yankee, he is 15.3hh and about 1000#. Moxie is the STBD X Appy and she is 14.3hh and about 900#. I also have chickens: 6 BO, 6 Wyandottes, 1 Golden comet (sexlink), and a Golden comet X BO (I like to call her an Orpet, LOL) for a total of 14!

Here are some pics:

Yankee










Moxie









Some of my chickens:

Winchester (Winnie for short), the Orpet  (cutest chick ever!)








Winnie older




Tootsie, my one eyed rooster as a youngster




Tootsie, older




My "Two Rooster Hitch", consisting of Smith and Wesson (their daddy was Remington, Winchester is their sister, and they have another sister called Daisy!)








And last but not least, some chicks that I hatched in an incubator! I ended up selling them, but they were so cute!








(this one is sleeping, not dead!)













Edited because I realized that my thread name had to start with my username. Whoops!


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## dwbonfire (Mar 5, 2012)

I love the pic of the chickens wearing the harnesses!! Too cute!!


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## yankee'n'moxie (Mar 5, 2012)

Thanks! I trained them to walk on them like a hitch of horses! I think that it would be especially cute if I made them a little sleigh or something! LOL


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## yankee'n'moxie (Mar 6, 2012)

Good Morning all! 

This is a beautiful day in Maine! Cold, but beautiful! The horses were running around the pasture, bucking, rearing, rolling, and bolting! They love the cold! I however, could go without! LOL I think that the chickens would like it to go away too! When I opened the coop this morning, they were disgusted that I should try to put them out in the snow!


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## Queen Mum (Mar 6, 2012)

Love the pictures.


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## yankee'n'moxie (Mar 6, 2012)

Hey all, 

We just got back from picking up the bridesmaid's dresses for my sister's wedding. If any of you are like me, you don't like dresses. Especially formal ones! So anyways, my sister chose very long halter top dresses and I tried mine on. It is OK, better than some that she could have chosen, but worse than others. I had chosen one that she liked and she had told me that is what we were going with, but when we went back with the other two bridesmaids, she chose this one instead:

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product...-81441_Bridal-Party-Bridesmaids-Shop-By-Color

That is the one that she chose except in the plum color. IDK, what do you guys think?


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## elevan (Mar 6, 2012)

I like the plum color.

Personally I love when brides chose a color and allow their bridesmaids to chose different dresses to suit them as long as they are in that color (and maybe a specific length).

I had a black and white wedding, so all of my bridesmaids were in black dresses.  It was very elegant.


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## Queen Mum (Mar 6, 2012)

It's a nice dress as dresses go.  It depends on your size.


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## yankee'n'moxie (Mar 7, 2012)

Thanks guys! 

We are all wearing the same dress. I put it on last night and she says that it is pretty slimming (I am a size 16). Although, I think that she may have been trying to make me feel better, because I am VERY uncomfortable in it. I am more of a jeans, t-shirt and sweatshirt kind of girl. Not enjoying the low cut. Oh well, I guess I must really love her since I am going to wear it in front of like 150-200 wedding guests!!


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## Queen Mum (Mar 7, 2012)

Size 16 is a good size.  But I don't blame you.  I don't like to wear dresses either.  You must really love her.  But remember, the 150 - 200 guests aren't even going to notice the bridesmaids.  They will be looking at the bride.  So relax!  

And ask her if you can have a small matching bolero jacket or a light pretty sweater to wear during the reception if you feel uncomfortable with the low cut of the dress.  That way you won't feel so uncomfortable.  If she loves YOU as much as you love her, she will be fine with that.  It's pretty common attire for a reception, BTW.  take a look here

They are extremely easy to sew.


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## yankee'n'moxie (Mar 7, 2012)

That's true! LOL... But we are going to get our dresses fitted tomorrow, so maybe the seamstress can pull it up just slightly. Thank you for the suggestion I will mention it to her... She does love me that much, she just has a pretty strict view of what she wants her wedding to be like. I'm sure that she can find a little "stretch room"!


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## yankee'n'moxie (Mar 9, 2012)

Just wanted to run a quick update on what's going on around here...

The horses are acting unusually "fruity". I tie them up to eat they grain, so that they don't steal from each other, and they seem to be afraid of the noise that the fence handle makes when I go under the strands of wire. They keep jumping away from the post that they are tied to and hitting the end of the rope with a force that is wrecking my fence. I have had to start tying them in the run-in (where they don't seem to be afraid). The issue with that is that 1) It is very muddy in there ( it is the season) and 2) the mare has figured out how to get herself sideways (putting her putt right where the gelding is trying to eat) and weave, a very bad habit of hers, that I can't seem to break. She does this until I go get her a let her go. I have tried to wait for her to stop, but it doesn't work. She did it for a half hour, at which point I was forced to give up, I have other responsibilities to tend to.... Oh well.

On a better note, I finally started the mealworm farm for the chickens! I have been talking about doing this for months! Finally started it off with 100 mealworms! Can't wait to see what happens!!


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## yankee'n'moxie (Apr 10, 2012)

Hey everyone!

I just realized that I forgot all about this, and haven't updated for a long time!! 

So, the horses are good. Calming down a lot, and ready for the first trim of the season! Got to call the farrier about coming out! I am starting to ride and we are going to look at a saddle tomorrow morning. If we are riding both horses at the same time, one of us has always had to go bareback (not fun on excitable horses), so now we found a second saddle for a decent price! YAY!!

I am so excited because I set eggs in my incubator and they are due next Wednesday! And I have a broody that could be hatching any day now... She disappeared awhile ago and i thought that something had eaten her, but then I found her sitting on eggs, so I don't know when she is due exactly! I also have a broody that is due on Sunday, but I am not too optimistic about her hatch. I went in the coop multiple time to find her in another box and her eggs cold.  Hoping for the best though!


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