Belgian Horses are AWESOME!

A while back, I got two new horses at an amish auction. Well, I got Lazarus and Mom got Chocolate, but we ended up with 2 horses in our pasture. We got Laz first. He is a belgian, and is more than 16 hands tall (a hand is 4 inches, so he is approx more than 68 inches tall!!! ).  When we got him he was in terrible shape. He was underweight, and just plain sick looking. Come to find out, later after buying him, he had a bacterial desiese called rainrot. It’s where the horse had no shelter when it was raining for quite some time. My Mom, aunt, and uncle were talking about how sad and sorry they were for the horse, when Dad raised his hand to bid on him –  at $50.00. He said he hadn’t been listening to mom and the others. Obviously.  

Next, we got Chocolate. The auctioneers said she was a belgian, but Mom and I think she is a Percheron Clydsdale cross,or something like that. She came in with another horse and they worked together as a team. When they came in, Chocolate took Mom’s breath away. We cuoldn’t get the other horse, Cocoa, because we didn’t have room in the trailer. Actually, we barely had enough room for the other two! She is about 15 hands, I think. Chocolate is Mom’s  horse.

Barbaro was a great racehorse. In fact, he won the Kentucky Derby by 6 lenghts. That’s outstanding!

He was entered in the Preakness Stakes just two weeks later. To start with, he had a false start, which is terrible in any race, big or small. Then the race started as usual. But just a little ways down the track, his rider, Edgar Prado, stopped him. The jockey felt something go wrong, and stopped Barbao immediatly. Come to find out, the horse’s right rear leg bone shattered into dozens of peices.
 
The owners instantly started Barbaro’s treatment. They didn’t even consider putting him down at this point. Even after treatment, he got laminitis (a bad hoof desiese) in the same leg he shattered, and eventually went into both front legs. That’s when they decided to end his pain. I remeber that day very well…
My brother had hit his head on the couch, and we were in the emergency room. On the TV it said that Barbaro had been euthanized. At the time,I didn’t know what that meant. When I asked my Mom, she gave me a look that said it all. There were tears in her eyes, and I started to cry my eyes out right there. I was sooooooooo sad.

But there are places where you can donate and that money goes to help doctors & zoologists learn how to treat horses like Barbaro. I have incuded some links to where you can donate.

http://www.ntra.com/ridingwithbarbaro/

http://allpro.stores.yahoo.net/bame.html

http://allpro2.stores.yahoo.net/belstak20.html

My life can get soooo busy sometimes. Anyway, today for lunch my brother, Ben, and I made pancakes. The flour was on the top shelf, so I was trying to reach it, and I hit my knee. Ouch, that hurt! And then, when I was frying them, I went to flip one, and I burned my hand. Double ouch!! But the good thing was the pancakes were really yummy. In fact, here is the recipe;

                                            Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

2 tablespoons grantulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 beaten egg

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a seperate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Stir them all together, until mixed, but still slightly lumpy.Pour about 1/4 cup into a lightly greased griddle or skillet. Cook until golden brown on one side. Then careflly, using a pancake flipper or rubber spatula, flip the pancake. When it is golden on the second side, flip it onto a plate and cover with a large bowl or cake cover until you are ready to serve them.

Makes about eight pancakes.

Helpful Hints: I usually double this, and freeze the leftovers for another meal.

You can use half whole wheat flour, and add some more milk or water to make the right consistacy.

Do you feel the need for chocolate? Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips for a great chocolate taste in the morning!

Yesterday, we had our weekly homeschool co-op. It was fun. First, we have choir. We sang some The Sound of Music songs, and a bunch of others too. Next was Bible class. We shared our prayer requests, and had several praises. Then, we went to P.E. We practice vollyball . That is always fun. Then we went to science. Our teacher is so cool. Then we went home and relaxed.

My mom and dad said I could get a blog!  I’m Katelyn and I’m 11 years old.  I love horses and doing crafts.  I have 3 younger brothers that like to pick on me, but I love them anyway.  I play volleyball for our homeschool co-op and we have a pretty good team.  I hope I can make some blogging friends and write about things that others will enjoy with me.