After not having horses for 18 years, I brought my grandson for riding lessons. It didn't take long for the “horse fever” to strike. Watching him and not riding myself was more than I could bear. I started checking into the possibility of buying a horse and where I would board the horse since I lived in a condo. I decided to lease a horse with the understanding that a decision was to be made by the end of the 6 months as to whether or not I would buy her. Thus I started my relationship with Copper Lacings (Lacy). A couple of months into the lease I bought Lacy, no longer wanting to share her with the Saturday morning lesson schedule which was a condition of the lease. I moved her to a private “back yard” boarding situation that did not live up to my expectations. I quickly moved Lacy to a farm with many other horses where she was wonderfully cared for and was very happy.

Living in a condo, however, was not “my cup of tea” and I was getting the itch to have a place in the country where I could take care of Lacy myself. One day I told my son-in-law that I wanted to buy a two-family house in the country. I asked him if he would be interested in renting the other half of the house if I was able to find an appropriate one. He was anxious to move his growing family to a larger place in the country and quickly suggested that he would prefer to purchase a two-family place together. From that moment, we starting looking for property and put the condo on the market.

On June 21, 1999 we purchased a two family house and 15 acres, part of an old chicken farm in Southern New England. I immediately had a barn built and in September 1999, was able to bring Lacy “home”.

Soon after that, I started looking for a second horse for my grandchildren and other family members to ride. Against all reasoning, I bought a very skinny “old” buckskin mare. I hesitate to put those first pictures on this site. The woman I purchased her from said she “might” be pregnant. Yea, right! She was very skinny, definitely malnourished, hide bound, and had zero muscle tone. She had halter marks on her face from a too small halter that took months to go away, and the “crud” on her stomach took three weeks of diligent brushing and washing to get entirely clean. We named her Nelly after the girl on Little House on the Prairie – Nasty Nelly, because of her sour disposition. Nelly started gaining weight immediately, which was most evident in her stomach. Lo and behold, she was indeed pregnant. I feared she would not have a live birth given her physical condition, but her condition continued to improve and on June 16, 2000 she gave birth to a beautiful chestnut colt that we named Flaming Arrow. Nelly’s age, prior condition and possibly some genetic issues caused her to retain her afterbirth for four days. We had a very long time of “heroic” measures on the part of the veterinarian and all “Funny Farm” family members and friends. She came through all that and now Nelly is a healthy, almost chubby, beautiful old gal and is ridden on three hour trial rides with great stamina. She almost never shows us any of the former nasty attitudes.

Immediately upon his birth, Flame became the sweetheart of the farm and is a constant delight. He was born literally into my hands, and we have a mother child relationship. I sometimes say I am his mother and Nelly was his wet nurse. Flame has been handled constantly since birth and is very loving and eager to please. I take him for walks along the road to spend time with him and get him used to cars going by. He is a gem for handling his feet and doesn’t mind a bit when a blanket is put on his back. He longes very well and just to make it interesting for him I added a very little jump which he finds great fun. He thinks it is a neat game to get in and out of the trailer. It is a challenge to think of new things to introduce to him. Future plans for Flame include training him to drive as well as ride. Now I know the reason I bought Nelly.

Besides the horses, we have two pygmy goats Diamond and Onyx, which are great fun. Children go into the pen to play with the goats any time they get the opportunity. They are great petting zoo animals and daily amuse those who pass by. There is a cat, Dusty who lives in the barn and takes very seriously his job of rodent control. Finally we have the chickens. The number of chickens varies due to the efforts of various wild and some domestic animals that seem to like chicken dinners.

At some point shortly after we moved to the farm, someone called it “The Funny Farm”. Somehow, it seems appropriate.

Update: September 2002 - All horses are healthy and happy and looking forward to cooler weather and therefore more trail rides. Flame is now ground driving very nicely with a borrowed harness. I have ordered a new harness for him which should arrive any day now and just this past weekend found a driving cart for him. He will need to start with training shafts, but with the progress he is making in that area I think he will be hitched to his new cart later this Fall. Having access to miles and miles of dirt roads makes driving Flame a very exciting prospect. Maybe we will let Nelly and Lacy come too!