Barn Update and a Surprise Announcement!

Happy May everyone!  We've had some rain and some sunshine, so the grass is green and the trees are leafing out beautifully.  I love coming home and driving up the path to our house.  Best Husband Ever (BHE) mowed the lawn last weekend, and with the lawns surrounded by meadows and trees, the place looks like a park!  Then I'll see a little group of deer in the yard and birds flitting around the feeders, and I just feel like the luckiest girl ever.   

There has been lots of activity around our place the past two weeks.  The contractors have been busy on the barn addition and today they made some real progress!

The barn last week.

The barn today!  Wow!

The new section of the barn will be the horse stalls.  You can see that the roof will extend out several feet past the barn, providing shade and protection from the rain/snow in the paddocks that will be attached to the stalls.  It's progressing quickly!

And thank goodness, because... here comes the surprise...

I planned on getting a mini donkey as a companion for Nox, but I realized that he really needs a playmate more his size.  Also, it would be nice to have a second horse that BHE can ride, and any of our friends and family.  Nox certainly isn't beginner rider friendly and I wouldn't trust him with most riders, so I thought it would be great to find a steady, easy horse that would be fun to ride.   

Please welcome Diesel to the family!

Diesel is a 14 year old Percheron rescue.  Penny went to a local horse auction two weeks ago, not planning on purchasing any horses but she wanted to see what was out there.  This horse was owned by Amish, but at 14 years old, was considered past his prime to pull the heavy Amish wagon loads (they use these huge draft horses for heavy work, and lighter horses for their road buggies).  The Amish put him through the auction, but nobody bid on him except a kill buyer.  Penny couldn't watch this sweet boy go to meat, so she outbid the kill buyer at the last second and brought him home!

I fell for him at first sight.  He's about 300 lbs underweight, his forelock had been shaved off to make it easier to put the heavy harness over his head, and his tail was cut short to keep out of the way of the wagon.  But his eyes are soft, he leaned into my hand when I rubbed his face that first day, and he was completely mystified by the carrot I offered him.

He's big!  Even at 300 lbs underweight, he is a massive horse.  He's actually not taller than Nox, but he is so beefy and wide that he makes Nox look like a fine-boned pony in comparison.  BHE rode Diesel last weekend and felt very comfortable on him.  As an Amish horse, Diesel rides, drives, and he is a very mellow, easy-going horse.  Perfect for BHE.  We had a vet examine Diesel today just to make sure there are no health concerns or leg/hoof issues, and he passed with flying colors!  We have officially adopted him into our family.  Now he just needs some fattening up, plenty of grooming, and lots of TLC.  He is coming around to our affections and though he still doesn't understand what a carrot or cookie is, we discovered that Diesel will take apples from our hand, so I see plenty of apple slices in Diesel's future.

At some point soon, we will introduce Nox and Diesel.  I'm not sure what will happen.  Nox is a dominant horse and Diesel is pretty mellow.  But Diesel is bigger and if he wanted to challenge Nox, it could be a good battle.  I think they will suit each other just fine and work it out to become good friends.   Nox is also doing well these days - I turned him out into the ring today and he ran around and rolled happily in the mud.  And, he can load into the trailer first time, every time, without batting an eye. 

Exciting things happening around here!  In another month or two, we should have everything completed and Nox and Diesel home.  Home, sweet home!

A few more pictures of Diesel... his feet are the size of dinner plates.