Honoring Hobo

This is Hobo the mare with her last foal. Hobo is a Shephards Snowy River mare and her foal is by B&T's Silver design. Hobo is owned by Whispering Oaks Farm of Ky and has given Whispering Oaks Farm of Ky. a number of great foals. This last one is a very special foal. You can see the tremendous stride in this picture that this filly possesses. We are expecting her to shed out to a Chocolate Roan. This picture was made when the foal was only a couple of days old.

Other foals are:
 WOF SAGA OF SNOWY RIVER,
Mar 13 2010
2010043303 Chocolate See picture

This is Saga as a yearling. He was shown as a weanling and won a number of classes. You can see why. He has not fogotten how to park out.

WOF'S CHIEF'S CODE
Mar 09 2011
2012044419 Silver Black
I couldn't find a picture of him but he has been sold and resides in Michigan with a happy owner.

WOF'S ALYSSA'S GRACE
Mar 27 2012
2013044996 Black

No picture but a solid black filly. She is a two year old and resides at Whispering Oaks Farm.

WOF'S Honor's Legacy
Mar 19, 2013
Black 
Again no picture, but he has his mother's head which is awesome with a very good conformation.


Filly by B&T's Silver Design
May 1, 2014
Chocolate Roan
 
This young filly in the first picture is now an orphan. This is Hobo's tribute.

It all started Tuesday. Blane and I had just finished lunch and returned to the barn. Hobo had been seen laying down twice before and now she was laying down again. Blane went to get a lead rope and halter and we entered the field where she was. By this time Hobo had spotted us and was coming to meet us, along with her foal, in a manner that said to me, "I need your help."

I called my sister, Mary Lipginski and told her Hobo needed to be seen by our vet, Dr. Thompson. She called Melissa, Dr. Thompson's wife, and as soon as he could he would be here. His schedule was full for the day and he was in another county working. Because of the apparent urgency, another vet was called and his schedule was full and could not get to us. We were instructed to let her eat grass and walk her. That we did all afternoon. She was given a 1000 lb dose of Banamine that afternoon.

Her baby ran and played and pretty much put on a show for us. She would go back over to her playmates in her field and talk to them then when Hobo called she would come back to her mother. She would get some milk and go back to playing. Occasionally she stopped to pose for my sister, Mary Lipginski.

Hobo ate and ate like she had not eaten for a week. We walked her off and on. She was nervous and could hardly stand still. She was showing signs of pain as the afternoon wore on. I put her in a stall and gave her hay and water. She ate hay, drank water, and circled the stall. Then I took her back out to walk more and eat grass. Her condition was not improving.

Dr. Thompson arrived and began his examination. "It looks like colic." She was given more pain medicine. No help. More examination, stronger pain medicine. More examination. Her heart was racing, her gut sounds were in high speed. Then another stronger pain medicine, the strongest he had. Dr. Thompson walked her down hill and uphill. The baby was having a blast. She was like a little deer bouncing and playing in the tall grass. "Look at me mama, look what I can do."

Hobo was being so obedient to follow Dr. Thompson everywhere he led her, all the while her pain was intense. Hobo would call out to her foal to keep her close in spite of her pain. Dr. Thompson determined that the web net around her small intestine had been torn during pregnancy and that the small intestine had partially come out of that protective structure. The solution: well at best a very expensive surgery with no guarantees of success including shock to Hobo and her foal. Her pain was so intense she could not stand still except briefly in cross ties. She kept her mind on her baby calling often to keep her close.

The moment of decision came. She was in so much pain and the chance of success was so slim and far away that my sister could not stand to see her continue to suffer. She would have to be put down. Mary asked me if I agreed, which I did. I could already see Mary was heartbroken. Hobo was thinking about her baby. Our hearts were broken. Dr. Thompson was somber. He asked us what to do knowing our state of grief. He is a compassionate man, very professional, and has horses himself.

I led Hobo into a stall where her baby would be safe, the baby followed her right in and then I led Hobo out and the door was shut. The baby called out to her mother, Mom where are you going? Hobo was thinking about her baby. I led her away from the barn and she was calling for her baby. Her pain was great. But she wanted her baby by her side. Her baby was on her mind over the top of her agony.

Hobo left this world with her baby on her mind. What a great mare she was. Her heart for her babies was great. She gave lots of milk. She kept her babies on her mind. She passed on her superior genetics.

Is God good? Yes He is, All the Time. We both had been praying that she would be healed. God in His Wisdom decided to say no. God is Good. The Lord gives and He takes away. Who are we to question God?

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NLT)

We have had dear friends who have had similar experiences this year. We feel your pain. My wife, my sister and I hope you will see that God is indeed good ALL the time.

Hobo parted from us leaving us a drop dead georgeous foal. As of last night the foal was eating and drinking. Today she began to suck a bottle. We have JuniorGlo from ADM Alliance Nutrition for her now. She is getting milk replacer mixed with the JuniorGlo. We also are preparing a mare to be her nanny. She is going to make a beautiful mare and a show prospect. A chocolate roan filly. God is Good!!!

This is my tribute to the little Snowy River Mare with a big heart named WOF ONCE A HOBO.

SC ACE'S PERFECT LADY

This is: SC ACE'S PERFECT LADY. She has just come into the barn after being a horse for the last 14 months. She has really grown since coming to Whispering Oaks. She is now around 15.2

 Her sire is: Ace of Spades

Her dam is: PBF'S PICTURE PERFECT

She is one of my projects. She has been ridden but is uncertified 3 year old filly. Watch for more pictures and information about her training. I am taking her through the method for gaited horses. There will be walking, trotting, gaiting, cantering and lots of ground work. Right now she is in groundwork. After only a few days she is showing lots of respect. This is a really smart filly.

 

The Method is a training series by Clinton Anderson.

 

 

MISTY RED STREAK EE

This is Misty Red Streak, a red chocolate mare, owned by Whispering Oaks Farm of Ky.

Sire: Biran's Carlos

Dam: Toco's Chocolate Steak by Toco Sam

She has no red gene.

She is the Dam of: WOF King of Pop sired by Venture's Black Fury.

King of Pop is the 2013, Grand Champion Yearling Colt at the Rocky Mountain International

2013 Grand Champion Yearling Colt and Furtity Winner at the Kentucky Mountain International.

Misty Red Streak is in foal to Emdee's Silk Flashback winner at UMH, Rocky Mountain, and Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Assoc. seasonal shows and World and International shows.

She is due March 17, 2014

Stay tuned for foal pictures.

RHF Eclipse

This is RHF ECLIPSE Owned by Whispering Oaks Farm,


Foaled Oct 22 2011.

Sorrel filly

Her sire is Chocolate Venture

Her dam is Unbridled by Maple’s Squirrel


Eclipse has never been ridden and had a minimum of handling. She is not washed and cleaned in this picture. She has been in the barn for 7 days. The day I got her in was extremely cold. The last 5 days have been spent teaching her what any yearling should know. She was in the round pen for only a few days last Spring and she responded very well. I am showing her to you for several reasons:

She is sorrel

Because she is sorrel Mary Lipginski and I desire to promote the color and get her ready for the show ring

She has never been ridden

She is very sensitive

I want to promote the Sorrel and Chestnut horses, it is time for the breed to tie these horses based on performance instead of drifting to favored colors of Mountain Horses in the show ring. Some reading this may disagree that Sorrel horses don't fare as well in the show ring but, many well known horsemen in the Mountain Horse disipline privately agree with this issue.

Some of the best horses in the breed are Sorrell or Chestnut, Triple S Iron Man, Smith’s Ginger, Sonny, Cheek’s Rocky to name a few

I am 65 years old and I want to show you that with the right method I can place her under saddle, get her certified, and show her. If you are my near contempary I want you to understand that it is possible for folks our age to get horses started. So follow the posts you see about Eclipse to watch her progress. I will have more pictures along the way and some videos also.

 

A Tribute to John

It had been a long day working on the farm and milking cows. When I got to the house everyone was looking for my second son, John. My oldest was out on his Z50 looking for him. We first looked to see if he was asleep in his bed but "nope" he was not there. I began to go to the barns looking for him. The tobacco barn was empty, the small stock barn was empty. John was in neither of those barns. I looked in the concrete block grain barn but no John. I walked up to the big concrete block cattle barn with the drive in hayloft and the rounded roof. The front door was made of cypress and moved pretty easily. I walked into the barn and sure enough there was John standing in the concrete feed bunk made for feeding corn silage.

John was standing there motionless but crying out to me. John had been "treed" by a pair of our domestic geese. He had been there for several hours unable to escape. They were in no mood to play. They were mad over something and were in no way going to let John come home. They had him cornered and he was afraid of them.

I got the geese to leave and I got John and we made our way back to the house. It was time for supper.

John had a way of getting off and not coming back. I came in for dinner, "lunch" for city folk, and John was not there. After we got to looking we found him at the far end of the 40 acre pasture sitting on our horse. It seems she had wandered off to the other end of the field and refused to come home. John was stranded.

These stories are funny to us now. I am sure they did not feel all that good to John at the time. Nevertheless, we have told them over and over and to many of our friends and family, each time with lots of laughs.

I caught that pair of geese by the neck and gave them both to John and told him to pull them down the road for a bit. The geese never bothered him again. The horse was very gentle and easy to control and John mastered riding her too.

When John was very small I was working on our dump truck and putting some bolts on it. I gave John one of the nuts and he instinctively put it right on the bolt turning it the proper way. I was impressed that he just could take the nut and put it right on. He was no more than four or five at the time.

These are some of the memories I have of my son. You see on a warm day in October last year he left us before we any of us had time to tell him goodbye. I was in Bardstown, KY that day and was just starting home when I got a call that the ambulance was transporting him to the hospital, his condition  "unknown." Before I could get to Shelbyville it became known to me that John had left us behind and made his way into another place.

The days following were hard. But this is not about me. This is about my son John. This blog is a tribute to him. It turns out that John had been injured at birth and none of us knew it until recently. That seems to have affected many decisions he made in life.

Another time when John was about six I was awakened during the dead of night. John slept in an upstairs room just beside a dusk to dawn light outside our house. We slept in a room nearby. As I awakened the room we were in kept being lit up and darkened. I was dead asleep but this light woke me up. Being pretty drowsy, I began to recognize that there was a light coming into our room and then it would go off. It would stop for awhile and it woke me again. What was this light? The next time I managed to get out of bed to investigate the source.

John was wide awake and he was swinging his bedroom door open and closed. As it opened our room was flooded with light. As it closed our room was darkened. What was a six year old doing wide awake at 3 a.m.? Yep, that is my son John, wide awake and going strong.

A year or so later we were housing tobacco and some friends were there helping. They were neighbors who lived a few miles away and kind of new to my boys so they filled them in on all the latest news from our house. John of course had a way of telling stories.

It seems as though the subject of "bedtime" came up. I would send the boys to bed and that meant they were supposed to be going to sleep. Pretty often the boys would be up and laughing quite loudly an hour later. Then came dad to the base of the steps to send up admonitions to settle down and go to sleep. When this did not work I would try to employ a more stern discpline method, namely spanking.

Our neighbor began to tell me John's version of these episodes. John told him that they would go upstairs and they would get in the same room and play and laugh. They knew when they had gotten too loud because it would bring me to the base of the stairs and that I would tell them to settle down and go to sleep. Sometimes, this would go on for a bit and then they knew they were in trouble when I started up the steps.

Next came a spanking with the "razor strap," a double layered 3" wide leather strap for sharpening straigh razors. John told the neighbor that when they got spanked that they would yell and scream like I was killing them and that would get me to stop really quickly. All would be well for the night. Well I tell you our neighbor about fell out of the barn because he was laughing so hard.

Then both boys got older and they colluded to conspire against me. Sometimes my wife was out of the house and the boys were inside. They began telling their mom that strange women were calling the house asking for me. This started to cause me trouble. I guess they were getting even for the razor strap. This went on for some time before it stopped. I was glad that it stopped after I had a discussion with them. Well, paybacks are heck. My oldest son got on the receiving end of a similar scheme.

There are more memories of my son John. We used to tell him a little rhyme that went like this.

Deedle, Deedle, Dumpling

Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son John

Went to bed with his stockings on,

One shoe off, one shoe on.

Deedle, deedle, dumpling my son John.

John was named for his two grand dads. My dad's name was Frank Collier Rogers and his mother's dad was John Thomas Nation. That is how John got his name: John Collier Rogers.

I went to my son's grave the other day

And I realized that all that was there was the body he once had

I was really uneasy when he left so soon, but, then God reminded me then and today

That John had placed his trust in Jesus as a young lad

He reminded me from Isaiah that John was taught from Him

He reminded me from the book of John that no one could take

Him out of God's hands

I was reminded from Romans that nothing can separate us from the love of God

I was remined that once we have Jesus we have life eternally.

The tattoo on John's arm reflected his roots, it was a cross.

I have lots of memories of My Son John

Like many a parent I spent time on my knees for him

I choose to keep most of my memories for me and mine.

So when I go to visit his grave I do not mention the mistakes he made.

My God forgives us all our sins when we come to the cross

I will see my son again, I have the comfort that only God can give

For the choir director: A psalm of David. In times of trouble, may the LORD answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm. May He send you help from His sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem. May He remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Interlude May He grant your heart's desires and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God. May the LORD answer all your prayers.

(Psa 20:1-5)

Bob Rogers
 



Virtual Ride Through the Woods and Over The Hill

Recently during a visit to Van Bert Farms we saw a small camera being used to video horses. It was so neat I decided to acquire one for myself. It came today and I used it to make some videos. The camera also takes still pictures. So I am posting one still picture and one video. The picture is of tree roots that have grown across a washed out gully in one of the woods. If you look closely you can see where the roots have crossed and grown together. It is pretty interesting and people who see it in person really like it.

 The video is taken from horseback coming out of the woods and crossing over a high hill on the farm. This will also be part of the trail ride coming up April 30th and May 1st. Be sure to sign up for the trail ride. Now here is the video.

I hope you enjoyed the ride.

Remember God loves you and Jesus died for you.

Bob

Two More Great Rocky Mountain Horses at Whispering Oaks

Anns Mountain Treasure is now under saddle. She is coming along and is pretty impressive to have been under saddle for only a short time. Look for her in the UMH show circuit this year.

Venture's Golden Satin

Watch Venture's Golden Satin with youth rider on board. Now owned by Whispering Oaks Farm Taylorsville, KY.

The Cloth Girls

The top photo is WOF Dock's Velvet and the second photo is Venture's Golden Satin. Both of the Cloth girls are veterans of the show ring and the trail. Velvet came home to the farm last fall and made her debut trail riding shortly after.I was riding along the dirt road going to the rear of the farm and I walked up a covey of quail. If you have ever been out in the open and walked up a covey of quail it will about stop your heart. They will let you walk right up on them and the covey will all ascend into the air with a very loud flutter of wings. I used to deer hunt and was constantly walking up upon them. I was trying to sneak through the woods and when they flew up it always startled me.

Not Velvet, she hardly paid any attention to the quail despite the loud flutter of quail wings coming from beneath her feet. Riding on another mile and we began to see deer in the woods. This gentle bay mare hardly paid any attention to the running deer and white tails flying through the woods.

For those of you who do not ride a horse this is a view from on top of Velvet. She and I were riding through the woods on day and I got a text message from my granddaughter Leigh. She had asked me what I was doing so I took this picture from atop Velvet. It is Velvet and Erica the lab that lives here. After I took the picture with my cell phone I sent it to Leigh. I much prefer voice communication, but, now days texting is so popular that phones are designed for texting.

Cell phones are becoming so complex. You can pretty much have a computer in your pocket now days. We have so much technology at our disposal for more instant communication but we are becoming a people who have forgotten how to communicate with each other. You and I probably know that people text each other many times because it does not involve a formal conversation. We can say a few words without being in a long conversation. We say what we need to say and we are done.


I like to communicate with the Cloth girls. With horses we are training them every time we interact with them. The training can be good or it can be bad training. Velvet likes lower her head to put her face in between my hands when I am handling her. She is communicating with me and I communicate back to her.

When I start to the barn Satin finds me and watches me every step until I go into the barn. Many times she walks over to the fence and follows me along the fence. She is communicating with me. Lately when we are finished feeding and put the horses out, Satin will not leave the gate at the back of the barn. She walks up and stands there even after all the other horses are gone back down in the field. She is saying "I thought you loved me. I thought you would leave me in the barn where I would be warm and have hay to eat all by myself."

I suppose God wants us to be that way with Him. He wants us to want to be where He is. Do you communicate with The Heavenly Father? Try talking to Him today. He always has time to listen if you have time to pray.

Be Blessed

Bob

Dixie and Dolly

Dixie had been standing patiently on the trailer for some time when ST pulled up with Dolly and Code of Honor in his trailer. Code of Honor, my sister's awesome chocolate stallion, and Dolly had been living together for some time now. Little did they know they were being separated. ST led Dolly off his trailer and handed me the lead rope. I walked ahead of Dolly and she followed me right into our trailer where I tied her off and swung the side gate up against her. The rear door was closed and we were homeward bound.

Run horses run, it's time to play

It was well after dark when we got home and with all the mud I just pulled the truck up in the driveway and parked where Dolly and Dixie would be unloaded. I led Dolly into the barn and put her in the one box stall we have. She was home. I returned to get Dixie. Dixie is the near 16 hand chocolate palomino 3 year old filly my sister has. She is tall and lanky and such a beauty to behold. Dolly is about 16 hands high and dark brown chocolate. Since I had never seen her before I knew nothing of what she looked like until we came back with the feed to feed them. I took a look at her and was in awe of this beautiful chocolate mare my sister acquired. Dolly seemed unsure of her surroundings but was quite glad to get some coffee (feed). That is what I call the feed, a cup of coffee for the horses. Especially in the winter.

 Dolly

Dixie

In the days following Dolly and Dixie have always played together when we turn them out in the field with the other horses. They are both new here and both seem to sense that they are the two new girls in the herd.

Dixie and Dolly running together.

This morning when all the feeding was finished and the horses had cleaned their buckets I began to lead them back out to pasture. I saved Dolly for last because she is so reluctant to come to me. I open the stall door and motion with my hands for her to come to me. She keeps refusing. Finally she did not come to me but I walked to her and took her by the halter. I led her to the cross ties and hooked her up. I went to the feed bin and got a scoop of feed. I began to hand feed her little handsfull of feed and brushing her coat. She began to settle down and as I was brushing her she began to relax. She cocked her rear leg which is a sure sign she was relaxed. She did not get let out of the barn today.

This afternoon I returned to the barn to check on her and I took her by the halter and she lowered her head to my side and stood there while I rubbed her head and neck. I scratched around her ears and she was giving every indication that she was more reassured of her welfare.

It seems to me we all need some reassurance. Recently I was talking to a dear friend. That friend spoke of wanting to have a dear beloved person beside them at their time of departure from this life. I have heard this before. You know, I had not given much thought to that notion until that conversation. We all have fears of some kind. We all encounter times in our lives that we need a friend. We need a close friend. We need a friend that will stick closer to us than a brother.

After we ask Christ into our lives to live in it with us we have a friend like that. Jesus is our friend and He will indeed stick closer than a brother. Sometimes we need to let Jesus come up by us and give us some of His tender care.

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24 KJV) That friend is Jesus Christ our Lord.


Dolly was afraid. God told us 63 times in the Bible to fear not. And, we still fear. All of us have fears, but, our Father told us to fear not.

Dolly had good cause for concern. She has had three owners or relationships. She had a boy friend she was crazy about and she has been seperated from him. She has been moved to a new location. She has a whole different set of horses she runs with. She has new horses with a new pecking order. She is pregnant and only has one friend, and they are friends because they came in on the same trailer. Her life has been turned upside down.

That kind of sounds like some of the problems we face as humans. Can you relate to any of these circumstances?

Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10 NLT)







That is all for now friends. Until next time, take care and be blessed.

Bob