Melissa Klein Art BLOG: Meet April & Hawthorne the Fab Draft Horses Farm Tour/Harvest Festival Sat 10/1 10am-4pm

"A Good Mother"

April & new-born Hawthorne. April's hormones kicked in after Hawthorne was born, and she became a very protective mother. At one point she charged Henry, my husband. She eventually relaxed and pushed Hawthorne to Henry for an introduction, which was a really special moment.

Hawthorne

The Teenage Draft Horse Sticks Out His Tongue

Hi Everyone,

Since I sent out my announcement to my newsletter, a couple of people have contacted me with questions about the event. Which made me realize, that I probably wasn't clear enough. Here's a quck overview of the event.

Farm Tour/Harvest Celebration is an event sponsored by Friends of the Field whose mission is "To preserve and protect sustainable agriculture in Clallam County, Washington, ensuring the availability of local food and the quality of life that our rural setting provides." The purpose of the Harvest Celebration is help the public get to know their local farms. Several farms open their doors to the public and present their services and goods. The cost is roughly $10 per car which pays for entrance to all of the farms.

We will be at Freedom Farm with April and Hawthorne from 10am to 4pm. Henry and I will be available to make informal talks and answer questions about horse adoption and PMU/Premarin horses. I will also have my art on display and for sale in a tent next to April & Hawthorne.

We have a long-standing connection to Freedom Farm. When we first adopted the hugely pregnant April, we realized that we were in waaaaay over our heads. So we decided to board April at Freedom Farm with Mary Gallagher and Jerry Schmidt and have their support for the happy day. Freedom Farm is a stable which practices natural horsemanship and the most beautiful horse facility that I have seen - ever! Mary and Jerry were wonderful - generous with advice, and they slept in a trailer by the field as April was nearing birth.

Warning - Hathorne has proved be an "extreme ham" at the events - the first year, I went out to check on them and found him was leaning against the fence and spreading out his (then) 1700lb body so that everybody in the small crowd of admirers could pet him. Last year, we were informed that he was licking babies!!! He has grown so much - from being the newborn pictured above. That's him on the side bar sticking out his tongue. I taught him how to do that as a game, where he sticks it out and I pull it, which means that whenever I go to take a picture of him - that's what he does (sigh....)

We hope you can make it out - Farm Tour/Harvest Celebration is a great event for a great cause. Friends of the Fields has done so much to ensure that Sequim and Port Angeles keeps its farms, which is a vital part of our quality of life on the Olympic Pensinsula. Having the support of knowledgable horse people has been a key element of a successful horse adoption experience - Freedom Farm offers a great facility for boarding, and lessons in Natural Horsemanship.

Best Wishes,