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Michigan DNR sends firefighters to help put out fires. 8/4/08
Even though a total of 36 Department of Natural Resources employees have returned from fire duty in western states in recent days, at least 13 remain on duty in California and Texas helping those states battle wildfires. As many as 50 DNR employees at one time have been outside of Michigan this summer helping western states during summer wildfire season. A 20-person crew of DNR firefighters that had been working on the Lime Complex in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Redding in northern California will return this week. A group of 16 who were working on wildfires in California returned last week. Another five DNR employees have been deployed to other fire locations around California. In addition, four Michigan DNR tractor plows and their two-person crews were sent to Texas to assist wildfire efforts there. Crews from Michigan can spend up to two weeks away from Michigan, but have the option of a seven-day extension depending on the incident commander at the site of the wildfire. The Michigan DNR tractor plow crews assisting in Texas will be staying for a 21-day assignment, Boyd said. For more information about wildfire in Michigan, go to the DNR’s Fire Management Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr-fire.

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Those of you who joined us at the Townie Art Fair on Monday got to see local environmental artist Leslie Sobel's creative maps of Washtenaw County up close and personal. Thanks to your input, this community collaboration shows photos from throughout the region. The art work is not yet fully complete, but you can see the four (gorgeous!) maps that formed the basis of this art project. Washtenaw Land Trust

Monday July 14 - Townie Street Party! 5-9:30pm -
Come party with the locals to kick off art fair week at the Townie Street Party, the kick-off party to the Ann Arbor Art Fairs brought to you by the Street Art Fair. It's held under the big tents on North University between Thayer and Fletcher, adjacent to the University of Michigan’s Ingalls Mall on central campus. It’s a family event, and admission is free.

You can help! New this year: “Where We Live: The Ecology of Place” is a collaborative community eco-art project focusing on the natural world, here where you live. In a unique partnership between the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Washtenaw Land Trust, and local artist Leslie Sobel, aerial photos and maps of Washtenaw County will be collaged with photos, drawings, and stories about the land contributed by you. To submit your photos: email them to eco-art@lesliesobel.com or bring them on July 14th to the Townie Street Party.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: We need a few good folks to help with the community art project, from 4:30-7:30pm or 7-10pm. Interested in helping out? Contact Suzie at 734-302-5263 or email suzie@washtenawlandtrust.org.

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Visit this extension site for many useful articles on Small Farm Management AND ask questions of the experts. For example, I asked about recylcing horse manure mixed with straw - hoping to find a disposal place such as Mid-Michigan Recycling which takes horse manure mixed with wood shavings. Mid-Michigan turns it into electricity! I am still looking for my answer but two experts, one from Ohio and one from Montana answered my "Ask an Expert" question, both within 48 hours. It's a great service! Here's the URL for the Small Farm Management collection of articles and experts: http://www.extension.org/pages/LPES_Curriculum

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Land conservancy is a multi-faceted idea: here the DNR acquries land to complete state ownership of the Lost Lake fen. June 5, 2008

DNR Director Rebecca Humphries authorized the agency to acquire the
33.03 acres in Laketon Township for $196,675 from the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, and to accept the gift of additional acreage. Both parcels located along the eastern boundary of Muskegon State Park.

Acquisition of the first parcel will complete state ownership of the Lost Lake fen, a significant coastal plain community and one of only 40 known in Michigan. The parcel being received as a gift from the conservancy will be operated as part of the state park with a primary emphasis on natural resource protection and non-motorized outdoor recreation. The parcel also will remain in its natural, generally undeveloped state. see Land Conservancy of West Michigan

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A special volunteer stewardship workday at Fort Custer Recreation Area on Saturday, May 31, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to plant prairie wildflower seedlings.

"A severe wind event in the fall of 2002 blew down trees in a large section of the park. We decided to take advantage of the situation and adapt the necessary clean-up into an ecological restoration of the area back to its former state, the Coguaiak Prairie," said Ray Fahlsing, DNR Parks and Recreation Division's Stewardship Unit manager.

Volunteers will plant native prairie wildflowers to establish seed propagation fields for future restoration projects at the park. The wildflower propagation fields planted this spring will provide much of the wildflower seed needed to restore the 130-acre Coguaiak Prairie.

Restoration already is well on its way. In the spring of 2007, 70 acres were planted with prairie grasses using local genotype seed gathered by volunteers. The remaining 60 acres will be planted with prairie grass seed this spring via machine planting. Once undesirable plants are taken care of in the grass plantings, native prairie wildflowers will be planted. Laurel Malvitz 248-359-9057 or Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014

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NOTE from Michigan Horse Council:

Important meeting on equestrian and recreational trails on May 13.

The house committee on Tourism, Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resouces is having a meeting on May 13 on changes in recreational access (including the reduction of equestrian access) to the Pigeon River Country. The meeting is at 10:30 a.m. in Room 521 of the House Office Building. The House Office Building is located at 124 N. Capitol Ave.; Lansing, MI. Those who cannot attend can email the chairperson of the committee : Rep. Sheltrown at joelsheltrown@house.mi.gov to let him hear your thoughts on the Pigeon River Country reduction of horse trails and camping and on a reduction of horse trails generally. Rep Casperson is the minority party vice chair. He is from the UP and is a strong supporter of citizen's rights to recreation in state owned lands. You could also email him at tomcasperson@house.mi.gov.  It is important that the equestrians' voice is heard.  If you are a trail rider, please take the time to write if you cannot attend.

Thank you

Marilyn Graff, MHC Communications Chair

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"My job is to help farms reduce groundwater and surface water contaminant and improve safety," says Kim Walton, Groundwater Tech for Barry and Eaton Counties. "I believe we horse people must follow the State's Right to Farm Guidelines so we've put together a workshop that covers Farm Bill Programs that a horsefarmer might be eligible for, along with pasture and manure management and farm emergency plans. We hope to help horse farmers improve their farms and their horses'e environmental impact."
HORSES AND THE ENVIRONMENT WORKSHOP
May 3, Noon to 6:30
Maple Valley High School, 11090 Nashville Hwy, Vermontville, Mi.
more info: Kim.walton@mi.nacdnet.net
"We'll have speakers from MSU, the Michigan Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Ag Environmental Assurance Program. And you can watch the Kentucky Derby at the same time!"

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May 4 Woodland Wildflowers identification workshop 9 - noon at Bird Hills Nature Area, Ann Arbor Stewardship Network

Be a frog and toad counter: this is the 13th year of a statewide Frog and Toad Survey coordinated by the Natural Heritage Unit of the DNR's Wildlife Division's Frog Count

Don't forget to join the Huron River Watershed Council tonight, March 20, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Indian Springs Metropark in White Lake Michigan, at the headwaters of the Huron River. HRWC's Open House will be in the Environmental Discovery Center features 60 acres of restored and created native ecosystems including ponds, wetlands and prairies.

HRWC staff will be on hand to answer questions about our watershed and the river, as well talk about exciting new adventures this summer on the Huron River. Allages are welcome, and there is no park fee admission, and plenty of free parking.

View this award winning video Huron River Rock Bass by Dan Nienhuis in Millers Creek Fesitval

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Protecting Your Land: Making "$" and Sense of the Options
Monday March 3, 6:30-8:30pm

Do you own land that you would like to protect for your kids or grandkids, but you don’t know where to start? Have you ever wondered about the financial benefits of protecting your land through a conservation easement? Or, would you like to find out how to permanently protect your farm or wetlands from development? Join us for a FREE panel discussion of these topics. A tax professional will be on hand to answer all of your questions!
Location: Ingham Conservation District, 1031 W. Dexter Trail, Mason, MI 48854, across the street at the Glassen Education Building. (Sponsors: Washtenaw Land Trust, Mid-Michigan Land Conservancy, Ingham & Jackson County Conservation Districts, and Natural Resources Conservation Service.)

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CHEAP TREES:
2008 ROOT Program Begins for Residents in 21 Southeast Michigan Counties (2/19/08)
The ROOT program will assist residents in southeast Michigan*s 21 Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) quarantined counties in replanting trees lost to EAB.

"The ROOT program will help to replant our urban, suburban and rural landscapes, and support those who have been impacted by the devastating effect of EAB in Michigan," said Lynne Boyd, chief of the DNR's Forest, Mineral and Fire Management Division.

Residents of the 21 EAB quarantined counties in southeastern Michigan are eligible to participate in the program. A maximum of two trees per household can be purchased at a cost of $21 each. The DTE Energy Foundation will pay the remaining cost. Available tree species for the2008 program are sugar maple, river birch, ginkgo, tulip tree, dawn redwood, London planetree, red oak and swamp white oak. Trees are in 5-7 gallon containers and 5-8 feet tall. Trees purchased may be picked up in April.

"At DTE Energy, we are well aware of the devastation that the Emerald Ash Borer has caused in southeast Michigan," said Fred Shell, vice president of DTE Energy's Corporate and Governmental Affairs and President of the DTE Energy Foundation. "We have added emphasis on ash tree replacement to our existing Tree Planting Grant Program, and we are happy to sponsor the ROOT program which offers assistance to homeowners who want to replace their lost ash trees."

Residents should contact one of the eight participating local partners, or visit the DNR ROOT Program Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnrucf to download a random drawing form or order form.

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STEWARDSHIP NETWORK CONFERENCE 2008
"The Science, Practice, and Art of Restoring Native Ecosystems."
Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26
Join over 200 fellow naturalists, volunteers, and land professionals in East Lansing to learn about restoration techniques for grasslands/savannas, forests, wetlands, and much more
.Online registration is closed, but you can still attend! To learn more and for registration information, visit www.stewardshipnetwork.org.www.stewardshipnetwork.org.

Washtenaw Land Trust Update for January
2007: Our First 1000 Acre Year!
"2007 was a record year for the Land Trust," reports Mark Patrick of the WLT. " We protected 1088 acres, more than doubling our previous 2006 record of 488 acres. With those newly protected lands, the Land Trust increased its total preserved properties in 2007 by almost 45%!"

Historic Farm, River Frontage Protected
"A generous landowner has donated a conservation easement on 107 acres in Manchester Township. The property includes nearly a mile of River Raisin frontage and an historic farm protected by the Washtenaw County Historic District Commission. The property also links directly to 21 acres of already protected land. This partnership with the HDC allows the owner to ensure that the land and the historic farm, both so cherished, will be protected forever."

Upcoming:

Keeping it Green in Jackson County
Property owners and the general public are invited to a FREE workshop to learn more about the Upper Grand River watershed and how you can help "keep it green."
Saturday February 9, 8:30am-1:00pm - Registration begins at 8:30am.
Tompkins Township Hall, 9999 Tompkins Rd, Rives Junction, MI

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ELCR initiates an online bulletin board
Any topic related to land conservation, stewardship and access for horses is open for discussion, and partners have the ability to access the entire Equestrian Partners membership for advice on relevant issues that are facing them.Deb Balliet, ELCR’s CEO said, "Additional benefits for our members are in the works and we invite others to join us as Equestrian Partners in 2008 and beyond.” ELCR and its equestrian partners in various organizations are alarmed at land loss in the U.S. USDA figures, 250 acres of open space and grazing land are lost to development each hour.
ELCR is the only national not-for-profit organization assisting in the conservation of land for horses and horse-related activity Contact ELCR

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A horse farmhouse in Michigan, January 2008

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Efforts are underway to prohibit riding in various state land areas, such as Pigeon River. Voice your concern! at the 10:00 a.m. Comittee meeting and the 4:00 public comment period at the following meeting:

NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION

AGENDA

November 8, 2007

Diagnostic Center or Population and Animal Health
4125 Beaumont Road
Lansing
  If you would like further information on Agenda items or would like to address the Commission, please contact Teresa Gloden at 517-373-2352, or e-mail:  glodent@michigan.gov

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This is the future of political action for horse people: where fairly large geographical areas get together to promote land use and equestrian access: get involved:
CONNECTING ~ WHITE LAKE ~ HIGHLAND ~ MILFORD
WITH TRAILS ~ GREENWAYS ~ CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2007 ~ 6:30 PM DINNER RECEPTION
WITH SPECIAL SPEAKER PRESENTATIONS
HIGHLAND STATION HOUSE ~ 205 W. LIVINGSTON ROAD ~ HIGHLAND
Discover how the non-motorized Trail Network and Greenways will affect our area, lives and
businesses while positively impacting real estate values. Learn about the new Government Tax
Incentives and opportunities for landowners and developers looking to preserve family farms and
natural resources using conservation easements. Delve with us into the vision for our future….
We can leave a legacy of clean air, earth and water for future generations to enjoy!

LIMITED SEATING ~ PLEASE RSVP BY OCTOBER 18 TO SHARON ~ 248.887.3970
OR HighlandEquestrianConservancy@gmail.comHighland Equestrian Conservancy

The Department of Natural Resources * Parks and Recreation Division   PRD) will be holding a meeting on Tuesday, October 16th from   6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Washington Street Education Center * Main   Building Cafeteria for the purposes of understanding trail needs   and desires at Pinckney and Waterloo Recreation Areas and how they   interact with other uses of the Recreation Areas. 

TOXIC HAY ALERT - it's Michigan hay
7/02/07 Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin has alerted horse owners to a problem with some alfalfa hay from Michigan and the upper Midwest. The hay-is believed to contain hoary alyssum (Berteroa incana), a weed that is toxic to horses.
"We have a report of 25 horses sickened from eating alfalfa hay from Michigan that contained this plant," Irvin said. "The horses had swollen legs, fever, and some were even foundering.

"What is especially troubling is that the alfalfa hay looked perfect. The weed was practically invisible in the hay. It was only after close investigation after the horses got sick that the presence of this plant wasfound," said Irvin.

Hoary alyssum has an alternate leaf pattern (the leaves appear alternatelyup the stem) and round stems. Because the dried leaves are fragile, most of them will have fractured and become part of the alfalfa "dust" in the bale.Older stems can have a purple blush, and can have a slight fuzz or "hoary"appearance.

"I urge all horse owners in Georgia to check their alfalfa hay and to contact their veterinarian if they see any problems with their horses," said Irvin.

Hoary alyssum is native to Europe and naturalized throughout much of the
northern U.S. For more information, horse owners can refer to "Hoary Alyssum: Toxicity to Horses, Forage Quality, and Control" from the University of Minnesota.

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Campbell & Fran Laird Campbell & Fran Laird donated the WLT preserve known as the Beckwith Conservancy in 1999. Fran's parents bought it in the late 1940s.
Fran and her siblings rode horses on the farm and played in Portage Creek which ran through their fields. Fran's father Sidney was the town doctor for Stockbridge, and her mother Harriet (Hattie) was considered the local historian and activist. When her parents passed away, Fran in honor of their memory and that of her sister Irene, preserved the land they cherished. She wanted it to remain a natural area kept open for everyone . She approached WLT to transfer the land as a conservancy. Fran donated 30.5 acres and laid out the terms of the property's conveyance, including its name, its use and the formation of a stewardship group to be called the Friends of the Beckwith Conservancy. Through the Laird's commitment and generosity, the Beckwith Conservancy is now open for quiet recreational activities such as hiking, birdwatching, nature study and cross-country skiing. More stories at WLT.

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The Daratony family constructed a 132-acre residential and equestrian community on Gregory about ½ mile from Zeeb in Webster Township.  About four months ago, Webster Township approved the last of the whole project.

Says Jim Daratony, “Now it’s a done deal.”  There are only two of 20 lots left in the residential portion which is called Cobblestone Estates.  The Daratonys bought the land in 2002 and began the barn complex in 2003. The barn holds about 40 horses and there are always a few stalls available.  There's a large indoor; airy stalls and aisles; a sand jumping arena; a full-size sand dressage arena; and, most important to eventers, a cross country course with banks, ditches and water. There’s a two-mile track through the property for riding. They have a good trainer in Cathy Henderson and an active group of competitors of all ages.  Jim talked about developing the complex.

“Right from the beginning people really liked the idea.  It was unique in this area.  It went over well.   From the start Webster Township loved it.  The neighbors loved it.  It was responsible, controlled, low-density development.

It’s an attractive idea to a horse-owner, I said to Jim.  A person can build a house in the country and keep horses in a beautiful barn with great facilities.  The barn is steps away from home but you aren't mucking and feeding. Cobblestone Farm offers the best of both worlds. You don't have to be afraid to go on vacation because you can’t find good barn help.

“Actually,” said Jim, “when we first developed the property, we found that most of the people liked horses but didn’t know too much about them.  It was kind of hard to explain things to them.  Some things we allowed horses to do were things that concerned them.  There’s the two mile groomed trail that goes behind everybody’s property and though the lots are big, people were worried about liability.  They worried about their dogs scaring the passing horses.  They worried whether a horse would go after a dog.  They worried about if the horse takes a dump on the trail, do we pick it up.  We don’t.  But in time everyone got to understand about the horses and began to participate in the activities at the barn.  Especially the families.  Eventually a number of these families came out to watch the horses and the horse shows we put on.  Then their kids started to take an interest in the horses.  We are really promoting the future of the horse by making this farm and rural life available to people.  Now we have a blend of owners who are city people and others who’ve always had horses.  The first house went up in 2004. We built a house for our family in 2005. Now we just have the two lots left.  Both are wooded and over 3 acres in size.  Basically, every house backs up to a 2-mile trail for walking, cc skiing or horseback riding.

So how does it work?  Do you sell a stall with a house?

The relationship is this: you buy a lot in the development and you’re guaranteed a stall.  So if the barn is full when you come into the complex, you’re on the top of the list of those who will get a stall.  If the person who buys a piece of property doesn’t commit to the stall when they buy the property, we rent the stall out to someone else.  But if in a few years they change their mind and want the stall, they get put on the top of the waiting list. But in any situation we always find a spot for the owner who owns or buys a horse.

Are you going to build another equestrian facility?

Well, we know there’s a need.  When we built this, we knew that Webster Township was a growing area and there were a lot of people looking to move out of Ann Arbor to this area.  We lived near here and had our own horses but we boarded some of them out as well.  And when we were looking for a nice boarding facility we couldn’t find what we wanted.  So when we built Cobblestone, we knew what we as horse people wanted and we knew that other horse people would support our development.    So we might do another one.  But anytime you put in an equestrian facility, it increased the costs substantially from a developer’s point of view.  You need to have a higher number of lots to offset the cost of developing the equestrian complex.

I’ve done two other developments that are not equestrian in this area.  One is near here, off Dexter-Chelsea Road.  At a Lima Township board meeting, someone asked me if I was doing an equestrian community because they had heard of Cobblestone and liked the concept.  But we preferred to make Beacon Hill Development into an large estate site without the equestrian component.  Beacon Hill has only 12 sites.  It’s 80 acres.  About 25 acres is wetland.  So the usable land was closer to 50.  All the lots are similar to Cobblestone in that they are a big size with lots of privacy.  It’s so new the entrance road isn’t finished but people can come and look at the lots.

What did you do about preparing the land at Cobblestone for use by horses?

We needed to prepare the cross country course, the grass pastures and the paddocks.  The people we bought the land from are still in the area and they helped us cultivate most of the land we are using for the horse center.  We hired them to turn the land over a couple of times, kill all the weeds in the pastures and cross country, and then plan a simple grass seed pasture mix.  It grew in really nice.  And we went with the same mix in both the grass pasture and the cross country course.  The seed mix was the recommendation of John Cares at Dexter Mill.

The grass is holding up well.  I roll it every spring.  If the weather gets really bad, we close the cross country courses or parts of the course.  And sometimes the path can get deep and wet and we sometimes close that.  But unless you’re conditioning horses for competitions, you don’t worry too much about this. 

Did you plan it all out carefully, what you’d plant and how you’d shape the land and so on?

Well, we planned it, of course, but we could have planned more.  In hindsight, I wish we had made a larger cross country course.  My family is very involved in eventing and we need places to get horses ready for the upper levels of that sport.  Now we’re trying to acquire more land around us so we can do that.  We hold shows, too, and we’d like to ad some stabling areas for the show horses.  We need some galloping areas.  There’s some land that’s been in crops nearby and it’s for sale.  We’d like to buy that but the price is pretty high right now.

Have you thought about buying an existing complex and update it?

Yes.  When we were looking around for land we also looked at some of the places that were for sale.  But these weren’t right for us.  And I think it’s generally easier to work from scratch than to buy an existing facility and convert it.  We can place the barn where we want it, we can center buildings around the cross country and pastures.  We can have completely modern ideas in the buildings. “

Jim’s wife Darlyn, who events at the training level on several horses, told me about a tough moment she remembers when preparing the land for horses.  She told me about all the rocks.   I knew what she meant:  my pastures are next to the Huron River and we have a lot of gravelly rock and every spring we’re out there with feed buckets filling them with stones.  Darlyn remembers tackling the pasture rocks at Cobblestone:

“It was the hottest day of the year and if we saw another stone, I thought we’d die,” recalls Darlyn, smiling at the memory of one long day when her family was working in  the pastures. “When we named this farm Cobblestone, it sounded picturesque but I remember everyone is out there picking up rocks, and, really, it was the hottest day in the year, and we had to do it because they wanted to seed.  Shantal  was about 12 then, she was driving the tractor and we were throwing the rocks into a big flatbed trailer behind the tractor.  My daughter Jenny said, ‘This isn’t the olden days. I’m sure there’s a machine that can pick up these rocks.’ Maybe there was, but we didn’t have it.  It’s funny now.  But it was hard then!”   Jim added, “We picked up rocks from 35 acres.  It took us over two weeks of working every day.  We had everybody out there and the rocks just kept growing.”  Contact Jim Daratony at www.CobblestoneFarmsllc.com

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Land and Lawyer Handbook available free
The Handbook includes:
 A template draft for a standard easement with commentary;
 Relevant Michigan statutes and Michigan case citations;
 Relevant federal laws and regulations, including IRS guidelines;
 Sections on the most recent Federal and state legislation affecting conservation easements. 
 Electronic copies of all sections of the Handbook on CD.  Each section of the handbook is its own file, so you can email the relevant portions of the handbook as attachments when needed.

Thanks to recently enacted tax breaks for conservation, more and more property owners are considering their options for their land.  This means that more local natural areas and farms will be protected.  It also means that more attorneys, estate planners, accountants and others will be providing advice in a new and complex area of expertise.  The Washtenaw Land Trust is pleased to announce a new resource designed to meet the needs of this group The Land & Lawyer Handbook: A Practitioners Guide to Conservation Easements.  Thanks to the generosity of the Speckhard-Knight Charitable Foundation and Malloy Incorporated, this resource is being sent free to local law firms and conservation organizations. 

Email the following to get your copy:

Thank you for supporting the Washtenaw Land Trust!
1100 N. Main St. Suite 203
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-302-LAND(5263)
info@washtenawlandtrust.org

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How does a small horse farm owner end up in the stallion breeding business? I asked Tracey Schork who has a small farm called Trailsend in Ann Arbor Township; a family of 3 children and a husband; several horses and ponies; and one fine stallion, the 4-yr old Holsteiner Reesling (at left), sired by the FEI dressage horse Rantares.

 It started with Brandy my first horse.  After being tired of moving from barn to barn in search of a good facility, my parents helped me purchase a plot of land in Ann Arbor so that Brandy and I would have a home of our own.  We built a barn and called it Trailsend Stable because it would be the final time Brandy would have to move.  Brandy died when he was 32 and he is buried in my back yard. My promise to him is fulfilled. That's how I came to live on this farm. Then I got into breeding when I bought a mare just to breed to a Clydesdale stallion so I could use it for hunting. 

Sylvia Walsh, a member at Waterloo Hunt, had a Clydesdale stallion that I bred to and the combination didn’t disappoint.  The baby was wonderful and I named her Liberty’s Party Girl since I bred her dam on the 4th of July.  At the Oldenburg testing, the mare I bought scored 94 when a 95 would have put her in the Main Stud Book – if she hadn’t been half-draft. That was fine with me except for the Main Stud Book issue.  Half-drafts can get into the Oldenberg Pre-mare book but not the Main mare book.  I traced the stallion back to the 1800’s but I couldn’t find anything but Clyde in him so there was no way that the percentages put the baby under 50% Clyde.  That problem for me made me realize the need to present the stallion I have now, 4-year old Reesling, to several books.  This way, mare owners have more options and choices of registries to present their mares to in case there are certain breed restrictions.  Reesling is a registered Holsteiner, but he is accepted into the Belgian book.  Our plan is to present him to one or two new registries every year.  It’s an expensive proposition, presenting to the stud books.  For example, in addition to the stallion’s performance requirements, I also had to have a complete set of x-rays for approval for the Belgians.  Every registry has their own set of guidelines I have to follow.  Sometimes people don’t realize all the costs involved in owning and promoting a stallion.

I enjoy the process of raising babies. I bought Shadow, a thoroughbred-Clyde cross, that I gelded.  I bought Shadow for $1,000 when he was 5 months old and turned out to have a fabulous mind for hunting.  I raised him, and I foxhunted him.  My husband hunted Brandy, my first horse and my best friend – I had had Brandy since I was 14.  Brandy was in his twenties then.  On my husband’s very first hunt, he viewed a fox!  Not only viewed it – it ran right under the horse! At that point, Brandy was a very safe ride.  And my husband stayed in the gate group with him.

I also had some stallion experience before.  I owned and bred a stallion for a little while.  He was a thoroughbred race horse from Kentucky.  I rescued him from going to the killers.  He had continued to win his races even though he had slab-fractured both front knees.  My husband and I drove down and picked him up sight-unseen before he got shipped off to the meat market.  He was gorgeous and he had a great mind.  His name was Quick and Dirty.  I bred him to a couple of thoroughbreds, one of which broke her maiden the first time out of the gate. 

Then the track in Detroit closed and I quit breeding for the track.  And anyhow there was too much paperwork.  When you’re breeding them, you have papers for the Department of Agriculture, the Jockey Club and Michigan this-and-that.  So I sold him to a fellow who breeds racing quarterhorses and today he is one happy stallion.

So I decided to breed again, looking for the perfect horse.  That’s when I bred for Reesling.  He is by Rantares, which is the Ramiro line, and his broodmare was a horse called Frolic.  Lisa Pierson, who used to have a farm over near Dixboro and Pontiac Trail in Superior Township, showed Frolic Prix St. Georges.  That mare’s sire was Franat.  I did some research, after the breeding, and discovered that Franat crosses well on the R line. At the time, I just really liked Rantares and also his offspring.  In them, I saw a lot of talent and good minds.

People know how tough and complicated life can be keeping a stallion.  Your own life was getting more complicated and yet you persisted.  Why? 

That’s right.  When they heard I had another colt, people they kept saying to me ‘Why don’t you geld him?’  But there was something special about this horse.  Maybe I would have gelded him the year he was born but I had my own twins born that year.  It was a bad delivery for me and I was very involved in taking care of my own family so I didn’t even think about gelding him.  Anyhow, he never acted like he should be gelded.  He was always laid back and sensible.  Every professional trainer who came to look at him – at that point I wasn’t sure how I would train him and I was talking to several trainers – they all said that he shouldn’t be gelded.  Now Leslie Lammers is training him.  Before she saw him, she warned me about the challenges of owning and campaigning a stallion. She owns the now retired imported multi-approved Warmblood Stallion Waltmar and has been down this road before – but once she saw him she said the same thing as the other professionals. ‘We better take him to have him inspected.’  I was going to take him to the American Warmbloods but I was confident they’d accept him.  I wanted more challenge.  So I went to the Belgian Warmbloods.  The first thing you do with the Belgians is submit a pedigree.  If they don’t like that, they won’t inspect the horse.  He has a great pedigree.  And on presentation, he scored 74% on his movement, conformation, and temperament.

I had another Rantares colt which I did geld.  He’s at Cathy Weischoff’s in Kentucky training as an eventer.  He placed in eventing as a four year old.  He is an incredible horse, but I didn’t think of him as stallion material.  Reesling, however, is a very special horse.  I don’t profess to be the greatest rider in the world.  My strong suit is that I’m a good judge of horseflesh.  You have to be able to read the structure underneath bad muscling or inadequate nutrition.  I’m good at that.  And I have started a lot of my own babies and seen how they developed and what they accomplished after they left my farm.  I thought Reesling looked very special.

What is your riding background?

The highest dressage I’ve ridden is first level.  I’m good at working at training level and bringing along young horses with confidence.  If you do it right at the beginning, you get a fabulous partner.  I only raise one or two babies a year so they get my undivided attention.  Because I brought him along well at the start, Reesling has never thought about bucking or rearing even when he was first ridden.  He will stand within 3 feet, nose-to-nose, with a mare and he doesn’t do anything stupid.  I ride my mare at the same time Leslie rides the stallion.  He has a great temperament.  We also do artificial insemination and we decided not to teach him even to mount the phantom because he ground collected so well.  This way we can even collect semen in the stall at a show and deliver it to a mare there if she’s in heat that particular weekend when he’s showing and couldn’t be available to her.

Those of us in horses eventually look at profit as a flexible term.  What’s your goal with a stallion and a breeding business?

I’m hoping Reesling just pays his way.  I enjoy the stallions and the babies and my goal is just to do it well and try to make the enterprise pay for itself.  I couldn’t do it without Leslie.  She and I are partners in this and so I haven’t had to pay for fulltime training.  Leslie is the perfect person to start a horse.  She is persistent and patient.  And the horse never gets the idea that he can get her off.  Not that Reesling would ever think of doing that.  Everyone who meets him and recognizes his fine temperament wants to breed a mare to him.  One client has gone out and bought a mare just to breed to him.  Once you meet him, you love him.  The other day, Leslie was working on simple changes of lead on a figure-8.  For kicks she came across the diagonal and asked for a flying change and he did it with such perfection you can see he’s a real natural.  His brain is so open!  But we aren’t going to push him.  He’s still a baby.

For a private showing of Reesling visit Tracey and Leslie's website.    http://www.trailsendstable.com/  734-945-4938