Kim Lemmon has been a member of the Ohio’s Country Journal staff since 1999.
Kim graduated from The Ohio State University with a major in Agricultural Communications and a minor in Equine Science. Kim and her husband, Mark, reside in Morrow County.
Most of us have had a friend or family member who has been touched by cancer, and in particular, breast cancer. Each October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we are all given an opportunity to help do our part in finding a cure for breast cancer.
During the past couple of years, The National Percheron Association and the World Percheron Congress have teamed up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure by selling “Drive for the Cure” bracelets to raise money to fight breast cancer. The pink bracelets include artwork of a Percheron horse and the words “Drive for the Cure.”
This fund raising effort will conclude in October 2014 on the final day of the 2014 World Percheron Congress during the Drive For Cure Charity Cart Class. All ages of drivers and sexes of horses will compete in the class. The only requirement is that the drivers wear pink.… Continue reading
When we first moved to the country and built a barn, I immediately began searching for a barn cat. My husband, Mark, was baffled because he didn’t understand why we needed another mouth to feed or why anyone would want a cat regardless of whether it lived inside the house or in the barn.
I have visited many barns through the years. The barns that lack cats are often home to birds that deposit their droppings on every available surface. If the cat-free barns are fortunate enough to avoid an infestation of birds, they are home to rodents that scurry around every corner and steal livestock feed or just generally make a mess.
I am not a fan of birds or rodents of any kind. I’ve been known to run screaming from the barn at the site of a tiny mouse; so, barn cats have become a necessity for our barn.… Continue reading
So maybe the actual Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty didn’t make it to the Morrow County Fair, but he was represented by a driver dressed in a costume to look like him during the Draft, Pony, Mini and Mule Show at the fair during the Free Style Driving Class.
I’m always looking for a way to have a lot of fun during this class so this year I dressed up as Willie Robertson. It was a fun time. Most folks didn’t recognize me, and a few folks thought I looked more like a terrorist than a cast member of Duck Dynasty, but I had a good time.
Always remember, the fair should always be about having fun!… Continue reading
It is not rare to find families that enjoy showing at their local county fair year after year, but what is rare is that for the last 24 years Ron and Susan Timmons have been able to show Dixie, their Belgian mare, at the Morrow County Fair every year.
Twenty-four years ago, Ron brought Dixie home from a sale as a weanling as a surprise for Susan. Since that time, Dixie as become a regular at the Morrow County Fair. She has been shown at the fair in various events during the annual draft horse show during every year of her life.
Dixie still looks great and is healthy and was able to compete at the 2013 Morrow County Fair in Belgian Mare Halter and in the draft horse cart classes. She still seems to enjoy her time at the fair and in the show arena.… Continue reading
Readying livestock for any kind fair or show is always a lot of work, but because I have chosen to own and show miniatures with Appaloosa patterns I always have more white to scrub daily during the fair than the average exhibitor.
I’m lucky because my draft horse is black, but she does have one white leg. To cut down on white areas that need scrubbing, I have always purchased spray paint for livestock and painted her leg during the fair, but the color constantly rubs off and needs reapplied.
I’ve known for a while that many folks in the draft horse world use human hair dye to color their horses’ coats, but I had never considered it as an option for me. I understand why they color the coats — it is legal at draft horse shows and really how often are you going to find six horses for a hitch class that match perfectly.… Continue reading
Everyone who lives in the country has had their share of bug bites, but bugs find me especially attractive. I can’t go outside and not be bitten by something. I’m somewhat used to having a bug bite or two, but recently I had a major reaction to bug bites.
I was in the barn clipping some long hair off my mini horses when I felt something bite me on my back. I felt the bug viciously bite me a few more times, but I tried to continue with my work. I remember the bites being painful, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.
After I finished my work, I returned to the house and looked in the mirror so I could see the damage from the attack. I was horrified to find a series of bites and a very red and angry looking space on my back that was approximately 6 inches by 4 inches.… Continue reading
The 2013 Ohio State Fair Draft Horse Show served as another great opportunity for me to collect photos, videos, and information for current and upcoming stories for our online news site as well as for future issues of Ohio’s Country Journal.
I had a great time and learned much while covering the event. Make sure you take a look at the photos and video from the draft horse show held at the Fair.
One of the highlights for the week for me was meeting a very famous Belgian gelding. Make sure you read about him and watch a short video of him in action at the Fair.
Every year when I attend the Ohio State Fair draft horse show, I sit next to my friend Ron Wilson, and I listen to him tell stories about a famous Belgian gelding that he bred on his farm near Zanesville.
The stories about this gelding named Chuck get a little more involved every year as Ron tries to point Chuck out to me in the hitches. I have to admit that I’ve always harbored a little doubt about the truth in his tales of Chuck because Ron is a great storyteller and enjoys teasing me.
This year my assignment for a future Ohio’s Country Journal article led me directly to the supposed owners of Chuck, the Hammersmiths of Defiance. One of the first questions I asked their driver, Jason Honsberger, was whether or not there was actually a horse in the hitch that was bred by Ron.… Continue reading
My barn houses critters of all shapes and sizes. There are several barn cats in addition to one draft horse and several miniature horses.
It has always been apparent that the cats love the miniature horses. The cats like to bring “presents” back to the mini horses to document their adventures. It is not uncommon to find pieces of dead birds and rodents within the miniature horse stalls. I think it is the cats’ way of making friends with the horses. It has never been quite so clear what the draft mare thinks of the minis.
A new problem developed in the barn this summer as I tried to make room to house the mini stallion away from the mini mares and give plenty of room to the mini mare and her foal while still keeping all the horses happy and with access to shelter. … Continue reading
After I wrote a blog called “Shirtless: Calf pulling the Dr. Pol way” in January of 2013, it became apparent pretty quickly that not everyone is a fan of Dr. Pol. I, however, still love the show and now more than ever I have reasons to continue watching — two to be exact.
Although Dr. Pol’s show is not meant to teach veterinary techniques, it does show many veterinary procedures, and I do learn a lot from watching it. I have a special interest in his tips and methods because of the lack of large animal veterinarians in my county. Although I am not a vet, in the past I have often had to assist with goat births at my barn because no vets were available in an emergency. It helps to learn as much as you can no matter the source in case it would become handy in the future.… Continue reading
When I travel through Amish communities in Ohio, I often see goats tied along the road. The goats are tied in areas that would be difficult to mow and would require the use of a weed eater. The goats always seem content, and I’m sure somewhere at each farm with a goat tied and working as a weed eater there’s an equally happy Amish family that doesn’t have to find other means to remove the grass and weeds.
I’m known for my hatred for English style mechanical weed eaters. I always run out of string or the dumb thing won’t start. Then when it actually does the job, my arms get so tired in such a short amount of time that the entire process is always an irritating one. I’m constantly looking for ways around using the weed eater.
I recently saw an Amish style weed eater that was new to me.… Continue reading
Lately, I’ve been out of the office more than normal to collect information for upcoming Ohio’s Country Journal articles. Invariably, my hosts and I get somewhat off the topic of the upcoming article for which I’m supposed to collect information, but I always learn all kinds of things no matter the topic.
Recently, I was visiting with Joe Reed of Fredericktown, Ohio, for a story on farming with horses. What I didn’t know before the visit was that Joe shears sheep and raises a few mules as well. I couldn’t fit all the information he shared about mules, sheep, and Great Pyrenees into the story on farming with horses, but I couldn’t resist sharing some his stories with you in my blog.
I broke Joe’s stories down into a few topics for easy reading.
Mules
In addition, to using their Percheron horses for farming, Joe and Sally keep several draft horse mares on hand to raise foals.… Continue reading
Most of you probably have the luxury (depending on how you look at it) of making your own hay. Making hay is terribly hard work, but if you have the equipment and hay fields from which to make it, you should consider yourself pretty lucky.
I’m one of the many horse and livestock owners that have to depend on the kindness and manpower of others to acquire a year’s supply of hay. I’m also one of those people that constantly stresses about the possibility of running out of hay.
I was fortunate enough last year to buy my hay before the drought hit, but I was afraid that last year’s hay shortage might bump some other customers up the list to purchase hay ahead of me if they were in desperately need of it. I didn’t have much hay left myself this year, and I wanted to make sure I started storing hay for the winter of 2014.… Continue reading
I would venture to guess that most folks outside of the draft horse community tend to believe that plowing with horses is a job performed only by Amish farmers these days. Despite the general trend during the past 50 or 60 years toward tractors and machinery, there are still folks who use their horses to work the land.
Some of these horse owners work their horses for fun, while a determined few still use their horses regularly in all manner of work on their farms. Both types of horsemen and women were present during the 2013 Malabar Farm Spring Plowing Days.
More than a dozen teams participated in the event hosted by the Central Ohio Draft Horse Association on May 18 and 19 at Malabar Farm. All genders and ages of horse people put their teams of Percherons, Belgians and Spotted Draft horses to work during the two-day event.… Continue reading
Those of you that raise and breed livestock as either a hobby or as part of your livelihood know that it is not an easy task. I’ve raised and bred rabbits and goats in the past, but this year I took on the challenge of breeding horses.
This spring after surviving my first foaling season, it was time to rebreed the mares. I decided I needed to really get going with this because my mares tend to foal around 335 days. I could rebreed the mares about a week after they foaled in their foal heat or I could wait another 21 days after that for their first full heat cycle.
After a lot of thought and math, I decided I didn’t want my foals to be born in March, so I waited and didn’t breed the mares during their foal heat. This could of course mean that, if they don’t become pregnant during their first full heat cycle, that I would have foals born even later in 2014, but that was a gamble I was willing to take.… Continue reading
Although I have been to casinos in Las Vegas, my only previous experience with live horse racing had been at county fairs. I had also never attended Thoroughbred racing before.
In April 2013, ThistleDown reopened as a Racino near Cleveland. Early in the month, the casino opened. Racing started again at the facility on April 19. ThistleDown is the second racino to open in Ohio. Scioto Downs in Columbus is the state’s first racino.
When you are used to attending horse racing only at county fairs, the facilities at ThistleDown alone can be quite impressive. At every county fair I have attended, horse racing spectators are required to sit in the heat and dust to watch the races. At ThistleDown, there is a very large area inside to view the races. You can sit outside if you wish, but I preferred to watch from climate controlled seating inside the building.… Continue reading
The nights have been nearly sleepless at my home for the last few weeks. Ever since I lost my first foal of the year, I have been on high alert in expectation of the second foal.
I have spent all my nights in recent memory fighting to stay awake as I tossed and turned and tried to pry my eyes open to make sure all was well in the barn. Needless to say, I’ve been kind of useless at home recently.
A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a beautiful little bay miniature foal on the monitor of the barn camera. I started to get up and get dressed to head to the barn to help dry the little one off when I noticed I couldn’t see the mare in the stall. I finally managed to get myself fully away and realized the foal was only in my imagination.… Continue reading
The short version of the story is that one of my miniature mares foaled at a very early and unexpected time. The due dates the seller had given me for this mare were wildly miscalculated. I was still on high foal alert in case the mare needed help, but regardless she delivered a dead foal. Afterward, she suffered from a prolapsed horn in her uterus.
This particular mare has recovered, but the delivery of a dead foal, and the mare’s ill health after foaling, led me to develop a new course of action to protect my second bred miniature mare. Since I was already on a fairly high level of alert before the incident with the first mare, my need to ramp up my inspection and monitoring skills to ensure the health of my second mare and foal is slowly leading me down a path to insanity.… Continue reading
Every Ohioan has to be thrilled to see the grass start to turn green and to feel the warm breezes that have started to creep back into Ohio after another long winter. For me, no matter the weather, it doesn’t really feel like spring until I see some Amish farmers hitch up their horses and head to the fields.
I live near an Amish community in Morrow County. A quick 15-minute drive can take me 100 years back in time as I turn down the rural roads bordering St. Rt. 314 that are home to the nearby Amish community.
A need to visit my favorite harness maker led me to travel a little farther than the local Amish inhabited rural roads to the much-larger Amish communities located in Holmes and Wayne counties. It was apparent on this trip that spring is no longer a distant dream — it has arrived.… Continue reading
Equine Affaire is holding its 20th show this year in Ohio April 11-14, 2013. I can remember attending one of the shows held during the early years in Dayton, Ohio, and marveling at the varying breeds of horses and disciplines of horsemanship that were showcased at the event.
“It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since we produced our first event at the Hara Arena Complex in Dayton, Ohio,” said Eugenia Snyder, president and founder of Equine Affaire, Inc. “I created this event with the hope of bringing horse people affiliated with all different breeds and disciplines together in an educational forum and non-competitive environment so that we could share our passion for horses and learn from one another.”
The event’s ability to not only survive but also thrive during the last 20 years of the ups and downs in the equine industry is a testament to the success of the event.… Continue reading
