February 24th Today we laid Erik to rest, He had may happy years with his owner Sandy, before being retired here at Mar Val in July 07. He became very attached to Terrapin, the day they met. It was very rare to find them apart for even a few seconds

February 15 Due to the aging horse population we now have 8 horses that are fed pellets, as they are at a point in their lives that their teeth can no longer grind down the hay. If the hay is not broken up enough then the digestive system can not extract the nutrients as well as it should. Three good signs are weight problem, course (Stringy) manure and not cleaning up the stems of the hay

February 12 Tank and his owner Sandy arrived at the barn

February 11  Bev and Cezanne left for 6 weeks in the high desert of Ridgecrest

February 1 Rocky had a colic at one point the vet gave him a 50/50 but thankfully he made it thru. As always I try to understand what caused the colic, in Rocky's case he had a compaction due to the fact he had lost the ability to grind the hay. We since changed his feed program to where he now eats pellets and as a result is doing just great. As a result of this occurring we looked at all the older horses and have adjusted the feed program on several other horses. I tell you there is something to learn everyday.

January 26  After 12 days of rain on and off the sun finally broke thru. The rain had kept us inside fixing up all the old jumps and building new ones. The sand for the round pen had arrived just before the rain still sits in a pile waiting for drier weather so it can be spread.

January 12  Finally some sun, for weeks we have had grey sky's along with grey faces, the forecast had been for clouds and light rain but thank goodness the weatherman was wrong

2010 ↑

December 23  Anna, Louise's mare left for a weeks training at Connie Arthurs in Waterford

December 19  Tamara Fooy's gelding, Pajia, arrived at the barn

December 11 George Roberts who owns Rocky, had a nasty accident while at work. Gladly he will make a full recovery but from what he told me it will take about ten months

December 8  Sonrisa, a 3yr old filly, said goodbye to the stall and hello pasture mates!. Sonrisa owner was happy to see her run, for Sara's groom, Jose it means a longer walk to get her, I guess I can not make everyone happy

December 5th  Barn Christmas party, we decorated up the barn a few hours before the party due to the chance of a breeze on what was a cold evening, with the warmth of the fires ,  on over forty five people came along with their very tasty side dishes for a very enjoyable evening

November 21st  A grey gelding, Cosmo arrived with his young owner McKenzie. Also Katelyn's new horses arrived today, Trinny a dark bay TB mare, competed in Eventing and from what I understood is a very well trained and very experienced just right for any young rider to learn on

November 16th  Max, Bill brown's gelding, moved out to pasture

November  5th Beau, a beautiful 3 yr dark bay Warmblood arrived today for training with Sara Wortley. This his first time away from home, owned by Elizabeth Hereford, a local doctor

October 30 Nannette and I went to Vegas to celebrate our 25th, we took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and a boat ride in the Colorado river. One thing I notice was that there are no Glacier's in the Sierra's any more. I remember flying over the Sierra's in late 1980, there were still large area's of ice

October 25  Louise's new horse arrived, Anna a 10 yr Hanoverian mare. Boy! does she have a wonderful personality...the horse of course..

October 22nd Joyce Owens's new Arab gelding arrived, she is not sure what to name him so til then he is called "No Name".  Also Taz left today for the final time as Beth sold him to a lady who does fox hunting in the north bay area

October 17th The barn play day. It was well attended, Jim did a wonderful job as announcer, Angela stepped in at the last minute to help as Nannette was not feeling well that day

October 13th Talk about rain, we had over 3.25 inches today! plus winds as high as 42 mph. I believe this takes care of the dust problem........

October 12-22  Painted inside of the barn

October 5th  One of those days horse lover's  hate. Louise's gelding Starkey was laid to rest

October 3rd A  busy day, the local Pony Club had rented the arenas for their show which ended about 5pm, just then Bill and Julie call their trail had lost a wheel in Brentwood. Nannette and I took our trailer and brought the two horses Donte and Max home

September 19th The Society of Anachronism rented two arena's for the day. The SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our "Known World" consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more.

September 16th Jose started work as Sara's groom. He has much experience in the show horse world should make a great team with Sara in her business

September 3rd Homey left for Brentwood,. Jesida moved into a paddock is in training with Sara Wortley

September 2nd Starkey had a relapse and ended taking out a whole fence in the paddock

September 1st   Taz is back ! 

August 29  Gracie a 8 yr welsh/Arab mare arrived with her owner Tracy Green

July 24th Kelly Van Ruiten mare and foal arrived

July 22   Gem (Lynn Bednarski) left to relocate at Anita's

July 19th  Dressage show with heat feeling like 114f

July  7th  Susan arrived with her new mare, Penny. Susan has her own place but prefers Mar Val for the friendship and atmosphere

July 1st  Mary with Shadow and Lisa with Cid left for the south side of Stockton. Bill (Julie D husband) moved in with his horse Max

June 14th With wine/olive oil tasting, horse carriage rides, plus two dressage courts with riders winning two wonderful bottles of wine, several vendors  and great food from Christy made it the best show we have ever had at Mar Val. But a big thanks really goes to the volunteers who's efforts made the show run smooth and on time

May 3rd  Dressage show cancelled due to rain...

April 23  Beau was purchased by Angela McDonald, but happily he stays here at Mar Val

April 22  Annie returned home to Dana's She was being ridden by Katelyn who now has Beau to ride

April 20  Deacon, unfortunately passed away due to an illness. Our condolences to Marsha who will miss him

April 17 Killian left for a new home

April 15 Little rain but not enough, this being the third winter where rainfall totals were below normal. This year we had just over 10 inches, our average is 18 inches

April 15 Starkey left for training at Connie Arthurs and  Dakota left for a date at the vets to be bred

April 6 Bev Came home after being in Ridgecrest with her two steeds, for several months

April 4  Abbey, a bay Qtr mare arrived with her owner Katie Bussman

March 30  Halima's mare Reba left for a vacation at, Jim and Anne Reeves. This current economic climate has affected many of us including Halima's family, but Jim and Ann have offered to take care of Reba til things get better

March 29 Start of the show season, Louise and Denise competed in dressage at PEC in Wilton even with all the wind which peaked at 32mph here at the Stables

March 28  Started to irrigate today the first time ever in March since 1984. This years rain fall total is less than the last two years only 10inches, the average being 18inches

Feb 28  Tristen, a grey Arab gelding, arrived today. His owner passed away a few weeks ago, he is now in the care of Susan, the daughter

Feb 27  Kiddo, a young gelding, arrived today, Claudia's second horse here

Feb 27  Ghost left after his 3 month vacations, now its back to work

Feb 7  Panama Lane left, he will be missed by Kathleen who had spent many hours hand walking him, resulting in a solid recovery which should enable him to be of service for many years

Feb 5  Homey a bay gelding, arrived from Martinez

January 23  Jojo left today to a free home, the third horse that has to leave due to the current economical times

January 14 Taz left for a trial period in Woodside

January 12  No Mo Foxes left today to a free home, due to the economic hard times

January 1 Today Wihn was purchased by Vicky Oliver for her daughter, from Jack who has had Wihn here at the Stables since 02