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I've been crazy about horses for as long as I can remember. My first horse came when I was 8, from an Amish family. We did so much together, and I have enough memories to last me my lifetime with this mare. I lost her 10 years later to a twisted intestine due to colic. I had two others before I lost Molly, Kissy, a purebred Arabian mare and her filly, Val. Kissy and I went to many open shows, and competed in the Dane County Fair every year. We were in our town parade several of those years, and made several memories of our own. Kissy entered my life 25 years ago, and is still with us today. The other horses in our lives didn't start coming until much later, starting in 1998. Seven foals (and one miniature donkey foal) have been born on our farm. We have sold horses to people in the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Louisiana, California, Wisconsin and Oregon. Our little farm is located along the beautiful Ice Age Glacial Trail near Madison, Wisconsin, with a woods and ponds in our backyard. Our pasture space equals about 10 acres, and the horses have free access to shelter using a lean-to the length of our barn that we built in 2001. Although we have stalls in our barn, they are seldom used, as we feel the horses are happier and healthier coming and going as they please, and it's a lot easier on us! But when they are used, our stalls have dutch doors to the outside as well, adding a little extra ventilation in the barn. Our place is pretty small and our barn very un-fancy, but it works for what we need it for!
The cast of characters at Glacier Ridge consists of Jeff and Angie and our son Alex, born on Valentine's Day, 2002. Among us live 3 indoor cats, a flock of chickens, three miniature donkeys and our horses. We also have a lot of wildlife who share our backyard, including Canadian Geese, several varieties of ducks, deer, turkey and even snapping turtles and painted turtles, among other things. The past few years we've even had a Great Blue Heron who calls our pond home every summer. Jeff works for Cleary Building Corp., headquartered here in Verona, WI, with several offices in the central and western part of the country. He builds horse barns, riding arenas, cattle barns, warehouses, storage sheds, etc. for this company. It's not a shocker to say our horse barn is a Cleary barn. I spent many years as a stay-at-home mom, and only work part time now, so there's almost always someone around to keep an eye on things! As for our horses, they are wormed regularly, alternating wormers for better effectiveness. We feed pelleted feed suitable to the horses' ages/needs, which is also top-dressed with a vitamin supplement, probiotic supplement and soy oil. They also get home-grown hay (we spend our summers on the tractor cutting/raking/baling it!), pasture and salt/mineral blocks. Vaccinations come every spring (I give the injections myself), and we use the services of Country View Veterinary Clinic in Oregon, WI with all of their wonderful large animal veterinarians. Our small animal veterinarian is Sauk Point Veterinary Clinic on Madison's west side. Both clinics are the best around, in my opinion! Although there are a lot of things left to do here, we are quite happy with what we've accomplished since our home was built in the last half of 2000. I've come to the conclusion that the work here will NEVER be finished, as our "to do" list is forever growing, but we do what we can! It's still home to us, and the animals who own us! I, myself (Angie), also enjoy working on this website, and other websites I have created (see my links page). I am self taught, and just like doing them! I also enjoy photography very much, and oftentimes on a lazy summer afternoon you can find me just sitting in the pasture with camera in hand waiting for the right moment. My husband and my son...well, they do enjoy the horses, but get much more excited with things that include four wheels instead of four legs! That's ok with me, I don't mind being the only crazy one in the family! I also enjoy plants, and am finding joy in planting things and watching them grow, and finding new, eye popping varieties not normally grown in our area....so when I'm not digging in horse poop, I could be digging in the dirt, or nestled away somewhere with my camera, or a good book. In 2011 I planted my first banana plants, and had fun watching them grow. I like plants with a tropical look, and also had caladium, cannas, persian shield, among others. Expect to see them back in 2012! Other 2012 plans include planting more fruit, grapes, fruit trees perhaps, and starting asparagus. We are currently growing raspberries, strawberries and grapes, but have ideas for a lot more! And, a short walk through the pasture or woods can bring you to blackcaps and mulberry tries. We also have a few varieties of nuts growing on the property. And morels in the spring...should anyone want to go morel hunting! I usually have a summer garden going as well, and have grown radishes, cucumber, sweet corn, peas, watermelon, among others, and pumpkins, gourds and indian corn. And I've been willing to share! Check out our photo gallery page for more horse photos, and photos of other things around here, including a lot of wildlife!
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