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On the Farm

As I look at the many things that go on in the horse world, I thought it would be fun to take time to share with you what goes on with me personally related to horses we own. Hence, 'on the farm!'

A little history

Shortly after Ian and I bought our first 10-acre farm in rural Minnesota on November 5, 2005, we settled on the name Auld Macdonald Farm Arabians. Ian is British and “Auld” is a play on “Old” and he is the “Macdonald.” And, this play and lyric allow me to explain the spelling of our surname too. It’s M-A-C DONALD like “Old Macdonald Had A Farm, E-I-E-I-O” versus M-c DONALD like the burger joint.

Our first horse was a $100 purchase from a local auction house in Pine City, Minnesota. “Cairo” was a purebred chestnut Arabian gelding that had come from a local training barn. We learned a lot from that purchase, and he charmed us as we fell in love with the breed.

Now, in Cochise County, Arizona

We're now on our third location in the life of the farm; a well-organized four-acre farm in southeastern Arizona. We own US National Halter Champion, Legacys Renoir+, and have done since he was four. One of our proudest moments was in 2010 when Ian showed Renoir to his U.S. National title in Tulsa. In 2018, we purchased the bay 2007 Gazal Al Shaqab son, Caravagio, as an outcross stallion for our breeding program. We look forward to showing him too.

 

 

We have added two Few Spot Appaloosa mares to our breeding program and are expecting our first Caravagio-sired Araloosa foal in late April 2022.

We also chose to expand our program to include breedings to the Danish Warmblood Few Spot Knabstrupper stallion, Pax Asgard af Pegasus, and the purebred homozygous black Arabian stallion Darqq with his unique W19 swirls. These two foals are due in May 2022.

Quite the combo

In addition to our on-the-farm lifestyle, Ian and I travel regularly to the national Arabian Horse Association championship shows.

Until it ceased publication in June 2020, I had the privilege of writing articles for the AHA's membership magazine, Arabian Horse Life. It was such a fun cross-section of Arabian horse lovers and disciplines. With my blog, I hope to continue to reach a similar audience of interesting people, with stories of places they've been, the horses they love, topped off with general on-the-road adventures to share too.

I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I enjoy writing them for you.

E-I-E-I-O

Janet

University of Kentucky Launches Survey About Owner Experiences with Equine Veterinary Services

By Janet de Acevedo Macdonald | August 16, 2023

Here’s an opportunity for horse owners to give their opinion! Researchers in the University of Kentucky’s Department of Agricultural Economics in Lexington are launching a survey to learn more about horse owners’ current experiences with equine veterinary services, along with how horse owners might react to changes in the equine veterinary profession. The results will…

Meet our three colored Arabian horse colts: Danny, Sky & Charlie

By Janet de Acevedo Macdonald | June 14, 2022

Meet our three colored Arabian horse colts: Danny, Sky & Charlie On May 15, with Danny’s arrival, the 2022 foaling season was over for us. Danny, more formerly known as AMF PEGASUS DANCER, is sired by Pax Asgard af Pegasus, a handsome, athletic, and Knabstrupper stallion owned by Renee & Allen Tucci of Murder Hollow…

IDS 2022 logo

International Dark Sky Week

By Janet de Acevedo Macdonald | April 21, 2022

This year the International Dark Sky Week is April 22-30, 2022. According to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) – founded in 1988 and based in Tucson, Arizona – light pollution is increasing at a rate two times that of population growth, and 83% of the global population lives under a light-polluted sky. That’s why the…

charlie day 1 nestled

Hello, Charlie! Our 2022 Araloosa foal.

By Janet de Acevedo Macdonald | March 31, 2022

Hello, Charlie! Our 2022 Araloosa foal. Yesterday, this sweetheart colt was up, dry and nursing when I went outdoors to do morning chores.  I spotted him right away and did a U-turn back to the house to notify my husband, Ian, and our newly arrived house guest, Heather Raulerson. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting him for…

american badger june 2 2020

Badgers, rabbits, and chickens. Oh, my.

By Janet de Acevedo Macdonald | June 20, 2020

Badgers, rabbits, and chickens. Oh, my. Greetings from the farm. I decided to add this On the Farm section to the blog because we all do other things in our lives in addition to traveling to horse shows, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown began through the United States in March 2020. Happy Summer Here…