warmed by Windchill
Welcome to Raindance
Home of 17 Tennessee Walking Horses, 1 Appaloosa, 2 spotted saddle horses, and the memory and spirit of a little Walkaloosa colt named Windchill. This is also the home of Walker, an Australian Shepherd, 4 adult cats, a kitten, and a humungous garage frog.

Windchill updates are now located at:
Windchill's Page

Located in South Range, Wisconsin, our herd enjoys lush pastures, rolling hills, fields, trails and forests giving us the room we need for all the training, boarding, breeding and riding. The variety of terrain in the surrounding area gives our horses a wider breadth of experience - everything from riding an open field to alongside a road, to trails, to climbing hills in the woods as well as riding alongside, through and over streams.  Combine that experience with kids coming to visit and dogs running alongside on our rides and you'll find our horses to be fairly 'laid back' and friendly!

           Windchill News & Info
 Links
Windchill Memories - main page
The Windchill Story
A day in the life of Windchill
Windchill Videos
Windchill Photo Gallery (under construction)
Windchill in the News (media stories)
Donations
Windchill's Forum for Friends (current news & events)
Windchill's Thank you thank you thank you's!
Wisdom carried by the young- "Someday Windchill" 
Sign Windchill's Guest Book
See Windchill's Original Guest Book & Memorial
Windchill's letter to all the children who wrote him
More than a trainer

Raindance Nursery Cam (currently offline to public - now that she's outside it's harder to keep a cam on just one horse)
Layla Pictures and Videos

May 5th, 8:14am: FINALLY no snow for a couple day stretch! Yesterday we had a great day - sun was shining, it was warm, all of the farm visitors came Saturday so Sunday was ours. It was a jeans, boots and t-shirt day for me and the best part of the arrival of Spring - kat in tank tops and jeans!  Cowgirls rock. The mud was awful but if that was the worst thing we had to deal with I'll take it. We used the day to bring the horses into the barn for 'maintenance.' That means walking through the mud to catch the suddenly blind and deaf pasture citizens who can't hear their names for some reason, walk them back through the pasture, through the yard, through the mud in the pen and into the barn where we brush them down head to toe, worm them, give them their shots and do a general check of them - bodies, teeth, etc. They love the brushing, if they could purr they would. It's okay though, Olivia jumps up on their backs so she does the purring for them. I think we got around half the herd done or so. I guess that's job security for us.

We added another board member the end of last week, so we're rounding out some areas. Quite a few of the old care team are back in the saddle with us in this effort. What a great group.

I know I promised photos and vids of Layla and had tried to email them early this AM to my office so I could post this morning instead of doing something productive but unfortunately the files must have been too large. I'll try to get them up early this week. Our first priority is getting the basic Legacy webpage up and going. I had hired a web designer who had to back out due to another big project so I'll do something basic to get us started and then hire someone to do something more worthy of WindChill's memory.

April 29th, 10:04am: I know quite awhile back I promised to post what the communicators had said about WindChill's last words or thoughts/feelings were. Kathi had posted them on the forum so I didn't feel I needed to re-post them but through your emails learned that many of you have had trouble accessing the forum or weren't comfortable going on there. To honor my promise to you, I'm going to post what Kathi had posted on the forum:

"So many of you have asked about what WC had told the communicators, especially once he had passed on and I have found it very hard to actually get the words right, or to hold it together long enough to finish posting this........
Marcia came out the saturday after WC had crossed over and told us what WC had communicated to her after he had left us.
I have typed this up so many times since he has passed away and either the dsl has gone down or after I reread it, I realized it sounded cold and clinical and when I tried to make it more warm and fuzzy I couldnt find the right words, without changing the meaning of what he had said. So finally I typed it all up in word and have slowly been editing it as I could.
So here it is.
He said he was surprised, he was sleeping and then he was rising up and morphed into this magnificent stallion looking down on his broken body. He knew then that he had crossed over. (The communicator thought that his use of the word magnificent was an odd choice, but we would tell him every day that he was just too magnificent for words)
He said thank you thank you thank you to everyone for helping him and making his spirit whole again. He sent the communicator a picture of a circle of all the people who cared for him and Walker and Olivia and all the horses he had befriended standing in a circle around him. His family.
He said that he knew we did everything we could possibly have done and it wasn’t his choice to leave. His spirit was whole again and his body was just to broken. He said looking back now, he realized this was inevitable, and was so relieved that we had stood firm and kept him at the farm rather then taking him to a medical facility. He was finally with a family and he died loved more then he could ever have imagined.
He said for me to remember the imagine he had sent me, because that is who he really was, and that he would be back sometime in our lifetime and we would know it was him. Not to go looking for him, though, because he would find us.

For those of you have not seen this picture...I would like you to meet 'my baby boy' otherwise known as WindChill. (This photo is copyrighted, so please do not remove it from here, it is the logo for The Legacy)


 

May 7th, 11:29am: What a busy couple of days. If you haven't been on the forum, we've been making some real progress with the Legacy, having recruited those new board members and we have a really good group of what I would call our volunteer administrative team to help back Kathi and I up. We've done a decent job of dividing up tasks, coming up with a plan for re-organizing the forum and set more of the future direction. Thank you so much Penny, Gale, Polly, Gale and Deb for so much of your time!

In our 'spare' time we've been getting horses ready for the season, bringing them in in twos and threes to brush out their coats, worm, give shots, etc. Lots of clipping them and sneezing from all the blowing hair. The mud's finally starting to dry up, getting kind of tired of walking through that though it's been good for our leg muscles. Lily is due pretty soon so she's being kept close. We should soon have the cams back online, we made some security changes with them and have to re-connect to the public site as well.

May ?, 8;00am (whoops, wrong date before): I know I've promised to get some pics up of Layla, I've just been in and out so much and focused on things on the homefront that I haven't had the chance. I will though, she's grown so much since you last saw her - and full of spirit. She's a little sweetie, gives lots of kisses and loves hugs. And has a penchant for suddenly leaping straight into the air and then taking off like a bullet before realizing she doesn't know where she's going. Anyway, I'll get some shots up here soon.

I wanted to thank you for hanging in here. I hear from a number of you who say you check here daily to see if I'm posting. To see if I'm okay. And I'm okay.

By the way, we continue working hard on the Legacy and have added new board members as we continue to work with our attorney on the bylaws. Having the State approve our filing and getting that news back was a small victory and point of happiness for us. I'm truly humbled by the outpouring of assistance and support for the Legacy. You are truly amazing people and know that we appreciate you so much.

April 20th, 7:45pm: Well soon enough I should be able to get back to some posting as life has settled down here. Olivia was almost a traveler again - she got in our farrier's van and as he went down the driveway he stopped, backed up, opened his door and out popped Olivia. Apparently she hasn't learned her lesson (Olivia was a stowaway on my recent horse-hauling trip to IL and FL). Or she's really tired of the mice on our farm, not sure.

After careful consideration and a lot of talking with various folks, most importantly Kathi Davis - I am 'stepping back in' to The WindChill Legacy, Ltd. Though I have to admit I really sucked at removing myself as I continued work behind the scenes anyway, so may as well make it official. It was too hard to leave something that has been such a part of my life and heart anyway.  I'm posting more details on the forum site and I hope you get a chance to review it. Anyway, like I said, I'll try to get some posting on here after I get the Legacy website launched.

April 16th, 11:54am: Drat, the lady I found to contract with to do the Legacy website is now booked with another client....gggrrrrrr....I promise I'm working on this. If I need to build it myself, I will make the time after this week's board meetings and other 'stuff' gets done and is in my review mirror. I haven't forgotten!

FYI - really good news this week from the attorney - The WindChill Legacy, Ltd. has been officially approved by the State so it's official! More to follow, sorry this is so short but wanted you to know I'm alive and working on things.

April 14th, 8:25am: While I'm not sure how you guys knew it was my birthday saturday, I appreciate the sentiments and notes. It will rank up there as a memorable birthday and hopefully in time not.

I'm going to TRY to contract to have Windchill's official website at least partially done in the next week or so so that he, and the Legacy, have an official 'virtual home' on the internet. My farm's website has sort of unofficially become that site and it wasn't intended to be. Part of the reason I wanted a separation with an official site versus my own is that I don't want to run my own website by vote or public proxy. This is mine. I'll choose the music of the moment which is generally the result of what is occurring or what I am feeling or maybe no other reason than I like the words or a song; I may say things the world doesn't agree with and that's okay, I respect your right to your opinion and you may post your opinions on your website for the world to see. I spent 10 years sleeping under the wings of  F-16s defending that right. But I don't want my own opinions necessarily reflecting on the good things that are happening with The WindChill Legacy, Ltd. I have seen some really great people doing extraordinary things there. As I've read through, I've been amazed at what you all have been up to as I wandered the countryside.  I'm sorry it's taken me awhile to finish that task, it seems when I get time to focus for a bit, something else comes up.

April 9th, 8:23pm: I'm back from hauling the horse to IL and my trip to FL. The trip went well and thanks for the notes asking how the trip went. Olivia is back safe and sound after her journey of almost a thousand miles. She no longer has the desire to get in the trailer when the doors are opened. Me either for that matter.

I'm going to be stepping out of The WindChill Legacy, Ltd. at this time. Kathi Davis and the volunteers are continuing forward to do good on behalf of prevention of equine abuse and neglect.

April 1st, 9:13pm: Woohoo! Good news on multiple fronts! DSL is back up and running so we have have all the cams back up, and can pull the security cams off the second phone line. That's our backup for if internet goes down but we lose the use of the line. And help finally arrived with my family flying in to stay at the farm and play with the animals for a couple of weeks. And even better - I'll be gone so won't have to deal with them! Mostly kidding.

April 1st, 6:00pm: Unfortunately I'm still at the office. I wanted to get some posts up here for you before I leave and the phone company called to say the DSL is still down but they'll be back working on it in the morning but by then I'll be on the road with a cigar lit and a horse in the trailer munching away (kinda the horse version of drive-thru). We had a mini-blizzard last night:

So much for it warming up and drying so Layla can go out in the pen and play and see the sun!

What I had started to try and tell you was that some of the closer Friends of Barbaro family came out to visit the farm last Saturday (and left before we got buried!) - if you haven't heard of, or met one of the fine folks who call themselves a Friend of Barbaro you're missing out. Linda tested our electric fences and found out they work very well. Hopefully she'll regain use of her right side at some point later this week (kidding). Sorry, we use city folks as fence testers. The young horses act as decoys, drawing them near...

With them they brought beautiful gifts including candles that we can leave burning in the barn all the time once we have the memorial built (electric of course...) - a model of what looks exactly like Windchill as an adult and a Barbaro stuffed animal of course! Along with lots of food and a basket. AND - as you can see below, the FoBs presented us with not just one, but two checks for The WindChill Legacy, Ltd - $2000 to fund the organization's efforts! What an unbelievable surprise!  

As you can see below, Layla and her mommy were very excited to have the FoBs visit:

Thank you so much for visiting us guys and I hope you'll come out and visit again, we have more fences needing testing...

I've posted more updates over on Windchill's forum. For now I need to close this down and go pick up the horse trailer and head for home to transfer hay from one trailer to the other and then move round bales out to the pastures on Excalibur - the horses consider the tractor meals on wheels. Guess it's sorta true! Be good you guys and I'll miss you! Watch for me driving between WI and FL!

April 1st, 8:43am: While in the middle of my update last night our DSL went down AGAIN. While I have a connection (at the office currently) I wanted to update you on a couple of things: Watch for WindChill Legacy (the non-profit) updates on Windchill's forum from Kathi. We've been a lot behind the scenes, lots of the paperwork as well as trying to get our arms around the various efforts going on (research on programs, laws, organizing volunteers which is going slower than we'd like). Kathi Davis will be posting updates on there to keep you all updated on things. We'll probably need to organize people into tighter groups, like committees only in our case they'll actually get things done - you people are absolutely amazing, the caliber of people who have volunteered has been incredible.

I'm hauling a horse to IL and then continuing on to FL so will be out of touch the rest of the week and weekend. Will be on the road a LONG time. If I hit some wireless hotspots on the way I may try to post but that's really hit and miss I've found.

FYI, I'm sort of branching this blog off into several areas so anything I post about Windchill will later be moved to the Windchill section of the site. For right now anything else is being copied to the Layla section but I have a bunch of other thoughts and blogging to do so eventually when I organize this more I'll branch that off more into a 'wanderings and ramblings' sort of spot. I've found a bunch more Windchill pictures and videos, if there's time tonight I'll post some, if not I know I've promised you I'll get to that and I will. I also haven't forgotten the promise to post the notes from the communicators, we had hoped to have the 'final' communication from the communicator who was in touch with him regularly to explain what we were doing and get his 'feedback' feelings but we haven't received that so I'm going to post from our old notes, which is a combination of notes from several different communicators and healers.

March 31st, 8pm: Sorry for the delay guys, we've had major problems with our DSL (internet connection) the past couple of days and after meeting some really great people - the Friends of Barbaro - who came out to the farm Saturday, our DSL went down completely. I used the down time to work offline, answering around 240 emails yesterday from when Windchill died, I have around 300 or so left from around his memorial time. Then I can start catching up on the 150 currently in my inbox. I divided the emails up into "pre-March 24th" and after thinking that would help me both stay current, and start chipping away at the piles in the folders. I was wrong. FYI, for some reason I hit some people's spam filters so if you haven't gotten a response it may be because my email to you bounced and I'm truly sorry.

March 27th, 7:24pm: Okay folks, got the photos and videos of Layla uploaded, just click HERE to see the little lady. She sure is a spunky little thing!

March 26th, 10:13pm: Sorry, I still haven't downloaded the pictures and videos from yesterday morning when Layla was born. I'll try to get to that tomorrow - I've been busy re-arranging this site tonight once I came in from the barn.

I spent time tonight out in the barn once everyone was gone and it was just me. That used to be one of my favorite times with Windchill as well. It's so quiet and the chill in the air seems to make everything so crisp, even the silence. Layla was up for awhile when I first entered but it was past her bedtime and soon she laid down. I sat down with her, Bonnie watched for a bit then snoozed. Soon it was like February again - Olivia joined me and Walker came in for a bit to see how things were going. Bonnie's not overly thrilled with him sometimes so he knows to limit his visitation time. Layla likes him so they rub noses under the stall door. He tries to toss his toy in there for her to play with. It wasn't as cold as February though, just a crispness that lets you know you're alive (and getting older...groan). In the silence I sat and listened to Layla's rhythmic breathing. I like that sound and that feeling. If you have kids you know the feeling - you check on them late at night as they sleep peacefully and you stand there and soak in that moment, listening to their breathing. You kiss their foreheads and brush their hair back. And you never want that moment to end. It wasn't until I had been sitting there with her head on my lap that I realized she had laid down in the same spot Windchill slept. Usually his head was the other direction, his favorite side was his left with his head towards the barn wall. She prefers the left side as well but likes to face the stall door. It brought back a flood of feelings. Feelings that her quiet breathing in and out helped to quell. I miss him. Every day. But Layla's peaceful breathing soaked into my soul and helped fill the void. Funny how babies can do that, isn't it? I miss you Windchill but I know you sat with me tonight in the very same stall, in the very same spot and were happy. And I know that this time as you lay there with us and soaked up that moment that this time you got up all by yourself when it was time to leave. And I'm really glad we had that moment together tonight little man.

Windchill

May 28, 2007 - February 29, 2008

March, 2007: Raindance welcomes the new face of fear, Walker, Aussie South Ranger.

Walker is an Australian Shepherd, who will be stepping into some pretty big paw prints as he learns his new role of protecting the herd and becoming a working dog.

The country life:
"I live out on the backroads
Where I walk my country mile
And if it’s so good in the city
Why don’t anybody smile?
The traffic’s always heavy
And the air ain’t fit to breathe
I ain’t saying that it’s wrong for you
It just don’t make
sense to me.." (Toby Keith)

CAUTION! BEWARE OF VIRTUAL GUARD DOG

Well. Maybe just be careful not to trip over him as you peruse the site.

Raindance Farms is now powered ENTIRELY by renewable energy resources. Resources 'made' entirely in United States of America - windpower and biomass (cow power).