Vin-Laur Farms - Show Horses & Rabbits

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 Home Page Contents:  
       -Our Family
       -Our Dogs
       -Our Horses
       -Our Rabbits
       -More Family Photos
        -God's Plan of Salvation
       -Website Subscription
        (Be warned, website updates are extremely slow via satellyte and, therefore, are rarely done. So be sure to also contact Laura)

 In 2009...             

                   
                                                     Thomas,    Laura,   Priscilla,   Garrett,  Vinny,  and  Gregory

       
  Liberty Rose and her good friend, Jersey Boy, enjoy an outing           Liberty stops for a refreshing drink at our stream while helping 
                             in the park July 4, 2009.                                              us to search for a missing horse. Her heart to help us on the farm
                                                                                                                  is endless.  What a phenominal family member!                  
                                                 
                          
                             Liberty Rose and Jersey Boy enjoy visiting our farm's campsite July 2009. Many fun memories were made here.
                                                
                                                       Liberty went just about everywhere with us....even to a Florida beach!

   We Will Never Forget...

We will never get over the shock of hearing that the x-ray diagnosis gave our dear Liberty 2-14 days to live because of aggressive cancer. She looked so healthy all summer and
enjoyed many activites on the farm and camping.  But, indeed, it struck her mercilessly.  By the time I got back from the state fair two days later, I found a different dog. Instead of
giving me her usual happy greeting, I had to come to her and see my best friend down.  From that moment, I engaged in a fight for her life. I wouldn't just give up. Liberty fought hard,
too.  Though it was difficult, she listened to me when I would have her take a little walk outside around the house, stopping when needed. She would then brighten my day by
surprising me by making the long 300-foot journey by herself to come to the barn.  Liberty took many an herb, the only thing left to try because her diagnosis came with no
treatments. The herbs, high-protein diet, and Revitalyte Plus helped sustain her for 45 total days and seemed to get a grip. But a complication took her by surprise. During that 45-day fight, Liberty had continued with a good appetite and drank regularly. She kept the spark in her eyes and enjoyed the time we all spent with her. Liberty was a best friend to me, but she insisted on always treating me like a queen. There were times when we stopped life's clock to gaze into each other's eyes with a passionate love for each other. I knew that
this cancer fight was a serious threat to her life. As a dog, Liberty knew she was down and out in a very vulnerable position but with the peace of knowing we kept her safe. With that
realization, there were times that we would stare into each other's eyes and not know how to say, "Goodbye." I always gave her praise in her life, but I did it even more now to
encourage her, even when she was embarrassed over having an accident. However, there were other times that I could do nothing but weep over her. I was more than willing to take
on the dutiful  task of caring for her. Though it became a big job, I was at peace in knowing I finished the race together with her.  I was happy that she was able to stay home with  us
and die within her home,  though I know many circumstances don't always allow that. One thing I want to share is that I wish I had been educated two years earlier on building up her
immune system through herbal supplements and special diet. I was never told that cancer is a problem with the immune system. Liberty  survived the removal of 3 tiny lumps on her underside in August 2007. I was always sure to buy the best dog food I could, but was unaware of holistic treatments that might have saved her from this sudden, aggressive new
internal invasion of cancer. I recommend the book, The Natural VET's GUIDE to PREVENTING and TREATING CANCER in DOGS by Shawn Messonnier, DVM, to get a wake-up call to
holistic treatments. I also pass on Beanny's Cancer Story at http://www.caninecancer.com/beanny from the main website of http://www.caninecancer.com/index.html. I bought
products from BirkDale Medicinals at  http://www.helpyourdog.net/ who were very helpful, as well as many recommended treatments from our local health food store. While wiping
ALOE Juice on Liberty's swolen legs, I realized late that she craved to drink it. ALOE is a cancer fighter! Later, I also found through Dr. David Waters of the Murphy Foundation (www.gpmcf.org) that their research on female Rottweilers  indicates a strong correlation between how long the ovaries were in tact to the longevity of the dog.  See also http://www.gpmcf.org/respectovaries.html Liberty was spayed at about 6 months old!  This research is also a help for humans.

 
   Liberty & Jersey know it's camping time!  Jersey was quite solemn
   spending his last memories sticking by his leader's side.

Vinny and I were able to get in another camping trip with Liberty and Jersey Boy during this cancer fight, and we will never forget the fun she was able to have camping one last time. During that outing, Liberty passed her 14-days-to-die diagnosis and was able to celebrate her 8th birthday with us, something I was fearful she wouldn't reach.  It will be difficult opening up the camper next Spring. I'm sure my memory of Liberty as a regular resident in our camper will bring more tears.  With that, I want to share that a compassionate friend
brought needed encouragement during my time of grief in telling me about newborn Rottweiler puppies in Buffalo, New York. It was the last thing I could digest emotionally at the moment, but also a spark of hope.  I especially knew that Jersey Boy needed that, just like Liberty needed a friend when she lost her playmate, Duncan. We found in Liberty that the Rottweiler can be a phenominal breed of dog. Not only was Liberty a wonder in loving and knowing people, but also by putting in some hard work on the farm as a herd dog. I think
having another Rottweiler will help our family keep Liberty Rose always close in our thoughts.

 
     New hope in finding another Rottweiler little girl.
     Thanks for the blessing Diane, Suzanne & family.

 Nestled among a watered valley and two softly rising hills, the 120 acres of Vin-Laur Farms offers a picturesque view of God's beautiful creation in Western New York State.  Owned by Vinny and Laura since 1992, we have not only raised on this farm our four children, Thomas, Priscilla, Gregory, and Garrett, but also many foals.  Our nine horses find a natural habitat of open pastures, secluded wooded hideaways, and paths that twist around smaller hills to get to streams and springs.  Closer to the heart of our farm is our log home with a "window wall" viewing more than twenty miles.  Three hundred feet away is our converted dairy barn.  The horses usually stay "close to home" at night as the nocturnal creatures come out of their hiding places.  The fresh air and freedom to come in for shelter has kept generations of them healthy for years.  When it's riding time, we have a sand outdoor arena for training or miles of shaded trails through the mountains.  

Horse Raising & Training:  Eight of our nine horses were either born here or arrived as young foals.  These eight were ridden for the first time through Laura's Natural Environment Horse Training© method of breaking and training horses.  Combining the experience of being together with these horses from birth or soon after and integrating ourselves into their daily lives as they grow allows a Natural Trust Partnership©  to be developed.  Priscilla, Gregory, and Garrett are following suit in using the same techniques on their own horses.  Our horses become pleasurable trail horses starting at age two.  Much later they are worked in dressage and then jumping.  Horse shows are a lighter side of our agenda, usually adding a fun highlight to our horse and rider partnerships.  We enjoy both Western and English riding, with Dressage, Jumping, and Western Reining as our favorites.  Each of us has at least one horse of our own.  It all started with Laura's Dad giving her a Percheron mare named Angel Sue and Priscilla a Paint mare named Promise. Angel was crossed with the Paint or Quarter Horse breeds.  Promise was crossed with Angel's 3/4 Percheron son, Beauty At Moonrise.  This helped to produce a lovely selection of strong, sound, warmblood type horses with balanced confirmation very suitable for many under saddle disciplines.  Our horses range in height from 15 to 17 Hands, weigh up to 1,600 pounds, and include two blacks, two black and whites, three bays, and two chestnuts. 

 Views from atop of our picturesque hayfield...so many more sights that are breathtaking.
This farm is full of nooks and crannies that give it a hard-to-find character.

                                       
                                                           Vin-Laur's Sweet Pea II produced a lot of beautiful show stock for us.                        

In the barnyard a few loose domestic rabbits may be found basking in the sun or nibling on select greens.  They know of all the secret barn entrances and hiding places, along with the tastiest of diets.  Inside the barn is a different world of rabbits.  Our rabbitry consists of approximately eighty colorful show and breeding stock rabbits.  The three breeds that we raise and show are Dwarf Hotot, Holland Lop, and Mini Rex. We started raising rabbits around 1992.  Since then we've grown a lot.  Through careful purchasing of exceptional stock through the years and producing typey animals through selective breeding, we have found much happy success at the show table.  The American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) has a handful of shows within three hours which we travel to.  We also belong to the local club Cattaraugus County Rabbit Breeders Association and the American Dwarf Hotot Rabbit Club. 

Select Bloodlines:  We have Dwarf Hotot lines which include a combination of Shelly, Family Pride, Veronika, Mingus, Larimer, Nock, Grimes, Houdini, Kachina, Jaylor, Price, Bishop, Happy Hollow, TLA, Pitter Patter, Smoot,Good Hope, Warren, Shiflet, Sunny Heights, Sunny Meadows,BOJ, Higbee, and Havens  bloodlines, along with our own Vin-Laur "King" and "Royalty" Line.  Our Mini Rex lines include stock directly purchased from Higher Ground Farm, along with development with lines from Highlander, Birch Hill, Iris Patch, Dayfair, Thunder Heights, Jaylor, PW, Buresh, Crest Hill, Megamike, and Checkered Flag, along with our own Vin-Laur "Precious Stone" and "Blossom" lines. Our Holland Lop lines include Vee, Bunny Boo, Hillbunny, Lia, Hartman, Proud Ears,  Happy Hollow, Camelot, Bill, Holland Hills, Washburn, Tiara, Leo, Jordan, Plank, SRR, K&K, Enchanted, 3L Ormond, J-Wit, Gadd, LopNMop, along with our own Vin-Laur "Candy Bar" and "Gray Sky" line.

    
      Elegantly posing is Dwarf Hotot doe Vin-Laur's Princess Merry.                                         A beautiful litter of Holland Lops.

                                                                          
                                                                                           A handsome Mini Rex buck.

           
                                          Thomas, Gregory, and Garrett 
                        at Letchworth State Park, Castile, New York, August 2008.                 

                                     
                                       Laura and Vinny celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary 
                                                       at Letchworth State Park's Glen Iris Inn, Castile, New York
                                                                                          June 2008

 
                      Garrett, Priscilla, Thomas, and Gregory Christmas 2007.

 In 2004...
 

God's Simple Plan of Salvation...

John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life...
....For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."

Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."  

Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing
of the Holy Ghost;  Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour."

Ephesians 1:7, 13 "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace....
....In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.

Romans 10:8-13 "But what saith it?  The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the Word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.... 
                                     .......For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
If you do not remember a place where you prayed with all your heart a one-time prayer asking God to forgive your sins, being willing to turn from your way to
His way through His strength (not yours), and asking Jesus to be your Saviour......then do that right now and receive God's promise of eternal life as explained
in His Word.  

Scriptures taken from the Authorized King James Bible, God's preserved, inerrant, infallible Word for us today in English from which you do not need permission to copy because . . .  

2 Timothy 2:9  "....the word of God is not bound."