Melody is like a magician! She's managed to undo her stall latch twice now! The first time she managed to open her stall door she was only out for a short time, thankfully! Last night she managed to undo her gate latch and was probably out all night!
I was running late this morning so Hubby fed the animals by himself. He got in the barn and found Melody laying down, all stretched out. He said she looked like she was dead (and he actually thought she was)! He was able to get her to her feet and led her to her stall. She didn't want to go back in her stall but he got her in anyways. He took a look around the barn to see what all she had gotten into during the night. He found that she had gotten into the tack room and spilled the horse treats all over the ground, managed to get into the chicken feed and ate some, and probably ate a bunch of hay!
He turned Star out and left Melody in. He didn't want her to go out in the pasture and eat more rich grass and cause her to colic. He topped off her water bucket and finished chores. He said she was acting normal, no sweats and the only stress she seemed to have was that Star wasn't with her. He called the feed store (local) and asked what the ingredients of the chicken feed were because we had a horse get out and eat some. They said not to worry because it was all natural ingredients, many of which are in our horse feed, just all ground up.
Hubby had to leave for work but said she had drank a bunch of water and could hear gut sounds. He hadn't noticed any new poop yet but would check on her in an hour.
When he came back to check on her, she had pooped (looked normal) and finished her water so he refilled it.
It appears she's going to be ok. But it was a scarey morning! It could've gone a much different direction! We are going to have to come up with a different latch on her gate to keep her from getting out again...
Until next time!
Lynell
Showing posts with label Hay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hay. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Moving Foward
My last post talked about saddle fitting on Zoe. I can honestly say that I haven't ridden Zoe even once since that post. I feel ashamed and guilty for letting her 'sit' in the pasture. My life has been so full (imagine that!!) that my progress with Zoe has come to a complete stop. My work with Melody hasn't been consistent and yet she still amazes me with how well she retains her lessons. I rode Star a handful of times and middle daughter rode Gunner a handful of times (his back was sore). I'm so let down with how the end of summer and fall have gone as I had BIG plans. Have the horses been well cared for? Yes, but I haven't spent the time with them that I feel I should. The guilt is overwhelming...but I can't dwell on that, right? I'm moving forward with a new plan...
I know I may have to do lessons with Zoe that we have already done but I'm ok with that. I've found an indoor arena that I can haul to this winter that's really close to home (and SUPER nice) so I can continue our work together through the winter. We will be doing a lot of leadership exercises, trust and body work before I throw a leg over her. She's gonna stand in cross ties (she's never been cross tied before) and stand like a rock when I put the saddle pad and saddle on her among other things. We are going to have all this stuff DOWN! I've put up with her dancing around the saddle and her tying issues long enough! It's time for her to behave and act her age!! ;-)
Melody will be coming along as well, along with Gunner, if middle daughter can make it out to ride with us. Melody will learn to be lunged (already knows how to round pen) and get better with her verbal commands. We will keep working on shoulder and hip yields, giving at the poll, and flexing to both sides (she's not very good at her right side). Her back feet still seem to be a problem with letting us hold them for any length of time so we will continue to work on that as well.
Gunner will need some time in the saddle as well. The last time middle daughter rode him, he bucked her off when she asked him to canter. I have no idea what that was all about! I was so proud of her for picking herself up and getting back on! She landed hard and it really shook her up. No serious injuries, just a little stab at her pride I think. Afterwards, I checked to see if his back was sore again but his back was fine. I checked other spots that might be sore but he seemed fine in those places too. The saddle fit is good so maybe middle daughter did something that triggered the bucking fit or else he learned before that if he bucked he got out of doing it. Either way, I'm gonna have to get on and figure it out.
In other farm news, we replanted the front horse pasture. It was getting full of weeds and the ground was so compacted from years of horses walking on it that the grass couldn't get a good root system going again, hence the weeds. We had the soil tested to see what the ground was lacking and was able to pick up a fertilizer to help the ground produce the best horse pasture grass mix it could. We have to keep the horses off it for one full growing season (all of 2015) so the root system can really take hold. We were told to hay it so it will help the grasses to come in nice and thick. We are really excited to see the fruits of our labor! Oh, and while we were at it, we tore down all the old cow fencing that was up around this pasture. We are putting up electric instead - always hated that fencing!
Not only did we replant the horse pasture, but we built a new horse catch pen. While all of this replanting was going on, we had them in a cow pen. It was fine but it was a reminder that without the horse pasture in the front, we were going to be short on turn outs this winter! So we took another weekend and built a safe catch/turnout pen for the horses with a shelter. This is where Star and her buddy (undecided on who) will spend the winter nights while the others are in their stalls. Speaking of stalls, we built insulated water bucket holders for the stalls. I'm excited to put these things to use this winter! Last winter was awful with trying to keep the water fresh and unfrozen. (Hubby doesn't like to use the heated water buckets because he had a bad experience with them once and now refuses to use them....) We also built two extras for outside in the shelter for Star and her buddy. I'll try to take a picture of them so you can see what we built...I will let you know how they work too!
Another farm project completed is my new tack room/office in the barn. It's wonderful - and much bigger than my old tack room! In order to complete the new tack room, we also built new saddle racks. This time I have enough saddle racks for ALL of my saddles. I used to always be 1 rack short so it was kept in the house, which is fine except it's a pain to haul a big western saddle out of the house whenever you want to ride. So my brand new Billy Cook saddle still has very little use... The new feed room is going right next to the new tack room but we haven't finished it yet. Just have to put the floor in and then it will be complete.
In addition to all of that, we also built a new lean-to for the cows (it's HUGE) and are working on another one. We added beef cows to our regime of animals this summer so more and larger shelters were needed. I guess you could say we've been busy!
One more announcement...we added a new member to our family!
Meet Lola! She's a red tri Australian Shepherd and we love her to pieces! Couldn't be happier with our choice! She and Riggin (black tri Australian Shepherd) have become good friends! She will follow him anywhere and learns from him all the time, which is why we bought her now instead of waiting. Riggin is probably the BEST dog we've ever had the privilege of owning and is getting up there in age. We wanted him to pass along his knowledge to the next pup so now was the best time.
So that's a snapshot of what's been going on with me lately. Not to mention the fact that I have 5 children, two of which are on student council this year, one is in high school and just had her first homecoming...My life is full, but that's exactly how I like it!
That's all for now!
Quote for the day:
"Never mistake activity for achievement."
I know I may have to do lessons with Zoe that we have already done but I'm ok with that. I've found an indoor arena that I can haul to this winter that's really close to home (and SUPER nice) so I can continue our work together through the winter. We will be doing a lot of leadership exercises, trust and body work before I throw a leg over her. She's gonna stand in cross ties (she's never been cross tied before) and stand like a rock when I put the saddle pad and saddle on her among other things. We are going to have all this stuff DOWN! I've put up with her dancing around the saddle and her tying issues long enough! It's time for her to behave and act her age!! ;-)
Melody will be coming along as well, along with Gunner, if middle daughter can make it out to ride with us. Melody will learn to be lunged (already knows how to round pen) and get better with her verbal commands. We will keep working on shoulder and hip yields, giving at the poll, and flexing to both sides (she's not very good at her right side). Her back feet still seem to be a problem with letting us hold them for any length of time so we will continue to work on that as well.
Gunner will need some time in the saddle as well. The last time middle daughter rode him, he bucked her off when she asked him to canter. I have no idea what that was all about! I was so proud of her for picking herself up and getting back on! She landed hard and it really shook her up. No serious injuries, just a little stab at her pride I think. Afterwards, I checked to see if his back was sore again but his back was fine. I checked other spots that might be sore but he seemed fine in those places too. The saddle fit is good so maybe middle daughter did something that triggered the bucking fit or else he learned before that if he bucked he got out of doing it. Either way, I'm gonna have to get on and figure it out.
In other farm news, we replanted the front horse pasture. It was getting full of weeds and the ground was so compacted from years of horses walking on it that the grass couldn't get a good root system going again, hence the weeds. We had the soil tested to see what the ground was lacking and was able to pick up a fertilizer to help the ground produce the best horse pasture grass mix it could. We have to keep the horses off it for one full growing season (all of 2015) so the root system can really take hold. We were told to hay it so it will help the grasses to come in nice and thick. We are really excited to see the fruits of our labor! Oh, and while we were at it, we tore down all the old cow fencing that was up around this pasture. We are putting up electric instead - always hated that fencing!
Not only did we replant the horse pasture, but we built a new horse catch pen. While all of this replanting was going on, we had them in a cow pen. It was fine but it was a reminder that without the horse pasture in the front, we were going to be short on turn outs this winter! So we took another weekend and built a safe catch/turnout pen for the horses with a shelter. This is where Star and her buddy (undecided on who) will spend the winter nights while the others are in their stalls. Speaking of stalls, we built insulated water bucket holders for the stalls. I'm excited to put these things to use this winter! Last winter was awful with trying to keep the water fresh and unfrozen. (Hubby doesn't like to use the heated water buckets because he had a bad experience with them once and now refuses to use them....) We also built two extras for outside in the shelter for Star and her buddy. I'll try to take a picture of them so you can see what we built...I will let you know how they work too!
Another farm project completed is my new tack room/office in the barn. It's wonderful - and much bigger than my old tack room! In order to complete the new tack room, we also built new saddle racks. This time I have enough saddle racks for ALL of my saddles. I used to always be 1 rack short so it was kept in the house, which is fine except it's a pain to haul a big western saddle out of the house whenever you want to ride. So my brand new Billy Cook saddle still has very little use... The new feed room is going right next to the new tack room but we haven't finished it yet. Just have to put the floor in and then it will be complete.
In addition to all of that, we also built a new lean-to for the cows (it's HUGE) and are working on another one. We added beef cows to our regime of animals this summer so more and larger shelters were needed. I guess you could say we've been busy!
One more announcement...we added a new member to our family!
So that's a snapshot of what's been going on with me lately. Not to mention the fact that I have 5 children, two of which are on student council this year, one is in high school and just had her first homecoming...My life is full, but that's exactly how I like it!
That's all for now!
Quote for the day:
"Never mistake activity for achievement."
-John Wooden
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
A Quick Ride
I took Star out this past weekend. It was our first ride since her diagnosis. I had been putting it off for a couple weeks because I didn't want to instigate another big coughing incident.
It was Friday night. Middle daughter had already ridden Gunner, who bucked when asked for canter. His back didn't show any signs of being sore so I'm thinking he's just being a stinker. I will probably have to get on and see if he tries it with me. Might also be something middle daughter is doing... Anyways, back to the story...I had put dinner in the oven so I had an hour until it was done. I thought to hell with it and got Star out. She seemed happy that I had chosen her.
Got her all saddled up and off we went. She was SLOW as we were leaving the farm but soon she picked up her walk a bit. My plan was to go visit one of our hay fields that was close by to see if it was ready to be cut. Like I said, it wasn't far so if she had another coughing fit it wouldn't take long to get home.
We walked on a loose rein and really enjoyed our quick ride (about 20 minutes). I never asked her to go faster than the walk and she was fine with that. Usually she is aching to go faster but not that day - very content to stay at a walk.
We made it to the hay field took a look around and then turned back for home. Not a single cough the entire ride ! To say I was happy would be an understatement! The smile on my face didn't come off until my head hit the pillow that night!
In talking with my mother-in-law, she told me that her aunt had a horse with heaves and he came in the barn every night, which I was instructed not to do for Star, and wet down his hay for every feeding. He would have a coughing incident about once a year and she would treat him with the same medication that I gave Star. She rode him on trails long after his diagnosis when he was 15ish and he lived to be close to 30 years old! The key is early detection so I'm feeling very optimistic about Star's diagnosis.
Well, that's all for now! Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Time is what we want most, but what we use worst."
It was Friday night. Middle daughter had already ridden Gunner, who bucked when asked for canter. His back didn't show any signs of being sore so I'm thinking he's just being a stinker. I will probably have to get on and see if he tries it with me. Might also be something middle daughter is doing... Anyways, back to the story...I had put dinner in the oven so I had an hour until it was done. I thought to hell with it and got Star out. She seemed happy that I had chosen her.
Got her all saddled up and off we went. She was SLOW as we were leaving the farm but soon she picked up her walk a bit. My plan was to go visit one of our hay fields that was close by to see if it was ready to be cut. Like I said, it wasn't far so if she had another coughing fit it wouldn't take long to get home.
We walked on a loose rein and really enjoyed our quick ride (about 20 minutes). I never asked her to go faster than the walk and she was fine with that. Usually she is aching to go faster but not that day - very content to stay at a walk.
We made it to the hay field took a look around and then turned back for home. Not a single cough the entire ride ! To say I was happy would be an understatement! The smile on my face didn't come off until my head hit the pillow that night!
In talking with my mother-in-law, she told me that her aunt had a horse with heaves and he came in the barn every night, which I was instructed not to do for Star, and wet down his hay for every feeding. He would have a coughing incident about once a year and she would treat him with the same medication that I gave Star. She rode him on trails long after his diagnosis when he was 15ish and he lived to be close to 30 years old! The key is early detection so I'm feeling very optimistic about Star's diagnosis.
Well, that's all for now! Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Time is what we want most, but what we use worst."
-William Penn
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Heaves
 |
| Look at that wild mane! It was windy... |
Last Sunday I took Star out for a trail ride. We didn't get too far along when the coughing started. At first I didn't think too much of it. A cough here and there isn't that big of a deal, right? We started trotting and then the coughing was constant...WTH?? We turned around and headed home. Staying at a walk seemed to keep the coughing at bay, even though a cough here and there would come out. We were maybe 15 minutes out when the coughing started so we only had about 15 minutes to get back. My mind was going 100 mph about what was going on with her the whole way home. We had been out on the same trail the weekend before and she was FINE!! Allergies?? Respiratory infection??
When I got home hubby was surprised to see me back so soon. I told him what was going on while I untacked her in the yard. He was holding Star when he pointed out that Star had a small stream of blood coming out of her nose!
I got my phone out and started googling nosebleeds in horses. That didn't help calm my nerves!
I brought her to the water and she took a few big drinks and then I put her in her stall with a fan blowing. I was hoping that she was coughing because she was thirsty and hot... I put her back out with the other horses after only an hour in her stall. She was happy to be back out with her friends!
Over the next day or so we kept a close eye on her. She would still cough here and there so we decided to call the vet. The vet told us it could be one of the following three things: 1. Allergies; 2. Heaves; 3. Upper respiratory infection. Honestly, I was hoping for the infection so we could give her some antibiotics and move on. But since I wasn't 100% sure on that I made an appointment for the vet to come out and take a look at her. That was today.
The results? Heaves (as you probably guess by the title of this blog post!). The vet said that because we caught it so early that she will probably live a happy horsey life for several more years. We have her on some medication for a few days and then I'm supposed to take her out for a ride to see how she does. Oh, and she isn't allowed in the barn at all for any reason whatsoever. I guess I better buy a nice heavy blanket for those cold winter nights! She's now on 24/7 turn out and thankfully has a nice lean-to for protection from the elements. We also need to wet her hay down before every feeding to be sure there isn't any dust in it so she doesn't get another flare up. The fewer the flare ups the better!
This is my first experience with heaves and will be a learning process for me. If anyone reading this has any knowledge or experience they would be willing to share I sure would appreciate it!!
That's all for now...until next time!
Quote for the day:
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
-Benjamin Franklin
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Little Updates
Since my last post, Melody casted herself one more time (the next day) but hasn't since. Hopefully that means she figured that out now...Other than that, Melody has been a good girl. She's so dang cute! I can't wait until spring when she sheds out and we can see what color she's going to be. I mean, we know she's a palomino but how dark/light will she be? I've found that she enjoys ear scratches - she will stop eating for an ear scratch!
The other day I let the horses out and Tyson was feeling great! He was running, leaping, bucking, kicking and rearing! He hasn't done that in over a year because he was lame (injuries). I was thinking that Tyson was going to be lame for the rest of his life so seeing him acting like he was a yearling was very encouraging, to say the least. He didn't show an ounce of pain while he was playing and wasn't sore when I brought him in or let him out the next day. Is it possible he's finally healed??? Time will tell!
Zoe has been such a good girl. I've been having my children lead her in and out of her stall and her ground manners have been impeccable! Better than Star's, in fact. Last year at this time she was pulling and pushing when being handled but not now! She's been lowering her head for my kids to halter her too - just a peach! I can't wait to start riding again when the weather finally breaks, I have good feeling about her! The farrier always makes comments about how nice she is too (great legs, feet and attitude). I know I've said this before but she's a sensitive and tuned in horse, just a great mare and I love her dearly!
Star has been a good girl too, like always. Her only fault is when it comes to food. When she knows there's food in her stall she will try to pull through you to get her food making it difficult for my kids to lead her into her stall. That angers me to no end so I have to lead her in myself to keep her in line. She doesn't try to push past me because she knows I don't put up with that but she does with the kids. Grrr...
Brother-in-law's horses are being good boys too. They don't have stalls (we only have 4) so they live outside with a large 3 1/2 sided lean-to for shelter. We keep bedding in there so they can lay down and stay warm. I don't think they are used to that but they certainly enjoy it! They are in need of a trim soon so hopefully we can get that scheduled before they leave on March 13. The vet came out yesterday to do their health papers for traveling. They have a long ways to go and will be stopping every 6 - 8 hours to stretch and get a little exercise/food/water (if they aren't eating or drinking in the trailer) so that will make the trip a long one. The trailer they will be in is a Sundowner 3 horse slant gooseneck with living quarters. Brother-in-law has a beautiful trailer that is well maintained and the horses are accustomed to trailering so hopefully the trip will go smoothly. The horses haven't been bad while they were here but I will be glad to have 2 less mouths to feed! Hay prices aren't cheap these days...
Well that about sums it up for now. This weekend is the Michigan State Horse Expo. I plan on attending on Saturday. I haven't been able to get there in several years so I'm really looking forward to it!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Our attitude towards others determines their attitudes towards us."
The other day I let the horses out and Tyson was feeling great! He was running, leaping, bucking, kicking and rearing! He hasn't done that in over a year because he was lame (injuries). I was thinking that Tyson was going to be lame for the rest of his life so seeing him acting like he was a yearling was very encouraging, to say the least. He didn't show an ounce of pain while he was playing and wasn't sore when I brought him in or let him out the next day. Is it possible he's finally healed??? Time will tell!
Zoe has been such a good girl. I've been having my children lead her in and out of her stall and her ground manners have been impeccable! Better than Star's, in fact. Last year at this time she was pulling and pushing when being handled but not now! She's been lowering her head for my kids to halter her too - just a peach! I can't wait to start riding again when the weather finally breaks, I have good feeling about her! The farrier always makes comments about how nice she is too (great legs, feet and attitude). I know I've said this before but she's a sensitive and tuned in horse, just a great mare and I love her dearly!
Star has been a good girl too, like always. Her only fault is when it comes to food. When she knows there's food in her stall she will try to pull through you to get her food making it difficult for my kids to lead her into her stall. That angers me to no end so I have to lead her in myself to keep her in line. She doesn't try to push past me because she knows I don't put up with that but she does with the kids. Grrr...
Brother-in-law's horses are being good boys too. They don't have stalls (we only have 4) so they live outside with a large 3 1/2 sided lean-to for shelter. We keep bedding in there so they can lay down and stay warm. I don't think they are used to that but they certainly enjoy it! They are in need of a trim soon so hopefully we can get that scheduled before they leave on March 13. The vet came out yesterday to do their health papers for traveling. They have a long ways to go and will be stopping every 6 - 8 hours to stretch and get a little exercise/food/water (if they aren't eating or drinking in the trailer) so that will make the trip a long one. The trailer they will be in is a Sundowner 3 horse slant gooseneck with living quarters. Brother-in-law has a beautiful trailer that is well maintained and the horses are accustomed to trailering so hopefully the trip will go smoothly. The horses haven't been bad while they were here but I will be glad to have 2 less mouths to feed! Hay prices aren't cheap these days...
Well that about sums it up for now. This weekend is the Michigan State Horse Expo. I plan on attending on Saturday. I haven't been able to get there in several years so I'm really looking forward to it!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Our attitude towards others determines their attitudes towards us."
-Earl Nightingale
Monday, February 17, 2014
Cast
We came out to the barn to do some work when we found Melody cast in her stall. She was laying on her side right next to her stall wall, unable to get up. She wasn't moving.
Hubby grabbed a hose (it was the first thing within reach at the moment) and wrapped it around her back feet and rolled her over, then let go of the hose and within a minute, she stood up. She was calm but you could see a little scared. Hubby went to put her halter on and she shied away. He was patient and was able to get the halter on within a minute or two.
She wasn't done eating her hay but I thought it would be a good idea to turn her out anyways. Usually when I turn her out, she can hardly stand waiting for me to let her go so she can run and play. This time she just stood there. I went to get what was left of her hay out of her stall and when I came back she had walked away. I left her hay and made sure she had water.
I checked back on her a few minutes later and she had made her way over to the hay and was eating again. She had me a little worried at first, but she was back to herself, thank goodness!
So now we are wondering if she's going to be a chronic caster (is that a real term?) or was this a one time deal? Anyone out there have any experience with this? I have to admit...this was our first horse to ever cast itself... Any input would be appreciated!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."
Hubby grabbed a hose (it was the first thing within reach at the moment) and wrapped it around her back feet and rolled her over, then let go of the hose and within a minute, she stood up. She was calm but you could see a little scared. Hubby went to put her halter on and she shied away. He was patient and was able to get the halter on within a minute or two.
She wasn't done eating her hay but I thought it would be a good idea to turn her out anyways. Usually when I turn her out, she can hardly stand waiting for me to let her go so she can run and play. This time she just stood there. I went to get what was left of her hay out of her stall and when I came back she had walked away. I left her hay and made sure she had water.
I checked back on her a few minutes later and she had made her way over to the hay and was eating again. She had me a little worried at first, but she was back to herself, thank goodness!
So now we are wondering if she's going to be a chronic caster (is that a real term?) or was this a one time deal? Anyone out there have any experience with this? I have to admit...this was our first horse to ever cast itself... Any input would be appreciated!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."
-Oscar Wilde
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Brrrr...
We are experiencing very low temps and a lot of snow right now which makes it hard to want to spend time outside. The older I get, the less I enjoy the snow - maybe one of these days our family will move somewhere where the winters are shorter and a lot less snowy!
Anyways, due to the extreme temperatures not much has been going on in horsey land at our house. Hubby is working like crazy to get our stalls finished up. All that's left are the bars. The floors are in and the walls put up. Can't wait!
I was feeding last night and it looks like Star might be losing some weight. My guess is that between Tyson and Zoe she's getting pushed off her feed (she eats the slowest). Tonight I'm gonna pull her out and feed her separately. I usually like to feed each horse separately, especially in the winter when there isn't any pasture, but without stalls it's pretty hard. I was making three piles (with their grain dishes) hoping that everyone would just stay at their pile but that's not working anymore. Needless to say, those stalls couldn't get done fast enough!
In other news, middle daughter decided that she didn't want to take riding lessons where she was at anymore. I'm not going to lie, I was upset because of selfish reasons. I really enjoyed our Monday's at the barn! I felt like the people at that barn were my kind of people and we really clicked! It was a dressage and western dressage barn but they were very accepting of everyone and their different horses and backgrounds. The way they were teaching middle daughter was very much like how I was taught to ride. But middle daughter was tired of riding on a lunge line and was bored. She felt like they did the same things over and over again. I tried to explain to her the importance of repeating the same exercises (muscle memory) but she had her mind made up. It didn't help that hubby also felt like she was moving too slow. I tried reasoning with them that rushing through could mean that important lessons might not be learned. But I was overruled and we ended lessons at that barn. I hope that one day soon I will be going there again for whatever reason, like maybe western dressage lessons??? Who knows?
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"This is what I learned: that everybody is talented, original and has something important to say."
Anyways, due to the extreme temperatures not much has been going on in horsey land at our house. Hubby is working like crazy to get our stalls finished up. All that's left are the bars. The floors are in and the walls put up. Can't wait!
I was feeding last night and it looks like Star might be losing some weight. My guess is that between Tyson and Zoe she's getting pushed off her feed (she eats the slowest). Tonight I'm gonna pull her out and feed her separately. I usually like to feed each horse separately, especially in the winter when there isn't any pasture, but without stalls it's pretty hard. I was making three piles (with their grain dishes) hoping that everyone would just stay at their pile but that's not working anymore. Needless to say, those stalls couldn't get done fast enough!
In other news, middle daughter decided that she didn't want to take riding lessons where she was at anymore. I'm not going to lie, I was upset because of selfish reasons. I really enjoyed our Monday's at the barn! I felt like the people at that barn were my kind of people and we really clicked! It was a dressage and western dressage barn but they were very accepting of everyone and their different horses and backgrounds. The way they were teaching middle daughter was very much like how I was taught to ride. But middle daughter was tired of riding on a lunge line and was bored. She felt like they did the same things over and over again. I tried to explain to her the importance of repeating the same exercises (muscle memory) but she had her mind made up. It didn't help that hubby also felt like she was moving too slow. I tried reasoning with them that rushing through could mean that important lessons might not be learned. But I was overruled and we ended lessons at that barn. I hope that one day soon I will be going there again for whatever reason, like maybe western dressage lessons??? Who knows?
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"This is what I learned: that everybody is talented, original and has something important to say."
-Brenda Ueland
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Boot Camp
Saturday morning I woke up early. I didn't want to oversleep and I was way too excited to sleep anyway! My plan was to feed and then give her a bath. I threw some hay and filled the water and then went inside for my coffee. I went back out after about 45 minutes thinking she would be done. Apparently she doesn't eat her breakfast very fast because she had a lot left to eat! So I changed my plans. I decided to just do a really good grooming and trim up her bridle path. That would save me a TON of time!
So with all of this extra time now, I got the truck hooked up to the trailer, made sure the current Coggins was in the truck and went inside to start getting my family ready. My youngest son is very hard to wake up in the morning, we call him the bear, so it takes some time to get him up and ready to go. He growled and moaned until I threatened to throw water in his face (works every time!). Ok, so let me tell you that by this time it was 8:30 am and I put all the kids to bed the night before at 9 pm. Plenty of sleep. Hubby said he wanted to leave at 9:30 am to give us enough time (we had to be there at 10 am) so these kids needed to get breakfast and dressed. On a school day it we give them an hour or so to get ready so I figured we had better plan on the same time frame.
At 9:00 am I got Zoe from her breakfast. She was still eating. Seriously. Still eating. I tied her to the trailer and did a thorough grooming. She was as shiny as a horse without a bath can get. Her mane was nice (except for the spot where she rubbed her mane out and is starting to come back in so it stands straight up!) and her tail was gorgeous. I trimmed up her bridle path but left her whiskers and her fuzzy ears alone. No point in taking the fuzz off with all of the flies - we're not going to a show so I never trim up those areas. I sprayed her good with fly spray and cleaned her feet. Then it was time to go! Hubby was impatiently waiting for me to load Zoe. While I was grooming, he had loaded the kiddos in the truck so he was ready.
I led Zoe into the trailer but she only put her front feet in and stopped. WTH? She always loads so I didn't know what was different this time. Oh wait! The smell is probably different than the last time. We own a stock/horse combo gooseneck trailer and a neighbor (our feed guy) borrowed the trailer to haul some steers. When we got it back, it was disgusting. We cleaned it the best we could but I'm sure that's what she was smelling and wasn't so sure about. I just gave her a little time and coaxed her a little and she jumped the rest of the way in. I shut the door, climbed into the truck and we were off!
The drive was uneventful and we got the the trainer's barn in plenty of time. Zoe was calling excessively when we arrived. There is a beautiful, palomino stud there and he wasn't even interested in her, although a big bay gelding was VERY interested. He answered her every call. It didn't take long and the trainer was out at the trailer. We talked some business talk about what she was going to do, what I expected, money, etc. Then it was time to unload. Zoe was a hot mess in that trailer. She had pooped and it was on the runny side so her backside was messy and of course she stomped in it so now her feet were messy and she was all sweaty. I guess all that grooming and extra TLC that morning was for nothing. Dang mare. Zoe unloaded fine but was very alert. She was good but had to be reminded a couple times that she can't push me around just to see what was around her.
We put her in her turnout behind the barn. She was being penned next to two geldings on one side and a big gelding on the other. She immediately set out to sniff the perimeter - not caring about the horses in the pen next to her. At this point the stud actually acknowledged that she was there only by looking her direction. He never called to her the entire time we were there - amazing!
We did some more small talk and it was time to go. As a side note, I really like her. I think she has the right methods for training. She's not a bully but has expectations of the horse. She expects them to behave and lets them know when they aren't (Zoe needs to be reminded of that). She knows what she wants and how to ask the horse for it, which is also very important. She said she will work with Zoe everyday and if she misses a day during the week she will make up for it on the weekend. She was going to let Zoe settle in for a couple days and start working on Monday. We've been having extreme heat (in the mid to upper 90's with high humidity) this week so I wonder what all she did. She was going to start on ground work and see what holes are there. She will move on to saddle work once she feels Zoe is ready for it. The pace is going to be set by Zoe so if Zoe decides she wants to learn it could go very quickly. If she decides to be difficult, it will take longer. That's another reason I like her. So I've been dying to text her to see how things are going but it's only been a few days so I don't want to seem over anxious...ya know? I will wait until next week...I guess.
Sorry about not taking any pictures. I was way toonervous excited to even think about taking pictures! Maybe when I go for a visit I will remember to take pictures!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Smile, it's free therapy."
So with all of this extra time now, I got the truck hooked up to the trailer, made sure the current Coggins was in the truck and went inside to start getting my family ready. My youngest son is very hard to wake up in the morning, we call him the bear, so it takes some time to get him up and ready to go. He growled and moaned until I threatened to throw water in his face (works every time!). Ok, so let me tell you that by this time it was 8:30 am and I put all the kids to bed the night before at 9 pm. Plenty of sleep. Hubby said he wanted to leave at 9:30 am to give us enough time (we had to be there at 10 am) so these kids needed to get breakfast and dressed. On a school day it we give them an hour or so to get ready so I figured we had better plan on the same time frame.
At 9:00 am I got Zoe from her breakfast. She was still eating. Seriously. Still eating. I tied her to the trailer and did a thorough grooming. She was as shiny as a horse without a bath can get. Her mane was nice (except for the spot where she rubbed her mane out and is starting to come back in so it stands straight up!) and her tail was gorgeous. I trimmed up her bridle path but left her whiskers and her fuzzy ears alone. No point in taking the fuzz off with all of the flies - we're not going to a show so I never trim up those areas. I sprayed her good with fly spray and cleaned her feet. Then it was time to go! Hubby was impatiently waiting for me to load Zoe. While I was grooming, he had loaded the kiddos in the truck so he was ready.
I led Zoe into the trailer but she only put her front feet in and stopped. WTH? She always loads so I didn't know what was different this time. Oh wait! The smell is probably different than the last time. We own a stock/horse combo gooseneck trailer and a neighbor (our feed guy) borrowed the trailer to haul some steers. When we got it back, it was disgusting. We cleaned it the best we could but I'm sure that's what she was smelling and wasn't so sure about. I just gave her a little time and coaxed her a little and she jumped the rest of the way in. I shut the door, climbed into the truck and we were off!
The drive was uneventful and we got the the trainer's barn in plenty of time. Zoe was calling excessively when we arrived. There is a beautiful, palomino stud there and he wasn't even interested in her, although a big bay gelding was VERY interested. He answered her every call. It didn't take long and the trainer was out at the trailer. We talked some business talk about what she was going to do, what I expected, money, etc. Then it was time to unload. Zoe was a hot mess in that trailer. She had pooped and it was on the runny side so her backside was messy and of course she stomped in it so now her feet were messy and she was all sweaty. I guess all that grooming and extra TLC that morning was for nothing. Dang mare. Zoe unloaded fine but was very alert. She was good but had to be reminded a couple times that she can't push me around just to see what was around her.
We put her in her turnout behind the barn. She was being penned next to two geldings on one side and a big gelding on the other. She immediately set out to sniff the perimeter - not caring about the horses in the pen next to her. At this point the stud actually acknowledged that she was there only by looking her direction. He never called to her the entire time we were there - amazing!
We did some more small talk and it was time to go. As a side note, I really like her. I think she has the right methods for training. She's not a bully but has expectations of the horse. She expects them to behave and lets them know when they aren't (Zoe needs to be reminded of that). She knows what she wants and how to ask the horse for it, which is also very important. She said she will work with Zoe everyday and if she misses a day during the week she will make up for it on the weekend. She was going to let Zoe settle in for a couple days and start working on Monday. We've been having extreme heat (in the mid to upper 90's with high humidity) this week so I wonder what all she did. She was going to start on ground work and see what holes are there. She will move on to saddle work once she feels Zoe is ready for it. The pace is going to be set by Zoe so if Zoe decides she wants to learn it could go very quickly. If she decides to be difficult, it will take longer. That's another reason I like her. So I've been dying to text her to see how things are going but it's only been a few days so I don't want to seem over anxious...ya know? I will wait until next week...I guess.
Sorry about not taking any pictures. I was way too
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Smile, it's free therapy."
-Douglas Horton
Friday, June 21, 2013
A Baby In Our Future?
As I mentioned before, we are breeding Star. On Wednesday, hubby sent me a text that Star was in - plans changed and we loaded her up in the trailer and off we went! Dropped her off where she can be bred. Unfortunately, that's not how simple our day was...
Let me start at the beginning of our day...
I went to work, planning on leaving at 3pm for the Coggins test for Zoe. She had to be to the vet at 4pm. I left work 15 minutes late because I am SUPER busy right now but I got home with plenty-o time to load up and go (the vet is 10 min. away). On my way home, hubby texted me that Star was in heat today so that meant bringing Star to get her bred HAD to be done TODAY. When I got home I changed my clothes (I work in an office), grabbed Zoe and loaded her in the trailer. She's great loading so that was a very quick transaction! :) Good girl!
Off to the vet we went. No issues there either. A perfect angel, she was!
On the way home, we stopped off at the daycare lady's house to pick up the kiddos. Of course she wanted to see Zoe, so we did a little show-and-tell presentation in her driveway. The neighbors were all very excited to see her. We live in a small farm community so having a horse in town is perfectly acceptable. :) Again, Zoe was very well behaved. I was a proud horsey momma!
After we left, we called the stallion owner (brother-in-law) and told him we were coming up soon. He asked us if we could swing by a neighbor's house and pick up another mare that was also getting bred. She was just around the corner so it wasn't a big deal.
When we got home we unloaded Zoe, changed a dirty diaper (tmi???), loaded up some hay in the trailer, loaded up the kids in the truck, loaded Star (who also loads very easily) and we were off. Got to our neighbor's house to get the mare and she also loaded very well. Neighbor had 10 bales of hay we had to load and then we were finally on the road to brother-in-law's house. It's now 6pm.
The drive was uneventful. Unloading both horses was uneventful.
We decided to see how the stud was going to be with Star. If something did go wrong, there were 3 of us to help with any situation that could possibly happen. A little background info on the stud: he's 4 and bred one mare on accident (didn't realize he had "dropped" yet) so he's very inexperienced and we had no idea how he was with his mares. A little background info on us: we've owned stallions before and have handled the breeding ourselves for several years. We know what we're doing.
The stud was very excited at the new comers and Star was probably just as excited to see him! The stud was very well behaved while in-hand. Minded his manners and listened astonishingly well with only a rope halter and lead on. I'm sure brother-in-law was very proud of his stud horse. The two nosed up and Star was quite the lady...yeah right. If you have ever been around a mare in heat with a stud at her nose, you understand. She did what all mares in heat do. Gross. Have some class, would ya??? j/k
Since he was being so good, brother-in-law put the lead rope over his back and let him go. The stud was talking, nibbling and sniffing Star all over. Star was a statue. Stood there waiting, making it very easy for him. He tried at first to climb on her side. Brother-in-law pulled him down. He went back to her face and talked some more. Made his way around to her butt climbed on but couldn't figure out where things were supposed to go so he climbed back off. Almost looked defeated. Brother-in-law picked up the lead rope again and walked him away.
We decided that since he had been a good boy that we would try pasture breeding and let him and Star go. Star stood like a good girl while the stud circled around her, nibbling on her as he went. She didn't mind. Well then he got more aggressive and started chewing. He would go down her front legs, then her back legs, and then down her sides. She got sick of it and started running off. That just made him more aggressive. She started kicking at him when he would bite her. Things were getting worse by the minute. The kicks weren't phasing him one bit and she was really firing them off (and landing 90% of them on either his chest or his sides)! It was time to step in. He wasn't jumping, just chasing her around, trying to control her movements (this is what stallions do). Hubby stepped in and grabbed the stud very easily. Like I said, he's a good horse person and the stud was a good boy when being handled. As soon as hubby grabbed the lead, the stud calmed right down and acted like a puppy again. Star stopped too. She just stood there waiting for him to try again. Hubby led the stud around to make sure he had a handle on him, which he did, and led him over to Star again. Star waiting again while the stud "got ready" and jumped her. He never penetrated but went through the motions like he was supposed to.
By this time the stud was dripping in sweat but wasn't finished yet with Star. But we decided to call it a day and put him back in his pen with his buddies. They all ran around like crazy sniffing him but settled down. We did some thinking about the events that just took place and it's very possible that Star is too tall and he's too inexperienced. We are trying again tonight but this time we are digging a hole for Star to stand in so the angle for the stud is better and we won't be doing pasture breeding with this stud, he's much better in hand.
I fed Star her hay and grain, made sure she had fresh water and we went on our way. Our kids (who stayed in the barn so we didn't have to have the "birds and the bees" talk) were hungry...it was now 7:30 pm and we hadn't had dinner yet. We would've stopped on our way home but our big hayfield was getting baled and hubby wanted to get home ASAP so he could start getting the bales off the field. Needless to say, dinner was out of a can and made at about 8:30 pm. We finally crashed into our beds around 10 pm...it was a long day for us!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it."
Let me start at the beginning of our day...
I went to work, planning on leaving at 3pm for the Coggins test for Zoe. She had to be to the vet at 4pm. I left work 15 minutes late because I am SUPER busy right now but I got home with plenty-o time to load up and go (the vet is 10 min. away). On my way home, hubby texted me that Star was in heat today so that meant bringing Star to get her bred HAD to be done TODAY. When I got home I changed my clothes (I work in an office), grabbed Zoe and loaded her in the trailer. She's great loading so that was a very quick transaction! :) Good girl!
Off to the vet we went. No issues there either. A perfect angel, she was!
On the way home, we stopped off at the daycare lady's house to pick up the kiddos. Of course she wanted to see Zoe, so we did a little show-and-tell presentation in her driveway. The neighbors were all very excited to see her. We live in a small farm community so having a horse in town is perfectly acceptable. :) Again, Zoe was very well behaved. I was a proud horsey momma!
After we left, we called the stallion owner (brother-in-law) and told him we were coming up soon. He asked us if we could swing by a neighbor's house and pick up another mare that was also getting bred. She was just around the corner so it wasn't a big deal.
When we got home we unloaded Zoe, changed a dirty diaper (tmi???), loaded up some hay in the trailer, loaded up the kids in the truck, loaded Star (who also loads very easily) and we were off. Got to our neighbor's house to get the mare and she also loaded very well. Neighbor had 10 bales of hay we had to load and then we were finally on the road to brother-in-law's house. It's now 6pm.
The drive was uneventful. Unloading both horses was uneventful.
We decided to see how the stud was going to be with Star. If something did go wrong, there were 3 of us to help with any situation that could possibly happen. A little background info on the stud: he's 4 and bred one mare on accident (didn't realize he had "dropped" yet) so he's very inexperienced and we had no idea how he was with his mares. A little background info on us: we've owned stallions before and have handled the breeding ourselves for several years. We know what we're doing.
The stud was very excited at the new comers and Star was probably just as excited to see him! The stud was very well behaved while in-hand. Minded his manners and listened astonishingly well with only a rope halter and lead on. I'm sure brother-in-law was very proud of his stud horse. The two nosed up and Star was quite the lady...yeah right. If you have ever been around a mare in heat with a stud at her nose, you understand. She did what all mares in heat do. Gross. Have some class, would ya??? j/k
Since he was being so good, brother-in-law put the lead rope over his back and let him go. The stud was talking, nibbling and sniffing Star all over. Star was a statue. Stood there waiting, making it very easy for him. He tried at first to climb on her side. Brother-in-law pulled him down. He went back to her face and talked some more. Made his way around to her butt climbed on but couldn't figure out where things were supposed to go so he climbed back off. Almost looked defeated. Brother-in-law picked up the lead rope again and walked him away.
We decided that since he had been a good boy that we would try pasture breeding and let him and Star go. Star stood like a good girl while the stud circled around her, nibbling on her as he went. She didn't mind. Well then he got more aggressive and started chewing. He would go down her front legs, then her back legs, and then down her sides. She got sick of it and started running off. That just made him more aggressive. She started kicking at him when he would bite her. Things were getting worse by the minute. The kicks weren't phasing him one bit and she was really firing them off (and landing 90% of them on either his chest or his sides)! It was time to step in. He wasn't jumping, just chasing her around, trying to control her movements (this is what stallions do). Hubby stepped in and grabbed the stud very easily. Like I said, he's a good horse person and the stud was a good boy when being handled. As soon as hubby grabbed the lead, the stud calmed right down and acted like a puppy again. Star stopped too. She just stood there waiting for him to try again. Hubby led the stud around to make sure he had a handle on him, which he did, and led him over to Star again. Star waiting again while the stud "got ready" and jumped her. He never penetrated but went through the motions like he was supposed to.
By this time the stud was dripping in sweat but wasn't finished yet with Star. But we decided to call it a day and put him back in his pen with his buddies. They all ran around like crazy sniffing him but settled down. We did some thinking about the events that just took place and it's very possible that Star is too tall and he's too inexperienced. We are trying again tonight but this time we are digging a hole for Star to stand in so the angle for the stud is better and we won't be doing pasture breeding with this stud, he's much better in hand.
I fed Star her hay and grain, made sure she had fresh water and we went on our way. Our kids (who stayed in the barn so we didn't have to have the "birds and the bees" talk) were hungry...it was now 7:30 pm and we hadn't had dinner yet. We would've stopped on our way home but our big hayfield was getting baled and hubby wanted to get home ASAP so he could start getting the bales off the field. Needless to say, dinner was out of a can and made at about 8:30 pm. We finally crashed into our beds around 10 pm...it was a long day for us!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it."
-William Penn
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Cause & Effect
Today I'm going to touch on the importance of good feed. This past summer we experienced a drought, which is so rare in our part of the country! Although it was a beautiful summer, in terms of it being sunny every day and warm (if not hot) temperatures. This made the summer very enjoyable because you never had to worry about if your plans were going to be rained out. Unfortunately, for those of us who farm or have livestock, that is not a very pleasant summer at all.
Because of the drought, our hay season was cut short. Our hay didn't grow like it normally did so we would wait for it to get taller so it would be worth cutting. But in doing so, the hay quality goes down. The nutrients were slowing draining out of the grass and alfalfa (because it was drying out). This has been evident this winter in our animals because usually our animals come out of winter in bit on the chubby side. This year it's been a struggle keep a healthy weight on them. We are forced to supplement the, otherwise nutritious, hay with grain, of which the price also increased due to the drought. We just can't win!
A typical year we get 3 cuttings on our hay fields, sometimes even 4. This past summer we got 2 cuttings and the cuttings were small. We weren't the only ones in our area with that same problem! Everyone was in the same boat as us and had to buy hay. The hay farmers raised their prices (ya know, supply & demand) and hay still sold out quickly! And because the nutrients are lower in the hay this year, we've had to increase our feed. It's a lose-lose situation this winter, a snow-ball effect.
Sometimes I wonder if we will ever be rid of the snow so we can turn them out on pasture! Fortunately, our pastures are rich with nutrients. We spent the extra money and planted each of our pastures with a good pasture mix and do a pasture rotation for all of the animals. Pasture management is key to keeping your pastures working for you.
I'm not going to get into grain and all of its pros and cons...I've still got much to learn before I post on that subject. All I know is that we are struggling with our hay this year and it's all because of the drought of 2012. I'm hoping this coming spring/summer/fall will be better!
Here's to the warmer weather!
Until next time!
Because of the drought, our hay season was cut short. Our hay didn't grow like it normally did so we would wait for it to get taller so it would be worth cutting. But in doing so, the hay quality goes down. The nutrients were slowing draining out of the grass and alfalfa (because it was drying out). This has been evident this winter in our animals because usually our animals come out of winter in bit on the chubby side. This year it's been a struggle keep a healthy weight on them. We are forced to supplement the, otherwise nutritious, hay with grain, of which the price also increased due to the drought. We just can't win!
A typical year we get 3 cuttings on our hay fields, sometimes even 4. This past summer we got 2 cuttings and the cuttings were small. We weren't the only ones in our area with that same problem! Everyone was in the same boat as us and had to buy hay. The hay farmers raised their prices (ya know, supply & demand) and hay still sold out quickly! And because the nutrients are lower in the hay this year, we've had to increase our feed. It's a lose-lose situation this winter, a snow-ball effect.
Sometimes I wonder if we will ever be rid of the snow so we can turn them out on pasture! Fortunately, our pastures are rich with nutrients. We spent the extra money and planted each of our pastures with a good pasture mix and do a pasture rotation for all of the animals. Pasture management is key to keeping your pastures working for you.
I'm not going to get into grain and all of its pros and cons...I've still got much to learn before I post on that subject. All I know is that we are struggling with our hay this year and it's all because of the drought of 2012. I'm hoping this coming spring/summer/fall will be better!
Here's to the warmer weather!
Until next time!
Quote for the Day:
"Be faithful to that which exists within yourself."
-Andre Gide
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