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 New Stalls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Stalls. 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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)