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Showing posts from February, 2011

Electrolytes 101

The electrolyte panel at the ECTRA Annual Convention was the reason I got out of bed on my one day off of the week and drove to New London. Electrolytes confuse me and I know that figuring out electrolytes is one of the keys to doing better with John at the rides. I took six pages of notes, have a ton more questions and the lead to some great reading material that will better help me understand electrolytes. Here is a brief synopsis: - Horses with a potassium deficiency will have trouble pulsing down. This might be a key to helping John pulse down (that and getting him to relax and focus which I think is a bigger piece of the puzzle than potassium) - Horses do not have a thirst reflex like we do - you know when you feel thirsty after working. That is why we give them electrolytes, so that they get thirsty and drink. - The US Endurance team over-electrolyted their horses at one competition in Dubai (many years ago) and ended up having horses that were way too hydrated and nearly passe

Dogs and Bears, oh my...

The second seminar of the day at the ECTRA Annual Convention was about dealing with dogs and bears on the trail. When I attended First Descents, we were told that if we ran into a bear to keep our eyes down, say "hi bear" and slowly back out of there. We were also told to just let the bear maul of a little while we stayed in fetal position and to play dead. This information is not the same when you are riding a horse (for obvious reasons). We mostly have black bears around here, and most of them are on the opposite side of the state. I have heard several stories about riders running into bears while trail riding in Maine. Honestly, I am not that worried about bears. I think as long as I can stay on my horse as he sits and spins, that he will outrun the bear. Bears are known to be sprinters. The dog part of the seminar really interested me. I ran into dogs and had a problem for the first time ever last November and it freaked John out. Unfortunately I cannot avoid that a

Barefoot Horses

One of the other interesting seminars at the Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association (ECTRA) Annual Convention was a talk by barefoot trimmer Jessica Chickering of Massachusetts. I put shoes on John for the first time in years last year to compete in 25 mile competitive trail rides. John has great feet overall. The left front has a tendency to get a bit of a "club hoof" meaning it is smaller than his right front, but as long as he has regular trims the problem is easily managed and not noticable. Before Leverett I had front shoes put on him. After Leverett he had shoes on all four feet and they did not come off until November. He has been barefoot all winter. The reason I put shoes on him was because he had to cover a lot of miles over sometimes difficult terrain (hills, rocks etc) The shoes changed his gait and motion. I noticed this right away and again when the shoes came off in November. The premise of Jessica's presentation is that hores do not need shoes and

Change of Heart

When I first became interested in competitive trail riding and found out that a lot of riders kept their horses in run-in sheds I was slightly concerned. I can't do that. My horses live in stalls. Four months ago at the Warren Tessier 25 mile competitive trail ride, Linda, one of the judges, suggested I put John in a field so he would get over his problematic issue about only urinating in his stall. I gave her an incredulous look and said, I can't do that. As winter has dragged on, I have seriously wished I could put my horses in run-in sheds. They are at my parents barn and without making some changes, this cannot be done immeadiately. Why the change of heart? For starters, Remi is ten times happier when she is outside and lets you know when she has been in her stall for too long. Giving her free choice turnout would make her a very happy horse. I also made some other changes this year and have seen how much happier my horses are when I just let them be horses. Things lik

Strange Behaivor

John and Daybreak are weird. Daybreak is my brother's retired cowboy mounted shooting horse, a 27 year old Morgan gelding. John and Daybreak's stalls are right next to each other and they can hang their heads over the stall doors. In the morning, while they are waiting to be turned out in the fields, the boys bite each other under their muzzles. It is very strange. Daybreak has bitten all of John's whisker hairs off the underside of his muzzle so that it looks like I have clipped him. I don't know what the fascination is with biting each other in the face, but I hope this is a passing obsession!

Epic Fail

Christine Taylor from Equinature (natural equine company in Massachusetts) was one of the presenters at the Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association (ECTRA)convention this past weekend. Her seminar was very informative and I bought a bag of CushMush from her at the trade show. It is an organic feed for cushings horses - green peas, red clover, alfalfa, beet pulp, sunflower seeds etc. It didn't cost much and I figured it was worth a try for Lilac (who doesn't have cushings but has had laminitis so I am trying to change her diet. Lilac refuses grain, so I have been giving her a peppermint every night instead). I forgot the CushMush at my apartment yesterday so finally tried it tonight. Another epic fail, Lilac barely even sniffed it and went back to her hay. I took it over to John (the hoover) he played around with it and went back to his beet pulp mix. Remi ate a bite and spit it back into the dish. Then picked up the spit out chunk and tried it again. And spit it out.

Equinature

One of the presenters at the Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association (ECTRA) Annual Convention this past weekend was Christine Taylor from Equinature. You can visit Equinature at: www.equinature.com Christine had a lot of great information to share with us about feeding horses and the different things we can do to improve our horse's overall health. Her company, Equinature, makes all natural products for horses to eat as well as all-natural products for other uses around the barn, like bit wipes, salves, fly spray and healing ointments. Long story short, she talked about the grain we feed our horses. Do you know what it is made of? Did you know that after grain is manufactured it only has a shelf life for three months? After the three months is over, the grain starts decreasing in nutritive value. But there is no manufacturing date or expiration date on grain bags. Christine also mentioned supplements and used herself as an example. When she bought her horse and started ev

2nd Annual Benefit Trail Ride Being Planned!

Area Equestrians Gather To Raise Funds And Enjoy Local Farm The 2nd Annual Summer Solstice Trail Ride will be June 18, 2011 at Fort Hill Farms (www.forthillfarms.com) in Thompson, Connecticut. The ride is held every spring and fall to benefit First Descents and the previous three rides have risen over $2,300. The trail ride is a benefit for First Descents (www.firstdescents.org). First Descents provides whitewater kayaking and other outdoor adventure experiences to promote emotional, psychological and physical healing for young adults with cancer. Trail rider organizer, Stacey Stearns of Mansfield, participated in two of First Descents’ camps. All donations to First Descents are tax deductible, and the money raised at the trail ride will be used by First Descents to send a young adult cancer survivor to camp. Picturesque Fort Hill Farms in Thompson, Connecticut is a destination for people wanting to experience the pleasures of agricultural life and the outdoors. Owners Peter and

Connecticut Horse Council Note

I kind of feel like I am preaching to the choir by posting this note here, but I think it is important to spread the message so that it reaches others. Cecily from Rhode Island mentioned at the ECTRA convention yesterday that she often gets notes left on her truck to clean up after herself - but she is one of the equestrians that always do. However, as a group if we do not talk about the problem and put a little pressure on our fellow equestrians, the problem will only grow worse. Long story short - Treat other trail users the same way you want to be treated and clean up after your horse the way dog people are supposed to clean up after their dogs. The Connecticut Horse Council (www.cthorsecouncil.org) has the following note to trail riders posted on their website: ATTENTION TRAIL RIDERS It has come to the attention of the CT Horse Council that trail riders are leaving a “bad impression” on other trail users and at trail heads, particularly near beaches, leaving manure and garbage an

Save The Date!

The 2nd Annual Spring Fever Trail Ride (maybe we'll call it the Summer Solstice Trail Ride this year) to benefit First Descents will be held on Saturday, June 18th at Fort Hill Farms in Thompson, Connecticut. Once again we will be providing lunch for all riders with your tax-deductible registration fee and I will be getting great prizes for categories like: fundraising, longest distance traveled and oldest horse. Check back for updates - I hope you will join us on the trail.

The Equestrian Attitude

I attended the Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association (ECTRA) 40th Annual Convention yesterday for the educational panels. I think each panel that I sat in on will require a separate post. I will start with the trail loss panel. As you all know, we are losing land to development every year. This in turn effects the trail access - pieces of trails that once connected two separate trails are now gone. It gets harder and harder to create a long trail of many miles. This is really its own post by itself, and I will talk more about it another day. Another problem that we discussed was what I will summarize as the equestrian attitude. And I am as guilty as anyone else. My cousins' seven year old son asked me one day, "What do you do when you are out riding and your horse poops on the road?" I said, "I act shocked and wonder whose horse did that." He laughed, but maybe its not a laughing matter anymore. To you or me, a pile of manure on the road or on a tr

Herd Dynamics

My little herd has had some issues lately when it is time to come into the barn at night. Secret, John and Remi are all turned out together during the day. Three is hard because there is always odd man out. But trying to merge another horse at my parents barn into the group has been slightly stressful (for me, not the horses). Secret does not get along with Daybreak. Lily picks on Remi. I'm afraid Secret would pick on Lilac. So I leave it at three. Secret is alpha mare. She bosses John and Remi around. I always put John out first so she cannot torment him too much. I believe it gives him a bit more footing - he was out first so she can't pick on him too much. I put Remi out last because she waits for the other horses at the gate and tends to get in the way. John bosses Remi around, but Remi is not afraid to run up to him and kick out at him before skittering off. When Secret comes around, Remi gets out of the way, although the girls will share a hay pile. At night,

Pictures of January 27th Blizzard

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The horses enjoyed yet another snow day after the January 27th blizzard. I know, these are a little late, but better late than never!

Why I Ride...

Last year, Ariat hosted a contest where everyone could log onto their site and answer the question Why I Ride... Like so many other horse enthusiasts I went onto Ariat's site and typed my answer. I believe it was something along the lines of, "I ride because I am." I can't really remember wanting to learn to ride, there is a picture of me being held on my pony before I could walk well. Horses have always fascinated me and been a huge part of my life. Lately, as I shovel gates clear so that horses can go out, smash frozen water buckets and deal with cold weather, I have pondered the question a little more. Any hobby that requires as much energy (physical, mental and financial) as ours, really ought to have a good reason behind it. I ride for those days when everything goes right, the "perfect ride." The perfect ride is elusive, but it does exist. I ride for the feeling of freedom I get when I gallop down a good stretch of trail. I ride for the "aha