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Showing posts from February, 2012

Wild Horses

Usually, my horses have their halters on when they are out in the field. The halters are leather so that if they get caught on anything, they will break easily. Our theory is that if they get loose, it would be easier for someone to catch them and get them safe if they are already wearing a halter. John plays an interesting game over the fence with Tim's gelding Daybreak. It usually results in Daybreak tugging at John's halter. I noticed last week that this game has caused a couple of white hairs to appear on the bridge of John's nose. Obviously, Daybreak is pulling a bit harder than he should be. John goes out without his halter now. His behavior has completely changed. Usually, John wanders across the field in the morning, picks a hay pile and starts eating. Without his halter on, he lets out some rodeo size bucks, canters around for a few minutes and then goes to eat. At night, when its his turn to come to the gate, he lets out several more rodeo size bucks (this

Taking Inventory

As winter winds down, I find myself more and more impatient to begin trail ride/horse show season again. Riding my horses and working towards my goals for each of them lifts my spirits and fulfills me with a greater sense of purpose than anything else. Flipping through the most recent Dover Saddlery sale catalog, I noticed rain sheets and other blankets that I really could use if we ended up on another ride like day one of the Jersey Devil in October. For a reminder of the cold, wet ride, read the post Jersey Devil Part 2. As I was flipping through the catalog, thinking I should buy a blanket, I vaguely remembered buying John a lightweight waterproof sheet from Schneiders Saddlery a few years ago. I decided I better look into this vague memory before buying any more blankets! I have a huge tack trunk that my grandfather built me for my birthday when I was a teenager. It went to one horse show, and proved to be so heavy (its very well built) that it has since become a blanket trunk.

Play Time

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This little guy (okay, he's about three months old) absolutely loves to play with the hose. I love the fact that its been warm enough, at least until this weekend, for me to use the hose. He's a smart cookie though. If I try and multi-task, and fill the hay rack while the hose is filling the water tank, he will flip it out of the tank and watch with rapt attention as it gets everything wet.

Slide!

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This photo was the parting shot in Outside magazine an issue or so ago, and I liked it so much I cut it out and put it on my fridge. They also posted it on Facebook the other day. I have seen several foxes driving to and from Ashford lately. Probably because I am always coming and going to and from work/the horse barn at odd hours, when it is dark. Considering that I have rarely seen foxes before this year, I think its kind of cool. Most of them have been headed into the woods along Route 89.

Guest Post from Sarah Brander

My friend Sarah Brander of April Showers Farm in New York wrote the following post. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I live in upstate New York, where the winters are long and cold. I really can't ride outside from November 1st through April 1st. I've boarded my one riding horse, Virgil, at a facility with an indoor arena. It is marvelous to ride on great footing, in a standard size arena. I also enjoy having other folks to bounce ideas off of while riding. Virgil is inside under lights and blankets and I try to ride 6 days a week. It is a Quarter Horse Hunter barn, and they have been VERY helpful with my dressage aspirations. They invited in a dressage clinician to teach for the day. The clinician is Ray Wellihan and he is the dressage coach at Cobleskill College and he is also a dressage judge. First, he said I should ride in "dribble glasses"- a pair of "glasses" that basketball players use to feel the ball to dribble it and not look at the ball. Th

Trail Ride Bucket List

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Do you have a trail ride bucket list? I've been thinking a lot about my trail ride bucket list lately. Endurance News had a feature, where a lot of riders sent in the endurance rides that are on their bucket lists. That started the thought process, and I started writing a list of places I want to ride. Then, on the ECTRA yahoo group, someone mentioned that they condition their horses at the Otter Creek Trail System in New York. Someone else mentioned that Otter Creek was on their bucket list of places to ride their horse. I had never heard of Otter Creek and googled it - not a bad place to go riding! But now I am really curious - what locations or rides are on your list? Here are a few from my list: 1. Ring of Kerry, Ireland. John's registered name is Kerry Killarney (he came with the name, but I love it). I went to Ireland in college and loved it. Someday, I'm going back and doing this ride. Probably not on my horse though! 2. Biltmore, Asheville, North Carolin

Product Review: No Thrush

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I received a free bottle of No Thrush at the Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association (ECTRA) Annual Meeting last year. One of the workshops was presented by a farrier, and she recommended the product, handing out free samples. For those of you unfamiliar with No Thrush - it is a dry thrush treatment. It comes in a bottle in powder form. John is prone to thrush - and I like to stay on top of it. But I am not a huge fan of Koppertox, it makes a big mess. I do like using mastitis treatment for cows, but that can get expensive. With No Thrush, I put some powder in his sulcus (this is his problem area) and then pack it in with cotton, so it doesn't all fall out. The product works great, he doesn't mind it at all (he hates Koppertox as much as I do). So, as we approach spring mud season - which has already arrived if you are in New England - consider buying a bottle of this to use as a preventative or to treat a problem.

To Blanket Or Not To Blanket

This post is inspired by Emme's comment on my snow day post. She mentioned that her mare, Pippi, will not go out in inclement weather without her hood on. I used to be fanatical about blanketing my horses. And I have trunks full of winter blankets to prove it :) I still have huge pangs of guilt putting my horses out on a cold or snowy day without a blanket, but last winter, I decided to try an experiment, and I am sticking to it. After reading numerous articles on the benefits and disadvantages of blanketing, I decided to try and let my horses be horses for the winter of 2010-2011. Wouldn't you know, we got hammered with snow and cold weather last year. But my horses were fine. The mares were decidedly happier without their blankets. John thought I had gone off the deep end at first - he loves his blankets - but even he adapted and grew a winter coat worthy of a wooly mammoth. So I stuck with my no blanketing in the winter approach for the winter of 2011-2012. But ther