AnimalCrackers

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas everyone.
Hope you all eat too much, drink wisely 🤔🤣 and laugh loads.

23/12/2024

A list of what you can and cannot feed your horse, as it says be careful and don’t give them too much of anything new to their diet

SAFE TO FEED TO HORSES OR NOT? 🥦🥕🧅🍅

A few of you have been asking me lately about what veg you can feed your horses safely.

There's the leftovers during the Christmas season or as a result of the huge influx of veg and fruit into your household for the January healthy eating binge!

YES
Apple/pear (slice if small), banana, oranges (chop if small), melon, grapes, dried fruit, fresh berries, peaches/nectarines/plums/mango/dates (stones taken out), coconut, carrot/parsnip (sliced longways not chopped), turnip/swede/beets (sliced if small), celery, cooked potato, sweet potato, pumpkin (peeled), courgettes, tomatoes (not the plants!; chop if small), green beans, peas, fresh seaweed

NO
Broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower (all safe only in very small quantities, so best to avoid), onions, leek, garlic (more than a few cloves daily), avocado (skin and pip are poisonous), spinach, chard, potato and tomato plants, aubergine

🍀 Always introduce all new feeds gradually
🍓 Keep in mind using fruit and veg as treats e.g. under 200g daily is quite different to using the above as feeds e.g. 1-2 kg daily
🥕 Horses can easily choke on chopped carrots or small round fruit or veg e.g. apples or beetroot, so always slice
🍒 Don’t assume a fruit is safe because the plant or tree it grows on is and vice versa (e.g. stoned cherries are safe, cherry trees are not)
🍄 Natural does not always mean safe and every year there are cases of horses poisoned by eating natural plants e.g. hemlock, acorns, ragwort, laurel, bracken, horsetail, sycamore seeds

PLEASE, NEVER FEED ANYTHING TO A HORSE THAT DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU OR WHOM YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO FEED

Sadly, I regularly hear of cases of colic from people throwing hay into the fields of horses who look like they don't have much to eat. If you would like to help, the best option is to find the owners and kindly ask them about their horses and whether or not they (the owners) are struggling and would like some help. For example, the horses/ponies might be overweight and on restricted rations, they might have poor teeth and not be able to eat hay. If the owners are disagreeable and you're worried about the horse's welfare, contact the RSPCA, the BHS Welfare Dept or any other reputable charity who can help.

Please share to spread the word! Thank you
🍏🐴

20/12/2024

Nearly on holiday, one lovely pony to check, feed and cuddle (she’s extremely sweet) in the morning, and that’s 2024 done , just a wee holiday booking in between Christmas and New Year.

Thanks to everyone for your support this year, if you didn’t trust us with your furry friends I wouldn’t be able to say July 2025 is Animal Crackers 20th anniversary 😱

So thank you all, and both Davie and myself wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you in January!

20/12/2024

Nothing beats skipping out early morning when it’s so peaceful and your horse falls asleep on your knee, he should have been a dog 🤣

18/12/2024

I now have availability for holiday cover (around New Deer/Maud area) March 10-28th

17/12/2024

Let's do a shout out to local businesses, these are ones that I have used or in the case of today's one I know rather well!
Social media is a free way to promote our local small businesses, it costs nothing to click the like button or even better the share button, write a review and spread the word to your friends and family, it is all free advertising and could help generate business for them.

So today I will share Davie's driving instruction page.
If you or know of anyone looking to learn to drive why not drop him a message for further info.

Davie Paton Driver Training

13/12/2024

🤫I have the weekend off😱
Just 6 more stables to do, then 2 dogs to walk and ponies to feed and check and I am off until Monday morning.

I still have some availability for 2025 if anyone is organised and has their holidays booked.

Also the diary is open for bathing and plaiting for competitions, I might even be persuaded to do some grooming at competitions if anyone needs a buddy to help out.

Please feel free to drop me a message for further info on holiday cover and house sitting.

10/12/2024

This is me💩🤣

🐎 Follow for more 🐎

10/12/2024

Drop me a message if you want to order some of this wonderful supplement, I have used this on my own horses and can 100% say it works.

Best Selling Equine Product

10/12/2024

SPACE NOW FILLED!

I have a rare space for dog walking starting in January on Fridays, limited to Maud, New Deer or Methlick inc areas in between.
All dogs are on leads (insurance restrictions) walks are 20-30 minutes.
Please message me for more info.

03/12/2024

So true

01/12/2024

Charlie was getting interviewed for an apprenticeship position, but he stole my cuppa so he isn’t getting the position 🤣

29/11/2024

I had hired Waulkmill Show Centre for Enya yesterday but the roads were to slippery for towing, so I decided to take the dogs over. Poor Speckles has been a bit lame the last few months, she escaped surgery and was referred to the physio.
She’s been on lead only exercise for a while now but she’s allowed to do a bit more now (after she’s been warmed up) but I have been wary about letting her off at home as she’ll head straight to the bushes and probably injure herself again, so yesterday she got a freedom run in the school, oh boy she was just so happy.
Dotty found the mounting steps great fun (she’s never had a staircase to play on 🤣)

I was thinking would people be interested in me picking their dog up and taking them to waulkmill and letting them have a play? It’s totally secure so my insurance would be valid👍

29/11/2024

Support your local businesses!

29/11/2024

Interesting article

Signs of stress in the horse aren’t always going to be as overt as explosive behaviours, sudden displays of aggression and clear outward reactivity.

They’re prey animals and are experts at masking pain and discomfort as a result.

They “injured” prey animal is the one selected as a meal by predators. Horses have evolved with this in mind.

The eye does tell us a lot about the internal state of the horse, though.

Tension of the eye is a reliable way to start to catch even fleeting moments of low grade stress.

The stressed eye takes on a triangulated shape, with the eye lid pulled up in tension, often creating wrinkles.

A relaxed, but alert, eye is much softer in the lid, with the lid taking on a shape that more closely resembles an upside down “U”.

Starting to notice the subtle changes in your horse’s expression can help you to notice rising stress before it explodes into highly noticeable, oftentimes dangerous behaviour.

It can also be the difference between noticing injuries as they begin subtly and less severely or waiting until a substantial issue has developed.

The facial expressions of the horse have been chronically undervalued over the tradition of horse training and it’s only been in relatively recent years that this has been emphasized more.

This has led to a lot of people downplaying the significant of the subtle signs of stress.

But, with the growing body of scientific research, it is becoming more clear which behavioural signals are correlated with stress response.

This research demands a shift in how we view the horse.

And that can start with YOU and your application of this newfound knowledge.

Noticing stress behaviours and working to low stress as a result could be the ticket to dramatically lowering the number of injuries sustained by riders and handlers.

It will also improve the welfare of the horse and promote more empathetic training practices.

25/11/2024

Glad of my energy boosters hiding in the car, as the first job of the week takes more than 3 times longer than usual, cheers storm Bert🙄

21/11/2024

Stormy sky this morning.
Just thought I would do a holiday update.

I am planning on taking some time off over Christmas.😱
I won’t be working Saturday 21 December (I have 1 job booked in which I will obviously be doing 🤣) to Wednesday 1 January (inc)
I know some people will be off the first week of January, if you don’t need cover from the 2nd can you please let me know.
Hard to believe that 2024 will soon be over, it’s zoomed past!
2025 is pretty much booked up, some limited availability from May onwards 😳

20/11/2024

Supplies, along with my tea of course.
Getting totally fed up with this weather now, it’s hard going walking there the snow even worse pushing barrows