Here's the result of my work at the barn in the EARLY EVENING of Nov. 7, 2022 under that full moon.
Now it doesn't matter HOW late children get home from school! 😁 (this was taken around 6:30 PM!)
Kyla on Sugar
We can still have wonderful, fun days!
This was late afternoon Sunday, August 8, 2021. This young lady has been helping out at the barn, and this time she was helping by exercising Sugar a little.
Sugar had gotten the impression that her reason for living is to stand around and eat. We're reminding her that she has to "sing for her supper". lol
Cold late April snow
Brrrr. The horses know where to stand out of the west wind!
Barn Cam
Now you can watch the horses walk into their stall and out, plus you can move the barn camera to see them over by the round pen, or to see other animal or human visitors, up by the big garage doors. And we still have an even better setup planned....just still can't find the mounting equipment that came with the camera! Message us with your request and we'll give you the user id and password for the barn cam (assuming we know and trust you!)
Some "side benefits" of having horses, especially horses that are kept more or less "naturally": i.e. 24/7 pasture freedom with stalls to run in if they choose. They mash the grass into mud, putting large divits in it with their hooves, and then when it rains you get a gazillion mud ponds. Add ruts from the bulldozer that emptied the manure pit and a heavy, all-afternoon rain, and this is the result! This was Saturday afternoon, March 9, 2019.
Starting a student out in the ball field on Sugar
We can do intermediate lessons in "The Ball Field", even in the snow!
This video is from October 2017, but it shows part of The Ball Field.
In this part of the lesson, I'm shoing the young woman (on Sugar) where the boundaries are for riding independently in that area (it's like a large, fenceless, grassy arena). After that, I let go and she had some walking and trotting on her own.
"Spring Break"
This past week, our two fuzzy horses were enjoying a SHORT munch on some fresh spring grass in "The Goat Pen".
Horses or ponies must not be turned out suddenly on new spring grass to eat as much as they want, or they may founder or colic due to its high sugar (and other nutrients) content.
In a week or two, we'll use a "shedding rake" on them to remove as much of their fuzzy, winter coats as come loose - after the next cold spell - and soon enough, Sugar's "winter vacation" will be over, as she begins to work for her keep again! ;-)
(Doc is still "on disablility". He should be beginning his "rehab" soon, though!)
Two quick lessons:
1. Founder occurs when a sudden influx of sugar or protein causes the blood vessels just behind the outer wall of the hoof become engorged, causing it to separate from the inner foot structures. A very slight case can just cause a few horizontal wrinkles in the hoof wall; in very bad cases, the hoof more or less folds up! It's extremely painful. Its scientific name is laminitis, because the membrane with the blood vessels adjoining the hoof wall is the lamina. It can also be caused by other certain stressors (see below).
2. Colic occurs when a sudden change in diet causes the micro-organisms that help a horse to digest its food to die off, causing painful gas pockets to form. The pockets can cause portions of its digestive tract to move (rise), especially if the horse lies down and/or rolls on the ground from the oain, and if it gets twisted around enough it can even cause death. This is why people "keep the horse walking" when it has symptoms of colic. Walking is important to the horse's digestion, too... they are not built to eat a lot of food at once and then stand still.
Bonus info: Our previous, best lesson horse, Amir Halam, had some symptoms of colic the week/night he died, but not all of them, and none of the vet's colic treatments helped, so he thought perhaps it was a tumor on a stalk, which he had run into in anoth
April snow
When I arrived at the barn to feed and clean up on Monday, April 16, 2018, this is what greeted me -- Miss Barb
Bareback in the Round Pen
This is an advanced beginner on her second-ever bareback ride.
The exclamation by the videographer at the beginning is about the cell phone camera!
