Windsong Farm

12/01/2024

We have an opening available for Field Board/Partial Self Care: $300/month on a private 100 acre farm in Clear Spring, MD.

Perfect for the casual horse owners, lay-ups, retirees, and/or anyone looking for a peaceful, uncomplicated, family-friendly environment. Owners live on site. Located within minutes of Interstates 70 & 81. C&O Canal, State Parks and Natural Resource Areas are within 10 - 15 min drive for trail riding. Please feel free to message if you're interested or would like more information!

Includes:
- Daily checks
- Run-ins
- Lush grass pastures supplemented with unlimited hay during cold winter months
- Insulated water tanks
- Access to barn and stalls for riding, vet, farrier work, etc.

Full care / Stall board is also available. PM me for more information.

12/01/2024

I shall
Gather up
All the lost souls
That wander this earth
All the ones that are alone
All the ones that are broken
All the ones that never really fitted in
I shall gather them all up
And together we shall find our home

“Gather up” A Poem written by Athey Thompson
Taken from A Little Book Of Poetry
By Athey Thompson

Photograph taken from “Through the back door” by J Pickford and A Green

12/01/2024

01/24/2023

Allowing foals to run loose while moving their mothers to and from pasture or breeding stocks can be treacherous.
Try this easy and no purchases necessary (everybody has a halter hanging around). Stops them from running off, laying down or flipping over. Later, we add a foal halter. Then, no longer need the halter/harness.
My friend Carri Foster Genz taught me this years and years ago.

01/23/2023

LETS TALK ABOUT ULCERS AND ALFALFA!!!!

Thought this was neat and worth sharing🤔

Alfalfa and horses with ulcers
Research from Texas A&M University shows that feeding alfalfa to horses with the potential to be high performers either prevents or is therapeutic in treating stomach ulcers.

Something in alfalfa hay tends to buffer acid production, said Dr. Pete Gibbs, Extension horse specialist. Feeding grain, confinement, exercise and overall environmental stress factors are thought to cause ulcers, he said. Studies have shown that horses will heal if provided less acidic diets.

In the research, 24 quarter horses from 12-16 months old were separated into two treatment groups. One group was fed Bermuda grass hay and the other fed alfalfa hay to meet the daily roughage needs. The yearlings received forced exercise during the study. The horses were examined internally with an endoscope at the beginning and end of two 28-day trials.

It's commonly thought that horses turned out on pastures are better off than those that are confined. However, if grass hay is the only hay they are fed, horses can still get gastric ulcers, he said.

In this study, ulcer scores increased when alfalfa was removed from the horses diets, and they were turned out on pasture. Under the ulcer-scoring system, 0 signified no ulcers, with severity increasing to level 4.

Further work is needed to look at horses with varying degrees of ulceration to better determine the full extent to which alfalfa or alfalfa-based products might help from a feeding management standpoint.

Based on what we know right now, for horses that are kept in confinement, eating feed and getting forced exercise, it makes sense to consider some alfalfa as part of their diet, he said.

Until further research is done, he recommends, horses weighing between 1,000-1,300 pounds should be fed about 1 pound of alfalfa after a grain meal.

Follow this link: http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=224

01/08/2023

Hahaha TRUE 😂
credits: Tumblr

01/08/2023

Hahaha that always happens 😂
credits: Tumblr

12/21/2022

12/21/2022

‘Tis the season…

12/12/2022

It's the night before Christmas and I'm out in the barn, Blanketing my horses to keep them all warm. They're eating their dinners, tucked cozy in stalls, Not aware that it's Christmas, or any day special at all.
They dream of spring pastures from their pine-scented beds. No visions of sugarplums dance in their heads. But we people are thinking of merry parties and such, Quickly doing our tasks so we don't miss too much.
This season is special, but the horses don't know. They munch on their hay safe out of the snow I finish my chores and head on inside To get ready for dinner and my family's yuletide
It's nearly midnight, the carols are sung. I remember a story told when I was young, How at midnight on each Christmas Eve The barnyard creatures can speak to us with ease.
I am called to the barn. I slosh through the snow. I can't really explain; I know I must go. I slide open the door, and stand there and smile Then slowly walk down the dimly lit aisle.
A nicker from Idaho, a soft snort from Montana, Sweet, gentle Secret gives me a wink Skeeter rustles his bedding, Doc comes into sight Even Honey gives a greeting as I walk through the night.
I thought about parties bright lit and warm, The ones we don't go to cause we have the barn, And vacations and holidays that we usually don't get, Cause we have the animals and chores to be met.
Walking all the way to the end of the aisle, I stop to stroke Idaho, and linger awhile She snuffles my face, hot breath on my skin And I look around at the others, my horses, my friends.
I could be at parties with laughter and mirth But where I am right now is the best place on Earth.
Artist- unknown