Lazy R Ranch

10/25/2023

10/15/2023

We have been treating a number of ponies and miniature breeds recently, so thought we would share an interesting case each week in August
Did you know that because of the size of their heads and comparatively large size of their teeth, ponies and miniature breeds are prone to a number of dental conditions, such as overcrowding and tooth root infections?
Check out this skull from a young miniature pony with some of the outer bone removed, showing the size of the teeth compared to the size of the head.

10/13/2023

Cafeteria feeding provides your horse with a selection of forage feeds to pick at, giving them some control over what they eat and when

10/12/2023

Longeing horses in a controlled way and avoiding overlongeing could be the most effective ways to protect their joints.

10/12/2023

One equine nutritionist explains how to ensure your horse’s diet does not contain dangerous levels of sugar.

10/10/2023

Nutritionist Dr. Clair Thunes shares advice on how to reduce your horse's risk of colicking this fall.

10/05/2023

Being a champion isn't buying the most expensive horse, having the most expensive barn, trailer, or tack. Being a champion isn't winning a class or a buckle. Being a champion isn't always glory and great times.

Being a champion is love, passion, hard work, dedication... It's tears and screaming, it's not always easy. It's working no matter what conditions you have to do it in. It's late nights and early mornings, it's horses before yourself, before your friends, often before your family. Its sore bodies, bruises, and cuts. It's vet bills and last dimes to make sure they have all they need. It's crying in their mane when you had a bad day. It's smiling when they finally get that thing you've been trying to teach them for a month. It's having the best network of people to care for them and to support you. It's farriers, vets, dentists, chiropractors, feed store owners, husband's, wives, family, friends and even enemies. It's learning how to take the good with the bad and never knowing what each day may bring. It's the happy and the sad. It's the highs and the lows. Its wanting to give up but never doing so. Most of all, it's the love that you feel every time you see those eyes and hear that nicker. Being a champion really has little to do with victories in the show pen as it does with victories on every road to get to that show. Being a champion is living for what you love and loving what you do and who you do it with and NEVER giving up. The victories are many and the ribbons and the buckles are icing on the cake so to say. But being a champion is so much more than just winning... And once you can learn that, you too will be a champion.

~• Author Unknown ~•

09/29/2023

Such a lovely lady always had a smile and a kind word, until we meet again my friend.

View Nancy Collins Rivenburgh's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

09/27/2023

😂😂😂

09/23/2023

How tight should the girth of your driving harness be? This is a great question because there are a few things to think about!

It is hard to tell how tight your saddle is if there isn’t anyone sitting in the cart. It’s very likely that you can’t really fit your hand under the saddle because of the extra weight from the cart. Two wheeled carts will rest completely on their back UNTIL we sit in them. And this is why balance is key. And being balanced to the weight of the person that sits in it.

So if you have someone sit in it, so you can see if your saddle is too tight, that person should weight around what you do. In other words, don’t have a small child sit in the cart so you can test this ?

As for how tight the saddle should be… that will differ per pony and per driver, as well as depend on what you are doing. If you are pleasure driving with a very well balanced cart, you probably do not need your girth to be super tight. But those that do CDE’s and especially the marathon portion will need a tighter girth to keep everything in the proper place.

Typically, we want to be able to easily slide my hand between the side of the pony and the girth strap after they are harnessed and have had a chance to breath. Typically this can loosen some as you drive.

For those of us that come to driving from riding NOT making the girth tight can be a hard thing to settle into. The saddle of the harness is not balancing anything. It is there to hold the shafts of the cart. It’s there to connect the breeching to. In some cases it’s there to connect the breast collar to. On a work style harness there really isn’t a saddle, but just a wide strap that connects the hames to the breeching of the harness. This is because typically when using a work harness you are driving a pair or a team and there aren’t any shafts, therefore there won’t be any weight on the horse’s back, so no saddle is necessary.

A big tip in closing is, if your horse or pony does get a little sore behind the elbow, we suggest getting a girth that is a bit longer. If you have a longer girth than is traditionally seen, the buckles will clear that area behind the elbow and very often this can fix the problem!

09/17/2023

09/06/2023

Good information copied
Okay horse peeps! Now's the Time to start preparing to do fall w**d spraying in your pastures and paddocks. Let the Rain get the w**ds growing a little bit but spray before temps get below 60°. The more leaves the w**ds have the more chemicals you can get into their roots so don't cut the w**ds back before you spray. I doubled my grass yield in my small pastures this last year by doing a fall and early spring spraying. Late spring and summer spraying is not as effective so first chance you get in the early spring when the weather's above 60° for a few days and dry for 24 hours spray your w**ds. Don't wait till the buttercups blooming and ask how to get rid of it cuz it's too late in the year then. Good luck! One more thing, the chemicals you choose depends on what kind of w**ds you have so make sure to get that figured out ahead of time before you buy chemicals.

09/01/2023

If your equine lives in acorn county, now is the time to figure out a way to keep your horse. pony, donkey, or mule away from oak trees. Acorns can be toxic for horses, and present the additional risk of laminitis for horses with EMS. Read more in Dr. Kellon's blog here: https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2021/10/27/acorn-toxicity-in-horses/

08/18/2023

08/17/2023

Between the ears