Dragonfly Farms

11/22/2024

11/22/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/1B65MxsrAw/

The single biggest reason for a horse being unable to recover from grass related laminitis is the owner.

Laminitis season is here in New Zealand. With all of the information freely available on the internet, it never ceases to amaze me how this still happens so frequently and how many owners have absolutely no idea what to do about it.

While I function off of the mantra of “know what happens before what happens happens”, most horse owners seem to function in a state of blissful ignorance until it’s too late. You don’t know what you don’t know.

The key to laminitis is prevention, of course. And prevention looks much the same as treatment. So let’s look in to it.

Hoof health is steadied on 4 pillars.

1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. Environment
4. Hoof care

Horses aren’t designed to eat grass 🤯 Crazy concept, right? But they’re not. Horses are designed to live on a variety of stalky fibre sources. The best we can usually offer them in domestication is hay.

Prevention: Feed hay, limit grass.
Treatment: Feed soaked hay, ZERO grass. Yes, that includes the little green f***ing shoots that are peeking through. They’re the worst because they’re full of sugar.

Horses in the wild get their nutritional vitamin and mineral needs from the variety they browse. Horse in domestication need us to provide those vitamin and minerals by way of hard feed.
“But my horse is fat and has laminitis!!! I can’t hard feed it!”

Yes, you f***ing can and you should.

What you should NOT feed your horse is premixed feeds full of grain and molasses that requires you to feed 4kg a day in order to get your horse the nutritional requirements it needs.
What you SHOULD do is feed them a small, low calorie feed of simple fibre sources such as beet or chaff, with salt and a balanced vitamin and mineral powder.
Not only is this the healthiest way to feed but it is also the most cost effective.

Prevention: Feed a simple fibre based feed with balanced vitamin and mineral powder; DO NOT feed premixed feeds full of molasses and grain that requires 4kg of feed.
Treatment: Feed a simple fibre based feed with balanced vitamin and mineral powder; DO NOT feed premixed feeds full of molasses and sugar that requires 4kg of feed.

You have to understand that vitamins and minerals play a vital role in the healthy function of the body. Without them, your horse will not make it.

Horses in the wild travel around 20+ kilometres per day over varied terrain. They romp and play with their herd.
Horses in domestication often live in a small paddock and receive below average exercise for less than an hour a day.

Prevention: Keep your horse in large paddocks or dry lot, preferably with a herd or on a track system. Work or ride your horse 3-5 times a week in such a way that they work up a light sweat.

Treatment: Keep your horse in a dry lot or track system, preferably with a herd. Assuming your horse is sound, work or ride your horse 3-5 times a week in such a way that they work up a light sweat.

We don’t want horses lathering in sweat and heaving for their life. What creates a light sweat in one horse may not in another. If your horse is fat, a 20 minute walk on the lunge may be enough.

In the wild, horses travel 20+ kilometres a day over varied terrain which wears down their hooves.
In domestication horses stand in the corner of a paddock and do f*** all 🤷🏻‍♀️ If they’re lucky their owner might get their hooves trimmed every 6 weeks.

Prevention: Have your horses hooves trimmed every 4 weeks, year round. No excuses.
Treatment: Have your horses hooves trimmed weekly or fortnightly to correct the deviation then move to 4 weekly trims year round. No f***ing excuses!

So there you have it, the 4 pillars of hoof health for the prevention and treatment of grass related laminitis.

It’s not f***ing hard!

NOTE: I’m swearing because this is kindergarten basics of horse care. Know better. Do better. I’m sick of being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff and my heart breaking for theses horses that should have never ended up in this position.

11/04/2024

Introducing the Arabian Recreational Riding Program (ARRP)! This new online program rewards riders for every hour spent riding or driving their horse, whether it’s trail riding, ranch work, or just pleasure riding. Members can win exciting milestone prizes sponsored by STS Ranchwear!

Enroll now with a one-time $25 fee ⤵️
https://www.arabianhorses.org/login/ArrpSignup?execution=e2s1

11/03/2024

We did consider bringing Violet to this wagon train because the drivers are very experienced mule skinners and I knew if anything bad happened I'd be in good hands but in the end I decided to bring Knight and Splash.

Photos are borrowed from other attendees as I had my hands full. A couple are my own ....

Next year I'm taking the whole weekend off to enjoy this ride each of the 3 days.

10/30/2024

Violet understood the assignment.

10/28/2024

Over the weekend Quinn and I went to a Poker a Ride locally that had been rescheduled because of a hurricane earlier in the month. Of course "everyone else" was at Hulaween. Also, a lot of the trail was roped off for the event due to downed trees. If you go out to ride you can bypass the ropes but since organized events generally have a variety of riders it was just easier to do a quick loop.

Violet went back to work. She is going to be a nice pony for someone. I just don't have it in me to market her "as an Arabian" with her head tied BTV or with me riding her over jumps, questionably. I have a couple nice "ponies" to choose from so I welcome any barns to bring their own barn rats to try them out. I don't have the resources to take 100 videos. I stand behind their breeding and training though.

Sparrow is starting her training. She's an interesting girl that I know I'm going to enjoy. I've loved her since the day she was born. She "could be" for sale but she's more than welcome to stay here for ever n ever.

Quin

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/tanzyr+equinox

Violet

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/ultra+violet+df

Sparrow

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/silver+winged+sparrow

10/23/2024

Bros bro-ing

Koi

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/kumonryu+koi

Rooster

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/chute+rooster

Knight

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/eq+beyond+mid-knight

Shalimar

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/shalimar+twentytwo

10/23/2024

Your job is not…

1. To please everyone.

2. To be invited everywhere.

3. To pretend to be someone you’re not to fit in.

4. To quiet yourself, hide the truth, say all the things people want you to say, do all the things people want you to do, be more palatable to the masses.

5. To impress anyone, to show off, to entertain them, or to manipulate them into liking you by being “on.”

Your job is…

1. To be good. To be kind. To hold onto your morals and your integrity.

2. To know who you are and to have a home in your own heart and soul.

3. To be exactly who God created you to be.

4. To speak life—to speak the truth.

5. To be genuine, authentic, forthcoming and vulnerable and to remember that their perception of who you are isn’t necessarily yours to hold. Fake people can be charming for a while, but they can never shine the way the real ones do.

Love,
Amy

Sister, I am with you.

10/21/2024

Who wants to ride this lazy thing at Autumn Classic? 😂

10/19/2024

The pines on our farm are being harvested. In pic 1 you can kinda see our wild turkeys a bit confused. There is a fence between the horses/turkeys and pine trees.

In pic 2, the "baby Appaloosas" got kicked out of their pasture so we could do some storm clean up. The pines in the background will also be harvested.

Once harvested, the logging company will clean up the tops and branches they couldn't use, then prep the land to replant.

10/06/2024

I'm not really "ready" to talk about it, which is quite silly since a lot of things are water under the bridge and many things have happened long ago.

But it's something I must do.

They say that you should give people their flowers while they're still alive so today I want to celebrate my dearest friend and "Florida Mom".

We met by chance. She actually stalked me thru Datasource many years ago. She had family property in the area which she was returning to and was able to reach out to Arabian breeders local to that property. My home, at the time, was just miles from her property. We were cautiously excited!

In the mean time, her horses lived in or near Orlando..... there's just too many bunny trails to chase here so if you know the details and must insist on historical accuracy, with respect, nobody gives a s**t. It was a long time ago.

Anyway, they all lived down south and we had a MAJOR hurricane to the area. It might have been the year we had 4 come across my part of Florida. One of those hit them a lot harder though. I believe we were on the phone at one point and her power and everything went out. I wasn't sure of her status for a couple weeks.

Slowly but surely we all recovered. And they made their way north, well, the horses did. The show must go on and all that.

At the time I was pretty active with the "local" Arabian club and showed regularly in Ocala, Jax and Perry GA, as well as 999 open shows, usually bringing my good horse and at least one other.

I had a small group of 4H type kids and ammy adults that we loaded into my 9 horse head to head trailer just about every weekend.

My BFF, Tam, was building her breeding program and putting points on her junior stallion with her trainer. We all got along amicably despite being in competition so to speak.

We agreed early on that our programs were stronger, forged together as one. We all run our own programs but if we get clients that we feel another one of our sister barns would be a better for, we "share" them around and give them a safe space to explore.

After years of competition between my own stallion and my BFF junior stallion we kind of looked forward to a type of retirement I suppose.

Sada's trainer put a nice foundation on him. Kind of hard to mess up when the breeding is there. We have always tried to put good minded horses in the market. TanZyr program is a little more focused on the beautiful, typey, Arabian head on a black coat. My program is a little more focused on tough horses that can go all day on any color.

Things went a little sideways for our programs one year at an ammy show when I basically pulled my stallion out of pasture and beat Sada's scores in hand. Things were said, by Sada's trainer, that put me off for the rest of the show. There was a lot going on at the time. It had taken me some mental fortitude to even show up if we're being honest.

And thinking about it, I haven't showed since. Not in any serious capacity. The person who made the comments had talked LOUDLY out of the side of their mouth about me and my stallion before.

It's so ridiculous because I knew what my own stallion was capable of. I knew how many times he saved my life and here is this person basically ridiculing us because we're not going around the arena to THEIR liking? And I'm paying a lot of money to be here? No thanks.

The TanZyr breeding program changed direction a bit. Their senior stallion offered a lot to their foundation, having been a racing bred Arabian with a wonderful disposition and great bone. That was Sada's sire.

In the meantime TanZyr produced a nice c**t which was to be an outcross or replacement for Sada "one day". And my stallion and I just kept doing what we do. Everyone was basically happy and OK.

My stallion, Comet, got old on us just as "I was getting my s**t together". I had more or less just inherited a herd of nice black mares and moved onto a property that was ready for a program.

Truth be told, Comet produced well but nothing that made me say wow. Granted, I was only producing a couple foals every couple of years, and some of those half Arabians.

My heart just isn't into breeding, even though I've handled stallions since I was about 9 and owned them since I was 13. Stallions are meant for riding. lol

Before Comet passed I had already got my good mare going well and my husband was riding my Appaloosa stallion, Romeo. [Inserted random fact for historical relevance.]

When we laid Comet to rest it ripped my heart out.

I didn't care to continue breeding nor really own another stallion.

But Sada was for sale and everyone who came to look at him just wasn't the right fit.

Eventually Sada came to live here.

When he came up to our area Tam told me about his training level and that he was having a particular issue under saddle. I think it was hours after he stepped off the trailer, I had him saddled up and I was asking him to perform the task, which he did with his nose curled back. At that point I think I put about 30-60 days on him and sent him home.

When he came to live here I turned him out for about 30 days with 2 geldings and didn't ask him for s**t. His mind needed a bit of a reset.

I did eventually get Sada going under saddle. The first time I took him to the woods, my husband and I saddled up at a trail head and walked to the river and back. We were on thousands of acres of water management so we had plenty of opportunity to be out for hours. But. It was like sitting on a powder keg. Better to call it while safe rather than pushing the issues.

The next time I took Sada out to a trail ride we camped. I think it was also a little cold and rainy. When I got on him that morning he was all bravado. We walked in the camp ground a little bit then went to the trail. We probably rode a couple hours and he calmed down. That trail head has an obstacle course so we did work on those a bit. He wasn't a fan. Did a champion sport horse, he did not, at that time, know where to put his feet.

I took Sada out to a few open shows and we did OK. The vibe was kinda off. I feel like he was made for slaying dragons, not piddling around an arena. He never said no, never complained. He was just happy to be out meeting people on my behalf.

One July afternoon we had a wicked lightning storm that took Sada and his gelding friend. My heart was ripped out again.

I pretty much said fk it at that point but also, I'm not mad about all the hard work that went into both Comet and Sada. Very different animals. Sada, so kind and curious all the time. So willing and eager to please. Somewhat of a clown. Comet was a pit bull. He put himself between me and danger many times. He's one that would look down his nose at you as you approach. You could almost hear him say "I'll allow it" if I gave him the side eye as "ok" people approached. He was always dignified and always out thinking you. Always taking care of his rider.

But these boys were very similar as well. They were the epitome of the Arabian breed, in your tent and would go to war with you.

I'm not over it. I'll never be over it.

But along came TanZyr Equinox.

Very sweet but full of attitude since the day he showed up on this earth. I'm sure Tam would have a contrasting assessment of him. I believe she had to help him be born because he had a leg turned back.

When I would visit Tam at her farm he was always clowning, chewing on his tongue or just acting a fool. Such a charmer, that one.

I feel like he knew our pain. He was born at a strange time. Like, we had had all these plans for our programs but there was so much loss and obstacles in general that makes you rock back on your heels and say "WTF" a lot.

Here on my farm I like to geld everything. I don't trust people to do right by an intact horse. It takes a very special person to handle stallions and not be barn blind on top of it. The horse industry is a game. A fickle game.

We eventually agreed that since I had the space for a baby stallion Quinn would come live with me.

You can never replace your heart horse. Never. I did not take Quinn in hopes that he would be the next Sada or Comet.

He had kinda an attitude when he got here too. And he was too big to be having an attitude so it was a real battle within, for me.

One day, not that long ago, I was getting ready to work Quinn in the round pen and he looked up to the heavens and just stared like he was receiving a celestial download. He didn't even blink.

I worked him for about 30 minutes .... and had the best ride ever on him. I really wanted to cry. A spirit had moved. And no, I'm not saying we could have gone out and won Regionals or whatever.

But what I am saying is, if you have never felt that spirit move, I am so sorry for you.

Our rides after that were able to be more training rides rather than "please don't kill me" rides. We really made progress. This is in addition to me taking Quinn to horse camping and ponying him on trail rides.

So this weekend I invited a friend to go to an organized ride with me. The trail really is technical. There were a lot of chances for me to die. My friend is not a hand but she was riding Quinn's buddy so I was hoping that if I fell off or got in a sticky spot, Quinn would have gone to them.

Quinny was so very brave and caring on the ride. The only time I questioned my life decision was when I first mounted. He was not super confident. He had a little hump in his back.

(After Sada was killed by lightning, I kept seeing the word "rook" pop up in strange places. On the trail ride there was a "funny old man" who turned around and told me it looked like I was "riding on a chess board". Naturally, we think of the black knight ....but maybe not. Maybe this funny old man was one of the oracles that are attracted to me who give me divine messages. IYKYK 😆 Another rider asked me if Quinn was a Paso Fino. He wasn't even jigging or being out of line. I didn't see that as a divine message. lol )

But Quinn was probably a good deal better than the resident gelding who can be a pill to ride. ... And I thank that gelding too. He served as kind of a interim horse for me. I felt like if I can ride [gelding] thru this issue and a similar issue comes up with Quinn, I'm just going to handle it.

Our mind is a funny thing. Ya know? I've been riding the rouges all my life but there are some that I guess maybe I baby. It's like I'm too sad to think that this wild thing could be tamed? Maybe that's a conversation for another post.

Anyway, I wanted to report back that we did the damn thing. We did not get stallions banned from the ride and we had a good time.

And that is because my best friend bred her horses correctly and intentionally. And I am so blessed to share them with her and you.

(.... I know a lot of you never got to meet Comet. I brought him here from WI with me. His breeder was also very savvy. I wanted to buy his mother but when I came home from over seas, she wasn't for sale. She had a lovely c**t at her side who was for sale and the rest is [Comet's] history.)

Pictures of the boys (yes, I have a type)

Comet

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/ch+ali+khan

Sada

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/tanzyr+messala+masada

Quinn

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/tanzyr+equinox

09/27/2024

As usual, I'm not in to posting devastating photos of mass destruction so here's a snap shot of a random part of our yard, some refugee campers that came here to park out of the woods, historic blurb of interest and a blue dot view of us going thru it last night.

Minor structural damage over our farm. We got enough taken in Idalia and Debby, not much left to destroy. Some of our friends and neighbors have a LOT to deal with this go round. We are sorry for their loss and lift them up in spirit.

I'd say the wind gusts were easily over 150mph. The windows shook so much you could probably say they vibrated.

Not My Dog knew when the worst gusts were about to happen because he climbed his 80 lb self into my lap and pressed his heart against mine several times.

Horses were high headed and snorty this morning. The young Appaloosas were huddled in a corner of their pasture while the Arabians looked down their nose at their surroundings as the sun came up.

If anyone wants to come pick up sticks lemme know. I'll at least feed you. 😂

09/25/2024

Here we go again. We are approximately where the little alien is sitting.

TS Helene

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2024/09/24/hurricane-helene-on-forecast-track-to-hit-big-bend-with-115-mph-winds-tallahassee-florida-tropical/75361977007/

09/24/2024

Some pics Mekyla snapped that I'm late posting.

Nimaru kept rolling under the fence and worrying her mother "to death" so we went ahead and weaned her.

She's been alone, learning to be tied and lead. Now she's in the round pen with her sire on the outside of it. I decided to move him over (to the arena) because I heard her whinnying and didn't want her alone.

It's hunting season and even though there are no hunters on our property, the game is moving thru. I didn't want her spooked thru the night.

We have turkey and deer sharing water and cleaning up feed thru the day but it's different at night when you're little.

Bonus pic of Nimaru with her sire, Quinn, at the hitching rail this morning.

*

We had 2 foals due this year by Quinn. Unfortunately the other filly, out of our foundation mare from AZ, didn't make it. She was born early. She was black and had a blanket.

*

In the pics we have: Turtle (buckskin; her sire is Nimaru's paternal grandsire), Splash, QTPie and Sparrow (Splash, Sparrow, QTPie

09/22/2024

The internet is wild so here's my 2 cents for the day.

As you all know, my husband has a broken leg that needed surgery so he's laid up.

Most of you locals know that he's our farrier. He went to school for it and has been trimming our horses for years.

Of course he breaks his leg just before "trail riding season" and of course all our horses are due for at least a trim.

I contacted several local farriers but most, as is typical for this area, didn't bother to call me back or acknowledge my existence on this planet.

And no, it's not because I owe them money. I haven't needed an outside farrier in a long time and I am more than willing to put a group of horses together, not just 1 this week and 1 in 6 weeks. I know how this business works and I'm not wasting anyone's time.

So, I remembered that a mutual friend posted a farrier come in from out of town and I shot him a message not knowing anything about the individual.

Communication was excellent. He texted and calls back. We set up a time and he showed up.

Well, because this place has been a funny farm lately, there was a lot going on the afternoon he showed up. Most farriers would have been like "K, thanks, bye...." and left without attempting to trim not even one horse.

But we got 7 done, in the open, with literally a ton of random (somewhat unfortunate) events going on all around us, in 3 hours.

For those who don't know, I have Arabians and Appaloosas. They are characters. They choose who they want to deal with. If your vibe is off they will not tolerate you.

I opened Facebook today to see someone mention this person I had at my house, who I worked well with and my horses accepted.

Of course I wasn't in the situation mentioned in the thread. I just want to say you have got to take things with a grain of salt and you've got to have a sense of humor.

I don't agree with horse abuse but I have found that some owners believe their horses carry human emotions and can puzzle out things the same way humans do so horses can get confused about boundaries. It's important to keep our own emotions in check when we need to be a strong confident leader.

If there was ever an opportunity for a high strung farrier to fly off the handle and abuse horses it would have been Friday afternoon at my house under the oaks and it never even came close to happening.

When we get professionals recommended to us we have to do due diligence and check references, and also accept that our personalities may not mesh at the end of the day.

09/11/2024

https://youtu.be/yvQzE10sYVw?si=dqYN0Q3Fk2n68zXX

Listen as Brooke Gemmell shares how her horses have supported her mental health and emphasizes that it’s okay to ask for help. She opens up about how the Ara...