Blue Yonder Ranch

26/07/2024

09/07/2024

When you decide to release “in memory of" balloons, they don’t go where you hope and think they will. They usually end up in a field where livestock are. Often, young calves or goats will chew on/eat the balloons…

Ingesting plastic such as a trash bag or a balloon can cause intestinal blockage in animals. This may cause starvation. Some livestock may even choke on the balloon, causing a very painful death.

For wildlife and even PETS, they can become entangled in the balloon strings, causing them not to be able to move or even strangling them.

I understand the sentiment behind releasing balloons and the grief felt from losing a loved one. BUT there are so many other options!

- Plant a flower garden or make a rock garden in memory of a loved one.
- Plant a tree and watch it grow.
- Host an “In Memory” Celebration WITHOUT releasing balloons.
- Name a star.

Remember: releasing balloons may give you a moment of comfort, but somebody else may be hurt by the consequences.

EDIT TO ADD: This goes for trash bags as well. Please, don't dump out trash on the road side!

09/07/2024

Embarrassing 🥺

😂😂

25/06/2024

I love our bonding walks, he’s still skeptical lol

23/06/2024

Without horses, modern civilization would be set back centuries, if not millennia.
And someday, when technology fails us, they will be waiting again to carry the burden of our progress 🤍

02/04/2024

We’ve all been there! .com

31/03/2024

Chex 😍

21/03/2024

💪🏻

16/03/2024

This is hilarious 😆

07/03/2024

TA-DA!

25/02/2024

New things coming ☺️

14/02/2024

Creating a stellar trail horse is an art 💚

I’ve got a bone to pick and it might surprise you to know it is with b-l-o-o-d-y trail riders. I get quite a few trail riders coming to my clinics and so I have enough experience and ammunition to make a legitimate complaint.

Actually, I have 2 complaints. The first is easy and I can deal with it in one short paragraph, but the second deserves a rant.

Okay. First up, about half of those that mainly do trail riding describe themselves as “pleasure riders”. Stop it. We are all pleasure riders! I hope we all ride for pleasure – even professional horse people. Being a good horse person is hard and dangerous work, so if you don’t love it, the other rewards (financial, accolades, ribbons) are not sufficient enough to make it worthwhile. So trail riders should stop trying to appropriate the term “pleasure rider.”

Now the second and more important reason I am cranky at trail riders is their attitude.

Whenever I meet a new student at a clinic I ask them what do they do with their horse. I would say 4 out of 5 of the trail people say something like, “Oh not much. I just trail ride” or “I just like to potter around on the trail” or “We are not serious. We just like to ride out in the bush (forest).”

They tell me they trail ride as if they have to apologize for it. It’s as if there is some sort of shame to being a trail rider and they are the second-class citizens of the horse world.

Well, I’m going to tell you that trail riders are not second-class horse people. They are the WARRIOR CLASS of the horse world.

I have come across plenty of people who have had long and highly successful competition careers that wish they had a horse they could safely ride on a trail. They practice their exercises in the safe confines of a riding facility where the most startling and unpredictable thing that can happen is that the horse gets its tiptoes wet on the water jump or it has to cope with a judge placing a rosette on its bridle. Heaven forbid those precious gold-plated ponies with their diamante browbands would have any sort of challenge that would cause their makeup to run.

To train a good trail horse is proof of a person’s skill as a horseman or woman. Creek crossings, steep descents on slippery ground, swampy ground, branches brushing the sides, carcasses of decaying dead animals, inconsiderate car drivers and bike riders are the things of nightmares for many horses trained in other disciplines. But for a good trail horse and their rider with a spine made of tungsten they are nothing more than another point of interest on their sightseeing tour.

To be able to calm a horse that is losing its manure on a trail is a badge of honour that is worth more than any blue ribbon. When on the other side of every new turn in the trail lies in waiting a horse-eating emu, it is the experienced trail rider that will see them to safety. When behind every bush hides the shadow of the grim reaper ready to unleash mayhem and death, it is the trail rider that will slay death.

Nobody should ever apologize for being “just” a trail rider. Stand proud. Be the best you can be at what you do and you will never have to feel second-class to any other horse person. Remember you are the WARRIOR CLASS.

06/02/2024

We really miss the foliage and warm weather 🌱🌿🌻🌞

04/02/2024

Groundhogs are useless lol

30/01/2024

29/01/2024

There is fire in our soul. Never give up.

12/01/2024

It’s so beautiful and so treacherous all at once lol

12/01/2024

Hay nets are full of alfalfa, heated buckets are in, electrolytes are given, music is on in the barn and we are hunkered down and ready! No one is going to be cold and shivering on my watch.

07/01/2024

❄️ 💙

01/01/2024

Happy New Year, everyone! 🥂
Donks is very excited about the news we have coming! Stay tuned:)

26/12/2023

Let your horses be horses.

Let them roll in the dirt and get muddy.

Let them bask in the warm sunlight on sunny days, sunning their coat as they nap in the dirt with friends.

Let them play with other horses, they may get the occasional nick or scratch but their mental health can remain unscathed.

Let them stretch their legs and romp across ground without being under the control of a rider, let them control their pace and buck and play.

Horses don’t care about what brand of blanket they wear, how expensive their saddle is or how neat and tidy their coat is.

They don’t care about appearances, they don’t care about monetary values, they don’t care about status…

This is a large part of why we love them so much, they don’t judge like humans do. They are so much more simple in that way.

Let your horses be horses because there is nothing more breathtaking than a happy and fulfilled horse.

Let your horses be horses and they will thank you forever and you will be able to get to know them in ways you did not know possible.

Pictured is Juniper the Mustang being a happy little swamp donkey.

25/12/2023

In the land of Arabians, Jesus rode a donkey.
Merry Christmas from our farm to yours!

23/12/2023

Let your oldies go with dignity, surrounded by people who love them.

In the horse world, it’s become a bit of a tradition to cut the tail hair of our best horses when we lose them.

We didn’t have Leo for long, just days. Truth be told, the plan was never to keep Leo. Our intention when we bought him at auction was simply to end the cycle of suffering for this big sweet horse. We knew that the end he would have faced without us was not a humane one. The gavel fell that day and he was ours, spared from the semi that was there loading others.

You see, we don’t know about Leo’s past, but his worn body told a story. Leo had two crude brands, clipped fresh for the auction in an attempt to squeeze every bit of money out of him. He had saddle sore scars across his back. He had deep lacerations across his body. His knee was large and painful, presumably from a very old injury. He could not stand without extreme pain. This horse paid his dues to his humans somewhere along the line, yet there he was at auction, failed.

So, we did what his owners before us should have done, the only humane thing for Leo. We brought him home and gave him a kind, dignified end here at the farm.

He deserved so much more, a fraction of the effort he gave the humans who failed him. While that saddens and angers us, we do feel better knowing that the buck stopped with us. That had to be good enough.

We stopped him from being bought and sold at another auction. We saved him from being loaded onto a semi.

If you take nothing else from Leo’s story, hear this:
If you have a horse, when the time comes, BUCK UP AND BURY THEM.
Have the courage and the respect for your horse to put them down in the comfort of their home with people they know.
It’s the only right and humane thing to do with our old horses at the end of their lives.
Full stop.

When your horses are old and infirm, unless you bury them, you are failing them.

Do not dump them on a rescue.
Do not take them to an auction.
Do not try to give them away for free online.
Do not send them with that guy that shows up with a cattle trailer and $100.

Give your horse the end they have earned. Bury them.

Leo is gone now, no longer in pain. While it is hard on our team, we are very grateful that we were able to do that for him, if nothing else. We see so many horses who need the same kindness and don’t get it.

Leo was a good horse for somebody, and we didn’t want him to be forgotten. Before he was buried we cut a piece of tail hair to keep, because everyone knows that all the good horses show up in horse heaven with chopped tails.

Leo was a good boy.
❤️

Bella Run Equine is a non-profit organization located in Athens Ohio.

18/12/2023

"Blessed Are The Husbands”

Blessed are the husbands of horse women
Who have no interest in horses
But love our passions because they love us.

Blessed are the husbands
Who stack hay with not a cross word
And offer to pull the trailer
To God knows where
And stay all day
To watch us do what we love.

Blessed are the husbands
Who have the patience to listen
To our every conversation
About bits and bad ground
And teeth floats and good farriers.

Blessed are the husbands
Who don’t complain about the money
Because soon it will become
feed and entry fees and vet bills.

Blessed are the husbands
Who have the kindness
To sit in the stall with us overnight
On foal watch, or colic,
Or to investigate a strange sound.

Blessed are the husbands
Who possess the wisdom
To let us chase our dreams
And leave the sink full of dishes
And know how we lie
“Just an hour at the barn”

Blessed are the husbands
Sent to horse women with a note from God
“Treasure this one, for he is so rare
He cannot be replaced”

In the horse industry, it’s easy to overlook our silent supporters. Our husbands are the unsung heroes of this wild and crazy ride. Don’t forget to Thank The Husbands.

❤❤❤

13/12/2023

This is what we’re talking about! Let them roll peanuts 😍