Fur & Feathers Farm

13/12/2024

One of the things I like most about going to Equine Affaire is discovering new products that are coming to market. I had been trying to brainstorm a homemade solution for Zeph to scratch her itchy belly safely when I spotted this giant paintbrush as I strolled through the Better Living Center. I stopped at the booth to learn more about the BellyBrush by Abrae. I liked the design so much that I placed my order on the Monday after the event. It shipped quickly from CA and arrived on my east coast doorstep in less than a week.

The “stem” is make out of a solid firm but flexible piece of rubber and is topped by a head of long synthetic bristles. This video is less than a week after I installed it in the paddock. Zeph loves it! It took very little time for all of the horses to start using it. I do think I will need to set it a bit higher for her - or just order a second one and keep this one for Sophie’s round and lower to the ground belly.

Photos of the BellyBrush are in the comments. Here is a link to the vendor website if you’d like to check it out.
https://abrae.com/

12/12/2024

The Yule Cat (Jólakötturinn) is a giant cat in Icelandic folklore, that roams around the countryside at Yuletide. The Yule Cat looks for people who are not nicely dressed in new clothes for the festivities and swallows them whole. 🐈‍⬛

🎨 by Iren Horrors

09/12/2024

A really thought provoking article about how much more progress needs to be made in what is considered acceptable training methods for horses

We are not alone in believing that the precautionary principle should be applied in horse sports, training and care.

This article in the Sunday Times by Owen Slot the Chief Sports writer looks predominately at whips - it’s a little shocking but bang on point.

The author mentions bits and noseband tightness. The question is when will the FEI and their related organisations start to protect the horse with the precautionary principle?

Link in the comments …..

17/11/2024

Getting back home from our ride the other day, I had to snap a photo of Emma and Sophie looking like they just came off of a movie set. We recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of Sophie’s “gotcha” day. She is a 22 year old registered Friesian Sporthorse (Friesian,Morgan,Percheron).

15/11/2024

The scars of construction have finally healed on the main property, so we finally let the horses explore the yard outside of their pasture freely for a little while.

07/11/2024

Every once in a while, a behavior you have tried to train suddenly just seems to “click” and you are delightfully surprised.

Being able to roam the farm freely, the dogs often find any number of odd items the have either been left behind by workers or have been recently unearthed. I have tried to teach each dog a “show me” command when they have something in their mouth. They would drop the item at my feet and I would let them know if they could keep it of if I need to take it away. Scout is the master of this - volunteering items at my feet for inspection regularly.

Today, Elfa was following me in the barn and I heard her dropping something,pick it up and poke me with her nose on the back of my leg.
I bent down and said “show me” and she dropped her freshly shed baby tooth at my feet! I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

Red Cedar Tri-Star Windswept Elfa’s Storm

01/11/2024

Happy November!

29/10/2024

A peaceful moment with Tala 🍂🍁

28/10/2024

2 years ago we brought home a tiny filly. Now this “toddler” is passing 16 hands and growing. She is the friendliest horse you could hope for and her training is going wonderfully. Watching her movement at liberty has us excited for when we can join the ride😁

Zephyra f1 Warlander

18/10/2024

Some good graphics included in the post below. It’s a good reminder for those of us with easy keeper type or metabolically challenged horses that the shorter the pasture is, the higher the sugar content is.

06/10/2024

Meet “Street”, the chicken that my daughter found in the middle of the road as she was driving to a friends house late one night 3 years ago. No one responded to our numerous attempts to find her home, so we integrated her into our little flock. She is our friendliest chicken and will follow me around as I garden and take care of the horses.

15/09/2024

A misty morning with the dogs as the sun comes up. We go down before dawn to feed the horses and the dogs do their full yard patrol at that time (baby Elfa still stays close by my side). Afterward, they get breakfast and I have coffee while the sun rises and they can keep watch from the top of the hill on the patio.

11/09/2024

Elfa is making progress in accepting the fact that the chickens are “friends, not food”. It helps that Zoobie, Mazikeen and Street (the chickens) are very accommodating with letting her sniff and burrow her nose in their feathers under supervision.
We tried to be off leash with them yesterday, but when the chicks hurried toward cover, it was too much for Elfa to resist and she began to give chase. To her credit, she stopped when I called her off, but we will stay on leash while the chickens are free ranging just to be safe.

No photos, but Elfa has made huge progress with learning horse safe behavior. I can now have her unleashed on the ground while I lead the horses to and from the pasture. She knows to stay away from their feet and will stay by my pointing finger when I ask her to (which is important when turning the horse around or going through a gate).
She is almost 11 weeks old.

02/09/2024

Elfa “helping” with barn chores. It’s hard to believe I was able to get all this done in half the time before she came along😆

26/08/2024

Happy International Dogs Day!