Mar 17, 2011

forrest taken to arena



This one's pretty funny. Trying to film forrest being bad, but it's the humans having a problem. well, I have 3 horses, so I've been shovin' this freak'n door open and closed-- 6 times a day-- just about all winter and now into spring. We're not allowed to put our horses out. It's either this or hand-grazing. I do both. And why is it I never ride?

Green Reining Clinic



Here's me executing, very slowly, the pattern at the end of the clinic.

Mar 13, 2011

Buckeye Performance Center

From the Reining Clinic for Greenies at Buckeye Performance Center Yesterday
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Mar 5, 2011

Feeding Garlic to Horses

Feeding Garlic to Horses

Said it before and i'll say it again, 'no pizza for my ponies!'

Alfalfa Horse Feeding Facts

Alfalfa Horse Feeding Facts

The use of Alfalfa has come up again at the barn. The above is from an alfalfa grower so of course they have an interest in dispelling myths--and alfalfa does get a bad rap, but most of this is from user error.

This article however doesn't mention that by feeding less because of it's nature, your horse may not get its forage/roughage requirements, especially for stallbound horses, nor does it mention throwing the calcium phospherous ratio out of balance and it's consequences, or a higher incidence of enteroliths in horses in the southwestern regions, yet, with proper use it can be a very beneficial addition to a horses feed program. Recent research has suggested that the higher calcium content may help neutralize acid and benefit horses with ulcers.


Around here, alfalfa and alfalfa mix hay can be pricey so it doesn't always make economic sense to use it as a main forage ration, especially when considering feeding pure alfalfa, your horse will pee out all that excess protein you think he's getting, and during winter months when water intake can be an issue, he won't be able to flush out all the excess material.  All in all,  it's not the demon it's purported to be as long as the user understands its impact on equine health and nutrition and how to compensate for it's use.





Feb 23, 2011

On the Subject of Grooming

Barn this afternoon, take the horses one by one to the indoor arena, clean stalls, waterbuckets, bring the horses back in, one by one. Distributed flakes of hay, doled out mints, made sure all were comfy. I decided to work on Forrests mane, banding and hoping to tame it on the right side. He was flustered about it. He's really particular about his hair I guess. I gather he's had his mane pulled at one time, and probably not very gently as he's pretty nervous when I mess with his mane near crest.The other day I was fussing with it to get the globs of mud out and he swung his neck around and clacked his teeth in warning. Being an appendix, he's so sensitive! He's usually compliant with many things, he even seems to enjoy having his ears clipped--go figure-- but was downright cranky about this spot as I ran my fingers through the hair.

So, I'm working on him, and Lady in the stall beside his, takes little peeks at us and flicks her tail briskly--she's the one that usually gets the beauty treatment--how dare Forrest get special attention! I get the banding done and he looks a little pathetic, a few times shaking his neck at the odd sensation of his mane on this foreign side, and I'm feeling tonight, first thing tomorrow I should just say 'heck with this!' and pull out the bands and let his mane lay where it may, cause you know, sometimes bedhead hurts!

Amazon.com: Grooming To Win: How to Groom, Trim, Braid, and Prepare Your Horse for Show eBook: Susan E. Harris: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Grooming To Win: How to Groom, Trim, Braid, and Prepare Your Horse for Show eBook: Susan E. Harris: Kindle Store

Have been waiting to get this manual for a long time. A must have for anyone's grooming box. I was disappointed that it didn't give a good suggestion for how to actually bang a tail and get it right.

best thing, I can loan this to other kindle users. Leave me a comment if your interested--show season is almost here!

Feb 22, 2011

It's a Weather Roller-Coaster

It's crept up to almost 60 degrees this past week. Horses have been stuck in for at least five days because the ground is so saturated. They did get to go out Saturday, but yesterday we had the rain, then sleet, then rain again. Today was worse--50 degrees this morning and steady rain. I had to just stick my horses in the arena, clean their stalls, and stick them back in.  It's been really rough and they are all getting pretty grouchy.  Temps steadily dropped. By late afternoon,  snow, then ice rain covering everything. When I got home I just curled up with my kindle, then took a nap. Were going back down to 11 to 14 degrees the next few mornings, then back to more moderate temps.

Feb 7, 2011

Eatin" Hay

Finally got'em corraled.

From Today

I'm attempting to get my horses out for some hay in the paddock, instead they just want to goof off.