Hold Yer Horses

Amanda's Good News

2006-07-29T15:26:00.000-06:00

Good news for Amanda!

Earlier in my broodmares post I related the histories of two of the farm's thoroughbred broodmares, Amanda and Lottie and how they were given last chances to produce something or it was curtains for them. Well, for Amanda, anyway, she has finally managed to earn her keep, barely. Here she is pictured with her first baby and the only filly of the year, Chrissy (short for Crystal and Kayli. Amanda is Amanda and Kelly, the mares in that line always have two names.)

Chrissy is the foal that almost wasn't, several times. In reading the past post you learn what a hellatious time it was trying to get Amanda in foal, last year she finally catches but the ultrasound reveals twins - the kiss of death for a Thoroughbred. One of the babies must be eliminated for the other to have a chance. The day of the procedure the vet finds that that Amanda has taken care of it herself and is working on the other. The remaining embryo looks barely viable and the vet begins making plans with my in-laws (who own her) to wait for the inevitable and decide what to do with her next year.

On top of that, three weeks later I went out to feed the horses and Amanda was barely hobbling on the most swollen, infected leg I'd ever seen. Her front leg from pastern to shoulder was so bad I couldn't wrap my hands around her cannon bone and have my fingers touch. The vet had to drain her leg and put her on antibiotics three times a day for a week that said in big red letters on each syringe "Do not give to pregnant or breeding animals." Our vet said that if that mutated embryo was still around, this would finish it off.

Well, the leg healed and time went on, the other broodmares grew fat though Amanda stayed as trim and spry as ever. Then the month before her due date, we noticed she was just a little thick around the middle, and then, early, but not too early, out came Chrissy. This is not the happy ending however. When she came out, Amanda said "no thank you." This was the only baby we've ever had to bottle feed because the mother rejected it. When Amanda finally came around, I'm sure Jodi, my mother-in-law was ready to retire as nursemaid.

Then finally, at three days old Chrissy just decided to get sick and die, as foals sometimes do. It took a quick vet arrival, some quick thinking with Jodi's natural exhuberance where the horses are concerned, and some touch and go hours before Chrissy decided to make it. She is now big and sassy enough to hold her own with the boys.

So that's the story of Amanda's amazing baby, a miracle if there ever was one. Isn't this the perfect story behind the underdog Triple Crown winner that becomes a national hero and Disney makes a movie about it starring Dakota Fanning? Here's to hoping, keep the name Crystal and Kayli in mind when the Derby rolls around in about three years.

Adios

2006-07-07T15:04:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick sad note. Lyph ran his second race and finished second which is good, but it was a claiming race and he got claimed, which means sold. The trainer didn't think it would happen or he wouldn't have entered him, but this kind of thing happens, racehorses are always a gamble. So now he's gone, we'll try to keep track of him, though.

Derby won her race and to date has never been beat by another mare.

Two for the Track

2006-06-27T16:48:00.000-06:00

Just a quick update, this past weekend my husband, Todd( or TJ Thompson to you My Space fans), his mom and I made the drive across the state to Boise to watch Derby Cat- who has racked up quite a few track accomplishments and Northern Lyph( we just call him Lyph) run in his first ever race.

He is out of the same mare as Derby, grand-daughter of Seattle Slew, my favorite riding horse in her pre-broodmare days and famous for her surly, sometimes dangerous attitude. This, she passed on flawlessly to Derby, who was even throwing an ear pinned tantrum when we went back to see her before her race. Lyph, however, is pretty much a giant Basset Hound. Every one who sees him wants to buy him but Jodi will never sell. When he's done racing she'll keep him for a riding horse.

When I think of him, I think of Jodi in the doorway of the barn, she throws the lead over his neck and turns away. Like any horse, Lyph turns to leave. He slowly ambles down the long driveway, going slower all the time as he repeatedly looks back to see if any one is trying to catch him. I ask Jodi if I should grab him before he gets away and she just laughs. With good reason. Within ten minutes he's standing in the doorway of the barn looking hangdog with hurt feelings that nobody bothered to try to catch him.

I never saw a more laid back pair, and him a thoroughbred! Well I don't know how long he'll stay a racehorse, Jodi said she thought he looked sad in his stall before the race. He's also lost about 400lbs since she was in charge of his diet, and around here, horses are kept fat and happy. At the very least happy. If she doesn't think he just loves racing, he'll come home.

On the other hand, it was amazing, Lyph's race was a mirror image of Derby's first race. He broke way last and finished 4th out of 10. If the rest of his career is anything like his sister's, he may stay on the track a while yet.

Derby's race went fairly well considering a couple factors, she finished 3rd, which is her second to worst finish, I think, in almost 10 races, but it was against competition so fierce the trainer very nearly scratched her out of the race. The only reason he 'sacrificed' it was so that she wouldn't be on the 'out list' for the next race. So it was still fairly respectable.

So that was this weekend at the races. We don't get to watch every time they run but we all love to be involved when we can. I'll keep this post, well, posted if anything else exciting happens.

Lawn Mowers

2006-06-09T13:57:00.000-06:00

Well summer is on the way and with it, fast growing grass and bugs. The bugs aren't too bad this year, we have a small spread that's easy to keep on top of standing water and the like, and this year I've been ordering fly predators- those tiny nocturnal wasps that destroy fly larve. They do a good job and I don't have to do a thing except spread each new batch when they show up in the mail every 6 weeks. I haven't even bought fly spray yet this year.

As for the grass, well, my solution to that is turning the horses out onto the lawn for a few hours a day to eat down the weeds around the house and keep the yard mowed down so my husband doesn't have to do as much. Nice of me huh? Well, for some reason people going up the street shoot off some strange looks, as if they've never seen horses in a yard before. They're kinda just like big dogs aren't they? Granted picking up poop is a slightly bigger task but other wise I don't see the big deal. It's saving me on hay, which can get spendy, they're fenced in after all, and they're very friendly. Here are Tickles and Tuff enjoying the lawn.

Ofcourse since folks have discovered this last fact, there have been increasing numbers of families out for an evening stroll that stop by to visit our yard pets. Many times they come bearing treats. I swear, I was just starting to get somewhere with Tickles's diet and now she's getting rolly polly again. Not nearly as bad as last year, but I'm going to have to watch her. I certainly don't want to tarnish neighborhood goodwill by rejecting their offerings.

Anyway, my next big project is baths with mane and tail shampoos which is always a long, wet, dirty process the results of witch last about 3 minutes until they can find a filthy place to roll. Why do I bother? Because I'm a horse owner, which makes me not only a glutten for punishment but a sucker for lost causes and a genius for finding the hardest ways to accomplish things.

That Which Doesn't Kill Us...

2006-05-25T14:19:00.000-06:00

My horses are country horses. They have lived thier lives in pastures surrounded by other horses, cows, dogs, wide open views, the occasional pickup truck... Now we live in town. We haven't put up a fence between our backyard and the front yet, and so the horses can see it all. The street, kids yelling and riding bikes, delivery trucks and neihgbors filling the street with party guests, construction crews, lawn mowers and bar b ques.

There is always something to look at, better than standing in a stall all day. And always something new for them to think about, which I think is a good thing. Now on our street, everyone has between 3/4 and 1 acre, some of our nieghbors use that space for a couple horses or cows, some collect derlict vehicles, some run thier snow machines or 4-wheelers. All good opportunities for horses to think. The way to make them calm, reliable, 'bomb proof' horses, is to expose them to as much as possible, thier seeing that these things don't kill them literally makes them stronger. Mentally anyway, so I don't hesitate to let them experience life.

Bubbles was a fun one, little girls blowing bubbles probably doesn't happen much in the wild.

A trash can knocked over and rolling down the street in the wind- Tuff's expression plainly said:
'Didn't I hear somewhere that trash cans eat horses? I'm sure I heard that!'

This morning it was a marathon bike race. They were used to 4 or 5 kids on bikes but dozens and dozens of brightly colored racers was apparently highly unsettling. By the end, they were fine with it which is a relief, 'cause can you really call you horse 'bomb proof' until you've taken him to a triatholon?

That Time of Year

2006-05-20T21:46:00.000-06:00

Boy, I guess I've taken a break from my blog for a while, haven't I? Well, I've been busy. First of all, the weather suddenly became glorious and I just can't stand to be indoors during the first really nice days in spring.

Tickles and Tuff have shed out beautifully and are looking good. We've been clearing the pasture and planting grass and building and repairing fences. All the Thouroughbred foals have arrived and are healthy. Derby Cat won another race yesterday, it was simulcast but our local track was having satillite problems and we missed it. We did remember to bet on her this time though and made some $$. The second of our horses has his first race next month. Fingers crossed.

And my 6 year old learned how to ride her bike with no training wheels. That was exciting! Though I don't know why, she's been riding her horse with no training wheels since she was 2.

Anyway, I'm so glad that winter is gone again. I'm formulating plans for my horses for this year. I always like to set goals and list steps to get there, I may or may not get there, in fact I usually get side tracked, or off on tangents or find some hidden talent one of them posesses and change direction completely. That's how I got into jumping with Tickles, my plan had been barrel racing, but I just couldn't get her interested. I was messing around with her bareback one day and there was a small cross-rail set up for a horse I was working earlier and popped her over it to test her reaction. Well, suffice to say we decided to go a different direction.

But that's how it goes with horses, with kids, with life! Things don't always turn out the way you plan but they often do turn out.

The Spring Tease

2006-05-06T23:11:00.000-06:00

We've had a few "spring teaser" days, as I call them - warm sunny weather - where all the mud almost thinks about drying out. Of course, it's all very short-lived and the rain and mud are always just around the corner. But I'm getting hopeful!

For now, my anti-mud device is my own invention: sheets of plywood. You see, I don't like horse feeders. I don't believe the health risks are worth feeding in a hay rack that requires a horse to eat with its head up. Horses are designed to eat off the ground. I've used feeders designed with this in mind, but they're so enclosed - I wouldn't want to eat with my head down a dark hole! Inhalation of dust aside, horses are too easy to sneak up on when they can't see their surroundings. So, I don't use them anymore.

A horse's long head is designed to eat off the ground and still have a field of vision.

The problem mud creates is where to feed the horses. The rest of the year I can throw hay on grassy areas or at least in a large water trough that can't easily be tipped. But throwing it in the mud is gross. It gets wasted when mashed down and even with a trough, the ground around it is turned to soup by the next day. I don't like my horses standing around in soup.

So, I've layed out sheets of smooth plywood over about 20 square feet. Stall mats would work too, but my husband gets the plywood free from work. My horses can stand with their feet dry and eat off a flat surface o the ground; and basically, no hay gets wasted. On windy days a trough on the boards can keep the hay from blowing away, and I don't worry about them breathing in dust on windy days.

So, just because my babies are pasture-bound during the "spring tease" doesn't mean they have to eat with their hooves stuck in the mud.

A Routineless Delivery

2006-03-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it's finally spring. You know, spring showers and Spring Flowers, and for me - mud and shedding animals. But most exciting - new foals! I love the new babies. Sadly, though, this year (since we've moved off the family farm) I missed the birth of the first foal of the year this morning.

For the last few years I was present for the births of the Thoroughbreds and imprinted most of them. I was planning on spending nights out there to help with foal watches, starting in a week or two. Shameless was due in four days, but last year all of the mares were two to three weeks late. Whoever writes all the books about how broodmares will generally follow the same foaling routine year after year needs to read them to the mares.

Last year Shameless was groaning and miserable all day and foaled in the middle of the afternoon, which was very convenient for everybody. This morning, she was fine at 3AM and by 5AM had a baby following her around. So much for imprinting. So much for routine. So much for me being with her.

Well, I vow to be there (or at least try really hard 'cause who knows what these horses will do?) for the rest of the babies this year. I hate to miss it - there's nothing more magical in the springtime.

We're probably sending Tickles back to the farm to act as babysitter, which she loves and mares appreciate once the babies get really active. Tuff would have to go too so he wouldn't be left here alone, and to give my little pasture a needed break.

By the way, Shameless had another stud colt with two white legs on the same side, which seems to be all she knows how to throw. I guess that's one routine she'll stick to.

I'm so excited about spending time with the babies!

Throw-Away Horses

2006-03-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, I wrote about PMU horse farms and the resulting surplus foals. PMU farms produce a drug product used for human hormone replaement therapy, called Premarin (PREgnant MAre uRINe). This drug is collected from the mares who are kept perpetually pregnant.

The obvious result of this process are the births of lots of unwanted foal "by-products." Literally thousands of foals are born each year, with rescue and adoption organizations scrambling to find them homes. Unfortunately, more of them end up at slaughterhouses than adoptive homes.

There are two recent major developments that will greatly impact these horses in the future. One is recent research revealing the dangers of the drug Premarin, and the resulting decline in sales. This has caused the termination of contracts with many PMU farmers and the cutback of production for many more. This move has further resulted in widespread panic as many farmers started selling entire bands of mares as prices plunged.

Meanwhile, despite an amendment passed by Congress last fall defining a clear decision to ban horse slaughter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has set the three existing hourse slaughter facilities in this country back in business (two in Texas, one in Illinois).

The problems with Premarin couldn't have come at a better time for the meat buyers who can now buy up entire auctions of rock-bottom priced PMU horses. (Because horse-meat is an expensive delicacy in Japan and Europe, these buyers can usually afford to out-bid legitimate horse rescue and adoption organizations.) During the last two years, one could find large numbers of horses including mares with days-old foals at their sides and breeding stallions; well-groomed, trimmed and bathed horses, all going to the killers.

Unfortunately, this comes at a time when PMU farms have been taking greater pride in producing well-bred, registered, highly adoptable horses, including quarter horses, paints, Appaloosas, and drafts. But mainly, PMU offspring now consist of more warmblood sport horses meant to compete with expensive European imports; especially Thoroughbreds and Arab/draft crosses.

So at least here in America we can take heart knowing that we send only the best to our slaughterhouses.

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Home, Sweet Home

2006-03-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hooray! My horses have come home. I'm so happy to be able to look out the window of our new house and see my babies out there. The property was not set up for horses and although my husband and I put up a horse fence and repaired some existing fencing, I'm not terribly satisfied as yet.

The previous owners used the back of the property as a mini-junkyard. There are old refrigerators, motorcycles, snowmobiles, a pickup camper shell, and who-knows-what strewn about. We don't have a truck or any other readily available means to haul this crap away, so we're trying to make some arrangements. Right now, with the wet and muddy weather, no one seems eager to try to get a truck back there.

Here in Idaho I often see horses standing in fields full of junk and up to now I have felt a bit superior. I never thought I would knowingly expose my horses to such dangers. I was fully prepared to begin doctoring cuts and scrapes the night I brought my guys home, and yet, knock on wood, they seem to have more sense than I gave them credit for. They've adjusted to their new environment just fine and seem to enjoy being in a neighborhood where there is always something going on for them to watch.

As yet, I'm not riding because of a) the mud and b) I don't want to fall off onto hard or sharp objects. Obviously we don't have the convenience of a riding arena anymore.

So, yes, I'm having some buyer's remorse revolving around having moved off my in-laws' place. (Yes, I know, I need to be looking at Mother's Day Gift Baskets.) I miss the arena, the use of the trucks, the ability to rotate pastures, and the barn.

And yet, we're so relieved and happy to be on our own, in our own place, and taking care of our own horses. I have so many plans for making this place really nice; if the mud would just dry out!

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My Barefoot Babies

2006-02-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

Why did man decide to nail steel "shoes" to the bottoms of horses' feet? Horses got along fine for eons without them. Some of those eons were even carrying pre-iron age man. So why the shoes?

Perhaps it was thought that nailing metal parts to these noble creatures would transform them into more mechanized conveyances.

But what's the excuse now?

I for one proudly keep my horses un-shod. Not to follow some back-to-nature fad either... in fact, I didn't even know it was a fad until I read about it in this month's issue of Horse & Rider. My horses have lived their entire lives un-shod. I jump and trail ride, and I ride over pavement and rocky ground - all types of terrain. The fact is, my two tobianos have white legs and hooves, which are supposedly softer and more prone to cracks. I know that once shod, however, their feet would get worse and I'd have to keep them shod. The only way to keep their feet tough and resilient is to never start with shoes to begin with.

To me, it only makes sense. Horses were not meant to hobble around on their hoof walls; the whole foot was designed to help absorb shock. Only recently has research begun to recognize that Mother Nature had it right to begin with.

The barefoot movement is becoming more mainstream. Many big-name trainers like Clint Anderson and John Lyons have seen the merits of keeping shoes off their horses and many tender-footed and lame horses have been made sound by freeing their feet.

Yes, vindication is lovely.

Of course, one most be careful. You can't just rip off the horseshoes and go tearing through the hills. (Imagine a human wearing shoes all winter long, then one day deciding to go hiking in the woods barefooted - OUCH!) You must allow a period for feet to toughen and callus up. Also, make sure your farrier knows better than to do just a pasture trim. Mine knows my guys are worked on their barefeet, so he leaves a little cushion in the frog and heel trims down without removing calluses around the toe.

Althogether I've seen far fewer chips and breaks, and fewer tenderness and lameness issues in my two than in any of the shod horses I've known. Farrier bills are smaller and I don't have too much to fear from a pasture kick. For me and my horses, barefoot is definately best.

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Yes, I know something about horses and have my opinions about how to properly raise and care for them. However, I know very little about, oh, stock option investing, for example. The great thing is that I can go online to learn about stocks if I am so inclined. If I decide my car insurance is too high, I can find car insurance quotes on the web. If I decide this stiff kitchen chair is killing me as I sit at my computer, I can check out commercial office chairs on the Internet. I can even do something totally out of character if I want, such as hopping over to look at Airsoft Guns. Now, I'm no fan of guns (despite an overwhelming "hunter's" mentality in Idaho), but these are paintball guns; they're supposed to be safer than the real thing.

See? I can move totally away from the subject of horses... well, at least for a little while.

Nurture vs. Nature

2006-01-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

I was leafing through my horse magazines in search of a topic to blog about when my husband suggested I air my opinion about how horses used to be sturdy and self-sufficient, but with domestication have become "big wimps." How ridiculous! At least, that's what I thought at first, but after further consideration I decided there may be something to that.

We all know that the refined modern Throroughbred is far removed from the ancient mini-draft type horses with donkey manes that are their predecessors. What of the refined and delicate looking Arabians still to be found thriving in the deserts of the Middle East?

I know that my own paints come descended from tough and hardy stock. They can keep themselves fat on less than half what a similar-sized Thoroughbred eats, and can hold their own againest marauding coyotes or dogs and with their shaggy coats, barely notice when they're standing in the snowstorm.

However, this is when they are in the big pasture, far from the comforts of home and my anxious eyes. After they are in the home corrals only a day or two they forget the skills and weapons they were born with. The first gust of wind sends them into the barn (although I admit for some reason they like to stand out in the rain if it isn't windy). They pick through mounds of hay to eat only the choicest bits -- and a strange dog sends them snorting and cavorting like idiots. They'll happily stand for hours to be brushed, curried, and pampered.

So, perhaps it is true that 1000s of years of nurturing by people has wiped out, or at least subsdued, some of Mother Nature's safeguards for the survival of the horse. Having said that, I know that horses have deeply ingrained instincts and no matter how tame, those instincts aren't going anywhere. So I guess it's the happy blend of nature and nurturing that gives horses the spirit we love.

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Broodmares

2006-01-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

As you probably know (if you've read my past blogs), I love horses and am outraged at any poor or neglectful treatment of horses. Yet, I am a proponent of equine slaughter, and for this very reason. How wonderful it would be if every horse could have loving and caring owners to whom money is no object! Of course this is not the case, so is it best that horses endure the misery of neglect and abuse throughout their lives just for the sake of being kept alive? I say no, but of course there are those who disagree with me, and I respect that.

Actually, I'm not debating the issue in this post, as I've already done so previously. I'm evaluating the question personally, not the slaughter issue so much as euthanization. Few would argue that humane euthanization would benefit a suffering animal when the relief of a painful existence isn't otherwise possible.

But consider this: my mother-in-law approached me recently to discuss a couple of her broodmares, particularly Lottie. She was raced in Arizona, and due to some procedures on the track meant to keep her running past the time she was sound, she is now permanently unsound, even as a riding horse. However, she is 16 1/2 hands, bright chestnut with a blaze and socks - stunningly beautiful before repeated breeding made her condition dreadfully poor no matter what she is fed or how she is cared for. Her main problem is that her foals, if they are born alive, die almost immediately. Because of her pedigree, my father-in-law overlooked this flaw at first, but has now lost his patience and says she must be put down.

To me this seems terribly wasteful and shortsighted. I think it's sad that any horses are kept purely for reproduction and financial gain. The other mare in this predicament is Amanda, the horse my husband is riding in my drinking and riding post, Horses Make Good Drinking Buddies. She has been bred every year since 2000 and has never carried to term. She has one more year to reproduce or its curtains for her too.

Is this a fitting end to a racehorse or any horse in the prime of its life? And since Lottie can't be ridden, is it that much more suitable or appropriate for her? Should a mare be kept alive solely to make more horses? If you know the answer, please explain it to Lottie and Amanda.

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The Story of Whiz

2006-01-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

I found some pictures of my favorite baby (and everyone else's) from 2004. Some are from when he was very little, and some not so little. His registered name is Shameless Mr. E but everyone calls him something different. I heard my mother-in-law use the sarcastic name Whizbang once. I thought it was adorable, so I started calling him that before he was born and to this day I just can't call him anything but Whiz.

He was born six weeks ahead of the other foals that year so his only paymates were Tickles and me. When I wasn't around he would look for her. Tickles always had endless adoration and patience for foals.

Of course, the mares won't let her near at first, so she would follow them around at a respectable distance waiting for a chance to nuzzle the baby. But after a couple of weeks the rambunctious youngsters start to wear on their dams, who then decide to welcome Tickles as a parttime babysitter.

We have video of Whiz walking over to Tickles who is sprawled and sleeping on the ground. He paws at her in the face, which makes her sit up. Then he chews on her ears and forlock until she gets to her feet to play with him, while his mother rests peacefully in the background. Tickles dotingly endured his kicking, biting, rearing, and striking, so that when he finally pooped out, she could nuzzle and nicker at him to her heart's content.

I imprinted him at birth with my husband's help. Whiz was a big strong baby and I worked with him almost daily through his yearling year. My aim is to get these guys ready for race training, which is what they were bred for. However, the general consensus about Whiz is that racing will probably not be his cup of tea. It happens.

Once he outgrew babyhood, Whiz stopped running, fighting, and playing. He lives to stand in one spot and munch hay. He looks over at the others like they're idiots as they run down to the end of the field and just to run back again. He'll do anything for a good scratch, and he follows people around like a giant puppy. He's obedient on a lead and has never thrown a fit at saddling and bridling. Very UN-Thoroughbred-like.

Whiz will likely be a saddle horse for my father-in-law or the kids, and leave the racing to the more ambitious colts.

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Derby's Pictures

2006-01-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

Last summer, you may have read about Derby's Day at the Track (see the Archives, July 2005) in which I promised to post Derby's winning pictures. I apologize for the long wait. The picture below shows Derby crossing the finish line - you'll notice the sheer lack of contenders in the field of ten horses!

Derby Cat is a filly bred by my husband's parents. Todd and I spent many hours training and working with her. At one point she was sent to a trainer who could do nothing with her. When we got her back we started riding her until we found Gary, who took her and raced her.

This was Derby's first win and only her second race. It was also the jockey's first win, so her whole family turned out as well as ours and Gary's. In the winner's circle, as you can see, there is quite a crowd. I'm on the left wearing purple, standing next to the rodeo queens. Todd is behind me in the white cowboy hat.

That was an exciting day!

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The PMU Problem

2005-12-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

I feel compelled to draw attention to a long-standing sore spot in the horse industry. For those who have never heard of PMU farms or more specifically, the estrogen-replacement drug called Premarin ("pregnant mare urine"), perhaps this post will serve as a wake-up call. These farms are set up to keep mares perpetually pregnant and wearing these diaper-like contraptions to collect the urine from which the drug is manufactured. They are given very little water to ensure a high concentration of hormones in their urine, so the animals experience extreme and constant thirst.

Of course, with pregnancy comes birth. What happens to the 60,000 plus foals born at these pee-pee farms every year? Well, some are sold privately and some even make their way to rescue operations, but most of these "by-products" are sold by the pound, fattened up, and sent to slaughter. The fact is, because mares are usually re-bred about one month after foaling and their foals disposed of shortly thereafter, it is difficult for a foal to survive after being weaned and stressed at so young an age. Above is a picture of a rescued PMU colt that is available for adoption.

Personally, I find this entire process dispicable. Shame on doctors who routinely prescibe estrogen-replacement drugs for nothing more than the "discomforts" of a natural life process known as menopause. Rarely is Premarin life-saving; yet, as a synthetic human hormone replacement, it has been directly tied to uterine and other types of cancers, and subsequent Premarin lawsuits. Yet, it is the third most prescribed drug in the world (behind Tylenol).

Do menopausal women understand the true cost of this drug, both in terms of equine life, and their own long term health? Of course, I haven't experienced menopause, but I made it through two pregnancies, and I'll admit that at times it was uncomfortable. Should hundreds of mares go through the same discomfort, plus water deprivation and a urine collector, which does not allow them to turn around, lie down, or excercise; then sacrifice their babies, so that I might be more comfortable?

By the way, my mother is post-menopausal and survived without HRT drugs though they were suggested and encouraged by her doctor. In her opinion, strong perscription drugs are unneccessary for short-term discomfort, especially for symptoms that can be remedied in so many other ways.

Thoroughbreds are especially close to my heart and many ex-race mares wind up at PMU farms, but the fact is that mares of every breed can end up there, particularly draft horses because of the volume of urine they produce. They are often bred to light breeds as the foals are irrelevant (think of the dressage prospects). Granted, some farms take great care in their breeding programs to make an extra buck in the selling of the foals, but for the most part, these babies are nothing more than a by-product.

Anyone wanting more information about Premarin foals can go to www.unitedpegasus.com, which deals in ex-racehorses as well as PMU foals. It is one of the upstanding rescue operations mentioned above, and one of the few.

How can anyone do this to these wonderful animals? I have to assume they don't know any better. People who are part of the problem may not even realize there is a problem. So that's where I come in and I hope I've done my job. Please, mothers and sisters and aunts and grandmothers, find other ways to deal with your menopausal problems and know that it won't last forever.

Don't force it on the babies.

Horses Make Good Drinking Buddies

2005-12-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

So we are all aware of the perils of drinking and driving, indeed it is not a laughing matter. However, have we given much thought to the perils of drinking and riding? In my experience, yes. My mother-in-law is locally famous for consuming a couple stiff drinks before heading down the road on her Thoroughbred in the middle of the night with a canteen filled with whatever. Fortunately the horse seems to have enough brains for the both of them because there have never been any incidents that I'm aware of.

My husband is another that seems a little more jolly about a leisurely trail ride if he can sip a beer along the way, as you can see in this picture; one of my favorites of him. That's Amanda under him, his mother's horse and more suited to him size-wise than my little paints. And anyways she is used to babysitting the slightly inebriated.

For me it just brings to mind the heart-wrenching scene from Black Beauty where his drunk rider pushes him to run as he was loosing a shoe, which caused a wreck that horribly scared Beauty's knees for life. I'm comforted at least to know that no horse I know is obedient enough to go along with that senario.

You see, unlike vehicles, horses do have minds of their own. Since they are the ones with their feet on the ground, they really have the final say. And, of course, they don't drink. Well, for the most part; mom-in-law did have a gelding she said liked apricot brandy. But my concern is more for the drinker sitting six feet up on a moving animal.

A horse, unless it's blind, probably won't walk into a telephone pole, but a low branch can do funny things to someone on a wobbly seat and that's a pretty long drop.

So if you have to have a drink and then put some miles behind you, I'm just saying go for a ride, instead of a drive.

Oops. Maybe I should be more specific.

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The Horse Bug

2005-12-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

There is something magical that happens between little girls and horses at a very young age. I'm sure that some boys are also afflicted, but the boys I'm most familiar with my brothers, who are scared and distrustful of horses. Girls are my area of expertise.

Now, I didn't grow up around horses. My parents let me ride when they could, which wasn't often, but the first time they put me on a pony I was hooked. I don't really remember it, but I know the story; a man with a pony and a camera was wandering the neighborhood. The pony was so cute, parents couldn't resist. The man would dress the lucky child like a little cow poke and prop 'em up in the saddle. As you can see in the photo, I felt right at home.

The older and more capable I became the more I learned and found ways to be involved with horses and now I'm pretty much up to my eyeballs.

My daughters, on the other hand, are being raised with horses. Tickles in particular is a patient and gentle with them and a good teacher and confidence builder and horses like that, I know, are what can give kids the horse bug for life.

Well, that's ok with me, I feel that horses, even more than other pets, can help teach kids valuable lessons in responsibility and the value in a hard day's work caring for an animal so much larger that depends on them totally. Plus, if they stay involved, horses can keep kids out of trouble in later years.

So that said, yes, I do encourage my girls to become involved with Tuff and especially Tickles. Though she can have her snotty moments with my husband and I, she seems to understand and is extra gentle with children. Here are some pictures of her doing what she does best-babysitting.

I know that they may get addicted, as I was. But there are worse, although probably cheaper addictions. I just pity their husbands.

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Always in Training!

2005-12-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

At the present time, I have some time off. From my horses, that is. They're loafing around in my in-law's 10 acre pasture until the snow melts and we can fix up the pasture and fix the fence at our new place. While I'm enjoying the break from tromping out in the cold to feed and clean stalls, I sure miss my guys!

My time is not wasted however, because every year around this time when outside is less than inviting, I work on my game plans for the following year. My thoughts are with my horses even if I'm not. I generally sit down with as many training books and magazines as I can find and decide just what my goals are for each horse, and all the steps I can think of to get them there.

You see, my horses, no matter how old they get, are always in training. There is always more for them to learn, and it just makes them more willing saddle horses in the end, I think. For instance, once Tickles tackled Western, and underwent some barrel racing work, we switched gears. I started riding her English and had begun some jumping excercises when the weather turned.

Not feeling like riding? There are tons of things to do with your horse on the ground. Anyone familiar with Pat Parelli knows about the seven games, but I also find things to do on the longe line, I find new toys to introduce in mini efforts to develop truly 'bomb proof' horses: balloons, boxes, tarps, flags, plasic bags, etc... I'll work on leading and tying manners, backing, and pivoting around obstacles. There's a lot of groundwork that can be done in the yucky weather that would be unsuitable for riding.

So I'm working on my lists for this year and it's actually a treat. In the past years I've also been writing for 2-4 colts that had to be ready for race training, now I can just work with my own two guys. So I'll let you know how it all goes in a few months after I've implemented my ideas for the year.

Of course, one always must allow for adjustment and flexibility; you know what they say about best laid plans!

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Animal - Rights Fighters Vs. Animal Right - Fighters

2005-12-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

I'm gradually going through mystery boxes here at our new house, and yesterday I found some ancient back issues of my favorite, treasured Horse & Rider and Horse Illustrated magazines. I derive much of my horse-related inspiration from this and always seems to stumble upon something new.

This time was no different, as I read with both interest and chagrin an article about "animal rights." This is a subject I care about deeply. However, I use quotations around the term because at times I believe there are extremes to this philosophy that are not really applicable to the term as a whole.

As far as horses are concerned, there is a big difference between the people working to improve equine welfare, and those self-proclaimed experts who feel that riding, driving, fencing-in, shoeing, or indeed, owning a horse are unnatural and therefore constitute abuse.

These people, who apparently know better than I what's best for my animals, search for reasons to condemn horse owners for their use of techniques and behaviors necessary when dealing with horses. For example:

Using a crop, which makes a startling noise rather than inflicting any sensation of pain. This is decried as whipping - same as a long whip (which in fact never actually touches the horse).

Shoes nailed into the horse's feet, which again, does not hurt, and protects and preserves the feet. Until horses learn to tie, I'm afraid sneakers are out.

Carrying the weight of a rider, I'll admit, is unnatural and not what horses may have been designed for (although the design works quite well!). Of course, rugged SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles) were not originally designed for soccer moms, but it turns out they've adapted quite well, and probably receive better maintenance and more conscientious care than they otherwise may have gotten.

Fencing in and feeding horses, which were meant to roam freely and graze. Give me a break! My horses recieve a better diet than they would be able to forage, as well as vet care, clean water, and shelter from storms. Do we forget about all the wild horses that starve, freeze, and fall to predators, or die from diseases or injuries that are easily treated?

Here in Idaho I'm guess I'm pretty lucky - I've never had to cross a picket line to enter a horse show or been cursed for riding my horse in public. In fact, I more often run into the "old time cowboys" who still believe in breakin' colts. To them, I am a fanatic who goes in for all that natural horsemanship hoopla. It's true, I prefer gentling instead of breaking; the so-called coddle-training. So maybe it's all relative. I just feel that one must respect horsemen (and women) who have gotten their feet wet and know firsthand about horses' needs and behaviors.

This is not to say that there are no good intentions behind the lobbyists; they just seem grossly misguided. They seem to care more about being right than about the lives of the animals they're "fighting" for. What would they suggest we do with all of the over five million domestic horses in the United States if horsekeeping were banned? Turn them out into the streets to fend for themselves?

Are my horses miserable slaves held captive for my enjoyment? I think not. At least not anymore than the family dog when walked on a leash, performing a happy trick for a doggy snack, or prevented from sniffing a neighbor's crotch. How unnatural is that?

For that matter, weren't people originally designed to live in caves or shelters made of hides, and to wear animal furs for warmth? How far would we as a spieces have gotten without the mutually beneficial partnership we formed with animals, especially the horse? That relationship led us to the incredibly unnatural existence we live today.

So, I guess it's easy to have high and mighty standards for others and their pets when you have a new car and an air-conditioned condo: please, pat yourself on the back. Go ahead and wear your polyester and spandex and bond with your Furby or Chia Pet.

But, somehow, I just don't think that's natural.

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The New Spread

2005-12-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

So my husband and I have bought our first house. We spent the last month moving in with our two little girls in tow. Of the 25-plus cats that we had before, my husband allowed only one in the new place. So of course we took our little Siamese fluff ball, Cassie, and that's it for pets. (Other than a couple of fish tanks and some rather weird fish.)

The horses will be along soon, or whenever we can get our little pasture ready. I can hardly wait! I miss my babies (I wonder do they miss me?) The problem is this confounded winter weather! We barely got moved in when the snow came and the ground froze, which was actually something we were waiting for: no more mud! However, the biting cold temperatures make working outside a bit less than pleasant.

Overall, though, I'm excited. There is much to do to get the house in order and, of course, there's meeting the neighbors. We were fortunate to find a house that is actually in a neighborhood with lots of small children to play with my kids. But also, all of the houses on this side of the street (on the outskirts of a small subdivision) have huge lots that are zoned for two horses each. It's odd moving horses and hay into a normal "neighborhood." We're so used to living out in the country. But it's growing on me as we've broached the subject of our horses with the neighbors. No one seems to mind or care; in fact since moving in I've discovered horses across from us, directly behind us, and within a block on either side of us.

So, I think it'll be fun having my babes just outside my window - and only them! My chores will go so much faster with just my two horses instead of ten! Of course, right now "grandma" is babysitting them for me, so I have no horse-related chores at all. In this cold weather, I'm really appreciating that!

I hope all you horse-people are enjoying my blog as much as I enjoy writing it. As I've said before, because I've been so busy the last month or so, I haven't been able to post as often as I'd like. I have found some sponsors, however, to help me to keep my blog going. Please support my efforts by checking out Risk Management Jobs, especially if you or someone you know is currently looking for employment or would like to post an online resume.

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Lost and Found

2005-12-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

Here we are in early December, and I'm finally getting back to my blog. November was spent moving into a new house and I'm so glad that chore is out of the way...well, almost. The pasture still has to be cleaned out and some fencing done before I can bring Tuff and Tickles home, but I'll write more about that later. Right now they are still at my in-law's place, hopefully staying out of trouble.

I say "hopefully" because Tickles has already found herself in a heap of it due to her gifted ability to remove herself from pastures and enclosures she doesn't particularly care for.

This brings me, in a round-about-way, to my topic today of pet IDs. What happens when your dog escapes from the yard and disappears? It could depend upon whether he is wearing a collar with current tags. Same with a cat. (Heck, they even make tags for children in case they get lost!) Pet ID tags can mean the difference between getting your critters back or not, maybe even saving their lives.

But for horses this area is a bit sketchy. Horses don't wear collars, and it's generally known that it is dangerous to leave halters on them when you aren't handling them. What happens to escapees? Well this time, in Tickles' case, she hung around outside of her pasture for a while (surmised from strategically located piles of poop), then wandered up the road home. My mother-in-law found her in the front yard the next morning. All the other horses in her former pasture were still there; she had simply decided to leave.

What worries me is what could have happened if Tickles hadn't come home? If a car had hit her on the road the occupants could have been killed or injured, as well as she. I am working on ID kits to keep in case the horses are lost or stolen. It includes photos and descriptions of their markings and scars. But that's so that I can find them (hopefully) if they happen to disappear. The question is, how do you mark or tag your horses with your address and phone number so that when they're spotted, you can be contacted? I've heard that during disaster evacuations, horse owners mark their animals by writing contact information onto duct tape secured to their halters or shaved into their hair or on tabs tied into the mane.

There has to be a more permanant solution. I just haven't found it yet; but obviously I have a need. This last incident was not even remotely the first time that Tickles has escaped; and with a new environment soon to be at her disposal, this issue is deserving of some serious thought. I would appreciate any ideas you may have on the subject.

And by the way, if you see a small spotted mare ambling down your street, please drop me a line! Meanwhile, I'll be trying to come up with a better idea.

Weather Woes

2005-10-11T17:30:00.000-06:00

Just where did summer go? All of a sudden it's cold. Really cold and muddy and rainy and I hate it. Horse enjoyment season is summer, I've decided. Sure I was waiting for cooler weather and fewer bugs, but what did I know? I changed my mind. Shedding season is upon us and I'm wondering how all this hair is falling off these little horses and yet they're shaggier than before the shedding. Go figure.

So I'm struggling to eek out some riding time with this weather, as I wait for the rain to stop and then for the muddy bog of my arena to dry and by then it's raining again. I am, however, managing to spend some quality time with them, there's nothing they love more this time of year than being scratched and curried for long hours in the dry barn. And Tuff is enjoying the harvest from our modest orchard, and while the apricots have disapeared, he likes plums (pitted ofcourse) just as much and would never turn down an apple.

They spend the ever shortening afternoons romping in the waning pastures and lolling around in the mud. I had them pretty muddy during the summer what with daily hose-downs, but this is an entirely different mud. Sticky and slimy and sticks in their longer coats like glue. It's disgusting to wade around out there trying to clean pens because it's impossible to pick the muck from the ooze and ofcourse, some horse has just rolled in it.

But I must say, my guys really seem to love the Fall. They seem so carefree and full of vigor. I know ofcourse that with less riding time they have more energy but it's more than that. While I'm lamenting the close of summer, I think they are enjoying the last of the balmy weather before the freezing temperatures and snow and ice of winter appear. Perhaps if I lived outside like they do, I'd appreciate it more too.

It's something to think about, but for now, I see some sunlight trying to break through the clouds. Maybe I can sqeeze in some horse time before balmy days of Fall start looking really good to me because I'm mired in winter weather.

On To Greener Pastures

2005-10-01T14:14:00.000-06:00

I haven't kept up on my blog in past weeks as often as I'd have liked to. My husband and I have been house hunting. His parents are long-haul truck drivers and we've been living on their Thoroughbred farm and running things in their absence for the past two years. But his mother is now coming off the road to stay with the horses so that we can get our own house and start building equity of our own.

I was excited at first when we got our loan and a price range, I thought it would be fun looking at different houses. But what a headache this has all turned out to be! For anyone who has ever tried to buy a horse property, or any property, there are so many factors to consider, so many peoples' needs to be met. It's hard enough finding a house that is suitable for my family's needs, then we have to look at the property and horse facilities, if there are any, and how easy it would be to build them if there aren't. Some places have my dream horse set-up, but the house is inadequate for one reason or another. Some places have fantastic houses but no property, or acreage that couldn't be converted to use for horses. It's frustrating and disheartening to rule out one after the other and my husband is really thinking nasty thoughts about my need to keep my horses.

However after a frequently disappointing search, we finally found one that should work for everybody, and our offer was accepted so now we are mired in the stress and uncertainty of escrow. The whole process was a test for my husband and I on the art of comprimise. The house is not as fancy as he would have liked, the land has nothing but but a few fences, ie...no barn for me. But it is close to his work, and has plenty of bedrooms for us, our kids, craft room, game room, music room, etc... that were on our list of must haves.

So now I can relax and get excited, a bit, I'm learning that there are lots of things that can hold up a sale, and this house isn't even done being built yet so it's especially nerve-wracking having to wait to do the inspection and appraisal and all. But on the plus side I've gotten to pick out counter tops and appliences and such.

So please excuse my distraction in the near future. It seems lately I can think of nothing else but paint hues, tile samples, fencing materials, barn kits, insurance quotes, furniture measurements...

Horse Inspiration? Maybe a Movie

2005-09-13T19:30:00.000-06:00

Some of my greatest horsey inspiration comes directly from fiction. The great lines from my all-time favorite books and movies pop into my head all the time when I'm with my horses and I think have taught me to appreciate them on some new and different levels. Here is a list of my top eight in case anyone ever needs some inspiration of their own.

1. Black Beauty
I love, love, love the movie, though I get teary at parts, it's wonderful and every bit as good as the book, which is a quality I find rare in movies. I must have read the book 50 times growing up.

2. Seabiscuit
This is a fairly new movie with Tobey Maguire. I'm so glad they made one about this horse story. I found it very well done and I've watched it over and over.

3. Sylvester
This is an older and maybe lesser known movie starring Melissa Gilbert. It's about a girl who takes a throw-away ranch horse and turns him into an Olympic eventer. It's awsome! I wish I had it, I haven't seen a copy of it in years.

4. Misty
This is a wonderful tale, by Margurite Henry, about two kids who get to adopt a Chincoteague pony. I always dreamed that instead of Disneyland for summer vacation, my parents would take me to Virginia for the round up and I could get my own Misty.

5. Wild Hearts Can'tBe Broken
This is an older movie, too, but still plays occasionally on cable. It's about a Depression-era horse crazy girl turned diving girl. There's a lot of cheezy love story stuff in the plot but I find the whole movie sweet and touching.

6. National Velvet
This was another of my favorite books when I was growing up, but I was a little dis-enchanted with the Elizabeth Taylor version of the movie. This is mainly because the whole point is that the race horse was a paint and so got no respect. But the movie used a big chestnut that looked like a racehorse so it blew the whole point. If you can get past that, though, this movie is pretty good, too.

7. Ride a Wild Pony
Another old movie (they just don't make many good horse movies anymore, do they?). About two little kids who lay claim to the same unruly pony. Cute, cute movie, cheezy, but I like all the palomino ponies.

8.The Black Stallion
This is the classic tale of a shipwrecked boy and horse who befriend each other on an island, and when they make it back to civilization, prove themselves in a big race. The movie was just magical to me then, although with each sequel the magic faded quite a bit.

So those are my recomendations. I'm starting my daughters on these now so that hopefully, a new generation of horse-crazy girls can help them live on.

Manure Happens

2005-09-08T16:17:00.000-06:00

For those of us that have a horse, we know, manure happens and lots of it. Every day, all year round, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Boxing Day, horses poop. The numbers John Lyons lists in his most recent issue of Perfect Horse are probably pretty accurate: 50 lbs per day or eight tons per year, about $150 in fertilizer value yearly and that's for one horse not counting used bedding materials. I don't know, some days when I'm cleaning stalls it seems like a lot more. And we have some really poopy horses that I'm sure produce twice that much.

The fact is that it's easy to overlook this aspect of horse-keeping when getting into horses.When you bring home a new puppy no one worries about what to do with all the poo once it's picked out of the yard. With a horse picking it up is only the first step. Over the years at the various places my horses have been kept we've done all sorts of things. Loaded it into a spreader and dispersed it over an unused pasture. Dumped it into a bin that was hauled away once a week( I think to a mushroom farm but I'm not sure). Dumped into ever growing piles in an unused corner corral. I've been known to shovel some into a trash bag and bring to my mother - not to set on fire on her doorstep, but for her to mulch her garden and add to her compost.

Compost, by the way, is my favorite manure disposal. When it's done right (which takes some work and a lot of time), you eventually wind up with no waste; instead good usable soil to improve lawns and pasture and gardens. If you don't keep up on it though, or have enough space, you could wind up with stinky mounds and more flys than you can imagine. Not to mention horses with worms and other parasite problems, especially if they graze in a pasture that isn't cleaned or at least harrowed regularly. (Harrowing is a way of spreading and breaking down manure piles.)

I often see adds in the paper or signs offering free or cheap compost or manure and I can sympathize. While I can think of lots of uses for the stuff, espescially if I were into gardening, I bet what my horses produce in a day would tide me over for a year. What about the rest of it? That's one for the ages. By the time Tuff is 30 years old I will have shoveled 216 TONS of his... er, stuff. Well, at least it's good exercise for me.

Anyway, I'm just saying that before you bring a new horse home, give a little thought to what's coming with it because I'll tell you right now, I'm not answering your 'Free Manure' sign, I've got my own crap to deal with.

Self Diagnosis...Don't Go There

2005-09-04T16:25:00.000-06:00

So here’s something weird that I’m dealing with regarding my darling mare, Tickles. The lesson contained herein: Do not self-diagnose horse. Even with phone consultation with the vet, he can only go on what you tell him, which as I’ve learned can be correct and yet, oh so wrong.

Let me explain. I was positive that I was spotting all the signs of the dreaded disease Laminitis or Founder in my mare, and when I described her symptoms and condition over the phone to my vet, he agreed it sounded suspiciously like it and told me what to do. However, I had missed one important clue that I didn’t notice until after two days and one special delivery of low calorie grass hay.

I was fly spraying her before our daily walk (I’d been hand-walking her up and down the driveway so as to not inflame her sore feet) and as I went to spray under her belly I noticed her utter swollen and dripping milk. Of course I know from all the broodmares around here that despite spring being long gone, this had to mean the birth of a foal was imminent. I called my trusty vet again and based on this new tid bit he agreed it was likely and said that it would also explain the hefty weight, sore feet, and change of attitude she’s had… However, he recommended that we bring her in to palpitate her to be sure. A second vet I called concurred that she must be a late pregnancy.

So we hauled her in and guess what? No baby. In fact it took about ten minutes for our vet to diagnose what I had been fretting over and trying to research for days. She is having a false pregnancy, which is rare for horses, but leave it to Tickles. She’s six and her biological clock has gone into overdrive. Her instincts are telling her body that by her age she just has to reproduce, and so every function her body has to create a baby is doing its job. Of course, without the stallion’s contribution, it’s all for nothing. She just thinks and feels absolutely pregnant.

So I can do little but let it run its course, she’s still on a diet so that I’ll hopefully never have to go through the Founder scare again. I’m supposed to really ride and exercise her to get her out of the broodmare mindframe. But the main thing I’ve learned is that self-diagnoses is flawed at best, even with horse care books and the Internet. False pregnancy is so rare, my vet hadn’t seen a case other than in cows for years. I would never have thought of it, and would probably have started round-the-clock foal watch that may have lasted until Christmas.

Now I won’t be hauling to the vet every time my horse sneezes. My husband would likely divorce me when he saw those bills, but next time I relay symptoms to the vet, I will list the facts, I will not color those facts with my own diagnoses, I will not jump to worst-case scenario conclusions unless the vet -unpromted by me- jumps there first.

On the other hand, I really love my horses, so maybe I can overreact a little. You know, I thought just I saw Tuff swat at something with his tail. I bet he was stung by a bee, I better check my book…

Fat is Not Jolly

2005-08-23T14:56:00.000-06:00

To all of you who cringe whenever I laughingly refer to my fat mare, the joke's on me, and it's not very funny. One of the main risks for obese horses is a condition called Founder that is very serious and can be life-threatening. Basically the horses feet are made in proportion to the size it's body should be and are not made to support hundreds of extra pounds continually. They break down and ultimatly the hoof separates from the bone and sloughs off leaving the horse unable to stand or move until a hoof grows back which can be a year or more.

Well, Tickles, my paint mare has always been "an easy keeper," even in the winter with little to eat she keeps her weight on. But the last few times I rode her I noticed her stumbling, a lot. Then a week or so ago she had a major trembling or shaking episode, followed by lameness in both front feet. She can still get around, slowly, but stepping on the smallest rock immobilizes her temporarily.

This was a wake up call I didn't want. We all knew for years that she was fat enough to be at risk for Founder, I just liked to think that there are thousands of "at risk" horses who never actually get what they're at risk for. I never thought it would actually happen, and technically it hasn't, yet. She is not in full blown Founder yet and with luck, never will be, for once it hits, it's there for life. She could never be sold without disclosure of this fact, and hiding a past Founder is one of the cardinal sins of horse-selling, because it could always flare up again for as long as she keeps surviving the flare ups. That's what I would worry about, since I would never sell her anyway.

The vet said she's going on a diet NOW. I just have to be careful because if her body interprets less food as an emergency situation, it could get more insulin resistant, meaning she'd get even fatter. I also have to exercize her daily, as much as she can handle which right now means hand walking her up and down the long driveway on the grassy shoulder that doesn't hurt her feet. Each painful step makes me ache when I think of indulging her with a handful of grain so she wouldn't feel left out when the others got theirs. Or watching her eat all day because she happened to be with horses that need lots of feed. Of riding mainly for fun and to teach kids rather than making sure she worked up a sweat and burned some calories. Her misery now is all my fault.

I'm really hoping I can pull her out of it before it's too late. She has to be a priority too, just because I always had younger, greener horses to work, leaving Tickles standing in the pasture, eating. Well, now I know better. And I'm becoming aware of my other horse's risks as well. Until recently I had no idea how many things could cause it. Too much grain, too much grass, too much cold water when animal is hot, hard or fast work on a hard surface, as a complication from foaling, viral respritory disease, certain kinds of wood shavings used for bedding. Then you get into the Miscellaneous Causes and the list goes on.

I know it's easy to get bogged down in what ifs, and you find your horse wrapped in bubble-wrap, never allowed to move, for fear of death. But if you see clear warning signs, heed them before it's too late. I wish I had.

On The Menu

2005-08-11T14:29:00.000-06:00

All of the horses on our place have strange tastes when it comes to snacks. Not a one of them will touch a carrot or an apple, the generally accepted treats that horses are supposed to appreciate. I don't dispair however, because I have found, after much experimenting, several alternatives.

Tuff's very favorite treat is apricots. We have two apricot trees in our orchard and he can always be counted upon to eat those that have fallen on the ground or had the birds get at them (I have to pit them for him first, ofcourse).

The two yearlings my in-laws have now just live for grapes (no pitting required ). They also had a gelding that liked Pepsi and of all things, brandy. My mother in-law liked to have a couple drinks in the evening, then go out and ride on her apparently tipsy horse. I always wondered how they both survived those night rides.

My chubby Tickles doesn't mess around with anything that might have any nutritional value, she only accepts straight sugar cubes or peppermint striped candies.(pretty much only on Christmas or her birthday).

Some of the other horses like things like bread, strawberries, watermelon (rind and all), bananas, peanut butter, and lettuce. I had been giving potato peels to a couple that liked them until I read somewhere that potatoes can be toxic to horses, so I stopped, but became interested to learn what other harm I might be doing. So I started researching the other foods I was using and learned that with a very few exceptions, fruits and vegetables can be very nutritious treats if you can get a horse to eat them. Far better than sugar or molasses coated 'horse treats' that are sold in stores.

It just takes some trial and error to see what each horse likes. It seems funny to me. Horses eat hay and grass, I would think anything would be a welcome change, but they have very highly developed palettes, it seems, and distinct tastes. Finding just the right flavor for them is our problem. Nonetheless, I enjoy trying out new foods on them, even if just to see the faces they make when it isn't right. And yes, horses most certainly can make faces. Lemon juice produces some good ones.

The Heat is On

2005-07-30T18:02:00.000-06:00

Summer has finally overtaken the rainy season here in Idaho, and with a vengance. We've had a couple of days over 100 degrees but mostly we've been in the high 90's. This makes for some pretty sucky riding weather, as I don't relish the idea of being out in that sun moving around and the horses are even less enthused, believe me. The evenings are better, cooler and it stays light forever, the problem is the bugs. The mosquitos are just awful starting in the late afternoon, so with a few layers of repellant on the horse and long sleeves it can be tolerable. If you're really moving you can kinda out run them but then the repellant gets sweated away, and horse sweat seems to attract them anyhow. I kick myself for wasting all those spring/winter/fall days wishing it was summer so I could go ride.

There is one horse activity I just can't get enough of in the summer, though. Hose Play. Anything with the hose. My horses spend much of the summer dripping wet, and they don't mind that. I love giving them baths, but you aren't supposed to use soap or shampoo on them too often as it washes away vital oils in thier coats. But boy do we play in the water. They apprieciate being hosed down on a hot day, much like I do. Or I'll set up a soaker hose or sprinkler in the pasture, and Tickles will stand over it or I'll hop on and cross through the spray. Stupid, yes, but fun and oh, so refreshing.

Now there are better smelling things in the world than a wet horse, but I don't ever notice when I see how much more cool and comfortable they are. I stand at the fence and spray the hose at the herd. It's funny, some horses like to stand broadside, some close thier eyes and face it head on, some feel it's unappropriate to stand in the stream and instead pass back and forth in front of it.

The only option for them, it seems, when they're done, is to then lay down and roll and make complete mud-balls of themselves. But then they are happy and wearing an inpenetrable mosquito barrier of cool mud, and the mess? No problem,because as long as the weather holds up, you can bet we'll be getting wet again tomorrow!

Derby's Day

2005-07-24T10:45:00.000-06:00

For those who enjoyed my last post, perhaps you'll be interested to learn that yesterday was Derby's Day. Just one week after her first race she was at the track again and completely blew away her competition. There was only only one point in the race when another horse caught up with her and it was only for a moment, she won by almost six lengths. Somehow I kept my head from exploding with excitement by screaming for her... a lot. Todd's parents were in town for this one but we still got to be in the winner's circle picture. As soon as we get our copy I'll post it.

That 40 seconds pretty much made my week, and now back home everyone is so keyed up about the other Thoroughbreds. Everybody has opinions about how best to get them ready for the track. All of the other homebred foals that have departed were sold for performance and show horses. Derby is now the inpiration behind getting the racing end of the business underway, so all the colts still at home are all lined up for race training. No more jumpers for me, except maybe after they retire from racing. And we're even tossing aroud the idea of training my Tuff to be an outrider and pony our horses out on the track. Who knows what will happen, but next year could be a lot more exciting and busy around here.

However, my first love will always be my paints and our projects. I came home yesterday full of excitement and went out and told Tickles all about it. She doesn't win races or jumping competitions, but she's got good listener; a point that these T-breds will never surpass.

Derby Day at the Track

2005-07-19T18:38:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday, my husband's parents were out of town so Todd (my hubby) and I went down to the racetrack in Idaho Falls to watch one of the famly's home-bred Thoroughbreds race. If she won, somebody needed to be there for the winner's circle picture.

The horse is a four-year-old and she was born on Kentucky Derby Day, so she was named Derby Cat. We always just called her Derby. The day she was born, the in-laws were again out of town. They're long haul truckers, so they are usually out of town and Todd and I run their operation as well as our own horses. Todd and I checked the mare in the morning, went home and watched the Derby, went back out to check and there was little Derby. I did a lot of the begining work with her and after a stint with a trainer that didn't work out, Todd and I worked with her as a three-year-old and now she's finally racing.

I don't know how many people out there have connections with racehorses. I know most of the people who are involved have some serious money behind their horses, but at the lower levels there are a lot of people who just have a couple of horses trying to break into the big money races. It's terribly expensive but, WOW! So exciting.

I've been a race fan and watched the Triple Crown races for as long as I can remember, way before I met Todd and his family. I used to name my toy horses after my favorites; I felt like I knew them. But it's an entirely different deal when it is a horse you know. My heart was in my throat for the whole race and I didn't have any feeling of let down at the end when she didn't win. In fact I was thrilled that she got fourth out of ten, because she had a miserable start and had to come from way behind. Heck, as keyed up as I was, if she had won my head probably would have exploded.

Well, anyway, it was fun, I'm definately going to be at the track for future races and I'll let you know if and when Derby wins. I've got my money on the fact that someday soon will truly be Derby's Day!

What is Natural, Anyway?

2005-07-12T18:08:00.000-06:00

For anyone who hasn't seen the latest issue of Horse and Rider, one of my favorite magazines, there is a good article about the never-ending debate over the Western Pleasure industry. For the lay-person, Western Pleasure is a specific class or event at a horse show in which the horse is ridden around an arena at all three gaits, but at moderate speed. The class is judged on which animal looks like it would be the most pleasurable to ride in a western setting( hence the class name ). The horses must be calm, balanced, and obey nearly invisible cues, traveling smoothly and on a very loose or draped rein. It requires a high level of skill and training.

Now to me, that sounds like a horse I'd like to ride every day, show or no show. The problem in the horse industry, however, is that Western Pleasure has a lot of enemies in people who say that it is unnatual for horses to move that slowly and collected, and to have their heads and necks held so low. This debate hits close to home for me, though I can't quite see why it's such a BIG deal. Not because I show in Western Pleasure-I don't show at all anymore, but when I did I enjoyed that class. It's because when I ride my horses western, that's how I ride. I don't feel my horses are being comprimised by being 'unnatural'-isn't it unnatural to ride a horse to begin with? I know it's true that when they are at liberty in the field they move out with their noses up in the air. They also like to kick and buck but I don't care to ride that no matter how natural it may be.

My mother-in-law, Jodi, who is my favorite riding buddy besides my husband, rides her Thoroughbreds western (don't get me started on that, I was taught Thoroughbred=Hunter/Jumper) and she likes them 'lively'. Her word not mine. Sure, that breed tends to be spirited but she really likes to ride them with their heads in the air, really stepping out, thinking about but not quite spooking at everything. I meanwhile prefer to plod along on a steady low-headed mount. I always tell her I'd rather have my horse watching where his feet are going than looking for tigers in the trees.

She says isn't there an in-between?

I guess so, I just like their head down.

A horse with his head low is a calm horse. A horse with his head in the air will find a tiger if he looks hard enough. Jodi says she thinks she'd feel like she was about to fall headlong off with her horse's head so low. She likes to see where he's looking.

I guess I know what I like and that's all I care about. Why are non-Pleasure riders so concerned with the industry? They don't have to enter that class, they don't have to train their horses that way. That's the great thing about horses, there is something for everyone. You can ride your horse your way and I'll ride mine my way.

As for Natural? As soon as you tame a horse and put a fence around it, it stops being natural. Maybe the focus should change to reflect individual riding goals. For me it would be for my horse to be comfortable, calm, trained, and I don't know...happy.

Some Horses Slip Through the Training Cracks

2005-07-06T13:34:00.000-06:00

During the summer, the word is fly-spray. Insects can get bad around horses and it's a continuous battle to keep them in check. This includes putting up bug lights and fly tape, fastidious mucking, vigilance about standing water and, finally, spraying the horses themselves.

Now this can be tricky. There is something inherently scary to horses about being srayed with a spray bottle. I don't know if it's the noise or the sensation of the mist or what, but even the most docile horses usually have to undergo some training before they'll stand still and be sprayed. Even then, after a long winter, some seem to have forgotten about being sprayed every summer of their lives and we have to begin from scratch (pun?). And then there are some that put up such a fight that it's dangerous to even try.

One of my in-law's mares is such a horse. The sight of the bottle will send her into a panic, rearing and kicking out with both back legs. We have found it prudent to wipe the spray on this horse with a rag and she still doesn't always get well-covered. Often the horses will be standing calmly in the field munching grass and Shameless (the un-sprayed) will be swishing her tail and kicking at them and constantly shaking her head.

I wish we could convey to these guys how much better they will feel if they just let us do what we're trying to do with them. I know that we can't, though, and thorough training is what's required to just make them stand still, even when they don't trust the procedure. My problem is that the fly-spray training I've put into all of them didn't work with her. Of course, there's another horse that will be sprayed, but will not load into the trailer despite the same basic training that has all the rest of them hopping right in.

Granted, I have to make adjustments from horse to horse as they each require slightly different methods, but some horses just stump me. Maybe Thoroughbreds just aren't my breed. I can always figure out how to get my Paints to respond to me and they remember from week to week or from one year to the next. And yes, they stand politely to be sprayed. So I'll be thanking my lucky stars for them all summer when each weekend we have to go through the herd with a couple bottles of fly-spray, and one rag.

The Worst Part of Having Pets

2005-06-26T13:10:00.000-06:00

I had a rough day a few days ago when I walked into the garage and found one of my beloved barn cats badly hurt and bleeding. In hysterics I called my vet, then my mother to see if she could take my kids while I dealt with Winnie, and my husband who was less than sympathetic, reminding me that we had plenty of other cats.

But the fact is that we only had one Winnie. Just two days before she'd come strutting across the yard with the biggest mouse I'd ever seen. From the time she was born and our Aussie, Sadie, crawled in the box with the kittens, pretending they were hers, Winnie just loved her. You never saw Sadie outside without Winnie glued to her side, rubbing all over her. She rubbed all over everyone, loved to be in your lap, to be petted, even let my two year old daughter carry her around. Just because she was 'just' a barn cat didn't mean she wasn't special.

Well, I took her to the vet and we figured that she must have been struck by a car, her pelvis and both back legs were broken. She had enough injuries that we knew it would just be torture on her to try to save her and so I stayed with her as the vet put her down. I cried alot that day and spent alot of time back home hugging my other cats.

I would have let it rest at that probably, but as I picked my kids up that day, my mom suggested that I use my blog to vent a little bit. I'm not the only person in the world to loose a pet, after all. She was right ofcourse. I know that these things happen when you have animals, but that doesn't make it any more bearable. But by getting my thoughts out there I do feel better, like I have some closure, I just hope I don't have to use my blog for this purpose again for a long, long time.

Wanted: Mowers. Must Run On Grass

2005-06-17T12:46:00.000-06:00

The horse borrowing business has cropped up almost over night in my neck of the woods. Even very un-horsey people are stringing up temporary fences and frantically searching for horses to borrow. Or goats, llamas, sheep, or cows will do to.

As I've mentioned in my past blogs, we've had an exhorbitant amount of rain recently here in eastern Idaho. It has begun, though, to let up and the result is abundant greenery. The grass is growing like crazy and the fields and countrysides that are normally short and turning brown by mid-June are knee-high, thick and green, and going to seed.

As for the horses this can be good and bad. We have a ten-acre pasture that houses at the moment one of my paints and several of my in-laws' thoroughbreds. Last year two to three acres of it was a dust patch where hardly even a weed could grow. Now the grass is so tall and thick our Australian shepard completely disapears when she ventures into the pasture and the seven horses haven't even made a dent.

Now grazing like this can be a godsend for the growing yearlings and the pregnant mares that need the nutrients, and their developing bodies are thriving on the abundance. However, other horses, including my Tickles, have just grown fat, which can be very dangerous, even deadly, for horses; so she and another obese mare have been cut off from pasture grass. They are confined on about a half acre behind the house forlornely munching their dry hay and trying to look miserable.

Meanwhile our friends and neighbors are constantly shuffling horses around. Anyone with a little land needs grazers and anyone with horses, cattle, goats,etc... are in high demand for people to 'borrow' thier animals to take care of all the grass.

It's a good time to be a horse. But an awful time to be a horse with a slow metabolism, at least according to Tickles.

Stick To the Old Ways If It Kills You

2005-06-10T11:57:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I glanced out my front window and saw a couple of neighbor kids no older than six or seven riding down the road on thier horses, one of which had a young foal in tow darting along between the two big horses. Even in this laid back country community, I was a little shocked that this was allowed unsupervised. I can't imagine letting my children ride in such an unsafe manner no matter how good their riding skill at that age.

Of course there were no helmets, in this part of the country helmets are not considered appropriate, these two had on cowboy hats. But my main concern was the mare and foal, no matter how well broke she may be usually, mares can be unpredictable when they are distracted by their baby. We always make sure our foals are halter-broke within the first week, and if their mothers are to be ridden,(ours rarely are) the babies must know how to pony (that's be lead by the person riding the other horse). I could just picture that baby dart into the path of a car or truck and the mare freak out. What would those kids do?

I know in rural parts of the country, like eastern Idaho, it is a matter of pride to maintain the western way of life, the old ways of doing things. But isn't it just plain stupid to allow dangerous situations to occur just because grandpa did it that way back before helmets were invented? And cars( if there were cars at all) went slower on what were dirt roads then, and people just didn't know any better because there had never been any studies done to show how potentially harmful these things could be.

Words like 'quaint' and 'down-home' are all well and good but nowadays people should know better and use some common sense and better judgement. That's my opinion anyway and I guess I'll stick with it. Lord knows around here opinions don't change too quick.

Boarding is the Horse-Person's Boardroom

2005-06-07T13:54:00.000-06:00

A while ago I went to visit a gal who bought a horse from us last year and has since become a friend. I drop the barn where she boards whenever I'm in the area to deliver a carrot to her stall and catch up on my need for horse-talk with like minded people. I boarded for years before I brought my guys home and I must say that one thing I miss is interaction with other horse- people.

There is just something about the atmosphere at a public barn. Everyone is wrapped up with their seperate horse issues, disciplines, schedules, but there is always common ground to be found. Always someone who would appreciate hearing about how Tickles somehow managed to get a clump of hay in the middle of her back and performed the most amazing horsey acrobatics trying to reach it. There's usually someone to chat with as you're cleaning stalls or grooming, and riding buddies aren't hard to come by either.

Don't get me wrong. I love having my kids right here in the backyard and there are too many hastles involved with boarding for me to do it again unless I had to. Aside from the high cost of board, feed, and travel to and from the barn, I no longer have to worry about my tools and tack wandering off, my horses being fed things that are not in their diet, and countless other annoyances. I hated having them so far away, I love walking out the back door to visit with them any time I want.

But I do enjoy briefly re-immersing myself in the busy barn enviornment from time to time. I admire the two big indoor arenas and wash stalls. I laugh over a few funny horse moments and share some gossip, I make the proper comments over the horses recently put on the market "He's so pretty...sweet personality...such a shame she doesn't have time for him anymore..." yada yada. It's as important I think for horse-people to have bonding time with each other as it is with their horses. So consider it therapy, not necessarily aroma therapy, but whatever floats your boat.

Horses Are Just Big Noses

2005-05-30T15:17:00.000-06:00

I've thought it to myself plenty of times, but today when my mother came over and was in the barn greeting the newest batch of kittens, it was expressed out loud. Horses are just big noses.

Wherever you are standing that's within a neck length, you'll have a horse nose there. On your shoulder, nudging you in the back, breathing hot air on you, nibbling your hair or whatever you have in your hands, sniffing your clothes, and just being generally in your business. In my experience, the younger they are the worse it is but many of the older horses are awfully nosey too.

I don't think they're looking for food, although they do get occasional treats so they may be hoping to get lucky. They absolutely love to be scratched and petted and I know I've found myself absently rubbing a guy who had nosed his way in to what I'm doing. I have also observed how they appreciate burying their noses in the cat's fur and sniffing it in, which is not something the cats usually stand for unless I'm holding them. The horses also enjoy "helping" me clean the stalls by way of mouthing the end of the muck rake as I'm trying to use it and standing as close on top of me as I'm bent over as to be almost piggy-back. They like to think of themselves as lap-dogs.

I know that this can be considered obnoxious behavior and I should put a stop to it. But I appreciate that the little (and not so little) pests are friendly and personable, curious and mild- mannered. I like the fact that I can have friends and family over to pet the heads hanging eagerly over the fence. Whereas some other horses I've known would rather move away from outstretched hands or stand glowering in a corner, ignoring any onlookers.

Manners are in the eye of the beholder, I believe, and I think my horses have good manners. There are lots of worse habits a horse can pick up than becoming a big nosey nose.

My View On Slaughter

2005-05-20T11:35:00.000-06:00

That's right I'm going to go there. The horse slaughter question. It's been a bitter debate in the horse industry for decades and there seems to be no end in sight.

I'd like to cite, specifically, the practice of rounding up wild mustangs for sale to slaughter houses. Indeed this is not a new activity. It was once common to round up what could be caught for a quick sale to the slaughter house, after all, wild mustangs are a symbol of the old west. They belong to everyone and no one. That view has not changed much, but it's meaning is different. People now think that the horses are less a commodity or resource and more a national treasure. No one is jumping to take responsibility to care for all of them but we all think somebody should. It is true that there are getting to be way too many horses competing with livestock on the range and the management organizations such as the BLM can only handle so much. Is the easy answer to just cart off the excess animals to the plant?

In my opinion it may be. I love horses and would love every horse in the country to be treated like the pets mine are. However I'm not signing up to house and feed 2 million wild horses for the next 30 years, and I don't see too many other horse lovers doing it either. Not to say it isn't all of our problem. There are just too many horses. I would suggest, if I may, an implimentaion of a spaying and gelding program on a far grander scale than that already in place to help this problem in the future and I applaud the individuals supporting the horse adoption program. But there are still an awful lot of horses to fall through the cracks.

This is where the slaughter question comes in. I know that no one wants to think about it but where else are these animals to go? And what would their quality of life be otherwise? Maybe an end to it for them is the best choice. They are then shipped off to countries where horse-meat is not taboo as it is here, to me that does not sound like the downfall of society as it is made to sound.

So I am for the slaughter of excess horses, at least until there is some other option or no more excess. When horse owners quit dumping horses that are of no more "use" to them and stop breeding animals if they do not intend to give the resulting offspring a home for life or at least take that horse back if new owners don't want to keep it in the future. As for the mustangs I'd perfer that the dangerous, aggressive or diseased animals go first, but then what? It's awful, it's cruel and it's like playing God, which we have no right to do, but at the same time I feel it's a neccisary evil. I hate to see good, sound, usable horses end up that way just because no effort was made to find any better option for them. I also think it's deplorable the way many of these animals are transporteted to the facilities, and treated once they arrive in some cases. This should be a means to end their suffering, not increase it.

The bottom line for me is that slaughter is ugly, we don't want to see it or even think about it but if the plants were closed down, would all the lobbyists then accept the trailerfuls of excess horses? Who would? The problems of excess and disease would increase at rates we can't even imagine, as well as equine suffering and neglect. Maybe if some one doesn't like the idea of slaughter, don't get a job at a plant. And we all need to help by providing good homes to the horses that come under our care.

April Showers Bring More Showers

2005-05-13T13:40:00.000-06:00

The May flowers did start to poke thier little heads out up until this past week, where it did nothing but rain for six days straight. The good news is that I have plenty of water in the front pasture, the bad news is that the pasture is one big lake and I have nowhere for all that wet stuff to go.

The horses are walking mud balls and the mud is so sticky I can hardly keep my boots from getting sucked off, forget about horse shoes. We're considering ourselves lucky, though, because this past week's storms produced several funnel clouds nearby and we have no plan in place for what to do with the animals in the event of a tornado. Do you turn them loose? I think I'd rather bring them into the basement with us. We've actually already had a horse in this basement, now that I think about it. My mother in-law's almost seventeen hand gelding wandered in through the downstairs door to hang out one afternoon, but that's a different story.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to summer. The mud will be gone, so will the unpredictable weather, the horses will be clean (well, relatively) and theoretically, I'll have some extra time to ride. Though that may be wishful thinking. I have so much I want to get done, I actually have a training to-do-list for each horse and wall-to-wall mud is just not working for me. I just have to keep chanting to myself:

Rain, rain go away,
my horse and I
have plans today.

Wet And Wild

2005-05-02T17:42:00.000-06:00

So I've spent the last two days knee deep in muddy water, shovel in hand, trying to get the flood water in the pasture to spread out somewhat evenly. This is obviously one of the more glamorous aspects of horse ownership. I think I have sucessfuly killed the two ponds that form at the front of the pasture and stay all summer. They serve no purpose other than creating mud, and a lovely mosquito breeding resort.

Meanwhile all the thick green grass that comes with spring showers turns brown, dries up and is dead by June. Who's brilliant idea was flood irrigating anyway? The problem is that it is fully a study in the laws of gravity. I just cannot get the water to flow uphill. So I am left with trying to dig little trenches to try to get little rivlets to carry tiny amounts of water to dry areas. The pasture being pretty much flat, this can get very frustrating after I dig a trench, thereby freeing the water and the ungrateful flow just doesn't flow. The only places that seem to be low-lying are the mosquitoe-mud-ponds.

Horse-keeping on a small acreage has its pitfalls, many of them seasonal, and in the green time of year before summer sets in, the pitfall is the battle for water. Or against water, as the case may be. No matter how smooth and level an area looks, you will be amazed how many desert islands appear once the water works start.

Spring Has Sprung

2005-04-25T18:20:00.000-06:00

Ever notice how everything seems new at springtime? Even things you've had for years that were packed away all winter seem new. We're unpacking my daughters' summer toys, wagons, bikes, and battery powered cars that were hidden in a horse trailer all winter and they just think it's Christmas.

As I drive down our road I see my neighbor's horses with their new foals, the calves scampering with each other. We even have new kittens in the barn (as if we need any more cats). I just love baby animals! Unfortunately, the only mare we were expecting a foal from this year, one of the Thoroughbreds, lost it a couple of months ago so this is the first year in ages that I don't have a baby to work with. I am missing it now, looking at the babies in nearby fields and I have to keep reminding myself how much work they turn into so quickly.

But with spring in the air, everything seems light and easy. The fruit trees are budding and we're dumping grass cuttings over the fence for the horses from the suddenly growing lawn. Even my husband came home with a flat of pansies for our daughter to plant. There's gotta be something in the air.

I guess it must be spring!

A Non-Horsey Rider

2005-04-23T18:18:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a great riding day. The weather was just perfect, sunny but not too hot, and it was teacher's inservice day in our school district so my younger brother and sister( 18 and 13 respectively) were able to come out and play.

Now my sister is a budding amature rider and takes her lessons seriously, whereas my brother takes a more lack-luster approach to the whole thing. He saw us pulling the muddy horses in from the pasture and gathering the equipment and he made a beline for the house calling over his shoulder that he wanted to ride when we had the horses ready. We sort of forgot to let him know and worked on our various horse projects until he came out an hour later with a hurt look on his face because we didn't call him. We did mention that if he had been helping out he might have known when the horses were ready.

Anyway he watched my sister ride for a few minutes as I called out instructions, then I asked if he was ready and had heard what I had been saying about holding the reins properly.
He said he had not really been listening, he had been watching the horse.
Oh, I say, well did you see how she turned tight around the barrel and went wide around the edge of the arena?
Well, no, he didn't notice, he kinda had his eyes on the horse but he was thinking about something else.

At this point I was wondering why this kid even wanted to ride but I told my sister to give him his turn and he happily stepped up to mount Tickles. Tickles, by the way is fourteen and a half hands tall, that's a little under five feet at the shoulder, and my brother is a gangly six-foot-three or so, his feet hung down to her knees but I managed to get the stirrups to fit. Tickles then proceded to take him on a nice little tour of the arena, I quickly gave up yelling out pointers as everybody but him(the horse included) knew he was only a passenger.

After a few minutes he announced he was ready to trot so I stopped him and told him to give a little rein, squeeze with both heels and cluck. Turns out teenage boys are genetically incabable of producing any sound even resembling a cluck. Miraculously, though, he could manage a kissing sound, but since that is more of a canter cue, we decided to just stick to the first two. After a couple of passes, Tickles figured out that the flailing and arm waving was a new-fangled method of cueing for the trot and finally indulged him in a pokey, lazy, walk-jog that brought a smile to his face.

He proudly pulled up and patted his trusty steed and declared he was going back in to play video games. We girls finished up our lesson and put the horses away. Looking back it occurs to me that they both had, I think, an equally good time riding. They both accomplished what they set out to, and it proves again what I always thought. You can have fun and enjoy horses on any level, you mustn't have preconceived notions about what what you should accomplish and how you do it in order to be a successful rider. The main thing is to enjoy yourself and be safe.

However, next time I think I may have to have him help saddle up or clean a stall afterwards, we don't want today's youth thinking there's any such thing as a free ride!

Nanny Nanny!

2005-04-19T13:45:00.000-06:00

Me and one of my first horses, Ol' Buckshot (just in case you can't see the teeny little thumbnail sized Profile Photo). I should have stuck out my tongue, too!

Inspiring News

2005-04-18T20:37:00.000-06:00

Today on the news I saw that a 16-year-old girl from right here in Idaho has qualified to go to the Rolex Invitational this year in Kentucky. This competition is one of the final steps in qualifying for the Olympics; in fact many of her competitors at the event will be Olympic riders. Few 16-year-olds are able to compete at equivilant levels in any sport that I can think of, so I find this very exciting.

The compitition is Three-Day-Eventing which consists of a day of Dressage, in which every movement of the horse is judged as it performs dance-like routines to the invisible cues from the rider. The second day is the Cross-Country portion, timed, over a four-mile course of solid obstacles and water hazards. The final day is Stadium Jumping where the pair completes a course of jumps within an enclosed arena.

To complete the event in decent shape requires immense bravery, stamina, and heart. To win at any of the higher levels is unimaginable to me. But my favorite part of the story is the story of the pair themselves. The horse is a Thoroughbred ex-racehorse, purchased as a claimer. Horses are entered into claiming races often as a quick and easy way for the owner to dispose of the animal. They go to the highest better, basically; and like many racehorses, often don't amount to much unless they are lucky enough to get picked up by someone who understands them and can do something with them. This gelding was lucky. The girl was homeschooled so she could spend her time training the horse and I guess it payed off!

All of this struck me because:
A: I did some Three-Day-Eventing in college but found it too grueling, so I switched to
Hunter/Jumper.
B: I was homeschooled from third grade to ninth.
C: My husband and I basically run his parent's breeding operation and everyday I work with
Thoroughbreds that are either off the track, or bound for the track or competition arena.

I know many of the backyard pet horse enthusiasts will find this all utterly boring but I maintain that the more we know about the horse world at large, the better prepared we will be to help make horse industry related decisions in the future. For all of those who can compete at the top levels, more power to them and thank you on behalf of all the obscure smaller horse people living vicariously through your adventures!

A Hairy Situation

2005-04-14T16:18:00.000-06:00

Today I was daydreaming a bit as I quickly ran a brush over Tuff's sides and then moved on to Tickles. On my way back to the barn I picked up a cat for a quick rub and patted the dog on the way into the house where I did a double-take when I passed by the mirror. I looked like I had grown a fur coat!

I guess it's that time of year again. Shedding season. The days are getting longer and warmer and all the animals have let fly with loose hair. I think I could build a new cat every day with all I've collected, or save it up and make a whole horse. I wonder if there aren't places I could donate it , like Locks of Love for cancer patients, maybe there's a place for people to donate fur coats to the hairless, like Chinese Crested dogs and naked mole rats.

All I know is that hair, and lots of it, is my life this time of year. It's in the carpet, the car, and on all of our clothes. It's a challenge to avoid breathing it in when I'm petting a critter and with my horses being mostly white, it shows up on everything, there's no avoiding it.

But on the other hand, I love watching the hair gradually come off, and seeing their brightly colored summer coats make their appearance. They slowly are becoming sleek and shiny as the spring wind carries the loose hair away a little at a time for the birds to use in their nests. For better or worse shedding season is a sure sign that Spring is here. Besides, every time my husband looks at my hairbrush he points that I'm shedding all year round, so it could be worse!

Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

2005-04-11T11:48:00.001-06:00

There is a growing concern within the horse industry about the future of our pastime. After a short decline in horse ownership with the invention of the automobile, the pleasure horse industry has always been healthy until recent years. Now with fewer and fewer people living in rural areas and the encroaching development of the growing cities, horses are becoming more and more of a rare sight.

While my mother's generation saw grandparents with backyard ponies for the kids to ride on weekends, I grew up in a world where horseback riding lessons were an inconvenient and expensive indulgence. What about the next generation? Who will run the organizations and fight the battles on behalf of our equine friends in future years if it is becoming less and less possible for youth to be involved with horses? How will they learn to appreciate the responsibility and pride achieved when working to become a partner with such a noble and responsive animal? Horses have a presence and demeanor about them that inspires respect and adoration. Can you buy your kid a goldfish and expect it to teach these lessons? I don't think so.

But I don't have a solution. People who can still afford this pastime are trying to pass this on to their children, and maybe, hopefully, they will be enough to ensure that horses survive and are appreciated for their contribution to life in this country and the people we have become.

Why Choose?

2005-04-08T13:24:00.000-06:00

I have lived in the west, especially the Northwest, my whole life. Raised in California, I lived in Utah and Oregon before winding up in Idaho. This information is relevant because it helps explain why my love of riding English and jumping is regarded as exccentric at best. Here in the west we ride western. I was in college before I even saw an English saddle up close. It looked dangerous, but I tried it and was hooked. I began showing in some lower level hunter classes and I loved jumping! But once I left school, my instructor, and the atmosphere of fellow equestrians who appreciated what an English mount could offer, I returned to my western lifestyle.

Now I didn't give up on English riding and I have nothing against western, in fact, here in Idaho I often see my neighbors working thier cattle or herding sheep up the road. That would be hard to do without a free hand. Not to mention the fact that this is hard-core rodeo country and I wouldn't want to try any of those events in English tack. And I'm not encouraged to try. Just a quick jaunt down the road on my horse, which normally would warrant only a wave or nod from passers-by, can get quite a different reaction when I feel like riding English. Stares, double-takes, and even that occasional glare as though it's a personal slight that I would take the prissy Easterners' advice on how to sit a good western horse. How do I think the West was won anyway?

But I still trained Tickles to go English and she loves to jump. Of course, being a short, stocky Paint Horse, she would stick out like a sore thumb if I were to enter her in a class over fences, and I doubt anyone in that circle would appreciate her efforts. For no matter how hard she tries, she just has no real talent.

I've made myself a tiny bit of an outcast. So what will I do? Buy a leggy Thoroughbred or give up and stick to my roots?

How about neither? I'll just ride what I want, how I want. I don't really care what's geographically accepted if I and my horses enjoy it. I'm not hurting anybody and I kind of get a kick out of rocking the boat. Besides nowadays people own horses more for fun and relaxation than any other reason, if I'm having fun, why does it matter? I choose not to choose one or the other. I ride for the sake of riding, of being outside and enjoying the land and animals. Conformity is for the birds. So Giddyap and Tally-ho!

Distraction

2005-04-07T17:46:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I went thumbing through a Horse Illustrated magazine to see if there were any topics that I felt opinionated enough about to post a new blog. What I found instead were two good articles on ground work exercises that I hadn't tried out yet. So I wound up spending the afternoon not in front of my computer, as planned, but out in my arena playing with my horses.

So a really good and insightful blog is forth-coming, it's just that my horses needed me more than my blog did yesterday. That's sometimes the way it goes when you're dealing with horse people. I just hope that someday I can get my husband to understand that!

A Wasted Day?

2005-04-03T15:11:00.000-06:00

So today I stepped outside to feed the animals, nursing a headcold and feeling yucky, and a little guilty. I had every intention of getting some serious riding done yesterday on account of the gorgeous weather and relatively clear schedule and yet I never did get so far as picking up a bridle. Another wasted day, I guess. But I've let good riding days go by before just playing or pampering the kids, and they don't seem to suffer from it.

The odd thing is, I boarded my horse for years, and rode almost every day. I thought when I moved them to my own back yard and saved the time and effort of driving to the barn, oh what I could accomplish! But in the 2 years I've had my kids home, I hardly ever actually ride any more. Is it because I can get my horse fix just by gazing out the window a hundred times a day? I no longer have to fit all my horse time into one trip to the barn, but can run out the door for a hug and a carrot and a quick horse game or lesson each time I have a spare few minutes.

When I do ride I've noticed that it's a more relaxing time for both of us. I take long trail rides with my husband or pop on bareback to mess around in the yard and while I'm always half focused on training, my rides have stopped being class time. I know my horses have noticed the difference because they come trotting when I call even when I'm holding a bridle instead of an apple.

So maybe I'll stop feeling guilty about 'wasting' lesson time and look forward to the next nice day. In the mean time I'm sure I can find plenty to do to keep them busy and attentive and my pants clean.

Meet The Kids

2005-04-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

When I refer to my kids one has to take into consideration the context to figure out whether I'm talking about my two daughters, or my two Paint Horses. Affectionately known as Tuff and Tickles, my thoughts revolve around them far more than anyone should admit. They were purchased "for the kids" but somewhere along the line they evolved into almost people. To me.

When asked what I do with them, I might give the same look as if I were asked that about my children. I feed them, clean up after them, play with them and love them. They also have their various jobs they are asked to do from time to time. Little Tickles is the Trainer-of-kids. Patient and gentle she yawns obnoxiously the moment a child is placed on her back, I know she can think of nothing more boring than babysitting. She babysits the foals in the spring as well and when their mothers can't stand them anymore, Tickles will always yawn and play and nuzzle them no matter how bratty. She likes babies no matter how many legs they have. She taught my little sister about barrel racing and jumping alike, only six years old she's one of those worth her weight in gold horses.

Three-year-old Tuff is personality man, pretty palomino, can't get enough attention and smart as a whip. Sometimes a little too smart. I taught him to shake hands in one afternoon then had to try to unteach him when I realized how alarming it is to someone not expecting to have the nearest horse offer his hoof each time they hold out their hand. And if Tuff is in the vicinity, he's the nearest horse.

So maybe someone out there in Blog Land will find something to appreciate in my observations of my horses and the horse industry as a whole. Hopefully I can add a little perspective for people with horse issues of their own, and for the unfortunate horseless, a glimpse of a life that revolves around the kids.

All That Glitters Isn't Good Advice

2005-04-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Anyone who rides, loves horses or has a critter of thier own knows about the TRAINERS. The whisperers, the clinitians, these gifted horsemen and women who can do wonders with problem horses and polished performers alike and who are skilled in the art of convincing well meaning horse lovers to fork over their hard earned dough for a taste of what they do. Just the mention of some of the names; Lyons, Parelli, Hunt, Dorrance, Anderson and scads of others can strike panic into the heart of anyone who loves their horse.

"I don't do that the way so-and-so does! I must be ruining my horse!"

"I haven't bought the latest halter/round pen/saddle that such-and-such says you have to have. My poor horse!"

This trainer says to do it this way and whats-his-name said that never works. Although it worked with my horse until I found out it's never supposed to. So what now?

Of course old Blackie is standing in his pasture with burrs in his mane while his owner is in the house studying magazines, videos and catalogs hoping she never figures it out. After all, training isn't his idea.

Now I'm not saying that the trainers are wrong, or bad or even off-base. I too have been greatly impressed with what they can accomplish and a whole movement has been started to turn horses into partners rather than slaves. My problem is that I see too many people become steadfast converts to one particular person or method. Like religious fanatics they follow, copy and buy whatever is dictated.

I have found in my experience that horses are individuals. As much as people are. What works for some may not work so well for others. I have followed trainers advice on certain training principles to the letter with one horse and abondoned their ideals completely with another. And I have even gone so far as to (gasp!) make up my own ways and you know what? They worked! I have two happy healthy horses in spite of the fact that I use a mish-mash methodology.

My point is that you know your horse. You decide what you will both be comfortable with. I advocate listening to other's opinions, then forming your own. Use your own head and don't be afraid to use your own ideas! If you feel you are in over your head, by all means, seek a professional. But one thing I know. You will build a much better rapport and working relationship with your horse if you spend your time with him, instead of a stranger on a video tape.