Vacation!

As you may or may not know, my vacation starts in less than 5 hours! This means that I wont be able to write on my blog for the next week. I am going to the cottage, where there is no Internet, no phone or TV... I can't wait!

Here are some of my plans for my vacation.

1. Ride, at least every other day.

2. Spend quality time with my mom, who is also on vacation!

3. RELAX! I need to rest, I feel exhausted.

4. Spend some time outside, as usual.

I didn't plan any work on the farm, because I feel like I REALLY need the break. I will still be able to go to the farm every day to check up on everyone and everything.

We had an earthquake here on Wednesday (5.0 on Richter scale)... the horses seemed fine about it. The dogs were just going crazy! I was in an office building and it shook quite hard, stuff was falling off the walls and at one point I really felt as if something could fall on my head at any given time. Of course, I didn't know what it was given that there is the G8 and G20 summits and that we were advised to be on our guards about suspicious people (I work for the Canadian Government)... At first I thought it was an explosion, then I felt like the upper floors were crashing down, that's when I took my purse and ran for it.

It's not until I was out of the building to notice no material damage to it that I realized that it wasn't a bomb... then I saw the streets flooding with people and realized that our building wasn't the only one afffected, then the thought of an earthquake was the most likely. Anyways, nobody was hurt and there wasn't major material damage, just a few reported cases. It is the first strong earthquake that I witness and let me tell you that I could feel the building swaying from side to side. I'm sure I was as white as a ghost and my legs were shaking the whole time I was going down the stairs. I thought my office window was going to fall out of the sill! I didn't know if it was going to get worst before it got better, so I got out, like everyone else actually.

Anyways, glad that's over!

We are participating in a parade tonight for our annual professional rodeo. It opens tonight with a horse and buggy parade. I am taking Dandy, Peg and Pearl. It will be Dandy's first time in a crowd and with horses that she doesn't know... I don't know how it'll go since she is so friendly and always wants to meet all the new horses. I don't think that she'll be out of control, once we get working, she always pays attention to the rider. I'm not at all worried for Peg and Pearl, the old girls have been in races, they know the whole crowd, noise and strange horse stuff. It'll be their first time since they got rescued that they'll participate in any horse event. They have been with me for over a year now, they are both doing great and are very happy horses.

I will take many pictures of the preparation to the parade and the horses... I will get my mom to take pictures of the parade itself... since I am riding in it... it's kind of hard to take pics and I don't want to carry the camera with me. It's a great first time for Dandy, since there isn't supposed to be any sirens, I'm sure it wouldn't phase her, but I might feel more comfortable! :)

So I'm off on vacation and will only be back in the office on July 5th. By then, if I'm not too busy, I might post stories and pictures! Have a great week everyone and I hope that you did take some time off from work to enjoy summer... my week isn't supposed to be too hot, but not too rainy (except Monday, but I have erands to run!). See you in 10 days!

New guys! PICS!

You probably thought that I had retired my camera... but no! The weather hasn't been the greatest and I haven't had a ton of time to take pictures. So yesterday evening, I took out the camera... no... I didn't take pictures of the horses, but I should've. Although no horse has had significant changes, they all look exactly the same! ;P

We managed to take out the horses twice this weekend for about 1.5 hours everytime. Peg only got out once, remained sound without shoes, but she sweated a lake.. she is not in good shape, since she is only used occasionnally, she never gets much exercise. At her age, she rarely runs around anymore and enjoys her days basking in the sun or in the shade if it's too hot... I've actually found them using the shelter!!! :D I have decided to not put shoes back on Peg. She is rarely used and is sound in the pasture... I will treat her thrush like all the others and keep her hooves trimmed in a natural way. I plan on selling the shoes that I didn't use, they would make excellent shoes for someone who is into gaming and wants their horse to enjoy a more natural way of living. The shoes can be glued on or nailed on.

One of Misty's overgrown hooves broke off to a normal lenght. I can pick up her front feet, she hasn't had much work this weekend except for putting on her halter twice, leading a bit and picking up her feet, but I'm in no rush. She can still be touched pretty much all over except for her underbelly, but we'll work on that in the weeks to come. The next steps are to trim her feet, at least the front (I will take before and after shots), then probably start sacking her out, maybe putting a circingle on her and a bit in her mouth, just to get her used to it. I don't want to skip steps and I want to have confidence when I put my foot in that stirrup. She is a sweety, but I don't know how she will react to a saddle and rider yet... I'm thinking that either she'll just stands there, frozen or shoot forward in a panic, but I will probably video tape that first ride and some of her training. She has seen me getting on Dandy and riding, she is curious about the saddle and there isn't much that spooks her. I was bathing the horses yesterday and she was getting too close, so I sprayed her neck with water... but she didn't move... Nothing makes her nervous. There was a deer in the pasture with the horses on Friday evening and she kept looking at it, then got closer... then realized it was just another "horse" and got back to grazing.

On Sunday morning, we added a new addition to the cattle herd... Here he is:

He is a 16 month old Blonde D'Aquitaine bull. That's Nabisco behind him. He was introduced to the herd on Sunday morning. We'll only see what he can produce next year, in March-April 2011. Nabisco seems to be close to her heat cycle, he is sticking with her away from the herd, so I am expecting her to be bred this week, I will note the appropriate dates. The Blonde D'Aquitaine is a great breed that gives calves that aren't too big at birth but that have significant weight gain in their first weeks of life. I am not fond of this bull's conformation, but he is in his dangly yearling stage and should even out with time. I also find him a bit thin. He should build more muscles in the year to come.

I have also taken pictures of the herd:

Above: These are two of our Gilbvieh X Angus cows. The one in the middle of the pic has not yet calved and the one behind her is the latest one to have calved.

BELOW: This is the next one to calve. She is a first calf heifer, so we'll be keeping an eye on her. She should calve in the week to come.

Below: These are the youngsters. Our two calves and first calf heifer. The calf laying down is the latest calf. He is a steer from our biggest Gilbvieh X Angus cow and from a Charolais bull. The calf in the middle is our white heifer from end of April. She is now a few days short of 2 months old, while the little guy is 20 days old, he was born on June 1st.

We've called the little heifer Biscuits... because her mom is Nabisco... we stayed in the cooking theme! Biscuits will be staying with us. The little guy didn't get a name, I am trying not to get too attached since he will be sold, probably for meat... It's hard to keep away from such a cute little face. He is curious and wants to walk up to people to smell them, but he doesn't know that we wont hurt him yet.

As for the bull, he is just getting used to people. He ran for the woods a few times but once with the cows, we were able to get close to him. Our cows are very friendly and I found myself having to back up to take some pictures since they were standing way too close to me!

This weekend will be our annual rodeo, I will try to take some pictures of that, weather permits... I am participating in the opening parade, I might have pictures, if someone takes some. This is also my last week at work before a week of vacation. I am going up to the cottage for the whole week next week so I will have no Internet access, no phone, no TV... Everything I need for complete PEACE! My mom is also on vacation and we are planning to go pedalboating quite a bit, she just got her pedalboat on Friday! I'm more of a canoer, but I'll adapt. Since the cottage isn't all that far from the farm, I'll be able to go every day to check on the cows and horses and probably will be going for a few rides... by myself but that's ok. I will probably have more time to take pictures.

Horse experience

I don't have much horse news. I have a super itch to ride my horses. Those string horses have left a bad taste in my mouth... I am now craving a horse that has a lot of spunk.

I ride since I am 6 years old. I have broke a few horses, had many falls, broke and sprained a few things and had to deal with horsey meltdowns more than my share. All that to say, I know how to control a horse and what to do if said horse bolts, buck, rears or just wont behave. I've taken a taste, over the years, to having a little challenge everytime I ride. Every ride we do, I either race with my companions, do tricky and challenging schooling (tight turns at a canter) or ride a challenging horse over challenging terrain. Anything to get the adrenaline pumping and I've gotten used to those types of horses and that type of riding. I need to at least run full galop once in my ride.

I like to canter and do turns, galop starts, chasing cows, jumping things... I need to get moving. Needless to say that the string horse ride I got was worthless to me, I was bored to death and couldn't get over it. I still had to pay the $50 at the end and got treated like I didn't know what I was doing for 2 hours. So it left a really sour, bad taste in my mouth.

I always thought that my horses were ok beginner horses. At least, I thought that they'd be okay once the beginners would know what to do and how to do it once on the horse... but no... I had full faith in Dandy, but she isn't at that level, and she never will be. She is too sensitive and gets pissed if you don't hold your posture or ride correctly. She tends to go faster if the rider is new, off balance or has too much leg on. It's like she was never trained! When I get on, she's such a charm, she does everything for me. Maybe Peg would've been a better bet, but Peg likes to go fast too and she tends to test her new riders a lot more than Dandy does... Pearl is completely out of the question and any new beginner would absolutely want out before even putting a foot in the stir up. Misty is not trained so that is out of the question. I never put a beginner on Peg and I don't really want to.

I don't want to talk bad about beginners, but they are not yet aware of their bodies and movements, once the horse starts moving, everything they've learned goes out the window and they are now sitting in a chair seat, heels way up, heels on the horse, hands up in the air and pulling, basically just as crisp as burnt bacon. So I don't want people like that on my horse because it confuses the horse, can make them stressed or angry and it just desorientates them.

I have trained my horses to be forward, not in front of me, but forward and eager to canter and do new things. Dandy loves new scenery and takes it all in. She is very sensitive to leg and it really, I mean really doesn't take much for her to go... if the leg goes on stronger, it means a canter start, so people that don't know that just might have Dandy start in a canter, which would be a disaster for newbies... but not to someone that wants a good responsive horse... and I will not desensitize her to the point of making her unhappy in her work. I will keep working on her sensitivity and commands so that she gets better and better.

The point is, if Dandy ever gets as sour as those string horses, I will have to sell her because my enjoyment is going to suffer greatly.

Do you have stories of people who rode string horses and thought they knew it all!? I've seen a few in my day, but not recently, so I would like some fresh stories!

I'm Tired! **WARNING, RANT**

Well... I didn't take any pictures this weekend... I'm sorry for myself and the weekend didn't turn out to be so exciting after all.

My friends were ok, but a bit opportunistic, I must apologize in advance for the mega rant. We provided free accomodation for them for 2 days in our riverside cottage and provided most of the food and drinks. We used our car for all of the site-seeing and going from point A to B. They were supposed to provide dinner for four, but the portions were a little bit skimpy and I would've had more if there was any left, but there wasn't.

I told them to bring anything else that they wanted to eat, but they sponged off of my stuff and drinks. They'd brought beer, but left it out of the fridge and never offered one to anyone. They are usually opportunistic in that way and I knew that before I invited them over.

Also, they took up our cottage for one weekend, my family couldn't use it and they never noticed that this was a privation for my family, who love going to the cottage. We were thanked and I was left with the impression that their weekend might have been disapointing for them.

On Saturday morning, they called me and told me that they'd gotten a flat tire and would be late. They had no clue how to change a tire so they had to call someone to do it for them and it cost them $40!!!!!!! I could've done it in 15 minutes flat... for free...!!! They have no knowledge of country life and have insulted me a few times by saying that they didn't think there was much work to do on a farm and that I was exagerating!!!! Then they saw what was to be done and finally shut up about it. They also said that riding a horse couldn't be hard... you just sit there right? Well, this weekend, I saddled Dandy and showed them how a well trained horse responds and they got off with a new respect for riders everywhere! (Accomplishment!!).

Then we visited tourist attractions in our small town and walked in the woods. They had a hard time keeping up with me and are much thinner and supposed to be more in shape than I am!!! They had to have a nap when we got home! On Sunday, we went on a trail ride at a ranch... It was too far to bring my own horses, but I think it might be worth it next time, because I felt like I'd been ripped off when I paid the lady... I mean, I was BORED out of my mind the whole time. If anyone is under the impression that by riding a string horse you are an expert, you just poked your two eyes out with a stick! These horses wont do ANYTHING for anyone. I managed to get mine out of the line and beside other horses, but it took all I had. I got him to trot a bit too, I was so bored, I let go of the reins for most of the trail just to add a bit of excitement... it was hardly enough. My sister and I were looking at each other and saying how bored we were. I wish a bomb would've exploded right beside my horse... probably would've gave me something to do.

I have also found out that Dandy is not so much a beginner horse like I thought she was. She is much too sensitive and I felt bad to watch newbies kick her instead of just putting their leg on her, I had shown them exactly how to do it. I had to tell them to tone it down if they didn't want to go from a standing stop to a galop in half a second. Dandy was getting a bit POed with the newbies and their heels up, cinching her sides and yanking her mouth, so I stopped the procedure and led them around instead. Dandy is also a bit too forward, she wants to trot all the time. I have no problem keeping her at a walk, but newbies weren't keeping her under control, either had too much contact on her to make her stop and back-up or not enough that she would take her head and start trotting, then they would try slowing her down with the typical hands too wide, behind the hips and legs tightly on the horse to keep telling her to trot on, and faster. I just stood there and face-palmed myself in my head.

After explaining how to ride properly, they were all over the place and completely out of control. I told them that reins and legs are like a hallway, the horse'll stay between the walls if you keep walls up for him.. if not, he will be all over the place. I understand that it might have been a challenge for them to do it right, but I actually had them sitting on the horse and placing their limbs (hands and legs), explaining exactly what to do for everything. I gave courses to my mom and she was better than that after never being on a horse... she actually rode Dandy successfully on her own, on a trail, no coach, no other horses. I'm proud of my mom after seeing this... at least I know that I'm not a bad teacher!

I rode Dandy the last to tune her back and actually cantered a circle beautifully! She was wanting to canter way more since I hadn't ridden her in 2 weeks, but I didn't have much more time. Well, at least I earned a bit more respect in my field and for the horse riders in general *** Thank you, thank you!!*** :P

All in all... a not so bad weekend, but if the tables had been turned and that they would've sheltered me for free, I would've at least paid their trail rides (knowing me)... especially if I knew that they would've absolutely not done it without me... since they had good horses at home. So I am putting up new rules for the next visitors:

- Accomodations will be provided, given a fee to rent the cottage (fully furnished, w/o food), that way, my expenses will be at least a bit covered, especially for activities that I have done a thousand times and do not really want to do if I didn't have guests. Would at least pay my parents for preventing the use of their cottage, at least minimal fee and my gas money for all the travelling they require.

- If they want to go on a trail ride, it will HAVE to be on the ranch in my town and I will need to bring MY own horses for myself and my sister if she wants to tag along. I am not riding another difficult, bored and sour dude horse when I have awesome, responsive horses at home that are looking to work!

- Cash will need to be carried at all times, I will not provide resources to people that do not have cash handy, especially if they know that cash is needed at all times. They never carry any cash and we actually had to fork the money to have her flat tire repaired!!!!! I almost fell on my a** when I knew that she had had to have the towing guy change her tire and that she had to go to the bank to get money to pay him because she didn't have any on her person... and that once we got to the tire shop to get the darn thing fixed, she STILL DIDN'T have any cash on her, this tells me that instead of taking out a fair amount of money from the bank, including the $40 to pay the towing guy who was kind enough to help them and not laugh, they only took out $40 and gave it to the towing guy and were left with no cash, AGAIN!!!!! *facepalm!!!* The tire shop doesn't accept any cards, which is common in my small town. I always tell them to keep cash on them when travelling; if you get in a bind, you can ask someone to help and actually give them 20$ to have saved your day! I mean, come on!!!! They are not very street savvy.

They are really good friends, but never think about anyone but themselves... I would've appreciated a small amount for the cottage and other enormous expenses we had to endure for them!! Oh well, at least they had a blast... I guess we have to sacrifice our fun to show others some of the pleasures of life... at the same time, I learned a few new things about myself and my horses.

I'm sorry for the rant, but I had to get it off of my chest... I don't like people that take advantage of other's resources and take them for granted. I am always the one to send invitations right and left and never get invited anywhere by any of my friends... why???

Weekend Fun!

Finally the weekend is here!... Well... Almost...

I have many plans for the weekend, but they are calling for rain and cooler weather.

This weekend, we have friends from the City coming over for Saturday and Sunday. We are planning to stay at our cottage, but it might be cold as it is not insulated and they are calling for nightly temperatures in the single digits!! (BRRRR!). Plus, if it rains, we'll have humidity to go with the cold!

Saturday will be our day on the farm, meeting the horses and cows and probably going for a walk in the forest and do some sight seeing. We have spectacular waterfalls nearly in our backyard so we'll be visiting that! The falls are divided on three levels and they add up to the same height as the Niagara Falls (which are also VERY worth it!)... all left in a natural setting. There is also a lot of local history on that site alone. I've worked there for a Summer and have learned a lot!

Sunday is the big day! We are going on a trail ride. If you are asking... we are not taking my horses... the only one I would trust a complete beginner on would be Dandy... plus, we are four and I only have three broke horses! So we rented string horses for two hours... one of them has never been near horses in his life, so I will introduce him to Dandy and maybe give him a mini lessons on how things work. He is quite the daredevil, so I'm sure he'll take everything in stride!

My other friend has been on a horse before and is ready to do it again. She is more of a drama queen and is pretty much scared of everything... I'm surprised she even got on a horse! Probably because she doesn't have a clue about what a horse is capable of doing.

I will try and take pictures as much as I can, but I also want to enjoy myself and not have to worry about them if they are okay or not... hence the mini lesson.

We are renting horses on the farm where Dandy's Sire is located! I'll be happy to see him again... given he is still alive, he is getting up there age wise... I think he is an 1982 horse... heck! He's older than me! Still breeding succesfully the last time I saw him, which was 2 years ago.

He is quite the gentle giant... at 17.3 hands, he is under control ALL the time.

I hope everyone enjoys a great weekend and nice weather! I will try to have photos of our weekend next week!

My Problem with hooves

To Lady Farrier, a few posts back!

I have horses that have been striving barefoot. I have a 4 year old mare that has been first trimmed when she was two (by me, when I bought her) and a yearling colt that has been trimmed in the barefoot performance trim since his first ever trim. I have rescued two standardbred mares last year. Their hooves are contracted with thin walls. These feet are feet that were shod as yearlings.

I've trimmed them barefoot for the first year of their new lives with me. Their feet improved and got much wider, but we cannot ride them on harder surfaces, not even one little bit. One of them, Peg, has a funny gait because of her soreness and I doubt boots would ever hold on her feet, but it is something that I am considering.

The shoes I am using aren't metal shoes. They're a urethane shoe that is designed and tested to simulate the barefoot hoof, with the same results, but without wearing the hoof too fast and protects from the soreness of walking on gravel. It is a flexible shoe, fairly easy to install and is very resistant. I have noticed incredible improvement in my mare Peg's gait, comfort and overall happiness, not to say that her walls have gotten much thicker and her feet hold a better shape now. I have removed the shoes 2 weeks ago, trimmed them appropriatly, but she is not as comfortable even if we have not ridden her at all during that time.

I plan on putting her shoes back on soon to try and keep her more comfortable. My other Stdbd is being shod soon too because of foot soreness. We are planning on working much more on her training this year and she just cannot handle rocks, gravel and pavement. When those shoes are done, I will consider hoof boots for sure! I had already done so (discussed in previous posts).

I am an advocate for barefoot performance and also trim myself quite successfully, but there just doesn't seem to be any method that renders my two rescues comfortable. I hope to eventually have them barefoot, but for Peg, I feel that it is almost impossible.

If you have questions about the shoes I am using, please visit Easywalkerhorseshoes.com I've had great results with the product and my horse took off running accross the pasture on her first application.

Progress!

I have a progress report!

Misty got her mane untangled and brushed this weekend. She still walks on a lead line very well... she does challenge a bit, but doesn't pull back as hard as she used to, she only tests wether or not you will hold your ground. As soon as she sees that you will, she happily gives in and walks quietly.

I have started to touch her pretty much all over... so my hands can go on her face, neck, ears, withers, shoulder, arm pit, front legs down to her hooves, back and croup. The only place she is very uncomfortable with is her belly and udder / inner thighs. She kicks out, she doesn't kick at anyone, but just out. I have also pushed the enveloppe and picked up both her front feet for about 10 seconds each. She didn't pull so much and I held the foot easily until she settled and stopped pulling on it, then I set it down and scratched her ears. I picked them up again and the next day for about the same amount of time. I have not yet gone close to her hind feet to be honnest, I am very affraid of the result... so I will use another method... probably hobbles to get her used to the feel and to let her know that she can't kick like that all the time.

The impression I get is that she was visited over the fence all the time, so her face got petted and handled a lot, but not the rest of her body. When I first got her, you couldn't stand facing her shoulder, it made her uncomfortable and she moved away, now, she is only uneasy with me standing directly behind her. Next step is trimming her front feet... this time, I will take before pictures and after pictures!!!! Her hooves look tiny to me, we'll see what the end result is... I think she is halter bred, given her massive muscle mass and tiny feet. I will try to get her feet to widden up a bit, but there is only so much wider that these hooves can get. I will be taking new pictures, including her feet on all angles (top, bottom, underside, etc.). She will have plenty of time to get used to her new feet before her first ride. She has stunning gaits and they will probably improve with trimming.

So that's the news on Misty!

We have a brand new calf on the ground. He's a male and a butterscotch colour. I didn't have time to take pictures, but I will as soon as I get a chance. I will also take new pictures of the whole crew (horses and cattle)... Dandy is pretty well all shed out.