Green Mountain Curlies

2011-01-09T19:57:00.000-05:00

Genesis

Today Chuck began recording rides for RAC. Here is what he had to say:

It is the first time in over a year since I have ridden the young lady that I rode today. Unfortunately, last spring *Katrina’s Fire Walker (*Walker) suffered some physical difficulties and is just now on the mend. Now that she is feeling better we have decided to get a little exercise. She won’t be the only horse that I’ll be riding, but I will be concentrating on getting her more fit, both physically and mentally.

We had a short ride, about 20 minutes. She was a bit uncomfortable leaving the rest of the herd, and is still a little off, in that her responses were not as confident as they were previous to her illness. Here are a couple of photos from today.

Target training

This afternoon, after Chuck’s ride on *Walker, I spent a few minutes introducing *Love to target work. I had a pool noodle, and *Love was none too sure that it wasn’t going to eat her. However, as we have done a small amount of Clicker Training before, I was confident I could get her over the problem.

First step, of course, is to get her to touch the target (noodle) with her nose, and typically you arrange that to happen accidentally. Once accomplished, I introduced the word “touch” and asked her to “touch the noodle” and caused it to touch her nose again. She is a quick study, that one, and within a few tries had the idea that she needed to touch the noodle with her nose in order to get a treat. Once that was done, I began touching different parts of her body and C/Ting. As she is a confident young filly, it wasn’t long before I was able to lay the noodle over her back.

I like to introduce all sorts of things to the young ones as a ‘sacking out’ procedure and today was fun for us both.

2010-12-17T22:04:00.002-05:00

Steady As She Goes

Although I haven’t been writing blog entries, I have been working with the horses; primarily the boys. I have also added working with our newest horse, *GMC Andrea’s Ankti (Andi) by lifting her feet and doing some filing. I’ve handled her feet since birth, but not really asked her to hold them up too long, so this is a new task. She’s getting pretty good at it, considering that I am new to filing.

I did take *Walker out for a walk a day or two ago. We investigate the arena, walked through snow, found some turkeys. I also played a bit of Circling Game with her, but we are still being easy with her as she was ill this past spring and summer. And no official diagnosis either, but she seems to have come round with the fall. We’re very glad for that, as she is quite the light of our eyes.

And lately, with *Jack I have added trotting in hand. He’s getting very good at reading my body language, so I’m thrilled with his sensitivity.

The other night, though, I did add something fun, inadvertently. During the week I do evening chores by myself…chopping ice, watering, haying, and then feeding their grain to them. It takes an hour and a half to two hours, depending on how slow I want to be. The last group that I usually feed are *Glory, Silken, and *Love. After setting their buckets down, I decided to sit down. Apparently, I had never done that around *Love! Suddenly, I was even with her head as she ate, and this caused her to snort and pause in her eating. Both Silken and *Glory took this in stride, so she decided it was okay to go on eating. Silken is always done first, and when she finished she looked at me. I asked her forward, she took a step, and I gave her a treat. She then moved to help *Love with her bucket, as she always tries, and I made a “eeehhhhh” sound, as always as well, and she backed off. I still had not moved! Then I asked her forward again, and she took a step and I gave her a second treat. *Glory then asked for one, but she was concerned with stepping into Silk’s space. I pointed at Silken and said, “Back” and she took a step backward. (By this point I was pretty impressed with myself, I must say.) *Glory then stepped closer to get her treats. Finally *Love was done and looked at me. I said, “Come on *Love, it’s okay.” And she gingerly took a step toward me. She snuffled my foot, my leg, and finally thought it might be okay to take the treat. Once she had her two treats, I asked her back then got up. I call this “Training From Laziness”. It might not really count for RAC points, but it was fun nevertheless!

2010-11-30T13:06:00.000-05:00

Pushing Thresholds & the Monster Rock

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was full of family and fun, but without any real horse-time. Family left yesterday so it was “back to work” today!

Both *Red and *Beau were fabulous today, allowing me to push their thresholds. Last week was *Red’s first time working with me and the wand. Today he showed just how much he remembered. I use, not only physical cues, but verbal cues as well. I ask for movement with the horse’s name, as in *Red, Walk on” and I ask for a downward shift in motion, or stop, by drawing out the word “and” then adding on the gait I’m looking for, such as “and trot”. *Red showed that he recalled that very well! The first time I said “aaaannnnnnd whoa” he stopped on a dime! By the end of our time together he was stopping with the wand swinging in toward his chest and the beginning of the word “and”! I was thrilled.

*Beau was also on top of his game today, even remembering that just because you need to walk past those sexy mares you don’t need to talk, you DO need to pay attention because you might be asked to do something!! This may seem like no big deal but it is something he forgets when he is first near the ladies in the fall.

Last up was *Jack, and today I added in backing up while I was standing to his side. He is used to backing up when I face him; he knows the word “back”, he understands pressure to the nose or shoulder. Today, we started backing up and trying to stay straight. What I’ve found is that when they first are asked to do this, because they are used to facing you, they tend to back out away from you, so that they stop and are facing you. With the help of C/T we got it right many times. The most fun, however, was when he spied the ROCK. “Oh my, what is that big white thing in the field? I’ve never seen it before!” he said (it was a snow covered rock). So off we went to examine it. He’s so brave, that one! Marched right up with me and when I asked him to ‘touch’ he reached his nose right down to find out what it was. I love it when we just have to go touch that “boogie monster”!

All in all, we each had a good time!

2010-11-24T12:24:00.000-05:00

Adrenaline Rush

Today was all about establishing good leadership with* Suncatcher and Dude. First, let me explain that it is one of those days where you think to yourself: “Self, should I really work with a horse in wind like this?” But then you say, “Sure, it’s a perfect time to establish good leadership.” The only thing you’ve forgotten is how hard it can be when there are THOUSANDS OF HORSE EATING MONSTERS and the horses have forgotten that you really are as good as you’ve been telling them you are.

That brings me to taking *Sun for his walk and today I saw a different side to *Sun than I’ve seen before. *Sun lives with 3 others: Dude, *Jack, and *Leo. All geldings, all somewhat goofballs in their own way; oh, and all of them hold up their hoof and yell “Take me, take me” when you walk in with a lead rope. So, actually walking out with the correct one is a feat in itself!! Having made sure that I had *Sun on the other end, we proceeded down the drive toward the lower pastures, walking and whoaing the whole way. That is, of course, until we had to pass the area where we have tractor equipment stored covered by a huge piece of tarp (tarp blows very nicely in a strong wind if you didn’t know...). *Sun was NOT so sure I was as smart as I keep telling him I am. However, we managed to go past it without it eating him, so perhaps I am okay. We then walked all the way down to the lower field without incident. Yes, he was very aware of his surroundings, but he kept his focus on me. We went to the round pen and walked one way around it. As we nearly completed the circle something ‘blew up his skirt’ as they say, and he charged ahead, got to the end of the rope, turned, snorted and looked at me. “What was that?” I asked; “Did you see me get upset? Did I tell you there was danger? Nooooo, you’re fine.” And I proceeded to walk on straightening him out as I went. We did another circle and walked out of the pen and turned left to go once around the outside of it, and he exploded! However, he did so while always being mindful of how close he was to me. He pulled out, moved his rear away from me, leapt into the air and cow-kicked. I asked him, “What was that?” (It is a favorite question of mine). He immediately came back in and inserted his head in my arms. I told him, again, he was fine, and we started to walk again. About six steps later, he again exploded by pulling himself out from me, leaping, kicking, then rearing, and kicking, then rearing again (he’s pretty impressive actually...have you ever noticed that while something like this is happening part of you is noticing the oddest things?) This time, I looked at him, swelled myself up to about 18 hands (which is good considering I’m only a bit over 15H) and said “NO!” I pulled him back in (actually pulling isn’t right, reeling is more like it) and asked him to walk and whoa over and over. He has recently been learning clicker, so now it was time to highly employ it. As we began to walk back up to the winter pastures, when he walked calmly and attentively next to me, I C/Ted. We did this all the way back up, and I am happy to report that he stayed “with” me the whole time. I deposited him back in with his cohorts, and took a breather.

Next up was Dude. Now Dude is typically a very calm fellow, but he is also an introverted horse. You need to pay attention to him as his eyes and his nostrils say it all. Dude, too, was very aware of his surroundings. That wind is a tricky fellow and it makes all sorts of things move around. Dude is, though, definitely one who likes to check out the “boogie men”. He’ll be startled, do that really cute splay-legged move, stare at it, then say “Let’s go look at it!” He also is VERY clicker-savvy. So, going past the moving tarp over the equipment was a definite eye-bugging process, and unfortunately, I couldn’t let him check it out, as much as he wanted to, because we haven’t been able to use a metal detector on the arena base yet. I’d hate for a horse to get anything in their hoof. Other than the covered equipment, Dude seemed very keen to go for a walk, and I thought we’d make a trip around the field, but we’d no sooner gotten all the way down, than he too, exploded. For Dude it was no aerial theatrics but moving forward. So I fed out the line and let him trot around me. I could tell he was not happy (those nostrils you see), so I made the executive decision to not push it today. He did ‘stay’ with me, he was aware of where he was, where I was, but he was past his comfort zone. Once he had settled, I moved to walk back up out of the field and he felt he was most comfortable with his head towards me, and his butt away, side-passing up the hill. We did about 10 feet that way and he decided it was too hard. So, he turned head first next to me, but then thought I wasn’t going fast enough. I tend to go slower when that happens and it didn't take long for him to realize that he needed to not pull and walk beside me. Of course, I used C/T to tell him when he was “correct” and “correct” he stayed, until we got to the equipment. Then it was a discussion, “I want to see!” “Sorry, Dude, too dangerous” (and repeat for the number of steps it took us to pass by). Once past, he thought about exploding again, but decided against it, and he was very ready to go back into his paddock.

So, I’m left with thoughts: Was it because of the wind? (Could be) Was it their lack of trust in me? (Could be) Perhaps they are herd-bound? (Could be) I’m thinking it was all of the above and all that means is that I have to keep working at it little by little.

I can say though, that wind is whipping pretty powerfully.

2010-11-22T11:23:00.000-05:00

The long drought

It’s been two years since I could think about seriously working with the horses. Two years is a long time in which to lose confidence, and a long time for them to forget that you really DO know what you know.

It all comes down to establishing leadership once again. If I make the commitment to talk with you, my readers, about what I’m doing, as well as, actually begin to accrue RAC** points, I believe it will not take long in their eyes to once again be the leader I was, rather than simply the food-bearer.

Today, I began my NEW job. The job I’m happiest at doing, even if I make no money at it. Thankfully, I have a loving and wonderful husband who is extremely supportive. And today, *Beau, *Red, and *Jack were reminded that I really did know what I know, and they honestly needed to listen to me as much as I will listen to them.

Amazingly, neither *Beau nor *Red, who are much older than *Jack, could pass their thresholds. My job, of course is to bring them to that threshold and encourage them through it. For *Beau, it was the top of the hill over looking the lower pastures. “Nope, too far!” he said. I encouraged him again, “Can’t do it!” So I suggested side-stepping and eating some grass. “I can do that”, he said. After relaxing, I asked again, “Go down?” “NOPE!”. “Okay, what if we go over here.?” And off we went. So then we worked our way back up toward his paddock, maintaining attention to me.

*Red was funny. All excited to get out of the paddock and then lost. “Where we going?” “Let’s walk down the drive. Can you ‘whoa’?” Yep! Walking and whoaing established. “Turn left” “Sure!” “Turn right” “Sure!” “Whoa” “YEP!” “Walk beyond the arena” SCREECH “I halt good don’t I?” So we worked on approach and retreat and relax, then into the arena and back to the paddock.

Last out was *Jack. He and I have been buds since he was born, and he naturally accepts my leadership, but I pushed his boundaries today, and we came out winners on the other end. “Where we going?” he asked. “To the lower pastures.” “Okay….OMgoodness look at all those turkeys….I dunno…..” “Oh Jack, come on, you know turkeys, they always run away.” “Okay, if you say so…..” “Um, Adria, did you notice there is grass?” “Yes, and let’s see if you can listen, I’ll tell you when to eat as long as you don’t dive for the grass.” So around the large 12 acre field we walked…going, whoaing, and eating grass. As we began to make our way back toward the way up, Jack got a bit faster, so I went slower. “Why are we going so slow?” “Because I only have 2 legs, you have to stay with me.” “Oh, okay” Relaxing himself, he kept pace with me and we slowly worked out way back up to the winter paddocks. We walked past his, then back to his gate, just to make sure he was still with me.

All in all, about an hour and a half’s work. I expect that as time goes by, each horse will get more time, but I believe in taking the time it takes with them, so sometimes more, and sometimes less will be taken. I have 6 boys to work with and hope to work with each of them twice a week. I have one mare to work with, and will work with her at least twice, if not three times each week. Feel free to bug me if I don’t tell you what we’ve done .

**RAC=Ride a Curly Contest; read about that on Curly Horse Country.com

2010-09-08T11:27:00.000-04:00

And a new day dawns.

As those of you who are members of the ICHO, and who have read the latest gazette, know, in 2004 when our dearly missed past-president visited our farm in Vermont her parting words were: “When I die I want to come back and be one of your horses.” This statement, which would so easily roll off of the tongue of others, would not have easily parted from the lips of Andrea Schaap. Andrea, veterinarian, science-lover, and highly knowledgeable horsewoman would have only said this if she had meant it. We have continued to try and keep our horses as healthy and happy as Andrea would have expected us to.

And, as those of you who inhabit the Curly Haven list on Yahoogroups know, last winter I said that we had no intention of breeding this year; neither had we bred last year, due to the economy. (Yes, you know what’s coming don’t you?). However, the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray, and last October, while I was still recovering from my broken leg and after Guinevive had lifted her wings to soar through the sky on her own, *Beau decided to test the fences. As he found them somewhat lacking, he paid a nocturnal visit to the ladies. Once we separated them the next morning, we carefully checked all the ladies, and it did not seem that any had enjoyed a tryst.

By late May it became obvious we had been fooled. *Babe had entertained *Beau that evening and had harbored a secret all throughout the winter. As I thought about this future foal, unplanned, but never unwanted, I knew it would be a filly and the moment I realized that, tears sprang to my eyes and the further realization hit that this was Andrea’s desire come true.

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you the latest Green Mountain Curlies’ foal to hit the ground. Born early this morning, 9/8/10, a lovely Buckskin Filly….and for Andrea we break our naming tradition…..here is:

GMC Andrea’s Ankti

Ankti is Hopi for “repeat dance”. More pictures will be available later this evening.

2010-04-25T18:19:00.001-04:00

Those of you who have popped in to read this blog from time to time, know that in the past two years we have faced a number of challenges, both as a couple and I, as an individual. The largest challenge was the collapse of the arena that we had built in 2007 after it had only been up for six months. We were forced to bring suit both against the company that designed and supplied the building, as well as, the builder who that company told us to hire. This past February, we agreed to try to reach settlement. We did come to an agreement, and even though like in any loss, no amount of money can ever really make everything right, at least a chapter is closed and we can begin to move forward.

Additional challenges have been my health, but again, I am facing those challenges and moving forward, and the final challenge for us as a couple has been learning to run the farm by ourselves. Our lovely daughter, Guine, has moved out, as is the way with youngsters, to find herself, and establish her own life.

The only way to really face this last challenge has been to dive right in and start working. This spring we have already accomplished a few things around the farm: built a new double gate for the ladies’ pasture, popped in a few cedar corner posts for fences to make them stronger, and today I finished a sorely needed round-pen that Chuck helped me start yesterday. We chose to go simply, using materials we already had on hand. We measured out a 60 foot circle and Chuck pounded in the t-posts and I placed the safety-caps on. Today, I strung four rounds of electric roping, using some older roping we had. It will not be electrified at all so it was easy to tie the rounds at the ‘gate’. Then I strung a 3 handle gate.

Of course, I needed to inaugurate it! I chose our stallion, *Beau, as it had been almost two years since I had last worked with him, other than during basic leading and foot-trimming. I have been following a clicker page on Facebook, called “Clicker Training Horses” with Peggy Hogan as the leader. While reading through I learned about teaching a horse to stand on objects or “station”. As *Beau is already trained for driving and used to word commands, I thought today I would introduce him to this new word “station”. I brought down everything I would need: a large square of plywood, a traffic cone, treats….what’s CT without treats right? Then I went to get *Beau. He and *Red were way at the other end of their pasture when I started toward their gate. As I approached the solar charger to turn it off, I gave a whistle. *Beau looked up and I yelled, “Come Beau!” He immediately stopped eating and headed toward me. “Good boy!” I shouted.

Once he was underway, *Red decided he needed to come too, which is typical. They both arrived at the gate, and I put the rope halter on *Beau. As I always do, I clicked and treated him, and then offered some treats to *Red, thanking him for staying behind. This is the routine I have always used, and even though it has been two years, they remember it. Consistency is always my goal. *Beau and I went through the gate and after stopping to turn the power back on, away we went to the round pen.

Because it was new to him, I walked *Beau around both ways, allowing him to see the fencing with each eye. I incorporated some Tellington-Jones wand work, as he knows that, and we walked and whoa-ed several times. Once that was done, I went into the middle and asked him to circle me at a walk. Again, we worked on walk and whoa. *Beau is very sensitive to my energy, and we both need time to learn to properly communicate again, so we had a couple of bobbles in our work together; however, once it felt right I asked for and got walk-trot-walk transitions in both directions. All of this was done on my 12 foot line and all was done with a loop in it. That’s my boy!

After that, I gave him a bit of relax time, he nibbled on the grass in there (like he hadn’t been doing that all morning ), and asked for and got face scratches. This gave me time to bring out the plywood and lay it down. I picked up his lead and guided him toward the board. As he approached, I said ‘station’, and he stepped on it with both front hooves. I immediately clicked and treated. I backed him up, relaxed, then brought my energy up once again and asked him forward. Right before he stepped onto the board, I said ‘station’ again. He stepped, I C/T’d. We did this several times, and then I backed him off, and tied the lead up so he could move without tripping on it. I let him go to relax a bit, and went and got a traffic cone.

He knows the cone, he also knows ‘target’. The moment I got his attention and said ‘target’ he looked at the cone, and headed right for it to touch it with his nose. C/T!! We then spent time bouncing between rests, ‘target’ and ‘station’. After half a dozen times, and ending with a ‘station’, I told him what a fabulous guy he was, scratched his face for him, and untied the lead. We sauntered out of the round-pen and around to the truck where I grabbed a couple of large treats. Back we went to the pasture, turned off the power, and there was *Red waiting for us. In we went, I dropped the lead to hook up the gate and *Beau stood there politely waiting for me. I then took off the halter, tossed it out of the fence, stripped my gloves, tossed them out, and turned to the two boys, who had been standing there waiting and watching. I pulled the ‘cookies’ from my bag and asked them both for a back-up, gave them each their treat, a rub and a “What great boys you are!”

I had a fantastic time!

2010-02-08T23:06:00.001-05:00

The Bad and the Good

As everyone who has, or has been around horses, knows, the good and the bad often go hand-in-hand. For me, the bad is more typically “not enough time” because I work away from home full-time. Coupled with winter weather it isn’t often conducive to getting out there and working when you do have the time.

A huge problem for me during this past year was that in August I broke one ankle and had a class 3 sprain of the other (I *am* talented!). It was really mid-November before I felt steady enough to spend more than just feed time with a horse, and then in mid-January I developed something called “Synovitis” in my left knee. All it is, is an inflammation of the Synovial fluid sack, but it is excruciatingly painful and requires time OFF your feet to get better. We suspect that it happened because I was still favoring one ankle over the other, and the brunt of slipping and sliding was taken by the other knee. So, I am just now beginning to get out and about with the horses. Of course, I am still time crunched, but I do what I can.

However, sometimes something comes along that MAKES you spend a bit more time than just “upkeep”. Tonight was one of them. Our normal duty-roster for evening chores is: Chuck hays, I mix grain and chop ice/water, we both feed. Tonight, Chuck got done the hay before I was done the watering so he began feeding the boys. Once I was done, we gathered the buckets for the ladies. I had just set the buckets down for *Babe and *Glory when Chuck said, “Hon, would you come over here?”

You know that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when someone uses that tone of voice? The one that says: there’s trouble a brewin’? That was his tone; that was my stomach. As *Love was standing in front of him, I was very concerned. As I got closer he said, “She doesn’t want to eat.” I took one look at her and knew there was a problem. At one week shy of a year old, *Love is never quiet. She is full of energy, spunk, curiosity….just a vivacious filly; but not tonight. Tonight she stood in front of Chuck dead quiet, with her nose in his hand. I immediately headed for the stethoscope. On the way back, I was pulling back my head-covering (we had a breeze and about 10 degrees, so I knew I’d get cold, but that didn’t matter). Once there I listened in all 4 quadrants: Silence…no burbles, no bubbles….dead silence. This was NOT good.

I stood there with her and Chuck went to grab a halter, I popped it on and she never once tried to put her mouth onto it, definitely not a good sign. It had been some time since we had worked with her on leading, and it showed. She didn’t want to come out of the gate, so Chuck ‘encouraged’ her from behind a bit, and out she went. As we got further from the others and the paddock she did become more animated, but still she was off. She willingly followed me into the arena where I turned on all the lights. By the time the lights had charged all the way up, she was spronging around a bit, and whinnying to everyone who would call to her.

We decided that since we needed her to move, to help her intestines to begin working again, the spronging was a good thing! She has not been out of sight of other horses in a long time, if ever, so it was a real learning experience in many ways for her tonight. We took the opportunity that we were presented, and while encouraging her to move, we also encouraged her to explore.

*Love walked on tarp, not just once but many times; she walked on plywood, and stood on it to have a measuring stick brought to her whithers; she followed a rolling ball and even offered a “kick” with her front hoof. All new experiences, all good experiences for her. She calmed down, stopped calling, passed gas and (drum roll) pooped! When she was ready to be still, I listened to her gut again and was rewarded with burbles and bubbles…music to every horseperson’s ears!

As we walked her back to the paddock, she was leading like a good ole Dobbin, loose lead and all. She’s a quick study, that one.

The bad and the good; we learn to take them together, and make the best of each circumstance presented to us.

p.s. I checked her tonight before heading to bed myself and she's perky and full of herself again. We're very glad.

2010-01-01T13:59:00.004-05:00

Today I made my commitment to RAC 2010 start off with a bang (thankfully only figuratively) rather than a whimper. I have not ridden since I came off a horse in August 2008 and badly dislocated a finger. I have allowed many things to get in my way – starting a new full-time job, marriage of one daughter, birth of a grand-daughter, and then breaking one & spraining the other ankle. When I am so long off a horse my fear increases, as I’m sure is the same for everyone. Before I came off in 2008 I had managed to get myself riding a few short minutes each day: 15-30, for almost a month, and my confidence was increasing, my fear decreasing. But, as I think we all know, once that crack in our armor is there, it is easy to allow things to “get in our way” and that crack widens. There is only one cure for it, and that is to break everything down into short bits, be with someone you trust, and take it little by little.

Today, I began mixing the glue to help patch that crack in my armor. I knew that many of us Curly lovers would be out there enjoying a Curly at the same time, so I prepared myself. Chuck went with me, as I need his quietness, his support right now. I selected *Walker, who is his lady because I knew that if she didn’t listen to me, she would listen to him, and seek him out if my fears got the better of her. I also chose her because she genuinely cares about not hurting a human, and has HUGE understanding of our spoken language, even if her training is not “top notch”.

Once down in our field of snow, I mounted and discovered that the sprained ankle hurt far more than I had anticipated. Obviously, I will need to stretch that out in ways I had not worked on! I sat for a few moments and just soaked in the position; I’m definitely out of shape, and coupled with increasing age and, I admit, weight gain due to being more sedentary with my job, I know I have my personal work cut out for me. We have always ridden *Walker in a rope hackamore as she is sensitive to pressure and generally listens well. I had Chuck tie the lead as a rein. Then I had him lead us around a bit. Once I felt a wee bit more confident, I asked him to step away. I knew that *Walker would follow him and so I tried to just go with her flow; being more a passenger and less a leader. Then we stopped and I asked her to stand, while Chuck stepped back to take photos of us. She typically poses when asked, lol. Then we walked to him when I said, “Go to Chuck.” Again, I had him move away; again after a few moments, I had her follow him. At that pointed, he backed-up further and motioned her away. She turned left and we circled around, going a short distance before coming back to him.

That was all my confidence could take and I was ready to get down. Unfortunately, I did not have a graceful dismount as my energy went up while I worried about how my ankles would take to the shock of dropping off of her. It was obvious that I communicated this to her as she got a bit antsy. There was nothing to do but drop off her anyway, so I dismounted as I have always, kind of a modified Squirrel (Centered-riding “emergency dismount”). I was surprised that my ankles did not hurt as much as I had been worried they would, and of course she calmed down.

I was only on for perhaps 10 minutes, but it was 10 minutes more than yesterday. Of course, I will need to keep going to do better, but it is a start.

2009-05-31T06:41:00.003-04:00

Almost 4 months since I last posted. I know that I have readers who follow my blog, and I'm sure you'd want to know why it has been so long.

It all began back in 2007. We had been learning to drive, and had *Beau trained. Both of us really enjoy driving, but the arena we had built in 2004 while lovely, is a bit narrow for turning the cart. It is amazing what an extra 12 feet can do for your turning radius. We decided to have another built. Our original building is 60 ft X 120 ft; we decided to go for 72ft X 150 and having actually 140 ft to use and 10 ft for storing the carts.

Additionally, we thought we would like to expand our business by offering lessons. I began studying with a local Centered Riding (c) instructor, planning to work towards my certifications with them. I chose CR because it had helped *me* so much. What my overall goal was to be able to offer instruction to those people allergic to horses.

Because we had so enjoyed working with the company that built the first arena, we chose to contract with them for the second one.

Less than six months from the day the company arrived to erect the building, on the morning of February 14, 2008 we awoke to mangled steel and ripped tarp. The entire building was gone; unuseable; demolished.

Although I am not free to talk about the WHY of the building falling, nor will I mention the WHO of the company that built it, because we have had to enter litigation concerning this; I am free to talk about what this has done to me.

I have trouble looking at the ruin (we had to leave it until all "parties" involved decided they really should visit the site); each time I see it, I don't see it. I have built walls around my heart so that I don't feel anything. But the truth is, I do feel. I feel pain, I feel the dissolution of dreams, I feel the lethargy, the inability to carry-on. Finally, about 2 weeks ago, I was able to admit that I really do have some depression over this...to the point that I have trouble working with my horses at all. This inner voice asks constantly, "What is the point?"

And because there are expenses involved, and we have horses to feed too, I have had to go to work away from the farm. This pulls me away from the horses even more, so I find myself in the cycle of "I don't want to work with the horses....I do want to but don't have the time....I feel guilty I'm not working with the horses.....I don't want to work with..." etc., etc., etc.

I found that this cycle is touching other parts of my life as well. I love photography, I love taking pictures of those beings I am blessed to share life with, but I have a listlessness to get out and take pictures. Without new pictures, why keep the website updated? I have to be careful when I take the pictures and try NOT to let the fallen arena be in them, so.... I always loved working on the website...now, I don't.

To make matters worse, even though I am feeling depressed, that aspect can in no way be used in the litigation. Why? Because most likely it will be settled out of court, and not be in front of a jury. Although the falling arena has had life changing implications for me; has mangled my dreams; no one will be held accountable for that.

This hole that I am in, I have to find my own way out of. I'm sure I will, but after almost a year and half of living with this, I decided I had to write about it.

My mother always said that every black cloud had a silver lining; I've typically found her to be correct. Yet this black cloud is immense, thick, and dark. I've yet to find that lining; I'm hopeful that I will eventually.

2009-02-15T13:44:00.005-05:00

12:55 a.m. - I had been asleep for a couple of hours, but *Babe's restless walking woke me. She was also pawing which is typical *Babe reaction to anxiety of some sort. I stayed covered, but peeked out from time to time, as it was cold. She would circle the double stall, and stop; sometimes pawing, sometimes taking a hay snack; then circle again. I felt she was most likely in beginning labor.

2:25 a.m. - I must have drifted off for a bit, because the silence woke me right up. I peered out of my sleeping bag and couldn't see her standing, so I shoved back the covers and realized she was laying down. I hopped off the bale and slipped on my shoes. Her head bobbed in my direction, acknowledging my movement. Using only the Christmas mini-lights we have up, I walked until I could observe her rump. Her tail was out, and her peritoneum was bulged, with her vulva lips beginning to separate. I continued to walk past her and turned on the 100W bulb at the end of the arena. As she laid there, her water broke. Not with a rush, just with a hefty dribble.

A moment later she stood up, and sniffed the amniotic fluid, swishing her upper lip in it and then flemining. She laid down and pushed some more. At that point I saw some of the sac pushing out in a small bubble shape. With the next push, there was a bit of hoof. Again, she stood up, and turned in a circle, then laid back down. At the next push, more leg came out, and I chose to turn on the big lights. I also had brought over some towels...I didn't know the temperature, but the prediction has been 8-10 F, so I wanted to begin drying off the foal as soon as possible. I also put on rubber gloves.

As the lights came up, I saw a second hoof, slightly behind the first. More pushing, but little progress. Slowly the legs got longer, and longer, but still no nose. I decided I should break the sac from around the hooves, and by the time I got in and knelt behind *Babe there was about 12 inches of the first hoof showing, still no nose. That worried me. As with the end of each contraction the foal would slip back up some, I chose to grasp the legs and prevent that. As she would push, I helped with a steady pull out and "down", and the nose appeared!!

Once half of the head was out, I removed the sac from around the head area exposed. At that point, the foal's mouth was partially open and the tongue, slightly purple, was hanging out. I'll be the first to admit that I have never seen a foal's tongue prior to it breathing, so I was somewhat concerned. After the next push, with some helpful pulling from me, the head got delivered. I completely removed the sac from its head, and the nostril quivered! Phew!

By this time I could see that *Babe was tiring. It is unusual for a horse to labor so long. As prey animals their labors are fast so that they do not make an easy meal for a predator. My experiences with *Walker and *Glory also told me this was unusual, as typically when the head is delivered, the rest tends to slip right out. I grabbed a towel and began rubbing the legs and head dry. Again, with the next contraction I helped, and we got the shoulders delivered; THEN the rest slid out onto the ground. I began vigorous toweling and marveled at the darkness of this Curly foal. I didn't not check for its sex, as drying it was paramount for me.

When I had gone through 3-4 towels and dried what I could. I quickly ran up to the house and got Chuck and Guin. Guin, my ever faithful helper, had fallen asleep in the house before coming down. Guin and I got back down and we toweled some more. She is the one that discovered it was a filly. The last filly we had, *GMC Sierra Verde, was born in October of 2002. Six and half years with only boys. After we dried her as much as we could, we put on her foal blanket.

Two weeks before Guin had dreamt of the foal being born. In the dream the foal was black, and had jumped up and started talking to her, introducing itself as 'Valentino'. This foal just missed being born on Valentine's Day, but is black, active, and VERY talkative.

Her name is *GMC Acadia Valentine, and we are calling her *Love. Without further ado, here she is:

Thanks for sticking with this blog during the process. I hope you enjoyed it.

2009-02-14T08:44:00.002-05:00

No mini-me's as of 8: 30 am, 2/14/09........

But, last night was cold. Not just uncomfortably cold, but deep into your bones where it takes hours next to another human body to warm up cold. 6F when I came up to the house at 4:30 a.m. because my bladder wouldn't wait any longer. Guin and I both had our egg-crate pads on top of the hay bales (we have the 800 lb square variety), with two sleeping bags, and several layers of clothing (including our snow pants and jackets) on. Spot decided he needed to keep us company all night long as well.....funny cat. With two equine bodies, two humans, and one cat breathing into the 60 X 120 foot building, we had enough condensation to leave a bit of frosting on us all. *Babe still has some in her mane....so no wonder she held off labor.

At 12:15 I said to *Babe, "Okay, it's Valentine's Day. Anytime now." At first, she seemed to take this to heart (excuse the pun). Guin noted that she was standing oddly, she would slightly tuck her back legs under her, tail out, and strain. I missed this as I was buried under my sleeping bags, and it only happened a few times. You know how you have to see something happen 3 or 4 times before you figure out what is happening, only to have the occurance stop? Yep that was it. Then around 1:30 she became restless. She'd circle her double stall and stop; circle again, stop; tail out the whole time. There were a few grunts but sometimes it was *Glory, lol. She laid down; she rolled; she got up, she circled. She laid down but not completely recumbant. She was down 10-15 minutes and then she got up again for the remainer of the night. The last time I remember was 1:30 and the next was 2:45, so I slept for a bit. Checked her and went back to sleep; woke again about 3:30 and vowed to stay as long as possible.

As mentioned earlier my bladder finally said enough. If you don't live in a wickedly cold environment, then you have no idea of how feeling the cold causes your bladder to think "Time to empty NOW"; so at 4:30 I rolled off my bale, put on my shoes and walked like an old lady on the ice to go back to the house. Did I mention that our driveway is ice right now? Meltoff that refreezes at night is particularly slippery...a world class skater would have trouble negotiating it. But the moon was shining down brightly, the stars shown crisply, and all was going to be right with the world as soon as I was in the house and peeling off my layers. At that point, with Guin and Spot still in the barn, I chose to crawl into my normal bed and use the love of my life to warm up.

About 7:15 I pushed Chuck out of bed, "I need a cup of coffee.". Usually, I get the first one, but not this morning! That's when I spied the note laid across my computer...it said.."NO CLONES AS OF 5 A.M.....As for that vanishing mom act - Spotticus and I shall not fall for it again! It was an evil, evil trick. 8^0 - Sleep deprived, terribly cold daughter and the cat who's licking himself."

So, I knew I needed to go check. After my second cup, Chuck head down to get hay out to everyone, and I got some beet pulp soaking. I like to give them the extra carbs that pulp affords after a cold night. Then I headed down, and sure enough, no mini-me's. I told her that it was supposed to warm up to about 25F today and it was a GOOD day to give birth.

Then as Chuck fed her a few treats, I observed the following: Belly has a point at the bottom (the V I'd mentioned a few days ago is quite pronounced); her vulva is more swollen and the lips slightly parted (I was able to pull them apart without her objection and she is quite red inside rather than the regular pink of mucous membranes); her udder has become ponderous. I pulled some milk from her and brought it up for testing. The pH has dropped completely off the scale, as in below 6.8; there is NO doubt that the ppm is at, or above, 1000. If I thought the milk looked like condensed last night, it is more so this morning. Immediate butterfat, very sticky, but still bland to my tastebuds.

Okay, everyone, let's chant "It's a good time to give birth!"

2009-02-13T18:20:00.003-05:00

No little foal yet. *Babe did spend a few minutes touching both of her sides. This is often a way that you can tell they are going into labor; however, in this instance I suspect it was what we call "Braxton-Hicks" contractions in humans. They are contractions that tone the uterus and get it ready for the job ahead. This was about 11:30 last night and afterwards she stood quietly sleeping. Guin was the one who noticed it. Then toward early morning (2ish?) she dropped and rolled, well only on one side, lol, as she is a bit unbalanced. Then around 4:30 she laid down to sleep a bit. When I tested the fluid this morning it was slightly sticky, no real butterfat, and bland not salty. It measured about 400ppm.

This evening it was looking more like condensed milk! It tasted bland, perhaps with a hint of sweetness, was very sticky and formed butterfat quickly. 1000 ppm

Valentine's baby?

Guess where I'm sleeping tonight? Single digits too.

2009-02-12T21:16:00.003-05:00

There was no visible change in appearance this morning. The fluid was more opaque, sticky, bland tasting and did produce a bit of butterfat when I rubbed my fingers together. pH is still hovering between 7.2 & 7.5. ppm above 200 but not really 400 by the color.

This evening the fluid was definitely opaque but not really condensed milk looking. Sticky, butterfat producing, but not sweet. pH hanging around 7.2, but the ppm, according to three sets of eyes (mine, Chuck's, and Guin's) looked above 400 but not quite 1000.

I don't think she'll give birth tonight however, the weather here is awful....intermingling rain and snow; temperatures dropping from mid-30's F today down into the low teens overnight. So, we've decided to move her and *Glory in (for company) and Guin and I will sleep down there "just in case".

The birth of a foal happens so quickly, compared to a human birth, and so if something goes wrong it goes wrong very quickly too. This is not something I'm willing to risk.

2009-02-11T18:26:00.003-05:00

I noticed this morning that her udder has almost lost the center "crease" between the two halves and that her tail is being held loosely, and canting a bit towards the left side. As the muscles of the pertineal area relax in preparation for birth, the tail looses some of its mobility. Her vulva is quite swollen. Measurements are the same as yesterday - 7.5 pH and 120 ppm, or slightly above. The fluid is a bit sticky, no butterfat formed this morning, and it is still salty.

Tonight, as last night, it was too dark to make any visual observations. I got the same measurements as this morning.

I'm sure that many of you reading are thinking, "Hurry up *Babe!". It is so easy to get anxious in waiting for a foal to be born. I thought I would check back on *Glory's last foaling. I looked at how many days from the first fluid measurement, until the fluid had turned to looking like condensed milk and having an off the chart ppm measurement. It took 12 days. If *Babe runs similarly, we're looking at around the 16th of February.

So sit back, relax, and be glad that YOU aren't the one who will have to sleep in the cold, lol!

2009-02-10T18:16:00.003-05:00

I missed posting last night, so I'll post two days in one.

2/9/09 - AM - udder is more evenly filled, teats further engorged. VERY easy to milk, I got about 1/2 teaspoon this morning. The pH has dropped this morning down to 7.2, but remember that this is not a particularly accurate measurement. I am using pool strips with the little colored squares, so sometimes the measurements "bob" up and down for a bit. The hardness was between 120 & 200 ppm. When I dabbed my fingers in the fluid, and rubbed them together, they became slightly sticky, and no "butterfat" formed. Fluid tasted salty - AND yes! I do taste it. If you drink cow or goat milk, it is no different.
PM - Fluid was a bit cloudier this evening and a few flakes were to be seen. Measurements were the same as this morning.

2/10/09 - AM - There was a bit of "wax" on the teat ends this morning, most likely from the previous evening's milking. Definitely looked more cloudy, it looks as if there are tiny particles floating in the fluid. More viscous too. 7.5 pH and 120-200 ppm.
PM - The fluid had about the same appearance and viscosity as this morning. The udder felt more enlarged, but it was dark when I milked her so I could not see if there was a difference from this morning in how it looked. Same measurements as this morning. When I rubbed a bit between my fingers it formed "butterfat", but it is still salty.

2009-02-08T19:06:00.002-05:00

This morning, all was the same as yesterday evening; 120 ppm and 7.5 pH. This evening when we went out, there was a different "aire" about her. She whickered to Chuck like a mare to a foal (which *Walker does all the time, but *Babe never has). Her teats were more engorged, and she never threatened me with a hoof as I had my hand approach her teats to rub them.

The pre-milk was much easier to express and I got a bit more than 1/8 teaspoon, so progress is being made although the testing was the same as in the morning.

She also seemed, while willing to speak to Chuck that way, more wary of the mares and two geldings in the paddocks next to her. She was flashing a lot of "mare ears" their way.

2009-02-07T21:01:00.003-05:00

This morning I was happy to get 1/16 of a teaspoon instead of a couple of drops, lol! She tested out at about 120 ppm, with no changes in either alkalinity or pH. This evening I got about the same amount, with the same hardness factor, but the pH had definitely dropped, down to about 7.5. Now, I'm not sure what the significance of the pH dropping has, but I have noted before that as the birth approaches the pH drops. This happened in *Leo's and *Bill's births, and most like with the others, but my notes were less detailed then. Each birth I learn more.

Perhaps we'll have a Valentine's baby?

2009-02-06T22:34:00.002-05:00

Well, I had a small mis-hap due to my beloved cat, Spot, this morning. I had only collected a few drops of pre-milk, and he decided to knock my film canister off the table! I still managed to get a bit into my bowl to mix with the water and test. This morning the hardness was between 50-120 ppm.

This evening, *Babe's udder was definitely a bit larger and very, very firm. I also notice she is shedding out her hair around her udder, but not anywhere else. Tonight the hardness was between 120-200 ppm.

Moving along...

2009-02-05T17:54:00.002-05:00

This morning I noted that *Babe's backside is jellied all the way down to the bottom of her thigh (top of the gaskin) on both sides. Her udder did not look that much bigger but the filling of her teats was more pronounced. I was able to strip some pre-milk out, but only got a drop to come out of the container, lol. Never the less I did test it.

In order to do the testing you mix 1 part fluid with 6 parts distilled water, swirl and then dip in a pool test strip. Primarily you are watching the hardness factor, which is given in parts per million (ppm).

This morning the fluid was clear amber in color, and tested at 50 ppm. This evening, Guin stripped the fluid. She got about 1/16th of a teaspoon, and it tested at 120 ppm.

Progression.

2009-02-04T18:53:00.003-05:00

Accouchement: the confinement of child-birth; lying-in

We are quickly approaching *UB Raggae Babe's accouchment. I thought that, since I tend to take a more scientific approach, toward this lovely event, I would share some of it with my readers.

The estimated due date was January 28th, 2009. We are now some 7 days past that date, but I'm not surprised. I've never had a mare birth during the winter, but I have heard that many of them will "hold" the birth off until the weather is right.

I have been assessing her each day checking: her profile for the shape of her belly, her tailhead for "jelly"ness, her udder development.

Two weeks back I noted that she had less of a round underline to her belly and more "V" shaped. This indicates that the foal should be in the correct diving position and typically occurs about 2 weeks before birth. I also noted that her vulva was beginning to swell some, and sag a bit. Last week I noted that she appeared to have been rubbing her butt against a hard surface, most likely the board fence. Until yesterday, her teats had been "kissing" (the nipples touching each other), but then yesterday they were pointed straight down. Advancement!

I have been daily rubbing her nipples using approach and retreat as she takes HIGH offense to having this done. But yesterday she was much easier going about it and my fingers game a way with a bit of dampness, which once dried made them sticky. PRE-MILK!!

Last night, this morning, and this evening we tried to milk a bit of fluid from her so I could test it, but could only get a drop or two. Enough to see that the fluid is a pale amber color, not enough to do the hardness test.

By refering back to my notes on *Glory and *Walker, I'm guessing that birth will take place in 15 days or less.

I guess we'll see! Check back for updates!

2009-01-01T12:16:00.004-05:00

When Chuck and I woke this morning, I looked out of our french doors to see this deer huddled in front of *Beau and *Red's paddock gate. The pictures, of course, aren't very good as I had to take them through the window. However, they are good enough for you to see that she/he has a bit of blood at the left corner of her mouth.

We were first concerned that she could have been hit by a car and that the blood was a sign of internal bleeding; but as the time progressed and she got up to move on, we weren't sure what had happened.

Chuck went out to hay and afterwards watched her browsing around the apple tree behind our arena (where the old pond used to be). He said she was limping a small bit, but seemed fine otherwise. He checked the gate area and found just a wee bit of blood, and then he tracked her movements. He found that she had come down from Route 2, and that some predator's tracks followed her, but that when she went through the rope fence we put up this year, the predator stopped and turned around. The fence was most assuredly not what stopped the predator (which most likely was a coydog), but the close proximity of the much larger herbivores did. The deer must have felt save among them even though she startled them!

One could take this for what it was; a happenstance. I, though, always look for a deeper meaning. The deer symbolizes compassion and love; gentleness and closeness to the Great Spirit. As she arrived here on the first day of the new year, I will take this as a sign that this is where I need to concentrate my efforts this year. To share compassion with those around me who need it; love my family and friends as much as I can; to keep my soul and spirit quiet and gentle so that I may hear the Spirit around me and allow it to influence all that I do.

May this year bring all of you love and good fortune.

2008-12-24T17:47:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I haven't posted much since September because that is when I began working off of the farm. In this economy, my getting a full-time paying job, in addition to running the farm, became a necessity.

It has been 11 years since I worked full time, and then it was only for 6 weeks, and occasional days as I was a substitute teacher. Now I am the office manager for an Orthodontic and Dental office. A vast difference, but I'm quite glad to be working. It is a very pleasant and busy place to work, but it does mean that I have far less time with my horses. A definite downside.

This means, I am definitely looking to down-size, so if any of our horses are interesting to you, contact us.

In the meanwhile, we do wish everyone a joyous winter season, and a positive, healthy 2009!

2008-09-13T16:51:00.004-04:00

Two weeks ago we were supposed to take *Jack and *Leo to the Champlain Valley Expo for the last weekend of August. On the Friday night before our old faithful truck died. Deader than a doornail type of died. We were vastly disappointed, as I'm sure you can imagine.

We ended up buying a new truck, a GMC Sierra 1500 and today it got it's inaugural pull. Early this morning we loaded up *Jondra DMC Suncatcher, a 5 year old gelding from John and Andrea Schaap's farm in the far north of Ontario, and *GMC Yukon Jack, our 3 year old. It was their first trip to a show.

Arriving about 20 minutes before the show was to start. The Mad River Riding and Driving Club has had a horse show for many years, and they are known for putting on a fun, relaxed, casual show perfect for "first timers". *Jack and *Sun got to look around, gazing at the other horses, trailers, people, and dogs.

The first two classes were for Lead-line and then it was Fitting and Showmanship which is what I had signed *Jack up to participate in. It was actually my second time, but the last time had been five years ago with *GMC Sierra Verde (Ra). Guin brought *Sun along to stand outside the ring and keep *Jack company. In we went and began walking around the outside. This F&S was a bit different than the ones I'm used to watching. Typically one horse goes in and is judged for Fitting (cleanless of horse, presenter, and tack), then on to the next judge for the Showmanship portion. This time we all went into the ring and walked around as if it were a typical riding class. He then had us line up, one behind the other. He came up to us one at a time and checked for Fitting, spoke with us, etc.; then asked us to trot to the gate, slow to a walk, and turn right. *Jack was superb!!!! He was polite to the judge, lifted his hoof when asked, and trotted immediately. He then came to a walk when I asked. When we were first in the ring, he was quite the Looky-Loo, but he listened well to me the whole time. And....

We got a second place!!!!!!!!!!

He really deserved it and made quite an impression on the crowd.

After *Jack's class we went back to the trailer to get *Sun ready for his first two classes. As Guin is 18 now, she is classified an adult in the classes. She chose to take him in Walk-Trot as they didn't have any "green horse" classes. The first class was W/T equitation. There were nine in the class and *Sun was very, very distracted. Guin rode him quite well, keeping him listening despite his lightbulb not being on full brightness . He was not the only distracted horse, but with 9 in the class she did not get a ribbon; however, the judge did speak to her and said that he was impressed with how well she handled him and felt she was a good rider, but that he couldn't judge her fairly when *Sun wasn't moving forward consistently.

The second class immediately followed the first, so everyone stayed in the ring. I think this was a good thing for *Sun has he then settled nicely and really tuned into Guin. This time, in the W/T Pleasure *Sun gained a second place!! Guin was well pleased with that.

We then had quite a hold before getting ready for the costume class. Guin had never done a costume class and decided to give it a try. We didn't know how many folks take this class so seriously! There was a cute Icelandic dressed up as a Rhinocerus with a "zebra" and a "cheeta" on his back (two little humans dressed up); a "rainy day pony" complete with their own rain coat and a HUGE umbrella being carried over its back; a Pumpkin patch horse, a Minnie-mouse horse, and two fab costumes. One was a spaceship horse complete with a Princess Leia riding her. The spaceship was made from cardboard and had "May the Horse be with you" on it. Then two adults came in with their two icelandic done up as tow trucks complete with a gas cannister, jumper cables and twirling lights on the helmets! Really funny!

Guin did take second place adult in this class as *Sun was dressed as a Unicorn and she has a fairy with flapping wings! The funniest part was the judge commented positively about *Sun tolerating the flapping wings and yet when the ringmaster went to hand Guin the ribbon, *Sun shied and danced away!! It was funny.

After that, it was time to clean-up and go home. The boys boarded the trailer easily and we got underway. They were glad to be home again, and so were we!

2008-08-17T16:02:00.004-04:00

Trail Walk!!

Today, *Jack and *Leo got on the trailer for their first ever trailer ride. We had Guin's BF, Chellis, ride in the back with them. This is, of course, not really recommended; however we were going only about 3 miles and it is very reassuring for a couple of youngsters on their first ride to have someone along that they know.

We took them up to Groton State Forest. Here's a link to just one of their camp grounds: http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/newdiscovery.cfm The Forest is quite horse friendly and has many miles of multi-use trails. Because we were only going to be there a short while, the Forester I spoke with a few days before recommended that we actually park up the road from that spot at a parking lot used for day hikers, and in the winter, snowmobilers. We were the only ones there today (and it was a lovely day, weather-wise!). Here we are after off-loading the boys and before heading out on the trail.

Because we have a large camera we decided not to take it with us this first time, so we don't have shots of them on the trail with us; however I'll do my best to describe what we saw and how the boys reacted.

The trail we took followed the roadway for a bit, always with trees and bushes between the trail and road. Come Autumn, you would be able to see the cars, but today we just heard them. The trail was wide enough to comfortably walk by the horses' sides. It wound up and down, strewn with small rocks and branches. Sun dappled the trail between the overhead leaves, while ferns, tall grass, brambles, and other horses' manure were underfoot. The manure was of particular interest to young *Leo; although *Jack had to have a sniff once in a while too. There were large boulders occasionally to the side of the trail, and sometimes you could spy an old rock wall in the nearby trees.

Everything was worthy of investigation, and we took our time to stop and taste-test or just bury our noses in and SNIFF! *Leo and Chuck led the way. *Leo is a very forward horse, and did not like being behind *Jack who was happy to amble along checking things out. The only item that evoked a startle on the trail, was when *Leo spied a boulder with, OMG, branches on it!!!! The startle response? He stopped and stared at it and wanted Chuck to lead him by. *Jack thought it needed thorough investigation, so we "touched the monster" and received a treat. Once *Leo saw *Jack getting a treat, he needed to return to "touch that monster" too.

Before long we found a place that was open enough for us to turn them around and head back. Our goal was just to get them out and about, with that trailer ride to and from, so we didn't feel we needed to walk a long way.

On the way back *Leo, still in the lead, slowed down and wanted to really check things out, as did *Jack. *Jack was particularly curious about the various trees. Chuck feels that *Leo demonstrated curiosity and braveness, while at the same time needing to have that quiet competent leader next to him. He particularly enjoys it when Chuck drapes an arm across his back and walks beside him in that position. *Jack was unsure. He wants to be brave, but he also wants to be careful. So watching his feet was important to him (*Leo was too busy gawking, Chuck said and tripped over rocks constantly, lol) *Jack gained a lot of confidence because *I* was there to tell him how great and wonderful it all was. I could see by the wrinkles over his nostrils that there was some worry, and when it got too much for him, he would reach over with his nose and touch my hand. I spent some time rubbing his neck and reassuring him that he was a lovely, smart, brave boy as we walked along.

Here we are as we returned from the walk, having gone a bit over a mile, out and back.

The only other spook occurred here as we investigated the perimeter of the parking lot. Suddenly *Jack leaped toward me, although only going perhaps a foot, and not running into me. I had no clue what had startled him, because it certainly didn't startle *Leo. Then Chellis mentioned he had seen a toad over in that area. Perhaps that was it.

The boys then very easily loaded back up into the trailer, and away we went home again.

A highly successful first trip!!

2008-08-08T14:00:00.003-04:00

Last year we received an invitation to bring Curlies to the Champlain Valley Exposition (www.cvexpo.org ); however, as one of our daughters was being married, we really couldn't break-away from preparations to attend.

We received an invitation this year, and have decided to take *Jack and *Leo! Because they are young and this will be their first outing, we will only be there for two days, the 30th and 31st of August. Do try to make plans to come meet these two awesome young horses in "real time"!

In the meanwhile, we are busy teaching them things that they will need, such as trailer loading. This week we have concentrated on just going into, and hanging out in, the trailer; both alone and together. They have done fabulously!! And once again, the fact of just how different each horse is, has been driven home in my mind.

*Jack has a solid belief in me. If I tell him I think he can, he will strive to do whatever I ask of him; yet he is a bit more tentative in his approach. *Leo also needs to be reassured that he can, but he is more bold about his tasks; more willing to "get it wrong" than *Jack is. The differences just amaze me.

This weekend we hope to take them for their first "spin" in the trailer. We won't go anywhere to off-load, just drive them a bit and return home. Check back in to see how it went!

2008-08-02T19:14:00.005-04:00

The show at Towne-Ayr Farm; August 2

Guinevive decided that she wanted to give the Open show at a local farm a go. So, this morning Chuck, Chellis (Guin’s BF), and I put on our Curly t-shirts, and loaded everything that we needed into the truck, trailer, and jeep. Guin dressed up in her English show gear, and loaded UB Raggae Babe up (like a champ I might add).

At this point, I would love to be able to say, “We had a great time; wowed everyone with our Curly; and won lots of ribbons.” But the truth is, Chuck and I were, once again, disappointed at the inability of the Judge to be unbiased. It had nothing to do with the fact that Babe is a Curly. It had everything to do with the fact that Guin is no longer in 4H and not a “show regular”.

It would be very easy to say that we were suffering from sour grapes, but that isn’t it. It would also be easy to say that the Judge can’t see *everything* that goes wrong with all the riders in the ring. But that isn’t it either. It was the third class that showed the blatant disregard the Judge had for reality.

Guin chose 5 classes: Fitting and Showmanship; Equitation; Pleasure; Command; and Equitation over fences. She ended up scratching the jumping because both she and Babe were tired (and it was so hot and HUMID), plus the whole show was held inside an undersized and too dark arena.

She came out of the F&S with a 4th place. Completely respectable considering it has been 4 years since she has tried her hand at this. In Equitation they combined the Adult and Senior classes. There were five total entrants. During the class, one pair had real problems; the horse reared, wouldn’t accept cues, and when waiting on the sidelines for others to canter, was threatening to other horses. Two of the other horses broke at the canter; two did not. Guin and Babe were one of those. Considering this, we expected she would place 3rd, or perhaps even 2nd. No, she placed 4th putting the two horses above her who had not stayed in gait. We simply shook our heads and figured the Judge had not seen it.

Her next class was Pleasure. Now for those of you unused to shows like this, the Pleasure class is supposed to judge the horse whereas the Equitation is to judge the rider. Basically the horse needs to demonstrate that they are a pleasure to ride: easy to cue, easy to change directions, easy to change gaits, easy to stay in gait, easy to halt and easy to back. In this class there were only 4 entrants. The troubled pair from above had scratched the rest of the show. Again, two of the horses broke at the canter (same two as above in fact), and two did not. And this time both Chuck and I were watching the judge watch the horses. She looked straight at BOTH horses when each of them broke their canters; there was no way she could have missed it. Yet, once again, one of those horses placed above Guin and Babe, giving Guin a 3rd place. The comment the Judge made to Guin was, “This horse likes to go, doesn't it?”

It was obvious that there was no way Guin was going to place higher, and in fact in Command class, she again placed 4th.

Again, it would be easy to say “Well, Guin must be out of ‘shape’ as a rider,” or “At least she GOT a ribbon.” But in all honesty, Guin is a sweet rider. She can handle anything a horse puts out; she knows how to coax, how to teach, how to reward, and how to gently correct what a horse offers. I watched her closely and she made no glaring errors today. It is disheartening to have to deal with such bias. She has reworked Babe from the rushing, rooting, unbalanced mare we got, into a more balanced and confident mare. From Babe, Guin has learned to be subtle with her cues, and Babe rewards that with more relaxed movement. Babe did well today at the show, and so did Guin.

Will Guin show again? It is hard to say, but at this point I suspect not. I believe that Guin may have learned that she doesn’t need an outsider to tell her she is a good rider; all she needs is the willingness of the horse to show her.

ps....on a side note, we did talk with several folks about what kind of horse Babe is. One, who was actually there with a team of oxen, said that she used to have a horse that folks told her was half Curly because he would curl up in the winter. I can't begin to say how many folks up here have told me about "a horse they used to have that got all curly"; but it's been many a one over the years.

2008-08-01T19:41:00.003-04:00

So, two blog posts in one day, from me? Simply amazing! However, I have discovered that I have been "tagged" in a game of Blog-tag. Apparently, in blog-tag, one must share some things about oneself (in this case, 6 things) and then "tag" other bloggers. My problem may be, that I only have a few folks whose blog I read, and Michelle, from the Bottom of Chestnut Hill who tagged me, also tagged the ones I read! I'll have to poke around on the net to find some that I can tag too!

On to the six things you may or may not know about me.

1) I was born in Maryland, daughter of two Rebels. In case you didn't realize it, Maryland is below the Mason-Dixon line; so although it did NOT secede from the Union back before the Civil War, it IS a Rebel state. I may live in Vermont, but I am most certainly not a Yankee. I'm proud of my Rebel heritage, and especially proud that most of my forebearers came from Virginia.

2) I grew up on the grounds of a Tuberculous hospital, called Glenn Dale Hospital. I spent the first ten years of my life there. My father began as a steam-fitter, slowly went through business school and then became the business manager of the hospital. We left there when my father changed jobs in 1964. The hospital closed in the early 80's. Primarily it closed because TB was on the decline (thanks to Penicillian) but it was full of asbestos and would have cost mega-dollars to clean up. The hospital actually belonged to Washington, D.C. but they had no use for it. It still stands, empty, and a wreck from vandels. A shame too, because the brick buildings were gorgeous when the hospital was in full swing.

3)I am a certified open-water diver. I learned to dive when I was stationed on Guam. Typically you learn to dive in a pool, but because I arrived on Guam hours before it was struck by SuperTyphoon Pamela in 1976, the pools had not been fixed when I took the course. So, I literarily learned to dive in open water. I loved it, and went as often as I could. I continued to dive until I was about 5 months pregnant with Bethany. By then the weight belt would no longer fit around my waist, so I just snorkled. I only dove once after returning to the states, down in Key West. I competely gave it up when I moved to Vermont.

4) I am interested in genealogy. I used to do a lot of research, and will return to it at some point I'm sure. I have been able to connect our family, on my father's side back to a Swedish immigrant who came over on the SS Swan in 1643 into New Delaware. On my mother's side, we go back to English immigrants in 1610 into Virginia. Also, on my mother's side we are Cherokee (Tsa la gi)

5) I "fell in love" with Vermont when I lived in Massachusetts in 1969. I determined that one day I would move here to live. Why? There was something wild about what I had seen in our drives; so country. My years at Glenn Dale had affirmed the country of my soul and I knew I would need to return to it at some point. I did in 1982.

and finally

6) I volunteer with a group called "Good Beginnings". It's basis is to pair an older, experienced mom with new moms for the first three months of their motherhood. Primarily, it is to offer emotional support, but we also help them to make community connections, as well as, connect them with needed physical support (clothing, food, etc.) should the need be there.

Well, I'm down to the "who should I tag" portion.

I'll tag: Cara's Blog and Top 'O the Hill's Blog

2008-08-01T17:30:00.002-04:00

The first of August! Today, on the trip to take Sophie to the airport we saw the first Sugar Maple turning to orange! Yes, for some Maples, Autumn comes a wee bit *too* early.

We thoroughly enjoyed having Sophie with us. It was a great experience for all of us. She was a hard worker, with a quick intellect and avid curiousity. We wish her huge success in her life to come!

Now is the time to think toward fall and winter. We've redone some paddock fencing and electrical wiring for them, and have a few more to go. Then we want to get a bit cleaned up around the farm and build a couple of winter run-ins.

Here is a picture I took today, of Dude and *Suncatcher with Sophie, before she left. Double Trouble!! Enjoy.

2008-07-07T13:28:00.002-04:00

High summer in Vermont. So many people equate Vermont with winter, or with the beautiful fall colors of autumn. They just think that Vermont is always cool. But it is NOT! Come July we have many very hot days. What does that mean for us who work with horses? It means we work early in the day, and later in the evening; leaving the hot mid-day for drowsing and grazing.

With our exchange student, Sophie, here from France, we have been working with a lot of horses. Sophie's primary "job" is to ride Silken and *Suncatcher. Guin rides *Red and *Babe. I work with *Jack and *Beau and *Glory, and they help me with *Walker, Dude, and *Leo.

I am also taking an on-line photography course and learning to use my camera better, so processing the pictures I get to take is also good to do in the heat of the day.

And in my "off" time, I am serving as Navigator for Marcy Baer and her stallion, Dykedale Duke (an English Dales pony). We went to our first 3-day event in Bromont, Quebec over the last weekend of June and Marcy & Duke came in FIRST PLACE in single-pony Training Level and Reserve Champion of Training level!! We were all so proud!

So, please forgive me for not writing as often as I should. I'll make sure to post a few pictures here as I prefect my "shooting" techniques.

Enjoy your summer!

2008-05-31T16:57:00.005-04:00

Spring has continued here in central Vermont, but we have had some days where we thought winter had returned! Brrrrr!

Now that our ground has dried out we have begun working with the horses again. We are changing around our pasture set-up; mowing, bathing horses, and all the general spring type activities on a ranch.

One of the other things that is changing is that soon it will just be the two of us. Our youngest daughter is graduating from high school and plans to move out on her own. After much thinking we have decided to reduce our herd. We are not in any rush to do so, as we want to make sure that the horses we want to sell our partnered with the right human in their life.

The first horse offered is Z Silken. She is a lovely 9 year old mare, very well trained, and smooth-coated (so if you are sensitive to being 'different' then you can have your hypo-allergenic horse and smooth hair too!!).

The second horse being offered was a very hard choice. We have decided to offer *Leo for sale. *Leo is one of TWO champagne colored American Curly horses in the WORLD! That's right, one of TWO IN THE WORLD. Rare among rare. He's just a year, and still has a lot of growing to do. At this time we are offering him intact as a stallion.

We may choose to offer another horse for sale later in the season; we have not decided yet.

So many things have changed in the last year, and decisions have had to be made that were not easy. But like the old saying goes: When life hands you lemons, you should make lemonade (and not be a sour-puss!!).

2008-04-15T15:49:00.001-04:00

Another day of Calmer, Braver, Smarter tasks. This time only 2: bobbing for apples in a water vat and pin-wheel alley. To make pin-wheel alley, I purchased 6 $1 brightly colored pin-wheels that have wooden stakes, that I simply pushed into the ground. Today I placed them about 3 feet apart, three pin-wheels on each side.

I worked with 5 horses total, but to me, if a horse is non-reactive then they are already de-spooked. Not that this is a bad thing at all! But to gain points I can only count three on any particular task. So today, I will count *Jack, *Walker, and Silken.

Silken was first out and I’ve learned that she is sensitive, yet intelligent and she does have a lot of training behind her, which has given her exposure to different things. We approached pin-wheel alley and I let her look and then asked her through. She thought about it, and walked through, but kept her eyes on the twirling pin-wheels the whole time. You could see she was ready to move out if they decided to eat her, but since they did NOT, going through the second time was an easy task. She remained relaxed and happy to follow my lead. I admit I had expected more worry out of her, but I’m glad all was okay with those pin-wheels. Now bobbing for apples was a loss on her. She sniffed the apples once, tried to bite, found they floated away and completely lost interest. So, we went for a walk around the drive and yard and then I put her away.

*Jack was next and like last time, I noticed that he was more up than in previous months. I believe I may have figured out why. He is now the lead horse in his paddock and he is rising 3. He has to be serious and aware; it is his job now! Gone is the carefree boy. So, to help him get his mind on me rather than potential monsters, we took a walk up by the house. He was particularly worried about the traffic going by, so we stood and watched it for a while, from a distance, until he relaxed. I will work on getting him closer and closer until he realizes it is safe as long as I’m there. Then we returned to pin-wheel alley. He brought his nose down to one of the twirling pin-wheels and touched it. I clicked and treated him, from that point on he had no trouble going through the alley! We walked through several times, from different directions, and he just walked through as if they were not there. Next up to the apple bob, and he reacted just like Silken had. Tried for a bite, couldn’t get one, and completely lost interest. Sigh.

Last was *Walker. As herd leader she is ultra aware of her surroundings, and can be quite the worry-wart. Again, I began with a walk up and down the drive and then over to pin-wheel alley. “WHOA!! You expect me to go near those things???” she seemed to say. I just stood while she decided if she would check them out or not. Because I stood relaxed, she felt they must be okay, even if they warranted keeping her eyes on them. When she seemed relaxed enough I asked her though. Have you ever seen a horse teleport? One moment she was at one end, and the next she was on the other side. Obviously we needed to try this again. Next time through I asked her to ‘step-up’ rather than walk all the way. We stood and dwelt; then another ‘step-up’, and dwell time. It only takes about three steps to get through my little alley, so once we were out I turned her and asked her through again, and this time it was as easy as pie. So off we went bobbing for apples! Now *Walker loved this!! She would not stop going after them even though they kept scooting away from her mouth. She shoved her face into the water, completely covering her nostrils, blowing bubbles the whole time, and still kept going after them. Within one minute she had one and happily crunched it up. But wait! There was another apple to be eaten, and off she dove again, searching until she got that one too.

I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures from today, but it sure was fun.

2008-04-08T16:29:00.006-04:00

It has been two months since I last wrote in the blog. There is a very good reason for that and it is not a happy one. On the morning of February 14th we woke up to discover that the brand new arena we had built in the summer had collapsed. Unfortunately, for many reasons, we have to go through litigation to make any recovery so I cannot talk much about it.

Because we had only been working with the horses inside and Vermont experienced snowfall about 40 inches above the average, we had no place to work with them outside. Even the driveway was icy! Finally, though, late last week and this week the warmer temperatures have arrived and the driveway is real again, not ice and snow covered.

I took advantage of today’s weather to do some fun de-spooking activities with the horses. As I’m participating in the Ride A Curly contest I’ve already mentioned, I was happy to learn about a “mini-contest” in the month of April. We are to choose obstacles from the CSB course located on the website and introduce as many as three horses to any one of them to gain points.

The course I set up for today included: the Big Ball, a penguin ‘decoy’, a tarp, a plastic bag filled with noisy cans and plastic bottles, a backpack with goodies and more plastic bottles, and a old tire.

*Jack was the first one I took down and I learned that I, indeed, had a 7th obstacle. We cannot clean up the arena yet and the torn tarp flaps in the breeze. It was a good de-spooking exercise for sure! *Jack has seen the ball before, but not blowing in the wind! It took him quite some time to come up to it as it rocked back and forth, but he did. I then decided to move it inside because it was getting all the other horses going as well. Next up was the tarp I had laid down. He had no trouble walking across it (first time!) and then I picked it up and waved it around and dragged it next to him. He just would look at it, then at me, until I clicked and treated him. We investigated the tire (ho-hum!) and then the back pack. That was a favorite! “Hmmm,” he said, “I can smell goodies. Let me stick my nose in as far as possible to find them.” The plastic can bag also caused a reaction. Every time I would shake it those ears came forward, but eventually he crept closer and closer, and touched it. “Good boy *Jack!” Click and Treat.

The last item to play with was the penguin and it too was “Ho-hum”. Next time I’ll try to add a couple of items but keep the ones that bothered him the most (plus the yummy backpack)

Next up, Guin took *Leo for a walk. He was just weaned this weekend and this was his first day out. *Walker has been fine with him in the paddock next to him, but once he was out, she really put up a stink. *Leo, on the other hand, was far too interested in Guin and the walk. She took him all the way down to the barn and they investigated the tire. He walked back up just fine but then he decided that the stream of water he had already crossed going out of the paddock would eat him! She very patiently worked with him while I entertained *Jack and *Bill. It took about 15 minutes but eventually he felt he could take one small step at a time and come across. Never did he get upset, sweat, or show any nervousness. He just stood and contemplated until he was ready. I was very proud of the both of them.

I then took *Glory down to do the obstacles. She was not spooked by any of the items, and in fact, not particularly interested. She was FAR more interested in the collapsed arena’s tarp flapping though. However, it is too dangerous to take a horse near it. I worry about nails and such. However, we were able to get a nice photo of her with the tarp draped over her showing just how easy going she is. (Please excuse the mud, the snow is melting here!)

2008-02-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

Finally! Finally, finally, we drove *Beau again.

This time of year is difficult for us, because as Chuck is an accountant, it is year end and tax time, so his hours tend to be long. Finding time on an evening to work with horses is next to impossible, so we only get to work with them on the week-ends. We have concentrated on *Beau because he enjoys the work and we love being with him.

The past few week-ends have been in-hand work, getting him primed for the cart again. Today, he went between the shafts and I tell you, it is as if he hadn't had any time off at all. He is so brilliant!

The one thing that we could feel though is that he is not in shape. So, I ground drove him first for about 10 minutes and then we limited his time between the shafts to 20 minutes. Each weekend we will raise the amount to increase his fitness again. If we get time during the week, you can bet we'll be bringing him down for more driving.

He is just incredibly responsive and so obviously proud of the work he does. Of course, it helps that we tell him how wonderful he is all the time. Stallions love that!

So, *Beau got 20 minutes pull the cart, and I got 10 minutes toward my RAC points. Not much, but it is a beginning.

It is also so very different driving in the arena compared to driving in the old one (now our barn) due to the base. You go much faster in the new one and it is much easier for him to turn and pull the cart as the drag is much less than the sand of the other base. Wahoo!!

I hope you enjoy the pictures from today.

2008-01-23T14:46:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while, the stars align just right to cause an adventure to happen. I'm not talking about the fun ones where you get to see new sights, experience new thrills, and generally have a fun, happy time. These kind of adventures are the ones you are glad ended just fine, but hope not to repeat again too soon. Of course, this adventure involved horses.

I was sitting inside just finishing my lunch and a bit of reading. I am accustomed to the noises outside, but always notice when there is a new or odd noise. I can't tell you, now, what that noise was, but it arrested my attention immediately. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a stallion excited! As I know our *Beau's voice well, I knew it was him (*Leo does not have a mature voice yet for all he thinks he does). I jumped up from my seat and looked out the windows.

There were *Beau and *Red, heads hanging out of their fence, snuffling noses with THREE RED HORSES THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE! I popped my head out of the door and said, "*Walker girl, what are you doing out? And how did you get out?"

I ran down the stairs, threw off my slippers, crammed my feet into my boots, whipped my coat around me, stuffed treats into my pockets and slapped my hat on my head. Out the door I ran and the fun was ON!!

Before I even approached the horses, I went to check the gate to their paddock expecting some damage. There was none. It was simply unclasped. Great, I have a mouthy, smart horse that can undo gates. I'm betting on *Leo.

Although all three know me well, and love their treats, they were FREEEEEEEEEE, free as the wind, free as the snowflakes flying through the breeze, free as....well you get the picture. And so, they were having little to do with me. Each time I got close they veered off into another direction. Finally after a bit, *Jack noticed that I had treats in my hand. He decided that treats were far more interesting than running around in deep snow following some mare that likes to kick his butt whenever she gets the chance. *Jack followed me all the way into the paddock and I shut him in.

One down; two to go.

This time I knew I had to have a halter. You see, when you are dealing with more than two horses, it is best to divide and conquer. I knew I could get *Jack with treats. *Walker is a bit harder; being older and more experienced at evasion.

I approached with the halter in one hand and treats in the other. She politely took the treats and let me slip the halter on, even though it isn't her color (what red horse would wear hot pink, really??). Off we went to the paddock, *Leo following like a good little foal. In *Walker went, but alas, *Leo refused to follow.

Adventure time for *Leo!! Off he went. He's starting to become more brave, and wants to venture forth without mom. Afterall, he is a big colt now of 8 months old! *Leo explored and I followed. Finally, after about 5 minutes of exploration he ended up back at the paddock gate. I grabbed the halter from *Walker and slipped it on *Leo.

With foals, aw heck, with horses...well you know the old adage...you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. When a horse decides they will not do something, there is no making him. The key to a good relationship with a horse is to have them always want to please you. The problem with foals is that they haven't figured that out yet because of their lack of experience.

So here we stood, a hot pink halter on a gold champagne 8 month old, paddock gate open. Halter in my left hand, a too-big halter I might add, which allowed *Leo to snake his teeth around and graze on my knuckles from time to time, and treats in my right hand. All the while I am having to convince both *Walker and *Jack that they don't want to come back out of the paddock. Finally, about 20 minutes later, *Leo decided he wanted to do what I wanted and came in.

Like I said, some adventures you don't necessarily wish to repeat too soon.

The gate now has a second clasp on it.

2008-01-16T20:19:00.000-05:00

I'm sure some of my readers may have wondered exactly what a day at "Green Mountain Curlies" might be like. I thought in this edition I would walk you through a "typical" day.

5:30 a.m. Wake-up and get-up out of bed. Have coffee. If not for my 2 cups of coffee my day would be much more difficult! Between this time and about 7 a.m. I also put together Chuck's lunch (nice wife, aren't I?), pour out our OJ, and feed the cats their brekky.

7 a.m. Wake-up Guin for school and fix brekky.

7:30 a.m. Head down cellar to mix the horses' brekky. Typically Chuck heads out to give them their morning hay while I'm mixing. Then we both feed them.

8:00-12:00 Pick manure out of all 5 paddocks. During winter I cannot get it all, so I concentrate on their run-ins and loose manure where we usually throw the hay. Then I top off their water. Hay them again and tend to other small things. For instance, I wash two feed buckets each day, Mon-Fri. I need to bring up hay to store under the porch. Then I will do ground work with one of the horses. This morning I took *Glory for a walk and then brought Silken down to work on some lateral flexion and also do some lunge work.

12-2 p.m. Inside for human lunch and house work/computer work.

2-4 p.m. Back outside to hay if they need it and for more work with horses. Today, I worked on *Suncatcher's mane. He seems to have developed a fungus so I'm treating it with DermalAide. Today was his second application and he is so cute about it. He was laying down resting when I came in. I began to rub it into the skin of his mane, vigorously. He lay there, literally groaning with pleasure! It was funny to hear. Then I worked with haltering *Leo. Today, we got it on all the way, but boy is he a mouthy colt! That halter went into his mouth way more often than I could seem to get it on his nose! Next up was *Jack. *Jack is now living with *Walker and *Leo in preparation for weaning *Leo. So *Leo was slightly concerned when I took *Jack out, but he settled quickly. We went down to the arena and met Guin coming up with Dude on the way. While in the arena we worked on Game 4, more W/T transistions in-hand, including trotting over ground poles, and we played with our huge Cage ball. Lastly, while Guin stayed in with *Jack and *Leo, I took *Walker out for a short walk. She didn't seem too stressed with leaving *Leo behind, but I could tell that tension was rising by the time we got down to the barn, so while there I asked for head down and rewarded her with a small treat. Then we turned around and went back. Guin said that *Leo was actually okay about it UNTIL he saw us heading back. Funny guy.

4-5 p.m. Do evening hay, mix supper for the horses, and feed.

5 - 10 p.m. Come in, have a cuppa tea and relax a bit. Then get supper for humans going and take care of more inside chores as needed. Chuck is very sweet in that he typically does the supper dishes for me. Then we will relax for the evening by chatting, reading, or watching a movie.

10 p.m. Off to bed.

As you can see it is a full day. I try to plan just one day "off the farm" for running errands, going shopping, etc. It doesn't always work out, but I do as I can.

So, if you ever decide to come for a visit you'll know just what to expect.

Have a great day!

2008-01-08T20:26:00.000-05:00

Short and sweet. Sometimes that's all the training you need to do with a youngster. Tonight that was what Guin and I did with *Bill and *Jack.

After everyone was fed and settled for the evening, I went down and turned on the arena lights. The lights are metal halide and so need a bit of warming up before they are bright enough. Then we haltered the both of them and walked down.

Our main purpose was just to get them used to the idea of being in the arena, at night, with the lights on. Things look different at night, both outside and inside, and for horses the more experience they get at different things the better off you both are.

We just did some walk/trot in hand, took them through the labyrinth a couple of times, and worked on backing up by the Driving Game.

Neither of them was worried or concerned about how different things looked and both stayed "on task". Considering that *Bill is just a long yearling we felt he did very well!

Both walking down and walking back, because it was dark and things were shadowed differently (and covered with snow), we did have a couple of threshold moments. But once they got a good look at whatever had their attention and saw that we were relaxed about it, off they went again.

Our only sticky spot at all was when *Jack and I stayed behind to turn the lights off! It was very dark, and *Jack was a bit surprised. I just kept speaking to him and we made our way to the arena door.

By next year we hope to have a small light installed just for those times.

I love having a lighted arena! What a blessed life we have!

2008-01-04T20:34:00.000-05:00

Today began chilly, at about -2F at 7:30 a.m. but by 11 a.m. we had warmed up to almost 20 and we got to the mid-20's by the late afternoon. We had off and on sunshine and everyone, humans and horses alike, enjoyed being outside.

I have noticed that when we have a couple of days of really frigid weather, as we just did, that the following day the horses spend a lot of time napping. Of course, the amount of hay the consume lessens considerably, but it amazes me the amount of time that they will spend lieing down and sleeping. Adult horses rarely spend more than 2 hours out of 24 laying down to sleep, but most of mine today spent more than that. As I worked outside, the feeling surrounding our space was of total relaxation and peacefulness. Lovely!

This afternoon, I took *Jack down to the arena to do a few minutes of in-hand work. We walked and trotted in hand, and I varied the speed that I traveled, which *Jack noticed and changed his speed to accompany me. This is good! Then we did a trip through the TEAM labyrinth and next I decided to begin teaching him the Yo, of the Parelli game 4 "Yo-yo" game. Please note that I am not a "level" anything in Parelli-speak, but I have found much to his 7-games and enjoy using them with the horses as alternative training techniques. Therefore, how I do his games may not be "perfect" according to his goals.

Anyway, the "Yo-yo" game is one in which the horse is asked to back away from you while you stand still; get to the end of the line and "dwell" for a while; then on request come back into you. The object, of course, is to make the requests you use as subtle as possible.

Now *Jack understands the voice command of "back-up" and he understands pressure on the bridge of his nose and that he must move backwards when I walk towards his head/chest area. He has known all that since he was but a foal. Today was the day to incorporate an object to drive him backwards (that happens to be Game 3). As I had my TEAM wand in hand, I simple held it pointing toward him and began moving it rhythmically toward his chest, between his front legs. I then said "back" (I believe that Parelli discourages the use of voice, but as I drive I prefer them to be extra familiar with voice cues). *Jack just looked at me. When he hadn't responded in a few moments, the wand tapped him between his legs. I could see on *Jack's face a "What?". Again, I said back, and when he didn't respond, I increased the amount of contact (that's PC for the wand 'tapped' him harder, lol). At that he took a tentative step backwards with his left fore and I immediately stopped the movement and praised him. We did this 3 to 4 times, and each time he needed the contact of the wand to respond. So, it was time for a break.

We walked off, we did the labyrinth, looked out the door at the turkeys, and then went back to Game 4. Lo-and-behold he got it right away! As is usual he simply had needed a bit of "dwell" time to process what I had been asking. This time when he gave me two lovely steps backwards with just a wave of the wand toward him, I lavished praise on him and gave him a treat. Oh *Jack liked that! And we quit.

I was very proud of his good work.

Next out was Silken and Dude (you will notice there are no astericks next to their names; that is because we use the asterick* to denote a curly coat. No *, means no visible curls). I brought Silken in and Guin brought in Dude. I like to start my work sessions with a trip around the arena. It sets the "mood", i.e. "This is now learning/work time, not relaxing time". So, Silken and I made a trip around the arena, and we varied our speeds in the walk and trot as I had with *Jack. I took Silken through the labyrinth for a first time and she did well. Then I began the games with her. Silken knows the games and is a sensitive mare. What she will help me with is my subtlety.

Each horse responds differently to the different games. For instance in the Yo-yo game, Silken's yo is much better than her Yo. She does not like to be asked away from the human. She does it, but you can see in her eyes that she doesn't like being "sent away". So I make sure to do it gently, quietly. I think that I can become even quieter yet. Silken also has a default behaviour and that is to do the Circle game, or game 5. If she is confused at all, she circles you. So, one must be aware of it and ready to interrupt her circling. But, it is a game she does really well!

And her Game 7, or Sideways game is soooooo smooth. Lovely to work with, lovely to watch. Again, I know I can become more subtle with it though as I got a couple of tail-twists and snorts with a head bob. She was telling me that I was "shouting" and that she could hear me just fine "thank you very much"!!

After a bit with them both, we went out and just walked around a bit with them. Guin and I agreed that it was fun playing with two horses at the same time and want to do more of it.

After that it was time to wait for my new helper! Beginning today I have a cute-as-a-button 9 year old coming to help with afternoon chores and learn more about horses. Today, she helped me water; mix supper; give the night hay out; and feed supper to the horses. While we worked I asked her to think about a topic for each Friday that she would like to talk about regarding horses. I did catch her by surprise with this but she decided that today we should talk about the insides of a horse! So I told her how they were the same and how they were different. We spoke about their brains, their digestive system, and how they are prey not preditors and how that effects their insides and thinking. I had a great time and I think she did too! I'm looking forward to next Friday.

We hope you had a lovely day today as well.

2008-01-03T19:25:00.000-05:00

Was I complaining yesterday about snow? I'll take snow. When it snows it is warmer than today was!

I spent as little time as possible outside today. We began, at 7:30 a.m., with -10F and a small wind. Eventually, by 2 p.m. we managed to get to 8F, again with a small wind. By the time we fed about 2-1/2 hours later it had dropped to -4F.

On days like this the only thing that matters is feeding and watering the critters. All they really want to do is eat hay and sleep in the sunlight.

My policy is not to work a horse at more than a walk between 0 and 10F, they can do a bit of light trot between 10-20F. The reason for that is that they will work up a sweat and trying to cool them down in those temperatures takes a long time and can be difficult on them. So, you just don't work them to a sweat. It also is not good for them to breath so deeply as they would need to. Heck, it's hard on us to breathe in those temperatures!

So days like today mean no working with the horses because it is hard on both of us. But they love to see me come out and give them hay. Yep, I'm the most popular human on earth when I have hay in my hands on days like today!

Stay warm!

2008-01-02T20:25:00.000-05:00

I love snow. I love winter. But the winter I love is one that allows you to enjoy the outside, the snow, without freezing. Ahhh, if wishes were fishes we'd never be hungry, eh?

For me, one of the best things about winter is...no BUGS. Bugs crawl on you, bite you, sting you, and dive-bomb you. I enjoy working with the horses even though it is cold, because there are NO bugs to drive either one of us crazy.

But, being the "at home" person who runs the farm on a daily business means that I am the one that deals with the snow. Believe me, I am thankful that we have a tractor. I do count the money saved each and every time I plow. But, it is just January 2nd and I am heartily TIRED of plowing!

I try to keep my sense of humor; I am always one to make lemonade from those darned sour lemons, however I am running out of ideas for making plowing fun.

So, I'm including a few pictures from the first snowstorm, back on 12/03/07, where I actually was smiling while I was plowing. It is hard to find me doing that now.

Ideas are appreciated!!

2008-01-01T17:51:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Yes, we have finished with 2007 and begun 2008.

2007 did turn out as we had imagined it would. We had hoped that by bringing in Stephanie, that we would expand our business. We built fences; we built a new arena; we also built three new winter paddocks. Then the bottom dropped out and we learned to NEVER depend on anyone but ourselves. Occasionally, you get fooled.

The only thing left now, though, is to make new goals, new decisions, and go forward.

I could wax philosophical and ponder on why we needed to learn this lesson; but, rather than doing that I will simply take the sour with the sweet.

And the sweet is: we have a larger arena, with LIGHTS. It isn't totally finished because winter came on fast and strong this year. We also had to fire a carpenter. What is it with "professionals" these days? Ah, never mind, that could be a totally separate blog.

What else is sweet? We have each other, we have 3 lovely, intelligent and strong daughters and a great new son-in-law. We have 11 horses that we have plans for, and we have a future.

Another sweet is, I have signed up for the "Ride A Curly" contest on Curly Horse Country. I did this to help me set the goal of accrueing hours in riding and driving. For me it is not important to win, but just to achieve those hours. Only active riding and/or driving counts; not time working with them on the ground. But, I also have horses to work with on the ground, most especially a particularly sweet 2 year old named *Jack. He is the light in my eyes.

So, today I began to approach my goals, as the horses have had December "off". *Jack and I went to the arena and worked with the TEAM (Linda Tellington-Jones) Labyrinth. On the third time through he only followed my guiding hands and voice. I did not need to hold the lead at all! He had never experienced the Lab before, so I was mightily pleased. With *Leo I began to re-introduce him to the halter. And then this evening *Beau accompanied us to the arena to see it under the lights. It was a new experience for him, and he was a bit up at first, but quickly settled to the labyrinth and walking/trotting/cantering on line.

Our 2008 is off to a good start. We hope yours is too.

ps *Red is healed from his stringhalt and is doing pretty well!

2007-10-28T11:51:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 24

Did not get the video done, but *Red continues to show improvement. We are now up to the full ration of Nutrient Buffer.

Thursday, October 25

Got the video completed and wait until folks see the difference! Because *Red was already showing improvement before the VitaRoyal supplements arrived I cannot credit them entirely. I will say that there is a change in him, as I see a softness in his eyes that was not there before and I think that is the raised Magnesium levels. However, I believe that the acupuncture treatment and just plain old time are what has allowed him to get better. There is no doubt that this Stringhalt was brought on due to injury, as if it was toxins I doubt we would have seen such a vast improvement this quickly. Anyway, I will continue with the VitaRoyal protocol as there is no reason to stop using it. The video is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTgJQZbU9tQ

Friday, October 26

Today was beautiful and *Red was feeling good. The Canola Meal arrived today and I mixed together the “Hi Pro” feed of: 25 lbs of Linseed Meal, 12.5 lbs of Canola and 6.25 lbs of stabilized Rice Bran. He gets 1-1/2 lbs of this along with his oats, his EPS and Nutrient Buffer.

Saturday, October 27

Everyone is unhappy. It is a nasty rainy day, but despite the weather, *Red is looking more and more like “his old self”

Sunday, October 28

*Red seems almost normal now. This morning over our coffee Chuck and I talked about the fact that the diagnosis “Stringhalt” is used to describe the behaviours seen rather than the cause. In our experience, *Red’s Stringhalt was NOT caused by ingesting toxins in certain plants but by injury. I’m guessing that for most horses who develop Stringhalt due to injury, the ability to over come the diagnosis is much greater than those who have developed it because of ingestion of toxins. One would think that there would be separate diagnoses for separate causes.

2007-10-23T18:00:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 17

The temperature outside this morning was 32F and *Red’s was 97.2! *Red seem slightly more irritable this morning but I figured it was the change in outside temperature. I eliminated the BOSS from his feed, but made no other changes. He is still on Bute.

Thursday, October 18

The temperature outside this morning was 41F and *Red’s was 97.6; so indeed it seems that something has caused his basal metabolic rate to lower. The thing I find odd is that typically with a lower temp and therefore a lower metabolic rate, the weight of the being will increase. *Red; however, is still as slender as he always was and still as energetic. Today I eliminated the ABC+ but will hold the rest of *Red’s feed as is until one of the ordered items arrived. So for now he is getting at each feeding: ½ pound oats, ¾ cup linseed meal, ¼ cup rice bran, 1 oz of Equi-Shine, 2000 mg Vitamin E, ¼ cup freshly ground flax, and one scoop of Uckele’s Bio-quench for the B vitamins. He is still on Bute.

We filmed him again today and he has already improved!

Friday, October 19

Food the same. *Red does not seem as agitated as before. Still on Bute through today. The supplements have not arrived. I called the feed store and the Canola Meal is still not in.

Saturday, October 20

Morning food the same, but Linsey’s package containing the Hi-Pro EPS and the Nutrient Buffer arrived. I read the directions and was glad to see that I could mix just Linseed meal and Rice Bran without the Canola meal. So I will start him on that. For his supper this evening he got ½ lb of oats, 1 lb of Linseed meal, 1/3 lb of Rice Bran, 2 scoops of the Hi-Pro EPS, and 1/3 cup Nutrient Buffer. I mixed it all with about five cups of water. He HATED it! Although the Nutrient Buffer didn’t smell to me, when I spoke with my friend Michelle, she said that it was the NB that her horse had most objected to. So in the morning I’ll give him only the EPS and see how it goes.

Sunday, October 21

Both feedings had no Nutrient Buffer in it and he slurped it right up! One thing that caused me some chagrin was that I read on the NB label that there is “preservative” in it, although it doesn’t say what preservative it is. I will have to email Linsey to find out as I do not like the idea of him consuming preservative.

Monday, October 22

Added just a dollop of the Nutrient Buffer each feeding and he ate it up. He is doing well.

Tuesday, October 23

Added about two dollops of the Nutrient Buffer today and again, he ate it. So far so good. I was able to get the two videos we have done of *Red up onto YouTube. To see what he was like on 10/10/07 go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVaQqQp7OhQ and for his movements eight days, on 10/18/07 go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UrJzC2MD6I

We will do another video tomorrow if it isn’t raining.

2007-10-17T10:11:00.000-04:00

Friday, October 12

Randy, from Burlington Equine, came today. He agreed on the Stringhalt diagnosis, but felt that because the onset was so very sudden that it was injury related. He felt that this was positive; that it meant *Red could be rehabilitated. He felt his spine and hips and did some small chiropractic adjustments, but nothing huge. Then he did acupuncture on *Red’s left leg. The points he stimulated were: 1. Stomach 36; 2.Gall Bladder 34;
3. Bladder 40; 4. Gall Bladder 44; and 5. Stomach 45. *Red was fine during insertion and stood there quietly for a couple of minutes. Every so often Randy would reach to one of the needles and gently twist it. Suddenly, *Red exploded into activity. He began kicking that leg and trotting around and around me. He moved so fast that I got dizzy! I had to stop and just allow him to continue circling me but transfer the lead from hand-to-hand. Just as suddenly, he stopped, and stood still with his head down, as if he were sleeping. He stood like that for almost ten minutes. Randy said that often when doing points on the extremities that the horse will behave that way, so he was not alarmed. Again, *Red exploded and this time the kicking was with both legs, he bucked, he double-barreled, and he trotted like a wild horse. This time, because I was prepared, I was able to observe him and his trot was almost perfect. The left leg moved forward, with only a slight more upward motion than usual. Again, Randy felt this was a good sign.

Randy left me with a list of things to do, and alternative treatment options if they do not work. To do is: 1) increase his Vitamin E to 5,000-7,000 IU per day; 2) increase Selenium to 1 gram per day; 3) increase Magnesium to 5 grams per day; 4) topical anti-inflammatory rubbed into gasken twice a day (like Sore-No-More, or other arnica); and 5) continue Phenylbutazone, 1 scoop, twice a day for seven days.

Treatment options are: 1) Steroids for 10 days as an anti-inflammatory; 2) Phenytoin, an anti-spasmatic drug; and 3) Surgery.

He also recommended finding out about any herbals or homeopathics that might help with inflamed nerves.

I also spoke with Kelley this evening and she recommended a few herbs: St. John’s Wort, Passion flower; Valarian. She also recommended increasing his B vitamins. She will do more research.

Saturday, October, 13

I have increase *Red’s Vitamin E to 4,000 IU per day and am also giving him a scoop of Bio-Quench because it has extra B Vitamins. I am searching for a source of them on-line. He is back on the Bute. I did place an order with GP Direct where I get my Vitamin E, for a Vitamin E/Selenium and Magnesium.

Today I noticed that *Red took off in his pasture and behaved just like he did during the acupuncture treatment. He would race around at a trot and then stop and kick and kick with both legs, although most of the time it was his left hind.

Sunday, October 14

*Red is much the same although he seems somewhat more resigned and less irritable. Guin has been massaging in the Sore-No-More twice a day. Again, he took off a couple of different times, circling the pasture and then kicking.

Monday, October 15

He is the same as yesterday. Tonight I got a call from Linsey McNeal. She had *Red’s Profile in front of her. She would like to work with me and *Red and thinks her protocol can help him.

Here is what we are to do:
Change his feed to a mixture of Linseed Meal (25#), Rice Bran (6.25#), and Canola meal (12.5#) mixed with the EPS which is a combination of vitamins and minerals. He will get 1.5# of this mixture a.m. and p.m. and I am to top dress each feeding with 1/3 cup Nutrient Buffer. I can add as much oats as it takes to get him to eat it and mix it with water to make it a “mash” type texture.

No vaccines
No Deworming
All the grass hay he’d like
Stop feeding beet pulp, black oil sunflower seeds, Cocosoya oil, alfalfa and the other supplements I already give him as she says the EPM will contain all he needs.

She also wants me to track his morning temperature for 3 days, then just once a week after that.

And she recommends getting our water tested and then filtering it. I hope to test our water, but the filtering will have to wait.

She also wants to know if he’s ever been vaccinated with the Rhino (herpes) vaccine and if he presently has little red and/or white spots inside his lips.

While I intend to try my best for this, I have to admit that there is a large part of me that is a skeptic. What bothers me most is that Linsey referred to the vitamins and other supplements as well as some of the feed stuffs as “junk” and yet I know from my experience as well as from others’ that their horses do very well on them. I know how to read labels and try always to choose those that have little fillers like wheat middlings, soy hulls, and the like. For me, don’t label something “junk” and not prove to me why you say it is so. I know that there is a lot I can still learn, but give me the tools, don’t expect to have me follow you based on your professional certification.

I especially have a very high “bovine manure” detector and all my inner bells and whistles tend to go off when someone says “Oh, buy MY things to make it all better.” If I had not heard from several other people that following Linsey’s program worked for their horse/s then I would not agree to this.

Tuesday, October 16

Well, I guess I’m on my way to becoming a believer. I took *Red’s temperature this morning at 7:30 a.m. It was 42F outside and his temperature was 98.2. Just to be sure, I took *Suncatcher’s temperature as well. He is on virtually the same diet as *Red, about the same size, but is 5 years younger. His was 99.6.

I have stopped adding the Cocosoya oil for *Red and no one is getting Alfalfa pellets anymore. I had already decided to stop adding those to the feed and increasing the Linseed Meal I already feed to balance out the protein for them. I intend to eliminate the BOSS tomorrow, then the ABC Plus on Thursday. I’ll hold all the rest of his supplements the same until Linsey’s items, and the Canola Meal are in.

Today I noticed that *Red spent some time kicking but I didn’t notice him running around like the past 3 days.

2007-10-16T15:53:00.000-04:00

*Red Running Star’s bout with Stringhalt

What is Stringhalt? Many folks have heard the word, but exactly what does it entail? A horse with stringhalt, when walking, will hyper-lift one or both back legs (as if to kick their belly for flies). It is as if the message from their brain to their leg/s goes into overdrive. The nerve that controls the lateral digital extensor muscle misfires and causes the exaggerated lift.

Additionally, the lift causes a shift in the normal walking cadence and although the horse eventually adapts to this, at first it is as if they need to relearn walking.

Why does Stringhalt occur? The causes are considered “unknown” although in the United Kingdom and Australia it is known that eating some plants can allow Stringhalt to develop. Here in the United States, it is most often the result of injury. Because the muscle lies on the outside of the leg, a well placed kick can cause inflammation of the nerve resulting in Stringhalt.

*Red’s Stringhalt developed on Saturday, October 6, 2007. Chuck had fed lunch hay a bit after noon and all was well. When we arrived at about 5:30 p.m. to feed supper he had Stringhalt. It had rained that afternoon and so we assumed that he had slipped. Because he was otherwise fine (ate, drank, bright eyes) we left him with his pal *Beau to see what he was like in the morning. At this time we knew little about this disability.

The next morning he was the same, so we brought him up into a stall. Kelley Robie, of Horsetail Herbs, is trained in herbalogy, energy bodywork, and is also an Animal Communicator. She has worked on *Red before and was in the area so I asked her to stop in. Kelley got that he slipped in the mud. But why would he have gone onto developing Stringhalt when another horse would not have? This was our mystery.

Sunday evening Kelley called me after reading through her herbalogy books and said that the plants that had been indicated in the UK as causing Stringhalt actually prevented the absorption of magnesium (so causing a deficiency in magnesium). She recommended getting him on more magnesium and said she would continue to research.

Monday, October 8, 2007.

I called Burlington Equine to have Dr. Randy Frantz come out. He is a vet and also is a chiropractor and acupuncturist who has worked on *Red before. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it out this way until this coming Friday, so I set-up the appointment anyway.

Then I called our local vet, Dr. Tom Stuwe. His new partner, Alyson (omgoodness I’ve forgotten her last name!). She came out and confirmed the Stringhalt. She said the best case scenario was that he would get over it and the worst was that he would need to have the tendon cut in that leg. She promised she would do some more research and get back to me. In the meanwhile, she had me start him on Phenylbutazone for three days. I told her that we would try every other means at our disposal before having him operated on because once cut, it cannot be uncut. She understood.

I have also contacted Linsey McNeal from VitaRoyal http://www.vitaroyal.com/ and have filled out her Horse Profile form.

This evening, Alyson called to tell me the results of her research. She confirmed what she had already told me but said that some positive results had been found by 1) using a low carbohydrate diet; 2) increasing his Vitamin E and Selenium; and 3) acupuncture. She could not find anything relating increasing Magnesium.

Tuesday, October 9-Thursday, October 11

No real change in *Red except he seems more resigned with his predicament and less angry/frustrated. His appetite remains good. Guin has taken him for short walks. On Wednesday, the 10th we did a video of him to show his movement so that we can make comparisons better. We’ll get that loaded up onto YouTube as soon as we can.

2007-09-06T20:43:00.001-04:00

How has the summer slipped by? Well, certainly not with a sigh, but more like a great whooshing sound that a freight train might make!!

This summer has been so full of work, work, and more work. The new arena is almost done, then we just need to put up the lights and stain the outside; put in the footing, and run power outlets. We have one more summer pasture to finish and then it will be time to created the winter paddocks and shelters for them.

Add to this that we are having a medium-sized wedding here in 2 weeks, well, it has been hectic and I hope that you can forgive me for not updating the blog more often.

Sylvie, our French student left a month ago for home. While here she experienced the day-to-day running of a horse ranch, as well as having a chance to visit other horse operations. We even went on a trail ride at the Vermont Iceland Horse Farm in North Fayston http://www.icelandichorses.com/ It was so much fun that we hope to do it again next year! We wish Sylvie the best of luck in all her future endeavors.

Silken and Suncatcher are settling in, and I must say that Suncatcher is quite the ticket. He has a fabulous attitude and is very playful. He is also what you would call a "pocket pony", except that he is rather too large to fit there.

We have continued driving *Beau and have finally ventured outside with him. He seems to enjoy it.

*Leo has grown and is even more of a whippersnapper than young *Bill was.

All in all, as we zoom into fall, we are enjoying life. We hope you do too.

2007-07-29T23:02:00.001-04:00

At the beginning of July two new curly horses came to live with us; Z Silken, a lovely 8 year old smooth coated mare and *Jondra DMC Suncatcher, a sweet 4 year old gelding. Both of them came from Jondra Curly Acres in Englehart, Ontario.

Both have training and will be added to our lesson program.

I got the chance to ride Silken on Friday and I am so happy to have her. She is exquisitely sensitive (not reactive) and tries very hard to understand, and get correct, what you have asked. She truly "listens" to your seat and balance changes and a whisper is as loud as a shout to her. I suspect she will be destined for returning adults and more accomplished youngsters (but I'm guessing that she has LOADS to teach me!) I love her sweet face and her desire to be with you.

I have not gotten the chance to ride Suncatcher yet, but have worked with him using Parelli's 7 Games. What a superstar! Our French student, who is an accomplished & able equestrian, has been riding him and she says that he is well balanced at the walk and trot and goes well.

We thank Andrea for having raised these two lovely horses and having them trained so well. Thank you Andrea!!

2007-07-02T16:58:00.000-04:00

We're hosting a clinic!

We will be hosting Bob Jeffreys and Suzanne Sheppard for their Level One clinic "Teaching Two as One" on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of October!

Check our website soon for a webpage dedicated to the clinic.

Hope to see you there!

2007-05-01T21:02:00.000-04:00

Changes are coming!

Not just the changes of the seasons, or a new foal, but changes to the entire ranch. We have joined together with Dancing Pony Farm's teacher, Stephanie Ducharme, to add a lesson program to our ranch!

We will be building a new, larger arena 72 X 150 and once it is completed we will begin converting our present arena into a stall/hay barn.

Lessons will be based on Centered Riding techniques and I am apprenticing with Stephanie. She will be moving up a level soon and by next spring I should be starting the process of gaining my Level 1 certification for Centered Riding as well.

We now have 19 horses on the ranch; nine Curlies and 10 "regular" horses. By the end of this week (July 6th) we will have added three more horses (two Curlies and one regular). The Curlies will out number the regulars!!!

The changes already accomplished have been amazing. We've added fencing into the hay field so it is now pasture; the old barn foundation is gone and the ground will be graded for two winter paddocks; landscaping is being completed with some of the boulders from the foundation, the foundation for the arena is down and the building is delivered. Wow. A lot of work, but a lot more to be completed.

In May our lead mare had her colt, *GMC Envoy's Pride, whom we call *Leo and is he ever a whippersnapper!

In June we had our French Agricultural exchange student arrive and she is just wonderful to have around.

I'll try to update the blog more often as these changes occur.

Check back soon!

2007-04-12T13:34:00.000-04:00

*Sage is gone. Not gone from this world, but gone from our immediate lives.

Just like little birds are fledged from the nest; like humans leave their familial homes to take the world on; so do little foals grow into big horses and need to find families of their own.

That is where *Sage has gone; to a new place, to a family who loves him, and to a little girl who wants to grow with him and share all sorts of fantastic adventures.

To them I say "Godspeed" and "Fare thee well". This is the type of adventure story books will be written about.

A friend shared an anonymous poem with me that seems most appropriate for this time:

"It came to me that every time I lose a horse, they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new horse who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be horse, and I will become as generous and loving as they are."

*Sage, from you I learned so much. I'll miss you.

2007-03-15T20:35:00.000-04:00

As some of you may know from our website, our 3 year old gelding sold last year to a wonderful family in Maine. *Sage is still here with us through, until springtime allows us to easily transport him home.

In the meanwhile, I am continuing to work with him. On Wednesday I had the help of my friend and trainer, Stephanie, to teach *Sage to lunge.

We used the TTEAM technique called "Homing Pigeon" but modified it so that Stephanie had a the lunge lead and I a regular one. For those unfamiliar with Homing Pigeon, it is a process whereby two people lead a horse at once. The purposes behind this are many, but primarily it is very supportive of the horse.

*Sage began with going to the right. Stephanie in the inside, giving the directions to *Sage; me on the outside to lend support to Stephanie's directions. At first, *Sage was slightly mystified. But then he learned that the wand raised meant "Walk"; a "Walk on" from Stephanie meant "go faster"; and "Easy Walk" meant to slow down. He already knows "whoa", but his thought was to turn and face Stephanie when she asked for it. That is really where my presence was important; helping him to 'whoa' and stay on the circle.

Once he seemed to get the whole concept, it was time to change his direction. We allowed him some time between though, because "dwell time" is important in any education (horse OR human).

Wow! What a different horse! Going to the left was not easy for him at all. He was highly irritated that she would occasionally tap his left hip to ask him to walk. He flipped his head and swished his tail mightily. Stephanie toned down her ask when I also noted that his nose was wrinkled and his right eye held a baleful look, lol. This helped some, but it really was hard for him to get the whole concept on this side of his body.

What a demonstration in how separate a horse's brain is. Eventually, he did walk forward easily, the whoa was never as easy as it had been in the other direction, though. When he had gotten a decent 'whoa', we stopped (always end on a good note!) and stood there talking to allow him quiet dwell time. All in all, a really good session for *Sage.

Some of you may still ask, though, "Why teach a horse to lunge at all?" Lunging, when used correctly, is a good way to teach a horse to be responsible for carrying their own body. A young horse is still learning to balance on their four legs. Youthful play in large areas with like minded companions is the first step in helping them gain expertise over their rapidly growing bodies. Then, as it comes closer to the time to teach them their job, just like P.E. in elementary school, it is time to set them tasks to help them gain further expertise. Lungeing teaches them how to accelerate and decelerate smoothly; it helps them learn balance; and it also lets them learn how to connect to a human and their voice and body suggestions. It is also a first step for ground-driving, which will allow further enhancement of that body-expertise.

Check back for a blog on teaching *Sage to ground-drive!

p.s. I learned how to be lunged very well and will not need further lessons!!

2007-03-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

We have had some really wonderful weather in the past week, and today is also warm, but we've added more than another foot of snow in the past few days as well. This is the time of year that folks begin talking about "cabin fever".

If you've never heard of "cabin fever" it is simply the feeling of being stuck in the house while wanting to get out and enjoy the fresh air, work in the garden, or simply take a walk without wearing about a ton of clothing.

Talking with other horse owners, I find that we rarely suffer from "cabin fever" and I believe that this is because we must be outside several hours each day no matter the weather. In fact, if anything, we yearn for time to be inside to pursue other hobbies, or just kick back and watch a favorite video.

Speaking of videos, I must mention that I recently purchased a new video produced by Denise Conroy of www.curlyhorsecountry.com. It will be a wonderful addition to my booth at the Everything Equine in Essex Junction, VT the end of April. Denise collected high resolution pictures and videos of Curly Horses and put them together with some great music that was synced well with the pictures. Fantastic!! It is inexpensive, with Denise only asking enough to cover the cost of the materials and postage. Check it out!

Here's hoping that if you find yourself suffering from "cabin fever" you can get out and enjoy your favorite horse!

2007-02-15T20:03:00.000-05:00

BLIZZARD!

February 14, 2007 has gone down in history as experiencing the second largest snow storm to hit Vermont. The snow moved in after midnight on Wednesday morning and kept up until the wee hours of Thursday morning.

The problems didn't stop there, though, as we needed to dig out afterwards. Luckily, it was so cold that the snow was light and fluffy although we ended up with about 2-1/2 feet of it. Chuck shoveled pathways out to two of the paddocks and then out to the driveway, which had been plowed once on Wednesday. That just meant that the snow was only up to my knee, not mid-way up my thigh! He also shoveled from the arena out to Sage & Dude's paddock.

After feeding all the horses (Babe stayed inside today as her paddock doesn't offer a shelter from the wind), we shoveled out both vehicles. Here's a picture of what they looked like before we cleared the snow from them.

The rest of the day we simply took care of the horses as the windchill was about 15 to 20 below zero! They got plenty of hay and stayed in their shelters.

I hear that the weather in Helena, Montana is in the upper 30's and lower 40's...maybe it's time to move???

Hope you're staying warm!

2007-02-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

So much has happened in the last 3 weeks. First, the family was ill, including me. We are rarely that sick, so when it happens it makes us happy that we typically have good health.

Then last weekend I traveled to Arizona to visit a childhood friend of mine and her family. I had never been to Arizona previously, so besides having a wonderful time visiting with them, I also got to see a bit of the area. We visited the Arizona-Sonoma Desert Museum (www.desertmuseum.org) and it was so beautiful. I was fascinated with the plethora of fauna; I had never realized there was so many varieties of cacti! I truly appreciated the little plaques naming the different types. Here I am standing next to a Saguaro. This Saguaro is well over 75 years old; perhaps upwards of 150! We also visited the town of Tombstone which is known for the Bird Cage Theater, a famous honky-tonk, as well as the "Shoot out at the OK Corral".

Arriving home this past Monday, I had one day to recover and then the new mare we had purchased arrived. *UB Raggae Babe is a lovely lady and we're glad to have her. I'm looking forward to establishing a long lasting and enjoyable partnership with her.

And lastly, we are happy to announce that we have no more horses for sale! *GMC Coyote Bill has had a deposit placed on him and will become the fun partner of a wonderful local woman, Cheryl. *Bill will continue to live here with us for the next couple of years so he can grow up within a herd and have plenty of room to stretch those growing limbs before he moves to join Cheryl's other horses.

Such an active three weeks!

2007-01-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

Having horses is not all fun. Sometimes, (thankfully only sometimes), it is scary and worrisome. For as large as horses are, they can, at times, seem to be frightfully fragile creatures. One of the most worrisome of ailments is "colic". What is that? For you non-horsie folks, it can be as simple as an upset stomach or as disasterous as a twisted bowel (aka twisted gut).

Horses have a huge digestive system, and their intestines are quite long. They also have an organ called a Cecum. This organ helps them to digest, and because of it, they actually can get a lot of nutrition even from the roughest and meanest of forages. Consequently, they also can easily get toxins as well. That is the flip-side to being good "digest-ers".

This past Friday, our littlest guy, *Bill refused to eat his evening grain. Whenever a horse refuses to eat, that sends up alarms. I took a quick listen to his gut sounds on both sides, and heard very little. This increased our alarm. In addition, he kept reaching back to touch his left side, and he wanted to lay down. All of this pointed to possible colic.

Guin ran in to get his halter and lead rope. Once on we began walking him. We would walk him four to five loops around the pasture, then stop and listen. Each time I listened, it seemed that there were more gurgles, more pops. We kept walking. We'd stop, I'd listen. Then I would lightly massage his abdomin, working from front to back. Success!! He passed manure (you're laughing, I can hear you! But this is an important thing!)

We kept walking. After *Glory had finished her evening grain, she came down to the bottom of the pasture and starting eating hay. As we would pass, she would nicker encouragement. Sometimes we would stop by her and see if he was interested in milk. Nope, not yet. More walking, more listening, more massaging. GAS!! Yippee! (You're laughing again!)

More walking. Manure!! Yahoo! Then Chuck got home and came right down to help walk him. I ran up to get the thermometer, timer, and flashlight (why do horses wait for the dark to get sick?). Back down and I listen...yep, lots more gut sounds....take tempature (100.8~good that's normal)....check capillary action in his gum tissue (wow, fast refill and pink gums).

"What's that *Bill? You want milk?"

Wahoooooooo. All is now well.

Had *Bill not passed manure, had he not begun to perk up so fast, then we would have placed a call to the vet. Colic is a very serious ailment for a horse. All it takes is good observation and knowing your horses to spot when something isn't quite right with one of them. Thankfully, Guin was the quick observer this time, and we were able to set him right pretty quickly.

Thanks, Guin.

2007-01-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

This weekend I attended a Centered Riding clinic. For those unfamiliar with Centered Riding, this is a style that helps you gain a more balanced seat and reach a better partnership with your horse. It will help you with all disciplines. Below you will find reports from each day of the clinic.

Friday Night:

Tonight was mostly a get to know you session. We talked about our horse experience, our fears (if we have them), injuries, and our desires.

Then we did a breathing exercise.

Breathing properly is integral to Centered Riding (CR). So it was in through the nose and deep into our center (lower abdomen); out through the mouth but allowing the breath to go down our backs and into our seatbones and tail bone. Allowing that section to get more connected to the earth and more centered.

Saturday:

This morning we spent exploring the four aspects to Centered Riding.

Breathing, Soft eyes, Centering and the "building blocks" (ears, shoulders, hips, heels in a line). By teaching these things through exercises it is hoped it will allow us to translate them onto the horse.

I think a lot of this is rather self-evident, but it still gave time for self-reflection and getting more in-tune with my body. The one thing I noticed was that of the four, the one that allowed me the most relaxation was the soft eyes and not the breathing.

The afternoon was divided into 4 different riding groups and I got to be in the first one. During our hour to hour and a half time, we took those four components and practiced them on horse back, really feeling the movement of the horse and allowing our bodies to get into their rhythm. At that point the instructor began having us work to influence the horse, using tension, balance and movement of our centers. Because I am used to feeling my body, in many ways it came more easily than I thought it would. And of course, I have had wonderful instruction in this from Stephanie.

Again, I found that focusing on my breathing did not relax me the way I had assumed it might, BUT the soft eyes did! I was amazed at how soft I got, and therefore how soft Tapestry got, simply because I went all soft eyed. This cycle of soft eyes, relaxation of me, relaxation of Tapestry allowed me to be more in tune with her and it became a real cycle. Definitely a case of self-fulfilling prophecy!

The one thing I had more trouble with was the way they wanted me to whoa. The day before I had worked with Marcy with whoa-ing Beau and it is quite easy. Exhale, soft seat, bring shoulders slightly up and then back and down, which aligns my elbows with my hips. This causes a very slight tension in the reins, but not a pull. He stops and I release quickly. When I whoa-d that way today, I got strong correction! "No pulling" I was told. "Heavy elbows, light wrists, lift your hands UP!" I will say that Marcy cautioned me about letting my hands sag downward in a whoa, but they really wanted my hands to go UP. At one point my arms were almost straight up to get Tap to stop. This was confusing to her, and to me. Because I am not 100% sure that this was really what they wanted (it could have been an exaggeration to make me more aware of keeping my wrists from sagging), I will be interested to see what it is like tomorrow.

However, all in all, I feel that I came away with great inner leg connection to the horse and more relaxation.

Sunday:

As with yesterday, we began the day on the ground. After going over what we had learned and listening to questions/observations/thoughts etc. we did a couple of exercises to help us become more body aware and learn to connect to another being.

The first was called "dolls" and one of us stood, centered, closed our eyes and relaxed; they were the 'doll'. The other person was the positioner and, once they were centered, would begin to move the 'doll' while still maintain her center and balance. As with other exercises I found that our breathing synchronized. Being moved was interesting because you were giving control of your body up to, and trusting in, someone else. Being the mover was realizing how much the 'doll' needed to trust you. With both, it felt like a dance.

The next exercise I had done before and it was where one person was the "horse" and held the bit in their mouth (hands), while the other rode. Because of my previous experience it did not bring total revelations to me unlike it did for my partner. She hadn't experienced this exercise and was really amazed at how it felt. I feel it is a wonderful refresher anyway, and for those who have never done it, definitely worth a try. It simply makes you more conscious of how that bit feels in your horse's mouth and why balancing on your hands in NOT a good thing.

After lunch break we went to the arena and did one more exercise. Here we paired with the partner from one of yesterday's exercise. This time, one of us was behind the other's back and placed our hands under their elbows. For the first part we were simply to guide this "horse" around...no centering allowed. Then we were to center ourselves and mindfully plan where we were going. Again, once synchronized, it felt like a dance. Definitely something to strive for with your horse partner.

Then we went onto riding. Today was not as easy for me as yesterday as I got to ride a different horse (who's name happens to be Beau, but not *my* Beau). This horse was not a subtle horse, and for the hour or so I was on his back, I was not going to be able to soften him or cause him to become subtle. Everything I did had to be done, not just decisively, but strongly and with HUGE energy (for me) behind it. This made it difficult because I have always striven for softness and "less is more" with my own horses.

Anyway, we practiced the exercises from yesterday and then we began to work more with speeding up the horse by knowing when he was stepping under himself with his inside leg and applying more of our own inside leg to get him to stretch his stride. Then we shortened the stride by stepping into our inside stirrup, which necessitates our inside seat bone to become heavier. This was *particularly* hard for me. I was pushing down with my seat bone so hard that I was in danger of off balancing myself. Finally he responded! Phew!

Next we worked with direct and indirect reins...steering our horses off the wall and back to it by using our seatbones, and the direct/indirect reins. This led up to our turning the horse completely around using an indirect rein and our focus (and therefore seatbone and leg).

So, I did learn some useful techniques that I can carry with me even if it was slightly frustrating to use a horse that was a bit deadened to all but the deepest of connection.

2006-12-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

With the rush of the holidays passed, I can once again keep my blog more active. I hope that all of you who read this had a joyous time with your family and friends, no matter which holiday in December that you celebrate.

This fall, and now, winter has been about change for me. It is time to put "Adria" first in many ways. Guin will be 17 in the spring and she no longer needs me as much, so I can begin to form my 'own' life after spending the past 26 years being a mom.

To that end I have begun taking lessons again. Not just riding lessons, which are wonderful, but also driving lessons. And I am having a blast!

Driving a horse might, at first blush, seem less intimate a relationship compared to riding one. After all, the only connection you have with the horse that you are driving is through the reins and bit. But let me assure you that this connection is an intense one, and the feedback...the communication...that occurs from horse to driver and back again, through those reins is deep, committed, and fabulous.

Marcy Baer, of Briar Hill Farms, is my instructor, and I could not possibly ask for one that is better, or more committed to having me get the most out of my lessons. She teaches more than skill, but enjoyment as well, which makes it all worth it to my way of thinking. You can read/learn more about her at her website: http://www.bryhyl.homestead.com/home.html I will be forever indebted to her for sharing her love and skills with me. I also am thankful to Susan Cook, who's horse, Bryhyl Aryel, I get to drive. Aryel is also a wonderful teacher.

Yesterday, during my lesson, Marcy shared with me the three things one needs in working with a horse: relaxation, rhythm, and contact. Once all of these are achieved well, the lesson, for both horse and rider/driver goes well. It was interesting to note that as I worked on achieving these with Aryel, I also worked on achieving these within myself. The more relaxed I became, the more relaxed Ayrel became; the better my focus on her rhythm, the more I could set my body within Ayrel's rhythm; the more secure, yet soft, my connection through the reins, the better the communication became.

All of this led to a state that, for me, was akin to Nirvana. A oneness with Ayrel whereby the slightest move of my hand, contraction of my arm muscle, or even a turn of my torso caused a response in her direction. My breathing deepened, and I felt truly connected to her, as if we were one being traveling together through the sand of the arena, negotiating the cones.

At the end of the lesson, Marcy pointed out to me that Ayrel had created that foam around the bit, that indicated she too had received pleasure from our interaction. A horse who is relaxed and bent properly at the pole, will salivate and create foam around the bit. Only a horse who is in a "zen" state during that time will create the foam. It seems I am making progress in my driving, afterall.

2006-12-17T22:36:00.000-05:00

This time of year is so busy! Yet, because of the horses, one is forced to slow down and set priorties. These lovely beings that share their lives with us are dependent on us for food and water, and a clean place to live.

So, each day, one of us (usually me) must take the time to clean their paddocks, refill the water vats, and bring up the hay that is needed for the day. Since it has been so unusually warm the horses have not been eating the same amount of hay as they had last year at this time. But still, eat they must.

Then there is the twice a day graining. I pay especial attention to what my horses eat, and try to do what is best for them. Presently all the horses get a 2:1 oats to alfalfa pellet mix, BOSS, a vitamin/mineral mix based on our hay mix, flax seed, Apple Cider Vinegar, and 2 drops of Iodine. Vermont is known to be iodine poor in our soil, so I opted to give the horses just a little extra.

They get more grain in the winter time than in the summer when they are out on pasture. Truly forage is the basic component of all they need, and I like knowing that they are getting good forage from our land here.

After chores, I try to work with one horse each day, though I hope to increase that to two each day after the holidays. I have been exposing them all to the "thinking" exercises I've learned through the weekly TEAM workshop, and I will also soon begin teaching the youngest about climbing into the trailer.

If this isn't enough to keep me busy, add in housework, web site maitenance, and 2 lessons per week. I lead a busy life. It is hard to change routines and take the time to bake, cook, shop, and decorate.

Yet, I love this time of year. For me it is not only a time of reflection on what has been, and planning ahead to what is hoped to be, but a time to celebrate the return of the sun.

My wish for all of you is that the return of the sun brings great light into your lives!

Happy Winter Solistice!

2006-12-09T08:17:00.000-05:00

As the year draws to an end, it is a good time to think about what has been accomplished and what your goals for the future are. To that end I thought an update would be great and I hope it interests you. If not, feel free to delete!

This year we participated in the Everything Equine in April. Although we didn't take horses this time, the booth was a success with lots of visitors and so many asked "Do you have a Curly here?" To them I said, "Put a suggestion in!" That was the EE's third year and it has grown each year. I understand that there are plans for improvement for next April and we already have our booth there (more about this below)

We hosted a small, but successful, The Equine Touch workshop in May and it was wonderful to learn of yet another way to help our beloved 4 legged friends feel good in their bodies.

In July we welcomed *GMC Coyote Bill and he has been a great addition to the farm. He is highly personable and always comes up to meet new folks. Not shy, that one! Yep, he's for sale (shameless plug). (Here's a picture of him from our Christmas photo shoot...unretouched)

Since October I have stepped up my horse work. I am taking lessons twice a week (one riding, one driving); participate in a Friday evening workshop learning TEAM concepts which I am then using with each of our horses; I am swapping time with the leader of the workshop also in that she comes and helps me with my youngsters and I help her with hers. This is loads of fun for both of us!

*GMC Jimmy Dee (aka Sage) has sold to a wonderful new family and he will go to his new home in Maine next spring.

And last, but not least at all, *Beau is living at our trainer's farm, Briar Hill, just 10 minutes away, where he is receiving instruction in riding and driving. To that end Marcy has offered to ride him for me in the Everything Equine show, should we get a slot, and my other trainer, Stephanie has offered to show him for me next show season in Dressage and English Pleasure. I am excited by this prospect.

This jumps us into our plans for next year, which do center around *Beau a lot. We have the EE in April and shows from then through September. Additionally, I hope to get a space in the HUGE Champlain Valley Fair over the Labor Day period. I will continue working with each of our horses and we hope to be able to take *Glory to Marcy's next year to be re-started for driving. She is an awesome mare, but we have pretty much decided that her days of becoming a mom are done, it is time for her to begin another job and we feel driving a cart/sleigh is a great one for her. We'll see! Additionally, I have accepted the challenge from Denise Conroy (http://curlyhorsecountry.com/), to ride/drive *Beau for 100-150 miles per month, for a consecutive 3 months, barefoot...with before and after shots of his feet, to see if a Curly "can do" barefoot as it is touted they can do!

We, at Green Mountain Curlies, Inc, wish you all a safe and joyous Winter season and a fabulous New Year!

2006-11-22T19:01:00.000-05:00

Head, heart, hands, and health; the four "H's" of 4H. For many years our youngest daughter was a member of 4H. From this she learned so much that will go on to enhance her life. Because of her involvement, we are a great supporter of 4H and thus were glad to welcome the Blazing Saddles to our farm on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 for a visit to learn about North American Curly Horses.

The visit began with a brief history about Curlies and from there we branched into: Physical Characteristics; Types of curly hair; Smooth-coated Curlies; and Emotional Characteristics. Along the way I was able to spin stories about the Curlies with whom I've been blessed to share life. While I was talking, *GMC Yukon Jack, our long yearling, grazed quietly behind me.

As I lifted his lead to bring him in and invited those around me to feel his curls, he looked up and gazed at the 30-odd members of the 4H group. He sighed and promptly went back to grazing the grass at my feet. He was an oh-so-worried little guy, as you can see!!

Once I returned Jack to his paddock, I took the group around to meet the other horses. *Red Running Star, our 8 year old extreme gelding, garnered allot of questions from the group. "Where is his tail hair? Why does he lose his hair? Is he bothered by it?" I explained that it is just normal for him and that he doesn't seem to know he is the "Patrick Stewart" of the horse world; Red is just who he is. Characteristically, he had his head over the fence and visited the whole time we chatted about him. He is one friendly fellow.

But the hit of the whole day was our 4 month old colt, *GMC Coyote Bill. Bill had never seen so many "little humans" before; only one or two at a time had been to visit previously. He was fascinated and came right up to the fence to visit with everyone. His dam, *Glory of Philea West, paid a short visit, but as she is a very calm and easy-going mare, shortly returned to her hay and let Bill stay at the fence. All were amazed not only at his beautiful curls, but at how friendly and curious he was. Repeatedly I was asked, "And how old is he?" as if they could not believe that such a young horse would be so outgoing. Just a typical Curly, I told them.

All in all, the Blazing Saddles spent about an hour and a half learning about North American Curly Horses, and I'm proud to say that they went away know a lot more, and being impressed by, the breed we are proud to love.

2006-11-19T19:52:00.000-05:00

Summer has advanced into fall, and it has been unusually warm, but also unusually wet. I have finally gotten to the point that it has become "my turn" to delve into more intricacies of working with horses, and I'm having the time of my life!

I am taking lessons twice each week, one riding and one driving; plus, I am participating in a Friday evening workshop learning some TEAM techniques. TEAM stands for Tellington-Jones Equine Awareness Method, and this style of working with horses really helps the horse develop their own intelligence and a better sense of self. It is great fun learning and working with the various horses available, as well as working with other interested people, especially since I do spend so much of my time with my horses alone.

At home I still do the majority of chores by myself....mucking, watering, haying. Any repair or clean-up work also, though the big projects wait for Chuck's help on the weekends. And I work with all the horses at least once per week, although the goal is twice each week. It becomes difficult to accomplish this when "housewife" type duties impinge on my time (but I know, we humans DO have to eat ). Add to this that I am responsible for running the business, updating the website, and writing this blog....well I guess you can see why I have let so much time lapse between entries.

However, I am now going to try to become a better blogger. I have recently linked to a new website, www.curlyhorsecountry.com, and if you are interested in learning more about Curlies, please visit them.

Blessings to you and yours and if you are a resident of the United States, have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

2006-08-07T18:33:00.000-04:00

Sunday evening, 7/16/06, we went out to feed the horses as usual. Also as usual, I checked Glory’s milk status as her due date was 7/25/06. The moment I squeezed the milk into my film canister I knew that tonight would be the night. Her milk had gone deeply white, not just the color of condensed milk.

As evening came on, we readied two stalls, the larger for Glory and a smaller one for Walker to keep her company. I also brought down a sleeping bag and the foal kit. I had set up the little white Christmas lights already and they would give plenty of light to see by. It was a hot summer night, and all was quiet.

We left the two ladies there while we finished things up in the house. About 10 p.m. I went down to bed down on my sleeping bag.

Glory was so curious, and came up to the fence to watch me. I told her that I would sleep with her to keep her company and that I knew it was strange, but humans lay down to sleep. That seemed to satisfy her and she went back to noshing on hay.

I had an alarm with me, that was set to go off every hour, and go off it did. It was no problem to wake me up, and the first alarm also brought Guin down with her sleeping bag to keep us all company.

Each time the alarm went off, I would rouse myself and check on her; however that did not mean I was getting a lot of sleep. I admit that I have never slept with horses before and the tremendous variety of noises they made during the night made for a restless time for both of us.

About 2 o’clock Guin asked if I was awake and I said, “Yes”. She said, “Glory seems a bit restless now.” and I replied, “It probably won’t be much longer then.”

We both drifted in and out of a half-sleep for the next hour and then by 3 a.m. we really knew it wouldn’t be long. Glory had begun to circle in the stall, and when she would stand she would reach back with her nose and touch her abdomen, stretching out to both sides to do so.

Neither Guin nor I could go back to sleep now, and so we lay quietly watching the miracle unfold.

At about 3:20 her movement increased and she passed gas, then stood and spread her legs as if she was going to urinate; however, her water broke and gushed out several times. Glory’s pacing increased and then she lay down. Her head was facing the opening but her back was quite close to the fence line, so Guin and I decided to open up the stall walls to give her more room if she needed it.

Glory began to grunt with the contractions and because I know she is comfortable with me, I quietly walked around back to check on the progress. I could see two legs and a nose beginning to poke out and told Guin so. After a few more grunts I sensed that Glory was not happy. She actually got up and turned around, having her backside face out of the stall now. That was when I realized that one leg was MUCH further out than another. A locked elbow!

Without thinking, just knowing what I had to do, I reached inside, following the shorter leg up inside to the bent elbow. I attempted to get my hand around it, but, quite honestly panicked. I sent Guin to wake up Chuck in case I needed him, and once she was gone, I centered myself; knowing that I had to help Glory.

I said to her, “Don’t worry honey, I’ll help you get this one out.”

Once again, I reached inside and this time I was able to work my hand in around the elbow and cup it in my hand. The pressure inside was amazing, but Glory seemed to know what I had to do. With gentle, but firm pressure I lifted and slightly pushed back on the elbow, while also pulling on the leg that was further out. It took me three times of repositioning my hand and body, and the whole time Glory had her head up, with one eye on me and worked with me. Then, sluuuurrrrppppp, the foal was born!! It happened so fast and he was almost born into my arms! Glory let out a deep sigh and laid her head down to totally relax.

Within seconds both Guin and Chuck arrived, and the little guy began to rock up onto his sternum and shake the water from his ears! All was well!

To see pictures of our newest little guy, *GMC Coyote Bill, please visit our webpages. Thank you!!

2005-12-11T14:26:00.000-05:00

Friends sometimes are found in places one least expects. For those of us who are familiar with on-line communities, to find real friends, ones that you can still enjoy in real-time, doesn't seem unlikely, or odd. But those who are not that connected through the 'net, or who are new to it, only think about the scary situations that are played up by Hollywood. While it is true, that you must be careful, that it is easy to think you know someone through their words; without being able to watch their face, their eyes, their body gestures, it is relatively easy to be misled. Yet, this happens in real-life so much more often; it is just that we are used to it, whereas, the 'net is still so new in our human existance.

We are blessed to have gotten to know some super wonderful people through our 'net and horse connections, and this weekend we were honored to host a get-together for six women friends, who joined us from around the world to visit and chat about horses.

CJ joined us from England. She has many passions including Parelli training, classical dressage, and hooves; but more importantly she has an overwhelming drive to share those passions. Michelle, from Connecticut, is truly gifted in finding animals who need her, and lovingly, openly, sharing herself to help them live happily. She extends this to the people around her too. Deanna, from Ontario, brought Clicker-training to life for us. She is adept at finding the try in the horse, and also shares her enthusiam for longer-distance riding. Steph, from Massachusetts, although unowned by a horse (much to her chagrin), is enthusiastic and determined to get there some day. She has already sold her soul (hehe) and traded physical labor for riding lessons, while biding her time. Yvonne, from Ontario, was our quiet one, but what talent! She is driven by the need to create and to learn, and is a silversmith/jewelry designer AND a horse owner. When her life quiets some from raising children, her horses will receive the benefit from a creative energy, but quietly centered soul. And finally, Susan, also from Ontario. Susan has found the love that horses bring into our lives, and with her sincerity, her deep understanding, and her desire to become further connected is moving toward a true partnership inspite of suffering a set-back over a year ago that would have devastated a less stout-hearted woman.

All of these women joined us for one deeply satisfying 24 hour period, and our lives are much better for it. We all learned much, but mostly we learned that we hope we can join together again at some point.

May all of you reading this, find such a blessing in your lives, that goes beyond any mere social connection to the type that binds soul-to-soul, on such a sublime level.

2005-10-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

Finally, some sun! This weekend was beautiful, even though we still are suffering the muddy remains of the snow earlier this week.

Besides are usually weekend activities of trailering Red and Guin for their lesson with Marcy Baer of Briar Hill Farms; trash and recycling run; and the normal horsie care, we worked with our hay guy, Steve, to erect poles for our winter paddocks. We had cut cedar earlier this fall, and had gotten most of them stripped when the rainy weather prevented us from finishing that job. So we put them up anyway, knowing full well those will be the ones that need to be replaced first.

We created two paddocks on either side of the pipe that leads to our leach field. We have to keep the horses off of the field, and no heavy machinery on it either! But in the winter, we like to have the horses closer to the house. This eases the necessary chores of haying and watering.

Last year, as we had just moved in and were living in the cellar, we used T-posts and 3 strands of electric rope, just as we have out in the pastures. However, we found that this set-up didn't work that well in deep winter. Whether it was due to their thickened coat or the ground not being good enough or the snow acting as insulation, the shock value of the fence was considerably lessened.

So, we decided to give wood a chance. The paddocks are smaller than the pastures, and each will have their own run-in, of course. We hope to have at least one round of wood crosspieces for each paddock this year and will run electric for the rest, unless we find the wood a bit cheaper than expected. Our desire is to eventually run 3 rounds of crosspieces, and electric wire to discourage chewing.

We designed in two gates in each paddock. A 10 foot one at the bottom and a 4 foot one at the top. Horses and humans can go in and out either gate depending on the ice conditions. Hopefully, we will get started on the crosspieces this week. Here's a picture of the posts.

2005-10-23T20:33:00.000-04:00

Snow. Heavy, wet, slushy snow. That is what we awoke to this morning. We have had almost a week and a half of very wet weather, and nigh on to three weeks of grey, with a bit of sunshine thrown in for special effects.

This has been a highly unusual fall for us. Our typical fall weather pattern is some rains in September, followed by crisp October mornings, bright, warm sunshine during the days that reflect from brilliantly colored trees....golds of poplars; reds and oranges of ash and maples; finally followed by the burnished gold of the Tamarack tree, the only conifer that I know of to lose its needles in the fall. But not this year. Throughout September we had a continuation of summer; hot, muggy, and bright sunshine but absolutely no frost! October has been grey and wet. When we finally got a frost, three days ago, it was much closer to a freeze, than the light first frosts of fall. Two nights of freeze and then snow!

As can be expected this has slowed our progress on the winter paddocks and that meant that we have had to turn two of our spring/summer pastures into sacrifice yards. Horse hooves are damaging in the best of weather, and that is why it is important to rotate them through the area, allowing parts to recover. But when it is wet and miserable, the hooves to extensive damage. This means that for next year we will have to keep them from the two pastures for much longer than expected. The damage isn't irreparable, but it will take time for the grasses to recover.

And so, we work on with a goal of completion of another three weeks.

In the meantime, we did, get to celebrate our new home by holding a house warming party for friends. This joy and fun was increased by being able to welcome our long time friends from Ontario, Bruce and Marlene Tilson. They also happen to be the breeders of our stallion, Beau. It was great to have them here and let them see how Beau has matured. We talked ourselves hoarse (pardon the pun!) Here is a picture Chuck took of Bruce and Beau together.

We certainly hope your fall weather is much better than ours and you are able to truly enjoy this change of seasons.

2005-09-02T19:43:00.000-04:00

This morning dawned misty and cool; rather typical for early September. However, by mid-morning, the fog had burned away, there were few clouds, and the sky was brilliantly blue. First on my list was to rinse out and refill the water vats in each pasture.

Because the horses live full time in pastures, we keep vats of about 40 gallons from which they drink. We have a rain barrel that has a hose out of the bottom, which we put onto the tailgate of the pick-up truck, fill, and then drive out to whatever pastures the horses are in. First I visited the Walker-Red-Sage pasture, and while dumping the vat and scrubbing it, Red had to come and stick his head into the vat to see what I was doing. Such fun, a horse head, my head, shoulders, and arms, and my brush, all scrubbing the bottom of the vat! He is always such a helper.

Once clean, I began to refill it. Red, of course, supervised most of the work, and as I was standing there making sure he didn't flip the hose out of the vat, like he loves to do, I felt this nuzzling on the back of my neck. I turned to find Sage "right there", up close and very personal. Mind, Sage and I are not what you would consider "pals"; his favorite past time with me is testing me..."Are you still leader?" he asks several times each day. So, I was quite surprised that he nuzzled me. I gave him a loving rub, and then went back through the fence to the truck.

Next-up was the Glory-Beau-Jack vat, and Beau was right there to supervise the work. Glory always trusts that I'll perform my duties correctly, but Beau occasionally likes to look on. Today, he too was feeling affectionate, and while I worked, he stood very close, with just his body hair touching me. Once or twice, he even wrapped his head and neck around me. So many people would be terrified by this behaviour in a stallion, but they don't know Beau. He lives for affection and to please.

Once watering duties were accomplished it was time to pick pooh. I was determined to really get it all out, as the rain two days before, from the remnants of Hurricane Katrina, had inhibited getting it out. There is nothing more wonderful than filling a wheelbarrow full of sodden, soaked horse manure, and then dragging said wheelbarrow though ankle deep mud to dump it in the pile. Why, you may ask, do I bother? Firstly, it is just that the pastures look more tidy, but most importantly, it helps with both control of reinfestation of parasites (gut worms) and with fertilization of the pastures. Manure, as it rots, will "burn" the vegetation, and if left in clumps, will not rot as quickly. Since we do not have a tractor yet, I remove the manure by hand, and make sure that what is left behind is thin and can either dry, or rot quickly, there in the pasture. Today's work was arduous and took the better part of four hours. I will not regale you with the stories of plopping and bouncing manure balls, but I can describe the time spent.

As I mentioned it was beautiful. The horses were happily grazing until the heat set in and the face flies became bothersome. I have learned to do my work with my mouth closed because of the flies, having had one attempt to visit my lungs, I have decided I didn't want to enjoy that sensation again. And since my hands are quite busy with the whatever work I'm enjoying, I have learned to flip my ponytail, and quiver my skin, just like our horses do to rid themselves of these tickling creatures. At one point, I found myself near one of our wild apple trees; these ones are red, and so I picked three. They are not big, but about the size of ping-pong balls. I have not tasted them, but the horses delight in apple snacks, no matter size or lack of sweetness. First up was Walker, and oh, her love of apples rivals Glory's! Walker is a slave to her stomach, truly, and I have used clicker training with great success with her. Yet, for all her love of food, she is always quite delicate when taking something from your hand. Walker is a strict alpha-mare, but highly conscientious about her duties, namely to make sure all in her herd are safe. Snatching something from a human is far from her mind.

Then I visited with Sage, but he preferred to play with his apple. Actually he is one of the few horses I have ever known that does not particularly enjoy them; carrots yes, apples "no thank you". However, that doesn't prevent me from offering, as with all youngsters, they can change their minds at any given moment. Sage eventually lost his apple to his mom (I did tell you she loves apples).

Red, waited patiently for me to make it to him. This is unusual with Red, as food is even more important to him than it is loved by Walker. You see, Red was rescued from a neglectful situation by his previous owner. She worked hard and lovingly to restore him to health and happiness; but his concern over not getting enough to eat will always be with him. He is often rather "bully-ish" about getting to his bucket, or his pile of hay, but today he was content to wait his turn. I made sure to reward that and gave him two small apples.

Later in my work, I found myself by another apple tree, and was surprised to discover that these apples are turning Yellow as they ripen! They are also much larger than the small red ones; perhaps the size of billiard balls. This I couldn't resist trying for myself! I found a branch with a nice sized one that I could reach over the electric fence. Getting zapped on the underarm was not what I had in mind for my fun today! I snagged the apple, examined it for worm damage (none) and brazenly bit into it. I expected a tart, slightly astringent taste/feel, but what I got was a lightly sweet and juicy one! YUM! Oh,oh, Red spied me, and looked expectantly. How could I resist our Patrick Stewart of horsedom? Red is fully, a handsome, loving horse, who has given his affection to us. I am, fortunately for him, a softee. I shared my apple with him. He enjoyed it.

I took a break for lunch, and to cool off some before going to work in Beau's pasture. Today, I worked quickly in here, which is unusual as Jack thinks that I am "his" and typically follows me around, presenting himself for scratches, or investigating the wheelbarrow, trying to lift the fork, etc. As I wandered over the hill, looking for my treasures, I was amazed to find that many of the clammy ground cherries had developed fruit in their husks. Clammy ground cherries, while toxic in both plant and unripe fruit, are related to the Chinese Lantern of ornamental gardens, and their ripe fruit can be used in jams or pies. When I first saw them growing this past spring, I had no idea what they were, but the leaf reminded me of a tomato plant, and the flower, a yellow, bell-shaped one with brown center, reminded me of tomatillos. While tomatillos can self-seed up here in Vermont, I could not imagine that any had been grown on this farm considering it had last been used as such back in the 1930's. I had to find my Audubon book of North American Wildflowers to discover what the plants were. According to the book, it is a member of the Nightshade family and related to Jimson Weed (look like wild morning glories) and Horse Nettle. The horses avoid them, as there is plenty of good forage in their pastures. As we can we will be liming the pastures, and this will help to bring down the number of broadleaf weeds that now grow in them. At any rate, I'm not sure that I'll ever harvest the fruit from the ground cherries, as I don't know anyone who knows when they are ripe, or how much sugar they'd need in a pie. Some things in my life will just go undiscovered.

As I made my way down toward the end of the pasture, Jack could stay away no longer, and presented himself to me. He adores scratches. His withers are good, but his favorite spots are his neck and chest. Scratch him there and he sticks his neck out like he was a giraffe, and his upper lip grows into the size of an elephant's trunk. At first, he thought to groom me while I scratched him, but gently I taught him that grooming a human wasn't acceptable. If Glory or Beau is near, he will reach over and groom them. The urge for mutual grooming is that strong! But he refrains from grooming me, though I can see in his eye the desire to. I tell him I am happy to have him just stand by me, and this he will often do. With me, he is polite and gentle. Not that he hasn't nipped me, or tried to. That is how youngsters of the horse world get others to play, by a little nip and a dash away. So, yes, he has snagged me twice when I was distracted, but there is never any aggression from him, and now I am ready for his playful moods and watch his eyes carefully. He is definitely his daddy's boy, as Beau had the same daring glint in his eyes when he wanted to play. When I see that in Jack, and find that scratching will not deter it, I find acceptable ways for him to play with me...often it is my hat. He loves my hat, and will pick it up, shake it, toss it around, and grab it up again. Of course, I tell him he is smart and a good boy when he does this, so he has learned that it is a good way to play with a human. Today, he was content with scratches, though, and quietly being together.

I am so blessed to be able to share my life with these beings. I have learned much, and the joy I have from just being in the same space as they, is hard to express. I would wish that everyone could find such peace and pleasure in their lives.

2005-08-29T16:58:00.000-04:00

This morning, we awoke to heavy, humid air. It truly felt as if you could wring water out of it. Heading out for chores, I decided that today I would begin teaching Jack that his dam could go away, and yet come back.

First, I haltered Beau, and took him for a walk. Beau was a dream, although I have not been able to actively work with him much, what with all the work that we needed to do. All we did was walk around the pastures, but the whole time, even with Walker calling to him, and Sage and Red rushing to the fenceline to see him, he stayed focused, calm, and head-down relaxed. I was quite pleased by his behaviour.

By then, Guin had finished picking her pasture and I could use the wheel barrow. The pasture that Beau, Glory, and Jack are in is fairly level near the gate, but rises steeply toward the back. Picking the pooh is no easy task in it, but it must be done. As I tramped up and down the hill, searching for piles and flying gnats (they help you spot those piles!), I had sweat just dripping right off of me! I really wasn't using much energy, but nevertheless, because of the humidity, I was drenched in a matter of moments. It has been such an unusual summer here, with high heat and humidity for most of the time. Last week it felt as if autumn was right around the corner, but now we are back right into the thick of a summer we all wish we had left behind. One would think that, as we complain about our winters, we would rejoice with this heat, but not so; we are just not used to these temperatures and humidity. But don't feel sorry for us! We are storing that heat up in our very bones, to help keep us warm when we face our -20F with windchills!!

By the time I was done with my pasture, Glory had worked her way to grazing near the gate, and the two boys were off being buddies and grazing side-by-side. I haltered Glo and led her to the gate, but OH the boys spied us and gave a run toward us! "Nope," I said to them, "It isn't your turn. Glory and I are going for a walk." I rehooked the gate, and turned to walk with her. Glory was quite happy to get away, she stayed relaxed and focused on me and where we were going, rather than on the cavorting, whinneying, neighing behaviour of the two boys left behind. We also simply walked around the pasture, just as I had done with Beau, and I do believe he figured out what I was doing, because at the half-way point Beau settled down and stopped acting like a foal. Jack, on the other hand, kept tearing up and down the hill, and then back and forth in front of the gate. Not once did Glory call out to Jack. I believe that weaning will be much easier on her than on him, perhaps even a relief!

Once we were back, I gave Jack time to reconnect with Glo, and Beau time to tell her just how beautiful she is and how much he missed her, then I haltered Jack and worked on "walk" and "whoa" inside the pasture. He is such a quick study! This is about the third time that I have used my overly dramatized body language to prepare him for walking and stopping, and he is beginning to anticipate the movements. His reward for good work is neck and wither scratches. Oh, but he does love them!

2005-08-28T14:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the first entry in our newly created Blog. We hope these entries allow you to gain a better insight into our farm life, and glimpse the horsenalities of the special horses we have. American Curly Horses are hypoallergenic, and that is why we have them, as I am allergic to "regular" horses. We purchased our first two horses, Walker and Beau, back in 2001, and the horse way of life has become our lives. Presently we have, not only Walker and Beau, but Glory and Red as our adult horses, Sage (from a mating of Walker and Beau) who is 22 months old, and Jack (from a mating of Glory and Beau) who is just 3 months old.

We moved to this farm in Marshfield just 11 months ago, and this first year has been difficult, with so much that needed to be done. As we move into Autumn, there is still more work, but we have accomplished so much! Our house is as completed as needs be to be comfortable for winter; the arena, while still without lights, will be stocked with both 1st and 2nd cutting hay; and the horses can easily be rotated among 13 pastures until winter sets in. Left to be done before winter are the creation of the winter paddocks (we had taken the ones down we had last year in order to make them better), and the staining of the house exterior.

As summer ends here we look forward to spending more time with the horses rather than for the horses. The seasonal changes will bring crisper mornings, and the smells of the land going to sleep for the winter. We'll experience some rain, shifting from the still warmer summer rains to the colder ones of autumn; and some brilliantly bright days with crystal blue skies. The horses, sensing this change, and the lesser hours of daylight, will begin to grow their thicker, curly coats. This year, with Jack entering his first winter, will be more exciting as we learn what type of curls he will develop. And the cooler weather will bring friskier movements as the horses keep their personal furnaces going.

We hope you check back often to hear what is happening here, and to learn about the changes we experience.