Horsekeeping and backyard training, pets and art by Connie Moses
Kitten still loves puppy– or NOT! Very popular video, quite funny– gotta watch the whole thing!
Rat loves cat! Totally amazing!
Cat adopts rabbit– for real, baby rabbit actually joins her kittens!
I are cute kitten! Self-explanatory.
Update on Penny the orphan filly– see previous posts on Penny.
PER JUNE:
Penny is doing great, although I’m being told she’s not going to be very tall (half-Welsh/half-Quarter pony) - especially being an orphan and all. Although I have fed her well and spend lots of time with her every day, grooming, etc. Her ‘adopted’ Mom, Cricket, has effectively ‘weaned’ her - though they do still stand side-by-side a lot, and she still watches over Penny when Penny’s napping or sleeping. Just as long as Penny stays away from her feed (and Cricket can’t get to Penny’s), there’s no problem. Cricket, however, is very possessive of any and all feed that’s available - so we feed them separately.
Best thing I’ve found to teach Penny to lead is just consistent working with her - she ties wonderfully too, for grooming, which she loves - and will lead and come at any time, because she loves attention - usually in the form of grooming, stroking, peppermint treats, etc. Penny experiences short periods of separation from Cricket when we take Cricket for my daughter’s riding lessons (walking her two blocks down the road). The riding lessons last about two hours at a time. Also, we sometimes put Cricket (or Penny) on a lunge lead in a separate grass pasture. It all seems to be working out very well.
From last May, a rainy day when the boys were impatient to get out into pasture… they were working off excess energy by play-fighting and chasing each other around! This is our view out the back yard– having horses at home is greatly entertaining!
The boys just love to romp!
At 00:11 momma mare (at left) rears and jumps all four feet off the ground!
I never get tired of watching them doing what horses do, displaying their beauty and grace so naturally!
Our horses were pretty close to self-maintaining their bare hooves this summer. We still shape and trim them every 3-4 weeks, but the amount of trimming has been minimal. A lot of rain and cooler weather also kept their hoof growth slower than in normal summers.
In addition to pea gravel, I decided to place some rougher footing on their track. We had a supply of old, semi-rotten bricks lying around for years, so I put them onto a slope which is often muddy. These bricks went down in late July. So far there have been no sole bruises or lameness or any negative effects at all.
Rough footing added to track for benefit of horses’ bare feet. These old bricks also serve to stabilize a slope which gets muddy in the spring.
Admittedly, the horses aren’t real fond of walking over the bricks and try to pick their way through… but if they are in a hurry, they will run right across them. I figure, you can’t build rock-crushing hooves without having any rocks to crush.
Grazing and exercising (walking around searching for grass) on the track
Summertime fun on track, the boys chase each other around… THe track is around the perimeter of a field. Inside of the temporary electric tape is one of the areas we let them go into for grass. We manage their access to pasture and rotate through the grazing areas, mowing them after the horses leave to keep down weeds. Again this spring we put a grazing muzzle on Gilford, the horse who gains weight most easily. This year we did not have to use the grazing muzzle on him nearly as often as last summer.
Horses graze in our backyard, thanks to temporary electric fence tape
Actually, this summer we limited their access to grass more than last year– we let them into grass for up to half a day at a time. The rest of the time they walked around the track searching for morsels, and traveled roughly a quarter mile to get to their water about twice daily. In mid-summer when the gnats and black flies were at their worst, we let them graze overnight which was their preference.
I hope everyone is familiar with Pete Ramey’s website on barefoot trimming– Hoof Rehabilitation Specialists.
Also see my other posts on keeping horses barefoot.
It’s not just rich spring grass that can cause problems with horses’ health, it might be the FORMULATION of the grass growing in your pasture. And maybe even your hay.
Being a former scientist, my Hubby has complained for years to any horse-feed rep who would listen that feed labels on grains give you NO information on carbohydrate contents. Somewhere along the line someone decided that Protein content and Fat content and certain Minerals content were the way horse feed “should” be compared, and this is the info on the labels. Nowhere do you find Carbo or Sugar contents. We are not given the information we need to decide which grain is less likely to contribute to laminitis or to put weight onto our horse.
It seems that many pasture grasses present today were formulated with high-sugar and high non-structural-carbohydrates to put quick weight onto cattle, but which are detrimental to horses who evolved maintaining themselves on high fiber (prairie grass) which was low in calories and fattening “ingredients.” Horse’s insulin levels are being studied in connection with sugar and carbo intake. Some horses it turns out are prone to developing insulin resistance and thus react more strongly to sugar and carbos.
Check out tons of information at safergrass.org about how sugars in today’s pastures and also present in hay to varying degrees is conducive to laminitis, founder, and hoof problems in general. There are good arguments why one should test their hay and limit both pasture access AND grain for the health of their horses.
Some articles of great interest at safergrass.org :
There IS sugar in grass and hay
When excess carbs create problems in Horses
Don’t Guess. Test your hay
Laminitis Attack: The First Line of Defense — a real treatise
Pete Ramey believes that the horse’s body is designed to protect itself from nutritional stress. If nutrients are lacking, the digestive system will send more nutrients to the vital organs of the gut, and less nutrients are allocated to the exterior part of the horse, such as the skin. And since hooves are essentially “skin” (like fingernails), the hooves are the first to suffer both from lack of proper nutrients AND from excess of sugars or carb overload. See Ramey’s Feeding the Hoof.
titled Heavy Metal Parrot, I think it’s an umbrella cockatoo… grooving to music.
This one is SOOO weird… My head’s a little too big!
Circus squirrel– too funny, with very clever use of “music.”
Get out of my bed! Self explanatory!!!
Bobble head kittens. Real cute!!
Dog and sheep (a ram at that) playing together!
[If you don't see a picture above, click on arrow anyway and possibly it will play. It did for me.]
OK, so it’s monkeys (and a chimp?) Of COURSE they are Amazing Acrobats– but this IS entertaining!
Found on PublicWorksComics.com, an all-animal video site. I think formerly MyPetVideos.tv
From Guest Blogger Mary Ward…
The animal lover can find some great avenues through Twitter as it continues to gain popularity. Here are some excellent Twitter accounts to help inform, educate, and reiterate an individual’s love for animals.
Kitty Kind –This is what being an animal lover is all about! Here you can find people who really care about cats and the humane treatment of them. You will find an excellent non-profit organization behind this Twitter account who work hard to educate others on how to save cats and care for them.
Rosie Maries –This animal shelter has also found Twitter to be an excellent forum to teach others about how to save one animal at a time. The belief behind this Twitter account is to save all rescued animals and ensure they get good homes, so it’s perfect for the animal lover to follow.
Pet Stream – This shows how a simple Twitter account can turn into an excellent forum. Here you can find postings on how to care for animals and how animal lovers can connect through social networking. This is a popular site because it connects animal lovers everywhere!
Barking Babies - If you are one of many animal lovers who are passionate about spoiling your pet, then this is the account to follow. You can find any number of accessories for your pet and get some great tips on making your pet feel truly pampered.
Pup Crawl – People have learned that using Twitter is an excellent way to promote events and organizations alike. Here a specific event is promoted through this account, but it has united animal lovers and those who wish to care for their beloved pets from all across the world. A great use for this site!
Fetch! Pet Care – If you want to have access for tips and products to care for your pet, this is the account to follow. Even if you have ever thought about turning your love for animals into a legitimate business, this can be an excellent avenue. This is a popular account so there’s a great chance to connect with fellow animal lovers as well!
Dog Fans - There is no better Twitter account to follow if you are a dog lover. You can find some great tips, discounts, ideas, and connect with other dog lovers through this one specific Twitter account. That’s what makes this such a popular one with the dog lover set!
Talk to Me Pets – For the individuals who wish to keep up with the most current pet products on the market, this is a great account to follow. It can also be helpful if your idea for Fido is one that you wish to try out on the animal lovers out there before you introduce it to the market.
Gone to the Dogs – Though this is run by a doggie boutique owner, you can find out about some really cool pet products on here. All of the offerings are focused on organic and holistic living, which is a hot button with animal lovers from all across the world.
Keep Your Pets Safe – If you’re struggling to teach an old dog new tricks, this is the Twitter account to follow. You can learn some excellent obedience tips and methods which can keep your household happy and your pet safe.
By following Twitterers like those listed here, you open up access to great highways of information, all in a subject that’s top on your mind.
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Mary Ward is a freelance writer and likes writing about animal-related career topics, such as how to research and choose among online veterinary technician courses, how to apply for online college grants, and more.
A sad mishap to Thor, PLUS some training updates from FjordNewbies… WARNING, there are a couple of graphic pictures here!
See FjordNewbies’ previous posts to read about how she went overnight from having ZERO horses to owning THREE and ONE-HALF HORSES, and follow Sive’s new baby Thor’s birth and his progress to date.
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My horses have always had a large salt block in the paddock for 24/7 access. When we started separating Sive for her impending foaling, we installed a wall holder for the smaller salt bricks in her stall. The holder has two metal edges on each side that the brick slides into. After Thor’s birth, we kept it there so he and Sive could have salt when we stalled them at night.
As time went on, we opened all the stalls up to all the horses. Apparently, one of them had slid the salt brick halfway up the holder, and Thor must have been licking the salt brick and one of the other horses may have shoved him out of the way. His lip was sliced open on the metal edge of the holder. We came home one late evening to find this:
Thor’s injured lip…
At first glance, we thought he had bitten his tongue off, but then realized it was his lip. Emergency call brought the vet out at 1:30 am for stitches.
after stitching
The vet put in dissolvable stitches, which went away about a week later, too early to properly seal the lip. So the vet came back out and put regular stitches in. We still have the stitches in, as it does not look like the lip completely healed back onto itself, so she’s going to look at it again the next time she comes out. Poor guy was such a trooper about it. The night it happened, he was just munching away at hay, oblivious that half his lip was hanging off his face. We’ll keep you guys updated on what the vet suggests for the next course of action. Note: salt brick holder was immediately removed, and I would strongly suggest they not be used.
Dangerous salt brick holder, foal’s-eye view.
The rest of the news is much more positive!
Thor’s Weaning:
After several months of giving Sive 24/7 hay and 15 pounds of grain a day, it became apparent that she was having a very difficult time keeping weight on while nursing. We discussed with the vet, and she suggested we wean at 4 months. This would give Thor time to transition before his gelding at 6 months, and would allow Sive to gain much needed weight before winter.
Separation area for Sive during weaning
We put a gate up between the two stalls in the interior of the shelter, and Mark put some temporary fencing inside the paddock to allow Sive to have her own space, and still have an area for Thor, Kirsti and Bjorn. We began the weaning process by separating Thor and Sive all day, then putting them together again at night. Other days, we kept them together during the day and separated them at night. This went on for about week. Then near the end of August, we just never put them together again. And we waited for the chaos to begin. And we waited…and we waited.
As far as I can tell, Sive was more than ready to have Thor leave her side, and Thor had a strong enough relationship with us, Kirsti and Bjorn, that he really had no issues with the weaning. The first 24 hours he was a little mopey, and stood along the fence (which you can’t really see in the photo, but has small square wire mesh between the wood boards), so he could see Sive and talk to her/smell her, but he could not nurse. He spent most of his time eating hay, though.
Sive’s bag became very full, and about 24 hours after the weaning, “sprung a leak” and milk squirted everywhere for most of the day. Her legs were soaked. After that, the bag started to dry up - we had stopped giving her grain/pasture and she was only getting hay. Within a week, her bag stopped filling. About a week after that, we introduced grain (she gets 3 pounds a day) and has been steadily gaining weight. She needs to gain about another 50-100 pounds to be where we would like her, and Thor is doing well on his grain and hay (last time I used the weight tape a couple weeks ago he was at 400 pounds).
Sive, post weaning
Interestingly, before we weaned Thor, he was quite rambunctious, nipping at Kirsti and Bjorn behind the back legs, on the face, trying to mount them from the side and putting his front legs over their backs. Now Kirsti and Bjorn were very patient with him and never retaliated since Sive was never too far away and they knew they’d be in big trouble if they even looked sideways at Thor. I’m thinking that once Sive was no longer in the immediate area to protect Thor, he decided it might be in his best interest to stop - he is such a gentleman now. Much more mellow. He’s been doing great with his ground work, picking hooves is no problem, he stands tied for grooming, and leads well for us.
When we had mentioned to people (some horse people and some without horses) that we were having a foal, their response was the same. Shock and stern warnings that we were in for a lot of trouble raising a foal. From our experience so far, it has been much easier training Thor than it has been retraining Kirsti and Bjorn! Now I could imagine that if a foal was left on pasture for months at a time and then brought in to train, it would be difficult. But we worked with Thor almost every day for about 15 minutes or more since birth. I am really looking forward to his future years, as I am quite sure he is going to be way ahead of where Kirsti and Bjorn are now at ages 5 and 6.
[Connie's NOTE: Raising our own foals also made for easy training, simply because we DID handle and teach them things daily from Day 1. IMO, so long as their mom is tractable and well-trained, the baby is perfectly happy to go along with mom and do what she does. The only thing difficult with foals was trying to keep them from hurting themselves, which somehow both of them still managed to do!]
Thor’s first trailer ride:
With winter coming right around the bend, we wanted to make sure that Thor had a couple rides in the trailer before next spring. Our intention was to do it with Sive as his trailer companion, but that just never got around to happening before the weaning. Since Bjorn has gone out a couple times lately for lessons, we thought the next time he went, Thor could tag along. We did a trial run on Monday, led Bjorn and Thor out of the paddock to the trailer. We loaded Bjorn first, so Thor could see what the end goal was. We had hay loaded into the front of the trailer and a bowl of grain on Thor’s side of the trailer. After leading him to the entrance, we just let him sniff around and take his time. Within 5 minutes, he had sniffed his way to the grain and was in. We shut the back door and let him hang in there with Bjorn for about 10 minutes. Then we took Bjorn out, leaving Thor in the trailer.
Thor (on the right) with Bjorn in the trailer
and without Bjorn!
He became a bit anxious at first, calling to Bjorn, so we led Bjorn around the trailer to the side door where Thor could see him. He calmed immediately. We walked Bjorn further and further away from the trailer, but as long as Thor could still eye-ball him, he was fine.
Friday we took him with Bjorn to Bjorn’s riding lesson. He did great while the trailer was in motion (something we hadn’t practiced yet). We parked the trailer where the side door opened to the riding ring, and Thor sat there contentedly munching hay for over an hour while Bjorn had his lesson. Mark stayed by the trailer keeping Thor company too. After Bjorn’s lesson ended, we led Thor out of the trailer and into the ring, so he could become familiar with the area. We then loaded them back up, and headed for home. A very successful first trailer ride indeed! We plan to try to squeeze in at least one more run before winter.
Training Updates on Fjords:
We’ve been with Bjorn a couple times to riding lessons, and this week was our first time saddled and actually riding. The first time we were working on ground work. Our instructor rode Bjorn first, and he did really well. I had saddled him up and rode him at a walk several times this spring in our small paddock area, but he had not been saddled up in such a big riding ring before. He stood relatively still for mounting (we can work on that a bit), and walked and trotted.
Bjorn’s riding lesson
He would definitely rather stop than take off, which is fine with me - while I’m relearning how to ride I’d rather have to egg him on than hold him back. He seemed quite relaxed and didn’t balk at what we asked him to do. He definitely needs some fine-tuning and has some things to learn, but I am please that he’s not ill-mannered and difficult to work with. Kirsti might be a different story, and she’s going for her first groundwork lesson soon. Mark will also be on the search for a saddle for Sive.
Paddock Area:
Growing the paddock
We are working on extending the paddock area for winter, now that we have 4 horses instead of 3. By snowfall, Thor and Sive should be able to be back together, so we will remove the temporary weaning fencing to create one much larger area.
Thor and Bjorn enjoying a gorgeous fall afternoon! We are still wondering if Thor is going to stay such a light color (his face seems to be much more grey and his coat is almost white, with just hints of brown here and there) or if this is still just his foal color and he will turn more brown like Bjorn.
Driving:
Some friends are selling the last of their Fjord horses, and they no longer have a need for their cart (pictured below). The cart has shafts for a single horse or a pair, and we are also getting custom made pair and single biothane harnesses fit for Fjords. Our goal is to start working on driving next summer with Kirsti and Bjorn, so hopefully we can find a training cart soon!
convertible cart (for single or pair)
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[Connie's Note:
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING F.N. JOIN US ON FUTURE GRANITE STATE CARRIAGE DRIVES!!]
Rare (first ever) footage of me driving the pair–taken at Shelburne Farms…
Practicing half-halts before gait transitions (between walk and trot.) Gilford (on right) is “listening” to those cattle off in the distance!
I have driven them many times but this is the first time Hubby has taken a video of ME! Photographers never get into very many pictures! (I’m usually more interested in taking pix, and Hubby is interested in doing the driving!)
Giddyup boys!! Clever Hubby took this pix of us!
The ambience of the Inn at Shelburne Farms is evident on one of their open-air porches at dusk, overlooking Lake Champlain with the Adirondacks of New York in the distance. The piano in the background is being played by a guest. This was a particularly hot evening but we still felt some breezes off the lake.
The Inn at Shelburne Farms
Porch at the Inn
Originally built as a summer residence and working farm by the Vanderbilt Webb family, Shelburne Farms now serves as an educational agricultural non-profit organization, teaching children and adults alike about agricultural practices. A dairy herd is maintained, cheese is made on premises, and other farm animals are in residence.
Our view of the sunset over Champlain, a hot and hazy evening
Fields at Shelburne
These and many other blog pictures on Horsepaintings’ Webshots
Fall is coming. Today is one of those mornings when it hits home that summer is almost over and there is fog on the Lake and a nip in the air.
I just came back from 2 hours on the water; I did not see any eagles today, but did see a whole gaggle of cormorants. Thanks to my friend Horse Gal, a couple of pix of me and Peaches were saved off the Varney Point webcam (thank you John R. and Anne L.! ) and here we are, enjoying the beautiful water!
(Me & Peaches in lower left corner) That is Lockes island on the right, where Hubby and I have a summer camp on the other (east) side.
![Connie and peaches[2]](http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/45572/2449011730101675552S425x425Q85.jpg)
From Varney Point webcam. This was interesting to coordinate via cellphone… we discovered that the cam updates every two minutes.
Horse Gal loves to watch this webcam frequently to see how the weather is in Gilford and to feel close to her beautiful lake. Recently we met the nice folks who have the webcam up.
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