Happy Holidays!

Here's hoping you're all enjoying the Christmas season!

2013 has been such an amazing year for me -- I feel so lucky to be able to do this for a living.  I'm enjoying taking a couple weeks off to spend time with my family, and slow down the pace a little out in the barn.  I look forward to seeing you in 2014!

Best wishes, from

Heidi and Phoenix and Copper

Copper and The Nice Vet

This morning, Dr Glen came to see Copper.  He's one of the Nice People In Coveralls Who Smell Like Medicine.  We have wonderful vets who give the horses lots of pats and attention to make up for the poking and jabbing they usually have to do!

As some of you know, Copper has had a history of stomach ulcers, which has often made her snap her teeth during grooming and tacking up.  Sometimes I've suspected that it was habitual behaviour - that she expected to hurt, so she snapped her teeth before she was even touched.  For a long time, she would quickly get over it and be okay.  But over the last couple of weeks she's gotten much worse.

I've tried over the years to help her through it (for example, special feed supplements) but never felt that my management was doing enough. It can be very hard to tell what's wrong with a horse, and figure out what they're trying to tell us.  They can't tell us in words, and we humans can be incredibly dumb.

Recently I have been concerned.  It seems to have been much more than a habitual behaviour.  She has been difficult to ride, and reprimands don't make a difference. I don't want my horses to be rude.  But more than that, I don't want them to hurt.   If something actually hurts, it doesn't matter how many times she gets a slap.  For me, constantly punishing her for something she probably can't help is heartbreaking.

I've known Copper all her life.  This teeth snapping, stomping monster, is not the sweet little mare I raised from a yearling.  Time to stop messing around and get her the help she needs.

Dr Glen gave her an examination and left me with a bottle of Sulcrate, a medication that coats the stomach to protect from acid.  I have to squirt that into her mouth three times a day for two days.  I also have a paste to mix into her feed.  After that I'll have another medication, Omeprizole, to heal up the ulcers.  Since we don't want it to flare up again, we'll be looking into some probiotics to keep the stomach bacteria in balance and keep her belly healthy.

These medications do work fast, so we're optimistic that she'll be feeling better within days.

Imagine how many horses out there are dealing with ulcers or other health problems, and can only express their discomfort by biting, kicking, and generally acting like nasty horrible creatures you wouldn't want to deal with.  A horse with an ulcer could end up untrainable and unrideable, and dangerous.  These things can be hard to diagnose and hard to treat - I have to stick a tube of medicine in that mouth three times a day?!?!?!  On top of that, vet bills are expensive.  (As they should be!  Vets are heroes and deserve to be well paid for what they do!!) Luckily, Copper and I can do our job together and earn enough to pay for her medicine.  It will all be worth it.


I'm so much looking forward to having my little mare back to herself again!

Ready for Winter?

You'll notice a few changes here recently: We've started putting up snow fence, the water trough has been moved into the shed, and the hay feeder is set up in the corner.  Be prepared to deal with some mud for the next few weeks.  Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to the ground freezing solid and being covered with a few inches of soft lovely snow.  Well, except that snow never stays soft and lovely for long, especially in my barn yard!

I'm working on organizing a winter program for groups, so we have things to do over winter when the weather is too bad to ride.  I haven't decided on dates yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Stay warm!

Happy Halloween!

Hey guys - thank you for decorating my barn!

WINTER CLOTHES LESSONS

Join me this week in my Halloween decorated barn, to figure out the best way to not freeze this winter!

*will regular winter boots keep your feet warm, but still fit safely into your stirrups?
*what kind of hat fits under a riding helmet?  Or over it?
*are snow pants ok?

*probably not, let's try them on to find out, and depends how slippery they are.



I've got a couple lessons set up specifically to learn about what to wear for winter riding.

DAYS AND TIMES - Wednesday October 23  at   4:00 pm

                                   - Thursday October 24  at  6:00 pm

COST - special price of $20 each.  Parents are free!!!

FOR WHO - all ages, boys and girls.

Bring your warm outdoor clothing, everything you've got - gloves, boots, undershirts and long johns, hats.  If you've got actual riding clothes bring them.  If you've got something that isn't meant for riding, bring it and let's see if it's suitable.  Maybe you've got hockey gear that might work.  We'll take a look at what I have and recommend.  We'll see what works and what doesn't, and be ready for the cold when it hits!


Please contact me so I know I can find a place for everybody to sit.  Hope to see you there!

It's Fall now - new things going on at the farm

So what's happening at the farm this fall? Two things: tack cleaning and getting ready for the weather. I like this time of year.  There aren't as many flies, we're not sweating as much as we did all summer, and the horses, just starting to get thicker coats, are soft and velvety.  Most mornings, when I let them into the pasture, there's a soft pink light from the sunrise and mist across the distance.  It's really beautiful.

TACK CLEANING DAY - alright kids, come on out to my place and let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.  I am pretty sure there will be a lot of giggling and talking, hopefully within all those girly noise we'll get some stuff cleaned nicely.  If you haven't had the tack cleaning lesson, we'll catch you up.  

DAY AND TIME - Saturday October 19 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm

COST - Nothing, zip, zero, no money changes hands.  We're all helping each other out, so we have clean safe tack to use for our rides and have a good little visit together while we're at it.

Give me a call or an email so I know how many buckets and sponges we'll need.  

SPECIAL FALL LESSONS

This seasons brings changes. Sometimes for the 5:00 lesson I'm wearing a Tshirt, but at my 7:00 lesson I'm in a hoodie and windbreaker.  And now we're riding under the floodlights.

It feels too early to start talking about winter clothes but some of us (me) will be needing something warm soon.  This year, rather than taking a few minutes here and there to discuss winter riding, I'd like to designate a few lessons specifically for that topic.  

Bring your warm outdoor clothing, everything you've got - gloves, boots, undershirts and long johns, hats.  If you've got actual riding clothes bring them.  If you've got something that isn't meant for riding, bring it and let's see if it's suitable.  Maybe you've got hockey gear that might work.  We'll take a look at what I have and recommend.  We'll see what works and what doesn't, and be ready for the cold when it hits!

WINTER CLOTHES LESSONS 

DAYS AND TIMES - Wednesday October 23  at   4:00 pm

                                   - Thursday October 24  at  6:00 pm

COST - special price of $20 each.  I expect to get enough riders to make it worth my time and yours.  

FOR WHO - all ages, boys and girls.  (Parents can squeeze in for free!)

Please contact me to let me know if you can join me.  (If you can't do either of those times we might arrange another one.)

FARM DAYS - as long as the weather is reasonably pleasant, I'm open to holding a few more Farm Days.  This could be a fun way to spend a PA day.  

Looking forward to seeing you! 

Western Horse Show at the New Hamburg Fall Fair

This past weekend, I got the opportunity to help run a horse show.  There hadn't been a Western show at the Fall Fair for about 15 years, so you can imagine I was pretty excited about the four Western classes being offered this year!  The classes were a good representation of our skills: Western Pleasure, Western Horsemanship, Command, and Trail.  I volunteered to help out, wanting to do my part to make it a success.  The brave woman running the show wasn't familiar with Western classes, and put me in charge of the patterns for the Horsemanship and Trail classes.  Three of us sat down for a meeting earlier in the week and figured out what had to be done.

There is a lot of work involved.  I've been told the show looked good and smooth, which is great, because many times I found myself standing in the ring with a clipboard in my hands, looking around frantically, trying to remember where I put a thing I needed or who I needed to talk to or what I needed to do!

The western classes started at 2:00 pm, which gave me all morning to shuffle paperwork at the entry desk.  Then I got the ring ready for the classes.  I was not the judge, and man, honestly, I got a first hand look at how difficult judging is!  I have much respect for our judge who was fair and knowledgeable.  She did a great job and was very pleasant about the whole thing.  I enjoyed working with her!

We had a good turnout, about six entries in each class.  I was vaguely aware of spectators lined up to watch, which is wonderful!  The more interest in these classes, the better our chances of another Western show next year. The Fall Fair is always a highlight of the year in an agricultural based community like New Hamburg.  People who live in town and wouldn't always have chances to see farm animals can come out and observe the 4H calf shows, and of course, all the horse shows!  There are always draft horses (I did not get to see any of those magnificent gentle giants because I was too busy!) and the hunter-jumper shows.  And now, Western classes too, which I'm proud to share and promote!

To all of you who stopped by the fair to watch the show, THANK YOU!  We'll work on getting you some bleachers to sit on next year, ok?

If you were there with your horse, THANK YOU!  We got some very nice horse and rider teams.  It made judging harder, but that's a good problem to have!

I had a great time and fully intend to be involved in 2014.  (I wonder if I can run a show and bring two horses at the same time...)

Summer 2013: wrapping it all up

Doesn't this happen every summer - we feel like it flew past in a flash!  We had a lot of fun this summer and I'm grateful to all my riders for coming to me for riding lessons.  Some of you have been regulars for awhile now, while others were here to try something new.  It's been energizing and challenging for me, and my horses look pretty happy too!

Some of you young people will be starting high school this year, and meeting new people.  There's a good chance you could meet somebody who shares your favourite horse!  As a few of my riders discovered, I know A LOT of people around here, so don't be surprised if the kid beside you in math class has a picture of a speckled horse in his or her locker!

I'm looking to hearing about your back to school adventures when you're here for your next ride.

Soon we'll be settling into a fall schedule, but in the meantime, keep in mind that the New Hamburg Fall Fair is holding four Western classes this year!  This will take place on Saturday 14th at about 1:00pm.  I won't be competing, but I will be there helping out.  Please come watch the show and come say hi to me!  The more spectators, the more likely to have a bigger better show next year.

Mackenzie at her first lesson

Our first Farm Day, relaxing in the tree house at the end of the day

Getting ready to ride

An all girls Farm Day

Selina practicing her one handed riding

Baby turkeys!

And baby chicks!

New saddle racks this summer - the barn improvements continue!

Copper dressed up for Farm Day

A Farm Day afternoon in the old camper, making prize ribbons

Barn swallows in the nest before they moved out

"Butch"

"Rawhide" and "Roadrash"

Laura with two well dressed horses

Mackenzie and friends after a lesson

If anybody has pictures you'd like to see here, you can email me the pictures and I'll put them up.  I'm working on a wall of pictures in the tack room too, so keep me in mind if you're getting prints done.

Meet our new barn cat, Dice

By now, some of you have met our new little friend, Dice.  

He's friendly and very talkative. 

He's become acquainted with the horses, which seems to be going okay.  He and Moe are tolerating each other.  I suspect Moe is a little put out by the attention the new kid is getting, but so far has only expressed his discontent with a few little hisses and half-hearted growls.  I figure by winter they'll have discovered that it's nice to have a friend to cuddle up with and stay warm.  

Dice was a stray cat who was cared for by the New Hamburg Veterinary Clinic.  Let's hear it for our wonderful vets!

Dice has been making himself at home here, and I hope he sticks around.  I like the little fella.  Won't it be great if Moe ends up liking him too?

More Farm Day Fun

Three kids and two horses???  

It can work!  It takes a lot of stirrup adjusting and keeping track, but everybody got to ride each horse a couple times.  This little group of outlaws consists of brother, sister and cousin.  Maybe all good outlaws are family, eh?  

Getting ready to ride off into the sunshine. (Check out the cowgirl with one hand on the reins!)

Hey, it was very dusty that day.  The bandannas are functional!

Aw yeah, nailed the ol' stick-in-the-barrel!

Second ride for the this young fella, first time over the poles!

Butch, Rawhide, and Roadrash, all gussied up!!

They're each wearing a few of my own clothes, which makes me realize... wow, I really do get to play cowboy dress up everyday!  

My little ranch dog is in on it too.  Don't they all look ready to hit the trail?

But since it was hot, and the horses had already put in a couple hours work (these two have no idea how hard some other horses work!) we hit the trail by taking a walk around the pasture, to check the fence, see how the ducks and turkeys and chickens are doing, and of course, stop by for a quick visit.  

Dang fun way to spend a day.

kids, horses, and a box of sidewalk chalk

It just makes riding that little bit more fun.

Sad news: Larry the Cat is no longer with us

Guard cat Larry.  Trespassers will be caught and purred at.  

It's very hard to break bad news like this.  I'm sorry to tell you that our little buddy Larry has died.  He was badly hurt yesterday.  I usually can take care of injuries at home, but this looked like more than I could handle. The problem wasn't just severe wounds to his hind legs though.  His left hind leg was broken in several places as well as dislocated.  He was in a lot of pain and unable to walk.

We love our animals and don't want them to suffer.  The decision was made to euthanize him.  He very quietly died and was no longer in pain.

There are many people who believe that cats should not be allowed to wander outside.  They have a point; it's a dangerous world out there.  Bigger animals can hurt them, which is probably what happened to Larry.  Cats can be hit by cars.  They can pick up diseases.

BUT.  Our barn cats have such a great life.  They are free to go where they please, and do what comes naturally to them.  They get to be cats.  They have a warm place to curl up in winter, sunshine in summer.  Trees to climb, rodents to catch.

Larry the kitten, 2008

Larry and Moe have had an exceptionally happy life because they get all the benefits of being free cats, but also healthy human contact.  We make sure they have something to eat, rabies shots, and medical attention.  The cats have repaid us over and over with purring and companionship.  Very few barn cats can have a life like this.  My father couldn't afford to send cats to the vet back in the day, not when there were so many.

Soaking up the winter sun in some nice warm hay

I wish Larry hadn't come to the end of his life because he was hurt so badly, but in my opinion, it's the chance we take in exchange for everything he enjoyed.  And I'm just so grateful that we found him in time to give him a break from his pain and end his suffering.

Haven't we been lucky to have such wonderful cats to share our barn with?  They're not "JUST" barn cats.  They're our rodent control team, greeting committee, and good little friends.

The Brothers

Moe is okay.  Who knows whether he realizes his brother is gone.  So far he's hanging around in his usual napping spot, insisting on being petted whenever I'm in the barn.  He will have to soak up all the attention now!

Most recent picture of Larry and Moe, this summer.  

I will miss Larry very much.  We all will.

I'm sure next time you're here for a ride, Moe will make sure you get your cat time.  As long as we have Moe, we will be smothered with friendly affection and loud purring.  I'm sure he would appreciate  any affection you have to give!

Fun at the Farm

We had our first "Farm Day" this week.  Four of my young riders joined me for a ride in the morning, then stuck around after lunch for some extra fun until their parents came to take them home.  

Our ride wasn't an ordinary riding lesson though.  First we painted the horses with happy faces, handprints, hearts, lightning bolts, racing stripes, and extra spots!  These horses loved the attention and stood calmly while they were transformed into equine works of art.  

These two sets of siblings made great teams.  We had a walk-and-ride scavenger hunt, in which the kids took turns being the riders and the searchers.  They really knocked me out with their excellent team work!  

You might be able to tell from the bright cloudless sky that it was extremely hot that day.  After unsaddling the horses, we gave each of them a nice cooling shower, complete with a proper shampoo to wash the decorations off.  

I'd planned on staying out all day, enjoying lunch at the picnic table under a big shade tree, but by noon, we were all ready to get out of the sun for awhile.  After cooling off in the house, we headed back outside.  First we put down some hay, then drew pictures under the shade tree, and got distracted by a few wandering hens who'd escaped the coop in the backyard.  (The chickens are being raised here by a friend of the family, and as you can see, are very friendly critters.)  

We also got to spend some time with our dog, Dobby the Pug.  (Yes he was named after Dobby the House Elf!)  It was rather hot for a Pug but he bravely panted his way though all the attention.  

The afternoon slipped by and soon it was home time.  As promised, I sent all the kids home dirty.  And happy.  

I'm looking forward to more of these days throughout the summer!