Ranchette

Twins

ranchette — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:47:51 +0000

The pony and the greyhound grazing concurrently. I am not sure why the dog thinks he is a horse.

Foals

ranchette — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:48:02 +0000

This weekend, I was visiting these Welsh Section B foals and their herd. I wanted to take one home in my car. But, I was good and left them with their mamas.

Finally a ‘Through the Ears’ Picture for Me

ranchette — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:47:10 +0000

It’s ALIVE! Or rather, I’m alive. I just have been neglecting you all. Post vacation has been a bit of a blur. In theory I should have had much more time this spring than last due to a change in work priorities. Somehow that hasn’t quite panned out. But, while I haven’t been writing, I have more importantly been riding…ON THE ROAD even.

This was Smoke’s second ever out in the ‘world’ ride with me and he was a trooper. Although he spooks at water (the lake surprised him on the side of the road), he even took the kayakers in stride. I love this horse.

And the Big Horse has been making himself useful. He’s been behaving like a dream. Although, he stays inside the arena for now. (I love this horse too.)

Please ignore the fact that I am posting on the wrong diagonal above. And pivoting off my stirrups. And…well suffice it to say, I have a lot of form to regain over the summer months. BUT, I love the pictures – thanks to my special assignment photographer. (Thanks, Mom!)

The outdoor arena has become a jungle; conversely the grass in the pastures refuses to grow quickly enough and fencing needs to be replaced and repainted here and there. In other words, summer as usual has begun.

Mischief & Blossoms

ranchette — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:43:30 +0000

Know I’ve been a bit sparse with updates, but have had a busy time settling into “regular life” after being away. Spring is reticent this year due to lack of rain but is finally starting to force its way through into sunny warm days and at least some green grass (more dandelions) in the pastures. The apple trees are in full bloom.

This is the view from the office window this morning. I’ll take it.

Mischief has continued for the ponies. This week I was doing some in between trim maintenance on the pony’s hooves as they grow ugly shaped too quickly. He was spooked by a sudden appearance around the corner of the barn. The pony is short so I wasn’t exactly practising safe handling techniques and ended up getting knocked down flat on the ground. But, at least not trampled. What was Mrs Mom from Oh Horsefeathers saying about not tying during solo hoof work? Sheesh, I just don’t listen.

Really it sounds worse than it was, I just basically was knocked down. Have a little bruise on the elbow and some sore pride but that is it.

The Big Horse and Smoke apparently are clever engineers. I’d lazily put up a gate with twine as a short fix to keep them out of the hill pasture. Yeah, that lasted. One day came out to find gate a kimbo, horses pleased with themselves out on the grass with a couple of nicks and cuts a piece but nothing serious. Note to self: one of the horses is smarter than I thought!

Have been out riding the Big Horse and will post some pictures hopefully over the weekend.

Which One. . .

ranchette — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:40:08 +0000

of the fatty fatty ponies do I think is responsible for beaching this strange squid like creature in the paddock during nightly lock-in?

Obviously I should have pulled the tank heaters from the water tanks a few weeks ago, but I’d just unplugged them and let them float in the meantime. Someone took out their frustration at being locked away from the grass on this hapless red plastic creature. Hint: It is listing to the side because it was also stepped on.

Watch Cat, Part II and Return of Ranchette

ranchette — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:37:33 +0000

I’m back! I had a great break visiting friends and family in Europe . The correct guess on location of the flock of sheep two posts ago was: near Davos, Switzerland. I took fewer pictures this trip, but will share some this month as I get organized.

Pleased to report that the ponies, aside from chewing on fences, gave DH no troubles while I was away. He had a very successful maiden voyage into horse husbandry. There was the little problem with the smoldering fire in the manure compost, but the tractor proved on effective smolder fighting tool there.

The cats, Kato in particular, have taken to playing with the neighbor’s cat. The funny thing is as soon as Kato sees me, she gets a guilty look on her face like “ooh oh, busted, I’m not supposed to have friends over” and chases the cat back home. She looks like a little stomping bulldog as she stands guard at the perimeter watching her playmate run home.

Off to drag the upstairs arena (by upstairs, I mean on top of the hill, not inside my house. ).

Too Much of a Good Thing

ranchette — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:25:35 +0000

I shouldn’t try to administer preventative medicine to the horses when I’m sick myself. Last week, I didn’t correctly lock the dial on the wormer before giving the pony his dose…and down the pipe it all went in one orange glob. It’s a large enough dose for The Big Horse, so I was scrambling to check the toxicity labels. Glad to report that Zimectrim Gold has tested safe at up to five times the maximum recommended dose.

In other worm news, you’ll recall that I’ve struggled getting The Big Horse to have some manners at worming time. After a lot of playing nice and filling tubes with applesauce, I’ve decided that the nose twitch is how I’m going to keep on rolling. It changes worming from a frustrating, somewhat dangerous activity with a 1300 lb horse throwing his head into the air like an epileptic baboon on meth into a non-event.

I hardly hear mention of twitches anymore. Are they a dirty secret left in people’s barns? I suspect they don’t fit into the whispering mold of horsemanship, but in my book it is still a quick, non-damaging restraint that keeps me out of harm’s way. I don’t use a chain or rope twitch as the leverage they can apply is significant, but the smooth aluminum humane twitch (pictured above) is a safe and effective tool if used correctly due to the unique shape of its arms.

Here’s my standard method:

If you haven’t used a twitch successfully previously, consult an experienced handler to work with you.
Stand to the side but facing the horse. Do not stand directly in front of your horse while applying a twitch. You’re asking to get knee-capped otherwise.
Unwind the cord and open the twitch up wide. I like the cord to fall on the left side of my wrist. Slip your left wrist through the center and let the twitch rest on your wrist. This lets you hold the horse’s lead/halter with your right hand.
Grab the front fleshy part of your horse’s front lip with your left hand.
Shimmy the twitch down onto to the grabbed lip switching to maintain pressure on the ends of the twitch with your right hand.
Maintain firm but not crushing pressure. Wind the twitch string around the ends and clip the snap to the side of the horses halter.
You want enough pressure to be applied so the twitch won’t slip if the horse tosses his head, but not so much that it produces pain. Watch your horse’s expression; it is easy to tell the difference between ‘Ok, you have my attention now’ and ‘Holy moses get this thing off me!’ .
Minimize the amount of time your horse is twitched – in other words get in and get what you need done and remove it. If you need it for more than a quick session, take breaks to release pressure from the snout by partially loosening the cord.
Do not apply a twitch to anywhere other than the front lip.
When removing the twitch, don’t let your horse jerk his head away from you. Stand in the same position as you started. Loosen the cord and let the twitch legs fall over your left wrist as you remove it.
Give the lip a nice little massage with the twitch hanging on your arm to help keep your horse from becoming “lip-shy”.

So, am I the only one still holding on to the ‘old school’ here?

Jet Set

ranchette — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:15:36 +0000

Posting will be a little sporadic here at the Ranchette over the next two weeks. I do have a few scheduled posts still to be published, but I’ll be traveling and animal news will be sparse. Unfortunately, DH isn’t able to join me on this trip. He’ll be holding down the fort and in charge of the animals. I expect them (the animals that is) to be on their best behavior for this maiden voyage. Big Horse, this means you. I have my eyes on you.

The last time I went on this same trip, I saw this pretty flock.

Supplements

ranchette — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:56:43 +0000

The snow has melted for what I think is the fourth and final time this spring and barren grass returns to the pastures of Ranchette. In advance of luscious green shoots of grass popping from the current brown and dismal, it’s time to switch the horses to warm weather diets. I make this switch once the caloric demands of cold weather have departed but before the sweet grass arrives. During this weather, they no longer receive grain but still receive hay. As the grass emerges, the amount of hay is scaled down until they move to pasture alone by June.

In the winter, I feed a lot of hay: just plain green grass hay that has been cured well and stored tight from the second or third cutting. In the cold months, the Big Horse also gets twice daily sweet feed and rolled oats mixed. Smoke gets a bit as well just to stay out of The Big Horse’s bucket. The pony, always counting carbs and calories, is on perpetual diet and gets rationed hay only even in the coldest weather.

Over the years I’ve also fed different supplements for different reasons. They also have free access to salt – either plain or with trace minerals depending on whether I’m supplementing elsewhere or not. When I first purchased the Big Horse, he received a biotin blend supplement to improve his hooves. All three have been on Farrier’s Formula for a time. The Big Horse needed electrolytes added to his grain this winter to ensure he was drinking enough water during the coldest months. The pony, in his Chunky Monkey days, was on a magnesium / metobolic balancer (Smart Pak’s IR Smart Balance). Of all that I’ve used, Farrier’s Formula seemed to improve troublesome hooves and the Smart Balance seemed to help the pony. I say seemed to help only because I have no comparison, much of his improvement may have been due to reducing his weight alone.

My typical approach towards supplements is to use them to address a specific issue and then eliminate them if possible. Partly this is to resist the “kill them with kindness” approach to feeding. Obvious neglect and abuse cases not withstanding, in the world of rich, resistant pasture grasses engineered for cattle, the resulting nutrient rich hay and increasing percentages of obese horses, most horses in the US today are more likely to be over fed, over supplemented and under ridden instead of the age old problem of undernourished, over worked. Mine aren’t competition horses; they are pasture kings who have a work to leisure ratio of which you and I should be envious.

For horses whose summer diets are based on pasture forage it can be hard to know what their actual supplemental mineral needs, if any, might be. There is no feed tag on the pasture grass, but for less than the cost of a bucket of supplements, you can get your pasture or hay tested. Check out additional details at Equi – Analytical Laboratories.

Once the grass is up high enough this year I plan on doing a pasture and hay test. The results will let me see what specific deficiencies (if any) I may need to address each season through other sources like a ration balancer or specific mineral supplements. Doing this test this year will let me get a good feel for what typical grass and mineral levels in our specific pastures are so I can make an educated long term supplements plan where and if needed.

Smallville

ranchette — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:32:35 +0000

I was experimenting with a free photo processor on line that converts pictures of buildings and cities to look like they are photos taken of miniature models of the same. No, I’m not sure when I’d ever need this feature, but there it was on the BBC Click tech blurb begging me to waste some time trying it out. A person must indulge the creative mind after all.

Presenting: Ranchette in miniature. This is taken from the backside of our property. You can see the barn, indoor arena, a corner of the house and some of the pastures. Have I mentioned how much I love Ranchette? It’s even cuter as a model.

All this tiny talk reminds me of our former townhouse. We had a small spare bedroom next to the big sized master bedroom. In the spare room, the bed took up most of the available floor space so everything else had to be quite svelte. Teeny, tiny reading lamp, teeny tiny nightstand, and a teeny tiny foldable DVD player to make an itty bitty entertainment center. I dubbed it “Land of Miniatures!”.

Visit www.tiltshiftmaker.com to play with your own city or ranchscape photos.