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Author: Bill

Funny Horse Pic: Brake Check!

Funny Horse Pic: Brake Check!

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Okay, life is a little too serious at the moment so how about some fun? Moonshine likes to chase Valentine. Valentine likes to run full bore towards the fence and then slam on the brakes at the last minute. In this picture, it looks like Moonshine might have been following a little too closely. I don’t think she ran into him but the picture sure looks like a rear-end collision! He has never actually hit the fence or the barn to my knowledge. The fence and barn wall is just to the right of this cropped photo.

Advertising on this horse blog

Advertising on this horse blog

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No obnoxious adsYou may have noticed that there have been almost no ads on our blog. It’s been this way for well over a year now. We have a few Google ads that appear at the bottom of our links list and if you search for something and no results are returned, you get a Google search box. But other than that there have been no ads. We also haven’t been sponsored by anyone or paid to write a product or service review. We didn’t start Our First Horse to make lots of money. The objective of this blog was to force us to document the experience, for our own benefit. If anyone else is entertained along the way or learns something with us, great!

But as anyone who operates a blog like this knows, there are expenses when running a website. They’re not very high but we lease a dedicated server and that cost comes out of our pockets each month. To help recoup that expense we’ve thought of selling some advertising space. We looked at all kind of blogs and other websites for ideas on how many ads to have on each page and what layouts were attractive. The problem is, most websites and blogs have LOTS of advertising. Too much. We never want our readers to have to wade through advertising to see our articles and posts. We’ve decided we’re going to experiment with just a few ads here and there. Small, unobtrusive and hopefully complimentary to the theme of our site.

Starting as early as today you might see a small ad at the top of our menu and another small ad at the bottom of the site near the footer. At some point you may see us review a few products that we’re paid to review. We promise: 1) there won’t be many, 2) we’ll pick relevant products/services, 3) we’ll be 100% objective (even if it costs us the sponsorship) and 4) we’ll clearly mark paid reviews. We’ll never try to trick you.

Most blogs have advertising so this probably isn’t a surprise to you. We’ve resisted for as long as we could but we’re caving in gracefully and with a commitment to keep it to a minimum.

Thanks for understanding (we hope you do) and if you see something of interest in these ads, remember that viewing and clicking them helps us and them.

Finally, if you have a horse-related product/service or something complimentary to the horse lifestyle and you’d like information about advertising on the Our First Horse blog, please contact us.

Mystery Pasture Flat Spot

Mystery Pasture Flat Spot

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We had rain yesterday in east Tennessee. When I went out to check the water bucket I noticed two shiny flat spots near the barn. I got a little closer to investigate and then went for my camera. I know what caused it. What’s your guess? I’ll edit the post later with some “evidence” and the answer.

Mystery pasture flat spot

Well, thanks for playing guys! Laura was the first to nail it…it took me a minute but I recalled a photo I took in about this same spot:

Rolling horse

And this is what our horses looked like:

Muddy horse

Rediculous…I mean look at this:

Redhead horse

She’s suddenly a redhead! Horses are so funny. I rarely see Valentine muddy but I think it’s pretty clear from the two distinct flat spots in the top picture that both horses rolled.

One Year with Moonshine

One Year with Moonshine

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Mikki wrote recently about one year with Valentine, her Tennessee Walking Horse. And a few weeks ago we celebrated one year with Moonshine, my solid paint. It’s hard to believe a year has gone by already. Although I introduced her in October of 2006, we actually picked her up at the end of April. And over the course of the past year, she has been mostly predictable, in a good way. She did dump me off one time, an incident I have yet to write about. It’s not entirely her fault me and my ego experienced some pain and I’ve ridden her since, though cautiously. But mostly she’s a sweet, lovable horse who buries her face in my chest when she’s being shoed, loves to boss the much bigger Valentine, loves to chase him around the pasture occasionally (she can run circles around him), enjoys carrots and gracefully puts up with being saddled and ridden, except that one time :-).

Moonshine with muddy mane
Moonshine after a bath…a mud bath.

Moonshine is my first horse so this past year has been a huge learning experience for me. I’ve learned about horse behavior, health, maintenance, and expense. I’ve experienced joy and frustration. And in the past week, I’ve even experienced the healing comfort a horse can bring during times of personal trial. Sometimes you just need to hug a horse. But now that I have some of the basics of horse “ownership” down, this next year I’ll be focusing on the next phase of our relationship in the roles of horse and rider. Mikki and I hope to soon build our round pen, to facilitate training. We’re going to saddle our horses up more often. And we’re going to absorb all we can from more experienced horse owners about riding and then competing. Yes, this will be the year we “get our money’s worth.” Our weekly horse duties are changing to include a training regimen. Realistically we won’t probably feel comfortable showing until next year but that gives us a year to practice and get our horses familiar with going to shows. None of us are getting any younger and we have no idea what the future holds. So we’re going to grab the saddle by the horn and hold on for dear life as we try to get the most from this horse ownership experience.

Hopefully next year about this time we’ll be writing positive notes about our second year of horse ownership.

Stall door protection concept – 6 months later

Stall door protection concept – 6 months later

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It works!

About 6 months ago I posted a note discussing the wood-chewing habits of my dear Moonshine (Protecting Wooden Stall Doors – Part 1). We thought she was bored while in her stall overnight figuring that would explain why she like munching on her main stall door. So in November I went about fabricating an aluminum door cover to make it harder for her to destroy the door with her teeth. I was initially concerned she might bite through the aluminum, causing sharp edges that might cut her tongue or mouth. Six months later, that still hasn’t happened. The aluminum trim is pretty attractive still and hasn’t been damaged by my horse at all. Although at first she liked to lick it after eating her oats, she doesn’t seem to do that anymore. In fact, she doesn’t seem to chew on wood anymore. I mentioned this recently in the post titled Wood chewing habit update. It seems that since we changed to a different feed – Purina Strategy – Moonshine stopped chewing wood. From what people have been telling me, it seems like the feed store sweet oats we had been feeding her were lacking something she wanted/needed. Strategy provides it. Prior to Strategy we tried Purina Omolene 100 and that seemed to work, too.

I don’t plan on removing the aluminum shield I made but at this point I don’t think I’ll be making one for the other door. If you have a chewer and changing feed doesn’t work for you, in addition to trying some horse stall toys, a stall door cover/shield might help protect your barn and your horse until you have the problem licked.

Part 1 – Protecting Wooden Stall Doors
Part 2 – Stall door protection concept – 6 months later (this post)

My trusty barn gloves

My trusty barn gloves

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I’m about to retire the best light-work gloves I have ever owned. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty but last year I bought a pair of Justin light leather gloves from Tractor Supply. I’ve used these gloves nearly every day for a year and the only reason I’m retiring them is due to some holes they’ve developed. It’s time. I used these gloves exclusively for barn work and riding, etc. No working on cars, no gardening. I like them so much because of the way they feel, tight enough for me to easily grip whatever I’m grabbing but not too tight to be comfortable. I think I paid $20 for them and they’ve been worth every penny. They will be replaced with the same exact Justin glove model, if I can find them. Definitely a “buy” recommendation from me.

Neither Justin nor Tractor Supply paid me anything to say nice things about these gloves. 🙂

Treating the barn with diesel and transmission fluid?

Treating the barn with diesel and transmission fluid?

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55 Gallon DrumOne of the great mysteries of our new home was why the previous owners would leave behind several fifty gallon barrels of chemicals behind. It was alarming. We wanted to dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way but weren’t quite sure where to start. The previous owners didn’t have a tractor so why did they have giant barrels of what seemed like thick oil or grease? We mentioned this to several people in the area and it was only last month that someone gave us the clue we needed to solve this mystery. Our barn is wood sided and apparently it’s common in this area to mix some concoction of diesel fuel, used transmission fluid and whatever this oil/grease is in the barrels to treat the wood on the barn. It’s supposed to protect the wood from the weather and insects, such as carpenter bees. I have never heard of such a thing. I guess it kind of makes sense. I know wood needs to be chemically treated to last but it seems odd to me that we should be using something that is…I don’t know…HIGHLY FLAMMABLE!

Have you ever heard of this? What do you guys use for your wooden barns/out-buildings?

Do hoof trimmings make good dog treats?

Do hoof trimmings make good dog treats?

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Our dog eating something

Our dogs look forward to farrier visits. I think they mark it on their little doggy calendars, in fact. When the farrier visits, he trims all eight of our horses’ hooves in neat slices, just perfect for gnawing. This to me is disgusting. Mikki and I pick up the shavings but invariably one or two get by us and a few days later we see one of our dogs happily chewing on it. They must be good, too, because our dogs will protect this illicit snack with their lives. This can’t be healthy for them, right? I’m sure hooves carry all kinds of nasty bacteria dogs shouldn’t be ingesting. But then again as much as I love dogs, I realize they are pretty gross. I mean how do you reason with something that will eat its own barf and dig “Almond Roca” out of the cat litter box for a particularly chewy treat? Can horse hooves really be worse than poo and week-old garbage?

Our worst offender is our older Jack Russell terrier. He is a hoof aficionado. This last batch he got into didn’t settle too well in his tummy and we got to see what it looked like partially digested…on our living room carpet. Pretty gross. But that’s the dog theme…gross.

Do you let your dog(s), if you have any, munch on horse hoof trimmings?

Should I rename her Mary Jane?

Should I rename her Mary Jane?

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But today…I detected the scent of something smoky.

I love the smell of my horse. If you don’t have a horse, that must be a weird thing to hear someone say but it’s true. She smells horsey and I like it. But today for some strange reason as I kissed her long face and breathed in, I detected the scent of something smoky. In fact, it smelled like…marijuana. Why does my horse smell like marijuana? I wish I knew. We don’t smoke it and don’t know anyone around who does. I really don’t think our neighbors do. Are there plants in the wild that smell like burning marijuana cigarettes or should I be on the lookout for hippies in my pasture? This was an isolated incident but worth noting, nonetheless.