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A Public Apology to My Horse

A Public Apology to My Horse

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Something has been weighing on my conscience. I have unjustly accused my horse of clumsiness several times. Okay, the accusations weren’t all unjustified, but one of them was – when I hinted that he had fallen on his side and been plastered with mud. The truth is…he did it on purpose. I know this because our black horses often come back from the pasture as brown horses:

My black...er...brown horse

I also know this because we’ve seen them doing it, and it’s hysterical!

Horses rolling

Maybe horses are a little bit like big dogs!

Okay, I feel better now. Sorry, Valentine.

My dog eats horse poop

My dog eats horse poop

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My dog eating poo

I think that’s the best way to put it, really. My dog just loves our new horse. From the start, neither showed fear or even much interest in the other. Except my dog quickly learned that having a horse around meant occasional carrot and apple snacks dropped from our messy horse and an endless supply of the finest horse manure this side of PetSmart.

Now I just know there must be some kind of disease my dog can get from this and of course we stop him whenever we seem him doing it, but there’s no way to keep him from the pasture and as long he as doesn’t run away or cause trouble, we like him to be able to roam freely when we’re outside.

Dog cleaning up

The cleaning up after horsey snacks I don’t mind. I don’t like Valentine to poke his head through the fence and any food left behind will attract bugs and other critters. So I’m fine with my canine friend having some leftover (albeit dirty) carrot and apple pieces. But poop? Ick!

If you ever stop by our little farm, take my advice and don’t accept kisses from my dog.

How The Kid feels about Valentine

How The Kid feels about Valentine

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The Kid looking towards the pasture

I’m a little bit afraid of my mom’s horse Valentine because he keeps staring at me, but mostly because he’s big, fast and his legs are strong. I might like to have my own horse if it’s small and obedient (a little weak). I’d like my horse to be gray or black. I’d like to pet him and ride him around but I wouldn’t want him to jump, stand up on his hind legs or think that he’s the boss.

Things I like about Valentine: he’s shiny, smooth, black and he’s calm. When he’s in his stall he doesn’t try to grab my shirt or anything. I’ve fed him carrots and some hay that was spread out on the ground for him to eat. I also did that with the horse named Blaze that we used to have in our barn. I might ride Valentine but I might be reluctant and a little afraid because I’ve never controlled a horse by myself.

I drew a horse picture that I’ll show later.

The Kid is a man of few words sometimes…Bill

These Boots Were Made for…Being Walked On

These Boots Were Made for…Being Walked On

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Horse Boots

Something all the experts will tell you is that when you’re working around horses, you need to wear the right kind of shoes. Have you ever had your dog step on your feet? Well, guess what – your horse will do that too. And need I remind you, your horse weighs considerably more than a dog, and has really hard feet to boot? (ha ha) I can tell you from personal experience that it pays to have the right kind of shoes.

Until this weekend, I had been really lucky. I didn’t have any boots, but I always tried to wear sturdy shoes. Valentine swept over my feet a couple of times, but I was quick enough to get them out of harm’s way. Then last weekend, I finally got my boots, and I love them! They are Justin work boots – ugly but tough! Very comfortable too. (I got them at C&S Tack.) Valentine likes them too – he tasted them both thoroughly. Maybe they look like apples to him.

I can’t tell the rest of the story without spilling Bill’s big news, so I’ll have to tell you…he got his own horse! That’s all I’m going to say. You’ll have to wait for his post to hear all about Static’s Blue Moon. But anyway, I was leading Blue Moon out of her stall yesterday, and she stepped squarely on my foot. It stung, let me tell you, but I was wearing my boots and they held up great. Today, the same darn thing happened, on the same foot – and I was wearing tennies. Big no-no. And I know why, now. Unfortunately for me, she stepped on the little toe I broke last year. I sure hope I’ll be able to wear my boots tomorrow. Owie.

That’s My Stud Muffin

That’s My Stud Muffin

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Stud Muffins horse treats

Remember NickerMakers? Well, believe it or not, there’s a dumber name than that. I just got Valentine some horse treats called Stud Muffins. No joke. He LOVES them! They smell pretty good to me, but they look an awful lot like what I shovel out of his stall every morning, so I’m not tempted to try them. Yet.

In case you didn’t know, horses love to eat. It’s what they do all day. In fact, they are made that way – they are so big, and their diet is so low in calories, that they pretty much need to eat constantly. Valentine is no exception. For his regular diet, his favorite thing is oats, followed by fresh grass, followed by hay (since the grass started growing again, he’s not too keen on the hay). His favorite treats are apples, carrots, NickerMakers and Stud Muffins. My next experiment, treat-wise, will be homemade horse treats. I’m not making that up. I’ll post recipes here after the results are in.

Light Rein Today

Light Rein Today

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The bridle/halter was supposed to arrive in the mail today. The box did in fact arrive, but for some reason all they sent was one rein. I don’t know much about tack, but I don’t think I can make this work. The ride is delayed yet again.

Snack Time

Snack Time

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We finally got the pasture bush-hogged today. We moved Valentine into the barn to get him away from the scary tractor. So there I was, minding my own business – in fact, protecting my precious horse from the ferocious Tractor-Monster in his pasture by standing in front of his stall, reassuring him. I was facing the other way (my mistake) and he nuzzled my hair. A little gross, but kinda sweet. Until he suddenly stuck his muzzle under my hair and BIT MY EAR. I don’t know who was more shocked when his snack jumped and yelled.

No harm done. Ear’s still there, and I reminded him that he is an herbivore and therefore shouldn’t be snacking on ears or fingers.

Now I know why cowboys always wear hats.

The Invisible Horse

The Invisible Horse

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We were a little late with Valentine’s feed tonight, so when we went out to bring him into the barn, he wasn’t waiting at the gate like he usually is. I whistled for him, rattled the feed bucket, tapped on the gate – nothing. So we grabbed flashlights and headed out into the pasture to find him.

So picture this: 7 acres of rolling pasture, interspersed with stands of large trees. No streetlights, of course, this is rural area. Lots of high weeds, because the pasture is desperately in need of bush-hogging (for those of you unfamiliar with the term, it’s kind of like mowing your lawn, but the lawn is a lot bigger and so are the plants). And somewhere out in the middle, in the pitch dark, is a pitch-black horse. Needless to say, we didn’t find him. We heard a lot of crashing around in the underbrush, which we really hope was Valentine, but never saw him. Until we got back to the barn, where he was patiently waiting for us.

And You Thought Victoria’s Secret Was Racy

And You Thought Victoria’s Secret Was Racy

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Valentine's Secret

So I was perusing a horse products catalog because there is just a ton of stuff we need. We’ve been getting things a little bit at a time since we got Valentine. Some of it I know we need, and some of it I’m sure “real” horse people would laugh at. I’ve gotten various grooming supplies, and both Valentine and I enjoy the grooming sessions. I just ordered a bridle/halter/reins combo; but, alas, we don’t have a saddle yet. Soon, I hope.

Here are some things in the catalog that I won’t be ordering:

Surgical supplies. Should you really be performing your own equine surgery? Really?

Breeding hobbles. Okay, yes, my horse is a gelding so this doesn’t apply to him at all – but is it really fair to hobble a mare so she can’t get away? Doesn’t she have any say in this at all? What if she doesn’t like his cologne? Maybe they don’t have anything in common. Maybe she just wants to get to know him better. Maybe she’s just not that kind of girl.

Sheath cleaner. If you have to clean your gelding’s sheath to be a horse person, I guess I never will be, because I can’t see a day coming where I’d be okay with cleaning his sheath. And Bill has flatly refused to have anything to do with another guy’s sheath.

Gotta Love Those Infomercials

Gotta Love Those Infomercials

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Tonight we attended a workshop presented by Purina (Purina Horse Owner’s Workshop: http://horse.purinamills.com/). We were pretty sure it was going to be a live infomercial for Purina Horse Chow – and they pushed their horse feed pretty hard – but we got a lot of good information from the presentation. The best part was at the end, when they had a guest speaker to talk about horse behavior and answer our questions about horses. He was a guy who has been around horses all his life and now makes his living by using his experience with horses to show corporations how to apply the principles of horse leadership to people leadership. It sounds kind of crazy, I admit, but it sounds like it might work. He was really common-sense and down to earth, and gave us some really good advice. His name is Sam Powell (www.asksampowell.com). They also gave out free samples of horse treats, which Valentine loves. Unfortunately, they chose to call them “NickerMakers.” Do real horse people buy things called NickerMakers, or will we have to sneak into the feed store to buy them without being seen?