I love to take pictures so it’s not uncommon for me to go check on the horses with camera in hand. I have a nice zoom lens and was able to capture the following hilarious interaction between Cash and Valentine at the water trough. I especially love the lips and hillbilly expressions on Valentine. It’s like they have their own comedy routine! I recommend viewing the full screen version of the slideshow:
When we first arrived here at the farm, there was wiring for an electric fence but it wasn’t hooked up to anything. Eventually we removed the wiring because it simply didn’t look good and we didn’t really need it. Now we think it’s probably time to reconsider. We decided to barbecue so I headed outside around 6, just in time to see Moonshine stepping over a section of fence near the barn. She was the third horse to do so. Cash and Romeo were already enjoying the irresistible grass on the other side of the fence. In this case, the grass really is greener on the other side. Valentine, our huge (to us) Walking Horse is the likely culprit for knocking down the fence. He’s always reaching his giraffe neck over to nibble on grass and at almost 1300 pounds, it doesn’t take much leaning to push out nails. I don’t know why the person who built the fence didn’t put the boards on the inside but Valentine has been known to snap boards in half, too. But for all of his brute strength and fence mischief, he’s never escaped after knocking boards down and this time he was far away from the other horses as if to disassociate himself with the escapees.
So I grabbed a bucket with some feed and Mikki grabbed a halter and lead rope and we headed up to coax the horses back onto the correct side of the fence. Mikki headed for Cash first because of that last incident where we chased him through the woods for four hours. He started to walk away but Mikki was able to get the lead rope around his neck, after which he was compliant. Next, I tempted Moonshine with some feed but with a mouth full of yummy green grass, she turned and walked away. Romeo, who lives to eat (and love) came over and happily snarfled the feed without competition. That is, until Moonshine noticed. Once she knew someone else wanted it, she wanted it too and I was able to walk them over the fence again. We led them all to the barn and fed them their evening rations while we went about fixing the fence.
Wooden fences are nice but they require a lot of upkeep. Ours is aging and in need of new paint. Several of the boards are warped and should probably be replaced. Each time this kind of thing has happened (the horses rarely escape but board do occasionally come down), we replace the boards using screws instead of nails. This time we did that and added some extra braces over where the boards meet at the posts.
So that brings us to electric fences. We could go cheap and get the basic electric livestock wire or we could spend a little more and go for something like Electrobraid. We intend to replace the barbed wire with something like Electrobraid so provided the system is expandable, perhaps that’s the way we’ll go. I still like the look of the wooden fence, so we’d probably use it on the inside to keep the horses off of the fence. And because wiring to our breaker box would be difficult, solar is probably our best power source choice.
Have you caught your horses on the wrong side of the fence? Are any of you using Electrobraid or some other electric fence?`
This just makes me sick. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering slaughtering thousands of horses because of budget problems. Why should an animal that was designed to live without human interaction be killed because our economy has slowed? It’s hard to not react emotionally to this story. So we round up horses that run free and wild, hold them captive and then because there aren’t enough buyers for them, we kill them. For our own convenience, really. Disgusting. And I don’t buy the “overcrowding” argument. It’s estimated there are 25,000 wild mustangs in the U.S., some of which are on protected Indian land. Have any of you ever seen a wild horse in the wild? I’ve seen about four. For those of you who have traveled anywhere out west you’re sure to remember the immense distance from rest stop to rest stop, with nary a building in between. I’ve traveled the great American west and can tell you there is no shortage of uninhabited land. The map below illustrates this nicely. All of the areas in yellow are BLM land:
Source: Larry Swanson, O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, U. of Montana
I understand how overcrowding is bad for the animals. But what about the millions of cattle grazing on the same land. Ah, that’s the point now isn’t it? It all comes down to money (Don’t misunderstand me – I’m not against ranching or cattle). And what about the wild west before civilization? What kept the herds from becoming overcrowded?
I’m sure I’m over-simplifying the issue but I just hate to see good animals being killed. It’s been said before but in a way these wild mustangs represent our own desire to be free and keep alive the romantic notion of adventure and the American wild west. Perhaps there’s a parallel between what appears to be the government’s desire to curtail both.
I’d like to hear your comments on the issue. I promise to try and be as objective as possible. And if anyone has any suggestions on how to get involved, feel free to suggest them.
Source article:
U.S. may slaughter thousands of horses
Arizona Republic, 081508
Mikki and I got our first pole bending lessons last night and we even got the Kid back on a horse, briefly. Horse friends invited us over to try pole bending and it’s something Mikki has been wanting to try on Cash anyway. Even though Cash is a gaited horse (Tennessee Walking Horse), we think he might be good in the poles, especially since we’re sticking to small local events. If we win something, great, but we like to have fun, too. Trying to hel the Kid get over his fear of horses, we saddled him up on our most trained and calm horse, Romeo and made sure the stirrups were at the right height and headed out. I used a bit and reins so he could practice holding the reins while balancing on a saddle but I walked Romeo using a lead rope. The Kid was a nervous wreck since his last ride ended with him on the ground.
Mikki rode Cash, who seemed easy to spook tonight. That’s unusual for him because he’s normally very calm and sure. At first he didn’t like the poles and then something in the woods made him nervous. Eventually he settled down and did pretty well walking the poles. Hey, you’ve got to start somewhere! I hopped on Romeo and did the same. Romeo is an old pro at the poles so it wasn’t hard, though he was distracted by a hot little mare named River who was also trying the poles last night. And since I forgot my spurs, we ended up not going very fast. Romeo needs a little encouragement from at least bumper spurs. We ended up staying late and riding home in the dark, which was thankfully uneventful.
I can’t wait to try it again! Any of you guys run the poles?
BTW, I added a “Barrels and Poles” category.
A very handsome horse caught our eye the other day (no, not as a prospective addition to our herd – we’ve reached our limit) – a big, muscled, Quarter Horse stallion. He was something else. Bill wondered why he wasn’t gelded, and if he might be used as a stud someday. I told him that the owner might go ahead and geld him, because he comes from the “Impressive” line. Bill, naturally, was confused by that: “Well, if he’s from an impressive line, why wouldn’t you breed him?” But unfortunately, it’s not an impressive line, it’s the Impressive line, as in “Impressive,” AQHA stallion and halter champion, famous for siring 2,250 foals. He is also considered to be the beginning of a bloodline carrying a debilitating and often fatal genetic mutation known as HYPP, for Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis. Sounds scary, huh? It really is.
I had to look up “hyperkalemic.” “Hyperkalemia” is an abnormally high concentration of potassium in the blood. This condition is caused in HYPP horses because their potassium regulation system is messed up. The controls get out of whack every once in a while (“periodically”) and cause a big surge of potassium. This causes the “paralysis” part of the name: potassium controls the voltage currents in muscle cells, so the potassium influx is sort of a “power surge” like the kind that can fry your electronics. The horse loses muscle control to some degree; the severity varies quite a bit, from little twitches to a fatal heart attack (the heart is a muscle too). Scary enough for you?
There are a few important things to know about HYPP. One is, it’s a genetic defect, so your horse cannot “catch” it; they are born with it. Also, the gene is a dominant one – only one parent has to carry the gene for it to be passed on to the offspring. Horses can have HYPP and show no signs of it; only a DNA test can tell whether your horse has it or not. As I said, HYPP is believed to have come from the Impressive line (the most recent count of his living descendants was 55,000 in 2003), so it’s most common in Quarter Horses, but is also found in the closely-related Paint Horse and Appaloosa lines, and of course can be found in other breeds if they have been cross-bred to Quarter Horses.
HYPP can be manageable, depending on the severity. Since it is a potassium issue, diet is very important. Also, stress can trigger an episode, so the horse’s environment and lifestyle are important factors. There are also medications that can ease symptoms and help prevent episodes.
A critical thing to consider if you or someone you know has an HYPP horse is that an attack can occur at any time, including when you are riding the horse. Any rider should be very experienced and always alert for signs, because your horse could literally collapse underneath you.
Now for the controversial stuff. How can HYPP be prevented or even wiped out? Obviously, since it’s an issue of genetics, if HYPP-positive horses don’t breed, the mutation can’t be passed on. That sounds simple, but while the downsides of HYPP are scary, the flip side of the Impressive line is that the horses bred from that line are highly muscled, very strong, show-winning horses. That’s how Impressive came to sire 2,250 foals – he was, indeed, impressive. So there will always be breeders willing to take that gamble for a desirably conformed horse. For now, the only control to prevent HYPP-positive foals is that when a horse is registered with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), its HYPP status is included in that registration. Any potential breeder will know if the horse is a risk or not.
Well, there’s my very unprofessional, Internet-educated opinion of Impressive and HYPP. If this issue might affect you, I encourage you to do your own research. I, for one, may look into having Romeo (Appaloosa) and perhaps even Moonshine (part Quarter Horse) tested. Even though they surely would have shown signs by now, my web research has once again made me paranoid.
Romeo participated in a youth rodeo this past weekend and placed 1st, 2nd and 4th in a few competitions. The competition was pretty good but in the end Romeo and his rider were apparently better in the mud (it rained one day). Of course the ribbons go with the rider but we’re proud of both the rider and our appaloosa. It’s neat having a horse already trained for barrels and poles. Now we just need to train his new rider (I’m working on it)!
I went one of the two rodeo nights and snapped some pictures but since the competitions happened after dark and I was using a long lense on my camera, most of the pictures came out too blurry. (BTW, the picture above is just one I snapped at the event. That’s not Romeo. He doesn’t do roping…yet)
Okay, so how many of you do the rodeo shows or barrels or pole bending? If not, do you want to? I haven’t seen any “gymkana” events here in east Tennessee but I know Laura out in Colorado has been active in that this year. She’s even been on a cattle drive!
Fresh off of Mikki’s post yesterday about riding with fireflies, the August 2008 issue of Equus magazine arrived in the mail yesterday with an interesting article about horse night vision. In “When night falls” on page 17, Christine Barakat explains that horses are capable of seeing just as well in moonlight as they can during the day, allowing them to explore and play all night long. And while we usually assume they sleep at night, horses don’t always sleep when it’s dark like we do. Although Ms. Barakat offers no source for her information, it’s an interesting suggestion. I’ve heard our horses galloping at night and they have large eyes so I guess it makes sense. Even so, I don’t know how much riding I want to do at night. I’m the driver and I can’t see very well in the dark.
I finally did it! I rode with fireflies!
We tried to go riding after work last night, but as usual the tacking-up process took longer than it should. We had tack changes to make – different saddles on different horses requiring swapping out cinches, etc. – so it got kinda late. We had just tried my Henry Miller saddle on Romeo (it fits!) when Dayle & Katy came over with Dayle’s friend Christy on Dayle’s pony River. Then we sort of had to go. Christy has Paso Finos and expressed an interest in riding Valentine, so I saddled him up for her – with my Henry Miller saddle, since it’s the only one that fits big ol’ Valentine. Dayle said I could ride River, but no one was saddled up for Bill, so he told us to just go without him. 🙁 Poor Bill.
We rode over to Dayle’s house, around her arena, around her pasture, then it was getting dark. Valentine isn’t crazy about dusk, so we had to head on back to my house. Dayle and Christy were kind enough to escort me back.
Side note time: We haven’t mentioned this before, but I’m sure it will come up again so I’d better fill you in. We often ride at our friend Shari’s property. She lives very close by, as the crow flies, but getting to her property involves a ride down our road to a busy road to another busy, twisty, narrow road – all on slippery asphalt. None of us are crazy about that ride, including the horses. We found a partial trail behind Dayle’s property (she lives across the street from Shari) that we thought might go through to the end of our dead-end street. We cleared it as far as their property line went and discovered that it ended up at the property of another neighbor, so we approached him about making a very narrow, rough trail to the road. He was kind enough to let us do it…and it turns out that he has a four-wheeler, his property adjoins ours at the pasture, and he started making a trail on his property and would like to join it to ours (we have about 3 acres of uncleared woods next to the pasture). So not only did we get a shorter, safer trail to Shari’s and Dayle’s properties, but we have a new circuit of trails in the works right next to our house (and we have a better relationship with our neighbor). It turned out really well.
Anyway, so the ride back to our house is partly through the woods, and there were fireflies! Valentine was just fine going through the woods at dusk – at least until Bill, who was worried about me coming home alone in the dark with Valentine, popped up on the trail in front of him and spooked him!
It was very cool and I’d like to get all our horses okay with riding then, so we can enjoy that experience more often. I highly recommend it, but do be careful. As most of you who commented on the last post noted, it’s a rare horse that is okay with heading out into the wild after dark.
We’ve been very horse-busy these past few weeks. I don’t know if a day went by without us spending time with our horses or going somewhere “horsey”. This weekend we went to a local horse show and watched our new horse, Romeo, compete in the barrels. He came in second in one class so we’re very proud of him and his rider (Dangerous D). I can’t wait to barrel race! I managed to capture a few cool photos at the event. It was VERY hot and humid but my camera appreciated the extra light. Normally these events are in the evening or after dark and it’s hard to get good photos from a distance.
The photo below is one of several where I caught all four hooves off of the ground. This reminded me of a controversy 150 years ago where people wondered whether or not all four horse hooves are ever in the air at the same time. It happens so fast, the human eye can’t tell without some technological assistance. In the late 1800’s, a photographer named Eadweard Muybridge rigged up a series or cameras and tripwires to capture a horse at gallop in sequence. The result was the closest thing to a movie ever produced at that time. I’m sure some money was wagered and won by some because Muybridge’s photos prooved there are times with all four hooves are in the air. Below is one of my photos followed by a still shot from a Muybridge sequence. If you click the title of this post, it will take you to a page that shows the sequence in motion. It’s 566k so I didn’t want to clog up our front page. Incidentally, the sequence in motion is one of the very earliest “movies” ever created. He produced several.
The still version is above. View this full post to see the animated version.
I was searching the Internet a while back for something, and I came across an artist y’all will really enjoy. Her name is Mary Ann Kennedy, and she’s right here in Tennessee. She is a horse person like we want to be horse people – she lives and breathes horses. And she writes music about horses – good music. They aren’t the kind of songs you listen to and think, “That’s pretty, but what does it mean?” These songs celebrate the relationship between humans and horses in a very real way – some are funny (“Cleanin’ Stalls”); some are poignant (“Horses in Heaven”); all are true to life. Our current favorite is “Green on Green.” It pretty much describes Bill’s relationship to Moonshine:
“Green on green makes black and blue
I wouldn’t ride that horse if I were you…
Today you might get off scot free
But chances are eventually
He’ll go up and you’ll come down
That’s when you’ll understand this song…”
Yep, a green horse and a green rider, bad combination! We also like “Jack Russell” – we have 3 of those little monsters. There’s also “Hayin’ Time,” “Horsin’ Around,” and a beautiful song called “Fireflies” that makes me want to go riding in the dark this summer.
Those songs are from her CD “Hoofbeats, Heartbeats and Wings” from 2005. She just came out with a new CD: “The Rhythm of the Ride.”
We just got it, but there are some great songs on it too. The title song is great, and I really like “Heart in Your Hands” – it’s a great reminder of the responsibility that goes along with loving our four-legged friends.
If you have a CD player in your barn, there’s nothing better to listen to while grooming your horses, taking care of your tack or, yes, cleanin’ stalls.
Song samples in previous versions of this post were used with permission
