Today was the second WGHA Hunter Pace. Since we sold Calli, and Vicki didn’t handle the distance very well last time, this one was me (Rob) on King and Alex on Dakota. We did the 10.3 miles in 2:10. That was good enough for me to get 2nd in the Trailblazer division and Alex to get 1st in the Junior division.
Alex on Dakota at WGHA Hunter Pace #2
Alex on Dakota at WGHA Hunter Pace #2
Alex on Dakota at WGHA Hunter Pace #2
Alex on Dakota at WGHA Hunter Pace #2
Selfie on King at WGHA Hunter Pace #2
Alex got to choose his prize for winning the Junior division; he chose a new chair. Once he got home, he immediately set it up in the yard and shared the umbrella space with Amanda.
Alex sharing his new chair with Amanda. He chose the chair as his prize for winning 1st in the Junior division at WGHA Hunter Pace #2.
Alex sharing his new chair with Amanda. He chose the chair as his prize for winning 1st in the Junior division at WGHA Hunter Pace #2.
It was an exhausting weekend as we kicked off the 2014 fair season with the North Stonington Fair.
Thursday, 8 rabbits reported for show duty and spent the weekend looking pretty for the masses.
Friday, Anna and the kids spent the day washing goats, washing horses, and Anna was up past midnight braiding manes. Saturday morning, we loaded the trailer and headed to the horse show.
Amanda rode on Huey in the lead line class.
Jack, one of Anna’s students, also rode lead line on Devil. Vicki rode Devil in the walk-trot classes along with her best friend, Alexis, who was on Huey. Alexis actually beat Vicki for the walk-trot championship (in her first show ever). It does Vicki good to get taken down a peg every now and then. Alex has no interest in the ride around the arena classes, however, he was keen to ride in the Gymkhana classes. He did the mounted games at the 4-H show in May with Dakota, so we let him do it again, only this time, we let him canter Dakota. He did come close to the fastest times, but he maintained control and had fun doing it. He even decided to add-on a 1 walk-trot-canter class for the day.
Alex, Alexis, and Vicki on their mounts, getting a pre-ride brief from their instructor (Anna)
Alexis and Huey
Alexis on Huey
Vicki on Devil
Alex on Dakota
Alex on Dakota
Alexis won Walk-Trot champion and Vicki got Reserve
Vicki loves Devil
After the horse show, the kids put on their new Barnyard Buddies 4-H shirts to walk around a few minutes, but needed a food and drink break. Ruth is another one of Anna’s students who came along for the day to watch Amanda, but seemed to get bitten by the show bug and is talking about getting more serious in her plans with King.
Sunday was the goat show. We had 11 goats with 5 kids (Alex, Vicki, Amanda, Alexis, and Selena) our herd. Amanda got to show Sprout in Pee-Wee showmanship and the Pet class. Another long day, but everyone had a good time and Alex is actually starting to get more into the goats. Sawyer Farm’s Onyx won Best Jr Lamancha and Sawyer Farm’s Sequoia won best Jr Recorded Grade.
Amanda with Sprout.
Amanda with Sprout.
Amanda with Sprout.
Amanda with Sprout.
Amanda with Sprout.
Alex with Tang
Alex with Tang
Alex with Tang
Selena with Saffron
Salena with Saffron
Alex with Poco
Vicki with Tang
Alexis with Willow
Throughout the afternoon, WCTY was doing karaoke next to the goat show, and the kids were constantly on stage giving it a try. Amanda and her friend Lily spent almost all afternoon on stage.
Sometimes, it takes a glimpse into what someone else is dealing with in their life, to make you understand, it’s not as bad as you think in your own life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for what we have. The family is healthy, we have a place to live, and a stable income. But some things, like finding out you will never get another promotion, can be distracting and upsetting. But that’s not really all bad. Especially compared to others we know.
Like my cousin Cliff Powell and his wife Tamika. Less than 3 weeks ago, they were blindsided with the news that Tamika has a serious tumor in her chest. They have 4 kids, the oldest of which is only 14. Tamika started Chemo today.
Our a client/friend that I just found out had a brain tumor removed earlier this month.
Or a long time family friend combating stage 4 cancer.
Or a family watching a loved one slip away through Alzheimer’s.
The trials we face in life a hard within our own world. But others are dealing with so much more, that sometimes it requires a reality check. Whatever it is, it’s not as bad as you think. This too, shall pass.
Right before making this post, I saw someone had posted this song on FB. Check it out.
This morning Vicki and I headed out on a trail ride. Vicki was excited because Alex had given her permission to ride Dakota. I could tell she was a little apprehensive when she was grooming Dakota and said: “Mom, he’s big”. I rode King. He was as always great. We trotted and cantered down the roads of Pachaug and Vicki said she loved the pony. On the way home Dakota suddenly started head tossing and acting like he was going to run off with Vicki. She was freaking out. Dakota was upset by her freaking out and the bugs that were attacking his sweaty body. We stopped and calmed down and while Vicki was still a bit worried coming home, all went well. Note to self, Vicki does best trail riding for about an hour, then she is toast. Maybe hunter paces will have to wait a year or two for her.
But, we had a good time and covered 6-7 miles in an hour and a half. Pretty good work out. Now I just need me some bug shields.
Vicki came home from school this week with one of her assignments. They had to create word problems for math. Is it obvious she lives on a farm and is completely animal focused? I think we need to work on logical arguments, but she seems to understand 3rd grade math.
Today Alex, Vicki, Anna, and I (Rob) rode in our first family hunter pace. It was put on by the West Greenwich Horseman’s Association (WGHA) at Arcadia in RI. For those not familiar with hunter pacing, it is a long trail ride with optional jumps along the way. This one had 3 different divisions: Hunters (fastest group with lots of cantering), Hilltoppers (walk/trot with some cantering), and Trailblazers (walk/trot). We entered Trailblazers, but did some cantering early on with lots of walking towards the end.
Hunter paces
The ride was 11.5 miles long and it took us 3:15. Here are the top 10 things we learned on our first hunter pace.
10. Make sure all the bridles loaded in the trailer have reins (luckily a friend/trimming client lived across the street and we were able to borrow some).
9. Leather braided roping reins stretch a lot when Calli pulls hard. They now reside in the trash.
8. Dakota is a ROCK STAR!
7. Alex is well conditioned for the time/distance.
6. Vicki is not well conditioned for the time/distance.
5. Vicki will get really tired and be ready to give up about 6.5 miles into the ride.
4. Vicki doesn’t like GU gels and won’t eat them to get her some nutrition.
3. Calli doesn’t like horses with bells trotting up behind her.
2. Easily accessible snacks are needed for Vicki (and Anna) on a long trail ride.
1. Despite over an hour of melting down, getting upset with her pony, and wanting to quit (in the middle of the woods), after some lunch and sugar, Vicki can start planning for the next hunter pace.
Alex and Vicki got ribbons for 5th place in the junior division. Ribbons always make a kid happy. The next Hunter Pace is in July. Vicki plans to do more 2+ hour trail rides to get ready.
As a trimmer, I see a lot of hooves. Sometimes, new clients have horses with hooves in great shape being transferred from another farrier or trimmer for whatever reason. Sometimes, hooves are overdue because money has been tight, previous farrier didn’t show up a few times, or just life happened and the hooves got overdue. But when does overdue become neglect?
Earlier today, I got a call from someone I have worked with before. She isn’t a regular client and uses a local farrier to keep her horses in shoes. However, her farrier hasn’t been available and she needed help. She had recently been looking for a companion pony. In the course of her search, she went to see one particular pony that was a little older (maybe mid twenties). When she arrived, she was basically told the owner planned to put the pony down if no one took it. The hooves were in serious disrepair. She decided to load up the pony and take it home. It needed everything – hoof care, vaccinations, feed, etc.
I didn’t see the hooves when she first got the pony. Apparently, the hooves were so overgrown, they had wrapped OVER the shoes on the front hooves. She had been using a rasp to slowly work at exposing the shoes so they could be pulled. This morning, discovered one shoe had finally come off and she wasn’t sure about what to do with the hooves from there. I was passing within a mile of her farm today anyways so I stopped to take a look. Note she has only had this pony a short time. The pictures show significant neglect by the previous owner.
Left front before trim
Right front before trim. I snapped a photo of the bottom of this hoof, but it didn’t turn out. This hoof still had a shoe with pad on it. The shoe was mounted backwards, which is usually a sign the previous farrier was treating founder.
Since the current owner rescued this pony and had already paid to have it vetted, I did the trim pro-bono. I don’t think she is going to be keeping the pony long term as it doesn’t get along with the intended companion, however, I’m sure it will get hoof care while she has it.
Sunday May 11 2014 was Mother’s Day. I spent the day at the Pony Club games rally with my kids. Well, sort of, because parents aren’t allowed in the horse management area. We arrived at 7.30 ish. That meant we left home around 6.45. The rally was at Mitchell farm in Salem, CT. We helped the kids set up the pop up tent and chairs for the day, left a cooler of food, a cooler of water, and helped get their tack room stuff and horse management kits. Their C rated pony club advisor for the day was Grace Perkins who volunteered (!!!) to head up the walk trot grasshopper games team Pony Pals. 5 kids 10 and under, and five ponies for a full day, ending with awards at 6 pm. After the briefing at 8.30 parents were banned from the horse area. The kids had jog outs to check for soundness and later a formal inspection for turn out of horse and rider. There were horse management judges asking questions and doing inspections. Then they played games against the other grasshopper team ” the runaways”. Throughout the day they killed dead time around the trailer, reading, eating and playing games ( board games). At six pm the day concluded with awards. The Pony Pals came home with double blue ribbons, one for horse management and one for the riding portion. They were all exhausted. Rob volunteered for 4 hours on the field helping out with the games play. I watched Amanda and spent money at the food truck, while watching the games play and chatting with other parents. Amanda fell asleep in the afternoon.
Overall it was a good Mother’s day with great weather.
When someone sees the sign on the side of my car advertising “Natural Hoof Care” they ask me what that means. For the average person, I explain “You know how a farrier puts shoes on a horse? I am a barefoot trimmer and specialize in un-shoeing a horse.” I guess it’s time to change my answer.
According to Wikipedia, afarrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses’hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith‘s skills (fabricating, adapting, and adjusting metal shoes) with some veterinarian‘s skills (knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the lower limb) to care for horses’ feet.
Before anyone gets too upset, let me explain. I firmly believe that horses should be barefoot. I have also previously stated I would not turn to shoes unless I met a horse I was convinced couldn’t be helped without them. Well, I’ve met that horse. At the same time, I have been closely following the development and release of the Easy Shoe from Easy Care. It is similar to the Epona that some of you may have heard of before. This is essentially a plastic shoe that is designed to be glued or nailed on. At this point, I am only planning to offer Easy Shoes as a glue on option. Specifically, I plan to use the Easy Shoe Performance and the Easy Shoe Sport. Here is a good article comparing Easy Shoes and Boots http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/bootlegging/easyboots-or-easyshoes-yes
So why would I make this change? There are a number of scenarios when people choose to shoe a horse instead of boot a horse. In years past, I showed King in dressage at Falls Creek Farm. Boots are not allowed in dressage and if I rode him on the gravel roads between the warm up arena and show ring, he would occasionally take those wincing steps. His feet couldn’t handle the gravel, which is why he gets boots on the trails. Easy shoes solve that issue. Another example is the horse who needs 24/7 protection due to laminitis or founder recovery, but destroys the boots out of boredom.
The initial reports are that these shoes last a full 6 weeks when glued on correctly and still allow a hoof to function as it should. Because this isn’t a completely rigid metal shoe nailed to the hoof, it still allows the hoof to flex. Since I will only be gluing the shoes, if you are interested, you must have a clean, dry area for me to work on the hooves. At my farm, that means I will be shoeing in the garage since our barn floor is dirt.
As I have stated before, I won’t sell something I haven’t used. So, as soon as my first order of shoes arrive, I’ll be gluing up the hooves of King and Calli. Glue on shoes will be $65 plus the cost of the trim. If you are interested in having shoes glued on the next time I come out, please email me so I can make sure I will have shoes in the correct size and plan for the time required.
As a child I loved to read. I would go to the library and come home with lots of books on the newest topic of interest, or some novels to read. I spent many nights up late reading. Then I would sleep late. I am still a night owl and I am trying to get back into pleasure reading but I am so darn tired I always fall asleep when trying to read at night.
Today I took my kids down to the library. They love to go and immediately disappear in search of their next read. Alex goes upstairs to the young adult section because he’s read most of what interests him downstairs in the juvenile section. Vicki goes off in search of her next horse book or Nancy Drew. Amanda picks out two books quickly and then plays quietly. The library volunteers and the youth librarian recognizes us. In a town with a school the size of Griswold’s this is pretty sad. We go once a week on average, because my kids read a lot. Alex devours books. Vicki will not go to bed most nights without finishing the book she is reading. Amanda insists on two stories before bed. I strongly believe that video games and TV are rotting our children’s brains. Alex reports that is all the boys in his class talk about.
So why do you wonder do I not buy a kindle or nook instead of constantly going to the library? Well we had a tablet with a Kindle reader on it and Alex was a fan, but the kids broke the screen, and we refuse to replace it until they’ve earned the money back. I just don’t want their eyes staring at a screen for hours. The feel of a real book and the library experience is important. The unusual quiet that enters the house after a library trip is priceless.
