It has been a rainy day, and Mack loves it! He loves to find puddles to splash in and mud to roll in. The only good part is he is tired when he finally comes in.
Why we use (and sell) Zephyr’s Garden Products
For many years, Anna and I have owned horses together. We have used or investigated many different options for horse health over the year. Over the past year, a few things have occurred in our lives and on our farm that made us step back and reconsider the products we used on our animals. In the process, we became fans of and advocates for Zephyr’s Garden equine products. Here is why.
In 2011, we decided to start raising meat products on the farm for our family. This decision was based on health concerns about commercial food supply chains, such as uncontrolled use of antibiotics in meat animals. There are a lot of documentaries and articles about the food supplies in the US, and the more we learned, the more concerned we became. Now, over 90% of the meat we consume at our house was raised by us, harvest wild game, or raised by another local, small farm. This also led us to start raising dairy goats for the milk supply. We switched the family to raw goat milk and haven’t regretted it at all. Since we were now eating meat from our farm, and drinking milk from our animals, we were concerned about chemical usage on the farm and the impact on our own meat/milk supply. Additionally, our garden is next to the horse area and we stopped using all chemicals in our garden.
In late April 2012, we discovered a mass on Devil (Vicki’s pony). It was cancer and you can read the whole story about the surgery here. While we don’t know what specifically caused it, the consideration about chemically based fly sprays became very important to us. Would you spray your own body with the chemical fly sprays every day? We did research and found the Zephyr’s Garden products to be appealing.
Finally, as a barefoot horse trimmer, I frequently encountered horses with thrush problems. Previously, my only recommended solutions were chemically based, and usually contained stains and chemicals that I didn’t really want to get on my own hands. Then, I had a client with a horse who had bad thrush. 4 weeks later, the thrush was gone, and she made no changes in husbandry or diet. All she did was clean the hooves and apply the Zephyr’s Garden Thrush and Hoof Fungus Spray. I was sold and immediately purchase some products for our farm.
For the rest of the summer, we used only the Zephyr’s Garden fly spray, and it worked. Anna and I have been thrilled with the products. They are non-toxic, we don’t worry about the kids handling the spray bottles, and THEY WORK! Also, the customer service is excellent – if you send an email, you will get a prompt response from Georgette, the owner of the company. As a small business, I like to support other small businesses whenever possible, especially if the PRODUCT WORKS! In fact, we were so frequently telling everyone about how happy we were, we decided to become a local dealer for the products. We don’t have plans to open a tack shop, but we support what we believe in, and in this case, it just makes sense to help spread the word.
You can view our Equine Products page to see what other products we fully support.
Now selling Equine (and Caprine) Products!
Everyone knows I get very passionate about farming in general, but horses in particular. As my trimming business has been increasing, I find myself constantly talking about the products we like best on our own farm. So, after some discussion, Anna and I have decided to start selling some equine products. The good news is, some of these double as great Caprine (goat) products too! We are now dealers for Easy Care Inc horse hoof boots, Zephyr’s Garden topical horse and dog products, and NibbleNet hay slow feeders. All of these products are items we use on our own farm and can attest to the quality and value. We absolutely love the Zephyr’s Garden products because they are non-toxic, so they are safe for the horses, kids, and goats! Check out our Equine Products page for details!
Kid quote of the day
Vicki was just standing by the table, learning to sow a little dress. Out of the blue, she says, “Dad, I know you are a farmer and a barefoot horse trimmer. What else are you?”
I responded, “I’m in the Navy.”
She said “Oh yeah.”
Then I asked, “What is Mom?”
She responded, “A farmer. And a Facebooker.”
Are you crazy?
Some of you probably think that 3 kids, 1 puppy, 2 barn cats, 4 horses, 11 goats, 50ish rabbits, 75ish chickens, and 12 turkeys is a little bit crazy. We would agree. It is a little bit crazy. But it’s fun! Unfortunately, we are absolutely nuts, so stay tuned for other possible announcements in the near future.
BTW- while having a farm can be stressful, is definitely a lot of work, and doesn’t really have a good profit margin, it’s fun. And we love it.
Fresh peppers!
As the weather is cooling off, the garden harvest is slowing down. Yesterday afternoon, Anna assigned Alex and Vicki to pick bell peppers and tomatoes. The peppers looked so good, that I went ahead and ate one while they were working. Of course, Amanda decided she needed to eat one too, but she wanted a purple bell pepper.
Raw Milk Reality – understanding statistics
93% of all statistics are either made up or used in a way that misrepresents the data. Think about that for a second.
Opponents of raw milk almost always bank on the argument of public safety and pasteurization is needed to keep us safe. However, if you ever actually take the time to look at all the evidence yourself, instead of relying on our media’s headlines, you will begin to understand the actual risk you assume when consuming raw milk. I don’t want to convert everyone to raw milk, but I think people should recognize how much the mainstream media misrepresents scientific data.
Luckily, someone has already done an independent review of the data and added perspective to the statistics. http://chriskresser.com/raw-milk-reality-is-raw-milk-dangerous
Get your boots here!
Rob is now an Easy Care Hoof Boot dealer! For horses that are making the transition from shoes to barefoot, boots are a critical piece of equipment to make the transition comfortable for the horse. Some people argue, “If your horse needs boots, it should have shoes.” I disagree. Nail holes in the hoof wall damage the laminae of the hoof, and can allow bacteria place to cause significant problems. Just take a look at a horse with shoes. Many have problems with cracking and chipping in the area around the nail holes. Also, shoes on a hoof prevent the hoof from expanding and contracting. Finally, most horse owners would agree that the horse really only needs the shoes for riding. Does it make sense to put a piece of steel on the hoof for a few hours of need a week?
How about cost – how much is each visit from the farrier? I bet it’s a LOT more than a visit from a barefoot specialist. Give me a call to find out how much you could save. The cost of boots is usually recovered in less than 2 trim cycles AND those boots will last years. We are still using some Easy Boot Epics that we bought in 2005!
While there are many different brands of hoof boots on the market, I decided to carry Easy Boots because of my personal experience with the product over the past 7 years.
If you are interested in purchasing Easy Boots for your horse, send me an email or give me a call! I will be placing my initial order of inventory very soon.
Ledyard Horse Show
Yesterday we took the kids to the Ledyard Fair Horse Show. They showed in four classes, three beginner walk-trot classes and one polebending class. The kids and ponies did well, each earning a red ribbon for second place, Vicki and Devil in walk-trot pleasure and Alex and Precious for walk-trot command. They enjoyed the polebending and both cantered their horses to the finish. They got four ribbons each and had a good time. The horse show was fast and prompt for a change and we were home by 1 pm. More pictures below.
That’s a relief!
As some of our close friends know, I have been in discussion with my detailer about my next orders. For the past few weeks, all indicators have been pointing to a move out of Groton. Luckily, this morning I got some good news – orders to Newport, RI. I don’t know the details of the job (and it doesn’t really matter), but it is something on staff at the War College (not a student). This is significant, because Newport is close enough that I can commute without having to move. Hopefully, I will be able to get a follow on job that allows us to continue to stay in the Groton area.
To say that we are relieved of some stress is an understatement. While setting up a farm to the extent we have carries risk, we have decided to live the life we want now, instead of dreaming about it for the future. Therefore, we will continue to farm. We will continue to fine tune our operation to balance what we want for our family while trying to develop some income for the farm.
Our goal remains, Rob retires from the Navy in 2019 to be a full-time barefoot trimmer and farmer. Hopefully, that will be in CT, which allows us to build the customer base. It’s good to have a goal.