High Point Driving Horse Champion 2013 Schooling Show Series

 

 

Cho-Cho Char-Lee

aka

Sleepylighthouse Farms Char-Lee(AMHR)

aka

Good Times Char-Lee(AMHA)

The Horse Show

Clipperblades $65; Halters and Leads $135; Misc. grooming supplies $30; Entry fees $70; Body clipping (for the horses) $100; Lunch $20; Gasoline $100; 5 blues, 1 red, 1 yellow, and a Reserve Champion----Priceless !!!!!

The New Fence

I have probably mentioned in previous posts the condition of our horse fencing. It is the Heinz 57 variety, consisting of roundpen panels, chain link, wood, electic wire and tape, and stone wall. We even have sections of  very dangerous stock panels, and a few feet of the equally dangerous barbed wire. For posts we had trees, metal posts and plastic step-in posts. The electric wire and tape sections have been broken and repaired so many times that I considered changing our farm name to Half-Ass Acres! In additon to the fencing, the solar charger had been dropped, broken, and was taped together with Duct Tape. What did people ever do before Duct tape! Needless to say, I was also spending a lot of time chasing horses down the road, or searching through our back woods. One of  the many projects I had planned for this year was to take down all the missmatched junk fencing, replace all the step-in posts with metal posts (yes, they have the yellow plastic safety caps), run 2-1 inch wide strands of electic tape, and buy a new solar charger. Fortunately my son-in-law had some down time at work so he and his father, were able to spend 2 entire days tackling this enormous job. In total they put up 2/3 mile of tape, and pounded in at leat 30 posts. We did still use many trees for some of the insulators. The new fencing looks wonderful, the solar charger is providing a good ZAP, and the horses aren't escaping so long as I don't leave the gate open!

Spring has Sprung and the Bees are Buzzing

After a long, aren't they all, winter, it is so nice to get some over 50 degree weather.This weather makes me want to forget about housework and go outside to "play" in the barn, yard, and most importantly spend time with the horses. My definition of spending time with and playing with the horses is doing anything related to my horses. It can be cleaning out the horse trailer, or doing an inventory of the items in my 3 tack trunks. It never ceases to amaze me all the stuff that has been acquired for the horses. Every horse needs his own "everything, from bucket to blanket. Due to the years that Mark was here with his horses, and the fact that he still sometimes stops here for a couple of days enroute to and from South Carolina,  I keep extras of just about everything that might be needed for his 6 TB polo horses.  Buckets, blankets, halters, stock tanks, extra fencing, fly sheets, saddles and  lead ropes. Now that there are 3 minis living on the farm, I have big and little sizes of everything. Special stall doors were built and installed so that Char-Lee, Delilah, and Scooter can peer over the tops of  the doors. Is there anything cuter than 3 littles faces anxiously awaiting their feed in  the morning? All of this equipment adds up to a lot of stuff to keep track of, and care for, so I feel that a yearly inventory is important. Knowing what I have, and where it is stored saves not only time, but money. New fencing is being put around the paddocks, the barn needs painting, storm windows need  to be removed and we are building a new run-in shelter this year. Of course, there is training, riding and driving of the horses. So much to do and so little time, but I'd rather be "playing with the horses" than doing anything else in the world!

Happy Spring

According to the calender, Spring starts on March 20th. In Oakham, MA it certainly doesn't feel like Spring. The morning temperature has been in the 20's, there is still snow on the ground, and ice on the water buckets if I don't keep them plugged into the water heaters. Worcester, which is 15 miles from us, was even declared "the snowiest city in the US for the 2012/2013 season. We had a warm spell a couple of weeks ago, at which time I was able to get a great photo of our current herd with some family members. So, in spite of the cold weather--HAPPY SPRING

"A" is for ?

" The Wrong Horse" by William Murray is an odyssey through the American horse racing scene. It is part observation, and part memoir. In the chapter entitled '"Venus on Horseback", Mr Murray describes his experience with his horse crazy daughter. He writes: " It took me a while to warm up to it, mainly because, like most love affairs, the romance proved to be expensive. Horses eat almost all of the time and not only hay, which is relatively cheap. They munch on grains and guzzle noxious elixirs guaranteed to make their coats shine and keep them frisky. And they need equipment--bedding, boots, breeches, bridles, brooms, buckets, bits, and endless items from other letters of the alphabet, none of them cheap"  I had some fun coming up with my own silly lists of horse related words using letters in the alphabet. A horse health alphabet might start with "A is for ailments, arthritis, abscess, allergy and ascarids. From a horse crazy girl, or horse crazy adult like myself, I think of words like "A" is for awesome; "B" is for beautiful; "C" is for cute; "D" is for dreamy; "E" is for exciting or elegant; "F" is for freedom; "G" is for gorgeous; "H" is for handsome; "I" is for intelligent; "J" is for joy; "K" is for kind; ect, ect.   Notice the difference? What is your horse alphabet? What does it say about you and your special relationship with your equine companion? 

Hot Stuff

It had come to my attention that someone with 4 legs has been chewing on the fencing in one of the paddocks. After watching carefully for a couple of days I saw that it was C'est Bonne. She is not chewing her stall down, but is limiting the behavior to the fencing. I had just picked up grain and supplies from the feed store, and did not want to drive there again just to buy something to paint on the fence boards to deter the chewing. What tastes awful??? Hot sauce--there was an unopened bottle in my kitchen cabinet. This was splashed on the tops of the chewed boards. It looks like something has been bleeding, especially on the snow below the boards, but it has worked. So for 99 cents I have saved the fencing--at least what I can easily see.

Huggable Equines

One of the things I love about New England is the change of the seasons. Following a very busy Spring, Summer and Fall, its nice to have some time-off. It also gives me a chance to catch-up on chores that have been put aside during what I would like to refer to as "Playing With the Horses" months. I have a chance to catch-up on reading, writing, cleaning, decluttering, ect. It is also a somewhat dangerous time, as all this free time lets me be on the computer looking at dangerous websites like Equine.com, Camelot Feedlot Horses, AC4H Broker Owned Horses, and the most dangerous site of all---Craigslist. I am without a loveable horse of my own, following the euthanasia of Fancy. There was the short length of time when I owned Rosa the Rearing Mare. Since my ERA (Equine Related Accident) I have become very fearful of horses and riding. Char-Lee has definately been a joy but for obvious reasons (he's 34" tall) I won't be riding him anytime soon !! In addition to my fear, my injured ankle does not bend, and is often very painfull. This makes it hard to mount and dismount a horse even with my 3 step mounting block. After careful soul searching, and talking to several people that have experience with driving horses/ponies, I have decided to give-up riding and learn to drive. I feel that a miniature horse that drives and is huggable would be perfect for my 57 year old body, mind and soul. What kind of description of a horse/pony is "huggable", and why? I need an equine companion that I can just spend time with brushing, grooming, and loving. Is this crazy? I think any of my readers that truely love horses; not just the riding, will understand what I am trying to say. So the search is on for the perfect mini or pony. Age is not important, and I can deal with some health issues, but he/she MUST BE HUGGABLE.