Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Mark has moved from CT to Middletown, NY. He is now working at Blue Sky Polo. He brought with him, DB, Eva, Mudslide, Tequila and Trick. What a beautiful facility. The horses have acres of pasture, theres 3 polo fields, and Mark has a nice apartment. Since Zanita is still in Saratoga Springs, NY, this leaves me with only 3 horses and the pony. I had forgotten how easy it is to only have 4 horses. C'est Bon lives outside, so I only have 2 1/2 stalls to clean (Sage counts as half)! Not only do I have more time to ride, but I've also been able to work on my flower garden, and get the yard looking like something other than a disaster zone.

Can You Guess?

On May 12, 2010, yours truly participated in a Fun Show. This show is a yearly event held by the Barre Riding and Driving Club. This is the only Horse Show that I have participated-in, in many years. The only rule is that helmets must be worn. At the end of the day everyone gets a blue ribbon. Anything that is asked of the riders, does not have to be done, if the rider is not comfortable with the request. For example, in the Walk-Trot class, if the rider is not comfortable trotting, they don't need to trot. This is a great show for an inexperienced horse, or rider, or like myself, someone that can't ride well enough to enter "regular" horse shows. The original plan was for me to ride Fancy, and my grandson to ride Sage. My grandson opted-out the night before the show, but since Sage "jumped" onto the trailer, she also went to the show. Instead of the Leadline class, I would take her into the Pairs class, and Tom could walk her through the Versatility class. Fancy, Sage, and I were a "hit" in the Pairs class, and I managed to get through the "Jack Benny-over age 39 Walk Trot class. During the day, riders and horses were encouraged to practice the Versatility class. Fancy would not walk over the blue tarp, was afraid of the raincoat on the post, and hated the "bring the foam pool noodles from one barrel to another" test. Sage, being led by Tom, had no problem with any of the obstacles/tests, so it was decided to have Fancy follow Sage through the course. I always find it amusing that the terrible monsters a horse may encounter, are not so terrible when going home, or when another horse leads! It was a fun day for everyone, and the best part is that the show started at 10am and after clean-up, we were out of there by 2pm, which left me the entire afternoon to do my chores!

Dietary Specifications

Some people periodically like to rearrange their furniture, redo the bathroom, buy new curtains or paint their house a different color. I like to change horse feed. Don't worry, I do it gradually, so as not to make my horses sick! Trick and Eva have gone back to CT for the summer polo season, so there are only 3 elderly TBs, and an ancient pony at Stony Bridge Farm. Alcott and Sage lost weight over the winter. C'est Bon, who just came back from CT, also needs a few extra pounds. After the "Infamous Choke/Bone Chip" incident with Divine, I am trying to stay away from Poulin feeds. I still buy Poulin Forage Extender because they seem to be the only company in this area that make mini-bites. After attending a nutrition seminar, I decided to add beet pulp to my horses diets.Speedi-Beet has a beet pulp product that is very compacted, so that when water is added, it expands in about 10 minutes. Other brands of beet pulp take about 1/2 hour to expand. Wanting to get more info on this product, I contacted the company, and got immediate response with feeding suggestions for my horses. Next, I researched different grain companies that supply equine feeds to my local feed store Hardwick Farmers Co-op. This narrowed my choices to Poulin, Nutrena, Blue Seal and Triple Crown. I wanted something with a protein content of around 12%, fat content around 5, a high fiber content, and can be fed without hay-as a complete diet. The fiber content is important because my old guys have touble chewing hay, and as a result get little fiber in their diets. Maybe thats why they are always chewing on the trees! After taking into account the above criteria, I narrowed the "grain contestants" down to about 4 choices. Next, I contacted each of these feed companies with questions about their product, and feeding recommendations.Nutrena was prompt and thorough with their responses and help with my questions which was very impressive. The next criteria was price. Now, I know this shouldn't be a factor, but a few dollars saved on grain is a few more dollars towards hay, or in my case, veterinary expenses! Nutrena Triumph Complete costs $10.95 per 50lb bag, as compared with Blue Seal Sentinal Senior which costs $16.70. So, we are now feeding Nutrena grain---at least until the next time I decide I have nothing better to do than research equine feeds!

Just For Fun-Horse Terminology

Event Prospect=Big Fast Horse
Dressage Prospect=Big Slow Horse
Hack Prospect=Pretty Color
Sporting Prospect=Short Fast Horse
Camp Prospect-Fast Horse that can turn
Endurance Prospect=Fast Horse which will turn sometimes
Flashy=White Socks
Attractive=Bay
15.2=14.3
16.2=15.3
To a loving home=Expensive
To Show Home Only=Very Expensive
Needs Experienced Rider=Potentially Lethal
Elegant=Thin
In Good Condition=Foundered
Free Moving=Bolts
Quiet=Lame in both front legs
Dead Quiet=Lame in all 4 legs
Good in Traffic(Bombproof)=Lame all round,Deaf and Blind
Loves Kids=kicks and bites
Pony Type=small and Hairy
Arab type=Looks startled
TB type=Looks terrified
QH type=Fat
Warmblood type=big and hairy
Draft type=Big and exceedingly hairy
Easy to catch=very old
Must Sell=Wife left home and took kids
All offers Considered=I am in traction for 6 months
Reluctant to sell=Sale comes with a deed to the Golden Gate Bridge

Changing of the Guards

My work schedule changed for this week, so I had Monday off from work. I had planned to sleep, read, and play with the horses. I got an unexpected phone call from Mark. We talked a bit and decided it was time for Tequila and DB to go back to Shallowbrook. Vacation was over for Tequila, and it was time to find out if DB would be able to play polo again. In addition to these 2 mares, C'est Bon was going to also go along for the ride. Mark needs a beginner lesson horse, and wants to see how she works out. Trick and Eva would come back with me to MA, to get some rest & relaxation before the summer polo season.Mark was concerned that I would have to catch, wrap legs, load and trailer 3 horses, but I assurred him I could handle the job. If you have been reading my blogs, you know that things around here never go as planned.I won't go into details, but it was a LONG time between hanging up the phone, and driving out of the driveway. We safely arrived in CT. I helped Mark with a few things, horses were unloaded, they met Mudslide, and everyone seemed happy. Trick and Eva were loaded, and safely returned home. So, I didn't get any extra sleep, didn't read my book, but did get to play with horses, and visit with my son. Wow, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

Shavings Sale

Twice a year, Bay State Equine Rescuehas a Shavings Sale. They buy a tractor-trailer load of bagged shavings, sell the bags, and with the proceeds, are able to provide shavings for their rescue horses. I happen to like the brand they get, which consist of fine shavings. I don't waste as much, and it keeps my manure pile the size of a mountain. With bigger size shavings the manure pile is the size of a mountain range! This year the bags of shavings cost $5.40 each. Our local feed store Hardwick Farmers Exchange sells similar shavings for $6.10 per bag, so I would be saving .70 per bag. Multiply this by 50 bags, and the savings is $35. So, yesterday morning, I hook-up the horse trailer and head over to pick-up my bags of shavings. I arrive at the destination, shavings are loaded, and I go to get back into my truck. For some reason, I happen to look at the truck trailer connection, and realize I had forgotten to plug-in the brake/light plug. Not only had I driven the trailer without brakes and lights, but in the process of dragging on the ground, the plug had been broken, and the connections had worn down. After having a minor temper tantrum, and chastising myself, I decided to go over to Manns Trailer Sales and see, if by some miracle, they could fix/replace the plug, on a Saturday. Fortunately for me, they were able to make the repair, while I waited. They even had a TV in the waiting room, so I was able to watch the Animal Planet channel and learn all about Pekingese dogs! I bet you didn't know that these were once the dogs owned by Chinese royalty and the theft of one was punishable by death! Anyway, trailer is fixed, shavings are unloaded, and after the cost of the repair and the coffee and muffin I bought, I figured I was minus 35 cents. Well, at least it helped the rescue!

Happy Easter