Horse Care and Feeding

Surprisingly enough many horse owners do not know how to properly feed their horses. Many very caring horse owners have thin horses come spring and its not because they don't feed its because they are feeding inadequately or improperly.
In an effort to support the education of horse owners I will be posting horse feeding info. I will most often be getting that info from Michigan State University's site. In addition I will be posting helpful tips and tricks to help you with work and fun around the barn.

Here are a couple links that can help you understand the importance of feed during winter.

http://cvm.msu.edu/alumni-friends/information-for-animal-owners/winter-energy-needs-in-horses

http://cvm.msu.edu/alumni-friends/information-for-animal-owners/equine-winter-starvation-syndrome/


My tip for the week is a green tip that can help with your energy bill and the enviroment.
One of the best things I ever did was put a rain gutter on my barn and channel that rain into a barrel. I use that water to water flowers I have planted at the barn. I use it to clean feed tubs and troughs. I even have one that I use to fill stall buckets at night.
This all started because I do not have a well at my barn and it is too far from the house to drag a hose. I have to haul water in dry season and winter but in spring summer and fall I usually have enough water for the things I mentioned . We do not have polution problems where I live so I dont mind giving this water to my horses if I lived someplace that had smog or pollution issues I would not want my horses drinking it but I would still use it on flowers and for cleaning
I found my barrel at the local feed store. We live in by the Cherry Capital of the World and so there are cherry packing plants and orchards. They have waste barrels that they have kept cherries packed in and often sell them instead of throwing them in the landfill. These barrels come with a screw on lid. .

Green time and Money Saving Water Barrel
Get a barrel take the lid off and under it is a flat piece of plastic that works as a gasket so that the cherries do not spill out. Take that flat plastic and drill 1" or larger holes in it. Then get a piece of screen material ,the type you use for a screen door, cut it to fit on top of the plastic piece between the screw on lid and the platic. This will make a filter for leaves and bugs and pine needles but it will allow the water from your downspout to pass into the barrel. I have an additional barrel that I purchase on Ebay it came with a plastic water spigot attatched at the bottom and an overflow pipe on the top. This one also came with a note saying pottable water but it has a plastic oder and I never water my horses from it, Although the cats do drink that water.
These barrels have been wonderful to have and they are very convenient. Even after I put a well in I will continue to keep them.

One word of caution:
It is a good idea to leave the lid screwed on when your not using it because small animals can and will get into the barrel and drown. Not a pretty site and it ruins the whole batch of water. Even your barn Cat might fall in and drown so be careful to replace the lid when your done.

Share Box

From time to time I plan to post some templates and crafty patterns I can share with you so you will be able to just click the link below and get a copy


Get your own Box.net widget and share anywhere!

The Hunt Is On

Today is opening day of firearm Deer season in Michigan. This time of year is almost a holiday in Northern Michigan. The men and some women seem to go crazy with the thought of getting in the woods and killing a buck. Most never make it into the woods due to a serious drunk the night before, and many never see a deer, but some do.
I and my honey both come from a long line of hunters. It is a big part of life for our families. His family usually hunts for a couple months in the fall. Heading West to Idaho, Colorado, Montana, and so on. His family makes it a tradition to go every year. That is their respite from the daily grind of owning their own business and from the constant influx of visitors to their home. My family has hunted West too but most often stay home to hunt, only hunting West occasionally as a vacation.
In our ageing process, my other half and I have both found that we love to have the meat and the break in the grocery bill but we hate the killing. Its a very mixed thing. We live very close to the bone with regards to our financial situation and so the meat is a great benefit. We have been fortunate in that the last few years not having to kill a deer ourselves. On several occasions someone has hit one with a car in front of our house and we were able to harvest that meat rather than let it go to waste. When this happens or he shoots a deer I always remember to thank the animal for its sacrifice and the nourishment its body will provide us. I guess my Native American blood has brought that to light for me.
This all does not seem very profound to some I am sure, but let me tell you a story about this that might give you an in-sight on the power that it has.

One evening a doe was hit in front of our house and the person that hit her with the car did not stop. We went out to see what needed to be done and were thankful to find she was dead and not out there suffering in pain.
Most of the time when they are hit by a passenger car there is of course some damage to the meat but sometimes very little. If the internal organs have not been damaged you can harvest the meat that is good and what is not fit to eat can be left for the other wild creatures to nourish themselves on. This particular doe had not been damaged very badly so we put her on the pickup tail gate and hauled her to the nearby woods to clean and dress the carcase.
As we sat the doe's body on the ground I quietly thanked the little doe's spirit for her sacrifice and thanked her for the nourishment her body would provide for us and for the animals that would partake of what was left. While I was watching my other half clean and dress the deer something made me look up and over his shoulder to the hill behind where he was knealing. As I looked past him I saw a shadow standing there in the shape of a deer. At first I thought it was another deer but as soon as I spoke to tell my him to look it was gone....It was not another deer. At that moment I knew beyond a doubt that the shadow I saw was that little deer's spirit leaving this world and I knew at that moment that my thank you prayer was accepted.

Profound? You decide.

A Magical Blast From The Past

I wanted to share this with you all.
Well this farm house I live in is just down the road from my other half's parents house and they have a Centennial Farm. His grandparents homesteaded the farm they live on. This house used to belong to my other half's late Uncle (Fred). As a child I would drive by this farm with my folks and think "I would love to live there" since it was so pretty and his Uncle kept it Tip Top all the time. Beautiful lawn and Barn and so on. I did not know my other half then either.
Here is the good part, the part about attracting things from the Universe. In my adult life I started dating my other half (we went to highschool together but never dated until after I was married and divorced). His folks had purchased this farm from his Uncle so that it would expand their farm. Thus my other half got the house and after 10 years of dateing I moved in and sold my place.This old house has a bomb shelter in the basement that was used to store things and can goods. The reason I mention that is because we just have never bothered to completely clean some areas of the house out. I guess we are saving it I really dont know why we have not done these things but anyway, today I am going through a drawer in the kitchen that contains some of his late Aunts (Olive) cookbooks and recipes, her candy thermometer and so on. I keep tea in that drawer, but I have never in 10 years looked through the stuff in the drawer. I clean the drawer and put it all back. Today I decided that I might look through the stuff just for fun. I found all kinds of cool stuff, Hershey's cocoa cook book 1936, Watkins handbook, 7 UP cookbook, A cook book that the Detroit Free Press put out from 1925. There is Knox gelatin cook book too. Along with a huge variety of other cool old cook books. Anyway I found an envelope that was mailed to his late Aunt (Olive). It says "Good Cole Slaw" on the outside above the mailing address. I open it and read the hand written recipe. At the bottom of the paper it has a little note. The note says " I think you will like this recipe it is good and I usually make 2-3 batches, of course I like to treat the neighbors too. This is the kind May Kimball (a local woman I am familiar with) use in her restaurant". Then its signed Clara. I thought" I wonder who Clara was"? I turned the envelope around and read the return address. It was my Great Grandmother Clara . She had mailed the recipe to my other half's Aunt Olive Skinner on October 5, 1968.I had a sudden rush of tears. I really have no answer for the tears other than I felt for some reason my Great Grandmother wanted me to find that recipe. I think everything happens for a reason I feel that there is something more to this than just coleslaw. I think it is some sort of reminder some life lesson or illistration, but I really dont know yet, What do you all think

Goals and Attracting Things From the Universe

Recently I have been reading a book that explains some things I had been wondering about.
We have this saying at our house,"be careful what you say because you can speak things into reality". Well you can. There are many things in the bible that point me to that thought like;
"ask and you shall receive." no where does it say what to ask or what you will/wont receive when you ask. That means there are no limitations. That means that what ever I ask for I will get good or bad. Dwelling on what you don't want will draw into your life the very thing you don't want. So dont dwell on the crap like " Oh I am always broke" you will be, you have to say " I always have enough money".
Sooo, since I am mostly a positive person and I seldom think about what I dont want this answered some questions. A bonus is that I can counter act the negative thoughts when I have one by being thankful for what I do have. That makes sence to me. You dont have to always worry that you had a negative thought because if your thoughts are mostly happy thoughts it outweighs the bad ones. Whew! I am glad my mom used to say if you cant say anything nice dont say it at all, or I cant never did anything, or be careful what you wish for, or be careful what you say cause once it is out there, there is no taking it back, or last but not least you can have anything you want in life and you can be anything you want to be. Thus bringing me to this post I am going to put it out to the Universe. I will sell two kitchens a week at work and I will be flattening my tummy. Lets see what happens. Anybody out there want to join in and compare notes leave your comments.

September

September brings such mixed emotions when you live in Northern Michigan. Its a wonderful time of year that usually boasts 70 degrees during the day and cool nights. It makes a person feel like nesting but offers the beautiful fall and wonderful riding time. Less bugs to pester me and the horse, plenty of warmth but perfect for jeans and a helmet. Horses are somewhat fresh but usually pretty well behaved by this time of year. September brings thoughts of bonfires and fall harvest, and hay rides. Cuddling up with your sweetie and lighting a fire. But..... its the "but "that will get you........

Soon it will be time to get out the heated buckets, and heated trough, cover all my flowers for their long winter nap, drag out the boots and bib overalls and the darn gloves. Soon I will have to put away the Kayak too. Its like saying good bye to a good friend. Then there will be the rainy season with its slippery muddy pasture and keeping an eye out for thrushy hooves.

Since I am somewhat of a fair weather friend to winter riding. I would like May and September weather to be year around. That would be perfect for me. Actually this summer has been a lot like May spring weather. Cool and even a bit rainy at times. Oh I wouldn't mind some snow for Christmas and New Years but other than that I can do without the extra clothes the short daylight hours and the worry about sub zero nights. I down hill ski but my love for that does not parallel my love for the grass and leaves and the spring and fall weather riding. Its more like something to keep my mind occupied so I don't think about warmer weather.

We Michiganders seem to be fickle. We like the Spring Summer and Fall for all its worth but Winter only gets half our heart. We like it when it firsts snows and pretty much enjoy it right into the end of January, but come the middle of February we are starting to get Cabin Fever. We start thinking about planting gardens summer riding and maybe getting away someplace warm for a couple of weeks. We need to alleviate the pain of the dark dreary days and bone chilling cold that often comes the end of February and March so we make plans to run away.

Oh, dont let me mislead you. Mother Nature will give us a break occasionally, she will offer up a day or two of sunshine and warm temps. Just enough to tease us into thinking spring is just around the corner. But she can be ruthless she will come back with a vengeance bringing full plate of sinister laughs and another 8" of blowing snow. Ughhh!!!

But then one day the trumpets sound and I wake up to realize the sun is shining and the temps are warm and I know Spring has finally arrived. My dear old friend is back. Hurray! Hurray! Before long the days are longer and the evenings are warmer, I hear the birds singing and see the Robins arrive home. Old Man winter is suddenly just a past memory, almost so much so that its hard to even imagine Winter had ever been here. How short our human memory.

We Michiganders, are like those pearl divers that jump in the water full knowing that the long deep dive will deplete their energy, they will have to hold their breath as the descend deeper and deeper but they live for the exhilaration and joy when they arrive back on the surface with that Pearl larger than any other they have ever found.

For me Spring Summer and Fall is my Pearl. Winter is the dive, the price I pay to live in Gods Country.

HOMBRE

This post is regarding a little gelding I had when I was a young girl. My grandfather left a field drag in the horse pasture with the tines pointing up. Well we all know where this is going. Needless to say my 1 1/2 year old 1/2 Arab 1/2 POA gelding got his leg in the thing and severed all the tendons in his hind left leg. My parents discovered it and brought him to the barn. My Dad put a piece of rope around his fetlock and worked the foot back and forth while my mom led him. They then called all the vets they could find, most of them wanted to know if he was a high dollar horse and if not my dad should just put him down. Well my little English grandmother finally found a Vet in Onekama after she gave him a good scolding he said he would come over. He drove 2 hours to help my horse. He and my father performed surgery on my gelding. The vet tied together all of the tendons that were severed and then placed a cast on my horses leg. My dad made a steel reinforcement for the cast out of an old steel step in fence post one of those short nasty ones. They are hard to explain they look like those little step in temporary fiberglass ones but they were steel. I doubt they make them anymore they were pretty dangerous. Anyway the wing part at the bottom was molded around the hoof and the rod went up the front of the leg it was sandwiched between the layers of Cast material. The surgery took a long time, then the recovery time was the crucial time because often times a horse will panic when they come out of the anesthetic with a cast on. My dad and the vet spent 14 hours with my horse. He never panicked he woke up and just proceeded to eat laying down. Then got up on his own without a fuss. I was away for the week when this happened. When I came home my parents told me and I did not think I would ever be able to stop crying. I am crying right now writing this. I was told by the vet that I had to begin an exercise routine after a week walking him and brushing him. I did this daily for 9 weeks. After the 9 weeks we were to go to the vet to get the cast removed but there was no way in this world my dad could get that horse in a trailer. So my dad talked to the vet and he told him what to do. My dad removed the cast then he had to remove stitches. The stitches kept surfacing for several weeks after the cast was off and my dad would pull them out. I had to continue my walking and massage the leg daily. I did this without fail. When my gelding was healed and moving around in the pasture by himself for a while my dad said I could begin to ride him. We knew he had a limp and he might forever, there was not way to know if I would be able to continue to ride him or he would be a pasture pet his whole life. As I rode a little bit at a time every couple of days (I only weighed 40 # or so). Miraculously the limp disappeared. I actually cant remember when it stopped. Eventually this little gelding was my 4-H show horse and we did speed events. He was unbelievable we were actually the fastest in kalkaska at the time. We won every barrel race we entered. Looking back I wish I had known more about things like i do now.What brought all of this up is, I was wondering the other day what happened to that Vet my parents cant seem to remember his name and I would love to tell him how it all turned out. I never got to meet him or find out who he was. Then today while I was doing some cleaning I found the picture of my little gelding with his cast on. I thought it was lost for life and the amazing thing was I found it in a desk calender that was from 2005 but I never made a single entry in that calender. Because we recycle I ripped the paper part out to put in the recycle bin and there was the picture. If I had just thrown it in the trash that goes to the garbage pickup I would have lost it forever. These things often make me wonder when they happen. That little horse still speaks to me from over the rainbow bridge, in that I mean what I learned is invaluable and sometimes I even have dreams that I am riding him.

I will be posting the pics

Thankfulness

Thank-ful-ness.
Sometimes things have a way of showing them self to you. They create a feeling and your so comfortable with it that you barely pay it any mind then one day suddenly there it is. Its been there all along but you were too busy or not in the right frame of mind to notice it.
Yesterday I realized one of those things. I am tremendously grateful and thankful for.....you wont believe it........ a clothes line. I love laundry on the line. I kinda hate putting it up there but the reward of seeing up on the line is what pulls me through the part I dislike. It is satisfying and fulfilling to see it and to smell it after it has dried in our warm Michigan air. We have this beautiful smell in our yard in the evening, kinda sweet and comfortable. I am not even sure what plants or trees make that smell but if you leave your clothes up after dark or even overnight they smell just like that the next day. And ooohhhh if you put blankets or sheets up and leave them over night, they smell like the sweet summer air for several nights after you put them on the bed.

I think my love affair with the clothes line goes back to summer days at my grandparents house. Gram always had laundry on her clothes line. She had a beautiful sturdy clothes line that I often tied my Pony Pebbles to. Much to my Grams despair I would do this even when there was laundry on the line. I can remember thinking that I shouldn't do it, Gram will not approve, but justifying it was easy, I would say to myself Pebbles was the most wonderful pony on earth she couldn't possible harm Grams sheets. In my eyes that pony was perfect. Actually I still see her as perfect. Looking back it amazes me how wise she was. She wasn't much older than 5 or 6 when I started riding her. My Grandpa had saved her from a Kill pen. She was very petite but had perfect horse confirmation in a little package. She was a Sorrel with Flaxen mane and Tail. That pony was smart she knew how to handle children. She had a load limit. If you were of a certain age or certain size you were too big for her. She would figure out how to get you off her back, most of the time a small half hearted buck would do the trick, nothing hard enough to hurt anyone just enough to announce her protest. If that didn't work she would trot you to death with short choppy steps that no one could stand.
I have heard such horror stories about Ponies but I often think to myself" if I were a pony I would not want some of those brats on my back either". Maybe ponies are justified in their behavior, I don't know? I do know that my pony was the best on earth and the wisest. After all she even taught me to be thankful for clothes lines.

Control is in the Training, Not the other way around.
(Training gives you control of your horse. Control does not make a horse trained.)
If I have learned nothing more in my life with horses its that it take time to make a great horse and there is no sence rushing. God made horses live a long time so you might as well slow down.
When I was young I could get my horse to do anything no trouble no hesitation. I asked myself why? Then I realized it was because I spent time with my horse. I spent hours riding and grooming and just grazing him. We need to slow down with our horses and take the time. Native Americans lived with their horses, they spent time with them. They were unbelievable riders and thier horses were steady and trustworthy even in fierce battle.
So spend some time just being in the moment with your horse. Live in horse time for a day. See what happens to your relationship with your horse.

Setting Myself Up for Success

Just finished a book by Jane Savoie, Its Not Just About the Ribbons.
Wow what a book. Here is the link to purchase it from http://www.amazon.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Just-About-Ribbons/dp/1570762554/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246990162&sr=1-5

This book has really helped me in my work life not just my riding life.
If you have fear when you ride, if you don't know how to set goals for your riding, if you want to improve your riding or just want to move forward in your horse related life, you will find this book priceless.
It seems that Jane also believes as I do that horses can read your mind and keeping the right picture in your mind helps your horse.
The techniques in the book help me to implement an idea we have had in our family for some time. My other half always says" things get spoken into reality, good and bad". After reading Jane's book I realize this is very true. It shows you how to use that notion to your advantage and how to think in positive terms so your sub conscious mind can use the information you give it to help you improve.
So as part of my statement to the Universe.

I will ride with confidence.
I will feed my body with healthy amounts of the correct foods.
My goal is to horse camp with my horses and trail ride regularly with happy confident horses.
I will live my best life with my horses by riding regularly and setting goals for my equestrian pursuits and achieving them.

There anyone care to join the statement posts.
Add your self proclaiming statements. Then we will check back to see every ones progress.

45, WHO ME??

Well tomorrow is my 45th birthday. I have this overwhelming need to sort things. I feel like this is a new begining. It is some what alarming to feel this way since I cant put a finger on the reason for this sudden urge to simplify. I just know I need to eliminate the clutter and the unused. I need less stuff all of a sudden. And I sure as hell dont want any stuff that is so so, I only want the things that make me happy or fit nice or make me look good when I wear them. I have spent the first 44.99 years getting stuff, now I feel like I dont need so much of it. Pretty confusing and comforting all at once.

I had this brilliant idea the other day to start saving a dollar a day starting on my birthday, then I decided that I should save 2, one for me one for some charity. Then on my birthday next year I will give that gift to a charity as a birthday gift. The odd thing was Saturday I am watching TV and they are talking about how not to be broke. Now these days for me that is a tough one. But they said save a buck a day for 4 months then 2 a day for 4 months then 5 a day for 4 months, at the end of the year you will have around 1000.00. I was blown away it was like some confirmation that my idea was a good one and that the Universe was saying " Go ahead I approve". So I start tomorrow. I am a bit worried that I will not be able to do the 5 a day but I am not gonna let that stop me after all God said go. At the end of the year if I have done the deed as promised. Then I will split it and give half to a charity. I will let you know how it is working for me as I go.

I have loved my birthday all my life, even now as I face the 45 number. Maybe because it is on June 1, a sign of summer to me, maybe because I share it with my Dad, and he shares it with his Uncle. It just seems like a magic day. I looked up June 1 events. Two states I love became states in the union on June 1, Tennessee and Kentucky. Marilyn Monroe celebrated her birthday on June 1, as does Morgan Freeman and Pat Boone. Looking at the lists many actors writers and musicians share my birthday, guess I missed my calling.

Some Birthdays naturally feel better than others. Some are ho hum, nothing special and others seem huge. I have not had a huge one in years. Maybe it is the big build up in my mind that makes them feel great when one turns out better than others. I can remember my 4th like it was yesterday. I was at my birth Grandmother's home in Battle Creek, Michigan, (my mother was adopted), I can remember being so excited. I knew what I was getting because I always wanted the same thing every year. New Cowboy boots and a Levi Jacket. What more could a girl want? I remember standing in the kitchen of the house it was a gally kitchen across the back of the house and the flooring was that black linoleum tile with multi color flecks, it seemed like birthday tile because of the multi color flecks, like someone put it down just in celebration of my birthday. I was so filled with anticipation I could not stand it. The cake would be served soon I cold not wait, then the gifts. The cake was white with pink color iceing even though it was for my dad too. The boots were black Acme boots with the cut out starburst shaft that had color inlay. Everything was perfect.

As I got older I learned that you have to be careful of that big build up in your mind, cause it can make for a BIG let down too. That seems to be the way of things as we get older. Last year was a huge let down. I waited all day to do something, waited for my boyfriend to take me to dinner or even for a ride or surprise me with some well thought out event, then nothing. No cake, no surprise, no nothing. I guess I don't understand that cause you only have those birthdays once your only 30 or 40 or 45 once in a life time. It should be noteable, shouldn't it? Well before I make us all depressed. I am hoping for something soul satisfying and wonderful to happen this year. I hope to spend some quality time with my horses and accomplish some riding. I hope for a cake at least, I would love to go out to dinner. Although, all the while I am trying hard to avoid the build it up in my mind this year and trying not to make a big deal out of things, I still cant help but wonder why I feel such excitement and such a need to streamline my life, my home and my belongings. This Birthday is kinda getting the build up without my help. I wonder if this is that magic thing I hear from women when they talk about the 40's. They say" Oh 40's are wonderful, you know what you want and where your going, and you know how to get there". Maybe this is that magic thing begining to take place and it actually happens exactly on the day of your 45 th birthday? When I wake up tomorrow will I suddenly know the answers to all the questions about life that I have had up until now? Is this my big surprise, is that the big event?? Oh, I better settle down its not my Birthday yet!

What do Lemonade and Round Pens Have In Common?

This picture is of my father clearing land a couple years ago. This location was to be the location of my Retail Tack Shop, Triple Star Tack & Livery, but due to some unforeseen circumstances I was unable to accomplish my dream.

I had been planning the project for almost 10 years. I had gotten my Bachelors in Business Administration, I had gotten the first copy of my blueprints. The builder had been there and dug the footings, the temporary electric was installed, all the necessary permits were purchased and a perk test was done. I had vendors lined up and a great business plan. I was ready to go. Then overnight things changed. I was informed that my job was being eliminated and that I was being lay ed off. No job meant no credit, no money, no Tack Shop. My dream melted away like the snow. It was heart breaking, every time I looked at the location it hurt worse. I just could not understand why this happened. I finally realized it was just not meant to be. I decided to Cowgirl Up and deal with it. I needed to move on but I had to have a reason to make some Lemonade out of the lemons I was left with. So, why not turn it into something good, something that takes the sadness out of the situation no matter how simple as long as it made me quit thinking about it. I decided I would build a Round Pen there. Seems small in comparison but it is A Sacred Circle to work my horses in, a place to build our relationship a place to train safely and effectively. Anyone that has worked with horses and built a relationship knows that it is a spiritual experience and is not something real horsemen and women take lightly. I feel calling a Round Pen a Sacred Circle is very fitting.

So last fall when my boyfriend arrived unexpectedly with his logging equipment to fill in the footing holes and level the ground I was ecstatic. I was not looking forward to filling those babies in by hand. I then inadvertantly found a great price on some fence post from a local guy and I purchased the posts and set them aside for spring.

Now that the snow is mostly gone and I decided it is time to begin the Round Pen. I had no idea that this Round Pen was going to be so wonderful, but it has begun showing me its Magic.

Yesterday on Easter Sunday my grown son showed up out of the blue to help me dig fence posts holes. Anyone that has had a 27 year old son knows that they usually have something to do besides help around the farm. It is work digging post holes by hand, but it was a fantastic job to do while being able to share time and conversation with my son. Actually he did most of the job and in record time Within 2 hours he dug 17 holes.

April 13, today another surprise. I planned to set the posts for the Round Pen, which is not a hard job just boring. The weather is cold and dreary today so I was not looking forward to going out to do it, but I wanted them set before the next rain so the holes did not fill with water and if they are set before the rain comes they will set nice and solid because the water will settle the soil around them. Completely by surprise a friend called and offered to help me set posts. She grew up on a farm and is a native to an area a few miles West of here a small town girl, the same as I am a native to this county and small town. There is something comforting in sharing a trivial task like that with someone that just knows how to do the task too. There is a connection to the land and to the task that is shared.

Next Saturday I will be going to a local auction with my Dad and a friend to look for the material for the railing.

It seems to me that God is offering me a glass of Lemonade and believe me I am guzzleing it. This whole project is turning out to be one fantastic surprise and I am very excited to find out what is in store next for my Sacred Circle.

Well today is another let down. The weather was supposed to be rain then maybe flurries overnight with no real accumulation. The Weather Church Preacher lied (the weather man on TV), so far it looks like we have about 4" on the ground. It is wet and sloppy.

Chicky and Scooter are very carefully coming out of the coop each day to check the weather. Scooter gets out on the porch of the coop and flies to the nearest perch so he does not get his feet cold and wet. The other day I found Chicky setting in the doorway of the coop just looking around at everything, just like someone setting on the front porch. That night when I went to close up the coop door she was sound asleep with her butt hanging out the coop door. Must have been a busy day for her.

The horses are even grumpy they don't seem to be their usual busy selves. The pasture is a cross between mud and ice and so they cannot run at all. Sometimes they get a little giddy and kick up their heels but they are being very careful since it is slippery in spots. Last night when I went to let them in for the night Mare waited back by the pasture fence while Gelding came trotting in the barn. Mare then ran as fast as she could go without slipping. She stayed back waiting for Gelding to get in the barn first so she could have a wide open space. Even if it was only a little run she seemed to be pretty proud of what she had accomplished. She has come a long way since that April day 3 years ago when I brought her home. She was 100 # underweight and her hair was long and scraggly. She walked around like a zombie, doing what ever I would ask but not getting too involved in anything. She was a sad site. But she is a beautiful girl now. She is developing quite a personality these days always trying to get to the top of the Herd. Which will probably never happen, but she keeps trying. Lately sometimes Mare will lay her ears back and try to keep Gelding from the Hay as I bring it out to the pasture for them. That is a dominant behavior among horses, taking the territory or food of another horse. They will assert themselves to elevate their status. If the other horse backs down then the horse that backed down loses his/her place in the herd. Gelding just looks at her with that look like "ya right, you and who's army" and proceeds to get the first bite. I doubt he will ever lose his place in the herd. He is very level and smart, not that Mare is not smart but she is somewhat flighty and Gelding is not. He can be dominant but that is not the what keeps him the first in the herd. At times I actually think I can see him just shaking his head at some of the things she does. I can definatly hear him laughing at her from time to time.

Part of the Gang

Introducing Scooter A. Chicken (left) and Chicky A. Chicken (right).

This is last years pic so Scooter is now almost as big as Chicky.

A Great Quote

I have thought that to breed a noble horse is to share with God in one of His mysteries, as well as one of His delights
_Tom Lea

I am not sure if being a cowgirl is for the freedom or for the companionship of the horse. There is nothing in the world as grand as the sweet smell of my horses flesh and nothing as grand as the freedom I feel in my boots and jeans astride my horses. When you develop a relationship with your horses you feel as though you have been elevated closer to God. Nothing in my mind compares. I try very hard to spend time with all my animals, they seem to reward me with their welcoming behavior. My chickens hurry out of the coop to Crow and to chuckle at me. My cats follow me and beg for my attention, and hug and nuzzle me when I pick them up. My horses fight to be the first to be touched when I enter the pasture. What more could I ask for? If that isn't a gift from God, I don't know what is.