H- Horse Art

How many cultures in our world owe their livelihood to horses?  Probably a good portion of them.  Horses are seen in the art of almost all cultures in our world.  They are a big part of our history and helped humankind colonize this little blue globe.
 



In a recent trip to a Mexican restaurant here in Colorado Springs, I noticed a plethora of horse paraphernalia.  Wall paintings, sculptures and hangings.  It's always fun to find horses in places you aren't expecting.

Now there are some cultures where horse culture was what their lives revolved around.  They were nomadic and their horses were their riches.  They supplied transport, clothing, housing (hides) and food.  Arabs and Native Americans are the first cultures that pop up in my mind though I don't think these particular cultures ate the horses.  I'd love to see if there are books on this subject since it's an area in which I'm not too knowledgeable.  A quick search on Amazon presented this book Song for the Horse Nation: Horses in Native American Culture

In many cultures horses were a status symbol.  Those in the military that rode a horse were of higher rank, the same went for household that had more horses in their keep.  Horses were also a main mode of transportation for many cultures and just like our cars today, make, model and accessories were important attributes to their "rides".

I found this little Mariachi band of horse sculptures to be very cute, though stylized in an almost cartoon fashion.  Could you imagine a horse in real life with such short legs?  How would they walk!!??

 

The whole set was at the front of the Mexican restaurant and I'm sure the hostess thought I was crazy snapping shots of these little figurines but they were just too cute!  I'll have to do some more research on horses in art, this Blogging A to Z thing is making me think of horse related subjects that I know little about.  Hmmm.

Six Months!!!

Wow!!! It's been six months today!!!

G- Guns

Ken McNabb had one of his shows about how to get horses used to gun fire.  I couldn't find a clip but these were entertaining.  They show what a lot of people want as the end result.  Of course safety first and lots of training and desensitizing.  Plus ear plugs for the horse since a lot of times these guys are shooting right near them!

I don't think I'd ever want to shoot from horseback but getting my horse used to scary sounds like this could do a lot for making her less spooky, not that she's a spooky horse!  I think it would be awesome to see this in person!  Hope you enjoyed both these videos.  I got a kick out of them, makes me want to go shoot skeet or clay pigeons or some such thing!

Serene Sunday

Dani has been hanging out with Jodie a lot.  She's a big Kiger Mustang/Quarter horse cross.  Very nice mare and her owner is nice as well.  Perhaps we'll have some trail rides this summer!!

F- Freezing and Fetlocks

We've received most of our wintry weather in February and March, that seems to be how it goes for Colorado.  Freezing weather can bring a decent amount of snow in the winter but this year and years past we've not had the amount of snow we usually get.  We are in a MAJOR drought and it's scary as we get into "fire" season again.

 

 

Horses certainly seem to enjoy the cooler weather; a lot more than their human friends.  I know that during the freezing days I would come home from the barn and be cold to the core.  I whipped out the electric heating blanket many times!!!

 

 

One thing I've noticed with Dani more than other horses I've ridden is that as the winter approached she got more fur on her fetlocks.  Not sure if most horses get as much as she does or if it's mainly because I have not trimmed them, I've just let them be.  I probably will trim them once it's a little bit more consistent in the warm weather department.  You can compare the video of her in the snowy weather to this picture above when I first brought her home.  She definitely has more fuzz or feathers now.  Is it really called feathers if it's not full like a Clydesdale or Friesians feathered fetlocks???  Hmm.  I'm glad for now that the freezing temperatures are mostly behind us for a while.  Dani won't have to contend with frozen snowballs on her hooves for a few months!

 

 

Anyways, I'll have a post soon about trimming her fetlocks.  I want to keep a good amount of hair on there for protection but trim it up a bit to keep it neat and tidy.  Same with hairs under her chin and jaw that often get caught in the nose band of the bridle.  I'm still going back and forth about whether I want to do a very small bridle path or not.....

 

Anyways, there's my post for letter F!!

E-Emergency Plans

I've learned, not just from my job but also from last years Waldo Canyon Fire, that you can never be too prepared.  Being a large animal owner brings greater need for preparation than just being an individual in a home with a cat.  You need to plan for your horse and you need to plan and react earlier to keep your animals safe.  There are a variety of emergencies that can occur throughout the world, see below for just a few.  The key is to determine what the threats are in your area and arm yourself with knowledge and resources.

Major Emergencies

Flood

Wildfire

Barn fire

Earthquake

Blizzard

Hurricanes

Emergencies of Shorter Duration

Power Outages

Well pump broken
Hail storm
Tornado

The following book, Horses of the Storm by Ky Evan Mortensen was a great read.  It discussed the planning and coordination for rescuing horses and other large animals after Katrina and then Rita.  There were many lessons learned that Emergency Managers around the country have taken to heart and begun planning for their own communities.  The main point I'd like to emphasive is that you are 100% responsible for your horses safety and well being, choices you make can effect whether your horse will or will not survive a disaster.  Even with planning things can still happen so hopefully nothing bad will happen to any of the horse lovers reading this blog or horse lovers anywhere in the world for that matter!

After determining what emergencies occur in your area the next step is to determine whether you would normally evacuate or shelter in place.   A blizzard for example is a good example of when to shelter in place.  Make sure to get home to the horses before the storm hits so you don't have to worry about trying to get home to give them their regular care (if you board determine that someone will be there to care for the horses in this instance, many boarding barn owners live on site).  For sheltering in place, aka staying where you are and hunkering down, make sure that you always have 3-7 days of supplies.  Hay, grain, WATER!!!  Don't count on electricity working and your well pump working; have a back up water source.  55 gallon clean trash cans can be filled and changed out regularly in your barn so that when the time comes you have fresh water....be creative!  Also remember that horses drink around 10 gallons of water a day, give or take.

In some instances it makes sense to evacuate if you can; have that plan in place way before a disaster threatens.  Have a trailer or plan to have a friend help you evacuate; discuss this with them!  You also need to know where you are evacuating to.  Smaller localized disasters are a little easier to plan for in that regard, if you know of other horse people outside of the effected area contact them in the planning stage to see if you could evacuate your horse to their facility.  Locate boarding facilities that are a good distance away in order to evacuate your horse to their facility.  If you discuss these options before a disaster is ever threatening you are ahead of the game. 



Barn destroyed by the flood waters after Katrina

For hurricanes, tornados, and floods if you cannot evacuate the horse releasing them into fields is the safest bet because they will likely escape the rising waters or run from danger when out in the open as apposed to a barn.  The sad thing during Katrina is when people evacuated they left their horses in the barns with food and water for 3 days thinking this was the safest place for them.  When Lake Pontchartrain's levees failed the flooding was immense and often these barns were filled to the roof with water.  Horses in their stalls would swim and swim but eventually met their demise from exhaustion.  Those out in fields more often were swept up with the currents and could swim to higher ground.  There is a better chance for a horse to survive left to their own devices as tough as that decision may be for an owner.  Granted an evacuation plan and evacuation is your best bet that your equine friend will be safe!  Loose horses still presented challenges during the aftermath of Katrina!

Evacuate EARLY! Pre-evacuation notices should mean that you ACTUALLY evacuate your large animals and small animals since it takes longer and requires many more resources (truck, trailer, equipment etc).  People often wait, and wait, and wait.   Once there is a serious threat you should already have necessities packed and ready and when the danger appears imminent, meaning you feel extremely uncomfortable or you receive a pre-evacuation notice/voluntary evacuation don't hesitate;  GET THEE GONE!!  The sooner you leave the better, you won't have to deal with major traffic or be running around like crazy during a last minute trailer loading (never a good combination with horses!)  Like I said before know a place you can evacuate to or discuss with your boarding barn the ability to evacuate all horses on the property.

 

Whether you are evacuating, sheltering in place or setting your horse loose in a field identification is very, very important.  Place a break away halter on your horse with id tags, also braid an id tag into the mane or tail or both!  Grease pens can be used to mark a horse with a phone number and there are also fetlock id bands that you can purchase.  During Katrina live and deceased horses were all scanned for micro chips, this united so many horses with their owners (I'm sure the same goes for dogs!).  Keep multiple copies of your vet and ownership records.  Keep one in the barn, trailer and home and if you evacuate with or without your horse take these records so you can later identify your horse as yours to the authorities.

While planning before a disaster ever happens contact local offices of emergency management to find out if there is a County Animal Response Team (CART) in your area that could assist in evacuating horses, particularly if you don't have a trailer or a location to evacuate to. A lot of jurisdictions have locations to which they evacuate a lot of horses to during disasters and they can assist you in your planning.  Most offices of emergency management are more than happy to assist you in planning, in fact they love it when people take the initiative!!

 

Being self sufficient and acting early is your best defense because sometimes the "Big Guys" are stretched thin during a disaster and unable to assist as quickly as you would like.  Help them help you!!  Heed warnings and pre-evacuation notices but don’t depend on reverse 911 or official evacuations. Use your own intuition about the situation and if you feel uncomfortable or threatened activate your plans to keep you, your pets and family safe.

 

This post was just a quick snippet of what to think about when preparing your family and pets.  Horses have a lot more issues that need to be considered during an evacuation because you can't just sneak them into a hotel like dogs or cats!  Below are some links that have extensive information on preparing for emergencies, sheltering in place and evacuating with horses.  I hope this post makes you think about what you would do in case of a disaster.  Hopefully everyone will get their plans in place and never have to utilize them!  Stay safe!

Humane Society

Horse Fund

FEMA's Ready.gov

American Association of Equine Practicioners

 

(NOTE:  All pictures on this post were photographed from the above book, Horses of the Storm and are not property of this blog writer)

D- Daenerys!!

This letter of the Alphabet is simple!!!!  Dani Girl!!!

 

Dani is my favorite mare EVER, followed by Pstar of course but Dani is my baby.  She's my chestnut Morgan that I have been owned by since October 8th; this April 8th will be our 6 month anniversary!  WOW, time flies!

Words to describe Dani:

Gentle
Sweet
Curious (hmm, is that remote in your hand edible?)

Sassy (neener, neener!)

 Intelligent
Willing
Beautiful

Easy going
Affectionate
Cute

 

I love my Daenerys so much!  She's a great horse that I'm proud to say...

 

"She's mine!"



C-Caption Contest!!!

We are on letter C!  Caption Contest!!

 

The one who has the awesomest caption for the below picture will win an awesome $5 gift card to Starbucks!!!  Not much sure, but I'm horse poor! 

I'll give everyone a week and then figure out my favorites.  Good luck!

B- Boarding Situation

B is for boarding situation.

I’m NOT unhappy about the boarding situation where I am at, the main issue is that it's further away than I wish. Sure there are things that could be different or improved but there is no perfect location unless you make it yourself in your own backyard and even then it’s a work in progress as time and money restricts a property owners ultimate vision.  The biggest thing is I wish Dani was closer to where I live.

 

 

Several long time boarders have left the barn and I’m told by them it was because of many changes to include a trainer coming here with their horses and many clients. The barn has maxed out on capacity from what I’m told. Some days certainly are busier than others but at least now that it’s warming up all the arenas will be available for use. During the dark days of winter the indoor arena could be packed and I’ve complained on here that I had issues avoiding getting in the way when I’m just trying to ride in a little circle by myself in one little section of the ring.
 

Other things that I think I have noted on here is the “cleaning up after yourself” issue. Many times I come to find the wash rack completely trashed with bins of half eaten horse feed in there, dirt and hair all over the place etc. The horses are really shedding right now so people need to be more diligent about cleaning up. I noticed one girl starting to bathe her horse yet there were still piles of hair all over the stall. They’ve had a few back-ups from the drains because of clogged hair and dirt. The wash racks have a piece of matt to cover the drain when not needed. Unless you are using water you shouldn’t have the drain exposed, it’s too easy for hay, hair, dirt and other barn debris to get into the drain and clog it. I know a lot of the issue is younger kids that have no idea but where are the parents? Where are the barn owners and employees? I have cleaned up a wash rack before and then right after grooming my horse, double duty but I don’t want to leave it a mess even if the mess was only one 3rd Dani’s mess. If the stall is already wet it’s harder to sweep up the hair but where is a squeegee? I’ve asked for one because you can wet down the matts and get all the hair moved into clumps to clean the stall. The squeegee is missing in action and no one seems to care about the condition of the stalls.

 

Most of the care (feeding and mucking) is done by boarders to reduce their board fee. Floro is the only groom at the facility. One of the gals that left was irritated that her mare was not kept after when changes in her care were posted. This was a mare that needed to be in a stall at night and had a slow feeder each night instead of being on pasture 24/7. I’ve noticed the blanketing issue that my mare would have the heavy blanket on when not needed, when it was pretty warm etc. It happens sure. I’ve also noticed an injured horse that one of the caretakers did not notice because they were running around trying to feed the 40 or so horses. Granted the wound was covered in mud and harder to see but I am starting to get in the habit of looking at horses legs right after greeting them, I just happened to see it when I was releasing Dani back out to pasture. Perhaps the barn is a bit over extended....

There are piles of muddy manure throughout the various yards, the worst is near the runs for the stalls since they are at the bottom of a slight hill. The grounds need a hefty clean up now that everything is thawed and luckily the mud is slowly drying out.
 

 

Sure these are issues I’ve seen but I figure some things like people not cleaning up after themselves is par for the course with a large boarding barn. I may move sometime this year but I’m not set on that just yet. I don’t want to be a barn hopper for Dani’s sake. Rule reminders were sent out to all boarders to sign but apparently some of it has been ignored. Also I do want Dani closer and perhaps further south so there isn’t as cold a winter with snow hanging around making the barn yard such a mud pit. We shall see but for now at least my concerns for Dani’s care are being heard by the owner, with spring coming we'll figure out a good situation for my little mare. Dani is healthy and happy so the rest of this stuff is not something I’m going to worry about too much, I’m just going to keep my options open but I'll keep everyone posted.



A- Another Barn???

So I'm going to try this blog challenge where you blog about something starting with each letter of the alphabet, A to Z.  I think that Sundays you don't have to post a letter, so I can continue my serene sunday posts.
Today I will post about A-nother barn.  We'll see how well I can do this challenge!  LOL.

 

So there is a barn that is two miles from my house, if even that!  I've known about it and seen it from a distance just never went there to check it out.  I figured why not, the cost is the same I'm paying at the barn I'm at now and honestly I have been looking around a little online to see if there is something closer and either the same price or cheaper.

 

The unfortunate thing about this barn is that there are just shed rows and runs.  I'm fine with the shelters, it's a shed just like what Dani has in her field but my issue is the runs.  That's all they have.  There is not turn out, no field.  I'd be fine with a smaller paddock, even if it didn't have grass, just something to give her space and the freedom to move around, roll, whatever she wants.  I don't think Dani would like this place even though it was clean and the horses were cared for quite well.

They have a brand new indoor arena, they do therapeutic riding here and when those lessons aren't occurring the arena is open for the boarders.  There is also a very nice sized outdoor arena.  It's not lit in the evenings but the indoor is and after 6pm I think it's available so winter time riding would be doable.  I was able to talk with a boarder while there waiting for the owner.  She said she loves the place and gets to see her horse more often.  She was letting him run around the arena for exercise.  I asked how he was being in just a run and she said he was fine but she makes sure to get out there everyday and since it's so close she can easily do that.

 

The facility had nice storage for hay, feed and tack.  Nothing spectacular but it was sufficient.  The footing was good in the arenas and even in the round pen.  I liked those facilities and honestly if there was just a little bit more area for the horses I'd have been sold.  This barn is adjacent to Palmer Park where there are tons of trails to ride Dani on and heck, it's only a few minutes from my house.

 

I really can't justify it though.  Sure Dani has a 10 acre pasture and this summer may have a smaller paddock due to the owners needing to get the horses off the pasture for a bit, and because of my concern for laminitis and spring grass.  I could get here every day to play with Dani but the only time she can run about will be for short times when I'm there and it will just we her in the arena alone???  I don't think she'd be happy and I fully believe in the most natural life for a horse.  Having 10 acres is not what makes her happy.  Even just half an acre, as long as she has room to roam, roll and mingle with her buddies where there aren't metal railings between them. 

 

I don't know am I being too picky? Please know that I'm not saying any of these horses aren't taken care of. I know they are and their owners love them, I also know that research has shown that horses that are confined can develop vices and other health related issues. I only see Dani a few hours out of the day, the rest of the time I think of as her time to chill and be a horse. Most boarding facilities around here are like this...but does that mean the horses are really happy?