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Top Ten Reasons To Ride A Horse

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Top Ten Reasons To Ride A Horse.

Great post by a follow blogger.

Why do I ride?

  • It is in my soul.  I remember my uncle calling me a natural.  I have been around horses (on and off) since I was born.
  • It is much better than walking or biking.  I enjoy the trail rides especially when I see others out for exercise.  We say funny things like “Race ya” or if they are tired “Need a lift”.  They say things like “Trade ya” and we always reply “No Way”.
  • Connection with a beast almost 10 times my size.  My guys are great.  They are calm and have no vises.  They are all getting up there in years but they know they have it good at the farm.
  • Mounted lessons – are much better than standing and walking around the ring giving out riding instruction.  My student’s father came up to me after her lesson and said I was Aces.  He explained she has been at 3 barns and this is the first on that the instructor gave the lesson from on top of a horse.  It makes sense to me to do it for demonstration purposes.   Plus the added bonus is we get to go on a mini trail ride after the lesson.

Why do you ride, want to ride, or enjoy watching people ride?

Chex’s first trail ride

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This week during our regularly scheduled Saturday morning trail ride Rachael decided to take Chex on his first trail ride since joining the farm.

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He was joined by Apple, Cuervo and Nash.

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Chex’s mom joined us on Nash.  Her first time on him.
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The weather was good to us.  It wasn’t too hot and we stuck the the cut part of our neighboring fields.  The horse flys and bugs were out and bothering the horses despite being doused in fly spray2013-07-13_10-43-47_150

The Red Baron

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Barn cat. (aka Reds or Arm Pit Kitty)

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Sweet Summer Time

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Summer is in full swing here at the farm.  It is keeping me busy so this update is going to be full and all over the the place.

It is not all about work though, a couple of weeks ago the extended farm family went to a country concert. It was a great break from the farm work and a good time was had by all!

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Lessons are continuing I am now scheduling them for early morning or late evening to beat the heat.   This is my youngest rider, she is coming along by leaps and bounds.  Last week we were trotting with out a saddle!

2013-07-02_17-05-32_78We are also taking on new riders and beginners. I got Nash out for this lesson, he was great and is such a sweet horse for first timers.  The other day, I was telling folks about how much of a lover he is and then I recieved a big lick up the middle of my face!

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July 4th was a fun filled day OFF too.  We went for another trail ride around green lane.  I got Casey to jump a log for me.  I think he liked that.

Lastly some shots of when the ferrier was here.  Nash didn’t think it was fair to bring apples to the barn and not share.

2013-07-06_17-07-52_487The donkeys were brought up to have their hooves trimmed too.  Frodo said hello to Izzy.  It was funny after they were done and brought back to their pasture with the goats Cuervo kept whinnying and calling for them to come back.  It is amazing the bonds they share.

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Training at the Farm

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Warlock who is now affectionately called Baby cause he is only 2 is going through training to be ridden.  (Why do we use the term break and broke?  I guess it goes back to when trainer did break the horses down to submission. This is not the type of training that goes on at the farm so I will stay away from those terms.)

Rachael has been working with Warlock and his dad Chex since they came to the farm at the beginning of March.  She has done wonders with them.  They now mind their manners are are coming along great with the riding aspect.  Rachael spent last summer as an apprentice to a Josh Lyon certified trainer and now she is doing it on her own.

In these pictures Baby has the saddle and Rachael on his back fro the first time ever.  He did so good! Was not upset, worried or nervous. His head was low and his ear were up.  I even caught him licking and chewing a few times which is a sign for horses thinking and processing.

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Getting your horse to respect your space

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I think Warlock should watch this. Just kidding he is still a baby and doesn’t understand.

Found this video through FB.

Among Friends

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Among Friends.

Sweet Poetry for the farmer/cowgirl

Being Neighborly

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Making hay while the sun shines.

This weekend we had the opportunity to help out our local hay farmer.  He is Golden Spike Farm’s hay guy and we found out that he owns and runs his production with his 3 sisters.  I learned the value of my hay, what it takes to produce it and enjoyed the good honest work (even though my muscles are screaming this morning).

 The first step is to cut the grass. He uses a Discbine.  Didn’t get to see this piece of machinery in action as the hay was cut and laying on the fields by the time we got there.

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Next he uses the tedder.  “A tedder (also called hay tedder) is a machine used in haymaking. It is used after cutting and before windrowing, and uses moving forks to aerate or “fluff up” the hay and thus speed-up the process of hay-making. The use of a tedder allows the hay to dry (“cure”) better, which results in improved aroma and color.” (Thanks Wiki)

The machine called the hay rake then rakes the hay into windrows (a row of cut or mowed hay).

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The next step is the baler.  It is driving over the windrows and puts together the bales of hay.

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The baler shoots out the bales of hay into the hay cart were we were waiting to catch and stack them.  This is the fun part, watching the farm boys catch 50lb bails of hay coming straight at them.  It is also considered down time compared to what is next.

The last step is unloading the wagon, putting the hay on the elevator and then stacking them for storage.  I have to say this is the exhausting part.  I was out on the wagon moving the bales to the elevator, which then went into the barn and dropped the hay for the stackers.  It is a lot hotter in the barn and hard work moving those bales.

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This weekend the farm family helped with 2600 Bales of hay @ approx 50lbs/bale = 130,000 lbs or 65 tons. AND we still had time to enjoy the beautiful scenery while posing for pics.

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Apple and Casey’s Big Adventure

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On Sunday we decided not to take care of the long list of things to do and instead go for a trail ride.  Green Lane Park  is about a 20 min drive from the farm. It has many trails for 2 legs, 4 legs and wheels.  We opted to go around the lake, which was a 15 mile adventure that took us a little less than 5 hours.  Before we left we brushed them and applied fly spray.  My 2 seasoned  geldings loaded the trailer like champs.  I rarely take them off the property so it is great to see that they remember and are ok with being trailered.

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Getting tacked up at the trailer.

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Are ya coming?  Casey is a much slower walker than Apple so we were often trotting to catch up.

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I was told that there are not enough pics of me in the blog (because i am always the one taking them).  So here ya go.

2013-06-16_11-39-50_299Put your ears forward Casey – Pretend like you like it.

2013-06-16_11-45-25_722Through the open areas

2013-06-16_12-26-40_20Across the bridge, past the fishermen, to the other side of the lake.

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Through the forest.  This part was only for advanced riders.  As we had to go down and up many steep embankments with a stream at the bottom.  A fun adrenalin rush as you are putting all your trust in to the horse.  They did great!

2013-06-16_14-19-36_662 2013-06-16_14-19-26_107Around the lake.  It was such a pretty day, not too hot with a cool breeze.

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Smile for the Camera.  I love that Apple and Casey’s ears are pricked forward for this pic.  They were checking out the other horses approaching us.

2013-06-16_15-16-17_942 2013-06-16_15-16-22_362Stopped at the bridge by the gas station for a break.  We needed to re-hydrate.   The nice man at the shop behind Casey, offered the horses some water.

2013-06-16_15-51-02_701 2013-06-16_15.50.53Almost there.  The last hour of the ride my bum started to hurt so I decided to ride side saddle.  Look ma no hands.  Casey was such a good boy that for the most part I didn’t have to do much, no steering and no stirrups.   The only thing I had to watch for was when he walked to close to the tree and tried to constantly take out my left leg.

It was a great day out!  So much better than working.

Farm Therapy

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Have you hugged a horse today?

Farm therapy is the best kind of therapy.

Petting animals can reduce your stress levels.  Check out this article on 27 ways pets can improve your life.  This past weekend a farm family friend and I went to the barn at night for some horse therapy. We were hugging and loving on Nash & Casey. Nash was giving me kisses and my friend was giving Nash a massage. We loved the quiet time with my boys.

Mucking stalls allows me to think.  If I ever need to clear my head I muck stalls.  It is a rhythmical task that allows for the thought process to open up.  I make my best decisions when cleaning stalls

Riding horse forces me not to think.  If I need to “get out of my own head” for a while I get on a horse.  There is so much going on while riding that I am not allowed to let the pesky issue seep in.

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