July 8, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses, Horseback riding
equine, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horse training, horseback, horseback riding, horses
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.
June 10, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Animals, Farm Horses, Horseback riding
equine, farm, farm dog, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, hugs, hugs and kisses, love, nature, therapy
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.
Lover boy
Hugs
June 10, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Horseback riding
equine, farm, Golden Spike Farm, horse farm, horseback riding, lessons, love, pony rides
My littlest student loves her lessons. She has more confidence than the kids twice her age. This week we decided to give her brother a pony ride (which we had done only once before) for the cool down, as you can see he loved it.
He was so cute when he was riding he was talking away and holding on. Then he let go for a split second to talk with his hands and ended up losing his balance. Luckily he recovered quickly and didn’t let go again.
This was from last October (2012)
This was from May (2013)
June 5, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses
equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horses, love, nature, prom, rebel ridge farm
What does a cowgirl do before prom?
Take prom pictures with her horse in her cowgirl boots.
GSF’s Prom Princess did not have time to come to the farm before prom for pictures with Dalton. So we brought her horse to her! Thanks to the farm family and her boyfriend they clean him up while I was finishing up my work (real job). Then we loaded him up in my trailer and drove him to her parent’s house (which is also a goat farm).
She was absolutely thrilled to have Dalton part of her big dayand surprised to see me as I said I would not be able to get out of work early. The pictures turned out great! Dalton was even in her friends pictures who stopped by for group photos. Where else would you have the opportunity to have prom pics with a horse!
May 30, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses
bedding, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, pelleted bedding, stalls
Follow up on pelleted bedding in the stalls
Three months ago I switched from pine shavings to pelleted bedding. The farm used 93 bags of the bedding. I decided to do a cost analysis to see if I was saving money in the switch. The cost for pellets turned out to be $177 per month and the shavings averaged out over the year (2012) to be $123 per month. So at $54 more per month I am not seeing the cost savings. However there are factors in there that I can’t quanify:
- Time savings: the stalls are a lot easier to clean.
- The 3 months we used pellets were during the winter when the horses are in a lot more
- Now all the stalls have horses in them: 8 stalls using the bedding,
- Last year we had times when not all the stalls utilized and the donkeys had one stall. They don’t use much bedding at all.
- When I switched to pellets the cost of shavings from my provider doubled, so if I did the analysis based on that I would definitely be saving money
So bottom line I will keep using the pellets and try again maybe in 3 more month to see if the monthly usage cost has gone down.
May 20, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses, Horseback riding
compost, farm horse, horse, horse farm, horseback riding, horses, pony rides
So this weekend was a wash – literally, it rained almost the whole time. I should not be complaining because I heard we need the rain but it did mess up some plans:
- I couldn’t let the horses out the pastures. The 2 rotation pastures are finally ready for grazing. The conditions have to be just right. If the ground is too soft they tear it up and create divots with their hooves.
- I had to cancel one of my lessons
But it did clear up enough to bring Heather over to the neighbor’s for pony rides at the kid’s party.
As you can see the good ol’ Heather was an Angel. She walked around the yard while the kids got their pony ride. For many of them it was their first time on a horse. They were so cute and in awe of the experience.
Part 2 of the weekend as all about Compost! As you can see my manure pile is growing so I posted an ad on Craigslist for free fertilizer. We delivered one truck load, for the price of gas and another gardner stopped by to pick up her own truck load.
May 8, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses, Horseback riding
horse, horse farm, kisses, trail rides
This weekend was perfect for doing farm stuff. We went on a trail ride
Gave a few of the horses baths. After which Apple promptly rolled of course
Then there was the usual silliness and mayhem.
January 30, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses
farm, Golden Spike Farm, hay, hay loft, horse farm, horses
How do you keep warm in the winter?
We moved 132 bales of hay from the truck to the hay loft yesterday. Luckily this crazy weather held out for the delivery and unloading. Thanks as always to the farm family for your help.
June 5, 2012
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Animals, Farm Horses
farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, hay, hay loft, horse, horse farm, horses
Used the farm truck again today. This time we got 40 bales of hay.
Update on the fencing: it has been such a wet and rainy month that the posts have not set. So we got 1/4 of the fence up and had to put a temporary fence across the field for now. A big thanks to all my friends for coming out to help with fence party part 2.
Lastly, at the end of the evening I took time to give a little love to Reds (aka Barron).
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