GSF visitors and lessons love giving treats. Mostly carrots which is good, but they might find it hard to abide by the 2 carrots per horse rule. Above is a link to an article about what types of treats to give the horses.
Scheduled Nash’s Surgery Date
November 1, 2013
Farm Horses donate, equine, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, love, rescue, SaveNash Leave a comment
Tuesday, November 19th
Heart Felt Appreciation
I can’t believe it is really happening! The generosity of friends and animals lovers is beyond words! We have raised enough money to pay for the surgery! Thank you to all of Nash’s benefactors:
- my lesson students who
- choose to ask for donations for Nash instead of birthday presents,
- raised funds through their schools – Nickles for Nash
- put out Nash Cans at local businesses.
- the friends of Nash & GSF who give of their own money
- friend who organized a raffle for tickets to a football in Nebraska
- friend and amazing photographer Judy Reinford who donated a photo shoot & images for the fundraising flyers and postings and had a client out for a photo shoot who donated to the campaign.
- Fretz Western Wear for agreeing to have a Nash Can on their counter and their customers for donating.
I have not yet closed the fundraising due to the cost of aftercare and in case of any post surgery complications. If there is any money left after he is healed and recovered I will donate it to a worthy horse rescue group.
Now for the Details
I spoke to Dr Eric Parente on Wednesday. He is the a professor of surgery at the New Bolton Center for large animals. He explained that we will have to minimize Nash’s feeding schedule for 2 days prior to the surgery. The goal is to decrease bulk in his colon so that there is less pressure on the surgical site. So this means no hay starting Sunday, November 17th and he can only have 1 -2 cups of grain every 4 – 6 hours. He is going to be so mad at me!
Nash will be admitted to the hospital for 4 – 5 days. I can bring him in either Sunday night or Monday before noon. On the first day Dr Eric will ultrasound the hernia to find the margins and how close it is to the last rib. He will use the ultrasound to figure out what to anchor the surgical mesh to. If it is close enough he might even use the rib for anchoring.
The surgery would consist of general anesthesia and the insertion of the mesh. After the surgery he would have a belly bandage for support. They would use IV antibiotics followed by oral antibiotics.
He should be able to come home on Saturday. I scheduled his release during the week of Thanksgiving when I am off from work and my parents are up visiting. That way I can be there for him and spend time with him during his early recovery. Once Nash is home he would have to be in the stall for 2 -3 weeks with only limited hand walking. This will allow time for the important scar tissue to form.
The end result is that the mesh would provide support from it getting bigger. The results would not be flat against the stomach because it will have a round shape as the scar tissue fills in.
This Halloween Rachael and I got the fright of our life.
October 31, 2013
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We just got back from a trail ride and let the dogs out of the stalls. (They were in there so they don’t run away or follow us, like Shadow did on Saturday, crossing Allentown Rd.) As we are untacking we hear Cole (Rachael’s Puppy) non-stop barking at the horses. Something he never does. Rach goes out to see what he is barking about to find Nash cast against the barn’s half wall in the shed row. This means he was stuck laying down, in fact he was on his back and got himself in a position that he could not roll out of it. We run out to help him an at first find that we can’t get him unstuck. His neck was bent under him and wouldn’t allow for us to push him back over. I have to say he was very calm through all this. I thought about calling someone to help us roll him back over but couldn’t even think to get the cell phone to work so decided we would try again. This time we were both up my his head one on each side which is dangerous because I was near potentially flying hooves. Which Rach did get hit in the head by one but it was partially my fault trying to get a good grip. Then he started to roll and we push and pulled some more then he slowly rolled on to his side and got up very quickly. I checked him out after and he was fine! A little shaken up but in great shape. So big thanks to Cole and Rach for being there to help out Nash!
Who awakened your soul?
October 2, 2013
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Miss Heather’s Big Day!
October 1, 2013
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This past weekend our favorite photographer, Judy Reinford, arranged a holiday photo shoot at the farm with her clients. She asked if Heather could be used in the family’s photos on location at Golden Spike Farm. In return the family made a contribution to the Nash fund raising campaign. It was a wonderful afternoon. The weather was perfect. Heather who loves kids was a super star. She stood, posed and did not move a muscle for 2 hours. Such a great pony!
Heather is a Welsh Pony used in the my lesson program. She is getting up there in years, mid to late twenties, but still enjoys having the kids on her back. She is so patient with them and knows their ability level. She will not do anything until they are ready for it. Since she is a white color, she is starting to show signs of skin cancer. “Melanomas are most common in older grey or white horses; as many as 80% of grey horses will develop them at some point during their lives.” See Common Equine Tumors. They don’t bother her at all so the vet is just keeping an eye on them for size and spreading.
I got to know Judy when she volunteered her time and services to the Nash Campaign. Check out the post from May of this year. She is an amazing photographer who’s pictures make everything seem magical and enchanting.
I Love Nash
September 18, 2013
Farm Horses equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horseback riding, lesson, lessons, love, rescue, riding, SaveNash Leave a comment
My Handsome Man!
He is such a great horse and a big huge lover. He came to me scared and probably abused. When I cleaned his stall he would quickly move to the far wall with a scared look. That made me think he was hit with the manure fork. Now he comes up to me (well everyone) looking to give a hand a lick or receive a hug. He likes to steal your hat and lick your face in the process.
Recently I have started using him in lessons more. He is great with the beginners and stays right by me when I am walking them around. He is kinda lazy and hard to get going but he always aims to please.
Save Nash update
August 14, 2013
Farm Horses donate, equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, riding, SaveNash, surgery, trail rides Leave a comment
What a busy summer the farm is having! Sorry I haven’t updated you on Nash in a while but I wanted to let you know that the fund raising campaign is still on going. I would like to extend a special thanks to my lesson kids. They have jumped on board and are helping raise funds this summer. They have done lemonade stands and put cans in local pet supply stores and Vet office.
In the spring we delivered compost (aged horse manure) to local farms and residents. I asked that all they pay was for gas. If the truck did not need gas at that time the extra cash went to Nash.
So today I am going to deposit $188 in cash to the Nash bank account.
Please continue to spread the word and help anyway you can.
Thank you!
Nash is doing great. He is enjoying his summer doing trail rides and lesson. All very light activity nothing more than a running walk. His hernia seems to have become a little larger. There is an additional half moon bulge to the left but he is not bothered by it. Fortunately we are not at the point of extreme concern yet. 
How to tell if you’re turning into a Horse.
August 5, 2013
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How to tell if you’re turning into a Horse.
Interesting perspective and comparison of horses and humans by a fellow blogger.
“Being prey animals, they have a keen awareness of their environment. Humans are blind, hairless mice in comparison. But if we spend enough time trying to understand and communicate with horses, slowly our senses improve. Balance and body awareness changes first, we have to learn that in order to ride. Slowly, our use of the limited senses we have improves. “
Riding as a Youth
August 2, 2013
Horseback riding equine, horse, horseback, horseback riding, horses, lessons, nature, trail ride, trail rides Leave a comment
The link above is a post by a fellow equine blogger. I enjoyed reading it and it got me thinking of riding in my youth.
After a couple years of lessons I got my own horse (Lilly of the fields). She was a beautiful chestnut mare. I had friends in the area and we would go trail riding. During the summer it would be all day trail rides to the park or convenience store. We didn’t wear helmets and we had 100% trust in our horses. We never fell off even when we race around the avocado groves. We were young and free but not careless or risk takers.
Around the Farm
July 31, 2013
Farm Animals, Farm Horses boarder, equine, farm, farm horse, field, Golden Spike Farm, grass, horse, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, lessons, pasture, rescue, riding, SaveNash 1 Comment
Usually she rides Casey but during this lesson we decided to try something new: Cuervo. He is one of my rescues and best described as an ornery old man. He is great, loves trails but not a big fan of the ring. In fact he isn’t really a big fan of being told to turn. BUT he looks good! 
We finally got the roof of the barn painted.
Nice pic of Chex’s beautiful colors
The Donkeys… I haven’t posted about them in a while. They spent some time up in the front pasture with the goats because Izzy kicked them out of their stall. This week with the weather so nice I brought them back to hang out with the horses. They seem much happier here, even though they don’ have their stall any more.
The walk to the front pasture. The 8 barn horses (my 4 plus 4 boarders) are hand walked up the front pasture for grazing. This time when I was following 2 Chestnut butts (Izzy and Sunbun) they decided the would spook at the new tarp. But Rachael had it under control!
I got a new tractor last week. Yup after having my first Ford for less than 2 years it decides to die on me the Mechanic said that the repairs would cost more than it is worth. So sorry credit card but farm comes first. I didn’t take any pics of it because it looks the same only bigger than my last sexy beast. but you can see it in the background here.
Golden Spike Farm's Plog 
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