cadencedhoofbeats

2009-12-06T07:51:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh, a beautiful, quiet Sunday morning. It snowed last night...not much, but just enough to cover the ground and the trees and make it so pretty outside. The sun is coming up this morning, and the horses are munching their morning hay -- ha ha, and running around! They love playing in the snow. Ahhhh, this is the life!

The snow also gets me in the mood to make Christmas cards. I spent most of the day yesterday working on Christmas cards and plan to finish them up today. I only send a few Christmas cards, but since I print each card with my own photo and write a personalized message to each person, it takes me quite a while! :D

I also have to get a couple of presents organized. I only do a few presents, too, and last year I was completely prepared with what to get everybody. This year, not so much. I have no clue what to get people, so I'm thinking about giving them a variety of goodies. Maybe some chocolate and some other little stuff.

Happy Holidays!

2009-10-24T21:20:00.002-04:00

I am feeling kinda gloomy tonight, and for some reason, that always means I feel like blogging. I don't know, maybe it is the lack of sunlight recently, the fact that the days are indeed getting shorter, maybe it is the weird weather (back and forth between warm and cold, and now it is currently POURING), but whatever the reason, I am feeling gloomy.

Part of it is the fact that the weather is terrible, and I am not getting any riding in whatsoever. Not to mention the fact that my little pony has been slightly lame the past couple of days. She is constantly resting her left hind and is having trouble picking up her other feet due to the fact that she doesn't want to weight her left hind. It doesn't feel hot, and the only swelling is just from being stocked up. That's no surprise since she's standing around all day due to the rain, and as soon as we walk her, the stocking up does go down. She is a little stiff but nowhere near three-legged lame. She can walk and trot pretty well. We thought it might be a hoof abscess, so I stocked up on epsom salts and ichthammol. But today she seems a little better. So we'll just keep watching her, especially once this rainstorm gets out of here.

So yet again, I am not doing any riding. It is kinda frustrating, but I console myself by saying that I cannot control the weather, and as for the lack of time, well, that is part of caring for your horses. They say that if you do self-care of your horses, then you have less time to ride. I believe that is absolutely true! I must admit that I am jealous of other people I know who are riding much more than I am. However, after some of our horrible boarding barn experiences, I would much rather have full control of my horses' care. In case you hadn't noticed, I am VERY particular about my horses' care, and part of that is due to the horrible boarding barns we were in. I am always on a mission to take care of my horses better than those barns did! Trust me, I think I have fulfilled that mission. :D

So now I will go wallow in my gloom by watching CSI: Miami reruns. Good night!

2009-09-07T20:57:00.002-04:00

The nights are getting chilly, and the ponies are getting fuzzier! I can't believe the summer is over already. The pastures are getting low, and the ponies are starting to eat more hay. I actually find their hay patterns really interesting.

I feed anywhere from 10-25 pounds of hay per horse at various points throughout the year. Usually in the summer, they are on pasture in the mornings and early evenings with a little bit of hay during the afternoon and then more overnight. Then during the winter they eat all hay, up to 25 pounds on the coldest winter days.

I find weighing hay to be VERY important. The 10-25 pounds translates to 5-18 flakes sometimes depending on the bales. I know many people can estimate the weight of flakes just by feel and vary according to that, but I also know barns that feed a flat number of flakes a day, no matter what the horse and no matter what the weather. I mean, how on earth can you do that if one flake weighs 1 pound vs. 5 pounds and depending on if it is summer vs. winter?!

2009-08-25T21:29:00.002-04:00

Well, we're still in the heat wave, although this week hasn't been nearly as hot as last week and the weekend. Still quite warm, though, with a good amount of humidity (although not as oppressive as before). Unfortunately, it's all coming back tomorrow! HOT AND STICKY!

The horses have been doing okay, but they have seemed quiet. Not really up for doing much. I haven't ridden at all through this heat wave. I think this weather is supposed to break soon, so hopefully they will feel more energetic. And hopefully I will feel more energetic!!!!!

2009-08-23T21:35:00.003-04:00

Wow, after a cooler than normal summer, we have had nonstop heat and humidity for over a week now. Ugggggh, it is horrible. The air conditioners are working very hard, and I am hosing down the horses every day (at least we're not in a drought). It is finally supposed to break later this week. I can't wait!

Despite the heat and humidity, it was a busy weekend, and I am tired, especially after working outside in this crazy weather. And of course I didn't get everything done that I wanted to...how come the weekends are so short?! I didn't even ride (JUST TOO HOT!), and I still didn't have enough time. Sigh. :P

2009-08-16T14:50:00.004-04:00

OH, MY GOODNESS, IT IS SO HOT!!! Today is definitely the hottest day of the summer so far, and apparently there is more heat on the way for early this week. I tried to ride the ponies this morning but couldn't do much more than walk and a couple of circles at the trot.

I have spent most of the day inside with the air conditioning. The horses seem okay outside, and they are actually out in the sun nibbling grass right now. In the early morning, they do go down in the pasture which is in the shade. And later this afternoon, I will give them a quick rinse with the hose before turning them back out into a different shady pasture.

I can't wait for the cool, crisp autumn season!!! :D

2009-08-10T21:20:00.002-04:00

I am eating mint chocolate chip ice cream right now -- and LOVING IT! MMMM, SOOOOO GOOD! I haven't felt that great today...must be the heat, humidity, and the fact that it's Monday. The weather is really miserable out there today. I can't believe we had such a gorgeous Saturday, and now it's hot, humid, and hazy! We're supposed to get some thunderstorms tonight...not sure how much that will cool things off!

Today something reminded me again of how lucky I am to have the horses under my care. I can't remember exactly what prompted me to think of it, but despite all the work and being out there in the heat and humidity (not to mention the snow, ice, and cold), IT IS ALL WORTH IT!!!!!! :)

2009-08-09T21:48:00.003-04:00

TWO BLOG ENTRIES IN A ROW!!! YAY!!! Today's weather wasn't nearly as nice as yesterday's, but I did get plenty of stuff done. I rode my pony this morning and opted not to ride my other pony, as she still looked like she was favoring her leg. Not dead lame by any means, but just a little off. I cold hosed it in the morning and the afternoon, and by the afternoon, it was looking better. I was considering adding this ColdFlex Vet Wrap to my first aid kit...anybody ever tried it? It sounds like it might be a good thing to have, just in case cold hosing isn't possible.

After my ride and taking care of my other pony, I got some stuff done around the house and ran some errands. I also checked on the yellow jacket nest...I think we got most of them, but I sprayed again just in case.

And so here I am taking a break and blogging. I can't believe the weekend is over. In fact, I can't believe it's the middle of August already. Where did the summer go? I love the fall season and am excited for it, but at the same time, I wish summer hadn't gone by so fast!

2009-08-08T21:32:00.002-04:00

Today was quite possibly the most beautiful day of the year. I don't think the temperature got above 75 degrees, and it was sunny and NOT humid and with a gentle breeze and a blue sky and puffy white clouds...ooooooooooh...just wonderful!!!!

I had a great ride on my little pony this morning, but we think my other pony got stung by a yellow jacket. :( She came in from the pasture and stood there holding up her right front. At first we thought it was puffy in the forearm, but now we see that her knee is a little puffy. We have been cold hosing, and I probably should have given her some banamine, but I hate to do that with her past stomach issues. I will give her some tomorrow if it is still swollen.

She can bear weight on it, and she walks fine, but she favors it a little bit at the trot, and sometimes when she turns, you can see her favor it. When she first came in from the pasture, she looked so sad, but now she has perked up, and she is eating just fine and is normal with everything else.

And when I went to mow the pasture, I found a GIANT YELLOW JACKET NEST!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Luckily I did not get stung, but unfortunately, my poor pony must have stumbled upon it, too. We have sprayed some yellow jacket killer spray...I hate to use toxic chemicals, but this nest was REALLY BAD. We are going to check it again tomorrow. If anybody has any great tips for getting rid of yellow jackets, please let me know!

Tomorrow's weather forecast is not supposed to be as nice, but I'm just glad it's still the weekend. If it rains, I'll use the day to get some stuff done inside. Little by little, I am working on cleaning my room...I try to do a little bit each night (inbetween blogging and Internet surfing!). I just have so much stuff, and I really need to get rid of some of it and de-clutter, but it is so hard to find the time, not to mention the motivation. Plus I have a lot of stuff that I just can't bear to part with! :D

So off I go to tackle tonight's cleaning session! Better get a move on before I lose my motivation. :D

2009-07-19T21:39:00.002-04:00

Good evening! It has been quite a while since I've been on here, but I wanted to write a blog entry and mention that MY RESCUE PONY IS DOING AWESOME!!!!!! It has been just about three years since we brought her home, and she has come so far. She looks fantastic, but there was this constant mental block under saddle that we just couldn't overcome. But in the past few weeks, we have made a huge breakthrough under saddle, and we had the best ride ever this morning. I am SO happy.

It was also a beautiful summer day -- not your typical hot and ridiculously humid July day, but rather sunny, warm but not too hot, and low humidity with a gentle breeze! JUST PERFECT!

I am heartbroken that the weekend is over now. :(

2009-06-12T20:08:00.002-04:00

I am so tired tonight. It was an unbelievably long week. Very very busy at work and not helped by the weather. It rained literally alllllllllllll week. The sun just came out a couple hours ago, along with massive swarms of horseflies. Oh, man, the bugs are SO bad this year. I have tons of fly tape up in the barn, and there must be hundreds and hundreds of horseflies stuck...it's so gross.

So after I finish nightcheck on the animals, I'm just going to hang out tonight. Maybe get some stuff done inside, as I'm hoping the rain will finally let up this weekend, and I can get some riding in. The horses haven't been worked since last weekend! I had some great rides on Sunday...it figures...as soon as we start doing something great, then we take a week off. :P

I am also getting worried about the hay season. It's mid-June now, and no one is cutting because it's raining NONSTOP! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. I'm starting to get down to the end of my hay supply, and some of the bales are moldy...ewwwww, I HATE MOLDY HAY.

Good thing the rain is helping the pastures grow like crazy. I need to increase the time on grass for the horses. I'm always VERY careful with letting them on spring grass, but sometimes I can be too careful. Need to be better about increasing the time slowly but steadily.

Good night! :)

2009-06-01T21:16:00.003-04:00

I need to find a way to get rid of mosquitoes!!!!!! It has been a very wet spring, and they are ferocious out there. Any ideas?

We don't have any ponds or major standing water on the property, but we do have woods, and since it has rained so much, I'm sure there are plenty of puddles and wet vegetation for mosquitoes to breed in.

I have a variety of animals here, so I don't want to use anything toxic. I have heard of using garlic granules/sprays such as Mosquito Barrier or Mosquito Beater. Any comments on those and their effectiveness?

I've also heard of using natural repellents such as citronella, lemon juice, cedar, apple cider vinegar...I think there are some sprays with those ingredients that you can use? I wonder if you have to use massive amounts, though.

I don't really have anywhere to plug in a Mosquito Magnet. I've heard mixed reviews about them, too. Not sure what I think.

All I know is that I want the mosquitoes to go away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-10T21:30:00.002-04:00

I listen to the sound of the rain fallin' down my window
Prayin' for a gentle wind, to bring my baby back again

It's an old Celine Dion song, I think. It sort of describes what I'm doing right now, except I'm praying for a gentle wind to dry out my paddock and riding arena! Ha ha ha! I wasn't sure if I wanted to put the hay in the run-in shed tonight, and now I'm glad I did, as I listen to that rain out there.

I'm sad that it's going to rain most of Easter weekend. It figures that today was a beautiful day, and I had to work!

Well, I'm off now for some quality Friday night vegetation. Good night! :)

2009-04-09T22:03:00.003-04:00

I am going to entitle this post "THE BENEFITS OF FRESH AIR."

I work in an office job, and it's a pretty good job...of course it has its moments, but I guess it's okay overall. BUT THE AIR IN THE OFFICE IS TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!! I am so so so so so thankful that I have an office with a window. However, usually this window stays closed, as my office mate is always freezing.

However, today my office mate was not in the office, and the window WAS OPEN ALLLLLLLLL DAY LONG!!! It was a sunny, breezy, fairly warm spring day, and I cannot even describe what a difference the fresh air made in my energy level.

I have a lot of trouble maintaining a high energy level all day long. I work HARDER THAN ANYONE between the hours of 8-12. But in the afternoon, I start fading. However, today, with the fresh air blowing in, instead of yawning and trying desperately to stay awake in the mid-afternoon, I was still working hard.

Then after I left work, I had the energy to go outside and muck the whole paddock, play with my ponies, and do other barn chores. I almost NEVER have the energy to do this after a work day, and I swear it was the fresh air.

I don't know why they don't make more offices with windows. I don't know why we have to spend day in, day out chained to our desks in dismal offices. We lead extremely stationary lives indoors, and it's really not good.

WE SHOULD SPEND MORE TIME OUTSIDE RIDING HORSES!!!!!!!!! :D

2009-04-06T21:57:00.002-04:00

What a dreary Monday. As if Monday itself weren't dreary enough, it rained almost all day today. The ponies stayed in the run-in most of the day, but tonight it finally stopped raining, so they came out. The grass is turning green green green, and it is growing, well, like a weed! I think they will start refusing hay pretty soon. It will be a while until they're on pasture for a significant amount of time, but they tend to go on a hay strike right around April and May. That's okay, though...they are plenty chubby!

Work was quiet today...I love it when it's like that, but sometimes I get worried because it's almost TOO quiet. We tend to go from one extreme to the other, either DEAD QUIET or COMPLETELY MANIC. And we often do that in a matter of minutes. I wish we had a happy medium!

2009-04-03T19:49:00.003-04:00

Does anyone else ever enjoy a really quiet Friday night at home? I mean, I know you're supposed to go out and see friends and party late into the night, but does anyone else just NOT have the energy to do this?

I mean, by Friday, I'm just exhausted! There's nothing I'd rather do than curl up on the couch and watch TV or surf some horsey websites or blog a little bit. And sometimes I use Friday night to catch up on little things that I just haven't had time to do during the week...like read my mail.

Now many of the people I know who stay out late on Friday night are NOT up early on the weekends to feed horses, muck stalls, and do farm work. But I do know a couple people who do that...I wish I had their energy!

But since I don't, I think I will enjoy this quiet Friday night. :)

2009-03-15T07:38:00.002-04:00

I am FINALLY feeling better today. I have been sick ALL WEEK...very queasy and just completely exhausted. It was horrible.

BUT I would like to add that my horses got fed well every day, and most of the mucking got done, too. In reference to my last two posts, one thing that also bugged me about boarding barns was when the barn staff got sick, there didn't seem to be any backup. Now with only a couple horses, that's not so bad, but I was always surprised that there was never any plan for getting sick when you had 20-25 horses to care for!

Anyway, this weekend I am catching up on some stuff that I missed all week. I'm sure I'll be very busy at work tomorrow, too, as now I'm an entire week behind. Oh, well. When you are sick, I believe you should take the time to get better! It doesn't help anyone if you spread germs around the office, and yet there are so many people who come to work sick anyway!

I am disappointed that I'm not riding this weekend. It is pretty nice weather, but my little riding area is mostly mud, and I just don't really feel well enough to get up on the back of a critter with spring fever!

2009-03-04T22:05:00.005-05:00

What to look for in a boarding barn, Part II !
(see Part I here)

ATMOSPHERE is very important to me. I've been at big barns and small barns, and I'm more of a small barn person. That said, I also do not like any barn with a lot of nasty people. I was at one barn where the boarders and clients were SO nice to each other. Very respectful and thoughtful, always encouraging each other with their riding, and everybody listened to each other. I've also been at a barn where the barn manager was rude and made fun of people...way to encourage a great atmosphere. Another thing that I've noticed is the mix of disciplines. I personally have ridden dressage and hunter/jumper, and I always love a good trail ride. However, I was at one barn that was ENTIRELY trail riders. As much as I like the trail, I also enjoy schooling in the dressage arena. However, there was nobody else there to ride with. :( I am also more of a backyard rider...I don't do a lot of shows and prefer to take occasional lessons and work on riding on my own. I found it hard to be in a barn where people were going to shows alllllll the time. I'm sure some of them were wonderful people with wonderful horses, but sometimes it made me feel left out.

Now don't worry, the boarding barn FACILITIES are also important to me! Safety of barn and fencing are definitely crucial, but I do believe that you can find a diamond in the rough. One of the best barns I've been at was older and not necessarily beautiful, and one of the worst barns I've been at was BEAUTIFUL with brand-new stalls, fencing, indoor/outdoor arenas, etc. Honestly, an indoor arena is not that important to me. Sometimes in the dead of winter, I do wish for one, but as I have almost never had one where I've been, I've gotten used to it. I do know a couple of people who would die without their indoor, though! :D

I am rather obsessive about MANURE MANAGEMENT, and I think I have only been at one barn that was also obsessive (for both stalls and pastures). That place also had the fewest flies! All barns did daily stall cleaning, but almost nobody managed their pastures. And since I wanted my horse to spend less time in a stall and more time out in the pasture, I would have liked her pasture to NOT resemble a sea of manure. I understand that keeping up with the manure with a lot of horses is very difficult, but with the small pastures in this area (no 100-acre pastures here!), I would have liked to see more frequent pasture cleanings. Manure is just a part of having horses!!! :D

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention is BARN HOURS. I'm really not crazy about them. I thought I could deal with a barn being closed one day per week, but I was so wrong. I thought, oh, I'm going to need a day off from going to the barn anyway. Well, of course that day the barn was closed usually tended to be the nicest weather or when I had the most time or when I had the most energy to ride. Also, I found some of the times to be very limiting. I am NOT going to show up to the barn at 2 AM (unless for an emergency)...I do try to respect the barn owner's home!!! But on a hot summer day, I like to ride at 7 or 8 AM. Or 6-7 at night. When the barn opens at 9 and closes at 4, that doesn't work. :(

Well, those are my thoughts for tonight. Perhaps you think I'm crazy, and you would never want me to board at your barn!!! Well, maybe so. But before I came to your barn, I would try really hard to see if we're a good match. I have tried to think really hard about what my horse and I can deal with. Maybe we'll fit in your barn, and maybe we won't. But at least I will be honest with you about it!

2009-03-03T21:43:00.014-05:00

As I was outside feeding the horses tonight, I thought about how thankful I am that they are in my care. I have boarded at a variety of barns and did not always have the best experiences. I realize that boarding horses is tough! You do hard work for long hours and deal with a lot of different horses and a lot of different people with a lot of different demands.

Recently "what do you look for in a boarding barn" has been a hot topic of discussion. I thought maybe I would start writing down some of my thoughts here. I'm not sure how coherent this will be, but I'll try!

While I was boarding, I think the most important realization that I came to was: What can I live with, and what can my horse live with? Things that I thought I would be okay with, I wasn't. And neither was my horse.

For example, TURNOUT. I am a huge advocate of 24/7 turnout, and so is my horse. I realize that this is not always possible for everybody, and not all horses like it. At one of my boarding barns, they did 10-hour daily turnout and in a stall overnight. I thought this would be fine, but I was wrong. My horse hated it...she was restless, and she didn't like being led out in the morning and being led in at night. She would be led into the stall, and then she would try to run right back out again. The barn also failed to follow through on the 10 hours...some days it was 5 hours, and some days they didn't go out at all. Now just because my horse and I hated that routine doesn't mean every horse and owner would hate it! You have to find the turnout routine that works for you. Some barns I know offer both daily turnout AND 24/7 turnout. One thing I don't like, though, is when my horse is on 24/7 turnout, but all others are stalled. Then mine spends the whole night screaming for her buddies...that's not good either. :(

Also, TURNOUT BUDDIES. My horse grew up in a herd of about 8-10 mares turned out 24/7. She was not turned out with geldings, and at one boarding barn, they turned out in mixed groups. I was game to try this because I wanted to follow the barn's routine, but that DID NOT WORK for my horse. The geldings beat her up and tried to mount her, and there were NO OTHER MARES at the barn, so my mare ended up in individual turnout. Not something that worked for a mare who always lived in a herd. :( That said, I have friends whose horses MUST have individual turnout and other friends whose mares go out with geldings. It all depends on what works for you and your horse! I also recommend knowing what your horse's position in the herd is...my mare is very low in the hierarchy, completely non-alpha, so the geldings just beat her up, and being alone didn't work for her either!

FEEDING became quite an issue for me at several barns. I buy all of the hay and grain for my horses now, and I know how difficult finding good quality hay can be. I don't expect top quality, soft, green, leafy hay all of the time, but I also don't expect yellow, brown, coarse, moldy hay either. And I don't expect to be LIED to about the hay. If it's a tough hay season, please tell me. And if you're having trouble finding hay and think you won't have enough for the winter, please don't buy two more horses.

FEEDING AMOUNT is also important to me. I support more hay, less grain. I like when people talk to me about my horse's diet, I like a consistent diet, and I like to know what my horse is eating. (I know other owners who could care less.) One barn stuffed my easy keeper full of grain and very little hay without my permission. They also changed the type/brand of grain quite frequently. As I mentioned above, I understand that hay can be scarce some years. Maybe we will have to find a forage supplement...maybe we will have to increase the grain a bit. But please talk to me about it first! Also, please make sure that my horse is actually GETTING the allotted amount. When she was stalled, that wasn't a problem, but unfortunately, the stall was the problem! So when she was turned out, it was harder to make sure that she got her share. I know horses will be horses, and dominant horses will chase others away, but please keep an eye out during grain time, and please put out enough hay piles so my submissive mare can eat.

FEEDING ROUTINE is also important to me. Now some people encourage varied feeding routines for horses so they don't expect a meal at the same time every day. If that works for you, that's great. I really like feeding on a schedule, and that's how my horse grew up. When one barn fed anywhere from 4-9 PM, she became quite panicky and nasty and food-aggressive. That didn't work for us. :(

Well, I still have plenty more to comment on, but I think I'm going to stop here for tonight. I've always had so many boarding barn issues, but I've never put them down on paper (er, blogger) before. It's interesting for me to write...I hope it is interesting to read!

2009-02-08T21:31:00.002-05:00

It's just about that time of year when I start getting impatient to ride again. I don't mind taking a couple months off during the winter, as the weather makes it impossible to ride, and I'm usually busy getting the winter hay supply in, and I'm busy with friends and family around the holidays, etc. But now it's February, and I'm ready to ride!

Unfortunately, we still have tons of snow and ice on the ground, so it looks like riding will be delayed another couple of months. In the meantime, I can start PLANNING to ride. I have absolutely made the resolution to MAKE TIME to ride this summer...we'll see how that goes...usually I do a great job in May and June, and then I sort of get burned out, and it gets hot and humid and buggy...blah!

I'd like to try to ride my little pony 2-3 times a week this summer. I'll probably be lucky to get 1 ride in per week on my other pony...she's my rescue, and she just takes so much longer and so much more patience. So if I ride the little one twice and longe once, and longe the other one twice and ride once, then that's six days per week. And I will definitely need one day off...if not more! :D

I'm not sure if I can keep up with that schedule, but I'm going to try!

2009-01-29T21:47:00.002-05:00

I've been doing a good job of feeding less hay, and my rescue pony has been doing a good job of NOT beating up the little pony due to less food. She has really turned a corner this past year. There is more sharing of hay piles and fewer nasty faces...she is MUCH LESS protective of her food.

It has been almost three years since we rescued her. It has been that long, and she still continues to improve. I can't imagine how messed up she was both physically AND mentally.

In a way, I have turned a corner, too. I have relaxed a little bit knowing she is safe and has plenty of food (although I am still a worrywart horse mom!). When I brought her home in such bad condition, I was pretty mad at certain horse people for leaving her that way. I refused to discuss any horse care issues with anybody in fear that they would tell me I was doing things wrong with her.

Now I have made a little contact with some of my old horse friends. Maybe now I will be more willing to share horse stories with them, and maybe now I will make fewer nasty faces, too. Ha ha ha. :D

2009-01-23T21:52:00.002-05:00

I only fed the ponies 40 pounds of hay today! GO ME!!!! Now I'm sure you're asking yourself, why on earth would anybody be so happy about feeding less hay? Well, you see, my ponies are very chubby right now, but I have been too afraid to decrease hay because my rescue mare tries to beat up the little pony when there is less hay. But so far she is doing well...I'm crossing my fingers that it stays that way!

I am so glad it's Friday. This was a tough week at work. Right now I am blogging and eating chocolate...what a great way to spend Friday evening! :)

2009-01-22T18:34:00.003-05:00

My ponies are getting so fat! I must cut down on the amount of hay I'm feeding. I usually feed about 45 pounds per day for the two of them, so I think I'll cut that down to 40 and then see if I can cut anymore. I probably can...they are little pork chops! :D

I highly recommend weighing hay. I know that this is not always possible in a big barn with a lot of horses, but since it's just my two ponies, I find that it helps me manage their diets so much more consistently.

It's tough because my former rescue pony gets worried when there's less hay, and she'll start beating up on the other one, but she is no longer a rescue, and she is plenty chunky, and without much exercise (24/7 turnout but no riding due to snow and ice!), she needs to eat less!

Tomorrow I will start feeding less hay...YES, I WILL!

2009-01-16T21:45:00.003-05:00

O, glorious Friday night! I am SO glad the weekend is here. We have just been running nonstop at work, and I need a break. Although I'm not sure how much of a break I'll get this weekend!

It is currently 1 degree Fahrenheit outside right now, and there's a snowstorm on its way for the weekend. So before that happens, I have a lot of work to do outside at the barn, and I'd sort of like to SEE my horses in the DAYLIGHT. Ugggh, it's that time of year when I feel like I just don't see them...I feed before sunrise, go to work, come home, feed after sunset...it's a tough pattern.

But for now, a nice quiet night surfing the web and watching silly YouTube videos. :)

2008-12-31T21:34:00.003-05:00

Happy Last Day of 2008! My New Year's Resolution is to buy a new hairbrush! Mine has definitely seen better days. I wonder what the life expectancy of a hairbrush is...ha ha ha.

It is cold and windy tonight, and it snowed all day! The ponies are in the run-in with plenty of hay. My little pony is also wearing her blanket, as the wind chills are supposed to be well below zero, and she doesn't have the coat or the internal furnace that my other pony does. She wears a Weatherbeeta Orican, and I am actually impressed with the blanket. I know horse blanket shopping can be quite a chore, and it took me a long time to decide on the Orican, but now I am glad I did!

Also, I made peanut butter cookies with Hershey Kisses today, and they were DELICIOUS! Mmmmm!

Happy New Year!