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Life on a Farm
New blankets
 Three new horse blankets this week. Patty has a great purple one that will keep her warm and dry. She didn't seem to be bothered by this cold and her warm, winter coat is thick and soft. But the wind really does whip up here. Vixen has an equally attractive blue very warm new jacket. She has been getting cold -- she is one of the few horses in the barn who doesn't grow a warm, fuzzy coat. Her new blanket even has a 'hood' that is on in this warm weather tonight. And last, but certainly not least, Lizzy spent her birthday gift certificates at Country Tack for a very fashionable new blanket for Zeus. Chuck claims the dots are reflective! I just hope the other horses don't make fun of him for being dressed so fancy. :) I have taken to mimicking the Chuck Uniform. With Krissy off for the week, I am spending a LOT more time in the barn cleaning stalls, turning horses out, etc.... I must admit those flannel lined overalls do keep you warm. Despite the holidays and the cold, the barn still has quite a few riders coming for their weekly lesson. Here is a pic that looks almost as cold as it feels outside. Now, back outside for Bradley's 8 pm feeding, cleaning the stalls of the horses spending the night inside so there is less work tomorrow morning. Labels: blankets, Krissy, Patty, Vixen, Zeus
posted by Farmer's Wife @ 7:21 PM 0 Comments
Weaning Patty, Working Vixen
 We are quickly approaching the time to wean Patty. Today, Patty went into the stall she has shared with Vixen since her birth while Krissy saddled up Vixen and rode her for a half hour or more down on the hunter/jump course set up on the track (now, the barn is cleaner than my house and the track is decorated prettier for fall than the yard ... oh well). Patty happily munched on hay the whole time -- a very, very good sign. I don't know all that much about horses, but I stopped to watch Krissy ride for a while and to the untrained eye Vixen looked beautiful -- smooth and sound. Krissy said all the horses are a lot happier in that setting. I guess they like the idea of no fences! When Vixen went back in the stall with Patty she actually didn't let her nurse -- another good sign that she is actually weaning the foal herself! Starting tomorrow we are going to feed them their grain in separate stalls. Soon, Vixen will be in a different pasture and stall than Patty till she is completely weaned. Linda told me today she thinks with a month of concentrated work, Vixen will be ready to put back in the school horse rotation! She is such a pretty horse. We just need to watch her leg for that old lameness injury, but so far she seems good. I worried about her the last few weeks of the pregnancy. We can certainly use another walk/trot pony for beginners and advanced beginners. Vixen actually has great breeding and was destined to be a 'fancy' dressage horse until sometime around 2 years she went through a fence and hurt her leg. She recovered enough to go on to a YMCA camp where we are told she was a great camp horse. Being a sound and calm camp horse and a good riding school horse are pretty consistent. I still hope to possibly breed her again one more time ... she did such a great job and threw such a beautiful filly! And speaking of that filly, it is clear why Vixen was so big those last few days of her pregnancy. Man, that filly is getting HUGE. The bigger she gets the more anxious all the riders get to saddle her up. But the really good news is what a great disposition she has. A little spirited for sure, but loves people and lets you handle her. Who wants the first lesson on Vixen????? Labels: Patty, Vixen, weaning
posted by Farmer's Wife @ 8:53 PM 0 Comments
Patty is the star of camp
   I am so glad I got to spend the last two days on the farm and especially that I participated in the activity with Patty and Vixen in the indoor arena today! Now I know why Jacki loved it so much. I took some pictures with Krissy's camera and will post them soon. Labels: Patty
posted by Farmer's Wife @ 3:50 PM 0 Comments
Who is your favorite horse? (Besides Jay ...)
 I know I promised to bring you updates on the favorite horse poll ... and so Annie, Elizabeth and I took a peek the other night. And guess what we learned? We forgot to put Jay on the horses page and the survey! Uh oh -- he definitely would have gotten a vote from Annie! Here is a picture of Jay, anyway! So far we have 16 votes, and not surprisingly, Patty is winning. I guess it isn't really fair to match up a 3 week old filly against all our geldings and mares! Even so, it is clear why Patty is stealing everyone's heart. She is beautiful, full of spirit and starting to be a real charmer. She will now come up to most of us in her stall and sniff away at your clothes and then let you pet her. I have no idea how long a foal's coat stays silky soft, but it is definitely longer than the coat stays clean! The second place horse is Sweet Pea which is somewhat surprising to me. While Sweet Pea is a dream to ride -- even though he is big, he will do whatever you want. However, he has his issues. Don't ever try to pet his face when he is eating -- he is very protective of his food! And while I haven't handled every horse extensively, I think he is the hardest of the beginner horses to bridle. It is a combination of him being so tall and so stubborn about taking the bit. It really is interesting that a horse that is obstinate at one task can be so compliant at another. And I will readily confess that when SP gets 'dressed up' for a show, no horse is prettier. I'll keep the current survey up for another week ... then I'll take Patty off and add Jay and have a real competition! Labels: Jay, Patty, Sweet Pea
posted by Farmer's Wife @ 9:19 PM 0 Comments
Patty's First Bath!
 One of the things the riders love to do is give the horses a bath -- and they sure can use it. They get really dusty in the ring and often like to roll in the hay and dirt. Vixen, our mare who just foaled, and her filly, Patriot (Patty) have been looking particularly grungy. They are still kept separate from the herd (unless the gate isn't secure!) in a 'dry paddock' -- meaning, it is all dirt. There are lots of different reasons to keep a horse in a dry paddock. Patty is predominantly white, so keeping her looking nice is going to be a constant chore! Yesterday, Junie, Annie and Elizabeth worked with Krissy and Chuck to give both mom and baby a bath. It has to be at least 55 degrees outside to bathe a horse. Also, you use diluted shampoo. Krissy took pictures that I hope to post soon. Vixen loved it. Patty is getting used to it. It is important to handle her often now so that she gets used to people. It is a critical part of her 'training' -- even though she is only a few weeks old. Labels: Bathing a horse, Patty, Vixen
posted by Farmer's Wife @ 8:31 AM 0 Comments
Don't forget to secure the gates!
 Friday night, Chuck and I took Lauren and Sarah to see Up! It was great. But we got home a little later than usual. While I was putting Lauren and Sarah to bed, Chuck went out to the barn to do the last of the chores (feed the three horses who eat 3x a day instead of twice, put out a little more hay for any horse staying in his stall overnight). Just as I was getting ready to change for bed myself, Chuck ran into the house to get me. Someone (we have boarders and riders who often are at the farm till dusk or later) left the back gate to the paddock open. The paddock that is the current home of Vixen and baby Patty! It is attached to the barn, so they can get in and out of their stall at will. When Chuck went to give Vixen her grain, he noticed that she was not in her stall. He walked to the paddock and discovered the open gate and NO VIXEN OR PATTY!!! They had gone out into the big pasture with at least ten other horses! We had to find them and bring them back -- He was worried that they would run Patty too much and she might get hurt! And Vixen is very protective of the foal, so anything could happen out in that pasture. It was pitch dark, so Chuck had the idea that we would have to drive the truck into the pasture and use the headlights to find them. We grabbed grain (to attract the horses), a halter to get Vixen lead back to her stall (knowing Patty would follow) and headed out. Luckily, we quickly saw all the horses near Vixen in the middle of the pasture. Patty was resting and Vixen was standing guard over her. She is such a good mother! Now, our hope was that Vixen would easily let us catch her, and that Patty still had enough energy to get up and walk down to the barn. Vixen did let us approach her and Chuck got the halter on her while I fed her a little grain from my hand. The only problem was that grain attracted all the other horses! So, while Chuck lead Vixen and Patty to the barn (Caesar followed -- he is really protective of Vixen) I stood and fed the other horses grain from my hand. Have you ever been surrounded by 5 or six horses all wanting the little bit of Grain you have in your bucket? By the time the grain was gone, Chuck, Vixen, Patty and Caesar were far enough away that the other horses had forgotten about them. As I tried to get back in the pick up truck, Buck was sure I must have more grain and tried to get his head right in the truck! I finally got him backed off so I could close the door. By the time I drove back down to the barn, Chuck had Patty and Vixen safely back in their stall. Phew. Lots can happen on a farm! And it sure is a 24 hour a day job! Labels: Patty
posted by Farmer's Wife @ 2:01 PM 0 Comments
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