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Posts from the ‘Farm Life’ Category

16
Jan

Insights from a Manure Slinger…

Some of my friends suspect I am alittle obsessive-complusive about manure. Whats true is that I enjoy manure management….and I find I occasionally have my best epiphanies while mucking stalls and the like.

This, occured to me this morning while chipping piles from the snow….6am…..21 below zero….

“When approaching a problem, sometimes going at it at a slightly different angle is all you need to find the solution”

13
Dec

Happy Holidays 2008!


Happy Holidays, Everyone!

2008 has been a very exciting year…with both highs and lows! We’ve added to the farm in many ways and have cut back in other ways!

During the winter, I finally got the family on board for some horsey activities, namely skijoring! Bear, Marina and Evan (supported wholeheartedly by freezing mom, Michelle and Vera on the side lines) competed behind Manny and me in two divisions. Bear and I took second at the Newport Winter Carnival…a product of smart strategy and great skiing! Videos are on my blog (see below). 2008 was the best winter in memory for me, full of snow! We had over 100 inches last winter…truly beautiful!

In the spring, we had a blessed lack of mud, thanks to the heavy snow and thin frost underneath. We started our spring renovations…a farmer’s porch for the horses on the barn and a composting shed….a place to make manure a renewable resource! With rising diesel prices, I parked the big truck and limited my distant horsey activities to a minimum. I am totally grateful to Dad for the gift of a small farm truck last summer. I have enjoyed that truck and its gas savings immensely during these rough gas price times.

I spent the summer riding in my new arena and upgrading the farm. We added 2 Nigerian Pygmy goats…Alice and Betty…who have been immensely helpful in managing brush on our property. They love bushes and small trees. I built a chicken coop and populated it with birds over the summer. By the fall we had full production and a half dozen eggs a day. Yummy. We sell 2-4 dozen eggs a week, which pays for not only the organic chicken feed, but subsidizes the goat’s grain as well! I finally feel like I am a real farmer…

Brad and Kris hosted their annual ‘Mud Fest’ over Memorial Day weekend. It was the first time all the Judkins and Provencher cousins were in one place in many, many years. There was a lot of laughter and storytelling around the campfires that weekend.

Over the summer, I became affiliated with a grass roots organization promoting ‘draft animal power’, attended (and volunteered) at their ‘animal powered field days’ and learned tons about what can really be done with a big horse and not much else. Talk about ‘fuel efficient’!
This fall, I finally got Peanut into work. He spent 3 weeks at a trainer (Ted Russell) to get him started driving. Since he has been home we have been driving all over the place. We even learned to skid wood! I have big plans to use Peanut to move manure and drag the arena as well as other of the more mundane farm chores I have. We’ve got Miss Molly (miniature horse) pulling a cart as well.

We had Bear, Michelle and the kids, as well as Brad and Kristen over for Thanksgiving. Everyone made something…the kitchen was bustling! The kids enjoyed the barnyard and took turns driving Miss Molly around in her cart. The adults enjoyed a relaxing weekend catching up and taking it easy.

After the Holiday, I lost my beloved Dog, Dax. She died quietly at home after a yearlong battle with congestive heart failure (full story below). I was sad to lose her, but grateful that she went without pain, suffering or a trip to the hospital. With the addition of Maxwell Smart over the summer, life goes on…here at Resting Heart Farm!

Wishing you and yours a blessed holiday season, full to love and gratitude! Merry Christmas!
Jennifer, Laila, Manny, Canon, Peanut, Doc, Magic, Miss Molly, Max, Newt, Lucy, Banjo, Lilly, Alice, Betty and the girls (in the coop)!

PS. Click on image to enlarge…

1
Dec

The Passing of a Great Dog…

Dax was an Australian Cattle Dog I rescued in Colorado, more years ago than I can remember. Meant to be my husbands companion, she became mine when he left us. We’ve had a pretty remarkable relationship ever since.

She was a sensitive type of dog, right from the beginning. I learned quickly, that you didn’t need to yell at Dax to make your point. She knew every word of english I do, I swear. All you had to do was frown abit and she would know you were unhappy with her and she would hang her head in shame.

Loyal to a fault, she never needed a leash or collar. She could be trusted to stay in the yard, even when unattended for hours. I had as much control over her at liberty as anyone had with their dogs on a lead. She was the best dog I ever knew

The vets have been telling me to expect the worst for the past 7 years on and off. First was the diagnosis of a ‘fatal’ congenital heart defect when she was 8 years old. The cardiologist had never seen an adult dog with the condition and was amazed when I told her she spent her days chasing horses about. He fully expected her to drop dead one day without surgery. I told him that if she dropped dead doing something she loved so much…so be it.

Dax loved to chase my gelding, Manny. It was a sport I never could get control of and since she was such a perfect dog in every other way, I tried hard to let it go. But the sport has had its risks. She’s been knocked senseless twice…both times I thought she was dead. She has broken her cheekbone, her jaw,and several ribs (flail chest..the vets thought I would definately lose her over that one) and lost several teeth. I stitched her up several times at the barn without any anesthetic…she just stood still, letting me tend to her wounds, before turning right back around and going back to work.

A year ago (a full 6 years after the deadly heart diagnosis) she did start to show signs of congestive heart failure. The vets stabilized her with medication, but were very pessimistic, saying Dax would likely die in the next few weeks, as they have never seen a dog survive this disorder.

A month went by, then 2 and she resumed her job of chasing my gelding, as well as frolicing with our 5 other dogs. I tapered her off her meds and started her on CoQ10 and hawthorn berry, which she has been stable on for the past 10 months. The only thing slowing her down was some arthritis in her lower back.

We had 9 dogs at the house this weekend with my family visiting. Dax did all the things a pack of dogs do together. After everyone left yesterday, she ate her dinner, napped on the couch, then laid at my feet while I checked my email, which was her habit. I looked down at her once and she was gently playing with our 3 lb yorkie puppy…teasing her with a toy. I smiled. Then her breathing became erratic briefly, the light left her eyes and she was gone…in an instant.

As much as I will miss her presence in my life, I am grateful that she went quietly and quickly, without pain or a trip to the hospital. She lived a life we could all learn from. A love of play, an intense drive to keep moving, and totally irrepressible spirit of love and loyalty.

This dog taught me to never buy into anyone else’s paradigm of negativity. It was by watching her out survive the vets’ prognosis over and over again that has given me the confidence and freedom to say ‘no’ to traditonal intervention when that felt like the right road to take. I have no regrets as her caregiver. She led a very full and happy life to the moment she passed. There is alot for me to be grateful for on this Thanksgiving weekend indeed.

Peace.
4
Apr

Peanut and Bear

Peanut’s 3rd ride was with a total newbie….my brother Bear….who had never ridden a horse. I had spied Bear making some advances toward Peanut on the sly that looked like a ‘connection’…so I taught him to halter and saddle, then mount (though that went less than perfectly, but oh well…more for Peanut to get used to and prepared for). Peanut will be a perfect mount for Bear in regard to his size and even at this young age, Peanut does not look too small to carry a big guy like Bear. I then led him on a 10 minute ride, lead line style and gave him the basics of being centered. Good first lesson for Bear and Peanut did great in his 3rd saddling. Video links below..

31
Mar

Tip #1 for combating mud season

I just despise ‘mud season’ and boy are we in for one heck of a season this year with over 120 inches of snow this winter! So every victory won against that boot sucking mess is a thrill to me! Here is my first tip….

I hate to put my shavings in with the manure…it slows the composting process and feels like a waste. So now I sift out the manure for the compost pile and dump the soiled shavings outside in the muddiest areas. This turns out to be a brilliant idea! Instead of a mud patch outside the barn I have a soft spongy area that the horses have turned into a nap area (its also warm and easy to keep clean)…so here’s to mulch in stead of mud!

1
Mar

Paddock Paradise

I’ve had some requests to show some picture documentation of my ‘paddock paradise’ here at Resting Heart Farm. This all started when I found myself collecting horses, lol. I went from 2 to 6 horses over the past year and have only about 12 acres of pasture for grazing (4 or so are not even mine). After reading Jaime Jackson’s book of the same title, I used some (not all) of his ideas to create a network of fencing alleys that do several things…. Right now in winter, it is a simple track around my main field. It allows the horses 24/7 access to the main barn and stalls, but keeps them off the main pasture and on the perimeter only. The circular nature is great for keeping them moving…in contrast to a small paddock approach to winter. This is particularly useful with youngsters as they get pretty bored very easily. So I’ll give you a tour…

Here I am standing at the barn looking down the track. The water trough is at the bottom of this limb to the left. I put it there so the horses have to walk down to get water in stead of having it in the barn where they can be lazy. The horses you see are around the corner and in a secondary feeding area.

The water trough and mom’s dogs (they enjoy running the track too)

Now we are turning the corner to a secondary feeding area. Its important to keep food along the track to encourage movement from place to place. Miss Molly in the foreground, Peanut behind her.
You can probably see there are some gates in this area to other paddocks. In the summer I open and close different gates depending on where I want the horses to graze. I change the configuration every 4 to 5 days. And the great thing is that I don’t have to move any horses…they move themselves.

This is the Lounging Rock at the far corner of the track. Its where the horses hang and discuss important things, sort of like town meetings. This spot offers a view over the rest of the property and has a perch for the little guys. Magic is up on the rock in this photo…part goat I think.

Magic, Peanut and Doc heading down to the road…..dogs in the rear.

I can’t keep up obviously…so here they go around the far side back up toward the barn.

This is their second time around…..in fast forward!

So I hope that creates more of a visual aid. Comments and questions welcome.
13
Feb

Skijoring…

This is my second year skijoring with Manny. We’ve competed in three races this year and have climbed up the ranks from 13th to 4th to a very respectable 2nd in this past weekend’s event at the Newport Winter Carnival. With my brother, Bear in tow…..we weren’t the fastest but managed to strategize to minimize penalties. The really good teams go much faster….but we’re getting there.


In the Peewee division, Marina made an impression with her style and enthusiasm.

4
Feb

Good Morning!

A few days ago, I was afforded a great photo op at my place. I had been out doing my barn chores and had let Manny out in the aisleway to hang out while I worked which is commonly our routine. I ran into the house to let my freezing Yorkies in and get a second cup o Joe. When I came back out to the mudroom, there was Manny, escaped from the barn, knocking on my door quite literally. He was sampling the ornamental corn on the door! Too funny!

28
Jan

Summer 2007….Mom and the minis

With my Mom’s retirement finally here, we moved her into a small apartment here at Resting Heart Farm, so she could enjoy the things she loves…beading, knitting and her dogs. But she felt like she was missing out…in the horse department. So when a pair of minis became available, we couldn’t resist….

We added Miss Molly (formerly ‘Sunny’) and her colt, Magic to our herd in August 2007.

Magic and Peanut were of course, instant friends!

28
Jan

The Barn, Part Two

The barn was done in September 2006. Just about that time I took on 3 month old ‘Peanut Butter Fluff’ and his mom, Sally. Sally was to go back to my neighbor dairy farmer after weaning. Tim Harvey’s senior QH Doc came around the same time…with lots of babysitting experience, he was put to work right away.

Peanut and Mom…

Peanut took to Doc instantly. Weaning was a complete breeze.
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