Author: restingheartfarm

Reno

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Reno is a 5 year old Percheron gelding. Trained and worked in harness regularly, Reno came in from the pasture lame one day. No one really knows what happened. Just a blown up hock and a lame horse. For several weeks he would improve then appear to reinjure himself in a frustrating downward spiral. I decided to accept him as a rehab project in January when his owner, frustrated, was looking an option that did not involve euthanasia. Reno was apparently a very nice horse, one who could be handled and ridden by children, despite his size…18 hands. Above is a photo of Reno from behind on the first day. No he is not walking…he is standing. Note the contracture and atrophy on the injured left side. He virtually stood like this nearly 100 % of the time, with the left hind in the air. I put Reno in a smallish paddock with my mini fosters. He was great with the little guys and there was no drive for him to overexert himself. It was …

Spirit’s hoof rehab

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Spirit is a mini that I rescued in December. Since I have such an interest in feet, I thought it would be cool to record the changes in his hoof quality with regular trimming. On his arrival, it was clear that Spirit’s feet had recieved little attention in the previous few months. He had bad thrush infections in all four feet..tiny necrotic frogs and alot of false sole in reaction to the frog weakness. Below you will see his left hind…pre-trim, then post first trim (you will see the false sole and lack of concavity)…then post third trim (where you will see normal concavity and a healthy frog)…a thing of beauty! This foot was in the best shape (and the photos were the best) so it is presented here. But the remining 3 feet are coming along as well. As the frog health improves, so does the rest of the foot. I’ve used Eclipse wound cleanser with each trim. We’ve had cold hard conditions here in New England which has helped the cause tremendously as …

Insights from a Manure Slinger…

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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”

Meet ‘Holiday Spirit’…

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In early december, I became aware of a miniature stallion at risk at the New Holland Auction in PA. Though at the time I thought surely someone would adopt him… it turns out he was out of time. I had to step up. As fortune would have it, I instantly had a crew willing to drive (9 hours each way) down to get him, as I was out of town for a meeting. I returned home in time to get a stall with a run-out ready for the little guy. He arrived the evening of Dec 15th…my mom’s birthday! What a joy he is! Cute as a button and a very sweet temperment… The first challenge was keeping him adequately quarantined from my other horses as there was some question about a strangles exposure. Its been over two weeks now…so far, so good. My Vet came out to see him shortly after he arrived to check him over. She thought he was likely around 15 years old and in reasonably good condition. He has something …

Happy Holidays 2008!

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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 …

The Passing of a Great Dog…

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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’ …

Educating Peanut. Part One

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Educating Peanut, Part One… In June of 2006, I glanced into a neighbors pasture as I drove home. I was surprised to see a Belgian foal on the ground and stopped to investigate. As it happens, he was 10 minutes old and I watched as he stood and took his first steps…it was love at first sight. I had no experience at all with draft breeds but this did not deter me from inquiring about him and after a brief conversation with my dairy farmer neighbor, a deal was struck. Having spent the past 10 years studying natural horsemanship pretty intensively, I felt pretty confident about his early handling. Turns out, everything about him was easy. Weaning was a simple matter. Halter training and leading went uneventfully. He learned to stand quietly for me to trim his feet with very minimal fuss. As a yearling I brought him to Mark Rashid while he was visiting New Hampshire and he got us started with lunging and ground driving. Peanut was indeed an easy-going horse…sensitive and sensible…all …

Peanut and Bear

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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.. http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn258/mamajud/RESTING%20HEART/?action=view&current=DSCN1321.flv http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn258/mamajud/RESTING%20HEART/?action=view&current=DSCN1322.flv

Tip #1 for combating mud season

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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!