We decided to add to our flock this year, as we lost a number of hens during the drought last summer. In the past, we've gotten chicks from our local feedstore, or a local breeder, but this year we decided to order from McMurray Hatchery.
It may seem odd to get chicks in January, but we chose to order them now for two reasons: they need to have time to mature before it gets too hot, and many times the hatchery is sold out by mid-March. Keeping chickens sure is popular!
Chicks are sent immediately after they are born, via USPS. This may sound awful, but they can survive for about 2-3 days on energy from the egg yolk. Ours arrived yesterday at the post office around 9 a.m. - the post office called my husband, and I went to pick them up immediately. When I arrived, I could hear them peeping the moment I walked in the door! I told the postmaster that I was there to pick up the box making all the noise, and he gave me sort of a funny look, but went to fetch the box. I took them home and got them settled in their new digs:
We did have an unfortunate thing happen yesterday after I took them home. Sometime during the day while I was at work, the power tripped in the barn. We think it was the space heater that I left on, even though I had power cycled it several times just to make sure it would NOT trip the breaker. The heat lamps went off, and the poor little guys got really cold. Chicks need a constant temperature around 95 degrees for the first week of their lives, and yesterday it was only 60. By the time I got home and found them, four of them were cold and not moving, and the rest were huddled in a tiny ball, trying to stay warm. I rushed all of them into the bathroom in the house, turned on the heater and plugged in a heat lamp, and sat with them until the hubby got home. The four that were not moving I carefully held under the heat lamp, trying to warm them up. Two of them unfortunately did not make it, but the other two started to revive and kept improving. We continued to hold them and give them water for about four hours, and when we went to bed they were sleeping under a heat lamp. This morning they seem to be mostly recovered, although I won't feel completely comfortable until it's been a day or two and they are running around more with the others. I feel really bad that this happened - after surviving such a long trip, they didn't make it because we weren't careful enough. Lesson learned, and hopefully that will be the last problem we have!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Oooooo, I WANNA GO!!!
Has anyone else seen this?
I've seen Cavalia, and find shows like these to be excellent entertainment, even though some of the "dressage movements" are more tricks than classical dressage. However, it looks like a neat production and very high-class. Plus, they will be in Central Texas in August. I am SO there! Anybody else in the area wanna come and make a night of it?
I've seen Cavalia, and find shows like these to be excellent entertainment, even though some of the "dressage movements" are more tricks than classical dressage. However, it looks like a neat production and very high-class. Plus, they will be in Central Texas in August. I am SO there! Anybody else in the area wanna come and make a night of it?
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Mid-week critter: Lifetime achievement awards
One of the things I did to pimp my tackroom was to hang up a bunch of my old ribbons. As I was doing so, it occurred to me that the majority of the ribbons belonged to Cash, so I decided to take a picture of him with all his ribbons.
Quite the decorated hero, isn't he?
In the grand scheme of things, it's not a lot of ribbons. Eventing is not like going to hunter/jumper shows or breed shows and coming home with half a dozen ribbons from half a dozen classes. For eventers, it's one ribbon per show if you have a good ride. When you ride at a USCTA event (now USEA, I'm showing my age) in Open Training with 40 people, that brown 8th place ribbon on the far right means a lot.
Some of those ribbons carry a lot of memories. The small blue ribbon up by his eye (with the faded purple ribbons) is from the first time we ever evented together - we were at Pine Hill and went Beginner Novice. I remember it being especially sweet because someone laughed at us while we were walking down to the dressage arena, and commented on "how funny that horse looks" (Paints didn't event back then). Apparently funny-looking horses can do really well eventing! The big championship ribbon on the left is from a USDF adult dressage team I rode on when I was going to grad school at RPI, as is the USDF medal that's hanging off Cash's ear. My cousin came down from Maine to see that show, and somewhere I have a print photo of her making faces with Cash. I wonder where that picture is. I wonder if my cousin remembers that day like I do.
Gosh, the more I look, the more I remember. I am so lucky that Cash carried me through so many amazing experiences - for me, he is one in a million.
I'm going to go hug my pony now.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Jousting practice 1/22/2012
So I'm a few days behind with this post, but I just got access to some of the pictures taken at the practice this weekend.
Saga was apparently a Very Good Pony! His biggest challenges to date have been the sound of armor on his back (it's clanky) and the sound of the lance hitting its target. Currently the target is a quintain, but eventually it will be another jouster's shield.
Saga did well with the extra armor, and they ended the day making canter passes at the quintain as well as "measuring passes" down the jousting lane against another horse. (A measuring pass is where you ride by each other but do not actually target the other rider.)
It occurs to me that I should do a post about all the armor and equipment that we use, but here's a quick version for the purposes of translating this post.
The next practice is this coming Sunday, if the arena dries enough. Fingers crossed!
Many thanks to AJoustersWife for all the pics in this post.
Saga was apparently a Very Good Pony! His biggest challenges to date have been the sound of armor on his back (it's clanky) and the sound of the lance hitting its target. Currently the target is a quintain, but eventually it will be another jouster's shield.
The hubby picked up where he'd left off after the last jousting practice, with making passes at the quintain. He started from a walk,
then went to trot, then finally canter. Saga did much better than the first time and was
apparently much more confident.
LOVE the "attack" expression on Saga's
face!
Next, hubby got out his helm with the
clanky chain mail aventail. This was causing a lot of problems in their ride last Wednesday, but Saga settled down quickly this weekend. He was so good that hubby
added his steel breastplate to the mix, which is even MORE clanky, plus
the chain mail clinks against the breastplate for extra added noise.
Now with breastplate (shiny!)
Saga did well with the extra armor, and they ended the day making canter passes at the quintain as well as "measuring passes" down the jousting lane against another horse. (A measuring pass is where you ride by each other but do not actually target the other rider.)
Measuring pass. Note that both riders are carrying lances but are not targeting each other.
Reddums spent the practice showing a
new jouster the ropes. As an experienced jousting horse, Red's perfect for demonstrating how it's done. We usually start folks off with the quintain -
it's surprisingly difficult to ride, hold a lance, and hit a target at (any)
speed!
"You were supposed to hit it," says Red. Note the disgusted look on his ears.
It occurs to me that I should do a post about all the armor and equipment that we use, but here's a quick version for the purposes of translating this post.
- Helm - Hubby made his out of 12 gauge stainless steel (stronger than a football helmet!). It's modeled after the Lyle Basinet (c. 1370, currently located at the Royal Armories in Leeds). The hubby is wearing it without the faceplate, which is added when we're actually breaking lances.
- Aventail - The chain mail "skirt" that goes around the bottom of the helm. This protects the throat.The aventail is made of four-in-one stainless flat rings that are riveted closed. I'll have to take a close-up of the mail
- Breastplate - On his torso, he's wearing a 12 gauge stainless steel breastplate. It weighs a ton and is quite clanky.
The next practice is this coming Sunday, if the arena dries enough. Fingers crossed!
Many thanks to AJoustersWife for all the pics in this post.
Monday, January 23, 2012
How Fuzzypony and I almost ate dirt (or, why I hate off-leash dogs)
Yesterday while the hubby was off at jousting practice with Red and Saga, Fuzzypony and I headed out on Taran and Cash for a relaxing trail ride. We ran into another horse owner who lives nearby, and the three of us spent the better part of an hour wandering the trails and chatting.
Isn't it funny how you can talk horses FOR HOURS with another horse person, even though you've just met?
At one point we got to a big field and decided to do a little trot and canter, just 'cause. Fuzzypony was cantering on the left lead, and Cash and I were on the right lead. We were passing left shoulder to left shoulder, about 20 feet apart, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Taran do this cutting-horse-esque pivot and spin to the left, throwing Fuzzypony over his right shoulder. He bolted directly into Cash and hit us broadside on the left. Fortunately, the impact threw Fuzzypony back into her saddle, but shoved Cash to the right and unbalanced me off Cash's left shoulder. I thought I was going to eat dirt, but had the presence of mind to throw my right arm over Cash's neck and pull myself back up. Cash, bless him, stopped almost immediately, blowing and wide-eyed. Taran had stopped next to us; Fuzzypony was unharmed but really shaken.
It had happened so fast I had no idea what caused it, so I spun Cash around... and then I saw the *&@%@$ off-leash dog that had spooked both horses. He'd apparently come careening around a fence so that he was directly behind Cash and directly in front of Taran, where neither horse could get a good look at him. Neither Fuzzypony nor I actually saw him until after he'd spooked the horses.
And the owners? They eventually got the dog to come back to them, put him on a leash, and walked away without a word. No apology, no checking to see if we were OK, NOTHING. We didn't go after them because frankly, we were too mad and too shaken to have a coherent, polite conversation with them. We probably should have, but I also didn't particularly want to ride my spooked horse over to where their very large dog was located.
I get that people want to let their dogs run - I let my dog run too, but only on my own fenced property. Of course, there are no leash laws in our small town, except during fawn season in the spring. But FOR REAL people, if your dog doesn't have good recall, KEEP YOUR DAMN DOG ON A LEASH. If we'd both hit the ground, we would have had two loose horses and possibly two injured people. That's not OK on any level.
Grumble.
Isn't it funny how you can talk horses FOR HOURS with another horse person, even though you've just met?
At one point we got to a big field and decided to do a little trot and canter, just 'cause. Fuzzypony was cantering on the left lead, and Cash and I were on the right lead. We were passing left shoulder to left shoulder, about 20 feet apart, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Taran do this cutting-horse-esque pivot and spin to the left, throwing Fuzzypony over his right shoulder. He bolted directly into Cash and hit us broadside on the left. Fortunately, the impact threw Fuzzypony back into her saddle, but shoved Cash to the right and unbalanced me off Cash's left shoulder. I thought I was going to eat dirt, but had the presence of mind to throw my right arm over Cash's neck and pull myself back up. Cash, bless him, stopped almost immediately, blowing and wide-eyed. Taran had stopped next to us; Fuzzypony was unharmed but really shaken.
It had happened so fast I had no idea what caused it, so I spun Cash around... and then I saw the *&@%@$ off-leash dog that had spooked both horses. He'd apparently come careening around a fence so that he was directly behind Cash and directly in front of Taran, where neither horse could get a good look at him. Neither Fuzzypony nor I actually saw him until after he'd spooked the horses.
And the owners? They eventually got the dog to come back to them, put him on a leash, and walked away without a word. No apology, no checking to see if we were OK, NOTHING. We didn't go after them because frankly, we were too mad and too shaken to have a coherent, polite conversation with them. We probably should have, but I also didn't particularly want to ride my spooked horse over to where their very large dog was located.
I get that people want to let their dogs run - I let my dog run too, but only on my own fenced property. Of course, there are no leash laws in our small town, except during fawn season in the spring. But FOR REAL people, if your dog doesn't have good recall, KEEP YOUR DAMN DOG ON A LEASH. If we'd both hit the ground, we would have had two loose horses and possibly two injured people. That's not OK on any level.
Grumble.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Jumping lesson 1-21-2012
I should preface the jumping lesson details with the note that it's been a fantastic week of riding. Tuesday Kiddo #1 and I went for a nice, long ride (me on Saga and her on Reddums) before she went back to college for the semester. She had a great time and we both got some T/C work in out in one of the fields nearby. Wednesday Fuzzypony and I headed out for a short bareback trail ride around dusk. At one point we were going down a very twisty, windy trail with cedar trees all around (it's sort of like a tunnel) and I commented how I felt like we were in a chase scene in a bad horror movie. Fortunately, nothing horror-movie worthy happened to us!
Then on Thursday the hubby, Fuzzypony, and I headed over to the retaining pond we like to ride in. The hubby had a really rough time with Saga, because he was wearing his jousting helm with chain mail. Saga doesn't like the sound of armor, especially when it's on his back. He jigged a lot, which of course made hubby tense and grab the reins, and soon we had this self-fulfilling cycle of constant pulling back which resulted in head-flinging. I have learned not to comment much on the hubby's riding (that's why we take lesson from a 3rd party) but I ended up suggesting that they just work on walk on a loose rein, and if Saga trotted, make an immediate correction but then go back to a loose rein. They ended on a good note, but it took a lot of work. The plan now is to figure out a way for me to wear clinky armor when I ride so we can get him more accustom to the sound. Never mind that hubby's armor is a) too big and b) really frickin' heavy... we'll figure something out. It may involve tin cans full of rocks to make noise, but we've gotta do something. If anyone has any ideas, LMK.
Friday night Fuzzypony and I took another short ride over to the retaining pond. Saga and I worked on a lot of T/C, with me focusing on using my core to rate him, remembering to turn my shoulders when trying to turn him, especially to the right where he tries to pop his shoulder and fall out. We had some really nice moments, until our canter departs, which just did. not. happen. Apparently, one can use one's core and forget one's legs to the point that your horse feels nice and adjusts well, but isn't actually with you. I'm still trying to figure how that works (or doesn't), but clearly I need to get him in front of my leg somehow. Dressage lessons are no doubt in order.
Finally, on to the jumping lesson on Saturday. I was on Reddums again and managed to keep him much more forward and balanced than last time. We got into our fences better (mostly), but I am still popping up way too early after the fences - or rather, on top of the fences. The deep AP saddle that I'm riding in isn't doing me any favors, but it's still a problem I need to work on. I'll bring it up with Paige next week and see if she has any great ideas on how I can fix that.
We did a fun line with a Christmas tree under the first jump. It's bigger than Red's been jumping, and of course it looked funny, so I was expecting a little goofiness the first time though. I aimed him at the lowest part of the jump on the right, which was a mistake. If your horse usually jumps right, fer heaven's sakes take the left side! I thought I was going to eat a standard, as you can see in our brilliant leap, where I caught more air than he did. Oh well, eventers are nothing if not persistent, so when Paige said to "go ahead over the second fence if you think you can make it" of course I went for it. I mean, I was still on, still had reins and stirrups, so why not? The second fence actually wasn't bad, given how... erm... creative the first jump was. She told me after that she was surprised that I had gone for it and made it, and I was like, well, of course, I'm going to get the job done regardless of how it looks. That's part of what eventing's about, right?
Fortunately the second time through was rather more together (which is to say, I rode better and Red made me look good), so we quit on that.
The hubby also had a really good ride on Saga, which ended with jumping the same line with the Christmas tree.
He worked on a lot this lesson - heels down, hands forward & grab mane, chest up - much of which is very difficult for him because he's just not flexible in the way that I think a lot of riders are. He physically cannot get his heel down more than an inch without absolutely jamming his foot into the stirrup, which of course tightens his entire leg. He can't sit Indian style at all - his hips just don't rotate in the socket that way, which makes it hard for him not to pinch with his thighs and knees. He gets frustrated because his body physically cannot do what the instructor often tells him to do, but Paige is sort of working miracles by providing alternatives and seeing what is possible, then working with that.
One really funny thing that happened - Hubby asked Paige what to do if you were jumping and there was a tree branch over the jump (he was talking about a scenario we had once when foxhunting). She looked at him quizzically and said, "Clearly there's something wrong with the arena you're riding in!" We both laughed and explained what we'd meant, and marveled once again at the difference between our riding world and her riding world. I swear, one day we're going to get her out and take her foxhunting!
Then on Thursday the hubby, Fuzzypony, and I headed over to the retaining pond we like to ride in. The hubby had a really rough time with Saga, because he was wearing his jousting helm with chain mail. Saga doesn't like the sound of armor, especially when it's on his back. He jigged a lot, which of course made hubby tense and grab the reins, and soon we had this self-fulfilling cycle of constant pulling back which resulted in head-flinging. I have learned not to comment much on the hubby's riding (that's why we take lesson from a 3rd party) but I ended up suggesting that they just work on walk on a loose rein, and if Saga trotted, make an immediate correction but then go back to a loose rein. They ended on a good note, but it took a lot of work. The plan now is to figure out a way for me to wear clinky armor when I ride so we can get him more accustom to the sound. Never mind that hubby's armor is a) too big and b) really frickin' heavy... we'll figure something out. It may involve tin cans full of rocks to make noise, but we've gotta do something. If anyone has any ideas, LMK.
Friday night Fuzzypony and I took another short ride over to the retaining pond. Saga and I worked on a lot of T/C, with me focusing on using my core to rate him, remembering to turn my shoulders when trying to turn him, especially to the right where he tries to pop his shoulder and fall out. We had some really nice moments, until our canter departs, which just did. not. happen. Apparently, one can use one's core and forget one's legs to the point that your horse feels nice and adjusts well, but isn't actually with you. I'm still trying to figure how that works (or doesn't), but clearly I need to get him in front of my leg somehow. Dressage lessons are no doubt in order.
Finally, on to the jumping lesson on Saturday. I was on Reddums again and managed to keep him much more forward and balanced than last time. We got into our fences better (mostly), but I am still popping up way too early after the fences - or rather, on top of the fences. The deep AP saddle that I'm riding in isn't doing me any favors, but it's still a problem I need to work on. I'll bring it up with Paige next week and see if she has any great ideas on how I can fix that.
We did a fun line with a Christmas tree under the first jump. It's bigger than Red's been jumping, and of course it looked funny, so I was expecting a little goofiness the first time though. I aimed him at the lowest part of the jump on the right, which was a mistake. If your horse usually jumps right, fer heaven's sakes take the left side! I thought I was going to eat a standard, as you can see in our brilliant leap, where I caught more air than he did. Oh well, eventers are nothing if not persistent, so when Paige said to "go ahead over the second fence if you think you can make it" of course I went for it. I mean, I was still on, still had reins and stirrups, so why not? The second fence actually wasn't bad, given how... erm... creative the first jump was. She told me after that she was surprised that I had gone for it and made it, and I was like, well, of course, I'm going to get the job done regardless of how it looks. That's part of what eventing's about, right?
Fortunately the second time through was rather more together (which is to say, I rode better and Red made me look good), so we quit on that.
The hubby also had a really good ride on Saga, which ended with jumping the same line with the Christmas tree.
He worked on a lot this lesson - heels down, hands forward & grab mane, chest up - much of which is very difficult for him because he's just not flexible in the way that I think a lot of riders are. He physically cannot get his heel down more than an inch without absolutely jamming his foot into the stirrup, which of course tightens his entire leg. He can't sit Indian style at all - his hips just don't rotate in the socket that way, which makes it hard for him not to pinch with his thighs and knees. He gets frustrated because his body physically cannot do what the instructor often tells him to do, but Paige is sort of working miracles by providing alternatives and seeing what is possible, then working with that.
One really funny thing that happened - Hubby asked Paige what to do if you were jumping and there was a tree branch over the jump (he was talking about a scenario we had once when foxhunting). She looked at him quizzically and said, "Clearly there's something wrong with the arena you're riding in!" We both laughed and explained what we'd meant, and marveled once again at the difference between our riding world and her riding world. I swear, one day we're going to get her out and take her foxhunting!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Hay analysis
The hay analysis for my 420 (now closer to 380) bales of hay, imported from Canada, is in. YAY!
Below are the percent of total (%) and grams/pound (g/lb) values of the hay, from Equi-Analytical. The values in the Recommended Daily Dose column also come from Equi-Analytical, and are based on a 1100 lb horse in light work.
The final column, Daily Intake (High/Low), shows how much of each nutrient each horse gets per day, based on roughly 20 lbs of forage per day. I've also noted whether or not they're getting enough of each nutrient by using HIGH (meaning yes, they're getting plenty), or LOW (meaning they might need a supplement).
A couple of things to note here:
More thoughts:
So, overall, the hay looks pretty good! I can supplement a little for Mg and Z and get them where they should be, but otherwise they don't really need anything extra in their diets.
The question is, should I continue to give them the tiny bit of vitamin/mineral supplement they are currently receiving? I think I might, since it has some extra stuff (namely vitamins A, E, and D) in it. I'll continue to give beet pulp to Cash and Saga since it's doing a good job of keeping the weight on them, and of course the ground flax. Otherwise, the feeding program around here seems pretty reasonable!
What do you think? Any suggestions on things I should change up?
Below are the percent of total (%) and grams/pound (g/lb) values of the hay, from Equi-Analytical. The values in the Recommended Daily Dose column also come from Equi-Analytical, and are based on a 1100 lb horse in light work.
The final column, Daily Intake (High/Low), shows how much of each nutrient each horse gets per day, based on roughly 20 lbs of forage per day. I've also noted whether or not they're getting enough of each nutrient by using HIGH (meaning yes, they're getting plenty), or LOW (meaning they might need a supplement).
| Nutrient | % | g/lb | Recommended Daily Dose | Daily Intake (High/Low) |
| Crude Protein | 13.4 | 60.7 | 820 g | 1214 g/ day HIGH |
| Estimated Lysine | .52 | 2.4 | 29 g | 48 g/day HIGH |
| Water Soluable Carbs | 7.2 | 32.8 | GOOD | |
| ESC (simple sugars) | 4.8 | 21.6 | GOOD | |
| Starch | 1.6 | 7.0 | GOOD | |
| Non Fiber Carb. (NFC) | 13.3 | 60.1 | Unk | |
| Crude Fat | 1.9 | 8.8 | GOOD | |
| Calcium | 1.02 | 4.63 | 25 g | 92 g/day VERY HIGH |
| Phosphorus | .28 | 1.29 | 17.8 g | 25.8 g/day HIGH |
| Magnesium | .17 | .79 | 17.8 g | 15.8 g/day LOW |
| Potassium | 1.94 | 8.81 | 31 g | 176.2 g/day VERY HIGH |
| Sodium | .027 | .122 | 25.1 g | Not reported |
A couple of things to note here:
- NSC (which is what I'm so concerned about for Saga's feet) is equal to WSC + Starch. In the case of my hay, that's 8.8%, well below the 10% I was hoping for. Hurrah! (Please, please tell me I did that math right.)
- Nobody's hurting for protein around here!
- Magnesium is a tad bit low, but they are already getting a magnesium oxide supplement. I've decreased that to 1 tbsp/day, so they're probably getting a bit extra, but not much.
- Although Sodium is not reported, I'm not terribly concerned. The boys have free access to loose salt, and since I have to refill it regularly, I know they're making use of it. :)
- They are getting a LOT of Calcium. Worse, the Calcium:Phosphorous ratio, which should be roughly 1:1 or even 2:1, is more like 3.5:1. Supposedly horses are OK up to 6:1, so maybe I shouldn't panic? The literature seems to agree that as long as the ratio does not fall BELOW 1:1, I'm OK. Well then, I won't panic. Yet.
- They are also getting a lot of Potassium. However, the literature says that most forage is between 1-2% dry matter in K (at 1.94, we're right in there), so horses generally get way more than they need with no adverse effects. Well OK then, I guess we're fine.
| Nutrient | ppm | mg/lb | Recommended Daily Dose | Daily Intake (High/Low) |
| Iron | 203 | 92 | 335 mg | 1840 mg/day VERY HIGH |
| Zinc | 20 | 9 | 335 mg | 180 mg/day LOW |
| Copper | 13 | 6 | 84 mg | 120 mg/day HIGH |
| Manganese | 91 | 41 | 335 mg | 820 mg/day VERY HIGH |
| Molybdenum | 1.2 | .5 | Unk 5-8 ppm | 10 mg/day HIGH |
More thoughts:
- I should probably look into a zinc supplement.
- HOLY CRAP they are getting a LOT of Iron. Fortunately it doesn't appear that it's toxic; so I'm not going to panic.
- They are also getting a lot of Manganese, but it's supposedly one of the least toxic minerals. Again, no need for panic.
So, overall, the hay looks pretty good! I can supplement a little for Mg and Z and get them where they should be, but otherwise they don't really need anything extra in their diets.
The question is, should I continue to give them the tiny bit of vitamin/mineral supplement they are currently receiving? I think I might, since it has some extra stuff (namely vitamins A, E, and D) in it. I'll continue to give beet pulp to Cash and Saga since it's doing a good job of keeping the weight on them, and of course the ground flax. Otherwise, the feeding program around here seems pretty reasonable!
What do you think? Any suggestions on things I should change up?
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