There are horses that perform tricks . . . and horses that work in partnership with their trainers to create something beautiful. This is a lovely example of the latter. It’s an amazing feat that shows tremendous strength. Plus, it’s obvious that this horse is well loved and happy with his work.
Clemence Faivre is a young, French trainer who is known for the liberty work she does with her horses. Definitely check out her website.
What an adorable photo of a boy who just loves his pony. It makes me want to hug them both.
Most winters I don’t get to ride up to the top of this hill because it’s covered by kids sledding down it. This is an awesome sledding hill. You can get up some serious speed and the hill goes on and on.
From an equestrian’s perspective it’s a place to avoid during peak snow traffic. There is little more terrifying than being on a horse with a kid coming at you on an inflatable tube at 20-odd miles per hour!
This year there has been virtually no snow in New England. The only sign of sledding activity is a deflated tube and a discarded plastic sled. Instead, it looks like early spring with lots of grass and the occasional Bluebird.
Freedom and I went out for about a two hour hack today. It was in the low 40s and sunny. The ground is still a bit hard in places but in the big fields it had warmed up enough to have a brisk canter. Freedom was still a bit ouchy from his abscess but boots on he felt pretty good.
This winter has been rough on Freedom’s feet. He’s gotten several bruises and blown a couple of abscesses. The culprit? The hard ground.
Most winters we’d have a soft layer of snow on the ground. This winter? We’ve alternated between mud and frozen. The mud softens up his feet and the hard ridges in the ground are punishing.
This week my farrier was out to trim him (and to drain the abscess o his right hind)and we agreed that while in general he does much better barefoot, this winter has been trying. When the ground goes into its rotational freeze I’m going to try putting hoof boots on him to give him some padding and protection. I’m also buying stock in Magic Cushion as I’ve found that packing his feet when he seems sore draws the abscess out right away and packing it once an abscess has drained encourages healing.
So why don’t I put shoes back on him? Because other than this episode of bruising his feet have never looked better. His hoof walls are thicker, his hooves are growing better and his frog is healthier. If I put shoes on him I’ll have to go through the whole cycle of growing out those nail holes in the spring.
How many of you keep your horses barefoot and what do you do when the ground is so hard?
This image came from an old and tattered postcard. The woman, dressed as an angel had feathery wings that were hand tinted and overdrawn with oranges and reds. It's hard to tell with a postcard this old how much of the coloration was original hand tinting and how much was added over the decades. I gave our angel and her horse a more exotic and dreamy background to match her wings.
When I look at some of my vintage postcards, especially the ones that are photos of real people, it's almost like the people are traveling in time -- transported from the early 1900s to 2012 in the blink of an eye. What kind of stamp do you need to travel 100 years in the future?
Donkeyotee is one lucky donkey. His owner rescued him from an abusive situation when he was 4 1/2 months old and weighed only 60 pounds. It’s a touching story that is featured on the Moonlit Oaks Ranch Blog.
Now eight years old, he seems to be a character and a half. Who would have thought that the viola would have brought out his inner tenor!
Thanks to The Literary Horse for posting this. It made me laugh out loud so I had to share.
