From The Horses' Perspective

     In our little world, the world really does revolve around us. We can only look at the world from one set of eyes, touch the world with our own hands, hear the world from one set of ears, and along with our own set of taste buds and olfactory senses we process it all in our own little brains. I recall how frustrating it was writing a masters paper with a colleague because I could not get in her brain to think. She would say things and I thought we were in agreement but then when it was down on paper it was obvious we were worlds apart.

    We can try to understand the world from someone's perspective but we can not truly understand the experience of another. We can ride alongside someone else but can't share their saddle.

     We want to do our best to understand our horses. We are designing horse friendly living areas for our herd at the ranch. Our hope is to build happy horse paddocks from the horse's perspective. Obviously, it's not as healthy for them to stand in a 10 foot by 10 foot box stall all day long as it would be for them to be roaming free on the range. However, every consideration includes compromises and hazards. Pastures expose them to threats from predators and less control of their forage as well as injuries less likely in a box stall. Although I have had a horse run by me to retreat to the comfort and safety of their box stall, I believe my horses are happier free-ranging on a large pasture in a herd with their buddies than living alone in a stall.
      Paddock Paradise by Jaime Jackson takes it even further. He designs paddocks to recreate the movement of wild horses in a herd across miles of forage land. The claim is not only are the horses happier, calmer, and healthier but their hooves remain naturally trimmed and supportive without the need for man-made shoes nailed into their hooves. The track paddocks allow the horses to keep moving all day and stimulate their daily exercise and workout routine but how do you know if the horses are happy?
     Happiness from a horses' perspective is safety, forage, and socialization within the herd. So a horse friendly living area must include opportunity for horses to live with each other in a safe manor with plenty of room to move around. We are going to do this by building paddock living environments for up to six horses with natural cover for shelter. Each paddock will have free choice hay, water, and mineral blocks. I agree with Joe Camp in The Soul of a Horse that horses should have something to chew on all day if they choose. Chewing stimulates the pleasure center of the horse's brain. So we will make slow bale feeders using soccer netting to allow the horses to have free choice hay all day without overeating and wasting hay. The slow bale feeders replicate the slower consumption of hay that foraging would offer them.
    Looking at the world from the horses' perspective is not as hard as you might think.  Remembering that a horse is always honest; a horse is always just being a horse. If they develop a stall vice, it is not the horse's fault, it's the result of their living environment. Horses need to have room to move and be a horse.  Horses live in herds and they need to be able to interact with other horses. Our paddock designs will help keep our horses happy. Happy horses just want to feel safe, move, chew, and be with their herd.

Working Out At The Ranch

    Bypass the expensive, stinky gym and go straight to your local barn or horse ranch. This is where your workout can really be productive. You can help move 50# hay bales or clean out stalls and move wheelbarrow loads of manure to the compost pile.  When your done with your strength training, you can burn plenty of calories with the following activities:
   
     Horse grooming  -                burns* 405 calories per hour
     Ground training your horse-             454 calories per hour
     Walking undersaddle-                     190  calories per hour
     Trotting undersaddle -                     490  calories per hour
     Galloping undersaddle-                   604  calories per hour
     General horse activities-                  299  calories per hour
     Hiking out to catch a horse-            405 calories per hour

*all figures were based on a person weighing 150# and derived from "The Most Accurate Calorie Calculator" -  click on the calculator to see how many calories you will burn doing a variety of activites or to get the calorie count for your current weight.

      They claim fencing burns 405 calories per hour but I don't imagine they think of fencing the same as we think of fencing. However, at the ranch you can burn calories and strength train at the same time while helping to run new fence. Volunteer to help in the gardens and burn an average of 369 calories per hour. Not only can you get an excellent workout and burn calories but a trip to the ranch is a lot more fun than a stinky gym.

The Waiting Begins

    Jazz is home. Now the waiting begins. We wait 14 days to see if she is in foal and if everything took, her estimated foaling date is May 14, 2013.
  
Will Our Baby Have Color?
   Certain colors, such as Jazz's Tobiano, do not appear in pure-bred arabians. Our hope is to produce a half-arabian foal with color. Since the Tobiano gene is dominate, Jazz has a 50/50 chance of throwing color. We know she is not homozygous for Tobiano since one of her two previous foals was black. Bay is pretty much a given for our foal since daddy and mommy both carry the bay gene. Although as we have learned, all bay horses have a black gene present and Jazz has produced a black foal in the past.

Estimated Foaling Date: 2013-05-14
by Dream Horse.Com

  

Mare Name: Jazz Tangent Last Bred: 2012-06-08 To: KA Odysseus
Broodmare Reminders Consult and Schedule with your Equine Veterinarian 5/7/9 Months: Rhinopneumonitis (killed) 30 Days Prior to Foaling: Encephalomyelitis/Tetanus Toxoid (EWT), Flu, Strangles, and West Nile
Vaccination Schedule	Due	Done
5-Month Vaccine	2012-11-08
7-Month Vaccine	2013-01-08
9-Month Vaccine	2013-03-08
30-Days Prior Vaccines	2013-04-04
Estimated Due Dates
Early Watch:	2013-05-04	(330 days)
Average Date:	2013-05-14	(340 days)
Full Term:	2013-05-24	(350 days)
Foaling Notes
Date Foaled:
Days in Foal:

When I'm Found in the Desert Place. . .

     There was a day when I would rejoice in sunshine everyday no matter what the temperature. We spent our summer days at the local swimming pool where the hotter the better. I remember coming home after a day at the pool, wet and freezing in the air conditioning until I ran back to my room to warm up. Our bedroom doors were kept closed so that the air conditioning unit in the dining room window could cool the common areas of my parents' house: the family and living room were the only cool rooms and they were freezing! Kids were acclimated to warm temperatures back then and spent lots of time running around outside in the heat. We didn't need air conditioning and rainy days put a damper on our summer plans.
    Today, however, in the middle of this drought I realize the necessity of God's gift of rainy days. Our land is dried out and the ground is cracking where lush green grasses would normally be growing over soft fertile soil. The horses have combed two pastures and left nothing but dust and short brown clumps of grass roots behind. It is mid-June and I have already started putting large, round bales out for the horses to eat. We normally don't set out bales until November or the first part of December. They come off the bales in mid March. Normally, with adequate spring showers and an occasional shower in June the pastures can sustain the herd until the cooler weather and light rains come in September.
    I just have to say that God really does know what is best for us. The winter of 2010-2011 was so harsh and we had so much snow that my spring hay crop produced over 90 bales of hay in two fields that normally are lucky to yield 55 bales. It was such a difficult winter for us getting around in the snow and freezing temperatures that froze water tanks, broke hoses, and stalled out tractors. Last fall, I prayed for a mild winter and God answered my prayer. We only had a dusting of snow and I didn't have to clear my driveway once. There was no shoveling, no frozen hoses, no stalled tractors, and most days I got by with a light jacket. It was the easiest winter I'd ever had to work at the ranch.
     Then came the reality of what a dry, mild winter would mean to the ranch. It was a drought in disguise. Last spring and early June, we could hardly find a weekend to ride that wasn't drenched with rain and mud. This June I am praying for rain. I have fresh seed in a pasture that desperately needs water, the horses have ate all the grass and there is no new grass growing to replace it, and even the ponds are drying up. We don't have ragweed that took over the pastures last year in the moist, swampy conditions. Even the ragweed and burrs don't have enough moisture to grow. The only plants that seem to be thriving are the short sticky plants that grow out of the deep cracks in the dry hard land.
     So now my prayer is, "God- I am sorry that I didn't trust you to take care of me in the winter conditions that challenge us on the ranch. Even though for seven years you have always provided everything we needed to get through them. Whether a kind neighbor who stopped by and plowed my driveway before I got home from work or a natural water source the horses found when the tanks froze over, you have always taken care of us. I am sorry for thinking I needed to change the conditions you provided for our good in order to get through the winter. It is obvious you know what is best for the survival of the ranch. Today, I pray for rain but I also trust that you will provide all we need in this drought as well."

"The Lord says, 

         I am the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt. You have no God but me. I alone am your savior. I took care of you in a dry, desert land. But when you entered the good land, you became full and satisfied, and then you grew proud and forgot me. --Hosea 13:4-6 GNT

"Thank you, Lord, for reminding me who you are. You are my God in abundance and in drought! Blessed be your name." 

Blessed be Your name

In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Lyrics by Matt Redman   (Click to worship with You Tube version)

     
     

The Dream Ranch Journey Continues

What's up at the Ranch?

http://www.r4c-ranch.com/

Big news at the ranch is that we are expecting our first foal in the Spring of 2013. Keep up to date on this wonderful event as we progress through the next 11 months and 11 days until our Jazz baby arrives. We'll know in about two weeks if our Jazz Tangent vs KA Odysseus breeding was successful.

Zip's Jackie is back in training; Zippi is reviewing her Natural Horsemanship ground training and progressing under saddle. Her specialty will be Western Dressage and Trail riding!

The drought is hitting the pastures hard and we are going to be putting out round bales this weekend. This has us drawing up plans for sacrifice paddocks that can accomdate the entire herd for times such as these. Ongoing fence projects continue as we try to eliminate barbed-wire fencing around the ranch completely. We'll be sharing our progress in detail in the days to come.

Amanda Lee Photos is now taking your individual and family shots at the ranch. So come enjoy a day at the ranch and get your country portraits taken! Click on the link for more information. Follow her on facebook at Amanda Lee Photos.

The Dream Ranch Journey continues so follow us on the blog and enjoy the highs and lows of ranch life from your neck of the woods. Hope you'll share your dream with us by replying with your comments and ideas.