One Guess Who Did It

Friends of R4C Ranch-- Who can tell me who the culprit is?

Horses have such unique personalities. When the water tank wasn't filling as quickly as I thought it should be, I took a peek and saw the hose was out of the tank and the water was flowing onto the ground. It only took me one guess to know which horse out of the nine in that lot it was that took the hose out. I put the hose back in, made sure it wouldn't come back out on its own, and started filling again.

Knowing the mischeivious personality of this horse, I stood there with my camera. I knew he just wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to mess with it again. It is still cracking me up that he came back up from the other side of the paddock as soon as he saw me put the hose back in the tank. You guessed it, he picked it up with his lips and pulled it out of the tank again!. Then he walked right passed me like nothing had happened.

Lady was a little different. Curious about my winter coats, scarfs, hats, and gloves for several weeks, she took advantage of a moment when I wasn't paying attention. When I was concentrating on chipping ice out of the water tank, she grabbed my hat in her mouth and pulled it right off my head. She ran to the other side of the paddock and turned around to face me. "Hat hair!" or "I win!" I wish I knew what that silly horse was thinking but it was obvious she was quite proud of herself.

Whether you are just observing in the pasture or paddock, or working with them one on one in a round pen, you will come to know the fun personalities God has given these wonderful equine friends of ours. If you have equestrian goals but can't afford a horse of your own, contact the ranch to find out about our Touching Hope ministry so you can come out and meet the horses. If you are too far to visit, follow the blog. We will be sharing all the fun stories and amazing ways God touches our hearts through this amazing partnership he has given us with horses.

Have you been touched by a horse? Share your story here. We'd love to hear from you.

Touching Hope

"I'm riding a horse!" --Seth
(L) Seth sitting in a saddle dreaming of riding a horse someday
(R) Seth 4 years later on his first ride.

Touching Hope

For those of you that have been a part of River Bluff Rescue Ranch and remember what God had done for everyone, I [Mike] would like to announce that we are going to try to make it happen again. We are not going to do the 501C3.

What we will offer is a safe, Christian environment where you can learn to train horses and learn to ride, care for, and communicate with our equine friends. Sometimes we will have ranch projects like building and repairing fences, clearing trees and brush from around fences, etc. Everything we offer is free of charge, donations are accepted and appreciated. All we ask is that you make the commitment to work hard to achieve your equine goals.

If you are interested please contact one of the ranch trainers:  
Mike Poland sddlebum@aol.com
Carol Poland wolfladycp@aol.com
Kim Brixey r4c.ranch@yahoo.com


All visitors to the ranch must have a signed waiver of liability on file at the ranch, under age 18 must be signed by parent or legal guardian.

2014 Foal Update

FOAL UPDATE:      Approximately 238 days (34 weeks) along and momma's belly has started to drop. Now what? We'll be watching:
      -- The belly widening and rounding
      -- The belly lowering and getting pointed
      -- Waxing and filling of the udders,
      -- For signs of foaling (315-360 days; avg = 340 days)
          Drops of milk; extreme lowering and changes in belly, vulva relaxing
       
    
    2014  Foal:
   No Alarm "aka Lady" X KA Odysseus

     We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our 2014 Arabian Foal due March 28, 2014. 
     Check back this spring for arrival photos and to watch our baby grow on our website at www.r4c-ranch.com ! 

     NOMINATIONS are in for our 2014 Foal. No Alarm's foal is nominated in 5 futurities and the AHA Sweepstakes plus US and Canadian Nationals. Mark your calendars for 2015 and come cheer for our baby who will turn 1 on January 1st, 2015. As a yearling, our one year old will travel to Scottsdale in February to theScottsdale Signature Stallion Futurity, to Reno, NV in July for the Silver Sire Futurity, and in September to Iowa for the Iowa Gold Star Futurity, Minnesota for the MN Arabian Horse Breeder's Futurity, and to Tulsa for the Green Country Arabian Horse Futurity. Lots of excitement to be had that year as we travel around the country showing off this special little horse. 
      Then as a three year old our foal will be eligible to compete at the US Nationals and the Canadian Nationals.Then it's onto the AHA Sweepstakes. Our foal will be eligible to compete for cash in the Sweepstakes classes for the rest of this horse's life.  

"Oh Good You're Here...a little help, please." From our series: Always Fun on the Farm!

     You never have a camera when you need one. Apache, fondly known as Knucklehead, was found trapped in a hay ring today.  The look on his face was priceless, "Oh good you're here. I seem to be in a predicament."

      Now, I am contemplating, "Do I run to the house and get my camera so I can get a pic to post on facebook or do I help him get out before he does something stupid?" I decide the house is too far away and

he may think I've left him for good and try something stupid. So I decide to stay.
      He keeps looking at me like, "Well? Do something."
      I ponder his dilemna for a moment. "Hmmm?" I think. "He got all four feet inside the hay ring somehow but he can't get himself out. How in the world did he get in? Did he just walk in or did he jump in? Was he chased in? Or did he just leisurely step in?

What Can You Get Done In 15 Minutes?

       When you run a ranch, you have so many things going on at once it's difficult to complete anything. Tasks need to be done timely or why bother. If you don't get your seed out by end of April, it won't get May showers to grow. Stabled horses have to eat on time or they will eat down your barn. Things have to get done when they need to be done so projects that don't have a deadline seem to sit unaccomplished.
      If you are a multitasker, I just have one question for you. Do you ever finish anything you start? My favorite part of any project is finishing it. I am not a natural multitasker because when I start something I like to focus on it and see it through to the end. If I don't, I seem to have a lot of started projects going all at once and soon I am so overwhelmed I don't want to do any of them.
     If you're a natural multitasker, you probably do not need to read any further. We can address finishing your projects in a later post. Running a ranch has taught me a lot about multitasking. Focusing on one project a time is usually not an option. You have to work with other people's schedules, wait on supplies to arrive, or stop and take care of an urgent need. When your neighbor knocks on your door to tell you your horses are on the road, it doesn't matter that you are not done setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner. It means, you grab some halters and head down the road to catch them and then investigate the fence and gates to find out where they got out.

The Pecking Order

     Horses are very social creatures. They form friendships, they grieve loved ones, and they communicate with one another. Most of the communication includes non-verbal cues to establish and maintain the social order.  Every horse in the herd has a place in the pecking order and reaffirms that position throughout the day. The pecking order is relatively constant from day to day as long as new horses do not enter or leave the herd.
   To maintain their rank, a dominant horse will

A Unique Gift

    

     The art of giving is on my mind as we begin to make our lists and narrow down our choices of gifts for our loved ones. Everyone wants to give a gift that will bless the reciever. That special gift that they can't or wouldn't get for themselves or better yet the perfect gift they never even knew existed.
     How do you chose a gift? You could

Keeping Yourself In Hand

    A rider controls the energy and motion of their horse by using their hands, seat, and legs as aids. Riding-in-hand is a term used to describe the rider's hands connected to a bit in the horse's mouth. It is a two way communication between horse and rider.


 "Riding in hand, depends on the rider's hands and not less important on the acceptance of the them by the horse." --Lee Stanek
     Inexperienced riders often think of the reins as a one way communication to the horse's jaw. They may not understand the motion of the bit inside the horse's mouth or how much they throw the horse off balance with unsteady hands. Inexperienced horses tend to pull on the bit and don't understand how much more difficult they make their undersaddle experience by putting up a resistance. Ideally, the rider has light hands so as to feel the horse's mouth move in his hands, and the horse relaxes his mouth around the bit and "rests his jaw in the rider's hands."
   As followers of Christ so often

The Boy Has Bling!

KA Odysseus 

We had an awesome time at the photo shoot with our handsome boy, KA Odysseus.

Thanks to Jerad at Stranger Creek for Blinging him out for us.

Thanks to Amanda at Hot Shot Photography. We are looking forward to seeing the rest of the take.



 

Bling it On!

    It's show season and time to show off all your hard work on the circuit. Although most local shows only cost around $10 a class to enter, you can end up spending hundreds of dollars putting together show attire for one class. Here are some tips to spend less and get more bang for your buck!

    Rule number 1: Set a budget and stick to it by starting with the basics and adding on as you can afford.

    Rule number 2: See rule #1.

                           Begin with your show bill. Pick one type of class for your first show: English, Western,  Dressage, etc. We are going to accessorize our Sorrel Paint Mare so we will start with Western Attire. We'll start by purchasing a show shirt that color coordinates with our horse and is appropriate for the class type we plan to enter, then we can use the basics we already own, can borrow, or can find at goodwill to the extent possible.

                       

Fantastical vs Calendar+

Fantasical
Month View

Calendar+ by Readdle
Month View

      April was a busy month. We got our new trailer which meant lots of trailer backing lessons. Then there were trailer loading lessons and driving with horses lessons. First solo trailering ride was to take the trailer to the Highway Patrol VIN inspection station so we could get it tagged. That involved using the little yellow magnet extension ball to get the hitch lined up. Since it didn't come with safety chains, I had to get creative with the only safety chains and cables I could find in our little town auto parts store in order to pass inspection.
 

Anticipation-- Is Keepin' Me Waitin'

Blue Sunrise

"We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway, yay
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasin' after some finer day

Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'" --Carly Simon 


    As I walked to the paddock yesterday morning, the mares were in rare form. Even more excited than usual to see me coming, they raced around the edges of the paddock in anticipation of my arrival. I stopped just to watch their antics. Jazz, my older mare, tired out first and got frustrated by my delay. She went to her feed bucket and started pawing at it until she had managed to knock it off the fence. In inpatient anticipation, she actually delayed my efforts to get her feed to her.
 

Twice A Day: Refreshing

"The whole earth is filled at awe at your wonders;
 where morning dawns, where evening fades,
 you call forth songs of joy." Psalm 65:8 

   We often miss what God has prepared for us because we are so busy falling into the trap of distractions.
We miss out on our relationship with him or the beauty of his wonders or the joy of the Lord in our daily lives. When we take the bait of satan, we miss out on God's perfect gifts for us. The quality of  our lives should not be exchanged for the busyness in our lives. 

   Sometimes just sitting still can be a challenge, but one worth taking. "Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God." Psalm 46:10  If you're like me, slowing down your body isn't so hard. You run the kids around or work all day,  you come home and make dinner, clean up, getting everyone to bed and then your body is ready to give up. Sometimes my mind isn't though, it just keeps on going while I lay awake thinking of all things I didn't get done. So I find a distraction, read a book or put on a tv show to fall asleep to. In that busy day there is little time to "Be Still and Know God." 

   Other times we are distracted by the pursuit of what we do not possess; money, entertainment, material things, relationships, and anything to fill the void or emptiness in our souls.

Set Your Hearts and Minds on Things Above

      Close calls on a tractor are not fun and usually occur when you stop focusing 100% on your task. Determined to shake a clump of dirt off a 1500# round bale using the front loader lever, the round bale that balanced out in front of the tractor on a three prong spike bounced causing the tractor to tilt slightly. A  chain reaction occured causing the tractor to bounce on it's large, air inflated tires as it came off the ground a second time and then a third rippling to a stop. I, having neglected to put on my seatbelt in the name of efficiency, bounced up off the tractor seat several times before coming to a stop. My heart raced and I recall thanking God several times that the tractor did not tip over. Note to self: Do not shake a large round bale with the front loader when it is on the front spike.

      The incident renewed my sense of vertigo until just driving the tractor along the field caused my stomach to cramp and a fear of the tractor tipping over every time I hit a small bump in my path. I had one more bale to lift and put over the fence for the horses. I had to move forward. I prayed. I remembered a horse riding lesson I had a few summers ago. I was experiencing vertigo and my instructor told me it was because I was looking down at the horse and not where I was going. "Look between the horses ears and keep your eyes focused on where you are going."

      I realized I was watching the tractor's tires to make sure they were solid on the ground. My focus was in the wrong place. I saw every bump and bounce as I made my way down the field road to pick up another bale. The bumps and bounces made me even more nervous. I looked up toward the stack of round bales in front of me and took a deep breath. "Look between the horses ears and keep your eyes focused on where you are going," I told myself. It worked. When I focused on the bales on the other side of the field, driving straight toward them the tractor felt level, solid, and my vertigo subsided.

     "Set your minds on things above," we are instructed in Colossians 3:2, "not on earthly things." When the path you are on gets bumpy, keep your focus on things above not on the bumps and bounces. We are not of this world but are ambassadors to this world from heaven. We pray directly to the throne of the almighty and He hears our prays. He knows our hearts and comforts us. He guides us and instructs us and gives us all we need to walk solidly and securely along our path if we keep our focus in the right place. "Since then you have been raised in Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God  (Colossians 3:1)."

    

A Day Planned Just for You

     What tasks are you assigning to your maids? Many of you will say, I don't even have a maid but I wish I did. If you don't have a maid, you still have tasks to assign, however, you may have to assign them to yourself. Instead of running around all day with an ill-conceived plan and at the end of the day not accomplishing anything productive, consider your tasks and their assignments carefully. Whether you have a maid, are assigning tasks to family, contracting jobs out, or doing it all yourself you'll want to ensure what gets done are the tasks that make the biggest impact for your time, energy, and money.

    How do you ensure that what you set  your mind to accomplish each day is going to produce the most fruit or any fruit at all? Before our Proverbs 31 woman sets out to consider a field or spend her savings on  new fruit-producing vines, "she rises while it is still yet night and gets food for her household and (then) she assigns her maids their tasks [Proverbs 31:15]." The amplified version expands the more literal translation of food as Spiritual nutrition. She rises while it is still yet night and gets Spiritual nutrition for her household. I see a woman who gets up and before she wakes up the kids or begins her day's tasks, she spends time in quiet meditation with the Lord. Before her day begins, she consults the one who has determined our path [Proverbs 20:24], whose thoughts and plans are for our welfare and peace and not for evil, to give us hope and a future [Jeremiah 19:11].

   She rises early and the first thing she does is gather spiritual nutrition. God makes the morning give birth to songs of joy [Psalms 65:8]. This place where morning dawns is a great place to gather spiritual joy and let God speak into your heart the plans he has for you. The first time I read, "Where morning dawns and evening fades, you call forth songs of Joy." I knew I never wanted to miss a sunrise or a sunset if I could help it. I love getting up before dark and watching the sunrise and listening to God's songs of Joy. Listening. Soaking. Being in God's presence. 

    This simple act of letting your Spirit connect with the Holy Spirit each morning is like a spiritual download. The gathering of spiritual nutrition that feeds your heart, and soul, and mind will amaze you as you begin to draw on God's wisdom absorbed in his presence. Your task assignments will flow naturally, your decisions will be clearer, and God's plans will unfold before you producing a day designed for your welfare, full of hope and peace.  

January's To Do List

    How are those New Year's resolutions coming? I have heard from some of you. Although it has only been 9 days in and as a whole, we have already fell off the wagon a few times. Most of you have just climbed right back on. It is encouraging and motivating to hear the goals and specific things you are doing to achieve them. Here are a few ideas to help keep you on track:

• Write down your 2013 goals, if you haven't already.
• Now make a January To Do list of the one thing (per goal) you can do this month that will take you one step closer to achieving that goal.
• Next schedule your January To Do list items in your day planner and treat them like you would any other appointment. If your list includes items like drink less pop-- then schedule a time 2 or 3 times weekly to review your progress and make a specific plan such as: cut intake in half every two weeks. Be specific: current intake is 32 ounces per day; cutting in half to 16 ounces per day on 1/10/13 and will cut to 8 ounces per day on 1/24/13.
• Write your top Six goals on the back of a business card and

Slow Feed

    "The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup, You hold and maintain my lot." Psalm 16:5

     Babies are unable to eat more than we give them. We measure their ideal portion and put it in a bottle and try to get them to finish it all. If they cry out in hunger, we increase the measure so they consume exactly what it takes to fill them up at each feeding. As they grow, they need more. Eventually, they grow into pureed food, then finger foods, then grown-up food. It becomes increasingly more difficult to control their intake. By the time they are teenagers we usually lose control over their portions and what they are eating. They now have the choice to eat healthy the way they were taught or to exercise their new freedom to splurge on the fast food and the junk foods that tempt them at every turn.
    Every day we are tempted by things that are not good for us. Even though we are given every thing we need, we exercise our freedom to overindulge or make unwise choices. When we stray from the Lord's portion for us