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

God's Love In Me

Lady Love

Sam

      I seem to have an abundance of four-legged friends. As I walked in the paddock, my horses followed me around and offered horse hugs. Just to be near me for a scratch and probably secretly hoping for a snack. I like to keep them guessing. My yellow lab always joins me on my hikes. He loves to guess where we are going-- up to the hay field, down to the pastures, or climbing on the rocks. Today, when I opened the gate he ran straight down the path and waited for me next to the Contemplation Rock. However,

The Method

      The Method is a natural horsemanship training program by Clinton Anderson. The Method is used by the Caisson Platoon of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment to provide a systematic training program for their horses and handlers and ensures each horse is calm and quiet to perform their high calling; laying to rest our nation's fallen heroes. Now, the Method is being used at R4C Ranch to provide a system of training that ensures all our horses have a solid foundation of training and that our volunteers will be consistent in their expectations and handling of our horses.
      Now is a great time to come out and learn The Method

Following Too Closely



Are you following too closely?

     Horses on the trail like to follow each other very closely. They are prey animals and prey animals stick together in herds for safety.  The closer they stay to the horses around them the safer they feel. It doesn't matter how close your horse is to the horse in front of them, if the horse behind them gets too close they will let them know. Maybe just a jump or spook but some horses get really annoyed and will kick out. Following too closely could get a horse a nice hoof print on their nose.
    We have a tendency to do the same thing

    "If  you want to teach your horses to be easy to catch, start by catching the ones begging to be let in first," advises horse trainer Clinton Anderson. "As you start weaning down the herd, you'll notice that [hard to catch] horses get more willing to be caught. No one wants to be the last horse in the pasture because a lone horse in the pasture is easy pickings for predators." Clinton says that eventually the horses that are easy to catch will train the other horses to be caught easily, too. They soon learn being caught isn't so bad afterall. It actually comes with benefits like sweet feed and human companionship.
     The opposite occurs if you start by trying to catch the unwilling ones first. As they begin running away from you,

Love Came Down

Blessed Rain Drops

    It's like heaven opened up it's doors and let God's Love rain down! We had gone so long without rain that we began to think we wouldn't see the earth wet again. Everyone is concerned about their pastures and even worried that next spring, if conditions didn't improved, we would be even worse off.

"I could sing about His forgiveness
I could praise Him till the sun goes down
I could say that I am a witness
I was there when His love came down
Love came down on me
Love came down on me" lyrics by Lindell Coolery and Lenny Leblanc

    Saturday when the rain began to fall, I couldn't stand to be inside. I walked in the rain, played with the horses in the rain, and when it was really pouring just stood in the barn and watched it rain. It felt like I was in the center of God's manifestation of the love He had reminded me of at last week's prayer meeting. The land was quinching its thirst for God's blessing along with me.

"Love broke through my darkness now I can finally see
He paid the price for my freedom no more chains on me
Since the Savior came and He took the blame
Changed everything
Since the Savior came and He took the blame
Changed everything

I could sing about His forgiveness
I could praise Him till the sun goes down
I could say that I am a witness
I was there when His love came down
Love came down on me,
Love came down on me." lyrics by Lindell Coolery and Lenny Leblanc

The Drought Takes Its Toll

    The effects of the drought here in the midwest are taking a toll in many visible as well as invisible ways. The brown grass and large cracks in the earth are tell tale signs of distress on our land. Our horses have been eating hay since the last week of July, something we normally don't put out until late November. The winter hay supply is hard to come by and when you find some it is very expensive. The pastures have been grazed down so low that they are virtually dirt. We have taken them off the summer pastures and decided to instead sacrifice our alternate pasture in hopes we will have some pasture come back next spring.

Drought Drying Up the Ponds

     The effects of the drought on hay production and pasture are one of the most visible effects of the lack of rain in this area. However, the effects have a ripple effect. The grass is burnt, it crunches when you walk on it. The trees, whose leaves are brown, are already dropping their leaves. Much of our burnt fields and overgrazed  pastures will need to be reseeded but the fear is that the seed will be just as scarce as the hay. The water sources are receding.

     Less obvious effects

Sometimes Algebra Doesn't Work!

Okay why do I not believe that you can feed 144 horse in this field for a whole month?

Question 637670: if 12 horses can feed in a field for 12 months. How many can feed in 1 month. please show the work.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Algebra.Com's Answer #401814 by stanbon(51681)
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
if 12 horses can feed in a field for 12 months. How many can feed in 1 month.
----
# of horses and # of months are indirectly related.
---
h = k/m
---
Solve for "k" using "if 12 horses can feed in a field for 12 months"
12 = k/12
k = 144
----
Equation:
h = 144/m
----
How many can feed in 1 month?
h = 144/1
h = 144 (# of horses that can feed for one month = 144)
================
Cheers,
Stan H.
==================
 Sorry Stan, the correct answer is 12... you have to give the grass time to grow!! Allow 2 acres per horse for constant grazing; NLT 1 acre per horse in a rotational grazing program with 3 fields.

Do A Little Now

Friendly Game

    "Do a little now, instead of a lot later," Pat Parelli said. I heard that little jingle in my head as I headed out to the barn in my slippers to feed and water. I was just going to dart out and fill the hay bins and water tanks and get back to my after work nap. Afterall, it had been a long, busy day at work and I deserved a little down time. I would do a lot of horse training this weekend I told myself unless of course something else came up.
    "Do a little now, instead of a lot later," I heard again. It would take about 15 minutes to fill the water tanks so why not do something with Snooze while I wait. I looked down at my slippers. If I go to the barn in slippers, I know I won't do anything. I ran back in the house and put on my boots. I'll do something even if it's just 15 minutes of friendly game.
    So now, whether I intend to work a horse or not, I always take a few extra mintues and put on my boots before I head to the barn. Then I can do a little every time and end up accomplishing a lot by the end of the week.
     If you are familiar with the friendly game, the first of the seven Parelli Natural Horsemanship games, you know the idea is to get your horse happy to be near you. You start off slowly rubbing them and moving around them with your hands or a rope or a scratching stick. The rest of the games are the start of controlling the movement of your horse or moving them generally away from you. But at the end of the game, you bring them back to you for friendly rubs or scratching spots. The friendly game is a  good way to get to know your horse's scarey spots. Does she have sensitive ears? Does he not like having his belly rubbed or feet picked up? Is she spooked by the spray bottle? So we play friendly game to get the horse comfortable allowing us to move around them freely with our toys and  tools and hoses and sprays.
     It didn't take til the water tanks were even half way full to realize we were not going to start with much friendly game with Snooze. Although we just met, it only took a little time to realize that she was very comfortable being near me. Her favorite place was on top of me. I could put my hands anywhere on her and her response was to move closer not away from me. Moving on to game number two. The porcupine game. This game involves applying pressure with your fingers or training stick until the horse moves in the direction of the pressure to release the pressure by moving out of it. She did figure this out pretty quickly but as she did she would twist around so that if I ask her to move her hindquarters she would snuggle her front shoulder into me.
    The tanks weren't even 3/4s full when I realized it might be safer to play a long distance game like the yo-yo game. I drive her away by jiggling the lead rope then allow her to come back. We did get a lot done in a little time. She seems to enjoy the yo-yo game. She figured out quickly that she needs move back when I ask and other than anticipating coming back before I ask she learned to wait until I ask (if I didn't wait too long).
   It was a short session but we learned a lot about each other in that short time. We have a good start to our relationship. We identified some needs. And we have a plan for our next short session.
   If you are procrastinator like me, keep Pat's little saying in mind. "Do A Little Now, Instead of a Lot Later." Whether you want to write a book, read the entire bible, or become champion partners with a new horse, do a little something about it now! Sometimes later never comes and in the mean time, you can get a lot of little things done!
  

'No Alarm' is My Sweet Little Joy

'No Alarm' Following Me in the Pasture

       "No Alarm means joyfully jumping out of bed in the AM," Carol comments after seeing No Alarm's photo on facebook. Reminds me of the perfect day off. No alarm clock. Waking up rested without any obligations and the whole day ahead of you to do whatever you want. What a great way to explain the feeling I had when I met our new filly, No Alarm.
        I had no expectations about her. As a matter of fact, I had bought her sight unseen. I had met her mom and her sister but I had completely forgotten to meet her before I signed the paperwork. Sometimes you just have this spiritual prompting that leads you to move through something without much planning. It's like sitting down in a raft and trusting the water slide will guide you to the bottom without knowing the twists and turns it might take. In this case, it was like waking up in the morning without any plans as a magnificently joyful day unfolded before me.

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.