Team EFA Makes For A Mare-y Month of May!

When you don't have a lot of money and there isn't a lot of acreage, it can be a mighty big blessing to be able to think outside of "the box". We have had an ongoing problem between Max and Shadow; Max absolutely loves irritating the stew out of Shadow, especially at mealtimes (see first photo - taken with my cell phone, sorry).
We had hoped that when we began building the barn by creating some [outdoor] stalls, the temporary round pen panel between them would be enough of a deterrent. It wasn't. Then my husband put a 4x8 sheet of plywood between our two problem children to no avail. Max continued to needle Shadow from his side of the wall until Shadow finally knocked a hole in it. This created a bigger problem: Shadow is constantly shifting when he eats. While he generally started out each meal with his rump pointed at the door, he would often shift off to one side or another as he ate. Max eventually figured out that if he was quick enough and timed it just right, he could dash into Shadow's stall without getting kicked and steal the rest of his feed. Shadow would bite Max in the head, ears, neck and everywhere else he could reach, but once Max got his head in that bucket it didn't come back out until there was nothing left no matter what Shadow did.


Now we probably could have locked Shadow in his stall, but he tends to stress over that (and locking Max's would have just made him work harder to annoy Shadow while he ate). So what did we do? We simply moved Shadow's bucket to the opposite side of his stall right next to his door. Coming eyeball to eyeball with Shadow was enough to deter Max from trying to sneak in (he couldn't). Yes it's a bit annoying having to climb through the slats into Shadow's room to dump his feed, but the blessed peace that has been created by employing this strategy makes it completely worth my while.

Of course Max was then obligated to revise his scheme and swap to Plan B: pushing his nose through the slats over the bucket and haranguing Shadow until he bites Max in the head (almost always with a mouthful of feed). This causes some of the feed to dribble out over Max's head and onto the ground.

So now Shadow is happy because he got to bite Max and "make him" move his head, and Max is happy because he managed to dupe Shadow out of some feed.

Yep, it's a win-win situation all around :o)

Have You "Herd" the Road Trip Rule?

Etsy for Animals (also known as Team EFA) is a wonderfully diverse group of creative souls that have banded together through Etsy to help animals. I am happy to announce that Epic Farms has been selected as EFA's Charity of the Month for May 2009. HOORAY! Participating shops will donate a portion of their proceeds for the entire month of May; what a blessing! To see some of the wonderful handmade items available for purchase from EFA members please click here.

April brought with it torrential rains that exacerbated our ongoing battle against erosion (see pics below). Over one two day time period, we were hit with over 12" of rain - can you say "whitewater"? Sheesh. The following week brought more storms with high winds that cost Rina and Taya their roof. Thankfully we did not lose any trees in the pasture, especially along the fence line (always a worry). We had a very industrious mole zipping around out there for awhile a couple of years ago and that little booger tunneled everywhere! Because we have lost so much topsoil to the rains, the areas where Mr. Mole created his little underground habitat are now collapsing and leaving dangerous pits everywhere...


On behalf of the Moo Crew and The Girls (and us bipeds too! :o) we would like to offer a special Thank You to Meghann Gervais of Little Studio Photography and Jewellery for nominating us and of course a big fat Thank You to Team EFA for selecting us. Horsey hugs and happy thoughts to you all!

If you would like to pitch in with a donation, please visit us on the web at: Epic Farms.com

A Bit of a Dilemma

When I was in 7th grade, I took a 12 week drawing class at a local art school (Saturdays). While I desperately wanted to take the class, it was also intimidating as I would probably not know anyone else there and I was terribly shy. When I walked into the classroom that first day, I saw a girl I knew from school (one of the "popular" girls, who never EVER spoke to me at school). I remember wishing it could have been someone (ANYone) that I could at least halfway get along with for the next 12 weeks...
Imagine my surprise when Polly Popularity completely disregarded "the rules", came over and sat down next to me chattering away. She sat with me every Saturday for the entire 12 week session. Interestingly enough, she STILL never spoke to me at school. It was a good lesson for life with horses: "Better the devil you know".

We opted to add a special adventure this year by taking Champ and Lady to FFA's (Future Farmers of America) "Farm Day" at the elementary
school. Because Lady and Champ are in separate herds and pastures, they would not normally get along if we put them together at home. In a new environment, however, this rule can change completely for horses just as it does for people (like it did for my Saturday art classes :o) Isn't that something?

The horses were a huge hit with the kids and extremely tolerant of all the little hands reaching up to pet them. Many of the children had never seen a horse up close and oohed and ahhed at how soft their muzzles (noses) were. I was touched by the many expressions of wonder and amazement (not to mention the huge smiles) I saw on so many little faces throughout the day; it was a fabulous experience for all of us.


Champ was very interested in all of the other animals that were there, so we introduced him to a few of our favorites...



First he met the little chick, he thought it was pretty neat (he sniffed her most carefully :o)
















Next up was the bunny rabbit (Champ liked him too :o)




Last was the piglet. He was really interesting right up until he squealed loudly in Champ's face (this resulted in Champ hiding behind Lady for protection and brought an abrupt end to his interest in "meeting" anymore of those scary little critters that yelled :o)

All in all it was an exhausting, but absolutely wonderful day and I am so glad that we were asked to participate. It is truly a blessing to be able to watch the delighted expressions of hundreds of children seeing and touching these magnificent animals and knowing how happy it made them.

MORE INFORMATION ON FFA:
The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.
Organizational Name: National FFA Organization;

Changed in 1988 from Future Farmers of America to reflect the expanding career field of Agricultural Education.

Founded: 1928

Current Membership: 507,763

Number of Chapters: 7,439 in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Sensitivity Training [Yours]

When we first began our foray into horse ownership, bitting was easy. Why? Basically because Shadow and Champ came with their own bridles. While Shadow seemed fine with his (a low port Walking Horse Bit), Champ was pretty difficult to tack up with his grazing bit and had an annoying head tossing issue when you rode him. Of course you know what happened next, don't you? Yep - research mode :o) After reading a ton of stuff, starting with causes for head tossing, I bought a basic hackamore, tried it on Champ, and HOORAY! no more head tossing.

Below are pictures of Shadow's bit (which we still use, although I fantasize about getting him a walking horse bit in sweet iron :o) Champ's original grazing bit and the hackamore he now uses. In case you're outside the state of Alabama, our daughter is a HUGE Auburn fan so I remade his hackamore accordingly (hence the orange and blue - I don't really care about football, but his hack turned out pretty good, didn't it?).



With the arrival of our three accidental rescues, Cinnamon, Retta and Max, I realized that I really didn't know a whole lot about bits beyond the basics. Cinnamon and Retta also came with their own bridles, (Max was still a baby) but my ability to identify the bits and name the parts didn't seem to be enough in the way of knowledge (so back into research mode we went :o) Cinnamon had a Pelham which seemed to go well with his hard mouth (Hard meaning completely unresponsive to the bit - see our rodeo tale on Cinnamon's page) but after a very short period of time I wondered if there wasn't a way to work backwards to a more basic (and less harsh) bit. To put it simply: Cinnamon may have been resigned to his bridle and the harsher bit, but it bothered me.

At first, we tried several different bits from the store, but as you can imagine that got pretty expensive in a hurry. Then we tried different bits out of a huge box of used tack we had bought and (through trial and error between the two) here are some things we discovered:

This sweet iron grazing bit turned out to be a good match for Katie, (she no longer lives here, but she's in our photo album). She did pretty well in a hackamore too. The horses seemed to like the "flavor" of the sweet iron, so that has become my first choice. For whatever reason, a plain snaffle bit caused Katie to drop her head all the way down until her nose was almost touching the ground and she would refuse to lift it. She would do anything you asked her to as far as speed and direction, but it was like riding a headless horse (funny, but really weird). Allrighty then, nix on the snaffle for Katie...
The pictures below were one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" things. This lightweight hard rubber D-Ring we bought to try seemed like it would be great. Look what happened after only a couple of uses - good thing we noticed the crack before we used it again because ouch!



Here's one that we got for Retta at an auction ~ unfortunately, it turned out to be a LOT different than it looked from our seats (another lesson learned - oops). The mouthpiece on this one turned out to be square, not round, and was a much harsher bit than it was touted in spite of the copper roller in the middle and the shanks that curve back toward the horse :oP

Another thing to watch for? Check where the bit connects to the cheek pieces; are they flush or is the mouthpiece larger? The El-Cheapo cheesy bit on the right that came in that giant box of tack may be around the outside of the rings, but it can still pack a pinch (this would be where bit guards come in).
Bits that are flush (picture below) can have wiggle room in the wrong direction (up and down) and cause serious misery to your mount - sadly, I learned this from a very nice but rather oblivious owner that had "never noticed" a problem until I asked about the blood at the corners of his horse's mouth after a ride (in their defense, it was a dark-colored horse and the problem was rectified immediately with bit guards, but I had to wonder how long it had been that way you know?).

I found this great "no pinch" bit at Jeffers (pictured on right). It's a sweet iron snaffle I bought for training Max (he likes it). Unfortunately, it's also a bit (sorry, couldn't resist :o) expensive, so purchasing a second one for Cinnamon is on my wish list for now.

I began a foray into the baffling world of bits, but there are SO many different kinds and so much information, I thought my brain would explode from overload before I actually figured anything out. It wasn't until I discovered this marvelous rating system (which helped me to bypass other people's opinions and descriptions written in catalogs and figure it out for myself) that I started to more clearly understand the whole bitting process. I believe that it was Dr. Deb Bennett (she's on our Horse Heroes page) that developed this formula; but I'm not 100% sure (so if you know who did, PLEASE let me know for sure so I can post proper credit!) The page I found it on is no longer available, so I'm putting the actual formula for the rating system on our Handydandy Hints Page; because if this isn't handy information, I don't know what is :o)

I'd have to say that although most of our horses ended up with different/better bits, Cinnamon probably benefited the most from all of my studiousness and experimenting with this topic :o) On the right is the Pelham he was ridden with initially. In all honesty, it's a debatable issue as to whether or not a harsher bit will add to your whoa power. Why do I say this? Mostly because the fairly harsh bit on the right was the one Cinnamon was wearing when we had our little impromptu rodeo demonstration...

One of my Cinnamon experiments was with a Kimberwick bit, pictured left. It allowed for a flexibility in the amount of leverage used by changing the slot used for the reins. Initially, I went with a set of double reins, as it allowed me to ride with the top only but gave me an "emergency brake" of sorts if I needed it (and we did, a time or two :o) He seemed to like it better than the Pelham, but I wanted to see if we could go lighter.

I tried him with a hackamore, but interestingly enough he hated it - how did we know? Because he developed the same head tossing issue Champ had which completely disappeared when we lost the hack. The grazing bit was a bust, as was the full cheek snaffle. A copper mouth Argentine snaffle wasn't too bad, but we weren't quite "there"...

So where did we end up? After tons of experimenting and lots of time (well spent, of course!) Cinnamon really went for this smooth sweet iron snaffle, pictured on the right. Surprisingly, it doesn't pinch even though it looks like it would :o)

Okay, so what did I learn from all this stuff? It's about the comfort to your horse certainly, but also about retraining the brain (on both sides :o) There are an alarming number of people that believe "a bigger/badder bit = a better behaved boy", but in reality it's not the strength of the bit but more in the "minding" of the horse over the matter of his "treining" (just ask Cinnamon, he'll tell you :o)

Cherry Hill has a blurb about increasing bit severity here.

Guest Post: Trick Training in Reverse

It is a constant source of amazement to me how much horses can be like people. Rina is what you would call "tender headed" (if she were a person); she is quick to complain if I pull too hard on a tangle in her mane by swinging her head around and nudging me lightly (in much the same way a child would say, "Hey, not so rough!"). Taya on the other hand, could care less if I hit a tangle; she's perfectly content to stand there and let me tug my way carefully through it. So what's my point? The point is, that just because one horse will tolerate something it isn't a license to assume that all horses will (this was somewhere around Lesson #197 for me; it was an early one :o) Of course I also remember being taught that horses had no nerve endings in their manes and therefore could not feel anything at all when it was brushed or thinned which is not necessarily so (obviously).

Still wondering why you should care? The idea is to know your horse; this issue can save you and your horse time and trouble when it's important. It can also go a long way in preventing unnecessary frustration and possibly unfair punishment. Allow me to illustrate (using last week's Note to Self); anyone who keeps horses naturally knows they get periodic nicks, scratches and dents. Sometimes they are easily seen and sometimes they are not. Picking out Rina's feet one morning (our horses are all barefoot), I was almost finished; last foot. I had barely begun to bend down when Rina suddenly shifted, putting her right front foot out of reach. Allowing for the possibility that she was not standing balanced enough to lift it (which happens sometimes), I moved forward to her shoulder and touched it again (our cue to pick it up). Rina turned slightly away, and brought her head around effectively blocking me. Hmmmm. I dropped the hoof pick in the bucket and returned to Rina palms up to show her I didn't have it. I squatted down to check her leg - and she stood quietly while I did so - but could find nothing wrong. Scratching my head, and thinking maybe she had a bruise on her foot, I cued her to pick it up (still without the hoofpick). Again she moved her foot out of reach and swung her head down, looking slightly miffed that I wasn't acting too bright here. Finally, with soothing words and palms out she agreed to stand still long enough for me squat down and inspect her foot; nose to hoof. I finally found a teeny tiny itty bitty ding on the surface of her foot; so small I could barely see it even with my nose almost touching her foot. You've got to be kidding me; is that it?? That dinky little dent? Surely not! Carefully, watching Rina's expression, I lightly pressed the ding. She responded by snatching her foot sharply backwards and giving me a very hurt look (and wasn't I immediately swamped with guilt?) Oh, Rina I'm SO sorry! It has been a week now, and she finally will let me brush off the surface of that hoof but that's all. Had I not known, however, that Rina was on the sensitive side I might have mistaken her ouch for difficult behavior and wouldn't that have been awful? It can set your training back (and then some).

Now, let's compare this to Taya's ding (I have no idea what the two of them got into, but they had almost identical dings on opposite front feet one morning after the other). Taya's dent was much more easily seen; in part because it was on a white hoof but also because it was much bigger than Rina's. Taya made it clear that her foot was rather sore, but she was willing to compromise; as long as I held her foot carefully by the fetlock, she had no objection to me picking it out. Of course this too seems to be eerily similar to people; some are up and about their business shortly after an injury or surgical procedure and others take more time to recuperate. Isn't that interesting?

For information on why barefoot is better, read this article:

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/hoof_care/barefoot_112507/

Trick...Er, Treat?

A Little Bit of Background...

Santanna's Reflection is a double registered; Half Arabian (with Arabian Horse Association) and purebred appaloosa (with the Appaloosa Horse Club). I met him in December of 2006, and he came to live with me on Christmas Eve for a two week trial. I knew the first time I rode him out on a trail (the day after Christmas) that he wasn't going anywhere. 'Tanna's previous owner had decided she wanted to endurance race and thought he would be a good prospect. So all she did was get on him and GO. He wouldn't stand still to be mounted - he wouldn't stand still period! - he wouldn't walk. He was no fun at all to ride. So she threw him out in a 2 acre "pasture" with 7 other horses and left him for 2 years.
He was pretty much low man in the pasture so when I met him, he was 150 lbs underweight, scabby from bites and kicks and so nervous he'd weave out in the pasture. I don't know why I was attracted to him (other than the fact I think he's gorgeous). I was almost 50 when I bought 'Tanna. I've had horses all of my adult life - I trained and showed to my share of championships in the 80s and 90s. I did not want a problem horse.
But I fell in love with him and - in spite of the fact that my husband all but pleaded "Please, no appaloosas!" - I brought him home and I've never once been sorry. It only took him a couple months to settle down and learn to stand quietly being saddled, mounted or just waiting. I've even had people ask me if I'll train their horses because he's so well mannered out on the trail. He has become the trail horse/buddy I've been missing since my stallion died in 2001.
'Tanna is very laid back and easy going (although he does still weave from time to time, which may be a life-time habit. But I know why he does it and he does it less and less all the time - for everything else he gives me, I can live with that.) He is strong, steady, has a very quick intelligence and a sly sense of humor.
I am so blessed I found my Happy Appy!

So here's the story:

I have a 10 year old Arabian - appaloosa cross, Santanna, my Happy Appy. 'Tanna is not the least bit interested in doing tricks. His attitude is "give me the treat or quit messing with me". Since I have my 3 year old purebred Arab who LOVES doing tricks and I sincerely believe that some horses like and are good at some things and others excel in other areas, I haven't pushed him. Santanna is a wonderful trail horse, he LIKES being a good trail horse and that's what I wanted from him, so we are both happy.

Last Saturday night, a couple friends and I participated in a moonlight ride at a local (Dallas, Tx, area) lake. We found ourselves in the position of having to ride the last 5 miles to our camp by ourselves over a trail we'd only ridden once - going out that day - in the dark! While the moon was big, bright and beautiful, it didn't shed much light under the tree canapes. But I had a flashlight and wasn't afraid to use it. The first time I turned it on, all three horses jumped. Santanna did not know what to think about the shadow of his head and ears stretching out in front of him. But once I learned to moved the flashlight out to the left and put the light on the trail a few feet ahead of us, he realized it really helped him see where he was going.
We had a long way to go and I didn't know how good the batteries were - and to be honest it was such a beautiful night. The moon brilliantly lit the sky and silvered the lake and grass along the trail - I didn't turn the light on very much.

We hit a place that was dark for only a few feet so I didn't turn the light on. Santanna moved his head to the right, slowed down and then stopped. I urged him on, asking what was wrong. He turned enough to roll an eye at me, faced forward - and waited. I thought something was in the trail, so I turned on the light. Nothing there, but as soon as he had light, 'Tanna boldly stepped forward. When we hit the next darkish spot, he hesitated and moved his head to the right again. Again, I didn't get it, so he stopped. I turned on the light and away we went. The next time he hesitated and moved his head to the right, I turned on the light and he snorted (horse talk for "good girl"?) and moved out. From that point on, I "got" it. Whenever he needed the light, he'd move his head to the right, my cue to "turn on the light". With no more hesitation, we ghosted through the cricket's singing and the magical scenery and led our friends safely home. What a treat he shared with me! How gorgeous to ride through the moon-silvered landscape!

I thought some of y'all might get a kick out of the fact that, while Santanna may not be interested in DOING tricks, he had no problems with teaching me one!

Ginger

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

"Want to change the world? Start by smiling at and being pleasant to people you don't have to." ~ C. Wayne Owens

Did you know that you can teach a horse to politely accept a treat? I didn't. Bella is our best treater; she will ever so delicately pluck the treat from your palm. Rina is not quite as demure as Bella, but she's becoming a close second. Lady, on the other hand, causes you to count your fingers to make sure you didn't lose any of them following a frantic snatch and grab. That is, of course, provided you're actually brave enough (or foolish enough) to offer her one in the first place.

In the same basic manner you can teach a child not to rip things out of your hand, you can teach a horse. Lady seems to understand the basic concept of a quietly murmured "eeeaaasy now" and it has made a marked difference in her demeanor when accepting treats, it's now a simply a matter of time and repetition. The horses are not allowed to nibble at my pockets (that can get out of hand far too quickly and didn't I just have to learn that one the hard way?).

Taya (our "toddler") is learning to wait politely for her treats, and not to "ask". Initially, she would ask by touching then pushing at my pocket with her nose (get the "EH" buzzer sound or a "No") and quickly turn her head away. It wasn't long before she became self-correcting (she'd forget and poke-then oops - and turn head back on her own without my saying anything). She would, however, crack me up by keeping her head turned slightly away and her eye pinned on me to make sure I was aware of how hard she was working (because you could tell the wait was just killing her - but she did it, earned some serious praise too and ended up being quite proud of herself :o)

The thing about treats is that they are a fabulous fool-proof incentive plan. Especially until the horse figures out that you are actually pretty cool to hang with; then you can cut way back. Use feet for an example; you may start out treating after picking each individual foot. After awhile, you can cut it back to treating per side, and then later after all four feet are finished. We do spend time with the girls and the moo crew without any treats involved, as it keeps them from expecting a treat every single time. But just as people are willing to work for money or study for a good grade, there needs to be something in it for the horse: Think of it as a paycheck of sorts...

Is treating really worth a little extra effort? Let's look at some pictures of the girls (notice nobody's fussing):

Here is Bella - she has some dirt near her eye and is perfectly content to stand quietly in the middle of an open area and let me get it out (my hand is simply resting on her muzzle).

Bella accepting her treat

Rina accepting her "paycheck" after voluntarily putting her nose through and scooping up her halter - she's gotten very good at it (I laughingly dubbed them halter drills; and it's now a training game). Living in a place where hurricanes happen can make this a wonderful thing to be able to do in a big hurry - besides, who wants to chase their horses all over the place?

and last is our "toddler", Taya after her halter drill (Rina is graciously *cough* volunteering to do it again for me; her chin is resting on my forearm). The day Taya "got it" (the bulb came on) with the halter drills, she wound up wearing all 3 of the halters I was carrying at the same time - and she was mighty pleased with herself, too :o) If I'd only had a camera....