Posts Tagged ‘horses’
Cold Advice
Right on schedule, the bitter cold arrived to seize the region in its icy grip. It is something of a shock when it happens in such a short time. The messy slop that was on our driveway Wednesday, became rock-hard glacial ice yesterday, after the temperature plummeted from above freezing, to well below in a matter of hours. As I was walking up the quarter-mile distance of our driveway after taking the trash bin to the road in the dark last night, I noticed myself flinching tight against the biting breeze.
Relaxing your muscles in reaction to extreme cold is a little secret of mine to bring a moment of warmth. I tried for years to get Cyndie to embrace this trick, but she was a very reluctant student of my teachings. I eventually came to discover that her level of discomfort in the cold was much more extreme than I ever would have guessed. When she told me she couldn’t feel her feet while we were trying to play racquetball after a short trip to the gym one winter, I took off her shoes and put her feet to my stomach. They were like solid blocks of ice! I was dumbfounded, and insisted we would buy her a pair of sensible insulated winter boots to replace the shoes she had been using.
With Venus and the crescent moon demanding attention in the sky above me, I took a breath and consciously willed my muscles to relax tension. Instantly, I felt a sensation of calm, the transition of which provides a pleasant side effect of the feeling of not being as cold as it just seemed. It is a mental game, really. A psychological ploy.
It got me to thinking about the fact that our friends from Guatemala, which we have invited to stay with us for a couple of weeks this month, might be interested in learning some steps to being comfortable while taking part in activities outdoors here in the winter.
• 1 – Drink Water – The first thing we were given when we arrived at Sue and Paul Schurke’s Wintergreen Lodge for a dogsledding vacation was a personal water bottle for each member of our family. Not only is staying optimally hydrated the best thing you can do for yourself in everyday life, it is the MOST IMPORTANT thing you should do in order to stay comfortable outdoors in the winter. If your urine output is more than a hint of yellow colored, you are short-changing yourself of the multitude of benefits of optimal hydration. Give your fingers and toes the best advantage toward staying warm outdoors on cold winter days by drinking enough water.
• 2 – Wear Layers – There are a variety of clothing options that can work, but the important aspect of layering is to choose base layers that wick body moisture away from the skin, a middle layer that insulates, and an outer shell that repels water of snow or rain. Depending on my activity, I will often forgo the outer shell and choose a wool shirt or sweater. Wool can absorb a lot of moisture and not feel wet, and it will keep on insulating. I prefer it because it breathes, instead of trapping my heat.
• 3 – Don’t Constrict – If you are going to take full advantage of being optimally hydrated, don’t constrict your blood flow by wearing boots, gloves, or clothing that are too tight. When I first put on Steger mukluks like the ones that were worn on Paul Schurke and Will Steger’s expedition to the North Pole, it felt completely wrong to me. It feels like wearing slippers outdoors. I got used to it very fast. My feet have never, ever gotten cold in the surprisingly comfortable Steger mukluks. Let your blood flow. Don’t think that an extra sock is worth it, if it makes the fit of your boot too tight. Better to skip the extra sock and allow your foot room to wiggle your toes. Mittens work better than gloves, because your fingers can wiggle all over the place, and they aren’t isolated from each other, so they can share their warmth.
• 4 – Don’t Sweat – The important reason for wearing layers is so you can begin to shed your covering when you generate so much heat that you begin to sweat. Keep in mind that this list is based on the assumption of dressing for outdoor activity. If you are active, you generate your own heat. If you want to stay warm, the wetness of your own sweat will work against your goal. Pace your activity, and open your clothing to adjust your body temperature in order to avoid getting wet from the inside out.
• 5 – Stay Dry – If you put effort into keeping your base layer dry, don’t waste it by letting your outer layer get wet. If it is precipitating, have a waterproof shell. If you are going to have a lot of contact with snow (sledding or making an igloo) have waterproof pants. Don’t spill your drinking water down your front. Avoid stepping into standing water or reaching into open water. I like it cold, because then the snow is dry. Water in winter is a bummer, unless you are drinking it. Lately, I am having a hard time dealing with handling buckets of water in the barn for the horses when it is single-digit cold. I don’t like water getting me wet in the winter.
• 6 – Pick Smart – Make smart choices when selecting winter wear. Wool is better than cotton. Jeans make terrible snow pants. A neck gator and good hat provide a huge amount of benefit for being such simple accessories. Get the right fit for everything. Take drinking water with you while you are outside. Eat a substantial healthy breakfast. Be prepared to deal with wind. Don’t forget to be active and have fun.
It amazes me to watch the horses deal with the cold of winter. Sure, their coats grow longer and thicker as the hours of daylight shorten, but that’s about it. Otherwise, they just stand out in it like any other day, butts into the wind. I wish it were that easy for us, but with rather simple preparation, it is possible to come pretty close. If you tend to the 6 points above, all that is left is finding the balance of activity that generates enough heat, and then you can be out all day long having so much fun, you never bother stopping to think about feeling cold.
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Rain Delivered
They promised snow, but we received freezing rain for most of the day yesterday. I really dislike rain in the winter. The day will not go down in our history as one of the better ones around here. On top of the weather being lousy, Cyndie is suffering greatly from a sinus infection that has walloped her a good one. When momma’s not happy, nobody’s happy.
The horses are being good sports about the lousy weather. We put them in the barn on Tuesday night, and decided to leave them inside, sheltered from the freezing rain, for the entire day yesterday. This is the longest we have yet to confine them in those stalls. It seems like a bit much to ask of them, but I think maybe they sense the benefit and are accepting the situation without complaint.
Delilah didn’t seem to mind the wetness one bit, and ran all over the place, playing in the slushy mess. I let her roam off-leash for a bit, and she stayed in contact with me for the entire distance down the driveway to get the mail, and back again. I hadn’t intended to stay out and get wet, but once you are wet, you don’t really get any wetter, so I scraped the freezing slush off the upper part of the driveway. While I was out, our tractor was delivered on a flatbed truck from the local dealer who performed a full set of routine maintenance steps. Yep, I got out of having to change the oil this time.
The driver dropped it off at the flat spot of the driveway near the barn. Since it doesn’t have chains on yet (the weather was nice when they picked it up last week), I worried I might not get it up the hill to the shop garage. Well, I made it up the hill, no problem, but then spun my wheels when I tried to back it up the tiniest of an incline into the garage. No worry, I have a loader on the front, and people tell me to use that to push myself whenever I get stuck. It worked like a charm. The tractor was a frozen mess of ice, but it is back in the garage with all new fluids, a repaired leaking front tire, and no more dripping from the hydraulic line quick-connect fitting.
Since I was out in the garage, already wet, I decided it was a good time to get the plow re-attached to the Grizzly ATV. Knowing we will have frigid Arctic air settling in for a few days, I figured I should try to clear as much of the slush off the driveway as possible before it gets locked in place for good. I can’t call my first try at plowing with the Griz a smashing success, but I was able to do a fair job and I completed it in a fraction of the time I spent last year trying to use the big diesel tractor. I feel optimistic about my chances of becoming proficient at maneuvering the ATV and moving snow to clear the pavement to a degree that meets my exacting standards. I think it will be a bit easier to plow snow in the future when it isn’t raining at the same time.
Just to top off this first significant, and lousy, snow event day, I needed to reattach the mailbox after the township plow went by. We are picking up right where we left off last year, in that regard.
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Perfect Image
This could very well be the last picture of the year from here with no snow on the ground. After the current bout of mixed snow and rain we are experiencing concludes, the temperatures are predicted to head into the deep freeze again, so maybe the ground-cover will hang around till the next measurable snow fall occurs.
Yesterday, I received this photo taken Sunday by Nick Shatek while Hays relations were visiting for a delayed Thanksgiving gathering. It captures the spirit of horse/human interaction that we want to see here, especially with kids. This is my niece Tricia’s daughter, Brooke, connecting with Cayenne in a most beautiful way.
We can report that the horse “popsicles” we made were a big hit. Cyndie served up two of them after the evening feeding on Sunday, and when she came back to the house the next morning after feeding them, she reported that they had completely gobbled up both, leaving no trace of any remains. Since nobody stayed around to see any of the action, we don’t have any idea who ate them, or how fast they did it. For that reason, we have decided to wait on serving the next two, until a time when we can hang around to observe the process.
I’m looking forward to the chance to get some photos of that event!
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Round Two
We get a second shot at a family Thanksgiving today, with “Hays” relations making the trip east to visit and meet our horses for the first time. It really is a colossal treat for us to have guests visit Wintervale, despite the urge to have everything looking perfectly-tended and thus our needing to vacuum endlessly. Delilah doesn’t seem to see the point of that, and quickly crushes a bone to dusty bits on the rug, or shreds the next available stuffed toy to distribute clouds of white fluff to and fro.
She can be very assertive about making her point, like right now how she is repeatedly moving my right hand off the keyboard with her head to demand I scratch her, so I have to type one letter at a time with my left hand. At least I have a good excuse why the post is my usual Sunday lateness in getting published for you all.
I do need to get to the vacuuming, and would like to clean the paddocks before guests arrive, so I will make this short today. I’ll leave you with this fun portrait that Elysa captured of me with Dezirea during Thursday’s Thanksgiving visit by Cyndie’s family. I was inside the paddock to encourage the horses to come down the fence line for treats offered by our visitors. Dezi was checking my hand, looking for a treat that wasn’t there.
Oh, that reminds me… Last night, Cyndie and I cut up apples, celery, parsley, oranges, added shredded carrots, floated them in sugar-water with a little food coloring, and froze them to make “treats” for the horses. It was a recipe Cyndie discovered somewhere. I am looking forward to seeing if they show interest in the strange bucket-sized popsicles.
Happy December to you all!
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Clean Up
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“What do you mean I have to put away all my toys because company is coming?”
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Twas the day before Thanksgiving, and all through the house… Yeah, we’re cleanin.’ And cooking!
Cyndie read somewhere that you should give your dog a new toy every few days, or at least, rotate them out of service for a while as new ones are introduced. I know how this works. We raised kids. Delilah would just as likely play with a stick or a leaf and be fascinated for an hour. She would just as happily devour the cardboard backing a new chew toy had been mounted to, instead of the toy itself. Ice cubes are a current fascination. But it seems everyday I discover a new colorful device in our house that pet scientists of the world have devised to keep our dog intellectually challenged.
I’d like to meet the marketing genius who wrote that article Cyndie read, …and congratulate him.
“Don’t forget to clean up after the horses in the paddocks!”
Yes, dear. I should just let Delilah eat it all. With a dog’s sense of smell a gazillion times better than humans, you’d think manure would smell something awful to them. So, why the need to taste it at every encounter? The horses, deer, raccoons… She doesn’t discriminate.
I sure hope it won’t be too sunny tomorrow. I don’t think we’ll get around to washing windows before guests arrive.
If you are traveling today, be careful out there! We hope everyone in the States reading along will have a chance this holiday-extended-weekend to gather with others, sit down to a meal together, and bask in the valuable energy of being thankful. If you notice your hosts missed a spot when they were cleaning for guests, be sure to cut them some slack. Especially if they have been trying to live with a great big puppy and two frustrated house cats for the last two months.
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Single Digits
We received a bit of snow on Thursday night, and this morning temperatures are in the single digits. My usual ease with facing the extreme cold of winter has waned as I age, but I was pleased to find that adjustment came quickly for me, as I began clearing the driveway up by the house. In no time, I was removing my jacket and finding an easy balance of comfort in the cold, while involved in activity.
Sure, it feels cold if you just step out and stand still in the frigid air. What a great excuse to do something productive, or at least, entertaining!
After I finished the driveway, I walked with Delilah down to the labyrinth to make tracks along the pathway in hopes of establishing the route in snow so it will remain obvious throughout the winter. It was a delightful experience to be the first one to trek through the snow, enjoying the rare opportunity to see where I have been, in contrast to the portion that lay ahead.
Delilah has a bit too much energy to be limited to staying on the path, so she wasn’t much help with tromping down the trail. Plus, the arrival of snow has ramped up her energy immensely, as she gleefully celebrates the white stuff that has turned her outdoor world into a whole new playground experience.
Unfortunately, today dawns with new restrictions for our animals, as the deer hunting season has begun, and the woods all around us will be filled with the sounds of gunshots. The unbridled romping will be severely constrained for the next two weeks.
Cyndie reported that this morning, the two elder horses of our herd were stoically standing posts facing in opposite directions and were barely willing to suspend their surveillance to partake in the morning feed. They sense that the predator/prey operation is underway.
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Experiential Learning
I am curious whether or not the horses are aware that they are training me to care for them. Prior to their arrival here, I had very little exposure to horses, and absolutely no experience in managing the care of a herd.
Parts of the process already feel comfortable for me. I am able to step inside the paddock without hesitation, to feed them or clean up after them, while they are unconstrained and not wearing harnesses. It seems to me as though they accept the leadership role I am in, but my knowledge of all things horse-related is so limited, I have to believe they sense my lack of experience.
I’m finding that their shenanigans to chase each other off the feed, when we provide one pan for each of them, frustrates me for some reason. I guess I want them to behave the way I think they should, instead of the manner which they choose. I’m sure we’ll all figure it out eventually. In the mean time, it is part of what leaves me feeling mostly clueless about the deeper levels of understanding horses, which is, understandably, a reflection of my lack of experience. I don’t get to jump from knowing nothing, all the way to in-depth knowledge, without going through the process of actually gaining it through experience.
Another thing that urks me is that Hunter makes a habit of putting a hoof into the feed pan to tip it and dump the feed all over the ground. That stuff ain’t cheap! He/they are pretty good at cleaning up most of it, but it messes with my sense of order.
Yesterday, I figured they were telling me they were ready for the afternoon feeding when I walked by on the way to get the mail. Legacy led the group in a trot across the big field to follow my progress. I sensed they wanted something. I stayed on my task, and walked back toward the house without stopping at the barn, and so they took to racing around, kicking and cavorting, to let me know… something. This is where I am short on experience to confidently interpret their behavior. I guessed they were frustrated, but their galloping looked a bit too fun-spirited to me.
Since it was close to the time we would normally give them the afternoon feed, I turned around as soon as I dropped the mail in the house, and returned to the barn. When they saw me, the herd came right up under the overhang where we set out their feed pans, all of them breathing heavy from their bout of running around. I went through the usual routine, at my pace (to let them know I am in charge), distributing their dinner for them to battle over and spill to the ground.
Another day’s “lesson” in the books for my ongoing process of learning by doing. I’m not always sure about what I learn each day, but I’m having a lot of fun gaining experience in caring for horses.
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Found It!
Cyndie found the mouse that the cats killed. They put it in the toilet. We are very impressed that they knew the mouse was something that needed to be disposed of.
Meanwhile, the horses have proved me wrong. I believe that I wrote about how often I find them lying down to rest in the afternoons, and that one of them always remains standing to keep watch. Yesterday, I looked up from my task to find that all four of them were on the ground at the same time. I guess they feel safe here. As I watched them, I noticed there was no traffic on our road and no activity underway in any of the fields or at the neighboring farms. It was wonderfully calm and quiet, even with the wind kicking up some fairly robust gusts every so often. I think their behavior is a reflection of the environment where they now find themselves living.
We are pretty happy with the place, too.
Now, the serenity is not without interruption. This time of year, there are an awful lot of gunshots spoiling the natural sound scape. Hunting seasons for a variety of animals start in September and run into December. The biggest hunt around here is definitely the deer season. It opens this coming weekend, so right now many hunters are preparing their guns, test-firing them and calibrating the sights.
We saw the horses startle at the sound of some of the closer shots later in the day yesterday. I’m hoping that the presence of our horses and Delilah will have rerouted the deer traffic away from our land, so the hunters will have no incentive to post themselves close by. I certainly haven’t seen as many deer around here this year as there were last year during the same time period.
I’ve posted images here on the blog of Delilah with her blaze-orange vest on, I wonder if we should get the horses some blaze-orange blankets. We definitely don’t want to have them wear antler hats for the next two weeks. I’ve heard stories that cause me to be uneasy during deer hunting season. Luckily, there are no strangers hunting in our vicinity. It is all private property, and the hunting is done by family groups that are familiar with the area.
I’m just happy our cats have finally decided to participate in some hunting this year. It’s the season!
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Practicing Big
It turned out to be a beautiful day yesterday up here in the Northland. We hit 52°F in the afternoon, which made it delightful to be doing outdoor chores. There is no mistaking that our days are numbered. It is reasonable to expect that we won’t see temperatures this warm again until April of next year. I tried to be mindful of the precious comfort afforded me while toiling away in the warm sunshine.
The forecast for the next 10 days shows a trend headed downward toward daily highs only in the 30s.
Before lunch, I took a break from my fence project to tidy up the paddocks. My appearance seemed to draw the horses in from the big field to check on me. I gathered they knew it wasn’t time for the feed we distribute in the morning and evening hours, from the nonchalant manner in which they arrived.
I noticed that Hunter had come close to where I was standing, but was still on the other side of the fence, so I set down the pitch fork and walked out to meet him. Legacy is always watchful, and when contact is being made, he wants to be there. As he approached, the other two trailed along. With the herd now idly congregating, I wandered back to my task. The horses decided to get a drink of water.
I was happy to see them comfortable enough with the setup to gather around, two on each side, and drink through the sound of the unit flowing as it tried to keep up with their demand. Thinking back to when they first arrived here, that sound was unnerving to them.
After their drinks, they stayed around, occasionally nibbling on some hay, so I had company while I continued to scoop. It was a good exercise for all of us to spend time in close proximity. I had opportunity to practice what Dunia suggested in her comment on my Language Barrier post, and communicated using my big energy to command results when Legacy or Hunter tried to chew on the wheelbarrow or gate chain. They responded appropriately, and I felt as though I was on the way to establishing my leadership with the herd.
With all four of them hanging around, I took several breaks to give them special attention. All but Hunter stood still and let me brush and massage them with my gloved hands for an extended time. In between, I would go back to cleaning up the grounds, moving them out of the way so I could get to the spots that needed attention. At one point, they started to crowd me against the fence a bit too much, so I sought to move on, except the direction I was headed was into the corner.
It was time to practice more leadership. I tried walking out of the paddock, thinking …they showed up here to begin with because of my presence, maybe they will want to be with me out here in the big field. It didn’t work. They didn’t budge. I walked back in to where Legacy was standing, his attention having been on me the whole way. I wonder what he was thinking. I began the exercise I learned at the Epona seminar, and which I have successfully put into practice twice before, walking an arc in front of him, as I encouraged him to follow me with my big energy. His first step was not so much engaging as it was threatening, so I hastily made that my turn and brought my energy around the other direction. At that, he took that step I was looking for, toward me.
I turned to direct my energy out of the paddock, without looking back, as he and the herd followed. I must have looked like the Pied Piper. I got them outside the gate and stepped aside to let them run off with gusto. They all stopped with me.
“Okay, you want me to take you farther?”
I re-energized quickly, to avoid losing momentum altogether, and headed out toward better grass. At this point, they rallied their own objective, and strolled beyond where I had stepped aside. Mission accomplished.
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Missing Katie
For those of you who may have noticed something suspicious about the amount of activity I have been engaged in on the ranch lately, I will reveal that I have stopped going in to the day-job. For reasons beyond just saving gas money for the 65 mile one-way commute, or reclaiming the hours lost to driving, I am on leave from my usual employment.
At about the same time I started my leave, a person I worked with there moved on to a new position at a different company. How do you part ways elegantly when someone you used to see every day disappears from your life? Not a day has passed without me thinking of something that I would normally have told Katie about when we next saw each other at work.
Instead, I now find myself trying to talk with Legacy. It’s just not the same, I tell you.
I am trying to be open about the possibility of finding work closer to home, but my few attempts thus far have been met with rejection, so my inspiration is waning. In the mean time, it occurred to me that I can balance the loss of income by taking on some chores that we would otherwise need to spend a lot of money to get done. Yes, that means building fences.
A year ago, I didn’t know a thing about how to build a fence, but after watching the professionals put in our paddocks and string up the border of the big field, I’ve learned a lot. I thought it took them a long time, but now that I am digging my own holes and burying posts, I have a new appreciation for how much they could get done in a day.
It is very important to Cyndie that we get rid of the barbed wire fencing that is close to the trail where she plans to ride horses. Yesterday, I surveyed the most exposed section and came up with a new idea: Leave it be.
That fence has been there so long that trees have grown around the wire. It will be much less work if we simply erect a new fence, just inches inside the old one, and choose fence material that will serve as a barrier to the barbed wire beyond it. Since that old fence defines the boundary of our property, it is technically shared by our neighbor. Leaving it in place eliminates any question as to the location of the old boundary and avoids putting any burden on them to make changes they don’t need.
We really don’t want to cut down trees if we don’t have to, so putting our barrier up just inside the old fence means we can run inside the trees that have grown up right on the old line. It’s a win-win scenario!
Except I’m slow, …and I don’t get to talk with Katie.
Relative Something 