CGF Rockies-Rocky Mountain, Kentucky Mountain Horse Blog

The new year finally brings colder weather

2012-01-16T14:12:00.000-05:00

January began with a couple of days of cold weather, then unusually warm weather occurred and the grass was visible. The past two nights have been very cold with temperatures of -15 and -20 yesterday and today. Yesterday's high was +1! Tomorrow's forecast is for 38 degrees. The poor horses don't know what to expect next. Fortunately, they are receiving lots of good hay to stay warm. Commensurate with that, their water intake has increased considerably, in the range of 10-15 gallons per mature horse per day. Their coats are nice and thick and their shelters are seeing lots of use as they get out of the wind. Our prevailing winter wind is from the north and northwest, so all of our shelters are positioned accordingly. A side benefit is that they get full sun this time of year when the sun is low in the sky which also helps the horses stay warm while getting out of the wind. Our windchill has been well below zero for the past two days so we don't spend a lot of time outdoors although I did take some runs on the snowmobile to pack our trails this past weekend. Packing the trails makes it possible to walk on top of the snow without snowshoes and also good for cross country skiing which our neighbors have been enjoying. We see our neighbors more in the winter out on the trails in our woods than we do during the summer! The horses are all doing well despite the cold and without any blankets. Nature's blanket and plenty of hay keeps them toasty warm and is so efficient that snow on their backs doesn't melt. The days are getting longer and warmer weather will be here in no time. In the meantime we all (horses and humans) are enjoying some time off from riding and training.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T15:39:00.000-05:00

I took the accompanying photos this morning during chores. As you can see, we will be having a white Christmas here in northern Vermont. The newly falling snow on everything was beautiful. Even Gracie, the cat, was enjoying the new snow. The weanlings and moms have adjusted very well to their new status. Babies are led in each morning, as you see in the photos, for grain, minerals, and daily wormer. Hard to believe that in a little over a week, they will be yearlings. All have been registered with the Rocky Mountain Horse Association and now have official names. After the holidays I will re-do the yearlings page on our website with their photos and registered names. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Weaning Time is always emotional and noisy

2011-12-15T20:20:00.000-05:00

We separated our mares and babies two and a half weeks ago, and as expected, the poor babies didn't understand, the older mares do understand, and our newest mother, Dancer, was quite distraught. We separate them into adjoining paddocks separated by a lane so that they can see each other and nicker pleas and reassurances back and forth. Within a few days, things quiet down. We prefer to wean them in this fashion so that moms can see that the babies are fine and the babies can see that moms are quietly grazing and don't seem to be worried about the new arrangement. We bring buckets of grain to the weanlings for the first week. The second week we lead them into individual stalls in the barn for daily grain and minerals, thus enabling us to monitor intake, groom them, and lead them back out past their mothers into their paddock. It has all gone very smoothly and our efforts over the summer of handling them, working with them in the stalls, and leading them in and out with halters and lead ropes with their mothers are paying huge dividends now. All are very quiet, very well behaved, and a joy to experience. They especially love our second cut hay which tested out at 16.8% protein. We have resumed working with our two year olds for the past two weeks after a few weeks layoff to get ready for winter. They have been reintroduced to our obstacle course and desensitizing, reviewing groundwork, and this past week, working under saddle again, all in our Coverall barn because of the snow and ice. They are all adapting well. We continue to work Joker and Teddy, our three year old geldings, also indoors, introducing them to new stimuli, and asking for more exacting groundwork and both are doing very well. After the holidays we plan to start introducing the weanlings to the indoor barn, desensitizing, obstacles, and trailer loading. Working with all of these horses will keep us busy right through the winter. Weather will of course influence the frequency and length of our training sessions. We do have to be able to get to and from the barns and paddocks safely given the snow and ice we get and we draw the line when it gets below zero! I have included some photos taken this week of Teddy (chocolate), Joker (black) and the weanlings.

November Activities

2011-11-26T15:09:00.000-05:00

We have enjoyed being with good friends from Virginia and Kentucky who visited this month. A new trail was completed in our woods, a culvert was replaced, and an existing road extended before finally calling it quits for the year because of fast approaching winter weather. Pressure washed the excavator Monday, tucked it and the horse trailer into the barn Tuesday, and received 14" of snow Tuesday night and Wednesday of this week.Winter has arrived! Spent Thanksgiving Day with family in NH. I have attached some photos of the 2011 foals and their sire taken about a week ago as well as the aftermath of our first snow storm of the season.

October Activities

2011-11-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

As we enjoyed beautiful Fall colors this year we also enjoyed several visits from children, grandchildren, and dogs. We had lots of fun activities from horseback riding to pumpkin painting to a hay ride and due to our unseasonably warm weather, even a swim in the pond!

We finished the fencing of the last of our new pastures, so all is now complete. We then headed off to our woods to make some new trails. While working on the trails I noticed some claw marks in the bark of one of our beech trees from black bears in search of beech nuts, one of their favorites (photo attached). The majority of the farm machinery has been cleaned and stowed in the barn until next season. The attached photos are of the gang and our activities. Even our foals enjoyed the extra activity and attention.

September to remember

2011-09-26T20:01:00.002-04:00

It has been a very busy month here at the farm. Labor Day weekend was very special because we had family and grandchildren here visiting. While we were in our woods the children were treated by the appearance of a black bear with twin cubs. How exciting! One of the cubs was seen again the following week as was a large bull moose with a large rack of antlers. Many flocks of geese are heard overhead almost daily as they head south for the winter. The humming birds have also departed for warmer climates. The past week culminated in getting the last of our second cut hay dried and put in the barn so our horses will have plenty to eat this winter. All of our wood for winter was cut, split, and put in the barn last spring. One of our last projects has been to bury underdrain to help dry out a couple of pastures and to help with spring runoff and that is nearing completion. Our final project is to fence two new pastures in the next 2-3 weeks, then head into the woods to work on more trails. They will be a great addition to our existing trails, all of which are used for horses as well as hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and snowmobiling. This past week has been unusually warm-our Indian summer! The leaves are nearing peak color, an all too graphic reminder that winter will soon be upon us. The horses are all doing great and beginning to grow their winter coats which reflect their true color as they shed their faded summer coats. The babies are getting so big now and are such a joy. The two year-olds are progressing nicely under saddle. I continue to ride Joker, Teddy and Dee several times each week and all are doing great. Able, our stallion, continues to be his usual steady, smooth ride and enjoys our rides together on the trail. As we head into October we look forward to more family and grandchildren visiting. Life is good.

Irene Aftermath

2011-08-29T20:54:00.000-04:00

The good news is that we made it through Irene with minimal damage here at the farm and all of the animals are fine. We had some damage to our roads here at the farm and have about 20 trees down across our trails in the woods. Fortunately we never lost power but we literally came inches from losing our large pond dam which would have been catastrophic. The waters receded during the day today and the cleanup began with repairing our roads and cutting up the downed trees all of which will take several days. Our town lost a few roads, again, which had just been repaired after the flooding at the end of May. Other Vermont communities were not so fortunate and many lost their homes and businesses. The storm tracked across the entire state from south to north, exiting into Canada. We had some wind damage (trees) but the heavy rain and resultant flooding caused the majority of the damage. Homes, bridges, cars were captured on video as they were washed down flooded rivers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those with such devastating losses.

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-28T13:26:00.000-04:00

We are in the midst of Irene at the moment with torrential rain and strong winds with gusts out of the northeast. As the storm moves north and east of us the winds will shift to northwest. All of the horses have tucked themselves into their shelters and appear to be weathering the storm just fine. With all of the rain we will definitely have some flooding in our area. Evening chores will certainly be a challenge today. We still have power with a generator available for backup if needed. So far, so good! Stay tuned.

New foal photos

2011-08-15T18:15:00.001-04:00

I have posted some recent photos of our foals born this year and some of our two year olds. Moms and babies are doing very well. The two years olds were started under saddle two weeks ago and are coming along nicely. They are now being ridden in the round pen with halter-bridles with snaffle bits suspended in their mouths. They have adjusted very well to the new tack and new surroundings of the round pen. They are all very quiet and trusting-a testament to their daily handling as youngsters.

Our extremely dry weather has thankfully come to an end with significant rain today and tomorrow. Our springs were getting quite low but should now recover. We did not ride today because of the heavy rain but Teddy and Joker, Dee and Boots are ridden 4-5 days a week, both in the arena and out on the trails. The younger horses are becoming excellent trail horses. Able continues to be his "old reliable" self and enjoys our solitary trail rides even though the corn is now taller than both of us!

Busy July

2011-07-31T19:59:00.001-04:00

As we finish out July and reflect on where the time went we realize what a special month it was for us. We managed to get the rest of the first cut hay in the barns, were blessed with a surprise new colt born, and visits from lots of family from New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. The peals of laughter and squeals of delight were heard around the farm from the pond, pastures, and barn as grandchildren helped with chores, groomed horses, petted the babies, rode our older gelding (Boots), played in the sand on the beach, swam in the pond, caught tadpoles and frogs, and played with the dogs, hiked in the woods, ran around the hay field, helped in the vegetable and fruit gardens picking peas, squash, lettuce, spinach, blueberries, and raspberries, riding in the golf cart and Ranger, and having dinners in the gazebo at the pond. With the hot weather, the pond saw plenty of activity. The horses were quite intrigued with the increased noise level and little critters running around and adjusted very quickly. We started working with our two year old horses, reviewing all of their ground work, desensitizing, working first with the surcingle, then the saddle, and at the end of this week were leading them around with someone sitting on their backs and using reins attached to their halters. We will continue with and build on that this coming week. Our other horses are also being ridden, some twice daily, both in the arena and out on the trail. Mares and babies are all doing well with their daily routine of being led into and out of the barn to pasture. A couple of our frost free hydrants were leaking, so we dug them up this week and made the necessary repairs. Also repaired one of the older shelters and have two or three more to repair. Winter and horses take their toll around here. Went for a nice long ride today with Able, my stallion. The weather was perfect.

What a difference two days makes

2011-07-19T19:51:00.000-04:00

Attached are the latest photos of our new arrival taken this morning at four days of age.

Surprises come in all shapes, sizes, and colors

2011-07-18T20:13:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday morning when we went out to do chores we had a big surprise. Out in one of our pastures occupied by four mares was a newborn foal! Only one of the four, Dancer (a Toco Sam mare), had been bred last year but repeated ultrasound exams failed to demonstrate an early pregnancy and she had developed what appeared to have been another anovulatory follicle cyst. Just to be sure, we had another ultrasound performed at about 45 days post breeding and still no evidence of a pregnancy. We elected not to re-breed her because it was getting late in the season and turned her out with some other mares. We continued to ride her last fall and again this spring after the snow finally left. We rode her as much as twice a day, including twice on Friday. Lo and behold, early Saturday morning she blessed us with a chocolate colt! We were shocked beyond belief! In looking back, we have been so busy but "concerned" about her weight such that we had increased her to two-a-day rides to get some extra weight off of her. She was a first time mother and had not developed much udder enlargement and none of us noted any change while grooming her. How remiss we were! All ended well with mom (a superwoman) and baby (a real trooper) doing well. He looks as though he will be a solid chocolate with a white mane and tail. I have posted some photos of our new surprise. All of the other moms and babies are doing very well. Each day we now put halters on moms and babies and lead them in to the barn from their pasture for grain, grooming, fly spray, ground work, and then lead them back out to pasture. The babies (they are now eight weeks of age) have just been awesome about it. All of our daily work with the babies in the stalls have paid big dividends.

Also during this past week we managed to get in 28 dry round bales and, on Saturday, 800 square bales, delivered two geldings to a transporter last Monday, went to Boston yesterday to pick up a grandson flying in from Wisconsin, riding horses, and keeping up with all of our routine maintenance here at the farm. Needless to say it has been a three ring circus here. And we still have more hay to get in, weather permitting.

Busy time of year

2011-07-08T07:40:00.000-04:00

Summer is a very busy time of year for us with lots going on here at the farm. Our weather has not been very conducive to making hay with few dry sunny days in a row. I was able to get 21 dry round bales in last week. That represented only a small portion of our hay field. With our weather I didn't dare mow any more. Our precipitation year to date is almost double our normal. The fifth and final run-in shelter of this year was completed this week and skidded out to the pasture. That has been a big project but with our Coverall barn we were able to build them indoors and out of the weather, then skid them out when completed.

Mares and babies are doing well. It is such fun to watch them grow, run, play, and socialize. They are quite friendly and curious and come right up to us in the pasture. They are handled daily and do ground work in the stall with mom present. They are about six weeks of age now.

We have eight other horses which are ridden almost daily. Some to do ground work and work on gait as well as go out on trail rides after finishing their work. I have also been riding Able out on the trail , which he really enjoys. I plan to start our two year-olds next week.

Prince (CGF Absolutely a Prince) and Knightly (CGF Absolutely Debonair) have been sold and will be departing for their new homes in Colorado on Monday. They have been a wonderful part of our family and we will all miss them.

Summer is always a busy time with family as our children and grandchildren come to visit and enjoy the farm and ride the horses. The children can sure pack a lot of energy into a day! Fun to observe and experience, not to mention entertaining. Provides an exposure to a very different lifestyle for them here in a rural setting with no cell and wi-fi access. Amazing how life goes on without it!

Some hay in the barn

2011-06-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

We were able to get about 5 acres of hay (500) bales into the barn on Monday. We still have another 30 acres to go but unfortunately the weather forecast for the next several days is for rain. The hay will have to wait. We have been riding 6-8 horses a day for the past month. I have been riding Prince, Knightly, and Teddy, both in the arena to do ground work and work on gait and headset and on the trail for 5-6 miles. We have seen a fawn, several deer, a partridge, wild turkey, and a groundhog yesterday and today. The horses are not bothered at all. They just accept the wildlife as a part of daily life around here. Even when we were operating the haying equipment they just looked and continued walking calmly. We use a golf cart and Polaris Ranger to lead them in from and back out to the outlying pastures so they get very used to all the equipment. As we ride the perimeter of the hay field a part of it parallels the road. For the past three weeks there has been a steady procession of dump trucks hauling stone to repair the roads in town washed out from our flash flooding. They come by loaded and with their jake brakes burping away, so much so that the horses just ignore them now. Excellent training for them to be exposed to all of that. Hopefully next week will bring warm, sunny weather good for making more hay.

More Vermont Spring Photos

2011-06-14T19:48:00.003-04:00

I have included some photos of our flowers and Jewel and her colt taken before all of this rainy weather we have been having. Yesterday morning when we went out to do chores we noticed some hoof prints in places where we had not had horses. When we went up back to the farthest two pastures, one of the gates was open and the four two year-olds were missing. The four geldings in the neighboring pasture were calmly grazing and watching a deer on the other side of their fence doing the same. We did not know if the horses headed for the woods or for the road and the village. Then we noticed that there were horses in our outdoor riding arena. The youngsters had been on a bit of an exploratory gambit after breaking the snap lock on their gate and ended up in the arena. We simply closed the gate and completed our chores before moving them to a new pasture while I went off and repaired the broken gate latch. Never a dull moment around here. The rain finally slowed down late morning and we managed to ride six horses today. I used the rainy time this morning to trim the hooves of the two year old geldings and will probably do the two year old filly's hooves tomorrow.

Working with our Rocky Mountain Horse foals video

2011-06-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

I have posted a video on YouTube showing the daily routine and in-stall ground work with our three week old Rocky Mountain Horse foals. Moms and babies are led into the barn from the pasture every morning. Moms are given grain and minerals and while they are eating we work with the foals as shown on the video. We use a soft rope "hoop" placed around the base of their neck for control rather than using the halter right away. This avoids potential injury to the foal until they learn to "give" to the pressure of the halter. Once they learn, we no longer use the "hoop" and will attach a short lead rope to the halter and continue the in-stall ground work. After they have learned the "whoa", "go forward", left and right cues in the stall we will lead them beside mom both in from and out to the pasture. Note in the video that mom is OK with us working with the foal as long as the foal is calm (you can see that I am standing against mom's backside) but when excited as when I introduced the clippers, mom immediately came to investigate and was right there to observe. The foal calmed down very quickly with mom's presence and attention. This in-stall work with the foals while mom is there has been very successful for us and allows us to work with them at a very early age. All of the exercises that we do act as building blocks for their future training, both on the ground and under saddle. Note on the video as I rub on the foal I also rub around the sides of the foal and under her barrel where the cinch will eventually be placed. At the end of the video notice the licking of the lips by the foal as a sign of acceptance of her lesson for the day.

Rocky Mountain Foals 2011

2011-06-07T06:52:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are more recent photos of our three Rocky Mountain foals. They are together now with their moms and just beginning to show some curiosity about each other. Moms are protective at first but have gradually been allowing the foals to socialize briefly with one another. Soon they will be racing around while moms continue to graze but always with a watchful eye. One snort from one of the moms and everyone is on high alert and each foal scampers for their own mom until any sense of "danger" is past. Fun to watch. If you ever want to know what is going on at your farm, just watch your animals-they will "tell" you! Moms and foals are brought into the barn every morning for grooming, handling, and grain with minerals (moms). The foals learn quickly that coming to the barn is a good thing and often plop down in the shavings for a short nap. They obviously feel comfortable in the stalls. I must try to capture some of the routine on video.

Signs of Spring at Cedar Grove Farm

2011-06-06T07:25:00.000-04:00

After the horrible weather of last week, spring has finally arrived here in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The mornings are still a bit chilly (in the 40's) but things warm up into the 70's by noon. Lovely weather for hiking, trail riding, and growing hay. I have posted a couple of videos of our trail rides at the farm for you to see some of the conditions and distractions that our horses are exposed to on a daily basis. I have also included some photos of the signs of spring here at the farm. I will do another post this evening or tomorrow about the mares and foals and how they are doing and will include the latest photos. All are doing well. While hiking in the woods this week our youngest Jack Russell went barking into the underbrush only to come running out followed by a black bear. My wife yelled at the dog and must have startled the bear who turned around and ran back into the underbrush. I don't know who was more startled-Kathy or the bear! Our neighbor saw a bear (probably the same one) two nights ago walking through one of our pastures and said the horses (two to four year-olds) were alert and watching it but not freaked out by it. Eight to nine horses are being trail ridden five days a week for two to four miles each, so with all the exercise they are getting into good condition.

Severe Weather

2011-05-28T18:43:00.001-04:00

We had terrible storms here Thursday and again last night. Many roads were destroyed, schools were canceled, state and municipal offices closed, and businesses shut down. Many roads and highways have been washed out and Montpelier, the capitol, is flooded. Click on this link to see photos of the aftermath. We had over six inches of rain Thursday night with one inch hail and more thunderstorms last night and again at 4 this morning. More thunderstorms are moving through the area again this evening as I write this post. We had over 6" of rain within a few hours and 1" hail. I spent all day yesterday repairing washed out roads here on the farm and cutting up toppled trees on the trail in our woods. Some of the lightening was very close and intense so I was worried about going out and counting noses. We haven't lost any horses yet from lightening but have had cattle killed. Fortunately all of the horses were OK but the two year olds had broken three fence posts and the fencing was down but they stayed in the pasture. They were joined by a three year old gelding from a neighboring pasture whose fence was also damaged and a post broken. It took us all morning to repair all of the damage and get everyone back where they belonged. A portion of our front lawn was under water and I have included a photo of our Jack Russell terriers investigating the new pond.
On a lighter note, all of the mares and babies are doing well despite the weather. They are so cute at this age and very curious. We work with them in the stall when we bring them in each day. They are learning whoa, to yield to pressure, go forward, stand to be sprayed for flies, and to feel and hear the sound of the clippers, and to pick up all four feet. Much easier at this age than when they are older and much bigger. They even come right up to us in the pasture to investigate and say hello.

Rocky Mountain Horse Foals

2011-05-24T21:25:00.000-04:00

Included in this post are the latest photos of our newest arrivals at two and three days of age. Jewel is the red chocolate mare and Demi is the black mare. Finally got a little break in the weather today and rode Prince, Knightly, Teddy, and Dee solo on our trail out in the woods and all did well. The only thing of note were the moose tracks on the trail. Also rode Dee, Dancer, and Joker together today on the trail in our woods. Shelter #3 is ready to go out into the pasture as soon as the ground firms up a bit more. Shelter #4 is about half completed. We were finally able to catch up on some mowing today. Forecast is for sun tomorrow so will plan to do lots more riding.

New Arrivals

2011-05-22T19:36:00.000-04:00

Two new arrivals: Saturday, May 21st Jewel had a black colt with three white socks. Sunday, May 22nd Demi had a black colt with two white socks. I have posted a few of the early photos.

Holding Pattern

2011-05-19T20:02:00.001-04:00

No new babies as yet but Demi looks to be very close and will be spending the night in the foaling stall. Jewel was due 5/14 but has not shown that she is ready to deliver just yet. I have posted a couple of photos of the new filly.

Our first Rocky Mountain foal of 2011 has arrived!

2011-05-13T21:31:00.002-04:00

Our first Rocky Mountain foal of 2011 arrived at 3:30am today. A chestnut filly out of Camargo Beauty by CGF Absolutely Incredible arrived six days early. We knew by exam that Camargo was within 48 hours of foaling so we kept her in the foaling stall for the past two nights. I had checked her at 1am at which time she had passed a small amount of amniotic fluid so I knew she would deliver in the next couple of hours. I came out to check her again around 3:30am and she had just delivered. Mom and baby are doing fine and were turned out for a few hours to enjoy our warm sunshine today. Click on this link for a short video of our new arrival!

Back in the saddle!

2011-05-09T20:36:00.000-04:00

Warmer weather has started to dry things out and I actually rode horses today for the first time in over five months. I rode Prince, Able, and Teddy and all behaved as though they had been ridden five days ago! This despite winds gusting to 30 mph today. No babies as yet but should be soon. I have posted some photos of the run-in shelters we have been building inside of our Coverall building enabling us to be out of the weather. The first one is finished and in the pasture, the second one should have the trim on tomorrow morning and be moved out to pasture tomorrow afternoon, and the frame for the third one has been assembled and the materials are stacked in front of it. It should be finished in a week. I also included a photo of the two year olds on fresh spring grass.

Spring means animals are on the move

2011-05-06T06:47:00.001-04:00

Spring is a time when the wild animals come out of hibernation and begin to move about in search of food. Unfortunately, our dogs can be the recipient's of unwelcome surprises. Our male JR terrier "surprised" a young porcupine a few days ago and paid the price. The poor guy had lots of small quills in his nose, mouth, chin, lips, and tongue. Fortunately our horse vet was available to give him some sedation and we then were able to remove all of the quills. The sad thing is that the dogs don't seem to learn to stay away from the porcupines because this is the second time he has had such an encounter. We have seen lots of moose tracks in our woods and did see a yearling moose at the edge of the woods. They had been visiting near one of our upper pastures near the road into our woods. Last year while riding we saw an obviously pregnant cow moose and then last fall saw a moose calf in our woods. I suspect that the yearling we saw this year is that same moose. Haven't seen any bear tracks or bears as yet. Also no skunks around the barns this year either, thank goodness. Both JRs have had encounters with them! I did see some small animal tracks back when we had the last of the snow that most likely belonged to a mink that was traveling from our farm to the next door neighbor's hen house. It was dispatched with a shotgun by the neighbor while inside the hen house. We have a pair of bluebirds nesting in one of our bird houses. The swallows sometimes compete with them for the same houses. The trees are leafing out, the daffodils are in bloom, and the forecast snow for last night failed to materialize so I guess spring is finally here in northern Vermont. No news on the expected foal front. The temperature today should get warm enough to paint shelter #2 and apply the trim which will complete it. Yesterday we assembled the frame for #3 and will start construction of it, if not today, early next week. Family here for the Mother's Day weekend, so we will kick back and relax for a bit.

Things are finally turning green

2011-05-04T20:34:00.001-04:00

Things are finally greening up around us here at the farm but with the continued cold, wet weather and persistent mud we have yet to commence riding this year. We actually had three days in a row with no rain and warm weather and I was able today to move the last of the horses from muddy winter pastures to green pastures. I was able to drag harrow a couple of the winter pastures and they should green up quickly now. The only relentless thing progressing in a positive way are the udders of our three pregnant mares. Jewel is due next Monday, May 9th, and she appears to be on schedule. I sincerely hope it warms up for good around here. The forecast for tomorrow night is for rain and snow, 33 degrees, and more snow and rain on Friday. Thank goodness for our large Coverall building. We have been able to construct two new run-in shelters the past two weeks inside that building and out of the rain and mud. They are somewhat portable in that they can be skidded with a tractor. I did pull one up into a green paddock yesterday and put it in use today. I will have to wait until things dry out a bit before I drag the other one out. Meanwhile, tomorrow we will start construction on a third one. Our daffodils are open but bent over from all the rain and I noticed a couple of maple trees with the first sign of tiny leaves. We were also able to rototill the vegetable garden yesterday. I have been holding off on posting in the hopes of some good weather for photos of spring but to no avail. I will be posting more frequently this month as the foals arrive. Stay tuned.

Spring is still arriving!

2011-04-19T19:47:00.000-04:00

We are now almost officially a month into spring but here in northern Vermont you would be hard pressed to acknowledge that fact. The ice is still on the pond, all of the snow has yet to melt, the majority of the trees have no buds, frost is still in the ground in places, the perennials have yet to poke their heads up, there is a coating of ice on the water troughs in the morning and the ground temperature is still too cold to promote any growth but we have lots of mud. One positive note is that the majority of the snow on our hay field has melted and I was able to spread manure this week. I suspect we will go directly from winter to summer this year. Hard to believe our first foal is due in just 20 days at a time when horses are normally out on new grass in the warm sunshine having shed their winter coats. The shedding has come to a near halt with our continued cold weather. The apple trees got pruned this week and all of the farm machinery was serviced in anticipation of the summer growing season. Steel frames for five new run-in shelters arrived by truck today. All of the firewood for next winter is cut, split, and stacked in the barns-always a good feeling. The forecast for the remainder of the week is for rain and snow so things around here will not change much. So much for "spring."

Spring is finally arriving

2011-04-10T13:35:00.002-04:00

Warmer temperatures have finally arrived and our snow is melting rapidly. Lots of mud now too and April is known around these parts as "mud season." I know it is Spring because this morning while doing chores a flock of killdeer were back and scolding me for intruding into their territory. Yesterday while grooming and trimming hooves I noticed a pair of swallows inspecting the mud nest they had built last year. I have not seen any robins yet but with the snow cover I'm not surprised. The broodmares are really displaying their pregnant bellies now and all are due in the next four to six weeks. As soon as the snow has melted and the ground dries out we will finally be able to resume riding again much to our delight.

What A Difference A Year Makes

2011-04-06T20:48:00.001-04:00

This time last year we were riding in our outdoor arena in shirtsleeves. This morning we awakened to four inches of snow and received yet another two inches this afternoon! And most of our snow accumulation from winter has yet to melt. Winter just refuses to give up. Despite the cold snowy day I did some hoof trimming of my two year olds. They are starting to shed their winter coats as are all of our horses. I have included some photos, taken this morning, of our northern Vermont "Spring."

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day

2011-03-31T18:04:00.003-04:00

Today is the last day of March and I have included some photos taken two days ago on a walk in the woods to document the amount of snow remaining around here in northern Vermont. And this is no joke folks, no "April Fool's", but tomorrow we are forecast to get 6-10 inches of snow starting late tonight and continuing tomorrow. And there is another storm that could add to that amount next Monday night and Tuesday. Everyone around here has had more than enough snow!

I did spend yesterday and again today working with my four two year olds. They will be such fun later this year when we get them under saddle. But for now they are learning to stand quietly in the cross-ties for vacuuming of their coats, grooming of manes and tails, and clipping of faces, ears, and bridle paths. They all did great but had been introduced to the clippers and vacuum as babies just a few days of age. Makes a big difference later when they are older because it has already been imprinted in their memory bank. And believe me they never forget anything, good or bad. They are truly amazing. We also found some time yesterday and today to cut, split, and stack three cords of wood in the barn for next winter.

Spring MUST be coming!

2011-03-23T11:39:00.001-04:00

We had two back to back days last week with temps in the mid fifties and had lots of snow melt. Then day before yesterday brought another four inches of snow. There is still about 18-24 inches on the ground and everything is blanketed in white. However, the horses are all beginning to shed their heavy winter coats so spring MUST be coming! This week will be cold so no significant snow melt but good weather for sugaring with days in the 30's and nights in the teens. Hard to believe that our first baby is due in a little over six weeks and all three foals are due in a ten day time span. Things will certainly get busy in a hurry!

Winter wonderland on the trails

2011-03-11T15:21:00.001-05:00

Monday's storm left us with 20" of snow but other areas of Vermont had as much as 40". It took all day Tuesday to clean up the snow with the tractor and loader. I was able to take a few photos while cleaning up and have posted them here. The Jack Russell terriers love to go out on the trails in the woods but stay on the packed trail. Otherwise they would literally disappear in the deep snow. Note the tips of the white picket fence poking out of the snow. That fence is 36" high and under all of that snow is Kathy's tea garden as shown in the photo from July 2010 as a comparison. Some of the horses had residual icicles from the snowstorm. Today it is 45 and the snow is melting quickly.

March comes in like a lion!

2011-03-07T15:28:00.000-05:00

Friday and Saturday were in the 40's, then rain all day yesterday until 4 pm when it all changed over to snow. Now some 18" of snow later it is still snowing and blowing. Needless to say, chores have been challenging! One of the rangers got stuck in the snow and we pulled it out with the tractor. Then the old farm truck we use to plow with in winter got stuck and had to be pulled out with the tractor. All of the horses are encrusted with snow and ice. We are supposed to have sunshine tomorrow so I will try to take some photos of them and the aftermath of this storm. And this storm comes on top of the snowiest February on record for Vermont! Needless to say we are doing no riding. The depth of the snow out in the pastures is up to the bellies of the horses. And Spring is two weeks away-yeah, right.

These Mountain horses are smokin'

2011-02-27T07:53:00.001-05:00

This past week was typical late February here in northern Vermont with bright sunshine and beautiful cloudless blue skies which also means cold temperatures. Several nights were below zero. During morning chores "steam" was rising from the heated water tubs and "smoke" was coming from the nostrils and the backs of all the horses prompting me to acknowledge that these Mountain horses really are smokin'. Of course, evaporating moisture was freezing as fast as it hit the subzero air making it appear as smoke. As the saying goes "Wait awhile, the weather will change" and change it did. Twelve inches of snow and 30 mph winds later we had snow and drifted snow to three feet making it impossible to get out to our two back pastures using our six wheel drive rangers. I had to use our John Deere tractor with chains on it to get hay out to those horses. Needless to say I spent the entire day yesterday on the tractor cleaning up and piling up all of the snow. And guess what? It's snowing again this morning! Reminds me of a joke about the couple who moved north being so excited about snow deciding to move south after a winter of snow. You know the one I'm referring to. I'm hoping the Pennsylvania groundhog was correct in his prediction for an early Spring this year.

Chaotic weather

2011-02-19T17:38:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a balmy, sunny 55F with a mild breeze. The snow on the roofs was melting so fast it sounded like rain falling. Then of course everything changed overnight with temperatures falling to 19F with several inches of snow. The wind here today was brutally cold at 20-25 mph with gusts to 40 mph making for a wind chill of -10 or lower with blowing and drifting snow. My skin, where exposed during evening chores tonight, is on fire so I suspect I suffered some minor frostbite from the bitter cold and wind. I did take advantage of the beautiful day yesterday to explore the new logging trails in our woods. Once cleaned up next summer and fall they will make spectacular riding trails. Here's hoping for warmer weather soon. We were able to groom up manes and tails as well as vacuum the coats of our two year old horses this week. No signs yet of them shedding their thick coats. We probably have another five weeks of hard winter left before things start to warm up.

Latest photos of our 2 y/o Rocky Mountain Horses

2011-02-11T12:56:00.006-05:00

Here are some photos of our 2 y/o Rocky Mountain Horses taken over the past couple of days. Enjoy! Click here to view a video of this group playing in the snow. Click here to view a list of all of our videos.

Three storms in 6 days and over 30" later

2011-02-08T15:20:00.002-05:00

I spent the better part of today cleaning up from the latest snowstorm-our third in the past six days! The first was last Wednesday when we received 15"of the white fluffy stuff. Then Saturday night was 10 " of wet heavy snow accompanied by extensive thunder and lightning. The night air was filled with snowflakes and when bolts of lightning occurred, the flash of light, amplified by the snow, was blinding! Our poor little Jack Russell terrier, Molly, was petrified. Nature put on quite a display. Yesterday I finally finished cleaning up all of that snow only to have another 6" deposited during the night through this morning. All of this snow was on top of what we already had on the ground which has not melted in weeks.Only the top two strands of four of our fencing are visible. The horses could literally step over the fence if so inclined. Part of our snow removal includes the roofs of the house and barns to reduce the weight of over 30" of snow on those structures. Life on a farm in northern Vermont is never boring!

More winter fun

2011-02-01T08:03:00.002-05:00

The above image captures the long shadows of Vermont winters. We had some beautiful, sun filled winter days this past week with a light dusting of snow on most days or nights. The trees are beautiful with their blanket of snow. We and our neighbors have been enjoying our trails in the woods-cross country skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, and snowmobiling. Our Russell terriers love our forays into the woods too. The deep snow makes it more difficult to get off the beaten path so they stick to the trails with us. And we have yet another major snow storm on the way later today and tomorrow to add to the deepening snow cover. Our loggers have been busy at work harvesting cedar and roughing out new trails which means more excavator work in the summer and fall to make them ready for horses and winter fun. Today will be spent getting horses and equipment ready for the storm-topping off round bale feeders, rechecking water hydrants, floating water heaters, salt licks and topping off bedding in the shelters. We were able to trim up hooves of the four two year olds plus five other horses this past week. All horses are doing well despite the cold temperatures hovering around -10F to +10F. They don't seem to be bothered at all. These Mountain Horses are rugged and hearty. No blankets for them! I chuckle at some of our friends who blanket their horses "because it is going to be below zero."

One of the best parts of winter "fun" is coming into the warmth of our wood heated home and enjoying delicious home cooked meals and desserts made with vegetables and fruits harvested from last summer's bountiful garden. I think I'll go eat some homemade toasted bread with homemade blueberry jam before heading out for chores in the +2F morning. Yum!

Cold snap

2011-01-24T20:04:00.000-05:00

This morning's temperature was -25F. We bundled up and trudged out to do morning chores, our boots squeaking on the snow. One of our Rangers decided it didn't want to start but we were able to get the other one started after some coaxing. All of the horses' whiskers and eyelashes were coated with a thin layer of frost as were their coats. Aside from that it was a pretty routine day as far as they were concerned. The temperature gradually warmed up to a high of +2F. With their thick fluffy coats, the horses were fine. We do not blanket them. None of them were even in their shelters but preferred to be out frolicking with their pasture mates. Tonight's low will only be around -10F and tomorrow will see +20's and some snow. We had an opportunity to visit friends in southwest Florida last week and enjoyed temps in the 70's, so last night's temp was a reality check. The past two days were filled with bright sunshine and little wind-beautiful winter days! And the days are getting longer. It won't be long before spring arrives and then new babies. Always an exciting time!

Young Rocky Mountain Geldings playing in the snow

2011-01-10T18:50:00.000-05:00

We had a few inches of light fluffy snow yesterday. When I looked out the window this morning I saw the 2 y/o geldings romping and playing. I quickly grabbed the camera and was able to shoot a little bit of their play. (play video) Enjoy!

Horse stuff

2011-01-09T06:53:00.000-05:00

Worked with the three 3 y/o geldings and Prince a couple of days this week in our big barn. Reviewed all of their ground work, desensitizing to objects, and trailer loading. All did very well--a little rusty on the first day but "right on" the second day. Also trimmed up hooves on those same boys. Weather in winter forces us indoors so we use the "opportunity" to reinforce all of their ground work lessons. One can never do too much groundwork! The activity also helps us stay warmer. Come spring when we begin riding again, they will be ready to go. Will probably work with our 2 y/o's this coming week and trim their hooves up if they need it. None of the horses need as much trimming in winter. I don't know if growth slows down or if the constant walking on hard frozen ground, snow, and ice wears them down more than in summer when they are on soft ground. Probably the latter. With little snow (to serve as insulation) thus far here in northern Vermont, unlike the rest of the country, the frost in the ground is down as much as two feet. Makes for a very hard surface.

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T12:46:00.000-05:00

With the new year all of the horses are now older by a year. At this time of year I must go through and update the website as to ages of the horses. Last week began with the big storm that belted the Northeast and New England, ourselves included. Low temperatures and strong winds to 50 mph created wind chill numbers in the minus twenties. Yesterday our high temperature was in the +40's. Today most of our snow has melted but the resulting water combined with rain showers this morning will all freeze tonight. Ice is our biggest problem here on the farm in winter. Makes for difficult footing for the horses as well as us. Trimmed some horses hooves this past week. All of them are doing well and have very thick winter coats. None of them are blanketed and all are out 24/7 but they do have access to shelter. The younger horses tend to use them more than the older ones. During the storm most of the older horses were out in the snow and wind. All but three have access to free choice hay in the form of round bales. We have two mares together in a single paddock and Able, our stallion, in his own paddock so we don't use the round bales for them. Plan to trim hooves of the "new" two year olds this week and start doing ground work with them inside our big barn. This will be subject to footing conditions between paddocks and barns. Days are getting longer and spring will be here soon!

The week before Christmas

2010-12-18T18:42:00.000-05:00

We have had a light snow most every day so everything is white. Weather has been cold as well with single digits at night. We cut some poplar trees and gave them to the horses to chew on so they don't chew on their shelters. Works great. Have been busy cleaning up some trails in our woods, chipping the brush and throwing the wood chips back onto the trails. Makes for good footing. I had time to shoot some photos of the Christmas decorations and the trails. I have included them with this post. Teddy is the medium chocolate, Joker is black, and Knightly is dark chocolate in color.

Merry Christmas to all!

Winter is here!

2010-12-03T19:48:00.000-05:00

We have had a few light dustings of snow and the forecast for the weekend is for more snow. We had very high winds two days ago from the big storm that affected much of the eastern half of the country and lost several trees in our woods. The wind even broke an anchor chain on one of our shelters. Spent the day today cutting the fallen trees from the just completed new road in our woods. Trimmed 5 horses hooves on Wednesday and another five a week ago. All of the horses have thick, heavy winter coats now. Received certification papers for Prince (Click here to view Prince's latest video) and Dee this week, so they are now officially "certified" Rocky Mountain Horses and in Dee's case, she is certified to breed. Click here to view Dee's latest video. Many thanks to our followers who have made us the #1 Rocky Mountain Horse Blog on Google!

Buttoning up for winter

2010-11-19T17:24:00.000-05:00

Finished buttoning up for winter today. Moved all of the horses to their respective winter paddocks. All of the farm equipment is tucked away in the barns, the snow plow is on the old farm truck, and the firewood is all under cover. Did manage to go trail riding yesterday and today. Light snow this morning and much of the ground was frozen. Had snow flurries and a high of 34 degrees today--brrr! Horses didn't mind but we were a bit chilly after a couple of hours. Finished the main trail in our woods this week. A slow project because of all the rain we have had over the past 7 weeks. I have included some late fall photos taken last week.

2010-11-07T12:53:00.001-05:00

Our farm and rocky mountain horses were featured in the October 2010 issue of the North Star Monthly. Our thanks to Justin Lavely for a job well done.

Fall photos

2010-10-22T12:31:00.000-04:00

These are some photos of fall from around our Vermont farm. We had our first snow of the season this morning, a light dusting, with snow flurries all morning. Went on a trail ride yesterday. The fall scenery is beautiful-the corn has been harvested, overhead the Canada geese are heading south by the hundreds, the majority of the maple leaves have fallen, and the tamarack, beech, birch, and poplar are holding their last vestige of color.

I continue to work on making a road into our fifty acres of dense, wet, and rugged woods. I saw a moose calf a couple of weeks ago and tracks from the moose cow. Speaking of tracks, I have seen tracks of bear, coyote, deer, raccoon and the neighbors have seen a bobcat and a coyote in their backyard. I did trap a skunk who was being a pest. Something, possibly a fisher cat, bobcat, or coyote, has been making off with neighborhood cats. We and two neighbors have each lost two cats recently.

After several heavy frosts the rate of growth of the pasture grasses has slowed such that we are now supplementing our horses with hay as winter approaches. All of the horses have put on some weight as a result of the higher sugar content in the grasses this time of year-all in preparation for winter.They will need the extra insulation for warmth during our sometimes harsh winters but will lose the extra weight by early spring.

New Yearling Photos

2010-09-26T12:53:00.001-04:00

I have posted the latest photos of the yearlings. I took them yesterday. Enjoy!

Leaves are not the only thing changing color

2010-09-19T07:22:00.000-04:00

With the shorter daylight and approaching fall weather, the leaves are not the only thing changing color. All of the horses are also changing color. They are shedding their sun bleached summer coats and as the new winter coats are growing, the colors are now darker and more true. I will definitely take some new photos over the next few days and post them for you to see. It has been a busy week with riding. The two year old geldings are doing well and Teddy and Knightly have actually started gaiting in short stretches in the arena. I won't push them much more than that this year in order to allow their bodies to mature more and avoid potential injury. We will have a long winter to work on other things with them as well as the yearlings.
The rest of the week was busy with fencing yet another pasture, something we plan to finish in the coming week. Have also been busy cleaning out and deepening drainage ditches in preparation for the water runoff when the snow melts next spring. I think I mentioned in a previous post that we have two seasons here in northern Vermont--winter and getting ready for winter and it's aftermath. I have also, when time permits, been pulling stumps and stones from some of our logging trails in the woods in order to make roads for access and eventually for trail riding. Slow going for sure because some of the areas are wet and require culverts for drainage. We make the culverts out of cedar trees because they won't rot. Only a few weeks left to do this type of work before the temperature gets so low that the mud freezes to the machinery and locks it up.

Trail Riding

2010-09-12T07:39:00.000-04:00

Friday dawned cold and misty with a strong northwest wind with gusts to 25 mph-perfect day for a trail ride! We went off on a 12 mile ride and along the way visited with folks at a sheep farm along with their border collies, cows, and a horse. The dogs were milling about under our horses legs and the horses could have cared less! We also visited with another neighbor who has 90 Alpacas and again our horses could have cared less about the funny looking, funny sounding creatures. The rest of the trip home took us past a beef cattle farm, and two dairy farms, one with Holsteins, and one with Jerseys, and again our horses were perfect. We, however, were a bit chilled by the time we got back home after the four hour ride. The foliage is beginning to turn color at the higher elevations and should be at or near peak color by the end of the month.

All of the hay is in the barns!

2010-09-02T07:30:00.000-04:00

We have had a stretch of six consecutive, hot, sunny days, the likes of which we have not seen in years here in northern Vermont. I mowed our 32 acre hay field for the second time this summer and finished unloading the last of the bales into the barns yesterday. The hay fields are empty and the barns are full! Five days of hard, hot, dusty work but well worth it.The horses will eat well and be toasty warm from it come winter. Needless to say we did not do a lot of riding this week but did ride a few horses Tuesday and yesterday. I plan to get back to working with my two year olds again starting today. The warm weather continues so we use it as an opportunity to clean up all the haying equipment, grease it, and tuck it away in the barn until next year. Right now we are a bit ahead of our usual schedule so we might try to slip away for a few days to visit some friends in KY. I have one additional pasture to fence and all the corner and gate posts with bracing are in place but the coated wire we use has been on "back order" for a month now. I guess there is more than one reason for a down economy.

Hoof trimming day

2010-08-23T15:45:00.000-04:00

Today was a cool and rainy day, perfect for hoof trimming. I trimmed the four yearlings, the three two year old geldings, Millie, and Able-9 horses in all. Whew! Better weather forecast for tomorrow so we will be riding. The two year old geldings continue to do well and have been under saddle now for about six weeks. We do lots of walking, flexing, bending, cones, and work them in a fast walk against a fence which helps keep them going straight. Teddy has actually gone up into gait a few times. Prince and Dee are both ready for certification now. I just have to find the time to take some video and send it off to RMHA. The forecast right now for the end of this week looks promising for getting some second cut hay in the barn from our 32 acre hay field. The vegetable and fruit gardens this year have been very prolific and lots of canning and processing has taken place with more to come. We will enjoy the bounty come winter. I have noticed a few leaves starting to turn color-a promise of things to come.

Dancer

2010-08-16T12:35:00.000-04:00

Dancer was bred again this past week but we are not terribly hopeful that she will be in foal. The ultrasound showed what appeared to be another anovulatory follicle developing. She will be ultrasounded in a few weeks to check but she will not be bred again this year. The two year old geldings continue to do well as do Prince and Dee.

Gorgeous weather

2010-08-05T07:15:00.001-04:00

Unlike some parts of the U.S. we have had beautiful summer weather this year with daytime temps in the mid eighties. It was 100 at the RMHA International Horse Show in Ohio yesterday-ugh! We have taken advantage of our weather by doing lots of riding-up to 12 horses a day. The 2 y/o geldings "graduated" from the round pen to the arena this past Friday and this week have been working in the arena and we have introduced other horses into the arena at the same time. They transitioned this week to the bit and the reins are now off the halter. They continue to do very well. Yesterday we increased the speed of their walk and they each went up into a few steps of gait. We will do more of the same today and tomorrow and then give them the weekend off. I finally now have some time to spend with Prince and Dee. I also ride Star everyday. We are still trying to get Dancer in foal and hope to breed her Monday. I also give Able some work on most days. He is such a good boy and enjoys our short trail rides and hill work which gets him out of his paddock and keeps him in good condition.

Demi and Camargo definitely in foal

2010-07-27T19:33:00.000-04:00

Ultrasound exams this past Friday confirmed that Camargo and Demi are in foal as is Jewel. Dancer, on the other hand is not, and it has been difficult to regulate her cycle despite our best efforts. She will be examined by ultrasound again next Monday and we will go from there. Not totally unusual for a young maiden horse.

The 2 y/o geldings are doing great. They have had a bit suspended in their mouths for a week now and already are very used to it. They are now being ridden from the barn to the round pen and back without any leading and seem to have accepted the whole "work" routine. They will be doing lots of stops and goes, circles, figure eights, and serpentines over the next week to acquaint them with more leg cues. All of this is being done with all the usual farm distractions occurring around them-horses coming and going, riding lawnmowers, weed-wackers, ATV, tractor, our dogs, and our stallion, Able, running around his paddock adjacent to the round pen calling for the mares. The youngsters take it all in stride. Gorgeous weather coupled with the first cutting of hay in the barn has allowed lots of time for riding. Gotta love it!

Busy with riding :)

2010-07-22T21:20:00.000-04:00

The weather has been quite showery but we ride anyway. Today I rode Dee, Prince, Star, Demi, Dancer, Millie, and Able, my stallion, plus worked with the three 2 y/o geldings with one of our young riders in the round pen. She also rode Boots and Jewel today. That's 12 horses between us. Makes for a busy day. I also found time to take a couple of photos of Prince and Dee which I included in this post. The 2 y/o's are doing great. Today I added a bit to the halter/bridle but kept the reins on the halter, did our usual ground work, and then walked them in the round pen doing figure eights, stops, turns, backs, flexing, and disengaging the hind quarters-all without a lead rope attached. Tomorrow we will do more of the same plus work on disengaging the front end. They are becoming much more responsive to the cues and have really settled into the whole routine from pasture to barn to grooming, tacking up, riding, hosing off, and back out to the pasture being led from the golf cart. It is really fun to see them progress.

Tomorrow we ultrasound Demi, Camargo, and Dancer. The first two to confirm that they are still in foal and Dancer to assess whether she is ready to breed tomorrow.

Lilies are in bloom

2010-07-16T18:28:00.000-04:00

We worked every day this week with our three 2 y/o geldings that we started under saddle last week. After being groomed, clipped (even though it was done each day before-remember this is a learning experience), and tacked up, mounted and ridden at a walk from the barn to the round pen and then put through their ground work from the saddle. All three are doing great after a total of eight rides each. They have settled into the routine beautifully as a new part of their daily life. Next week will be more of the same until we get the degree of focus, responsiveness and softness we are looking for. I will also introduce a bit, suspended from their halter-bridle. I use a full cheek, French link snaffle bit. The reins will remain on the halter-not on the bit. This gives them a chance to get accustomed to the idea of having something in their mouth. Will keep you posted on how it goes.

Now that all the first cut hay is in the barn we have some time to do other "projects". One was to fence another pasture which was completed Tuesday. Someday I will take some photos of our fencing for you to see how we do it and what we use. Subject of another post.

Right now all of our lilies are in bloom along with most of our perennials. It was a beautiful morning today so I took some photos and have included a few in this post. Enjoy!

Hay is in the Barn!

2010-07-08T20:42:00.000-04:00

Finished baling up the last of the first cut hay on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I started my three two year old geldings. They have had lots of groundwork and handling since birth and late winter-early spring I led them through our indoor obstacle course and did more groundwork with a surcingle on them. So yesterday we brought them into the barn, put them in a cross tie, groomed and trimmed them up, took a couple of photos of each, put a saddle pad and saddle on them, a halter with reins and a lead rope on them, did more groundwork for a few minutes, then had a gal that helps us at the farm climb on them while I held the lead rope. They all turned and looked at her legs, and resumed doing their usual groundwork as though it was no big deal. We repeated the same routine again today with even better results, including walking, turning on cue from the rein, flexing, backing, and whoa. We will repeat the same routine again tomorrow. Eventually we will transition from being led around the barn area with someone on their backs to the round pen for solo work and from there will transition to the outdoor arena. I'll keep you posted on how they are doing. I have included in this post some of the photos of these three that I took yesterday. Teddy is at the top, Knightly in the center, and Joker on the bottom.
I have also posted some new photos of the yearlings on their respective web pages on our website.

Demi confirmed in foal!

2010-07-05T19:29:00.000-04:00

Ultrasound this morning confirmed that Demi (South Forty Academy Award) is in foal to our stallion, CGF Absolutely Incredible. We have started Dancer on Regumate and will re-check her in 10 days and re-breed her in about two weeks. We now have confirmed three out of four of our mares in foal for next year. We try to get our breeding accomplished in the six weeks from June 1st to mid July so that our babies arrive in May and June when it is warm here and the grass is green and fresh. Thus far our due dates are May 14, 19, and 23, 2011.
On Saturday we put 1400 bales of hay in the horse barn. Always a good feeling! Mowed another 12 acres yesterday and if the weather cooperates, will bale that up tomorrow. That will finish up our first cutting. This current stretch of hot weather is the first we have had since 2003! Once the hay is in, our attention will turn to starting our three two year-old geldings. We will also be taking some video soon for certification of Prince and Dee. Always plenty to keep us busy on the farm.

Camargo in foal

2010-07-02T19:19:00.000-04:00

An ultrasound exam this morning confirmed Camargo to be in foal so she joins Jewel in the pregnant group. Dancer was re-bred this morning as well and will be checked again tomorrow. Demi will be checked on Monday to see if she is in foal. We have hay down now and hope to get it baled up tomorrow and/or Sunday. So much for the holiday! Our riding continues with 7-9 horses ridden daily except the weekends.

Jewel confirmed in foal!

2010-06-30T07:09:00.000-04:00

The vet came Monday and ultrasound confirmed that Jewel (Ace's Diamond Supreme), a red chocolate mare, is in foal to Able. Not sure about Dancer so we will check her again this Friday along with Camargo. Demi (South Forty Academy Award) will be checked Monday, July 5th. Finally we have some sunny weather on the way for the weekend so we will be working like crazy to get hay into the barns for the coming winter. Our riding continues daily with 8 or 9 horses being ridden, both in the arena and out on the trail. Despite the wet weather we have continued to construct more fencing for new paddocks. Gives us greater flexibility for rotational grazing. All of these activities plus routine maintenance make for long days here at the farm. Our summer season is so short that we must make the most of it.

Summer Fun

2010-06-22T19:31:00.000-04:00

Summer is always a fun time to come to Grammy's farm. Yesterday we rode eight horses and today nine horses, three of which (Dancer, Jewel, and Demi) were bred in the past two weeks. Rode Demi today for the first time since the RMHA International Show (We took a first in the Novice Horse class) at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY in September 2007. It was as though she had been ridden last week, not almost three years ago! Proves there is no substitute for a solid foundation of basic training and consistency. Our 9 year old granddaughter is here for a couple of weeks and has ridden every single day. I have posted this photo of her riding Ace's Diamond Supreme, aka Jewel (triple registered-RMHA, KMSHA, MPHA red chocolate broodmare. Quite the rider! The top photo composite of all three grandchildren was taken by our son Brady.

Busy with Breeding

2010-06-19T07:35:00.000-04:00

It has been a busy two weeks here at the farm. We have bred four mares which sounds simple enough but involves many vet visits (almost daily), many ultrasound exams of the mares to be bred, then the actual breeding, then more ultrasound exams the morning after breeding to look for evidence of ovulation, and if none occurred, more breeding that day with ultrasound the following day, etc. Hopefully all four are in foal but all will undergo ultrasound exams at about 18-20 days post breeding to see if they are in foal or need to be re-bred. We were able to get a small amount of hay in last week but weather was marginal so the majority of our hay has yet to be harvested. We are hoping for some dryer weather soon so we can get it all in. Have had a rough time of it the past two summers because of wet weather and so far this summer is following that same pattern. Dee, Prince, Boots, Jewel, Dancer, and now Star have been ridden daily during the week. Able has been given a couple of weeks off because of his "work" mentioned above. The yearlings look forward to their daily attention and are waiting at the gate each morning to be brought in, groomed, fed, sprayed with fly spray(we make our own), and then led back out. The plan is to start the two year-olds once all the hay is in the barn.

Updated Yearling Photos

2010-06-08T20:33:00.000-04:00

Triple A

Nick

JR

Beauty

Had a few rainy days at the end of last week so I used the time to do ground work with the yearlings. They were walked all over the farm, up and down stone steps, around all kinds of "scary" objects, and basically introduced to new things outside the confines of the pasture, barns, etc. They were really great. I finally took some photos today and put them up on the website on the Yearlings page. I have included one of each on this post. Fun to watch them grow up. This has been a busy week with daily ultrasounding of mares and breeding. More to do tomorrow and Thursday and we hope to finish up next week. Mowed some hay yesterday but then the weather forecast changed so it will be touch and go whether we get it in as dry hay.

June-Breeding time for us

2010-06-03T07:01:00.000-04:00

The month of June is the start of our breeding period here in northern Vermont. The gestation period of the horse is 11 months, so we wait until June to start breeding so that we have babies in May when the weather is warm and the grass is green. Our vet was here yesterday ultrasounding mares and giving injections to synchronize ovulation in preparation for breeding next week. Our plan is to breed four of our mares this year to our stallion, Able (CGF Absolutely Incredible). Also of news is that one of the mares to be bred is Dancer (CGF Toco's Last Dance) so she is no longer for sale and has been removed from the Horses For Sale page on our website. Her mother, Nicole, age 22, has been retired from the breeding program. Dancer's sire, Toco Sam, expired several years ago and she is the last foal by that legendary stallion. We also elected not to breed Adam's Sara Jane, age 22 and Able's mother, again this year. This will be Dancer's first foal. The other mares to be bred are South Forty Academy Award, Carmargo Beauty, and Ace's Diamond Supreme.

Tuesday was a rainy day, which we desperately needed, so I spent the day hoof trimming eight of our horses. I trimmed the four yearlings, Able, and the three two year old geldings. Having a nice, steady, soaking rain today too so don't know how much riding will be done. It will be a good day to grease up all the haying equipment in preparation for getting our hay crop in for next winter.

The next stretch of dry weather will see us mowing, tedding, raking, and baling hay. However, I don't see that happening for at least a week based on the current forecast.

Who says Jack Russell terriers can't fly or walk on water?

2010-05-25T17:49:00.000-04:00

With the temperature today near 90 our Jack Russell Terriers were having a grand time in the pond. I captured these photos of Ty "flying" into the pond and "walking" on water. He will do this for hours! This morning I also took a couple of photos of Able, our stallion, which I will put up on his web page: (http://www.rockymountainhorsevermont.com/stallions.html)

While we were taking Able's photos the yearlings' curiosity got the better of them and they were hanging out by the barn to watch.

Our spectacular Spring weather continues

2010-05-24T17:35:00.000-04:00

The weather this morning was glorious and I couldn't resist taking a few photos of the phlox in bloom, the air was still, the pond like a mirror, the horses in the background and the ducks out for a morning swim. Enjoy!

2010-05-23T19:42:00.000-04:00

We have had a pretty spectacular week of riding weather this week except for Wednesday when it rained all day. We did some scheduled hoof trimming that day so just as well. Dee and Prince are doing very well and they have been going out on some short trail rides. Both are gaiting well now. We have had several more visitors this past week and more coming this weekend. We have a goose with two babies on the pond and the horses seem very intrigued with them. Unfortunately she has lost her mate as well as three babies to predators. We also have a pair of Mallard ducks on the pond. The yearlings still have not shed out their winter coats yet but with temperatures in the 80's the next few days I hope they lose their winter coats soon. I am anxious to get some new photos of them up on the web. They seem to be going through a growth spurt at this time.

Sammie and Tre in their new home

2010-05-15T18:58:00.000-04:00

Sammie and Tre were delivered to their new home on Thursday. When we left they were knee deep in lush green grass and could have cared less that we were leaving them. They will be well cared for in their lovely new home. See the attached photos courtesy of their new owner. Sammie is the black and Tre is the chocolate. Friday and Saturday were quite busy with several visitors looking at and riding horses. All of the fields are now a lush green color and the dandelions are in full bloom. Hay season will be upon us soon and once the hay is in we will start working with the three two year old geldings-Teddy, Joker, and Knightly. Work continues on the wood pile as well. Never a shortage of things to do on our farm.

CGF Jack Russell terriers 1, ground hogs 0!

2010-05-12T21:03:00.000-04:00

Our Spring weather has returned and I spent yesterday and today riding. Prince and Dee are steadily improving and it is such fun to ride them now that they are gaiting consistently. It won't be long before we shoot some videos of them for certification. Able has been his usual awesome ride which is as smooth as glass. Dancer is a gaiting queen and loves to lift her tail and move out. I have been working with her on her head set which is much improved.
On another note, the score today was Cedar Grove Jack Russell terriers 1, ground hogs 0. Way to go!

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day presented us with winter-like weather in the form of blowing snow all day and a high temperature of 39F. Forecast is for 26F tonight and winds today are 20-30 mph. Pretty chilly for May 10th. Sammie and Tre will be going to their new home at the end of this week. Prince and Dee are both gaiting very well and consistently staying in gait now. Fun to see their progress. Tilled the vegetable garden and planted some onions which should be OK with the freeze tonight. We pretty much must wait until after Memorial Day to plant the rest of the garden because of the danger of frost until then. On my way out to work on the wood pile.

The boys turned out on Spring grass

2010-05-05T13:14:00.000-04:00

Moved the "boys" into a new paddock this morning. Ya think they were excited? They are from L to R: Knightly, Prince, Teddy, and Joker.

Rainbow

2010-05-04T20:00:00.000-04:00

Showery and very windy weather this week but tomorrow should be better. Had a passing shower this evening and I captured this rainbow from the front porch touching down in our hay field. Got drenched riding Dee today!

Rocky Mountain Horses and a Moose Encounter

2010-05-02T11:39:00.000-04:00

Went on a 5 mile trail ride with Tre and Sammie yesterday afternoon after riding four horses in the morning. Came to a section of dense woods alongside the road we were riding on when both horses suddenly started fidgeting and then froze in place while looking intently into the woods. This occurred in an area where I had seen three moose, a cow with two yearlings, last year about this time. I remarked to my riding partner they could be smelling a moose when I suddenly saw a large, visibly pregnant, cow moose in the woods moving slowly away from us. She was no more than 30-40 yards from us. The horses were reluctant to move forward but eventually we were able to continue on along the road and past the spot where the moose was located. Although both horses were visibly uptight about the whole encounter, neither made any attempt to turn and run. What a great on-trail experience for all of us. Speaks volumes about the wonderful temperament of our Rocky Mountain horses.

Late April Snowstorm

2010-05-01T06:36:00.000-04:00

Our snow total was 14 inches on Wednesday (see my previous post for photos) and by yesterday afternoon it was all gone. The 30+ mph winds with temps in the 50's did the trick. Forecast is for 70's today and I plan to do some riding. Thursday and yesterday were f&f days--feet and faces. I trimmed up the four yearlings Thursday and three 2 y/o's, a 4 y/o, and Able, my stallion yesterday. I was able to ride Prince, Dee, and Able on Monday, and Prince, Dee, and Dancer on Tuesday (in the rain). The snow, high winds and mud took care of the remainder of the week for riding. With the cooler temperatures the grasses are not doing much so we are still feeding hay. It is usually Mother's Day or after before the grasses are sufficient so that we no longer need to feed hay. I always plan on needing 200 feeding days of hay for the year. I put up both round and square bales and estimate 15 square bales to one round bale. That way I'm able to ensure sufficient hay for the coming fall, winter, and spring before selling any excess. We get 2 cuttings a season and I end up selling some of the second cut to dairy goat farmers and I give the remainder to a local dairy cow farmer and he gets rid of any extra cow manure which he spreads on our hay field. Our hay is a mix of grasses, red clover, and alfalfa. The grasses are predominately timothy and orchard with small amounts of brome and fescue, Our second cut hay is very rich because it is harvested earlier in the growth cycle than first cut hay which I cut somewhat later in the growth cycle. I do that for more bulk with fewer calories for winter feeding, especially round bales. All of our horses come out of winter with a few extra pounds as it is, so they don't need any more by eating hay with higher nutrient content. March is our "diet" month and I switch over to feeding square bales so I can better manage who eats what and how much. If any of the horses are on the thin side, I just supplement with our second cut hay and this works well for us. We feed very little grain, usually plain steam crimped oats, to which we add minerals so the horses get their minerals, especially selenium which is completely absent in our soil here. Our weanlings and yearlings receive oats mixed with sweet feed, minerals, and daily wormer until two years of age. It all works for us.

2010-04-28T09:22:00.000-04:00

What a difference a day makes! You folks who live someplace other than northern Vermont will appreciate the following photos. One was taken three days ago and the remainder were taken this morning. Needless to say, I didn't do any riding today! And get this: the temperature forecast for Friday is 69 and for Saturday 77 degrees! The poor horses, as are all the animals, are very confused. We have had 12 inches of snow so far and it is still coming down heavily. Fortunately it won't last more than a couple of days.

Signs of Spring

2010-04-25T07:18:00.000-04:00

We had a week of pretty decent weather and the local kids had a vacation week from school, so we had plenty of help grooming and moving horses. I was able to ride six horses everyday this week and a couple of twelve year old girls rode two of our older horses for the first time this year. Moved our mares out of their winter paddocks onto green grass which I'm sure they appreciated.

More signs of spring: scores of robins in the paddocks, a pair of blue birds nesting in a bird house, a pair of Mallard ducks and four Canada geese on the pond, Killdeer in the paddocks, a Phoebe around the barn, and "peepers" making their racket in the evening. The swallows are not back yet but I expect them soon. A few of our daffodils are in bloom but the trees and lilacs have yet to open their leaves and the dandelions have not started blooming yet. I have actually mowed the lawn twice which is a first this early in the season. As you can tell, up here in northern Vermont our Spring is later than most of the rest of the country. All of the horses except the yearlings have lost most of their winter coats. Nature has a way of looking after her young.

2010-04-20T19:28:00.000-04:00

Well, we went from the snowstorm last week to a sunny 60 degree day today. Busy day grooming and riding horses. We had some help grooming today and I was able to ride six horses this afternoon. Spent the morning servicing one of our lawn mowers and splitting and stacking firewood for next winter. There is a saying here in Vermont that there are two seasons to a year: "winter" and "getting ready for winter."

Even the deer were enjoying a mild sunny spring evening. This herd was in our hay field this evening.

2010-04-16T20:48:00.000-04:00

April "showers" bring May flowers as the saying goes. But snow "showers"? We awakened to 2 inches of the white stuff this morning and only 12 days ago it was 82 degrees! I have included a couple of photos taken during morning chores. Welcome to Vermont's version of Spring. As promised I was able to shoot a video of Prince gaiting yesterday before all of the snow today. It has been uploaded to Youtube. Click here to view this video of Prince.

2010-04-14T21:35:00.000-04:00

Our weather here has been very windy but I have been riding anyway. Shot some video and posted one of Tre, a 4 y/o chocolate gelding from our farm. His video is posted on YouTube. I have added a photo of him on this post. Brought Dancer up out of her winter paddock on Friday and rode her for the first time since November. She gaits like a machine. Have ridden her everyday except Sunday. We had some visitors here looking at horses Saturday and they rode her too. One would never know she had a 4 1/2 month layoff! I will get her video up as soon as I have time to edit it. Rain and snow in the near term forecast-ugh! I'll keep riding regardless of the weather. Rode Prince today and he is really gaiting well now. He didn't particularly care for our 30 mph winds though. Neither did I.

2010-04-08T14:49:00.000-04:00

I was able to ride Tuesday afternoon despite the showers. Rode Sammie and Tre. Yesterday I rode Prince, Dee, Sammie, Tre, and Able. All are doing well. Prince is now gaiting like a champ and Dee is almost there. Today was a vet day again. We vaccinated 18 horses, checked more teeth and floated, drew Coggins on two, did a sheath cleaning, follow up checks on the two colts who were gelded a week ago, a followup on the one eye infection, and wormed 14 horses. It took most of the morning. We do have some young horses with wolf teeth that will have to be removed. Rain and/or snow in the forecast for the next few days with nighttime temps in the 20's. That means that the ground will be frozen until late morning. I hope to shoot some video of Prince during the next stretch of good weather and will post it when available.

2010-04-06T07:09:00.000-04:00

On Friday afternoon I did find time to ride Tre and Sammie. Saturday and Easter we had family here. Other than routine chores, which includes bringing the yearlings in for their grain, minerals, and daily wormer, we gave the horses a break to enjoy the warm (81), sunny weather. We went for a hike in our woods on Saturday and another on Sunday around the farm. Beautiful spring weather and the grass is greening up fast. Did service one of the riding lawn mowers on Saturday so it is ready to go. The fields have dried out so much with the weekend weather that I was able to drag all paddocks but two yesterday with the drag harrow. This serves to break up and disperse the manure as well as aerate the soil and loosen the thatch, resulting in a denser sward on which the horses can graze. With rain in the forecast the timing was perfect to get it done. Over the years we have gradually changed the grass types in our paddocks by over-seeding with a mix of grasses that are low growing, endophyte free, tolerant of close grazing and high traffic. They have been holding up fairly well and seem to tolerate our cold winters and cool summers and seems to repair itself from the skids and gouges of the horses' hooves.

The two yearling colts are tolerating their newly gelded condition quite well. The average person observing them would not even know. They are romping and playing as though nothing had been done. Poor Teddy got kicked sometime after I brought him into and back out of the barn for minerals yesterday so I could drag their paddock. Those boys are always "horsing" around and I noticed he was limping at feeding time last evening. I put some liniment on it for him which he seemed to appreciate. If the rain holds off until afternoon I hope to get some riding in today.

2010-04-02T07:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a busy April 1st for the farm. The rains of the past four days left, the sun came out and some of the mud started to dry up. We trimmed 8 horses hooves, gelded our two yearling colts, gave some vaccinations, and treated an eye infection plus groomed the mud and shedding hair off of about 12 horses. The dogs loved the hoof trimming and of course they puked last night as they always do after eating the trimmings. Fortunately they know to head for the kitchen door when they feel it coming on. Now if they would just be smart enough not to eat them in the first place! Today will be sunny and warm again so we plan to do more grooming and hoof trimming which should catch us up to schedule. May even get some riding in this afternoon unless farming issues interfere. It is still way too wet to do any field work yet. We still have some more vet work to do-vaccinations, Coggins, teeth floating, and sheath cleaning but all of that will occur sometime next week. The forecast for tomorrow is for a high of 82 which is 80 degrees warmer than this time last week!

2010-03-21T21:45:00.000-04:00

I just posted a recent video of Prince and I doing some ground work. I also posted a video of Dee doing some ground work with a 16 year old homeschooler who comes to the farm three days a week. Enjoy.

2010-03-20T20:22:00.000-04:00

Our fantastic weather is finally coming to an end with rain, snow, and cold weather in the forecast for the next week. I have been riding 4-5 horses a day, 7 days a week, for the past three weeks knowing this incredible weather would come to an end for awhile. Prince continues to amaze and exceed my expectations. He is now gaiting consistently and for several laps around the arena. Dee today for the first time went up into a nice four beat gait and stayed there for longer periods of time-a first for her. She is going to be very good. Able, Tre , Sammie, and Boots are all getting back into the groove and have been doing conditioning work on the hills in the 33 acre hay field. The upcoming inclement weather will allow me to spend some time with the two year olds and the yearlings in the Coverall building doing ground work, desensitizing, obstacles, and trailer loading. It will give the other horses a break for a few days. I know any snow will not last long as spring is definitely on the way. Happy first day of spring!

2010-03-17T06:50:00.000-04:00

With daytime temperatures in the upper 40's and low 50's virtually all of our snow has melted. It has been gradual over the past two weeks so that the mud has not been too bad. The frost is actually out of the ground in places. Our 33 acre hay field, which is on a hill, is almost clear of snow and is a great place to start walking the horses back into shape after the winter layoff. I dusted (vacuumed) Able off, my 8 year old stallion, and have ridden him several times. He acted as though he had been ridden the day, rather than months, before. He is such a good boy. I try to ride him every day, even if I don't have much time. Sometimes it is the repetition of the routine as it is in the length of time you ride that is important. It gives us something to look forward to and them a job to do, not to mention the enjoyment that comes with beautiful, warm, sunny spring days on the back of a horse. We have lots of wind here because of our location up on a hill. Keeps it cool in summer and discourages the bugs. The horses don't seem to mind it this time of year, largely because there is no foliage out yet to move around and make them nervous about predators. This is a good time to expose them to the trail before all the leaves come out and hide things. That way when the foliage does return, they aren't as nervous and sensitive about movement of the bushes and leaves.

Prince and Dee have been doing awesome in their ground work, desensitizing, obstacles, and trailer loading. We shot some video of it yesterday and I will try to get it edited and up on YouTube in the next few days. Prince has picked up the gait really well, is very smart, and a pretty quiet guy. If he gets annoyed with something, he just stops and gives one twitch of his tail as if to say, "Wait a minute and let me think about this!" Dee hasn't really been pushed up into gait much yet but has picked up her speed at the flat walk on her own, which tells me she is about ready. April and May will be busy months for them because I hope to shoot video of them for certification in early June. Obviously, they will be more expensive horses by then as well.

Finally, Tre and Sammie will be going to a new home in May. I still ride them several days each week to get them fine tuned for a summer of trail riding with their new owner. They were both born here and are a part of our family. We will miss them. I have three two year old geldings to work with this summer, starting with ground work, both from the ground and under saddle, so I will be busy.

Sammie's first ride of the year

2010-03-09T05:09:00.000-05:00

Our unusually pleasant weather (for this time of year) has continued and I have been riding a few horses each day. Sunday I decided to ride Sammie (5 y/o mare) in addition to Prince (3 y/o gelding) and Tre (4 y/o gelding). Prince has progressed very nicely each day for the last several days to where he is now gaiting very well and much more consistently, especially considering I just pushed him up into gait only five days ago. He was feeling good and picked up speed in gait on his own. He has a very smooth gait and is going to make a great horse. While tacking him up an unexpected guest arrived and he watched me ride Prince and had seen me ride him just two days before. He could see the improvement in his gait and he is a total novice when it comes to gaited horses. I had left the big doors of the barn open since it was a nice day and at one point Prince decided he wanted to go out the door. I turned him into the barn but at that point, as is not uncommon in younger horses, he started backing out through the door. I let him go until he stopped. Then I put him to work doing my favorite exercise (which I described in a previous post-2/23/10). Did it a couple of times each way, then when I had his attention focused back on me, asked him to go back into the barn, which he did without hesitation. Man I love that little exercise.

I had not ridden Sammie since November and had planned to ride her after Prince, which I did. When I walked out to the pasture where she lives with three other mares, she came running to the gate when she saw me. On the way back to the barn she was so excited and bucked and reared a couple of times but just because she was excited to be out. My guest was rather circumspect, especially when I mentioned that I had not ridden her since November. I vacuumed (the easiest and fastest way to clean up a pastured horse) and groomed her up, tacked her up, and headed out. My wife was in the barn watching all this and, knowing that Sammie had not been ridden in several months, decided to watch in the event she needed to call 911. She is great around the horses, provided her own two feet are firmly planted on the ground! To say she is a timid rider doesn't do justice to her fears. Anyway, I flexed Sammie a couple of times each way and climbed on and rode her down to the Coverall barn where I ride in the winter. I put her to work under saddle reviewing all of her ground work and obstacles and after a couple very slight hesitations (as in "oh, ya, I remember that!") she did great. Gaited back and forth and all was well. The visitor and my wife were impressed. Then I rode her over to where I keep my spook training stuff, reached down and picked up a Handy Stick (Clinton Anderson) with a bunch of white plastic shopping bags attached and proceeded to shake them all over and around her while sitting in the saddle. She never moved. By now my visitor says to my wife "I wouldn't do that on the ground, much less in the saddle, after seeing that horse coming in from the pasture!" Needless to say they were both impressed. But in reality, all I was doing was asking her was to do something she has known how to do for years. Same for the ground work she had been taught. Horses are amazing and never forget anything, good or bad. After riding her, we led her back to her pasture and waiting buddies, and again she kicked up her heels and wanted to play with one of our Jack Russell terriers. The two harass each other constantly, in a playful way. I removed her halter and off she galloped as is her custom. The same horse who moments before was standing quietly while I shook plastic bags all over her. Smart-as in a time and place for everything. Sammie is a fearless, very responsive little mare who loves a job.

2010-03-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

We have had a spell of unusually warm March weather (for northern Vermont) and have taken full advantage of it. I started riding our coming three year olds again after a layoff since last November! They started up just like they left off with no round penning or lungeing. Did some basic ground work in review with the saddle and bridle on, then climbed on and put them through their paces. They are so amazing and so smart-they don't forget a thing! Last year I didn't really push them up into gait as two year olds, wanting to let them mature some. Today I asked Prince to pick it up a bit and he went right up into gait, certainly not the most consistent gait, but he was gaiting nonetheless and actually seemed to be enjoying himself! Have also been doing ground work, trailer loading, obstacles, and desensitizing with our coming two year olds. All are doing well. All of the horses have started shedding their thick winter coats so there is horse hair everywhere. I think I had a horse hair sandwich for lunch today!

This morning I spent some time with each of the yearlings doing some hoof trimming again. Each time they are more relaxed and willing and today they were awesome. They are really getting with the routine and procedure. Such fun to see this kind of progress. Speaks volumes for the breed.

Our weather has also started the maple sap flowing heavily. Our friends had their 880 gallon tank overflow. Should be a great year for Vermont Maple Syrup. Did you know it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup? With the warmer weather comes softer ground which makes it more difficult for our logging. We are expecting some cold temperatures for the next few nights which should help freeze up the skidder trails, at least for another couple of weeks. Spring is definitely on the way.

Lots of snow

2010-02-24T20:57:00.000-05:00

We had about 16 inches of snow today with another 12 inches predicted for tomorrow. The young horses were having a great time running, jumping, playing, and rolling in the snow. Such fun to watch them at play in the deep snow. The Jack Russell terriers were laboring to run in the deep snow. I spent about three hours with our forester trudging through the woods marking trees for the loggers to harvest and at the same time laying out eventual trails for horseback riding. Tough going in deep snow and quite a workout! Fun to see bear claw marks on the beech trees. One of the Jack Russells found a porcupine and had a few quills in his mouth which I had to remove. He was a good sport about it. Saw some large coyote footprints and the loggers said they have seen it and that it is quite large. Snow was so wet and heavy I had to use the tractor and loader to plow. More on the way tomorrow so more to clean up. Always something to do on the farm.

Hoof trimming youngsters

2010-02-23T14:18:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that I would discuss hoof trimming with our youngsters. I have posted four photos which depict our setup for doing this. I have an Aussie Tie Ring mounted on the wall of the barn which I use along with a rope halter and 14 foot lead rope. The horses are able to move in a 180 degree arc if they so chose. I use our trimming sessions as an opportunity to train them to stand quietly while tied and also while having their hooves trimmed. The tie ring allows them to pull back in the event they feel restricted or confined. Note the tie ring at the very top of the first photo. Also note that the lead rope is slack. The horses very quickly learn that it is not a big deal to stand tied and to have their feet worked on, so for the most part the lead rope stays very slack. Because the barn wall is in front of them there is no urge to run off. By using the tie ring, it schools them to stand quietly and makes the transition to cross ties no big deal. I will also occasionally use a Hoof Jack as part of the trimming process, again to introduce them to something new and different. I personally trim the weanlings, yearlings, and two year olds so they have some continuity and develop trust that this process is not frightening, so that it becomes just another part of their life. As babies only a few days old I begin running my hand down their legs and asking them to lift each foot. I do this when they are in the stalls with mom. This is also the time I introduce them to a rope halter with attached lead rope, teach them to "whoa", go forward, flex right and left, and to back up. They are also introduced to the sound and feel of the vibrations of the hoof rasp at the same time. This is all done in the stall with mom close by. They adapt very quickly to all of these new things so that by the time they have been weaned and I ask them to stand quietly for hoof trimming, they don't see it as anything new or worrisome. Once weaned, I put their halters on in the pasture, lead them, often two at a time, right past their mothers and into the barn and into individual stalls for minerals, grain, and daily wormer. This is also the time when I introduce ground work in hand such as disengaging the hind quarters, moving the forequarters, flexing and bending, backing, going forward and walking in circles on cue in both directions, and desensitizing with the lead rope. This can all be done in 5-10 minutes per horse, and when done on a daily basis, they learn very rapidly. Once they learn to disengage the front and hind quarters, I ask them to multitask and put both together creating a sidepass. I also combine flexing, disengaging the hindquarters, and then backing--all while their feet are still moving. This is a great little exercise and one I use under saddle as well. It can be especially helpful if the horse is nervous or balks. I simply put them to work doing their little exercise and in a very brief time they settle down and get back to the business at hand.

2010-02-12T19:17:00.000-05:00

Today was a busy hoof trimming day for us. We trimmed a total of nine horses today-four yearlings and the balance were three, four, and five year-old. Makes for a busy day since the horses all must be brought to the barn from the various paddocks which means traipsing through snow or across ice. We decided to "go barefoot" in April 2006 so we are coming up on a full four years of experience. I can tell you that it makes no difference in the gait of the horses. The first year or so those horses which had been shod were definitely more sensitive or tender on gravel. The younger horses, age five and less, have never had shoes on and have all done well, have strong hoof walls, tough feet and can go anywhere. Having said that, I must tell you something about our setup here. All of our roads on the farm are crushed stone, there is crushed stone under all paddock gates, under and around all water tubs and feeders, and under all shelters with crushed stone aprons in front of them. The track in our riding arena is also a finer type of crushed stone (basically coarse granite sand) which does not compact. Therefore our horses are forced to walk on the stone which acts to toughen their hooves and also to help keep the hooves worn down, especially so in the toes of our horses under saddle. As a result, we can comfortably go eight weeks between trims in most of the older horses. The younger ones are trimmed every three to four weeks to accommodate their active growth.
I have included some photos taken today of a five year old who was last trimmed 8 weeks ago. They show the before and after. Note the nice rounded edges of the hoof wall that results from our type setup, giving a strong, durable hoof wall with good concavity to the sole. Very little, if any, sole is removed because they wear it down naturally. I am not advocating the barefoot approach for all horses but am saying that in our particular set of conditions, it works very well for our horses. I also have some photos from today of the yearlings but will save those for another post soon.

The yearling boys at play

2010-02-08T14:02:00.000-05:00

I captured the yearling boys at play today. Such fun to watch them play and the yearling girls just watch them with disdain!

Cedar Grove Rocky Mountain Horse Farm recent winter scenes

2010-02-06T14:56:00.000-05:00

This is Star, a 4 y/o triple registered, RMHA and KMSHA certified to breed mare.
Dee, a 3 y/o black RMHA/KMSHA mare is pictured below.
The two year old geldings at play.
Prince, a 3 y/o dark chocolate registered RMHA/KMSHA gelding.
Joker, a 2 y/o black RMHA registered gelding.
View of the farm and distant scenery. Note that the bottom rail of the fence is buried under the snow.
Prince (L) and Knightly, a dark chocolate 2 y/o gelding (R). These two are full brothers and it is not easy to tell them apart.
Star (L) 4 y/o chocolate mare, Sammy (C) 5 y/o black mare, and Dancer (R) 4 y/o black mare. Sammy and Dancer are full sisters.
Able, dark chocolate 8 y/o triple registered and certified to breed RMHA, KMSHA, MPHA stallion.
The yearlings: JR, Beauty, Nick, and Triple A.

Thought I would share some recent photos of the horses during winter here in Vermont. Cleaned up some of the downed and broken trees on Thursday, more hoof trimming yesterday, and took some photos today. Enjoy!

2010-02-03T16:17:00.000-05:00

Beautiful sunny winter day here, +28F, calm wind, horses basking in the bright sunshine. Did some grooming and hoof trimming today since it was so beautiful outside. Have some trees down from the high winds of last week (50 mph gusts) so will be cutting them up and cleaning up the mess tomorrow. Fortunately we did not have any damage. Lost a whole section of fence in December from high winds but the horses in that paddock were not interested in going anywhere. Nice.

2010-02-01T14:04:00.000-05:00

Hooray! Our website is transferred over to our new hosting server and back up and running. I apologize for any inconvenience.

We had a few inches of the white stuff during the night so time to go out and plow. The horses were all covered with white blankets this morning--testimony to how little heat escapes from under their thick winter coats.

2010-01-31T15:45:00.000-05:00

I have been working to transfer our website from one host to another and I apologize for any brief interruptions that prevent the website from loading. The routing transfers that point my site to the new host (the behind-the-scenes stuff) can take up to 24 hours to occur. Sorry! Hopefully any disruptions will be brief.

Well, we doubled our daily high temperature today compared to yesterday but that hardly qualifies as a heatwave!

2010-01-30T15:31:00.000-05:00

Brrrr! Minus 10 this morning and with the wind chill it was -25. We use a pair of Polaris Rangers as all purpose utility vehicles and they were slow to start this morning. The horses were all fine and enjoying the sunshine as it warmed up to +10--a heat wave! Forecast is for -13 tonight. Rockies are rugged and these are no exception. Free choice hay, access to salt, water, and shelter and they do fine during our frigid winters. The shelters were well used last night judging from the amount of manure in them today. Each shelter has four horses available to use it except our stallion's shelter--he has one all to himself. Had to put out a couple of salt blocks (plain, 50#) because the horses intake of salt and water increases substantially during our winters. The average water intake per day for our adult horses is 10-12 gallons each. And to think, in just 2-3 months, the ground, our clothing, and faces will be covered with all the hair from the thick coats as they shed out.

2010-01-29T12:05:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Cedar Grove Rocky Mountain Horse Farm and welcome to our new blog! Our intent and purpose is to be informative and entertaining but by no means authoritative. Rather, our blog will consist of experiences, insights, and observations about life on our farm with our Rocky Mountain horses, Jack Russell terriers, and barn cats. We are located in what is known as "The Northeast Kingdom" of Vermont. At his time of year, as one can imagine when living an hour from the Canadian border, we don't do much riding. We have cold weather with lots of snow and ice which makes it difficult and unsafe to do a lot of riding, not to mention cold! We currently have 21 Rockies and they all are kept outdoors without blankets but with access to shelters. Our horses grow thick fluffy coats to keep them toasty warm and for the most part they have free choice hay in the form of round bales. We grow our own hay and put up both square bales and round bales. This time of year (late January) we use floating water heaters in standard rubber water tubs which keeps them from freezing. We have self draining water hydrants by each water tub but do not have them connected because they will freeze. We fill them manually twice daily as well as check all horses, hay supply, salt licks, etc. twice daily. Each shelter is cleaned daily which may seem like a big chore but it provides an opportunity to better know our horses and their various personalities and to closely observe and interact with all of them on a daily basis. Our young horses (weanlings, yearlings) are also given grain, minerals and a pelleted wormer on a daily basis. This keeps us busy and active. On nicer days we do lots of ground work, especially with the younger horses and some riding of those under saddle. We do all of this in a large Coverall building which blocks the wind so at least it seems warmer.

We welcome your thoughts, comments, observations, and questions. You can also find contact information through our website, www.rockymountainhorsevermont.com.