Category: Farm Life

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Peter and Goliath

Good morning!  After I finally rested up my new humans let me out to play!   Unfortunately before I was allowed out they put some nasty tasting paste into my mouth which gave me a bit of a milk mustache as I tried to spit it back out.  YUCK, I hope they don’t try to do that again.

The area they lead me to already had a big black horse in it who seemed disinterested in me all together but I didn’t care I wanted to play!   I ran right up to him, arched my neck and grunted a hello.  The other horse barely looked up and said his name was Goliath.   I reared up, bucked around and jumped on his back so happy to have a playmate.  All I got in return was too heels to my side and flatten ears.  Meanie!

Pete_G

 

No matter, I galloped around the pasture as fast as I could letting my cooped up legs fly.  The area was too small for my liking so I went over to investigate the fence.  Back home I could lean right on it, put my head through it and munch on the grass that looked so tasty on the other side so I stuck my nose out to do the same.  ZAP! It bit me!   Bucking in a circle to show that fence who’s boss I stretched out and touched it again.  ZAP! 3 times I tried and each time fire hit my poor nose.  The fences at this place are no fun.  That grass will just be all green and beautiful on the other side and I’ll never be able to nibble on it.

Boy2Clip

 

Life was pretty good here and my new humans were always coming over to brush out my coat, give me treats an take me for walks.  They constantly insisted on touching me all over and picking up my feet.  I didn’t mind much, I always got lots of cookies if I let them do what they wanted.  Humans are so easy to train.

One day a new lady came to the barn.  My human kept saying “good boy”stand”good boy” so I happily picked up all my feet for the new lady and asked for my cookies.  The new lady however started taking out all these extra things and made me hold up my feet longer while she did some magic spells on them.  A few minutes went by, more treats and they walked me around.  WOW, my feet felt different, so much easier to move around without tripping over myself.  I felt great!

Pete Feet

When my human put me back out with Goliath I immediately ran over to him jumping and bucking into the air so he could see all 4 feet at once.  He wasn’t amused and told me to go away so I trotted over to the fence and called out to the other horses announcing my new awesome feet.  They seemed much more interested but I got bored after the conversation got all girly talking about different polishes, shoes, ribbons, bows.  Yuck, girls.

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Meet Pete

PeteHalter Hello my name is Pete.  I’ve decided to share my adventures with you as I grow up from little colt to a big black stallion.

<– This is me! Well this was me a year ago when I came to live at Dutch Hollow Acres and boy did I have to travel a long ways away from where I was born to get here.

I was born in the state of Missouri on a rural Amish farm so far away from civilization that the farm I called home didn’t even have a house or street number.   Life was good there I lived in a small herd with my mom MVR Black Beauty and my dad was a big stallion named Fritz P and the people there called me Rocket!

I got to live there for a whole year until one day a big truck came and I was asked to climb aboard it rather reluctantly.  At first I didn’t like the trailer much and it moved beneath my feet and was very scary!  After a while it wasn’t so bad.  Every few hours the trailer would stop moving giving me a chance to rest.  People would bring me water and hay so I could keep my belly full.  I was on the trailer a long long time and watched the sun set and rise again 2 times!

Then one night we stopped and I heard new voices.  The back door opened and someone came for me.  I wasn’t sure what was going on and didn’t want to get off the trailer which now felt safe.  2 new faces greeted me in the darkness and one of them took the lead rope from the man.  She gave me a pat and the guy next to her did the same.  They seemed calm and friendly but in the dark I couldn’t see very well and could hear the calls of horses in the distance.

The lady and man lead me down a very long and dark driveway which followed a fence line where lots of other horses came to investigate me. I was very unsure of where I was going and took each step slowly and deliberately until we got to the barn.  The lady lead me to a stall with deep bedding, fresh hay and clean water.  They stayed for a while giving me pets and eventually turned off the lights and let me rest.

When the sun rose so did the tall lady and she tended to all the mysterious voices of other animals I could hear but not see.   She eventually came to me but I was still scared of this new place I was thrust into and so I tried to hide in the corner and get away.  She was calm and brushed my coat with long slow strokes and gave me some grain to eat.

The man came in the barn a while later and he too came in and started brushing and stroking me until my coat shinned so brightly it almost looked blue not black.  I still was unsure of the new place but the people eventually left leaving me alone to get some much needed rest after my long trip.  I slowly drifted off to the sounds of an unfamiliar place……Zzzzz.

 

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Miniature Horse Sledding – Thanksgiving Fun

Our new mini Lily. We don’t have a harness for her yet but couldn’t pass up playing in the first snow of the season!  So a little barn MacGyver work with bailing twine and a dressage girth we managed to rig up a harness to pull a sled!  Such a good little pony she even pulls happily in just a halter and no blinkers :0)

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Simple Round Bale Feeder

FeederDemo

For those of you who feed round bale hay know, the hardest part is keeping the bale dry so it doesn’t mold before the animals have time to finish eating it.   Rain and warm air can destroy a bale in as little as 24 hours!   This simple round bale hay feeder is not only inexpensive to build but will help contain the hay and keep it dry too.

Feeder will hold a standard 4×4 round bale

Supply List

– (4) 4x4x8 (PT)
– (3) 2x6x12 (PT)
– (1) 2x6x8 (PT)
– (7) 2x4x8 (dimensional lumber)
– 5lbs deck crews
– (2) Ondura Roof Panels (many colors available)
– (1) box Ondura roofing nails (matching color with rubber washer)

Pre cuts!

  • Cut 1 foot off (2) of the 4x4x8
  • Cut the 2x6x12 in half (be sure to measure first from both ends as they probably aren’t exactly 12′ long
  • Cut the 2x6x8 to match the length of the 2x6x12 cuts
  • Cut off 4 inches off (5) of the 2x4x8’s  (mark a line 10 inches across the board on both sides)
  • Cut (2) 2x4x8 to 1″ shorter than the length of the Ondura Roofing

Assembly Side 1 (measure lots to make sure this side is even!)

  • Place an 8ft 4×4 and a 7ft 4×4 6ft apart
  • Draw a line 3 inches from the bottom and 3 feet from the bottom of both 4×4
  • Screw a 2x6x6 so at the 3 inch mark and another at the 3ft mark (below the mark not above it)
  • Screw the 2x4x8 you cut the length of the roofing so that it is even between the cut ends of the 4×4’s

Assembly Side 2

  • This goes faster.  Flip your finished side over so the 2×6’s are on the ground. 
  • Lay the new 4×4’s on top of the old ones and the 2×6’s  and 2×4 to match the bottom.  (See photo)Feeder_1

Assembly Side 3&4

  • Stand up Side 2 have a human or your Jaw Horse hold it
  • Stand up Side 1 have a human or a Jaw Horse hold it
  • Screw in the upper 2x6x6.  Use 1 screw on side 2 first then another on side 2 that way you can adjust things before screwing it down.  (FYI I’m using a minimum of 4 screws at each point!!!)
  • Screw in the bottom 2x6x6 in the front and the back
  • Feeder1
    Feeder2Feeder3

Roof Assembly

  • Screw in the 5 2×4’s at even distances across the 2×4’s screwed to the 4×4’s
  • Lay out your Ondura roofing across the top
    • If you don’t have long arms put one roofing panel on at a time so you can nail it down from both sides
  • Nail at the crest of the wave NOT the valley.  Nailing a hole in the valley will just cause water to leak through! Make sure your nails are straight when nailing or you can rip the Ondura.  If they are straight, they nail VERY easily.
  • Feeder5

Tada! You’re done.  This model is meant to be used in line with a fence.  The open back allows you to drive a bale in and drop it off without having to go into the fence!  Brilliant!  The reason why the bottom boards are 3″ off the ground is so the unit will sink in during “mud” season to help hold it in place from moving.

Feeder4

 

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Mmmm, tastes like founder!

Question:  When you think of native or wild horses what climate are they living in?  Are they in lush green forage of Kentucky? Or in arid climates like out west?

Horses are arid animals, their digestive system is meant to forage all day on small bites and to keep moving in search of food and water.   However 1,000’s of years of a human/horse relationship has taken these animals from their native habitats and tossed them into what works best for us humans and where we like to live and to submit to behaviors we deem appropriate.

So, the happy desert horse went from walking 20 miles a day on hard ground barefoot with a diet of forage that it found along the way to being cooped up in stalls, turned out in small paddocks, shod,  and our personal human favorite… Don’t they look so happy in that big grassy field?!

Grass

All of a sudden the once rugged self sufficient horse went from being hardy and healthy to having bouts of colic, laminitis, insulin resistance, joint disease, arthritis and more.  And to complicate things even more humans freak out at the site of a skinny horse!  Did you know that the majority of rescue cases that involve an underweight horse can actually recover just fine with no ill health effects?  But a horse which has been “loved” too much and allowed to get fat can have permanent health issues?

So what can you do to help keep your horse the way evolution has meant for it to live?  Try looking into the Paddock Paradise method of horse keeping.  This method allows you to keep your horses moving as they do in the wild, eating forage at a rate that is optimal for their digestive systems and keep your horse mentally stimulated and happy within a herd setting.

Be wary of some common misconceptions about traditional horse care

  • The grass is so short in their paddock they are hardly eating anything
    • Short stressed grass actually produces more sugars so a little goes a long way! Parasites also live on the bottom 2 inches of grass and are more easily ingested too.
  • Well if short grass is bad I’ve got knee deep grass for them to graze on so they’ll be fine.
    • Have you ever paid attention as to when and how hay is cut and harvested?  Hay is cut in the early morning.  Why? Because grass not exposed to sunlight has a lower sugar content.  They also harvest hay for optimal protein and nutrient levels and you can have your hay tested so you know exactly what you are feeding them and your feed is consistent.  Natural grass nutrient and sugar levels constantly change throughout the day and the season.  What might be fine for your horse to consume at 7am in the morning might cause them to founder 2-3 hours later!
  • My horse is out on 24/7 turn out they always are moving around.
    • Not so – there is no motivation for a horse to walk in search of food, it’s all right there for them.  Nor are they compelled to run because of a lead horse pushing them or a perceived danger and flight response.  My GPS findings show horses will walk only about 3 miles a day when turned out like this compared to 10+ miles a day on a Paddock Paradise Track.  The confines of the track and herd dynamics keep the horses moving always in search of food and frequently gallop.  Movement wards off digestive issues like colic and helps the horse’s wear their feet down naturally and promote hoof health.

Want to learn more about our method of horse keeping on a Paddock Paradise Track?   We are having an open house on June 9th from 10am – 2pm.  RSVPs are required due to limited parking.  If interested Contact Us!

Here’s a funny video of one of our horse’s, Fay, sprinting to “the good stuff.”  To set this scene up… I had just put out hay at all 8 feeding stations, the main herd collected at 1 of the stations, Fay is at the bottom of the herd and was not allowed to eat with everyone else.  So, she decided to sprint all the way around 3/4 of the track to what I could only guess is “the good stuff.”  Keep in mind every blue barrel you see in the background that she passed also has food in it.  Once she got to her destination she still couldn’t make up her mind what she wanted to eat.  Silly girl!