Tag Archives: horseman’s life

How is this possible? Even colder.

January 6th, 2009 | By Judy Wood


Even for those of us who are Canadian prairie “lifers” like myself, what we are experiencing in the way of weather is a bit daunting. Every week of late I post some sort of carry-on about the cold, wind, snow, wind-chill, in the full (but evidently unrealistic) expectation that by my *next* post, things will have moderated and all will be relatively well. Sadly, so far this is not the case.

Mind you, today the temperature shot up to about minus 16, which if we didn’t have a pretty brisk wind making it feel like minus 37 (the dreaded wind chill effect) would have been quite OK. Even with the wind chill, it seemed relatively balmy after yesterday. I awoke yesterday morning and clicked on CBC radio, as always, to get a bit of a heads up on what the world in general, and the local weather in particular, was up to–or, in the case of the weather, down to. Imagine my dread as I heard (almost incomprehensible to my sleep-dulled brain) that the actual temperature was minus 41, and that with the wind chill factored in it was equivalent to minus 59. Doesn’t really encourage a person to get up out of bed.

Luckily, I did get up and made a sortie upstairs to the studio to turn the temperature up (lowered at bedtime when I shut down at the end of the day) so it would be tolerable after breakfast when I would come up to poke at the computer a bit. Studio seemed a bit nippier than usual, and when I checked it, the room temperature was down to 9 degrees C (49 F) which is quite a bit lower than it should have been. About that time I also realized that I hadn’t remembered to leave the hot water tap running a bit overnight as I try to remember to do when we have extreme cold and wind. The studio is up on top of the house and the wall with the water pipes is north facing. Frozen water pipes, with the potential of one rupturing inside the wall, are not something anyone wants. However, that’s exactly what we had yesterday morning.

I went down to share the news with Jim that the studio heating system didn’t seem to be working right, plus we had frozen water pipes. For some reason passing this info on to him made me feel quite a bit better, since now it could be “his” problem. While he was upstairs trying to figure out what had gone wrong and how we could get out of this mess, I finished loading the dishwasher and started it up. It toiled away in its usual excessively loud and irritating fashion until the stage where it emptied itself of water, this time onto the kitchen floor rather than down the shared sink drain. Luckily I was in the kitchen when this began so I got it turned off pretty quickly and got a towel onto the immersed part of the floor.

Lest you start to feel too sorry for me over all these little domestic dramas, let me hasten to reassure you that everything worked itself out over the course of the morning. New batteries in the remote temperature control unit for my gas fireplace (heat source for the studio) fixed the room temperature concerns. A heating fan that we use in early spring and late fall in our little outdoors greenhouse worked for the frozen pipes, and as best we can tell the pipes have not split or ruptured. The downstairs drain for the dishwasher had a plug which we were able to dislodge, so the dishwasher was able to complete its cycle with no further water added to the kitchen environment. Even the garage door opener worked today, unlike yesterday when the extreme cold meant we couldn’t get the door open except by brute force.

And yes, I have fully recovered from my nasty Christmas/New Year’s illness. I rode both Saturday and Sunday, and that is the best benchmark for me that both the horse and I have recovered from our various complaints.

Despite being somewhat down and out of late, and in the clutches of extreme Arctic high pressure systems, I have been getting out and nabbing shots here and there as I was able to. I have developed the habit of taking the camera to the barn with me most days, especially when I wasn’t able to ride, since I would have a little more leisure for photo ops en route if any presented themselves. Today’s shots are all of that sort–either on the way to or from the barn, or actually at the barn.

The first shot is one I got last week as I was heading down the grid road for home. Just north of the outdoor riding rings I saw a little fox curled up in the sun amidst the stubble of last year’s crop. He was rolled up in a ball and not moving, so I quickly stopped the car and grabbed for the camera. By the time I had backed up a bit and got the window rolled down, the fox had decided that fleeing might be a good option. Once he was up and running, I was horrified and appalled to see that the poor thing had lost its tail. Seeing a fox without that glorious bushy tail is really quite a shock. He appeared a bit lame as well, and all in all was a sad and sorry little fellow. It was about minus 35 that day and going to be a lot colder at night, and I felt very badly for him, but there was absolutely nothing I could do to make his life any better. I suspect the feet might have been a bit frozen, and I wonder if the lost tail had anything to do with that, as a nestling fox will use its tail curled around its body for added warmth, and I’m sure tucking your feet into a nice foxtail blanket would keep them warm, but that is sadly no longer an option for this fellow.

Second shot is a happier wildlife one of a coyote that I encountered as I headed to the barn the next day via a different route. It was another snowy day and I had gone the long way to the stables, getting photos of my favorite herd in the snow along the way. I could see something trotting down the road ahead of me, either a dog or a coyote, and it turned out to be the latter. He seemed pretty unconcerned about the vehicle until I got fairly close, at which point he veered off across the ditch and into a field, where I was able to catch a few shots. He looks to be in good shape and has a very thick coat, so I think he’s getting through this weather reasonably well.

The final shots were all taken at Ebon stables yesterday afternoon. The stabled horses are turned out daily into paddocks of various sizes, but on the extremely cold days, as yesterday, they are brought in earlier than usual. I had just arrived for my ride when the horses were being brought in. I’ve always liked the way the cold air creates an instant fog effect as the west door is pulled open to allow entry. The door has to be whipped open just as the horses are brought up to it, then shut again quickly as soon as they are in, to prevent losing too much of the warmth of the barn. These days their feet are often quite balled up with ice and snow which has to be hammered out before they can safely be led down the cement alleyway to their respective stalls. Even the simplest of tasks can be a big operation when we are in extreme weather conditions. Shot number three shows Elaine (owner and trainer) leading a couple of horses, with our friend Jane on door duty. Luckily there were quite a few helping hands there yesterday to get the job done–made me feel a little less guilty about lurking in the alleyway taking photos instead of helping bring in horses!!

Shots four and five were taken in the riding ring yesterday before I rode. The mirrored long wall (shot four) is the north wall which, being an outside wall, is exposed to the cold and tends to become like an ice palace in the winter. The south wall is much less frosted as it is not an outside wall, the stalls being on the south of the ring. There are overhead heaters in the riding ring that help keep it usable, but it’s a good idea to keep moving when you are in there or you can get pretty chilly. I love the frost patterns on the mirrors, and most years I collect a bunch of shots of the lacey shapes as they form and evolve, as in shot number five.

Rumor has it that there is a moose in the area of the stables, so that is my next wildlife photo quest. Moose have traditionally been more associated with the northern forests that start a couple of hours drive north of here rather than in the more open terrain of this area, but in the past decade they seem to be establishing themselves here as well, although they are still pretty uncommon. If I do get a chance to photograph the moose, I hope it will be from the safety of my car, and not when I’m out snowshoeing in the fields, as that could be an unfortunate situation, moose being very large, very fast and rather ill-natured.

©Copyright 2008 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Judy Wood’s website.

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Going Green! composting…

January 6th, 2009 | By Sue Steiner

A friend and fellow horse lover and equine artist brought my attention to this article on composting horse manure. Every horse owner knows this is a necessary evil of keeping horses. I am fanatic about keeping my barn clean and not accumulating manure piles. Since I’ve had a few days away from my easel due to the holidays I thought I would reference this article and talk about farm management today.

Over the years I have found a couple good ways for me to use manure besides hot composting in bins which is what the article above is about . I have what I call a ‘trotting track’ that goes around the outside perimeter of my horse pasture. Instead of fencing right up to the property lines we brought the fence in by a good 12 feet. I have enough room to ride and also to drive my tractor and manure spreader around on this track. I’ve measured the length and can get an idea of how many miles my horse and I ride. On the trotting track I spread a thin layer of manure and sawdust around this path and over time I have accumulated a very nice surface in which to ride or walk on. Because the layer is thin the manure dries and breaks down quickly and parasites also are destroyed. It keeps the weeds and grass down and provides a nice slightly padded surface. I had an added benefit when we first moved to our new place the first rides in the unfamiliar area went very well because the path must of carried the familiar scent of all the horses because the horses were relaxed and comfortable.
I also have spread manure in my pastures in such a way as to control the selective grazing of the horses. I have a large pasture and if left to their own devices the horses selectively graze only their ‘favorite’ areas so some places become over grazed and some grow too long since the horses won’t graze after grass gets a certain length. I’ve always intended to divide my pasture up but since I’ve not done that yet I spread a thin layer of manure on the overgrazed areas to move the horses on to the other areas before the grass gets to the length in which they won’t eat from it. Again because the layer is thin the manure quickly breaks down and puts nutrients back into the soil and I have the added benefit of a more evenly grazed pasture. In order for this to work I still need to mow and drag my pasture on a regular basis.
I am back at my easel today and then for 3 days this week I am teaching a middle school ‘mini term’ art class. While I am teaching I likely won’t be working on my own art but we’ll see. I enjoy the kids and do this every year but I have a new appreciation for art teachers after every class! Creating art and teaching art are two very different things I have found but its fun. I believe in exposing and encouraging kids to pursue art so I am glad to do this so please just bear with me for the next few days.
To see my equine and animal artwork go to http://suesteiner.com
Happy Trails!

©Copyright 2008 by Sue Steiner. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Sue Steiner’s website.

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It’s all a blur

December 30th, 2008 | By Judy Wood

OK, I’m back in a somewhat compromised (healthwise) form, but can now function at a basic level much of the time. Still have some “queasy stomach” symptoms and no stamina or energy levels, but I can totter around and make it to the barn and out to get a few photos, all of which I have been doing over the past few days, in between lying down sessions on my couch.
I’m aware that Christmas has come and gone. In fact, I rallied surprisingly on Christmas day, enough that I could thoroughly overdo things and set myself back considerably, but the season is about over-doing things, after all. My life had the added complication in the week running up to Christmas day of having to deliver and administer 30 antibiotic pills per day (in two dosing sessions twelve hours apart) for a week to my horse Alpac who had an infected surface wound in his hock area. This entailed, on a few days when I was too sick to drive, poor Jim driving me to the barn in the pitch dark and minus thirty degree temperatures so I could give Alpac his pills (cleverly disguised in a very tasty mix of his beet pulp with added molasses, applesauce, corn syrup and chunks of apple and carrot) for the evening and leave the next morning’s concoction for the barn staff to serve up the next morning. We had a week of this, ending on the
24th.

Christmas day went off well for all concerned, with me hosting the traditional turkey dinner for the family members that were around–fewer than usual this year, but given the fragile state of health of many of us, likely that was just as well. Things on the home front were a tad more chaotic and haphazard than normal— my “last minute” pretense of cleaning and tidying (or at least removing piles of interesting clutter out of view) not having happened on account of the circumstances, but I did log the necessary studio time to make all the client orders happen, even though I was up until after 11 PM on Christmas eve fine-tuning the last of the photomontage works. That one was going to a family member so didn’t have to get out the door to a client before midnight, mercifully. Somehow when I’m doing my usual last minute work on orders, it never occurs to me to plan an extra day or two’s grace in case of things going south. Maybe next year I’ll remember to factor that in!

For a change I’m going to detail today’s shots from the bottom up. I’d actually rather do it the other way but I can’t figure out the logic of how this blog displays photos. For a while I thought I had it cased–load them backwards to how you want them to appear, and they will come out in the right order. So far I’ve loaded these both in the order I *want* them to appear, and in the *reverse* order to how I want them to appear, and they come out backwards anyway. I’m reasonably keen on chronological order for these and it irks me that I can’t get them to load in any form other than the reverse of what I would prefer, but I’m not willing to spend any more time trying to sort it out at the moment, so we’ll be talking about them from the bottom up. I’m sure you’re all bright people and can rise to this challenge of pairing the text to the image. Maybe next time I’ll do them all in totally random order and you can try to figure out which description goes with which picture!

Shot five is one I took when I was still pretty sick but able to make it up to the top of the house to the studio for brief periods. It was minus 35 with a wind chill making it feel about minus 45, and as I looked out one of the windows to the southwest, I could see the setting sun shining through the furnace exhaust of the neighboring houses. I had to climb up onto a step-stool to get this and work around the rather ugly telephone poles and power lines, but I like the end result.

Shot four is one I got on Christmas eve day, mid to late afternoon. There is just enough snow in the countryside now to make interesting drift sculptures, if you can get to them before they are destroyed by snowmobilers. These ones caught my eye as they glittered in the sun en route home from my afternoon visit to the barn. The bonus for me was as I was standing on the edge of the highway taking my shots, not a life-form in sight, I could hear a far-off and faint noise. As it got closer I realized it was coming from above, and I looked up to see a pair of ravens swooping and diving in their synchronized flight as they came south along the line of the road. I managed a couple of shots of them as they passed overhead and left me with a smile on my face, feeling I’d been offered an early Christmas gift.
Shots three and two are a couple of the above-mentioned client works that I got done up just in time. These feature two sisters (and their horses) who ride at Ebon, both really good kids, devoted to their horses, and darn good riders as well. The color schemes were dictated by each girl’s personal preference. These are mixed media collages featuring photo elements and various painted papers on stretched canvas.

The first (and last, as it were, keeping our reverse logic in mind) shot is of a Christmas gift we received of homemade jellies–always a welcome treat, and in this case one of them made from sour cherries from our own bushes that my friend Sue picked in late summer. Nice way for them to come back to us! Jim had set them on the edge of the dining room table on Christmas day, and as I walked by my eye was caught by the deep glow of the red as it was lit from within by the low winter sun. I’m now thinking about more shots of this sort as a homey “domestic” series of small works. The great thing about this subject matter is it doesn’t take off on you with no notice, unlike my usual animal subjects.

So that was my week—not bad, all things considered, but still lots of room for the new year to bring improvement. My main concern now is not having ridden for a couple of weeks, between Alpac’s and my own downtime. Miracles aside, I can’t see riding for about another week yet, but at least I can get out a bit and do photos, and that’s always a good option for me.
You can see a nice “horses in snow” shot that I posted yesterday on the Horse Art Blog–one of many good shots I managed since not only was it snowing, but it was actually a tolerable temperature! Works for me. Happy New Year to all!
©Copyright 2008 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Judy Wood’s website.

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Art, Arctic Cold and Hay Shortages

December 24th, 2008 | By Sue Steiner

The temperature has taken a definite turn downward the last couple days. It is always more of a concern and challenge to care for the critters outside when this happens but so far so good. Adding to the cold temps my hay supplier ended up in the hospital this past week. I have never been in this position before- of needing to scramble for hay on short notice in the middle of winter! On our large farm we grew our own hay and baled 5,000-6,000 bales a year. We sold it too of course but a hay shortage was never a problem. We are on smaller acreage and not farming so I have been loyal to my hay supplier because he has been very dependable and reliable. He was trying to get hay to me in spite of being sick which was not necessary — I wanted him to take care of himself! Fortunately I did get some hay to tide me over but running out of hay the week of Christmas just as the temps drop drastically is NOT what I want to do ever again! I am glad to say my hay supplier is out of the hospital and doing okay but not sure when he will be up to delivering hay. I was worried about him so I am glad he is on the mend.
My plans for the next few days are of course to concentrate on family things. After the holidays I will begin working on a special portrait of my daughter when she was 5. I am doing this for two reasons. I have been wanting to incorportate more people portraits and figurative work in my art in addition to pet portraits and equine art. More horse and rider portraits I think are a natural extension of what I am doing already.
On a more personal level if all goes as planned this new painting will be entered into a contest and fund raiser for domestic violence prevention. There is a story that goes along with this portrait that I will share on another day but I will preface it to say I grew up in a home with severe domestic violence. Thankfully domestic violence has never been a part of my own marriage but the after effects of growing up with it is long lasting and a struggle in my life. The theme of the contest is on hope and healing which is what my art and my children are to me.
I am excited to get started on this but I am learning too that the ‘down’ cycle of the creative process when I am not painting helps to build momentum even if I am not actively putting paint to canvas. I am missing not painting right now but it is okay to do other things and let this idea brew until it is time to sit down and paint.
Stay warm!

©Copyright 2008 by Sue Steiner. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Sue Steiner’s website.

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After the Storm

December 23rd, 2008 | By Kathi Peters

This past Monday was spent digging out from too much snow. Even with a snow-blower it was an all day affaire. Nothing was done in the studio….it was all about the snow.

But today is sunny and not too cold out. I am back in the studio….and getting things done..sort of.


Our Cobs want hay…just keep them fed and they are happy. Look at the chest on our little Maggie. She will be 5 this year! How time flies! She is really ready to be worked!!
Back to my painting…..because time is flying…..and my casein paint hasn’t been lately!

©Copyright 2008 by Kathi Peters. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Kathi Peters’s website.

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"Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful…"

December 19th, 2008 | By Linda Shantz


We’re getting our first winter storm of the season today. We’ve had snow, of course, but this is the real thing, the kind of day you’re grateful you don’t have to go anywhere. The two broodmares were ready to come in by 10am, but the others had to wait until I was done the rest of the stalls, and they wear blankets so they weren’t looking quite as put out! By the time I brought them in, it was truly nasty out. The wind is very cold, and coming from the “wrong” direction. I have no doubt that frostbite would be a risk. Anyway, everyone is snug in their stalls now…and I was quite happy to come in myself! The birds amaze me though - they’re still out there! I don’t know how they can stay on the feeders with that wind!

I don’t know if we’ll see the local paper today, but there is an article in there about my participation in the Mural Mosaic. The Milton Canadian Champion is so good about representing the arts in this area, and Stephanie Hounsell did a wonderful job of pulling together the story. I actually saw it first on Jen’s Thorough-blog. I’ve always joked to my friends in the racing world that you know you’ve made it, when you make the Thorough-blog! Guess today was my day!

I started a new painting last night, so I’ll probably do a little more work on it a bit later. I’ve had the sketch for this in my sketchbook for years. I’m hoping I can pull it off. You’ll hear more about it as I go! For now, I think some baking is in order! Though I do kind of like Finn’s plan!

©Copyright 2008 by Linda Shantz. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Linda Shantz’s website.

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The Exodus

December 3rd, 2008 | By Bethany Caskey

The hay was moved quickly and efficiently during a warm and balmy Sunday. It was a day I would have rather been riding, but it was a great day to move the hay as well. We were also able to get the tractor moved to the new location the same day.

A few days later, I headed out to the pen to see if the little rescue fillies would load. I caught both of them right off, they just walked up and asked to be caught. I haltered them and put them outside the pasture gate and then caught Lil Bit and brought him out as well. His role was to be the older, steady role model for the youngsters.

Dulci went first. As she walked up to the trailer, on the first ask, she put a leg in and started to step up and then hesitated, doubted herself and backed up. Not bad. The girls had not been loaded since they arrived in April. I let her look the trailer over and sniff the floor. When she wanted to turn away and do something else, I redirected her to concentrate on the trailer. I started gently tapping the top of her croup with the carrot stick and stopped when she made any move forward. In less than five minutes total time, she stepped into the trailer. The bay filly was next. I had not worked with her as much and she was not as far along in her understanding. She did not have a “go forward” cue, so I started with that. Once she understood to go forward when I asked, she willingly walked into the trailer as well. I put Bit in the back and shut the doors and we headed for the new digs.

They all walked out as quietly as they had loaded. They looked around, and started grazing. No running, fussing or fear. Just like I like it!

The next few days we continued to work on the fix-ups around the place and checked every post and every wire and ran electric tape to reinforce the safety of the fences.

Last Saturday was supposed to be a fairly decent day. We started early and worked all day. About one, it started a wet snow/rain. We continued to work, myself on the fence and Jet Ranger on the protective winter shed for the hydrant. By four, I was soaked. I decided my level of happiness is very dependent on the warmth of my feet and my hands. The snow was beginning to stick to the road. Jet Ranger decided he wanted to bring his three horses before he quit. I sent him on with the truck and trailer and came home to get warm and find some dry clothes. I looked at the weather radar after I was redressed, and gave him a call to swing by and pick me up on his way by. From the look of the radar it was going to get worse before it got better and even though it would be dark, it would be better to move all the horses that night.

A long time ago I thought I should write a book called 101 “Fun” Things to Do in a Blizzard. As life has progressed, it would be more appropriate to call it 1001 Things. It seems there is always something with the horses that has to be done while sane people are indoors. I can’t imagine what people without horses do with all that free time and money. Think of all the fresh air, exercise and adventure they miss!

The big move is done and we are all moved to the new pasture. Everyone is settling in and they are entertaining themselves with the hay. The weather has been horrible except for a break yesterday and I tried to get everything possible done outside that I could but there are still a dozen projects I want to finish.

More soon on other things that have kept me on the fly the last few weeks! One big project is finished and sent to the printer today.

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©Copyright 2008 by Bethany Caskey. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Bethany Caskey’s website.

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AWOL

November 18th, 2008 | By Bethany Caskey

I will be in and out for the next few days. To add to an already bloated schedule, the heaven on earth place that I have called “home” for the horses for almost seven years now has been sold. The fellow purchasing it is expressly using it for deer hunting. After considering the options, I decided to relocate for the winter with hopes of being able to return during the non-lethal seasons. I will be going from 389 acres of riding to ten. Ouch. I will have a barn to use, running water, electricity, a paved road, a real fence, all the modern conveniences. For the winter it will be so much easier, if less hidden and spiritual.

On the day the sale was to be finalized, the old mule, John, laid down and decided he was staying. I spent Sunday morning burying him. I was extremely thankful he was a small mule, since my back hoe was elsewhere and all I had was a shovel and a spade (and determination). There is enough about John for a full article, so I will just mention his passing for now and give him a better eulogy later. His owners had wanted him to be able to stay with the place and die there, and for probably the only time in his life, he obeyed their wish.

For the last two days I have been pulling up my electric fences. My hands are full of fiberglass and so are my gloves, so it seems I just have to endure.

Today I will be moving the corral gates and the things that need two people. Best bud, Norene, bless her heart, offered her afternoon to help. I offered to help her scope out a trail at her place tomorrow for the saddle club ride Sunday at her place. Not the fairest trade, but I will live with it until I can do better.

I will have the horses moved by the time shotgun season opens the first weekend in December. In the meantime, the weather is co-operating and I should be able to make an easy transition to the new location. The biggest chore is getting 34 large bales of hay moved and the back hoe home. Another good friend, Ron Collier, of the Moravia Mule Company is helping with the large items. Be sure to check out his website at MoraviaMule.com.

New GIVEAWAY tomorrow! Come back soon!

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©Copyright 2008 by Bethany Caskey. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Bethany Caskey’s website.

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More Clicker

November 12th, 2008 | By Bethany Caskey

Another dreary wet and overcast day. Nothing really fun again that could be done with the horses that did not involve ankle deep mud. I took the warm mash of beet pulp, alfalfa cubes and senior feed to the old mule, John, and Lil’ Bit in the west pasture. They were waiting for me tonight. The last couple of nights, John had decided I needed more exercise and I should trudge up and down the pasture hill in search of him. At nearly 40 years of age, his hearing has pretty well left him, and calling for him makes me feel like I am doing something other than trudging, but little else.

While they munched. I drove back up to the main pasture to see how well the horses that were in on the clicker game remembered. I filled my feed bucket and put five piles of grain out to discourage the bully horses from being interested in what the others were doing.

Cirrus paid no attention to the piles of grain and followed me up to the gate where we had played before. As the star pupil, he was ready and eager to have another go. He was reaching for the cone before I could get a good purchase on the bottom to present it. He had certainly not lost any of what he had learned the night before. Reo joined him as star pupil #2. He also had no hesitation with touching the cone to get a click and some grain. Since Cirrus was so far ahead with his understanding, I upped the anty on him. He had to touch the top of the cone and only the top of the cone to get the click and grain. No problem. One time he took the top of the cone in his lips. I clicked. Now the only time he gets a click is when he puts the top of the cone in his mouth. Only a couple of fumbles, and he is 100%. Reo is not as orally fixated as Cirrus, so it took him a while longer to go from only the top of the cone to lipping it. I would wait until he was at the top and made any wiggle movement with his lips near the cone, ever so slight, and he started to understand what I wanted and his upper lip got busier. Nimbus finally joined us. He was hesitant, as though he was not certain this still would work. He had a couple of long thinking spells, looking at the cone and not moving. He finally touched it. While he was slower getting the concept to begin with, once I asked him for just the top, I got just the top and the “put it in the mouth” all at once and consistently. I believe he watches and learns from the other horses (which studies have proven does happen).

The reason I am wanting them to put the cone in their mouth, is in a few days, I want them to pick it up from the ground and hand it to me. Then we can pick up other objects - like my hat when it gets knocked off on a ride. I need to read further in the book to be sure I am not out thinking myself on where I want to go. I have been teaching these three to bow onto one knee. Reo at 16.2 will be much easier to get on and off with that particular talent. I may add the clicker to what they already know about bowing and see if it increases the learning curve. Cirrus is the top pupil there as well. Nimbus seems to take longer initially and then jump ahead several steps. Reo is steady, easy, and takes it all in a steady flow.

The two alpha horses never offered to come up at all. Little MeToo stood at a respectful distance just outside the group and watched the entire time. She never came forward and asked for or demanded any grain. Tomorrow night, if she comes to watch again, I will invite her into the game. There was no fighting or quarreling again tonight and everyone took their honest turn and did not reach for grain they had not “earned.” When the grain was gone and I picked the bucket up to leave though, they all glared at each other, snorted “back off”, “so’s your mother”, and “I never liked you!” and scattered.

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©Copyright 2008 by Bethany Caskey. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Bethany Caskey’s website.

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Clicker Training 101

November 11th, 2008 | By Bethany Caskey
For going on two decades now (I don’t know why that seemed easier than saying 20 years, but it was) I have been interested in clicker training. When I first heard about it, I found a little metal frog clicker (that should prove how long ago it was) and attempted to use it on my old bay gelding with out much success.I have had a book here: CLICKER TRAINING FOR YOUR HORSE by Alexandra Kurland for several years as well and just never… you know… took the time.

For whatever reason while looking up another item on eBay, I came across a set of four training clickers for a really good price and FREE SHIPPING - next to CLEARANCE, one of my favorite things to see. The clickers arrived and have been here for a couple of weeks. I carried one around for several days to see if I could self-modify any negative behaviors I might exhibit, but it was obvious, even to me, that I did not have the basic principles understood.

I had been carrying the clicker book around with me after the clickers came. I would tuck it under my arm on errands in case anyone made me wait in line, and I would lay it on top of the ever present pile of books that surround me hoping I would have a lightning strike of motivation to open the cover.

Last night was the night. I cracked the cover and did not just look at the photos and close it. I read the beginning chapters. Interesting stuff! The dogs were at my feet, there were meat scraps from supper nearby, the clicker was within reach… let’s see, I need a “target”…. Ah, a dressage whip on the desk (don’t we all?) I had been meaning to take out to the horses. I rubbed the end of the whip tassel with some of the meat to make it smell interesting and placed it where it was just above Radar (the rat terrier’s) nose. He reached up to sniff the end and touched the tassel. I clicked and fed him a treat. He is definitely interested now. Bella, the wonder dog, approaches to see what we are doing. I put the end of the whip close, Radar touches the end, I click, he gets a treat, and Bella runs. She still has some baggage she is working through. She did come back and watch and was able to tolerate the clicks and finally got a treat when she did not bolt when I clicked.

By attempt number three, Radar has this game figured out. I put the whip out, he touches, I click, and he gets a treat. We vary the pattern. Once in a while I ask for a “sit” instead. Click and treat when he does. I move the end of the whip up and he stands up. Partway up and he sits up. Move it as he is reaching and he walks on his hind legs. He has most definitely decided touching the end of the whip means something good. I ran out of treats and we stopped playing for the night. The look in Radar’s eyes and the wheels churning in his little noggin was fascinating.

Now, what good is it teaching the dog to touch the end of a dressage whip I hear you ask? That’s the beauty part! It was not about the whip, it was about the positive association with the clicker. Today at lunch we had chicken strips and I peeled some of the breading off for dog treats and held the end of the whip out. Radar touched it immediately and got his treat. He remembered his lesson from the night before. Now I ask him to lay down by saying “Down” and putting a treat in my fingers with my hand curled away from him and my knuckles against the floor. The position of the treat should lower him to a laying position by chance eventually. I wait. He tries sit. No good. He dances. He digs at my fingers. No, that doesn’t work. He suddenly lays down in a sphinx position to study his puzzle and I click and give him the treat. Within less than two minutes, he is laying down on command. He was never taught that cue until today and it was that quick for him and best of all, he figured it out on his own. Bella was able to tolerate the clicker near her and that was enough for her to earn a treat until her confidence gets better and she can move on to better things.

Ever since I combined the horses into one herd, feeding any grain can get to be a pain, especially when it is muddy and slimy like it has been the last week. If I can’t wade out to separate them, the bully, pushy horses get the lion’s share of the grain and, of course, they are the ones who need it the least. Tonight I took my grain bucket out and placed a few piles of grain for the alphas to squabble over and took the rest up to the gate and called the lower ranking (all mine) over. A couple of them wanted in on the bickering, but Cirrus came over to check on me. I had an orange soccer cone about 6 inches high in my hand (but it could have been anything, just an interesting object), and the clicker and some feed in the other. Being curious, Cirrus reached out and touched the cone with his nose. I clicked and gave him the grain. When it comes to food, this boy is a genius! He ate his nibble, immediately touched the cone again, got a click and another serving. Now he is getting into it. He was like a lab monkey hitting the target and eating grapes. Bang bang bang. Now, brother Nimbus sees something is going on and comes over to watch. When he hears the click the first time, he flinches away and thinks it is the sound of the electric fence zapping him. Cirrus is busy playing the new food dispenser game and before long Nimbus decides the click is not aimed at him. He approaches cautiously and very carefully touches the cone. Click! He gets the grain. I hold the cone up for him again. He touches. Click. More grain. Nim decides to step back for a while and mull this situation over. Reo steps in. He blows very hard at the cone. Stretches and reaches to see what it is, but won’t quite touch it. I finally help, and let it tip towards him as he is reaching and he touches it accidentally. Click. Treat. Reo is not sure what happened, but you can see him studying the circumstance. I hold the cone out. He studies it. Cirrus comes in and touches the cone. I click and treat him. I offer the cone again. Now Reo understands. He touches the cone, gets his treat and is in on the game. Nimbus comes back in to play and would really like to move the other two off, because he thinks he has this game all solved and would like to take over, but he ends up by standing in line with them.

This is where it got really fascinating for me. Treating Cirrus can be like feeding a shark sometimes. He can get grabby and impulsive about his food and you want to be sure and see all your fingers come back with you. He was in control of this treat though, and never once did he get excited or too brusk. I had three horses that would have been chasing and biting and arguing over a bucket of feed, all standing at attention focused on that cone. And even though I had grain right there in my hand that they could see and smell, no one tried to get the grain directly. They had all figured out that touching the cone was the secret to getting grain. On top of that, when I would hold the cone out and one would touch it before the other two and got the click, the other two did not try to get his grain. They stood patiently and waited. They knew they had not touched the cone and earned it! How wild is that?

I was able to feed my horses without a mad stampede and fights. The bully horses thought the clicker was the electric fence zapping and left us alone and I had no intention of changing that impression. I put the little girls into the round pen and played the same game with them so they could have their grain in peace as well.

It took a long enough time for clicker training to sink in, but I am going to try to clicker train every thing I can find!

I can’t wait until Jet Ranger gets home so I can try it on him!

Posted in Uncategorized   Tagged: clicker training, Dogs, horses   

©Copyright 2008 by Bethany Caskey. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Bethany Caskey’s website.

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Tah-Dah

November 10th, 2008 | By Kathi Peters

With great “fan-fair” I produce for you my barn door!!! [Did I spell that right?? fan-fair??] This view of the barn is a favourite of mine and the double garden seat is where we sit and ponder and discuss on summer evenings around the fire pit. A glass of wine…some cheese and crackers…the crackling fire and the peaceful scene of the horses nibble on grass. I will remember this all when the snow flies and the winds howl this winter!

The loft door will be painted too, probably next spring…for now I need to finish up cleaning my gardens, put the garden pond to bed for the winter and set the Japanese Iris into the ground before frost.

And then I am ready to concentrate on studio work and commissions. It is that time of year!!

But so many had asked about a view of the barn door …here it is. A side note…our Maggie filly was sporting a yellow mustache on the day I did the back barn door…I am sure she was saying to the other horses “And I helped!!!”

©Copyright 2008 by Kathi Peters. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Kathi Peters’s website.

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Falling Leaves

November 8th, 2008 | By Alecia Underhill

Cheerio, my English Shepherd, is going to turn two years old this coming Thursday, and I thought I would celebrate her birthday by posting a recent picture here. We have a wonderful old maple tree in the side yard. I don’t know exactly what kind of maple it is, but it has smaller leaves than some of the others, and they make a particularly lovely carpet around the trunk when they fall off the tree. The color just sets off Cheerio’s coat beautifully.

Although she is nearly two and her “off switch” is much closer to being fully functioning, she still just loves to play, and our favorite game is to throw the jolly ball into the middle of a pile of leaves and watch her dive into the middle of the pile. She would emerge, leaves sticking out of the sides of her mouth with the jolly ball, reminding me of Linus jumping into the leaves with a wet sucker.

I’ve been spending all my painting time working on a large commissioned portrait, that I won’t be able to post here until it’s finished, and other studio time is being occupied by computer work. However, today was for more leaf raking. And what a day it was for working outside. It is so warm, I can’t believe it’s November. There is a small window of time to get the leaves raked before it snows. And I would rather not have to clean them all up in the spring. Growing up at my parents’ house, on their small wooded lot, the leaves would be ankle deep, and you could easily accumulate a pile four feet high from raking a small area. We would haul the leaves on a big piece of plastic sheeting and dump them at the curb and wait for the city truck to come and suck them all up. Our yard now, with it’s scattered mature trees, means I have a much bigger area to cover, and we tend to rake it in sections, depending on which trees drop their leaves first. At least our hauling method is the same, except there is no city truck to collect them. We just compost them ourselves along with the horse manure.

The big excitement of the day? Bluebirds! I saw a flock of five or six Eastern bluebirds in the yard this morning. I sure wish they would use the house I built for them, but I’m happy just to see them around once in a while.

And this last picture is my Morgan mare, Unique, looking cute wearing her fall “jewelry”. I found someone selling these at Equine Affaire last year, and I thought it was a wonderful alternative to the big, clunky hunter-beware bell that clips onto the saddle (that is, if your saddle has d-rings, which mine doesn’t, and those leather ties just don’t hold it securely.) So now Unique is fashionable on her fall trail rides.

©Copyright 2008 by Alecia Underhill. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Alecia Underhill’s website.

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The Filly Coming Five

November 5th, 2008 | By Kathi Peters

Yesterday I painted the barn doors…and I also finished up this 12 x 8″ watercolor of the filly. She has been the subject of my work a lot in her four short years. I was with her when she was born…and she is my helpmate when I am down doing barn chores. Maggie is always willing and curious to have her picture taken. A willing subject…but sometimes a little too willing and up close for long shots! But I LOVE HER EYE….. and so will be painting it often…and willingly!

My barn now sports a bright yellow door….as does Les’ work shed. I have started the back barn door and prepped the potting shed door…all to be painted yellow. When I finished up the front barn door and was watching Maggie watching me painting the door…..I saw the lovely red in her bay coat against the yellow door………..yup! This will be a new painting I am sure!

Today dawns a bit cloudy. But I need to get the barn doors done before the weather changes…I know it will turn cold and wintry soon. So the watercolor I am working on now of a Cardigan Corgi herding cattle will have to wait a bit.

©Copyright 2008 by Kathi Peters. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Kathi Peters’s website.

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Ms. Vicky

October 29th, 2008 | By Kathi Peters

Trevallion Victoria , our Welsh Cob mare, imported from Great Britain as a yearling, is 22 years old now. It is hard to realize that some many years have gone by…I first met Ms Vicky when she was a 3 year old, fresh and not very well behaved. She and her sister, Trevallion Fergie, where paired and then put together in a four in hand driven by Mr Stacy Lloyd of Berryville, VA. I groomed for the Lloyd’s each summer as they drove their Cobs on the Carriage Roads of Acadia National Park. The horses were boarded at Wildwood Stable. We drove every day…and Stacy [as he asked me to call him] taught me the intricacies of carriage driving and Auchenbach…..the German discipline of handling the reins of driving horses. That era is past.

Victoria now lives on our small Maine farm and teaches her daughter, Thistle Mead Margaret, how to behave…….in her queenly manner. For me lately , the ages of our horses [ one at 28 yrs, two at 22 years and the youngster coming 5] have made me sad. Time goes so fast..too quickly… but oh, the good memories we have!

When I haven’t been thinking so much about the past, I have been busy in the studio…working on updating my website and trying to get an email newsletter written. I have new works done, but haven’t uploaded them to my site……….. I have started another watercolor of our Ms Maggie. She always inspires me to paint!

Today was cold and windy out..clouds raced across the dark sky and the sun peeked in and out….a taste of what is to come….winter in full gear…..and I spent time painting our barn doors. I know I should have done it earlier when the weather was warm and sunny. The story of my life I guess!!!

©Copyright 2008 by Kathi Peters. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Kathi Peters’s website.

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Weaning time…

October 10th, 2008 | By Sue Steiner

Ricco at 1 week

I have been seperating mare and colt for short periods of time and am so pleased with what a luv bug Ricco is!! But the time has come to get more serious about weaning. With the way my barn, pasture and paddocks are set up I can’t do the complete, out of sight, weaning where the mare and foal are removed from sight and hearing of each other. It will have to be the side by side, across the fence method. Ricco is eating well, my mare looks good and the weather will be warm tomorrow so I don’t have to worry about Ricco getting chilled if he gets warm from walking the fence…. oh, this is the not so fun part of raising a colt! Well actually there WILL be one more not so pleasant, necessary procedure in his very near future when he becomes a gelding. Oh boy. We won’t think about that just yet. But soon. :)

To see my equine and animal art go to http://www.suesteiner.com

©Copyright 2008 by Sue Steiner. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Sue Steiner’s website.

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