Saying Good-Bye to Old Friends.....

It is with great sadness that I write this.
We reached a most difficult decision in early September, after much consideration we decided that our beloved Kashmir had reached the end of his journey here with us. Unwilling to allow him to struggle  through yet another winter, being a TB and all, we picked a date and called the vet. So hard for my daughter to come to grips with ending the life of a dear friend and partner of almost 9 years.  That decision of course presented us with yet another issue, Ruckus. As those of you who follow this  blog ( which God knows are not many) know, Ruckus is a blind horse we introduced in April who is partnered with Kashmir.
Ruckus was the most wonderful horse addition we have made in years and he quickly stole our hearts with his courage and strength while battling ulcer after ulcer in both eyes as his journey into blindness came on very quickly. And so another difficult decision was made that these two gentlemen in horse form should take their exit from this world together with Kashmir leading the way of course as he had all summer long.
On November 11, 2011, Kashmir and Ruckus left us with as much dignity that can be provided in death in the arms of their loved ones shortly after 1pm with a light wind blowing in the first snowfall of Winter 2011.

A most difficult time for me as you know what you are doing is appropriate given the horses age and struggles but to watch your child grieve in so hard. As most mothers know any amount of pain that we could take from them and bare ourselves, we would if able.

A quote that I came across during this years seemed quite appropriate.

Don't be sad because its over, be happy because it happened.

Ruckus and Kashmir

Just another one of Megan's fantastic photos of our boys together. To preview some of Megan's photography go to her web site and have a look. Photography is just one of Megan's talents she is also Natural Hoof Care Trimmer. She took this picture just recently while farm sitting for us.

http://www.meghanbalogh.com/

The Arrival of Ruckus....

On April 23, 2011, Ruckus arrived at StoneHedge. Ruckus is a rather large TB that is going blind, at only 14 years young I decided to take on Ruckus and his problems as I was so drawn to him words can not explain it. He is almost completely blind in his left eye and has only approx. 40% vision in his right eye.
Part of the reason for the pull I think is that Ruckus is well known to us. Actually a former competitor of Kashmir, when I heard he was listed for Free on Trent Riders I put out a call to his current owners and made arrangements to see him ASAP.  Not sure why we even went to see him as I already knew that his new home would be right here with us keeping Kashmir company in his last year with us.
Ruckus has been the easiest horse to transition into his new home and he has such a sweet personality. As soon as you call to him his head pops up and he saddles on over to check you over for possible treats but never pushy just a quick once over to ensure you aren't packing something that might just be for him. He and Kashmir were quick to bond and spend a great deal of time together often they can be seen in the pasture field with Ruck's head resting on Kashmir's back. We aren't sure what his future holds of how long his stay with us at StoneHedge will be, but I assure you he will take his last breath here on the farm and never face a trip to slaughter or to auction. A blind horse has purpose, desire, courage, and substance as we see it.
This is Ruckus. Photo Taken by Megan Balogh Photography.

Wow....A whole year passed.

 Wow... I cannot believe a whole year has passed since I updated things here... but perhaps that is a testament to my level of busy.

Slow feeding is going incredibly well and we are still at it .... just replaced 3-4 of the bags we had been using since October 2009. I could not be more pleased with the results both in the horses themselves as well as is our savings..... there continues to be virtually no waste what so ever. The horses have managed to maintain healthy weights ( some a little too healthy) while others are faring well.  We have modified the outdoor hard sided slow feeders and continues to be a challenge with our young Peach ( she loves to bite, chew, paw, kick and challenge anything that gets in the way of getting her mouth full faster.

On the home front we are all well and in good health. I have made some new Years resolutions and yes I intend to keep them this year. I did take lessons last year from Mike Whitley right up until December when the weather just would not cooperate any longer or perhaps I am just wussy. I do plan to become deeply involved in Parelli this year and this is my year to determine whether anything can be done with Peach of perhaps she needs to be sold to someone who has more confidence.  This plan all hinges on Zoë our lovely and charming who now lives at home once again and has made endless promised about her plans for Peach. We will have to see what the future holds. Sheldon has also made a commitment to getting involved in all things Parelli and it is my intention to get him some really good safe riding lessons to build his confidence.

The dogs are great, and we sadly have been reduced to one cat. I like to think that Moo has found a old ladies lap to curl up in and enjoy life without interference from dogs but that in itself is probably a testament to my grasp on Reality.

We did acquire a new horses in April of 2010 that I have named Tallulah Belle " Tally " in short. She also is quite a girl at not quite 15 hands she has the horrendous job of keeping Kashmir happy and that is tough, such a persnickity old guy he can be. Tally has soft eyes and a kind heart ... we had a rough first year with her with an injury to her right front and an abscess from a tiny stone that took up residence in her hoof but I am really looking forward to getting to know her better and hopefully getting some riding time in on her as well this year. Her she is. I must remember to look for a nicer picture this one really does her no justice.

Until next time..... this is how I see it.

Thinking of Haiti.

I can't help but feel a pull towards Haiti, at a time when its country people are suffering such an epic catastrophic event. I have looked into going but our disaster relief efforts are concentrating on search and rescue currently... soon to be changing over to support and relief. This is heart wrenching to watch, just so sad. I implore all of you to give what you can, be it money, thoughts and prayers.

It saddens me a great deal to think of their animals in this already  impoverished country.

Thank God we were born in Canada.

The Herd.... as we see them

I thought I should introduce the main characters in our blog as most of what I write will pertain to them. We purchased our farm in 2003 and haven't looked back since. Having horses in your back yard is probably one of the best things any horse lover can ask for. Lots of work but lots of fulfillment as well. We have had as many horses as 7 and a few as 3 but currently we have 4 horses with us and they are long timers who will remain with us indefinitely. N0n-horsey people are always so amazed at the fact that horses have such different personalities but they are in fact like children. Very individual with there own likes, dislikes and personality quirks.

We will start with the youngest Peach, also known as Kacy's Georgia Peach.Lets just say

Peach is not exactly a Peach and has been one of the most trying horses I have ever owned. Unfortunately most of her personality comes from us as she was born here at Stonehedge and our lack of experience raising foals is really showing right about now. She is absolutely gorgeous but headstrong, willful and challenging. Last December she cow kicked me while I was giving her a rub dead centre in the abdomen and since then we ( mostly me) have been working through some confidence issues. I have had several people tell me I should just get rid of her but I cannot give up on her as in some ways it would be giving up on myself, as I see it.

Scout a beautiful Canadian cross mare of 6 years. Large boned and stout is a apparently a trail master and that was the reason why I bought her although I must admit we have been as far as the round pen and that is it .... way more to do with my confidence level than mine. I purchased her from a dear friend with trail in mind and really haven't given her much of a chance yet. Scout is soft eyed, confident with a bit of spook in her and this year I plan to tackle my fears, take some lessons, boost back up my confidence and RIDE. Scout also happens to be Peach's barn mate and is very good a keeping Peach in line.

Our next is the love of my horse life, he has stolen my heart and I still don't know why. I see so much potential in Jack ( Cowboy's Kilobar Jack) and once again I have been told again and again to get rid of him as he will never amount to much. We have invested a great deal of money and time in training Jack but he is right brained extrovert ( as defined by Parelli) which means he is a react now think later kind of guy. Better and better on the ground not so good under saddle but again giving up on him is not an option. Jack did not have the best start in his life and has seen the hard side of a 2x4 in his past, so he came to us with his bags packed full of issues. We have come a long way together and need to go much further. ( Jack's picture is at the top.)

Lastly is our old Man..... Kashmir. Kash is a rescue we got through an organization called, "Ontario Horse Rescue" brought from Vulcan Alberta through another rescue called the " Mitchell centre for Equine Rescue and Education". He was a left over from a previous truck load that had someone interested but not enough to visit him so we ended up with kind of by default, he claimed me when I said to one of the rescue workers what about that one over there and she said" oh he is sick and depressed, not really suitable for a young girl". I walked over to the other paddock ducked the fence and slowing walked toward him. He was completely indifferent to my presence, a large wound on his neck from a bite he sustained on the trip from the west that was infected and being treated with antibiotics, underweight and depressed. I spoke softly to him to see if I could see anything in his eyes, there was nothing..... they looked empty, beaten and dead. He then turned into me and laid his head into my arms as if saying to me. "please, take a chance". I paid his adoption price and he was officially ours. I was so happy, smiling ear to ear, I had bought Zoë her first very own horse. Wait a second, we don't even know if he can be ridden. Well that was April of 2002, he is approx. 26+ years and he gave my daughter the best horse years of her young life. They have trailed, jumped, gamed and so much more together. Kashmir is officially retired now after he blew his sesamoid in the fall of 2007. He is a happy, healthy OTTB ( his tattoo cannot be read) who I really wish could talk as I am positive he has some amazing stories to tell.

We are also home to a couple of cats, we try not to talk about it as these were my daughter's idea and she no longer lives at home but the cats are still here...... and we have 3 amazing dogs. One of which is a Great Dane we rescued in July of this year. But that is a story for another day.

Hay Bags

Just posting a few pictures of the hockey net hay bags that we have improvised. We have 3 of them The one from Walmart is really holding up well and you can fit an entire small square bale in it. The one from Canadian tire is not holding up as well but we divided this one and made two bags out of it ..... the second I made about 2 weeks after the other so it is much easier to load. The hardware is also pictured here.

*******Please do not use small mesh hay bags if your horses have shoes. The mesh is small enough to catch a corner of the shoe and could cause injury.*******