Icy Paddocks

We recently had some freezing rain here and it has brought up a subject that I thought would make good blog material. Our alley leading from the barn to the paddocks is covered in ice. We didn't have salt handy at the time of the storm, lesson learned about preparation there, and so had to bring the horses in across that ice.
I am not a timid person when it comes to handling and riding my horses. A fact that gets me in trouble with my girl quite often. However, ice is one thing that makes me very nervous, both on the ground and riding. I am always concerned that one of my animals will fall and hurt a leg or ribs ect...
For that reason, I try to make sure there is always an ice free path to water and pasture for the horses to get around without having to cross ice. My arabians are quite sure-footed but the ice really makes them nervous. Of course, when horses get nervous, they don't think well, the instincts kick in and the flee instinct is especially strong at that time.
We made it thru the few days without any injuries but one boarder's horse fell four times. A fact that I was fairly disappointed about. The person brought the horse in and out of the barn repeatedly after she fell the first time. We love this person who is a dear friend, but sometimes people need to use more common sense. She should have done something different after the first fall. Now the poor horse is so scared of falling, she won't come out of her stall.
We had to really salt the alley to make it safe, and shoveled dirt on that. We don't salt the paddocks as the salt is hard on hooves and so we don't want them to have to stand and walk in it more than neccessary for their safety. I am told that barn lime applied after salt melts the ice will provide traction and dry up the water from the melted ice. Will try that next time.
So today, I will be chippin and shoveling ice from the alley now that we got it melted and workable. Just another learning experience in our horse education!

Winter

Winter is upon us and it's time to start winter feeding and care for the ponies. We went and got wood shavings yesterday for our stalls. We get our shavings free from a local pallet factory, they make great bedding. They are absorbant and keep the barn from smelling also. We have to clean both shelters every day now as manure freezes and we don't want our horses walking on it as they can turn an ankle or get bruises on their soles.
We keep them in at night as it gets very cold and we don't want them losing weight trying to stay warm. The manure has to be piled by the barn and will be spread in the spring as it jams the spreader when it's frozen. We have the farrier coming to look at a couple one more time for the winter. Have shoes on one horse that have to come off and want him to look at our boarder's horse. He has a front foot that's turned out and we want to see if some corrective trimming will fix it.
We are trying to get our own riding club started so that we can get the horse council to help us put in trails across the road on some state land. That project is now under way and if we can get it done, we may put some campsites in the back pasture for horse camping this summer. We would also be able to host a trail ride if we get the trails in so hope that goes well.
The horses are doing well, my arabian has put on weight and is rounding out now and looking great. So far, all is going well here at serenity ranch.

longeing

We have a new boarder at our place. A young lady named Sam. She has a nice quarterhorse gelding named Grey. A friend of Betsy's trained him and seems like she did a good job with him. Trouble is, Sam is a novice with horses, she is learning how to tack up, and we are helping her with her riding. She is a little nervous as most beginners are, and she has a green horse, which I really disagree with. I am a firm believer that a green rider should buy an older more experienced horse who can teach them what they need to know.
Sam takes Grey out in the round pen and "longes" him, and I think she is just letting him run one way and then the other with no idea of why she is really in there with him to begin with. If she is allowing him to be the boss in the round pen, it will transfer to other areas and he will not respect her. Yesterday she couldn't get his headstall on to go for a ride.He's been fine to this point, so I am thinking she is letting him call the shots when she's handling him and he's decided he's going to be the boss.
This happens a lot with people who see someone longeing a horse and think they can do it too. It looks easy if the horse is a seasoned longer, but the purpose of longeing is to establish respect for you in the horse. For him to learn to respond to and respect your commands and to learn gaits and direction and such. I see so many people letting horses do what they will in the round pen and then wonder why they don't listen well on the trail or in the arena.
Longeing is an aquired skill. It takes time to learn to do it well. I am still not as good at it as I want to be, but I am always working on my technique. I have a good trainer who is helping me with my technique but I always focus on making sure I am giving the horse the right signals. If you don't know what you're doing in the round pen, you can do more harm than good. I suggest learning from someone who is proficient at it before you try it yourself, and start with seasoned horses who will help you develope your technique not green horses who will only show you how much you have to learn!