Only Equine

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Horse is For Sale

I have decided to put my Appaloosa mare up for sale, it is a tough decision, but I'm no longer riding and am moving on in life. I want her to go to someone that will take care of her and treat her well so she can have a happy and healthy life. Shes been in professional training since march 2013 until now.. so 9 months , she jumps, does her changes, is very well mannered in the saddle and on the ground. Also has amazing bloodlines for breeding, has not been bred ever. Is registered with the ApHC

Pedigree: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/windy+sea+breeze

DeeDee

FOR SALE

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Who should I breed my mare to??

Breeding my Appaloosa mare has been a dream of mine since I got her when she was 6 months old, she is now 8 and doesn't have a show career.. but is fantastic to ride, has amazing colouring and hall of fame bloodlines on both side. I was planning on breeding her last season but nothing was working out for me so I decided not to. I had the stallion and breeding contracts in my hand ready to sign too but I decided not to. Which Im glad I waited because I love riding her, she is a 2004 15hand appaloosa mare which I ride her English hunter/jumper. A few sires I have in mind are:

My little Secret:
2009
15.3hand bay with white blanket appaloosa stallion, standing at Char O lot ranch.
Stud fee:$1000
Saudi Arabia prince owns him
3X world champion already, his grandsire "The Secret" is also syndicated

Acore:
2005 16.1 hand
Bay canadian warmblood stallion
Jumper/Grand Prix

Westporte:
Westporte is an imported Hanoverian, standing 16.3 hands, dark bay, has competed hunters, jumpers and has produced some fancy hunters and champion offspring.

There are many others to choose from.. I definitely want to breed her to another appaloosa to see what I get, I have a few foals that I want from her also to continue her bloodlines. My search will continue....

-Meaghan S.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Beating the summer heat

Hot and humid summers can be tough on humans and even tougher on horses, horses rely on us to choose how they deal with the heat.

Horses can live outside 24/7 if provided with 2 very important things: Fresh water at all times, and shade, somewhere they can go to get out of the direct sunlight and heat. As for water it must be clean and drinkable, all horses in the paddock must have access to it, no matter the height of the horse or pony. If horses are stalled at night, it is advised that they have 2 water buckets as they will drink more in the heat. Buckets get slimy after a day or 2 so also dumping buckets out and scrubbing them is a must. Slim build up will result in bacteria ingested by the horse. Provide free choice mineral/salt licks in pastures unless they are in the horses stalls.

Shade can be in the form of large trees, and or run in shelters big enough for all horses in get out of the heat together, as they normally travel in packs. Providing UV ray scrim sheets/ light summer fly sheets will also protect horses from the bug bites and the elements, Fly masks are also a good idea so horses don't get bug bites around their faces and then their faces swell up most times.

Horses that have light faces and or light pink noses may need sunscreen as well applied everyday they are outside and or exposed to the sun. Chesnut horses with pink noses are very susceptible to burns on their noses. In the hot and humid summer months horses maybe be left inside during the day to avoid the UV rays and turned out at night to be more comfortable while being outside.

If possible and the weather is decent open all barn doors and windows to allow airflow through the barn to cut down on the heat being trapped inside. Installing fans on each horses stall front is advisable if possible to give each horse its own cooling system when stalled to avoid over heating. While being stalled horses need access to hay and fresh clean water at all times and electrolytes would be advisable too to encourage the horse to drink in the humid weather.

Be fair to your horse and avoid working him/her during the high temperatures, ride very early morning or later at night to avoid the humidity. If you must work your horse only ride for about 20-25 minutes at a time with more walk times in between other excersises. Effective warming up and cooling down are crucial in the summer times, hosing horses off after a workout will help bring down their body temperature and reduce heavy breathing. Don't let your horse stand still to cool down, keep him walking until his breathing returns to normal.

During the summer keep an eye on your horses drinking habits and make sure he is taking in lots of water to stay hydrated to avoid vet bills.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Find a Boarding barn....

Check you the barn yourself:

A visit lets you see the facility and level of care for the horses. You should have a list of questions to ask the owners or the manager running the farm. The facility need not be fancy but must be safe for horses to reside at. Things to check:

Fencing
All gates and fences should be in good repair and not broken and functional, Fencing doesn't have to be 4 boards or no climb mesh. Electric tape can be just as good as long as it works, barbed wire is not acceptable.

Stabling
Check stalls for dangers like holes in corners ,broken boards and protruding nails, look for fire hazards and exposed wires and any signs of a fire extinguishers and smoke alarms. There should be clean stalls, clean water buckets. Also take a deep breathe in... you shouldn't smell ammonia.. if you do.. that is a sign of poor ventilation.

Feeding
Ask how often horses are fed and how much, and if they have a custom feed plan for each horse that comes in for boarding. When peaking into the feed room you should see lots of grain and different kinds and supplements stored in a rodent proof containers. There should be a chart with each horses name and what it gets for AM/PM feeding time. Check the hay.. it should be leafy and green and sweet smelling not dark brown, dusty, course or stemmy.

Turnout
Paddocks that are grazed down to no grass and muddy suggest over crowding of horses in them. Paddocks should have a good source of water, space between paddocks will prevent aggression along fence lines.

Amenities
Make sure the farms arenas meet your needs and that footing is maintained and appropriate for your discipline. Keep in mind that no barn is perfect , pick the amenities you want and ones that are just an added bonus.

Horses
Look at the condition of the horses.. they should be fat and look healthy, not sore. They should be relaxed and happy.

20 Questions to ask:

1) How long have you been in operation?
2) What id your turnover rate?
3) How often do you feed?
4) What do you feed?
5) How often and where are horses turned out?
6) Do you require the use of a specific vet and farrier?
7) When are horses de wormed?
8) Do you require boarded horses to have negative coggins?
9) Does someone live on the property? how often are horses checked on?
10) Are there days where i cant visit or ride my horse?
11) Do you require the use of a specific trainer?
12) Can someone blanket my horse if im not there?
13) What services are not included in the board price?
14) Where can i store my tack?
15) Do you have a boarding contract?
16) Can I see a copy of the barn rules and regulations?
17) Do you provide trailering?
18) Do you have liability insurance?
19) Can you provide names and numbers for references?
20) If there a waiting list?

Good luck and have fun choosing a place for your horse to live at.
:)

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

An Equestrian Future

Hello fello Equestrians

I have been thinking for a while about doing a blog post about myself and my personal equestrian experience so far (up to 2012) so lets get started...

DeeDee winter 2011

Back in December 2006 my Dad bought DeeDee as a weanling as a christmas present for myself and my sister, my dad and i trained her, and i was doing riding lessons at a different barn, she was always strung out on sweet feed, she was a good horse though, fairly easy to train. At 1 year and 7 months we moved her to the barn I was taking lessons at. At that time it was the top training barn in the area. I broke her myself with little help from the coaches at the barn, and she was really easy to break, I was the first one to get one her and there were days where we had our good times and our bad. I kept her there for 5.5 years and I had alot of good times and bad , which was all part of training and I over came alot of confidence issues with my self as a rider.

September 26 2011 DeeDee

The summer of 5.5 years came and I had made the decision to leave the barn and go to a smaller private barn, it got to be too busy and a big lesson barn. On August 1st I loaded up my horse and went to a smaller barn just about 5 minutes away from the barn I was at. I was really busy with school and being in my last year of college I just needed to focus on school and not so much riding. So I just wanted my mare to have a year of light work and I didn't have to worry about lessons and such. It was a good year for my horse to just learn to be a horse instead of being at a big show barn (hunter/jumper). Exactly a year later while at the small barn, it went up for sale, so I made another decision to find another barn to go to.. and now that i was done school.. i wanted to get back into some serious riding and working with horses. so i moved to a barn that wasn't so far out into the country. The person leasing the barn wasn't the greatest, but new people took over as of (may 1st 2012) and it all worked out, I now have a chance to ride and show in many difference areas and expand my riding skills and meeting tons of good equestrian and horse people and also travel and look at stallions in the states for breeding opportunities. Im definitely looking forward to the up coming opportunities. :)

DeeDee with her eye's closed, my sister is holding her

Supportive parents

Helloo Fello Equestrians

Every kid has a dream they want.. whether it be small or big, or within school or in sports. It is hard when as a kid/young teen you have a sports goal in mind and you want to achieve it and your parents aren't exactly supportive about it. That has been my biggest challenge so far... Horseback riding is one of the most expensive and dangerous sports out there... its not like baseball or football or soccer where there is a small ball involved.. we work with 1000lb animals with a mind of there own. My parents agreed to enroll my sister and I in riding lessons about 9ish years ago.. it was all uphill from there, I was hooked from the moment I got on that school horse. My parents were ok with us riding in lessons because there was always supervision the problems came when my dad bought my sister and I a 6 month old appaloosa filly named DeeDee. Horseback riding is a very expensive sport on a monthly basis it can cost anywhere from $350-$3000+ a month.

one of the first rides on my own horse, i was terrified!

All costs and dangers aside kids in todays day and age should be enrolled in either a school sport or a sport outside of school it keeps kids active and social. Having supportive parents in anything you do is helpful in away that keeps kids motivated to continue trying their best and achieving and setting more goals for them selves. My dad in particular was the one who bought the horse and has been there for me every step of the way. In the beginning he financially supportive my dream and now that im old enough to work I pay for everything. My dad and I would go out to the barn a few days a week and see my horse, because she was only 6 months old at the time there was a lot of training to be done with my horse. Of course we had our ups and our downs, but we spent countless hours working with my mare when she was young to get her the perfect horse for myself and my sister to ride now. I had only been riding for about 2+ years before my dad bought the horse... and knowing nothing about how to train a young horse or much about on the ground work, it all turned out ok. I remember to this day going out to the barn in the winter in -20 degree weather afraid of my horse because she was young and unpredictable but i knew i had to work with her because she needed a lot of ground work, respect and just general training to become the horse she is today. Back when my dad considered buying my horse, my mom immediately said no.. because of the costs and it was considered a "dangerous animal" she didnt want us around the horse at all except in lessons when we would have lots of supervision. In the end my dad made the right decision to buy us an exceptionally well bred appaloosa filly.

My dad and DeeDee in the early days

Today: May 7th 2012

She is currently 7 years old and broke to ride English, has fantastic bloodlines and I'm planning on continuing her bloodlines by breeding her in a year or so. From all the training back when she was a yearling and up she was fairly easy to train, she had her moments but we got over those and she has been a dream to ride ever since.

these were the days when i was afraid of her..

There were days were i would get no where with her and just would think it was a waste of time and money, many days i cried and wanted to give up riding, training her.. everything to do with horses. Im glad i stuck it out. I now have the chance to grow as a rider,trainer and horse women in general all with the help of the new people at my barn. :)

DeeDee was almost 3 here

Today at 7 years old.

I thank both my parents for being supportive and sticking with my through thick and thin.. good times and the bad, we've pulled through some really rough times with the horse but made it. I gladly thank them for that. :)