Equestrian Journey Blog Hops 1 and 2

Oh geez, I really don't have time to post, I haven't even written about my last lesson(!!), and yet here I am going to try to do a dang blog hop.  Well, hopefully it goes okay enough.

First - What Will You Not Do?  

Achieve1dream asks “We all like to share on our blogs what we do with our horses and what we would like to do, but I want to know what you will NOT do.”

Well, I won't do things that are not in the interest of the horse.  I will not overwork them, I will not be unreasonable in my expectation.  I will not use gimmicks to train my horses.  I will not teach them dangerous tricks like rearing or striking.  I will not allow my horses to be free of consequences of their actions :)  

Not super fun answers, I know.  I guess I don't have a list of things I won't do other than the obvious.  I won't neglect my horses.  I won't abuse my horses (even harsh correction is not always abuse!).  I won't ignore my horses.  I won't live without my horses :D

Second -  Winter Tips Blog Hop

Achieve1dream asks "Do you have any winter tips to share?"

I have tips, not sure how helpful they can be.  

I strongly recommend slow feed hay nets for feeding hay.  Why?  It eliminates 95% any and all waste that is attempted by Appy.  He has no reservations about peeing and pooping on the hay and then being hungry and threatening to lose weight.  The slow feed hay nets eliminated all of that. 

For pelleted bedding, fill a 2.5 or 5 gallon water jug that you find in water coolers (avail for under $10 at Walmart) with hot water.  Open a bag of pellets in a wheelbarrow by cutting 3 sides of the bag so that it becomes a sheet of plastic.    Dump 2-2.5 gallons of hot water over the pellets.  Cover the pellets with the bag/sheet of plastic and leave for 5 mins.  It will steam the pellets and within 5 mins you will have fluffy bedding and no pellets.

If you don't have a water heater, surround your tank with foam insulation (or any kind of insulation).  Then take an aquarium bubbler/air pump, attach an aquarium air hose to the bubbler and the other end to a rock or other piece of semi-heavy thing and place in the bucket.  The foam will reduce the time the ice forms on the side of the tank/bucket and the bubbler will keep the top from freezing over.  Note, bigger tank needs bigger bubbler.

Scoop as much frozen poo as possible, especially if it is on gravel.  What you may think is deep muck can very likely be 2-5 inches (or more) of poo slop and the gravel will still be hard packed and dry underneath.  The more poo you scoop, the less mud you will encounter.  

Hope this helps someone, those are the best winter tips I have!  Let's see how long I can keep up the blog hops :)