Windtree Farm Doings and my personal thoughts
Course open to groups or individuals
A variety of obstacles for both beginner and advanced riders are available to school. Call ahead to book a time. $15 per horse and rider combination. Coaching available or bring your own.
Cody dies at age 26
Sadly, my son's pony Cody had to be humanely euthanized due to pulmonary embolism. Cody taught me a lot about trimming a foundered horse. He lived a useful life many years after the vet told me he should be euthanized due to laminitis. He is buried on a hill with a view. (sans feet of course! They're in the freezer. Stay tuned for photos of Cody's feet on my Case Studies and Founder page.)
View of the back of the house from the pasture fence
We have lived on the farm now for 25 years. This house is the second one we built on part of the original 52 acres. We sold the other house and moved into this one in 2000. It has 3 big bedrooms and a garage apartment. We also have an apartment in the barn.
My thoughts on.......
Stabling: I think horses should be out 24/7 but have access to a run-in shed. HOWEVER, sometimes you need to put your horse in a stall due to going to a show or horse event which requires being stabled. Stabling creates stress in the horse which shows up as excess stomach acid which can cause ulcers. If I plan to take my horse to someplace where turn out is limited to my riding and stalling is necessary, I try to get my horse used to being in the stall at home by feeding him there and keeping him in the stall for a short time, building up the time until he can handle an over-nite. For the extra stress, I try to be sure my horse has some magnesium added to his feed and I also use Rescue Remedy.
Feeding: I feed whole oats mixed with rice bran, and ground flax seed (8 oz per day per horse) and I soak the feed and feed at ground level. If my horse will likely sweat a lot due to hard running (like fox hunting) I will mix some electrolytes in with the feed. I feed a good quality grass hay (orchard grass). I learned the hard way that grass alone will not sustain a horse in hard work but with horses that are not being worked hard, they may only get grass or hay and a very little amount of grain. With easy keepers, I try to avoid feeding grain all together. My Pasos need very little to no grain.
Boots: I use Old Mac G2's and I will use them when needed or when there is the possibility that my horse may get a puncture wound from stepping on a cut-over tree. As I have had to deal with several puncture wounds, I know that it is much better to avoid one with boots than to have to heal the hoof after sustaining an injury. I have tried other brands of boots but nothing stays on and allows natural hoof function like the G2's. They must fit tight and they do have a tendency to stretch so I sometimes will keep two pairs at different sizes for my horse that has just been trimmed or when her foot is a bit bigger from needing a trim.
Feeding: I feed whole oats mixed with rice bran, and ground flax seed (8 oz per day per horse) and I soak the feed and feed at ground level. If my horse will likely sweat a lot due to hard running (like fox hunting) I will mix some electrolytes in with the feed. I feed a good quality grass hay (orchard grass). I learned the hard way that grass alone will not sustain a horse in hard work but with horses that are not being worked hard, they may only get grass or hay and a very little amount of grain. With easy keepers, I try to avoid feeding grain all together. My Pasos need very little to no grain.
Boots: I use Old Mac G2's and I will use them when needed or when there is the possibility that my horse may get a puncture wound from stepping on a cut-over tree. As I have had to deal with several puncture wounds, I know that it is much better to avoid one with boots than to have to heal the hoof after sustaining an injury. I have tried other brands of boots but nothing stays on and allows natural hoof function like the G2's. They must fit tight and they do have a tendency to stretch so I sometimes will keep two pairs at different sizes for my horse that has just been trimmed or when her foot is a bit bigger from needing a trim.