The Riding/Training - Where We Find Ourselves Right Now

I'm going to outline where each horse is this summer in their training and what we are working on.


Gus - is a 16-year-old OTT that we have owned since he was four and pretty fresh off the track.  He has been a great horse for Jeff; he stays pretty sound and has just had his hocks done.  He has had a few days of light work and now is ready for actual work.  Jeff's back has been a little nudgy since bucking all that hay, so he has just done some light riding.  I have been trying to do more with him - some dressage lessons and hill work - but honestly, our horses usually only get light work by normal standards.

Elvis - is a 7-year-old Quarter Horse that has had a string of injuries and has not been completely sound for almost two years.  So he is green and unruly even though he is old enough to know better.  He has just had his sniffles done and is on light work at the moment which actually seems to be helping his soundness issues.

Prima - is an 18-year-old Oldenburg mare that was retired from dressage several years ago with chronic navicular disease.  She has been a brood  mare and produced two nice foals for us.  New treatments have arisen since her retirement, so we decided to try to do one round of PRP and shock wave to see if that could help her lameness.  She's pasture sound but looks off when ridden in a frame. Her final shock wave was two weeks ago, so the vet will be back to check her next week to see if there has been any improvement.  Right now she is on pasture rest and walking exercise only.

Flicka - is a 9-year-old Swedish mare that has had soundness issues and that we have been using as a brood mare.   When ridden in the past she has showed inflammation in the C-6 and SI areas of her neck and back.  There are no skeletal changes or injuries to the bone.  We tried injections, conditioning with and without a rider, rest. But the problems have always come back.  This summer we are doing a lot of long line and lunge work with her to try to get her going correctly without a rider - to use her back and neck correctly.  I don't think she has ever done this since we have had her.  I think she was injured some way in the past and has always braced and compensated and caused herself more pain.  She is starting to be able to supple and bend while staying forward, which is an improvement.

PJ - is a 4-year-old Oldenburg mare that we bred here at the farm.  She has her first foal at her side this summer. We will be presenting them both next week at the Oldenburg inspection and when  the foal is weaned, she will be started under saddle.

Bella - is a 2-year-old Hanoverian filly that we bred here.  She is learning to have a bit in her mouth, and to stand tied; and practicing bathing, clipping, leading and trailering - all skills learned earlier.  Since we made the decision not to show this year, we have to invent reasons to do these things.

Tempi - is a 1-year-old Oldenburg filly that we bred.  She is learning to stand tied and trailer by herself.  She is practicing bathing, clipping and leading.

Tia - is PJ's foal. She is a German Riding Pony.  She hasn't had bath yet.  I'm going to try that today.  We will have to do it for real on Tuesday as the inspection is Wednesday morning.

This is where we are with the training/exercise needs of our horses.  It's almost a full-time job!!

The Riding/Training - Tia Learns to Hop On and Off the Trailer

Tia and PJ will be presented at the Colorado Oldenburg Inspection next Wednesday.  In preparation for that, my friend and neighbor, who is also my trainer, helped me load them on and off the trailer yesterday morning.  PJ was pretty good about it, which surprised me a little.  She's only four and she hasn't been in a trailer for months.

Tia is her own little pony!  She has reactions to things that surprise me.  Like when I gave PJ her first bath after Tia was born.   Tia reacted as if I were butchering her mom.  PJ loves her bath and water in general - so she was not feeding off PJ in any way.  Tia ran all around the pasture crying and every once in a while she would look back at us in horror - like she couldn't stand to watch.  Eventually the drama subsided.  Next week they will both have to get baths and be braided.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.

When PJ hopped on the trailer, Tia bolted from the noise.  She seemed to lose sight of the fact that mom was unperturbed, standing quietly in the trailer.  Since Tia likes to go first, not follow mom, we took PJ off the trailer to put her on first.  She went on and off a few times and when there was need only of a minimum  of pushing and coaxing, we put them both on together.

When it was all over and we were on our way back to the foal pen, Tia had a bit of a melt down.  Well, temper tantrum, really.  I'm not sure what that was about except she seemed to want to have the last word about who was in charge of her.  It didn't work out the way she had hoped.

The Food - Spicy Grilled Shrimp with Peaches and Chard

I found this recipe on-line a few days ago and saved it for the weekend.

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12700-grilled-shrimp-with-wilted-spinach-and-peaches

It seemed a little fussy for me - so I used ordinary ground spices  - except for the fresh ginger - and used Swiss chard from the garden  instead of spinach.  I had cardamom pods and I opened them and used the seeds whole in the rub. We also just grilled the shrimp in the broiler.  It was delicious, fast and easy.

I am always looking for new flavor combinations in a dishes that are not belabored.  I don't have a spice mill - so I had to modify this- but I think I may look for one the next time I am at a mall or kitchen outlet store.

The Grass/Land - Haying All Done

8/18

The crew from a neighboring farm came after work and helped us bring in hay until 10:00 at night for two nights in a row.  It is such hard work.  We rented a smallish, low-sided U-Haul trailer in Kiowa and pulled it behind our pick-up.  They also use their pick-up truck.  There were 1008 bales in all.  380 80-85 pounders from our 20 acres and 628 60-65 pounders from our neighbor's field.  It had all dried out nicely and only got a little sprinkled on at the very end.  It was not enough to  matter.  We have the west end of the loft opened today and a dry breeze blowing to air out any lingering dampness.

The first night I only had water for the crew.  I wasn't thinking clearly that they were coming straight from work without  dinner. I did have a fresh pan of brownies to offer them before they went home and some fruit juice.  Not very satisfying, I'm afraid.  The second night I was better prepared with pizzas and a case of Coke.

It rained buckets as soon as we closed the barn door.  Without their help we would have had no useable hay.

The Grass/Land - Haying 2015

7/12 - One field is baled, the other is cut.  It is supposed to be dry overnight tonight, so they will continue to dry out.  Tomorrow, after their regular ranch work,  the crew will come to pick up bales and put them in the barn for us.   We have rented a trailer.  Jeff stacked all the old hay (200 bales) in the front of the hay loft where we will use it first this fall.  He is moving the dusty and broken hay out to the feeders in the corrals and loafing sheds. The horses probably won't be very interested in it, as long as they  have access to the good grass.  But as long as it doesn't rain it will keep out there.  And that in the loafing sheds will stay dry even if it does rain a little.

7/14 -  We got the baled hay in last night.  There were sprinkles, but I don't think enough moisture to cause damage.  There were 635 bales - give or take - so that is wonderful!   The hay that has been cut and is still lying in the field got a little wet as well.  Time will tell if they will be over this morning to bale it.  Storms are supposed to roll in here today at noon.  

The Grass/Land - Haying 2015

They started swathing our hay yesterday.  It hasn't rained so far.  Hopefully, they can finish here today and the rain will hold off until we get it dried, baled and stacked in the barn.   If you were not inclined to prayer, farming would convert you.  

The Food - Gluten Free Southern Fried Chicken

As I was cleaning up the mess from making fried chicken, (There's always such a mess when I do it!) it occurred to me that I had hit upon a pretty good recipe that I can actually eat and enjoy.  So I am publishing it here - mostly so I don't lose track of how I did it.  It started with a recipe from a North Carolina restaurant that was featured on The Chew this week.  I only had to change a few things to make it user friendly for me.  So If you also cannot eat many grains or cow's milk products - it might work for you as well.

BRINE
6 tea bags
2 cups boiling water
3/4 cup of sugar
1 cup salt
a pinch of baking soda
6 cups cold water

Mix all the ingredients together, except the cold water.  Stir until sugar, soda and salt are dissolved.  Add the cold water.  Place the cut-up chicken in a bowl and cover with the brine.  Let it soak for at least 1/2 hour.  If soaking for more than a 1/2 hour, you should probably refrigerate.

FRIED CHICKEN
1 chicken cut up
1 quart goat yogurt + 1 cup goat milk
              or
1 quart of buttermilk
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups masa (corn flour)
oil for frying ( I used safflower oil + a little bacon grease go add smoke)

Take the chicken out of the brine and dredge in flour mixture.  Place in a bowl large enough to hold all  the chicken and the buttermilk or goat yogurt mixture.  Coat the dredged chicken with the buttermilk or yogurt mixture and  let sit for another 1/2 hour in the refrigerator.  Heat the oil in the frying pan(s).  Do not crowd the chicken pieces too much in the  pan.  They will be crisper if they have some space.  Dredge again with the flour mixture and place in the hot oil.  Cover and fry until half done and golden crispy.  Turn and continue frying, covered, until done.  Ours took about 40 minutes, (twenty minutes per side) but times will vary with altitude and the size of the chicken pieces.

This is how the fried chicken looks cold.  I didn't think to photograph it yesterday.  It will be good this way as well!