How could I forget Jeffrey ??

Here it is almost the end of March and I forgot to introduce you to Jeffrey, the March "Horse of the Month" Actually Jeffrey is teamed up with his owner/trainer Jennifer Wilson-horr and together they are an incredible duo. To read about Jeffrey and Jen's 2007 accomplishments please check out their website at www.cedarhill-farm.com . But the real story here is the determination and years of work that have taken place behind the scenes. I have known Jennifer for a number of years and although she has been sidelined more than once because of serious injuries, she has the type of determination that all of us should envy. Jeffrey is her 4 legged proof of how to make a comeback with style!

Meaders Supply, a great company to do business with!

If you are a farrier or a draft horse owner, Meaders Supply is probably a household name but for us average horse owners we don't always think of shopping there first, but we should. Meaders is not only a beautiful place to visit, it is a well run family business by some of the nicest folks on the planet! No, you won't find boots and breeches and specialty items (other than draft) but you will find a great selection of everyday items such as leads, supplements, grooming tools, buckets, stall mats and more. Their annual Farriers day open house will be happening April 26 and is a great event to attend. What if you don't live locally? The good news is Meaders has an online store, check it out at www.meadersupply.com , you can see pictures of the store interior or shop the online catalog.

Free Snow, Delivery Available

Yeah, That's right FREE! take all you want please....... in 20 years of living in Maine I have never seen this many storms, 19 with #20 on the way, or this much snow.
The snow pack is so high in the horse yard that they now walk down into what I am beginning to call the "run-in cave" I have to keep the 100 gallon water tank filled up to the top because the snow pack is so high on the outside of the tank once they drink down the first 5 or 6 inches of water they can no longer reach the water in the tank because it is below the level that they are standing on. The snow level is so high in the pasture it has reached the bottom of the top rail of my 3 rail fence, and I am not talking about drifts. But it could be worse......OMG what am I saying

Politically Incorrect

They, whomever they are, say that a good blog should be neutral, but with our politcal arena beginning to look like a scene from "dancing with the stars" I just had to comment! Personally I like Hillary, and I attended my very first caucus last week because I felt it was important to be counted. As a variety of people spoke on behalf of their candidate, I was amazed at the reasons ( or lack of) why some folks chose Obama, "because he wrote a wonderful book", "because he is inspirational", "because he is good at community service work". The last time I checked we ( the USA ) are a world leader, a world country, involved in a global economony, on the brink of a global warming disaster with a war going on that has made things very unstable. It is going to take more than inspiring speeches and a best selling book to fix this. Stephen King writes great books, but I don't want him as a president. Jimmy Carter is a really nice guy who does great things with habitat for humanity but that did not make him great at foreign policy. For the most part Obama does not write his speeches, he is just very good at reading them, is this really a good reason for him to be the next president? because he reads well? I want someone with experience that knows and understands the way Washington works, someone that has seen it first hand and knows the players. Someone that can take charge on day one. This country does not have time for a newly elected president to be learning the ropes no matter how wonderful he is at public speaking. Most people that support Obama have not even looked up his voting record, for the most part he and Hillary voted very similar BUT the big differnce is there are many times that Obama did not vote, in other words he did not make a decision. I want someone that if faced with a decision will make one based on the information. Hillary has what it takes, but sadly we live in a society that casts votes on personality, like an episode of "dancing with the stars" where actual ability does not seem to matter when the audience votes. Do you really think great speeches will influence terrorists, will world leaders be asking for an autographed copy of his book. Personally I want a world leader that is ready to handle the job, if I can't vote for Hillary, I'll vote for McCain.

Horse of the Month for Feb.

I hope you have all taken the time to visit the website for www.mustangrescue.org to read a little bit about the long journey of the Last Chance Mare. She is an example of a lovely, willing, wild horse that bounced around in the system for 6 years. Her life began in California and her travels took her thousands of miles from her home to Nevada, Colorado, Kansas then to a feedlot in Florida where a caring individual bought the untamed mare for $350. Her travels did not end there, she was shipped to the Everafter Mustang Rescue in Biddeford Maine where the director, Mona Jerome, has made it her priority to gentle this lovely horse and find her a wonderful home. The goal of teaching Last Chance to be a trusting willing partner and riding horse has been accomplished but this horse like so many others is still waiting to be adopted. If you or someone you know is looking for a great riding horse consider looking for one at your local equine adoption center. Mustangs in particular can be really wonderful. Horses that have been raised wild in a herd environment are the best you could ask for. These horses know how to get along with others, they come with a full set of horse language skills which makes them very responsive to natural horsemanship training methods, they have not been spoiled and typically do not exhibit vices or behavioral problems that are associated with horses raised in restricted or unnatural environments. Last but not least they are tough, I've seen them succeed in dressage, trail, riding schools, driving, reining and eventing. Remember, Last Chance is still waiting for her chance to shine......

Where do the horses go........at night?

If you have a traditional barn that question is probably very easy to answer.....they go into their stalls. But my horses live a more natural life they have a 3 sided run in shed and about 3 acres of fenced paddocks to roam. But from sunrise to sunset whenever I look out the window, day after day, there they stand.... always in the same place, in front of the run-in eating, sunning, and sleeping. Even after dark, when I flip on the spot lights to check on them they often blink their eyes sleepily from the protection of their run in shed. But take a walk in my pastures and the hoofprints in the snow tell a completely different story. Under cover of darkness my horses are explorers, they patrol their fence line down in the woods and weave their way in and around the thick pines. Even after a snowfall, with depths over a foot, their tracks are evident in the fresh snow. Sometimes they find a fallen tree, perhaps this is the reward for the effort, the opportunity to strip bark off a fallen hardwood, maybe they just like taking themselves for a walk. Whatever the reason I realize now I need to check that fence-line as often as they do !

The Downside of the Home Office

I cleaned my stove yesterday.....and while I can hear husbands and maybe a few women saying "so... what's so bad about that?" Trust me it was not a good use of my work day. But, that is the challenge of working at home, when the task at hand gets a bit tedious you can easily slip into avoidance mode by noticing the stovetop needs cleaning! I think part of the problem is self disapline but the other part is that most of us never see our home interiors during the daylight hours, there is nothing like brilliant sunshine streaming in to show up the dust in your house. After 4 or 5 hours of editing on the computer even vaccuming starts to look like an attractive diversion.... SO... what is the answer to this problem, hire a houskeeper? get more focused? Personally..... I just put on my sunglasses.......