It's raining here at the farm. The sky is overcast and dreary. At first light we set out to feed horses in the misty drizzle. Everyone was especially antsy to get out of the stall - not sure why - my guess is the weather.
We dragged some round bales to the pastures who were getting low and did a few barn chores before the sky opened up on us. So here I am, typing a long overdue update on the farm!
Last Saturday - wow, that was already one week ago! - we finally decided on a farm to purchase our grass/legume hay. I have an enormous stack of contacts for hay; some local, some from out of state, some come with recommendations, some test their hay and some don't. So, how did we decide? I will enlighten you on this exciting topic!
(1) Cost
As a facility that strictly boards horses (we do not supplement our pockets by breeding, training, etc) we make very little moo-la. So we have to consider the cost of the hay.
(2) Quality Control
Horses can be sensitive creatures in many ways, particularly with digestion. You feed them 70% alfalfa/30% orchard, then suddenly switch it on them, they might throw a colic-hissy-fit! So of great concern to us is the consistency of the product, and consistent hay is achieved by quality control - testing hay from every batch to ensure it's protein, digestibility, moisture, etc is similar to the other product they sell. Also, as a business we have a budget and we plan ahead. If we plan on purchasing 25 100lb bales of O/A, we don't want to arrive at the distribution site and have to buy 45 60lb bales. We want the same hay every time and we need it to be available all the time (and not "sell out" before we get there).
(3) Professionalism
It is important to us that we support a hay producer that is professional. Your money and our money should go to someone who is treating their customers and employees well. We want good customer service so in the case of an issue (ie, moldy hay) we will be treated professionally. An example of a producer that is "sweet" but not professional is someone who is not punctual. Time is money and we don't have time to wait around. Someone we want to do business with understands this concept.
-- Those are the three primary qualities we searched high and low for. Who did we finally decide to do business with?
Larson's Farm
Larson's Farm came highly recommended by several credentialed individuals, including our vet, Dr. Erica Lacher.
They have a website, which is a huge step above 90% of other sellers, and their customer service was superb. The receptionist was able to answer all my crazy questions and even add her own suggestions. Their products are tested for quality control - bales from every batch are tested. The bales are all weighed when you purchase them - you only pay for the weight of hay that's put in your trailer. It's not a flat fee ($15 from a feed store could get you gray, 60lb bales today and green, 75lb bales in a week). Their hay is fresh, shipped by train or truck (this depends on cost - they choose the cheapest route to keep hay prices down) from western US.
They operate during specified business hours and their employees were very helpful.
With this high quality forage you get the most bang for your buck.
Currently only JW and Pokey are getting this awesome O/A hay. It is $20 per bale. We just started feeding it last week so we are not exactly sure how long a bale will last, but my guess is that it will last a minimum of 10 days (1 flake a day).
If you would like your stall horse to receive O/A, just let me know. If you want to purchase a bale for your pasture horse to feed when you are here (it would be too tricky to try to feed a flake to a pasture horse in the pasture), let me know.
It's still raining and the temperature will drop to 40 degrees tonight. I don't know about you, but I cannot wait until summer!
Every day, a little something about your horses
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Who let the horses out, woof, woof, woof
It has been an uneventful week with unhindered daily routines.
John zips through morning feeding at 6:30am, first making a mad dash for the paddock followed by two hunger-crazed donkey monsters. He's got his own efficient routine and all the horses behave wonderfully for him, with the exception of Tie... Kidding!
In the evenings after Tie finishes his massive quantities of soaked beat pulp, alfalfa cubes, senior feed, corn oil, probiotics, and fat supplements (did I forget something?), we have been putting him out with Tav, who takes his own sweet time eating his dinner. So it actually works perfectly. We don't have to wait on either horse since they both take about the same amount of time to eat. Funny thing is, Tie eats about 50 times more than Tav, but Tav just loves to savor every single little morsel of grain.
In the mornings John soaks feed, feeds the barn horses, brings Tie in, feeds Tav, then heads out to feed the boys' pasture. The boys have a tendency to carry their big rubber buckets around (Bodhi *cough*). We can't just ask Magic to follow us to a bowl and pour his grain. Why, you ask? Because of the dark horse spirit living in the woods. Magic must eat as far away as possible from the spirit's domain - the evil woods. Magic always, always eats facing said woods.
The other boys don't seem phased by the dark horse spirit floating about in their pasture. Dusty pins his ears and dives in to his bucket, Cas and Bodhi arrive at the next bucket side-by-side. Cas gets fed, then Bodhi gets his 10 pellets.
From there John heads down to feed the oldies; Jedi, Ufir, and Molly. If you haven't pet Jedi in a while, I encourage you to feel for his ribs. He has gained so much weight!
John gets back to the barn, lets JW and Tie out, then the girls, then Pokey (because by now Tav might actually be finished eating!).
Be sure to always close the gates behind you! We came home last week and the driveway gate had been left open and two horses had somehow escaped their pasture. The horses were still on the property, but we have had horses escape and make it down to the paved road before. Please close the gate behind you even if someone else has left it open. Thanks!
Today should be a rainy, dreary day. I hope you get lots of relaxation time and stay dry!
John zips through morning feeding at 6:30am, first making a mad dash for the paddock followed by two hunger-crazed donkey monsters. He's got his own efficient routine and all the horses behave wonderfully for him, with the exception of Tie... Kidding!
In the evenings after Tie finishes his massive quantities of soaked beat pulp, alfalfa cubes, senior feed, corn oil, probiotics, and fat supplements (did I forget something?), we have been putting him out with Tav, who takes his own sweet time eating his dinner. So it actually works perfectly. We don't have to wait on either horse since they both take about the same amount of time to eat. Funny thing is, Tie eats about 50 times more than Tav, but Tav just loves to savor every single little morsel of grain.
In the mornings John soaks feed, feeds the barn horses, brings Tie in, feeds Tav, then heads out to feed the boys' pasture. The boys have a tendency to carry their big rubber buckets around (Bodhi *cough*). We can't just ask Magic to follow us to a bowl and pour his grain. Why, you ask? Because of the dark horse spirit living in the woods. Magic must eat as far away as possible from the spirit's domain - the evil woods. Magic always, always eats facing said woods.
The other boys don't seem phased by the dark horse spirit floating about in their pasture. Dusty pins his ears and dives in to his bucket, Cas and Bodhi arrive at the next bucket side-by-side. Cas gets fed, then Bodhi gets his 10 pellets.
From there John heads down to feed the oldies; Jedi, Ufir, and Molly. If you haven't pet Jedi in a while, I encourage you to feel for his ribs. He has gained so much weight!
John gets back to the barn, lets JW and Tie out, then the girls, then Pokey (because by now Tav might actually be finished eating!).
Be sure to always close the gates behind you! We came home last week and the driveway gate had been left open and two horses had somehow escaped their pasture. The horses were still on the property, but we have had horses escape and make it down to the paved road before. Please close the gate behind you even if someone else has left it open. Thanks!
Today should be a rainy, dreary day. I hope you get lots of relaxation time and stay dry!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Poor Raccoon
Late afternoon today I went out to play with Satin. I was armed with my video camera so that I could capture our play session for future reference. I was walking across the pasture towards the herd of girls, filming as I walked, when suddenly I realized there was a raccoon in the view finder.
He was halfway between the 4 girls and me, just standing there very stiff. At first I thought he could have been annoyed out of his napping spot since the girls were trudging around in the woods. The landlord's dog was barking, too, so maybe he scared him out? But as minutes ticked away he remained in that same spot, in the sunshine, barely taking two or three steps. The girls finally noticed me and started approaching.
Of course now I'm concerned about rabies and Shellie, followed by Dancer, start towards the peculiar creature in their pasture. I rush over, shooing them away, still filming. (I'll add he video later)
The raccoon didn't even move or respond to the horses coming within 12 inches from him! I knew something was very wrong. I called Alachua County Animal Services right away and they said they'd dispatch some officers immediately.
As I was trying to get Dancer, Shellie, and Betsy away from the raccoon's general vicinity, Satin came out of the tree line, walked right up to the raccoon, and while I am yelling and rushing up to her she nearly touched noses! You can imagine how nervous I was that she was going to physically touch him! She finally came to me, I haltered her, and got all 4 girls to leave the pasture. I locked them out and waited for ACAS.
Shellie found a stash of mints in my brush tote in the barn and spilled the tote and the bag of mints all over the ground. She only ate about 5 pieces before I cleaned up her mess. I put the mints in the feed room and while my back was turned she knocked the brush tote over again. Curious girl!
JW spent the entire time hollering for the girls while they were out of sight playing in the barn. He was very worried and galloped across the pasture, yelling for them. The girls weren't phased. Poor JW! Tie just stood there watching JW make his pass.
After ACAS picked up the sick raccoon the girls were able to return to their pasture, much to their disappointment!
I'm glad the raccoon doesn't have to suffer any longer.
He was halfway between the 4 girls and me, just standing there very stiff. At first I thought he could have been annoyed out of his napping spot since the girls were trudging around in the woods. The landlord's dog was barking, too, so maybe he scared him out? But as minutes ticked away he remained in that same spot, in the sunshine, barely taking two or three steps. The girls finally noticed me and started approaching.
Of course now I'm concerned about rabies and Shellie, followed by Dancer, start towards the peculiar creature in their pasture. I rush over, shooing them away, still filming. (I'll add he video later)
The raccoon didn't even move or respond to the horses coming within 12 inches from him! I knew something was very wrong. I called Alachua County Animal Services right away and they said they'd dispatch some officers immediately.
As I was trying to get Dancer, Shellie, and Betsy away from the raccoon's general vicinity, Satin came out of the tree line, walked right up to the raccoon, and while I am yelling and rushing up to her she nearly touched noses! You can imagine how nervous I was that she was going to physically touch him! She finally came to me, I haltered her, and got all 4 girls to leave the pasture. I locked them out and waited for ACAS.
Shellie found a stash of mints in my brush tote in the barn and spilled the tote and the bag of mints all over the ground. She only ate about 5 pieces before I cleaned up her mess. I put the mints in the feed room and while my back was turned she knocked the brush tote over again. Curious girl!
JW spent the entire time hollering for the girls while they were out of sight playing in the barn. He was very worried and galloped across the pasture, yelling for them. The girls weren't phased. Poor JW! Tie just stood there watching JW make his pass.
After ACAS picked up the sick raccoon the girls were able to return to their pasture, much to their disappointment!
I'm glad the raccoon doesn't have to suffer any longer.
Monday, January 18, 2010
The rain has come and gone
We had a tremendous amount of rainfall over the weekend - based on the amount of water in the rubber feed buckets in the pastures, we estimate about 3 inches.
Having grown up in flat Sarasota, I am used to standing water after a downpour lasting for weeks. Especially during the winter when the ground doesn't seem to soak up any moisture.
This property is a different story! We've had torrential downpours and the puddles have lasted only a day or two. That was the case this weekend. We trudged through sopping wet mud to feed horses Sunday morning, but by Sunday afternoon the ground was hardly damp!
We are very pleased to have "high and dry" pastures for the horses.
Some of you may know exactly what goes in to maintaining and managing a boarding facility and some of you may not have as much experience with this side of the barn. For the record, boarding horses is not at all lucrative! As a matter of fact, for the many hours that John and I put into the farm, be it feeding, cleaning, fixing, or planning, we make roughly $2.75 per hour. But we love that we can provide a wonderful environment for wonderful people and their wonderful horses!
That said, we continue to try to offer ways to help YOU save money. We offer a limited board exchange "program" that allows you to do some work to reduce the cost of boarding. We basically pay you about $7/hour (this is 3 times more than we make when we're the ones doing the work). We can't pay everyone to work as frequently as they want or else we would be paying for feed out of our very empty pockets! But we do want to offer opportunities for you to not only take a few bucks off your board, but also get involved on the farm.
I mentioned in previous posts that we'll be offering a "Work Day". There will be a handful of tasks to accomplish such as picking manure from pastures, picking up tree limbs, picking up old hay from pastures, and so on. We'll likely have to restrict the amount of hours, but I think it will be fun and worth your time!
If you're interested, let me know!
See you at the barn!
Having grown up in flat Sarasota, I am used to standing water after a downpour lasting for weeks. Especially during the winter when the ground doesn't seem to soak up any moisture.
This property is a different story! We've had torrential downpours and the puddles have lasted only a day or two. That was the case this weekend. We trudged through sopping wet mud to feed horses Sunday morning, but by Sunday afternoon the ground was hardly damp!
We are very pleased to have "high and dry" pastures for the horses.
Some of you may know exactly what goes in to maintaining and managing a boarding facility and some of you may not have as much experience with this side of the barn. For the record, boarding horses is not at all lucrative! As a matter of fact, for the many hours that John and I put into the farm, be it feeding, cleaning, fixing, or planning, we make roughly $2.75 per hour. But we love that we can provide a wonderful environment for wonderful people and their wonderful horses!
That said, we continue to try to offer ways to help YOU save money. We offer a limited board exchange "program" that allows you to do some work to reduce the cost of boarding. We basically pay you about $7/hour (this is 3 times more than we make when we're the ones doing the work). We can't pay everyone to work as frequently as they want or else we would be paying for feed out of our very empty pockets! But we do want to offer opportunities for you to not only take a few bucks off your board, but also get involved on the farm.
I mentioned in previous posts that we'll be offering a "Work Day". There will be a handful of tasks to accomplish such as picking manure from pastures, picking up tree limbs, picking up old hay from pastures, and so on. We'll likely have to restrict the amount of hours, but I think it will be fun and worth your time!
If you're interested, let me know!
See you at the barn!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Catch-up
We're all caught up!
John and I rolled 12 of the 16 round bales that were delivered last weekend into the hay barn yesterday. When unloading them from the big delivery trailer they often land on their flat side. When it comes time to relocate them into the safety of the hay barn we have to flip them on to their round side, and man, is it hard! These bales weigh about 750lbs! It's especially difficult to flip a bale when you're laughing... And then add in the extra challenge of a gaping whole eaten out of the core by two fat donkeys. It's hard to roll an uneven round bale!
But we managed to roll them into the hay barn, cover them with tarps, and drag the remaining 3 bales to their new pastures. None of the pastures were actually out of hay, but the horses still think 'new' hay is sooo much more exciting than that 'stuff' they've been eating for five whole days.
Pokey and Tav were very polite when we had to drag through their pasture and out the back gate to bring Pasture 5 a bale. They both minded me when I told them to "keep back". But as we raced to get into Pasture 5 before the boys noticed, they started galloping towards us! "FOOD!"
John and I have this routine down pat and the horses have finally started to realize that they are not allowed to eat the hay as we're unloading it! We keep them away from the drag for safety reasons, but also don't want them taking a bite out of the bale netting.
I stripped 6 stalls yesterday - removing almost everything from Pokey, Tie, JW, Betsy, Dancer, and Shellie's stalls. Then we brought two enormous truck loads of shavings and divvied it up among the freshly cleaned stalls.
I spread about 15 loads of old shavings around the area along the path towards the hay barn. It's hard to say when an area is 'at capacity' for being used to spread manure, but I plan to start spreading elsewhere soon. But now that the area is all cleared of brush I will be making it into a play area! Barrels, cones, tarps hanging from the trees - this is going to be fun! Perfect for doing your Natural Horsemanship training and bomb-proofing.
A special thanks to Alex for picking up several wheel barrels of manure from the pastures! I love to see a pasture without piles of manure in it - the way it should be!
If you're interested in working off a portion of your board, consider joining us on a "work day". Stay tuned!
John and I rolled 12 of the 16 round bales that were delivered last weekend into the hay barn yesterday. When unloading them from the big delivery trailer they often land on their flat side. When it comes time to relocate them into the safety of the hay barn we have to flip them on to their round side, and man, is it hard! These bales weigh about 750lbs! It's especially difficult to flip a bale when you're laughing... And then add in the extra challenge of a gaping whole eaten out of the core by two fat donkeys. It's hard to roll an uneven round bale!
But we managed to roll them into the hay barn, cover them with tarps, and drag the remaining 3 bales to their new pastures. None of the pastures were actually out of hay, but the horses still think 'new' hay is sooo much more exciting than that 'stuff' they've been eating for five whole days.
Pokey and Tav were very polite when we had to drag through their pasture and out the back gate to bring Pasture 5 a bale. They both minded me when I told them to "keep back". But as we raced to get into Pasture 5 before the boys noticed, they started galloping towards us! "FOOD!"
John and I have this routine down pat and the horses have finally started to realize that they are not allowed to eat the hay as we're unloading it! We keep them away from the drag for safety reasons, but also don't want them taking a bite out of the bale netting.
I stripped 6 stalls yesterday - removing almost everything from Pokey, Tie, JW, Betsy, Dancer, and Shellie's stalls. Then we brought two enormous truck loads of shavings and divvied it up among the freshly cleaned stalls.
I spread about 15 loads of old shavings around the area along the path towards the hay barn. It's hard to say when an area is 'at capacity' for being used to spread manure, but I plan to start spreading elsewhere soon. But now that the area is all cleared of brush I will be making it into a play area! Barrels, cones, tarps hanging from the trees - this is going to be fun! Perfect for doing your Natural Horsemanship training and bomb-proofing.
A special thanks to Alex for picking up several wheel barrels of manure from the pastures! I love to see a pasture without piles of manure in it - the way it should be!
If you're interested in working off a portion of your board, consider joining us on a "work day". Stay tuned!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Hip, hip, hooray!
Wow! What a beautiful day it has been so far!
It's a gorgeous, sunny 65 degrees out right now (noon o'clock) with expectations to rise to low 70's. Personally, I'd like it to be in the 90's, but I know the horses are just loving this weather!
We'll be moving some round bales this afternoon - Pasture 5 (Magic, Dusty, Bodhi, Cas, and part-time Tav) have already devoured their bale from 5 days ago. These big bellied boys need some exercise! But look who's talkin': my two mares, even Dancer, the typically skinny girl, have enormous hay bellies. Now that the weather is more pleasant we all can give (and receive) our much needed aerobics.
We'll be spending a lot of time this weekend catching up on removing manure from pastures.
See you at the barn!
It's a gorgeous, sunny 65 degrees out right now (noon o'clock) with expectations to rise to low 70's. Personally, I'd like it to be in the 90's, but I know the horses are just loving this weather!
We'll be moving some round bales this afternoon - Pasture 5 (Magic, Dusty, Bodhi, Cas, and part-time Tav) have already devoured their bale from 5 days ago. These big bellied boys need some exercise! But look who's talkin': my two mares, even Dancer, the typically skinny girl, have enormous hay bellies. Now that the weather is more pleasant we all can give (and receive) our much needed aerobics.
We'll be spending a lot of time this weekend catching up on removing manure from pastures.
See you at the barn!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Sunshine!
Hints of spring are in the air! Rays of sunlight are peaking through the dreary winter clouds. The ice has melted away. It's almost as if we had a real winter season!
Winter is hardly over, but c'mon Florida, it's been cold for long enough! Let's has some of that natural southern heat we've all bee yearning for. Get me out of these smothering clothes, thaw out my fingers and nose, and let me stay outside for longer than 10 minutes!
All the horses seem to be more relaxed now that we're warming up to 65 degrees for the high. That long cold spell was making some horses bonkers. The horses were feeling claustrophobic in their blankets, getting dandruff from not being able to roll in the dirt, and feeling overall anxious! All that static has gotten to their brains. They've had enough of the cold, too. Well, except for the northerners like Bodhi and Betsy. Besty started shedding her winter coat when it was 55 degrees!
They've had enough of me shocking them with static every time I take their blankets off. Bring on the Spring!
We've been busy with a thousand tasks, John and I. We don't get back into the house from barn chores until after 8:00pm. So we've admittedly gotten behind with some upkeep. Several stalls are overdue for fresh shavings and many repairs we've been meaning to accomplish are on the back burner.
We hope to get shavings in all the stalls today - keep your fingers crossed!
As for repairs, we've got a nice long list. My Father is a Florida contractor and an all-around handy man. He's generously offered to come help get us caught up on farm tasks like fixing the stall latches, permanently fixing those darned gate hinges that keep falling off, putting shelving in the tack room and feed room, and many, many other overdue tasks!
If you'd like an opportunity to work off some of your board, we're offering a chance to do just that! We'll be organizing a "Work Day" on a weekend and you'll be invited to participate for any length of time. I'll post the event on Facebook and you can RSVP there, or just call/email me anytime.
Join me in the warm weather dance!
Winter is hardly over, but c'mon Florida, it's been cold for long enough! Let's has some of that natural southern heat we've all bee yearning for. Get me out of these smothering clothes, thaw out my fingers and nose, and let me stay outside for longer than 10 minutes!
All the horses seem to be more relaxed now that we're warming up to 65 degrees for the high. That long cold spell was making some horses bonkers. The horses were feeling claustrophobic in their blankets, getting dandruff from not being able to roll in the dirt, and feeling overall anxious! All that static has gotten to their brains. They've had enough of the cold, too. Well, except for the northerners like Bodhi and Betsy. Besty started shedding her winter coat when it was 55 degrees!
They've had enough of me shocking them with static every time I take their blankets off. Bring on the Spring!
We've been busy with a thousand tasks, John and I. We don't get back into the house from barn chores until after 8:00pm. So we've admittedly gotten behind with some upkeep. Several stalls are overdue for fresh shavings and many repairs we've been meaning to accomplish are on the back burner.We hope to get shavings in all the stalls today - keep your fingers crossed!
As for repairs, we've got a nice long list. My Father is a Florida contractor and an all-around handy man. He's generously offered to come help get us caught up on farm tasks like fixing the stall latches, permanently fixing those darned gate hinges that keep falling off, putting shelving in the tack room and feed room, and many, many other overdue tasks!
If you'd like an opportunity to work off some of your board, we're offering a chance to do just that! We'll be organizing a "Work Day" on a weekend and you'll be invited to participate for any length of time. I'll post the event on Facebook and you can RSVP there, or just call/email me anytime.
Join me in the warm weather dance!
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