Barn and indoor arena at the Ranch Nine of us left Free Union, Va June 15 for an adventure. We hauled large trailers with horses up the mountain to a lovely ranch called Bull Pasture Mountain Ranch. There we settled into the 3 day weekend by first locating our tent, cabin, trailer or the lovely ranch house lodge where we would bed down. Our horses had the [...]
Mighty Mouse, a TerryTune cartoon character Anyone, throughout history, who has owned a barn has had the same small critter invade their premises, the mouse. Shelter from the elements and, by the barn's nature a continuous supply of food, makes the barn a perfect target for mice home building. And, so the barn cat, mouse trap and mice poison become the staple equipment for [...]
The Horn Fly Where do all of these nasty flies come from? These little guys are half the size of the stable fly which Horn flies can bother horses the most blood suck their diet from the back and belly of the horses. They will remain on their host day and night. But the most important fact is that they are breeding in freshly deposited manure during hot and humid weather [...]
6 Labradors, three yellow and three black This is the beginning of life in the big world. It is not just the canine beginning of life but it is the beginning of life for a person with difficulties mentally or physically who will benefit from canine assistance. The careful breeding, nurturing and training by many volunteers is the first ingredient in a successful service dog development. [...]
For all of the geeks or wannabes who are in Face book I have finished a wonderful book to explain all of those bells and whistles you see on your Face book page. The book is Facebook the Missing Manual. The second addition, that I read, has good diagrams of all the ins and outs of the page plus it has good tips. We managed to put Horse Fly Net in a free marketing section that is going to be [...]
Yes, I was just well paid for 85 pounds of old wire fencing that we took off the farm to a new company. This company is making a profit and community service out of scrap. The company is called Cycle Systems. I just googled them and and learned that they have 7 locations in the western part of Virginia. They are collecting iron, aluminum, cardboard and more. Rather than going to the [...]
Are you throwing it away or giving it away? Black gold is the organic material manufactured by our horses several times a day which when composted is the essential ingredient to mix with soil. It is magic that turns dirt into a healthy growing substance. It gives life to an overgrazed field and mixed into the vegetable garden produces wonderful veg. It will never cease to amaze me that in[...]
My Webster's Unabridged 1996 dictionary does not have a definition of blog. Thank goodness for Wikipedia which not only gave me some history of the word but a nice little definition for all of my friends and relatives who agree to read my blog, but have no interest in horses or their flies. Here is Wikipedia's history of blog: 'The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger[4] on 17 December [...]
It is snowing on the east coast, The weather is in the 20s and I am in Virginia not Minnesota. And I have discovered a place in the United States that has a horse heritage and an average temperature of 71-79F. There are no flies and plenty of natural sand for riding. There is riding on the range, along the ocean or in the mountains. It would be a wonderful place for the WEG next time.[...]
A big island and no flies. Sounds like paradise!! But that does not mean Hawaii is without horses. The fact is that our Horse Fly Net® will never be required in this paradise, however, while spending Thanksgiving 2010 in the Hawaiian Islands, I am curious about the history of the horse there. www.hawaiiinfoguide.com gave me an interesting story. Over a century ago, in 1793, [...]