Archive for June 2017

Why Are These Horses Eating Hay?

StormMouse450

I love this photo. I’m not even sure why really. Maybe it’s because I know how much alike these two horses are. Our wild mustang baby Firestorm on the left and our rescued American Saddlebred Mouse on the right. I posted the photo just because I liked it. And I like them. Birds of a feather. Two very bright and very curious horses. One morning Saffron – Stormy’s mom – and I were walking out of the barn breezeway to breakfast. I had called both of them but realized I wasn’t hearing eight hooves on the pea gravel. I glanced back and all I could see of Stormy was a bit of her butt. She had stepped up into the tack room. All four feet! I wish I had thought to grab the iPhone but I reacted first (react first and think later… see I’m actually becoming one of them). “Stormy get outta there!” I snapped. And by the time I thought about taking a picture she was dutifully backing out of the doorway. We were having some grading and pea gravel work done around the barn and the guys had left a few big scary tools on the floor of the tack room. Like a chain saw. And one of those big concrete cutters. Scary to most, but not to Stormy. Oh, wow! Something new. What the heck is that? The small size of the tack room alone would be enough to cause most horses to vanish. But not Stormy. Nor Mouse if she had been around.

In the original post I called them the “children” of the herd. But that’s only true in spirit. Stormy is the youngest, 16 months at the time, but Stormy’s mother Saffron is actually the next youngest, and then Mouse at seven. But Mouse still acts like she’s Stormy’s age. Anyway, without realizing it, a friend named Jennifer posted a comment that caused me to shove the next morning’s work aside and write this blog post. Jennifer said, “That’s funny, eating hay with all that luscious looking green grass!” She must’ve been wondering why in the world would they do that? Read More→

Kathleen and I watched Benji the Hunted last night

And I was blown away.

It’s been fifteen years since I last watched it. It was such a very difficult shoot it’s sometimes hard to disassociate all the problems we had with every location, every shot. Back then, I was probably never able to just sit back and watch it as a movie. It was seriously difficult because there are only five minutes of people in the entire film. The rest is all animals. Bears, wolves, hawks, ferrets, bunnies, owls, and cougars. Big ones and small ones. And every one of them had to literally act on the screen just as Benji does to tell the story. To portray their feelings and emotions and intentions every bit as well as Benji does. And they do. I watched it last night as I would watch any other movie. Well, almost. I don’t come out of most movies so very proud. Proud that I had just watched a classic film unlike any I have ever seen. And there will probably never be another quite like it. Remember there was no CGI back then. No digitally painting a worried face onto an otherwise happy animal. Or vice versa. What you see is real. Just the way we shot it. It’s exciting, and amazing, and very entertaining. All of which is why I can say, unapologetically, it blew me away. It’s available on Amazon as instant video to rent or buy, and as a DVD. Disney was the distributor on this one so we get nothing when you watch. But I highly recommend it to you. Here’s the link:

Benji the Hunted on Amazon

Respect the Power of the Horse’s Instincts

This is a remarkable letter from our dear friend and equine nutritionist Juliet M. Getty, Ph.D. I urge you read all of it and then copy it and pass it on. The subject is free choice forage feeding and weight:

Respect the Power of the Horse’s Instincts

I respect and honor the way horses are made—they are different—unique, really. In a suitable, native environment, they are quite capable of taking care of themselves. They are free to eat and roam and, well, be horses. Domestication involves removing them from their natural setting, but their instincts for survival remain unchanged, and those instincts are based on compelling physiological and mental needs. Make no mistake about this: when we ignore or deny those needs, we seriously imperil our horses. Read More→

At Last!

The One Treat on the Planet
That is Absolutely
Good for your Horse!

I’ve been searching a long time for a treat that is actually good for my horses. A treat that isn’t loaded with sugar or molasses, or grains which are mostly non-structural carbs which turn to sugar when metabolized, or soy, or hydrogenated vegetable fats or oils. We train with treats and use a lot of them. So I’ve been reading a lot of labels. Most of them are scary.

Which is why I’m so excited that I’ve finally found this treat. From people who appear to actually care about your horse’s health and happiness. This is the singular best treat on the market as far as I’m concerned because it is the only treat I have found that uses 99.9% pure Non-GMO stabilized ground fortified flax. That’s .9% higher than required for human food grade. Nobody else does this.

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Buy ’em – Try ’em
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This treat is actually good for your horse. 15 of these treats equal the same Omega 3 values as a half cup of Omega Horsehine Omega 3 Supplement and your horse will shine, inside and out! Read More→