Just a Barn Cat

6:02 pm

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Just a Barn Cat: Celebrating Our Feline Friends

His name was Jester. Actually it was Chester when I got him, but he quickly earned the name Jester.

His perfect black and white markings, and his entertaining personality made me think of a court jester.

He came with the farm. I didn’t want him, had too many cats already. But the seller had to leave him behind. He had come with the place when she bought it, and with her divorce, just one more thing she could not deal with. She smoothed over my objections, “He […]

The Pros and Cons of Legislating Green Construction

6:14 am

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Facility Planning & Design

Evaluating the Pros and Cons of Green Construction Legislation

There’s a lot to be said about going Green. Often times, the benefits are accentuated. And generally speaking, those benefits inspire us to invest in what we believe will be a better and more efficient future for generations to come.

Makes sense, right?    With this being an election year, my thoughts take me to the campaign process and recent debates. Each candidate expresses their views, experience, and opinion with great passion and conviction. For the most part, they present a compelling argument. However, I tend to […]

Fall Adventure: De-clutter Your Stables

3:19 pm

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Equine Care, Facility Planning & Design

Fall Adventure: De-clutter Your Stables for a More Organized Space

Recently, I read a blog on MyHorse Daily written by Jessica Hein, titled “Sprucing Up Your Horse Barn.” She provides a 10-step guide to de-cluttering and organizing your stable in preparation for fall.

Because I enjoy cleaning out my closets several times a year and organizing my garage (always a daunting task) this article immediately grabbed my attention like dust to a microfiber cloth.

Although cleaning stables can seem like a massive undertaking, the suggestion is to tackle one thing at a time […]

Analogies and The Wizard of Oz

1:34 am

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Equine Care, Guest Author Farmgirl, Misc.

Exploring Analogies and The Wizard of Oz in Equestrian Life

I absolutely love analogies, love them, couldn’t live without them. That which could take a novel to explain can be communicated quickly and simply with an analogy.

Definition: analogy (a-nal-o-gy /a’nalegee) Noun. Similarity in some respect between things that are otherwise dissimilar, a comparison based on such similarity. A resemblance, likeness or parallel.

So, I was having a lesson a few weeks ago and started describing the personalities of my herd (sigh, yes, a small herd, but still a herd) to […]

Fire!

1:06 am

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Equine Care, Guest Author Farmgirl, Misc.

Essential Fire Safety Tips for Protecting Your Barn and Horses

The four letter word that brings fear to everyone, but hits especially hard to horse owners on rural farm property.

The smell of smoke in the dog days of summer is so out of place and unexpected that you question your nose and doubt the olfactory glands that are shooting adrenalin throughout your neurological system: FIRE!

Quickly, you instinctively move towards the closest window, pressing flesh against window screen, breathing deeply through your nose to convince yourself you really aren’t smelling smoke on this breezy […]

Stall Cleaning

6:52 am

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Equine Care

Essential Tips for Effective Stall Cleaning

Cleaning a stall is crucial to maintain the health of your horse(s), and may aid in limiting the spread of contamination when an outbreak of infectious disease occurs.

It may also be necessary after a period of disuse or as a precautionary measure when infection is suspected. Here’s how:

1. Remove all bedding from the stall. Do not put contaminated bedding in a manure pile or anywhere near animals. Piles of manure and bedding are perfectly suited for the breeding of bacteria. Dispose of soiled bedding by spreading […]

Ode to My Barn Swallows

1:35 am

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Guest Author Farmgirl, Misc.

Ode to My Barn Swallows: A Celebration of Nature

I had the most joyous of experiences last night, as I was cleaning stalls.

The barn swallows were putting on a show above the paddocks and pasture as the sun was setting. There must have been over fifty of them, swooping and soaring as they put on a show, it seemed, just for me. I found myself laughing out loud and clapping. I had to reach for the fence to keep my balance as my head tipped back to watch their wild flight.

Oh, how I love […]

Your Last Ride

5:01 pm

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Facility Planning & Design, Guest Author Farmgirl

Reflecting on Your Last Ride: Memories and Emotions

A situation came up this week that really got me thinking about making the difficult decision of retiring a horse.

When is enough, enough? When have these generous animals given us enough so that it is now our turn to be generous with them?

Some horse owners deal with the end of usefulness pragmatically by delivering their faithful steeds to an auction for the few dollars they might bring, and the many dollars saved on the care of a horse deemed no longer useful.

Others go above and […]