Preparing my Horses for Skylands
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, then you know that I am at Skylands, my home in Maine. I am having a wonderful time with some very dear friends hiking, boating, playing games, and eating some very good food. Acadia National Park is practically in my back yard, with its miles of gorgeous carriage roads. Whenever I am there for an extended period of time, I like to transport a couple of my Friesian horses to ride along those trails. Betsy Perreten, my stable manager, along with Gyurme Sherpa, ready the horses and pack them up for their eight-hour journey to the pristine Mount Desert Island.
1 Betsy had to take care of many things in preparation for driving Rinze and Ramon to Skylands.
2 All the horses have their shoes replaced about every four weeks and Betsy scheduled a new fitting just before the trip.
3 Linda Friedman has been my farrier since I first had horses. The back of her pickup is equipped with all of her tools of the trade.
4 Her forge swings out for easy access.
5 The shoes are heated in the forge, making them pliable.
6 Once heated, the shoes are removed from the forge.
7 The red-hot shoes are pounded on an anvil to draw two clips, which help keep the shoes in place.
8 Linda makes sure the clipped shoe is exactly level.
9 Linda carefully customizes each shoe to fit just right.
10 Her tool rack at the ready
11 To nail on the shoe, the hoof must be held between Linda's legs. This requires great strength, finesse, and caution.
12 Fitting horseshoes properly requires vast knowledge of horse anatomy and Linda continues to educate herself by regularly attending clinics and symposiums.
13 Meanwhile, the horse trailer was prepped for the long ride from my farm in Bedford, NY to Skylands, my home in Maine.
14 Truck and trailer were thoroughly washed.
15 This trailer carries two horses.
16 Each stall is well-padded.
17 Rinze and Ramon can see each other for the duration of the trip.
18 The saddles are loaded into the dressing room of the trailer.
19 Along with the reins and harnesses
20 There are also hooks for rakes, muck shovels,and brooms.
21 There is additional storage space in the gooseneck of the trailer.
22 Gyurme and Gelbu attached the tarps, which hold the hay for the horses to eat during the drive.
23 The tarps allow the horses to eat without moving too much in these close quarters.
24 The windows are opened, allowing for good air flow.
25 And straw pellets are laid down as bedding.
26 Straw pellets are very absorbent.
27 The day before the trip, Dolma bathed Rinze and Ramon.
28 Following the bath, they were given a good grooming.
29 Ramon enjoys his grooming.
30 This gentle fly and insect spray is applied during grooming.
31 Some well-used horse brushes.
32 Ramon, looking very handsome, always loves his time at Skylands.
33 Rinze also loves the change of scenery.
34 Also, in preparation for the journey, Betsy had to prepare Rinze and Ramon's meals. She started by laying out the food bowls.
35 The oats with corn and barley are kept in a large bin.
36 As is the stabilized flax, which adds Omega 3 fatty acids to the diet and makes for a shiny coat.
37 The food supplements are kept within easy reach.
38 The serving size per meal is clearly labeled.
39 Betsy measured out the food for each meal Rinze and Ramon would need while in Maine.
40 She added the supplements.
41 And labeled individual bags for each horse - Rinze AM & PM and Ramon AM & PM
42 She then poured out each meal into its appropriate bag.
43 The meals were packed into a bin all ready to go!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
Martha, I think I'd live better if I was one of your horses, except I wouldn't want to stand for an 8 hour drive.:)
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | August 2nd, 2011 at 1:04 am
Happy Travels! They are so beautiful. How can you tell that they like the change in scenery? I find horses amazing.
Posted by: Teresa Touey | August 2nd, 2011 at 4:17 am
This sure brings back wonderful memories of my horses. Have you used "Black as Knight" to keep their coats black and shiny? Great stuff. I'd like to know more about what you feed them because those baggies with their meals didn't look very good. Beautiful animals, Martha.
Posted by: Jamie | August 2nd, 2011 at 8:11 am
Beautiful horses, the horses are lucky to have you as an owner.
Posted by: ga447 | August 2nd, 2011 at 8:53 am
Hi Martha, Thanks for this fantastic blog post about getting Rinze and Ramon ready for their trip to Skylands. Your Friesians are absolutely beautiful and so lucky to have such great care. Betsy is a superior person who takes tremendous care of your Friesians. Her helpers, Dolma, Gyurme, and Gelbu also do a great job. How nice to see Linda Friedman, the farrier, change the horses shoes again-another superior person. How long did it take to get Rinze and Ramon ready for that trip? Sure nice to have that many helpers do the task. Did Betsy or Gyurme drive the truck and trailer to Skylands? I'll bet Rinze and Ramon were so happy when they arrived at Skylands and got to go on hiking trails later. I love seeing how things are done at your farm and this project was terrific. Hope you have another fabulous day at Skylands and am wishing you a pre-Happy Birthday for tomorrow! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | August 2nd, 2011 at 10:02 am
Hi Martha,
I’m glad you’re having a great time at Skylands – I think it would be kind of hard not to! It is good that you keep up with riding your horses although I don’t envy the preparation. Betsy and Linda are terrific but you already know that. I don’t think I could ride anymore but I enjoyed it when I could. It would be great now just to sit and enjoy the view of the land from the veranda. Everything is so beautiful up there! Trish
Posted by: Trish | August 2nd, 2011 at 10:03 am
I am not sure my horses would like your horses life. They are right now in a 2000 acre pasture and refuse to come in even for watermelon rinds. Come winter they will not leave the fence nearest the kitchen window making sure we do not forget to give them hay and have the ice off the water trough. Sometimes they receive grain with a supplement but we are alway confident in our local feed mills abilities to provide a super feed.
When our horses travel our main concern is water quality and often carry it from home.
Posted by: Margie | August 2nd, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Martha, several steps to prepare the horses for a visit away. WOW! Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | August 2nd, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Since we share the same Birthday I wanted to wish you a Happy 70th Birthday. I will be enjoying every minute of mine and hope you enjoy the day also. After all we only turn 70 once in our lives. Many, many more and keep the recipes coming. Kathy russell
Posted by: Kathy Russell | August 2nd, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Looks like alot goes into owning a horse. Glad my neighbor has one at my home in Maine. Saves me the trouble and expence of owning my own as the same with friends who own swimming pools.
Posted by: Corinne Elaine Cronkite Ouellette | August 2nd, 2011 at 7:35 pm
I love your Fresians. They are absolutely gorgeous. We recently purchased a Fresian/Morgan cross and we love his gentle personality. They say that is the way Fresians are. Enjoy your ride! Sounds like fun!!
Posted by: Tamara Miczikus | August 2nd, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Martha, I raise Arabians...am interested to know more about Fresians...look like great dressage horses...ready to hang it up from Hunter Jumper! LOL!....Love to know more, please keep me posted! Toni...864.863.7184
Posted by: Antonia (Toni) Alexander Hayden | August 2nd, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Lovely horses, and the stable is kept very clean and airy. I love the way you let the horses see each other, keep everything ventilated and and them all shiny and well taken care of. My only concern because I work for a company that deals with a lot of supplements, is the way they are stored and put together with the feed well before feeding them. Even just in the original containers, air is getting to them and causing them to lose their potentcy over time. With those metal containers, air is more likely to get in. And when you mix them together, you run the risk that some of the supplements are interacting with each other and causing them to lose their potentcy as well. You can never know which supplement is going to react with another, but it does happen. There is a great company out there that you may or may not have heard of, SmartPak, which may be something that would work for you especially since the horses are traveling. This is long enough so I don't want to go into explaining how it works, but you should look into them. They're super easy, and organized by each horse and their individual needs.
Posted by: NicoleC | August 2nd, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Hi from a Cuban in Carolina!
a few things,
the trailer gets hot even though the windows are all open in the summer especially at stops, an air conditioner unit is really great for long trips. Do put fly masks on your horses when you trailer, always, it keeps the dust and HAY SEEDS out of their eyes and the drying air.. I learned this out west from some cowboys on the rodeo circuit, their horses travel in stock trailers.
next, natural trim, ever try it? it is so nice that my anadalusian mare's feet are healthy and hard. taking a shoe break can be a healthy thing for your horses, keeping them sounder longer plus its less destructive in the barn and safer in the pasture.
Have you tried Sea-Cu Max? the Maine magical sea cucumber extract is a chondroitin supplement. smells a bit like low tide but is great stuff.
Comes from Stonington...
last but not least, I'd be careful with the corn, the big horses don't do well with that carbo, good hay is the best ! Have they ever slipped on the wood pellets? ok dats all, enojy the island!
Posted by: Joanna Crell Arias | August 2nd, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Hi Martha,
Hope you are having a fabulous time up in Maine! I love it there, and Acadia is so beautiful. Hope you also have an AWESOME Birthday tomorrow! Maybe you will get out for a scenic horseback ride.
Take care,
Kim and Lola, from NJ
Posted by: Kim and Lola in NJ | August 2nd, 2011 at 11:40 pm
I am impressed with the whole set up. You are great and have well kept horses. Period !
Posted by: PATRICK OBANDA | August 3rd, 2011 at 12:44 am
What a beautiful barn! I love how your supplements are organized. I also make am and pm baggies for my 25 year old mare. It looks like you use the same kind of herbs that I do, and also vitamin C. I'd love to see more blogs and pictures about the horses.
Posted by: Vicki W | August 3rd, 2011 at 2:55 am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you have a great day.
Posted by: Vivian Price | August 3rd, 2011 at 10:26 am
Hi Martha-
Glad you're enjoying the summer.
Happy Birthday!
Casey (NHS '60)
Posted by: John Kasley | August 4th, 2011 at 8:19 am
Happy Birthday, Martha! You look great...don't look your age at all. Interesting post about all the preparations needed for your beautiful horses. They are very well taken care of, and their coats are so shiny! They look so sweet and content..should be with all the care they get. I, too, would love to see more blogs and pictures about them.
Posted by: Judy | August 4th, 2011 at 10:36 am
People are learning that no shoes on a horse is better health and comfort wise, as well as for the well being psychologically for the horse. As we strive to provide a more natural way of horsekeeping, horse shoes are becoming a thing of the past- please consider doing the research on this.
Posted by: CIndy Bernard | August 4th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Hi Martha,
Happy Birthday to a wonderful lady who inspired so many. Blessed Lady.
Posted by: Lilywater | August 7th, 2011 at 10:36 am
Martha,
You should look into using Smart Paks, it's so convenient and no mixing. Plus it keeps the supplements much fresher than in baggies!
I do not work for SmartPak but I am a very satisfied customer in AZ.
http://www.smartpakequine.com
Posted by: Janet Ortega | August 8th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
I love Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island. We visited in 2009 when on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Those carriage trails are very picturesque. Just wanted to find a horse and go riding!
Posted by: Janet Ortega | August 8th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
I would like to know how well the Nature's Balance fly spray works. We have had a very wet summer ( I live close to Telluride, Co. and there is lots of irrgation also) which leads to more flys of all kinds and deer flys. Now that it is getting close to fall they are worse and getting "stickey".
The riding here is great - I am a native and my family homesteaded here - and the mountians trails are beautiful. I only own 2 horses now and don't show anymore - one is a 17hand thoroughbred out of a Secriatriat stallion and the is a Trakehner oput of a German gold medal winner
( long way from growning up on a cattle ranch with quarter horses - always wanted to do the jumps).
Thanks.
Gale Bunker
Posted by: Gale Bunker | August 11th, 2011 at 11:18 am
Martha,
Such beautiful facilities! I noticed in your pics all the prep going into packaging suppliments, and I agree with the other post made about using "SmartPak". It's very convenient pre-packaged, custom suppliments, perfect for travel!
I don't work for SmartPak either, but I do work for a company called Equus Athletics, and we have a product called EquiStix, which would also be a great tool to make your horses' 8-hr drive (and riding after arrival) much more enjoyable!
Equistix is a flexible, deep tissue massage tool for horses, perfect and convenient to pack in the trailer for trips! It allows you to perform a full body, deep tissue massage in minutes, without a power source! GREAT for using during rest stops to keep the horses warmed up, relaxed, and comfortable during travel, which will make them much more happy (and you more happy also!) once they arrive to start riding!
Check us out - I'd love to send you one for their trip home!
Happy trails!
Alexis
Posted by: Alexis | August 12th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
My heart is always heavy when I come here...I miss my horses so much, eventho it's been three years, it's still heavy on my heart...29 years is a long time.
I enjoy seeing the beauty of your horses...I have painted many images of Friesians, never once using black, yet they always are a beautiful black.
Posted by: delia | August 17th, 2011 at 9:45 am
Dear Martha,
I am so happy Ramon is doing so well. I couldn't be happier he is with you. I still have Siebe and would love for you to see him. I have another beautiful Friesian stallion as well named Ruben who missed being approved in Friesland by one horse. He is at Cogi Farm. Siebe is at my new farm in Roxbury, CT which is almost 90 acres with trails so I am in heaven. We still have not sold my Bedford house which has 23 acres (probably because I have not accepted the new economic realities)! I wish you well and think of you often and your kindness when I was pregnant with Alex who is now 8 yrs old and my pride and joy.
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Janet
Posted by: Janet Spina Janssen | December 20th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
We are glad you enjoy this wonderful breed and we share in his love of Friesians here in Canada, having 12 of them in our stable including a Ster Stallion from our own breeding. We think of them as family members.
Posted by: Lynn Ramsay/Black Reign Friesians | December 23rd, 2011 at 6:38 pm