This message is from: Anita Unrau <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Upon reading yesterdays list, I thought I would comment on what we > have learned over the years.
We are feeding irrigated Alfalfa again this year. We get a couple of B trains from Alberta and our Fjords as well as all the other various horses do very well on it. We have found that we can feed about 9 lbs. per horse per feeding with good quality hay compared to last year using local hay and having to fed twice as much hay per feeding for maintaince. The horses that are being worked get fed more when the are in the barn during the day and everyone gets turned out at night. All the TB's and TB X's are in Paddocks and the Fjords other then the stallions are all in big pastures. The weanlings and yearling are the only one with a run in shed. All the other outside horses have trees for protection. We are very fortunate in having dry snow and very little wind. My daughter has to keep a blanket on her TB eventing horse as he uses up to much energy staying warm. We have fed Alfalfa every winter for about 20 years. Do like an orchard grass mix with it if available. This year have about 10% orchard grass in the 100# bales. Orville does not like to drive any horse unless they have shoes on. His opinion is that the horse must be paying attention to what is asked of him and not worrying about slipping, rocks, sore feet, etc. During the winter of 85-86 a man by the name of Buck Jenkins came out to do an article for the Sons of Norway magazine "Viking". He had been to several places in the east and was doing some stories on the Fjord. He wanted a bunch of pictures of Orville using the horses around the farm. Orville hooked up George and Harvey and went to go out with the sleigh and when he got to the gate that was real icy George and Harvey refused to go through. This had never happened before so Orville thought about it for a minute and turned around and went back to the barn. Unhooked and put shoes on George and Harvey. Because he was driving colts that winter he had taken off their pulling shoes with big corks and left them barefoot. They had always had shoes with borium for all the work they had done and were not about to change things now. After putting their winter shoes on, we hooked back up and they drove through the gate as though there was no ice. They taught us that it was important for them to work with secure footing. George and the three kids unloading bedding from the barn made the front cover. I checked out the webb page for the US Marine art. Again back in the early 80's we were told there are pictures at the army base in Calgary of the Canadian Army on winter manoeuvres in Norway. They would race each other to a mountain top and the first one with camp set up won. The Norwegians consistenly would win with their Fjord horses on snowshoes packing everything up the mountain. The Canadians would use Bombadiers or early snowmobiles. We were sorry to hear when the Norwegian Army quite using horses. Top Canadian CDE competitiors, David and Christi Wharton have a beautiful barn set up in Kendal, Ont. Each box stall has a trap door that opens up to the underbarn conveyor belt that dumped all the bedding and manure behind the barn into the manure spreader. It takes just a few minutes to pick each stall and dump into the trapdoor. Christi had a choice between a new kitchen or the easier barn chores. Horses do tend to come first don't they. Our experiences with meadowbrooks has not been good. Sam was about 15 when we were at a Bill Long clinic in Washington state. She used her gelding Anvil's Klipper and the two wheeled cart for her lesson and after it was done her Dad took Klipper out practising hazards. On the flat at a good trot in a hard turn the cart flipped over. The next day Cathy Shives with their gelding Anvil's Ryder did the same thing in a flat hazard on a hard turn. That is when Orville started designing four wheel carriages. He said our daughter is not going to be competing in a two wheeled vehicle. Funny how small things can make big changes. Rattled on enough. Anita Unrau Anvil's Acres Norwegian Fjords "Disposition, Conformation, Versatility"
