This message is from: "Arthur Rivoire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello Everybody from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia -
I was glad to see Johanna's post about NEVER feeding alfalfa cubes dry as they come from the bag. When I was reading the various posts discussing feeding alfalfa cubes, I said to myself - "Can they possibly be talking about feeding them dry?" -- We feed soaked cubes all winter, and particulary to the older horses. There's no need to feed them to healthy horses in the summer as they're on grass. Two qts. of cubes in a 5 gallon bucket almost filled with hot water and left overnight. I make sure the cubes are absolutely dissolved into mush. -- We've had two cases of choke here, and it's really awful to deal with. Both were with yearling colts bolting their feed. In one case, the feed was dry pellets, and the other dry pellets mixed into soaked beetpulp. -- Their eyes bugged out, the bellies distend, and they heave and gag horribly. It's really rightening. -- Both times I did the only thing I could think of. I opened their mouths, grabbed the tongue out the side,, put my hand down the throat. In the first case, I couldn't fee anything. With him, I then strongly massaged in an upward motion under his neck and gullet, and called the vet. By the time he came, the crisis was over. == In the second case which was this summer, I did the same thing and was able to pull out a mass of wadded hay that looked like a huge cigar. This colt recovered fairly quickly lso. -- We never, but never, feed whole apples or carrot chunks. I used to vertically slice all carrots, but now just feed whole carrots. With apples, I slice them. However, our whole farm is loaded with wild apple trees, and the horses gorge on them all fall. I used to worry a lot, now I just hope for the best. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I thought Pat's article was very well said, and also agree that it should be available permanently. It clearly explains the whole meaning and purpose of Evaluations. I was also extremely interested to read that probably a lot of people were confused about so-called "blue ribbon stallions",. and had the idea that the blue ribbon just referred to a horse show winning. -- But, giving this some thought, I think there might be a better designation for the Evaluations than blue, red ribbons. -- I mean, we go to great lengths to explain that an Evaluation isn't a horse show, and the difference being that in a horse show, the horses are judged and graded simply on the horses in the ring. If there are six horses in the ring, and all are pretty bad, one of them is still going to be the Blue Ribbon Winner. --- That is not the case in an Evaluation where all six horses are judged against the Breed Standard, and if all six are pretty bad, all six are going to get a yellow ribbon or a 3rd Premie . . . whatever the system calls for. This is why I think changing the designations might make much more sense. Much more understandable. Much less confusion. The way it is now, an owner may have a Blue Ribbon Stallion, meaning the horse won first place at a local show. Someone else who has taken his quality stallion to an Evaluation, and that horse was judged Blue Ribbon by certified evaluators, has only the same bragging rights. I think something better could be worked out, such as some of the European systems - "A Premium", "B Premium", "C Premium". "Model", "Star", "Keur" (Breeding), "Prestatie" (Performance), "Elite". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SALE HORSES from BEAVER DAM FARM - You'll notice there's a considerable spread in our prices. All horses are priced according to their conformation, breeding, movement, temperament, and level of training, and/or their prospects for breeding. BDF TITIAN (Gjest x Maryke) - weanling colt - Very pretty, brave, friendly. Good conformation, very good movement (fancy). Will be very very dark with very very good markings! Full brother to very very famous performance Fjords - BDF Idar, BDF Miss Navets (Betsy & Michael Scott's winning mare). -- Every one of Titian's brothers and sisters are really wonderful riding and driving horses. $6500. BDF TITAN (Gjest x Stine) - weanling colt - Tall & just about perfect in every way for breeding and performance. $12,000. OORUK - 1 1/2 yr. old gelding - German breeding. Tall, extemely kind, super mover, and well started. $7,000. HOLLY I - 1 1/2 yr. old filly - German breeding. Tall, very good looking & absolutely the most thrilling mover we've ever seen. $11,500. ZEUS - Yearling gelding. (Renard x BDF Annelise) - Very cute gelding with white star. Drafty type. Quite nice mover. Well handled. Well started. Easy temperament. $4,000. ZJEENA - 5 yr. old Hostar daughter - This one is the perfect child's pony. Not just her size, but her wonderful temperament and attitude. She's very very cute!!! And has the cutest personality. Very in tune with whoever's working her. Ridden by 85 lb. 11 yr. old. Arthur says, "What a sweetheart!" $8500. NW BARLIND - 3 yr. old Hostar son, gelding. Just started riding. Half brother to above mare, and looks just like her. Would make a cute pair. $4800. TJEEZA - 6 yr. old Solar daughter. An absolutely beautiful, wonderfully kind mare. Very dark in color. Gorgeous head and eyes. Wonderful presence. In training at BDF all summer. Ridden and driven all over the farm by various people including kids. -- She's one of my favorite driving horses. Unbelievably soft-mouthed and responsive. $12,500. TIALDA - 4 yr. old imported mare (Ohlsen-Junior) - Tialda is tall, big-bodied, and a stupendous mover. She has a stride you wouldn't believe. A lot of power. Tialda has everything it takes to be a very good dressage horse. Extremely kind and brave temperament. Very well trained to ride and drive. Lots of ring work and lots of trail work. Was used on the trail by all our guests this summer. And she was trained in dressage by Charlotte, an excellent dressage rider from Holland. $14,500. Those interested in any of these horses can contact me by email or phone. I'm sorry our sale page website is woefuly out-of-date. --- We have long, unedited videos on all horses. There are no problems exporting horses from Nova Scotia to the U.S. -- We do it all the time. If you'd like references, please ask. We have over twenty years worth. Kind Regards, Carol Rivoire http://www.beaverdamfarm.com Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II R.R. 7 Pomquet, Nova Scotia B2G 2L4 Tel:(902) 386-2304 Fax:(902) 386-2149 Carole Rivoire, author of THE FJORDHORSE HANDBOOK, only book in English on the Fjord breed, available from Beaver Dam Farm, $36.95 US includes P&H is the issue number.
