Equitania and horse sittin'
This message is from: Sessoms [EMAIL PROTECTED] I've been thinking of going to Equitania. Who's going to be there? What horses? Anyone on the list? What do you all do with horses when you are gone? How much do you pay people to take care of your horses each day and for what services? Meredith Sessoms Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee USA mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ~ Dorina ~ NFR Aagot .~:~. Fjords ~ Caper ~ Carly ~ Crickett .~:~. Labradors
trotting help... arena, etc.
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (BRIAN C JACOBSEN) Hi Ingrid, Your mare is not just bored with the arena is she? You say she will trot everwhere else? Also, she doesn't have any soreness or lameness that you know of? Trotting in circles (if you are doing that) can hurt more than trotting straight. Finally, do you have deep sand in the arena? Trotting is alot more work in deep sand and some horses don't like to do it. Some also think deep sand is more slippery than hard dirt, and they don't like it. Hope some of this might help! Brian Jacobsen Salisbury, North Carolina _ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
Icelandic Horses
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Information Architecture) Hi, I would like to add my knowledge/experience to the comments on the Icelandic horse. We have and breed mainly Fjords but also have had up to four Icelandics. I grew up with working Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, and grade horses. Our experiences with the Icelandics has been: they have the best feet we have seen (small, hard, and tough hooves), they have the best footing of any of our horses (when carrying a rider and saddle doing trail type riding in slick, rocky, or steep terrain), they make as good a pet horse as any (I am not sure horses should be pets, but that is my opinion), they have all been easy keepers, many are capable of four or five gaits (walk, running walk (tolt), trot, canter, and pace), they are fairly versatile (we have a 12.2 hand mare that jumps 4 feet, tolts very nicely, is an excellent trail horse and is now in dressage training; another 3 year old we are training for driving and hope to pair with a Fjord (I really dream of using the Icelandic with Fjords in a four-in-hand)). All-in-all the Icelandic have been a nice breed, but they are different than Fjords. To my eye, Fjords and Icelandics are distinctly diferent in appearance. As to conformation, Fjords have a heavier, more draft form than Icelandics. Also, there are substantial differences between Icelandics and Fjords in the preferred conformation. The Icelandic hair coat consists of an inner coat of very soft, fine, wool-like hair that extends into the mane (I have not noticed this on the Fjords). We have grown the manes out (to collect the hair for reins) on our Fjords and neither the manes nor the horses looked like the Icelandics. I think there is a temperamnet difference. The Icelandics seem a little hotter blooded than the Fjords. Both tend toward pony stubborness, though Fjords may have the edge there. In Iceland the preference (what they mean by a good temperament) is for a horse that has a lot of energy and is very go-ey; the temperament of a sporthorse. Most of what I hear referred to as a good temperament in Fjord horses means calm, tractable, willing, and well-behaved. I guess having both breeds, the minor differences between them become apparent and become significant in my choice of breeds. Our choice between the two is Fjords but we would never say the one breed is superior to the other. There is no reason not to use Icelandics as driving or draft horses, in dressage and jumping, in trail riding and endurance, and as family pets. The major differences I see in horses (not breeds) is due to their individual dispositions, whether they are worked with regularly, how much training they have had, and how they have been treated and what they have been exposed to. Points and Opinions: The tolt, or running walk, of the Icelandic is similar to the gait of the Tennesee Walker, the Pasos, and other gaited horses. A running walk gait is occasionally exhibited in many breeds. Individual horses regardless of breed can be trained to develop a running walk gait. In the case of Icelandics, the tolt is considered a natural (untrained) gait that is generally most apparent in young horses in their first year. We have seen both our Icelandic and Fjord foals tolting around the pasture (monkey see, monkey do?). The tolt is a four beat lateral gait. As with any lateral gait, the stability of the horse is lessened (thereby increasing the liklihood of the horse falling over). This is even more true in the pace. The tolt can be a fast gait (similar to a good working trot on a Fjord) and is often meant to cover a lot of ground over a long period of time. The tolt is a comfortable gait, but the trots of the Icelandics we have ridden have been very comfortable as well. If a gait of this breed is weak, it is the canter, which tends more towards a gallop (four beats instead of three and often not very balanced). There have been strictures against the importation of horses to Iceland since around the 11th century. How strictly this was adhered to is a matter of conjecture, but it is unique in the history of the horse. That Iceland was geographically isolated, was insignificant as far as a trade center goes and did actively discourage the importation of horses argues strongly that the Icelandic horse is one of the purest (in terms of gene pool and breed specificity) of all modern horse breeds. On the other hand, the history of man's migration and the history of the horse argues stongly against there being any modern breed of horse that can trace its history back, uninterrupted, for thousands of years. Bob Thilsted
Re: Icelandic Horses
This message is from: Northhorse [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 98-05-21 20:26:25 EDT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I guess having both breeds, the minor differences between them become apparent and become significant in my choice of breeds. Our choice between the two is Fjords but we would never say the one breed is superior to the other. There is no reason not to use Icelandics as driving or draft horses, in dressage and jumping, in trail riding and endurance, and as family pets. The major differences I see in horses (not breeds) is due to their individual dispositions, whether they are worked with regularly, how much training they have had, and how they have been treated and what they have been exposed to. Thank you for your informed and enlightening post about Icelandics. I don't know much about the breed, and it was very interesting reading. The only thing I had heard previously is that they are hard mouthed. To me, this sounds like a training problem. But, again, I don't know much about them. Any opinion on this rumour? Pamela
Backing up hard drives/Imprint Training
This message is from: Lori Albrough [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mike May wrote: With the advent of the normal hard drives being in the 4 - 6 gigabyte range now backing up a HD is a very time consuming job. And expensive using Zip disks too. For a 6 gig drive that is over 60 zip disks! At $120 per 10 pack that will run you over $700 to do your backup. And it will take you one L O N G time too. These days I think the only real solution for large drive backups is either a Jazz drive (2 Gig removable hard drive) or another hard drive just for backup. We use, and set up all our customers with, HP Colorado Tape Drives. Put the tape in before you go to bed and backup your whole drive. The T4000S holds 8 Gig (compressed), 4 Gig native. HP just came out with T5000 recently. We backup every night and rotate one tape offsite weekly, in case of disaster (fire, flood, theft). Tape drives should be cleaned about once a month, and a verify of the backed up data done periodically too. Hmmm, what's all that got to do with Fjords? Not much. Here's my obligatory Fjord comment (well, question) for the list: I've been wanting to raise the subject of imprint training baby fjords. I mentioned it at the Sunday chat and someone said they've heard about good results and bad. I've been doing it with my filly, not following Dr. Robert Miller's book 100%, but fairly closely (I waited till she had been up and nursed and had a nap, etc) and it seems great so far. Anyone else??? I guess I'm wondering if there are any hidden downsides. Lori
Re: Selenium deficient soil
This message is from: Anton Voorhoeve [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi, this is Anton from Fjord Horses of Narnia. About selenium. Before we started to give selenium supplement we had a serum selenium test done on our first two mares because they would not get pregnant with A.I. The levels were very low. Following several injections of selenium both mare became pregnant. This is very suggestive but no proof. I looked into it some more but have not been able to find just how much a horse needs(I take 66ug of chelated selenium). Does anyone know more details? Salt blocks are not the best way in my experience, some horses like it a lot others never touch it. We give powdered minerals with high selenium mixed with some wet screening pellets or beet pulp, that way we know for sure they get it. We also give them vitamins when they're not on gras. Next week I will report on all I have learned from the evaluation process but the Dutch delegation to our farm. I will video the whole process and make it available for anyone interested. Anton Voorhoeve
Re: Selenium deficient soil
This message is from: BKFJORDS [EMAIL PROTECTED] Here in Michigan, our soils are selenium deficient also. We feed a Vitamin C/Selenium supplement year around. Also, a month before the mares are due to foal, they are given a Selenium shot. Bernadine Karns
Re: Any other late foals this year?
This message is from: Jon A. Ofjord [EMAIL PROTECTED] At 08:43 PM 5/12/98 -0400, you wrote: This message is from: Lori Albrough [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is for Brian Jacobsen from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm, Nova Scotia. snip This year, however, the two that have foaled so far, were four days late, and ten days late. I was just wondering if anyone else's mares are foaling late this year? Cindy is one week late now, but thankfully starting to show signs. Our blacksmith was out a while back and said that two of her horses foaled 30 days late (!) also Bernadine Karns mentioned to me that a mare that had been bred to their stallion just foaled 30 days late and the vets there said that was normal this year. Anyone else been seeing this? The blacksmith blamed El Nino :-) Lori Hi Lori: Saw your message from 5/12 on late mares. Yes, ours was about a week late. We have another one due at the end of the month. Last time she foaled she was about 6 days early.
Re: Fjord manes
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Saskia wrote: ... I want to take the scissors and give him a coupe Fjord... Only my own clumsiness holds me back then... It's not so bad, Saskia! And the only way to get good at mane cutting is to just DO it. Pick a sunny, pleasant day and try it! You should have seen my poor Tuopen (pronounced Too'-pen) the first time I cut his mane. It was ragged and uneven and ugly and way too short! I was totally embarrassed. The only good thing about the situation was that his mane would eventually grow out, so I could try again. I use a large, heavy-bladed shears to cut Fjord manes. (For those in the USA, they are Fiskars shop scissors, which are much heavier than the Fiskars sewing shears or household scissors. I bought them in Menards, a building-supply store, for $10 - $15 US -- found them in the section for small hand tools.) First I cut a bridle path, a flat place in the mane just behind the ears where the bridle or halter lies naturally. The bridle path is roughly 2 inches (5 cm) from front to back. I cut the mane as short and smooth as possible in this spot, without cutting into the horse's body hair. If the mane is very long and wild, I roughly cut the mane to about 4 inches (10 cm) long in the middle and taper the hair to a couple of inches long at the top and bottom of the mane. I don't worry too much at this point about getting the mane perfect, just somewhere close to a proper length. If I was in a hurry, I would then wet and comb the mane until it stood up properly for trimming, but I usually stop and wait a week or so -- the wind and the rain will do this job naturally, if I give it some time. When the mane is standing up more neatly, I finish the trimming. It's best to halter and tie a Fjord so his head is at a natural upright position for this work (rather than at a -more- natural face-in-the-grass position!) Some people wet the mane to trim it, but I work with it dry, combing it with my fingers or a mane comb as I go. I don't try to cut the white hairs shorter than the black hairs at first -- I just try to make an even, flat cut across the width of the mane. To cut the mane flat, I have to move from one side of the horse to the other, and sometimes I compress sections of the mane with my fingers as I trim. It also helps to work in the barn or on a calm day -- otherwise the little itchy hairs get all over me as I cut! First, I think about how an Arabian's neck arches -- the high point of the arch is NOT in the middle of the neck -- it's several inches closer to the head than to the withers. That's the kind of arch I want to cut in the mane. I decide where the high point of the arch should be (perhaps 3 or 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm) away from the middle of the mane towards the head). I cut the mane at that point to a finished length of 2.5 to 4 inches (6 to 10 cm). I trim the mane from that high point in a more-or-less straight line down toward the withers. The hair at the withers should be pretty short -- perhaps 1 inch long or less. I try not to cut into the body hair; the mane should just gradually and smoothly disappear into the body hair at the withers. I also trim the mane in a more-or-less straight line from the high point towards the bridle path. At the bridle path, however, the mane should be about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) long. In other words, the bridle path itself should look like a notch, with the forelock on one side, and the short, upright mane you just trimmed on the other side. Even though I cut straight from the high point to the withers and to the bridle path, the result should look like a curve. (If there is an obvious point at the high point, it needs to be smoothed out.) I stand back from the horse at times to see how the arch looks in relation to the rest of the horse. Not every horse looks best with high, exaggerated arch. Such an arch might be very long (4 inches (10 cm)) at the high point and very short (1 inch (2.5 cm)) at the bridle path. Some Fjords look much better with a shorter mane overall and/or a flatter curve to their mane. If that is the case with your Fjord, just cut the mane at the high point shorter, then recut the rest of the mane to fit that new high point. I find this method of cutting the mane shorter/flatter gives better results for me than the approach of just trimming a little off the whole mane. Tuopen, with a thicker neck, looks best with more arch and a longer mane overall; Sissel and Finn, who have with thinner necks, look better to my eye with shorter manes and a little less arch than Tuopen's. Once the mane looks right, I (sometimes) cut the white hairs about 0.5 inch (1 cm) shorter than the black ones. (Is it the Dutch who do cut the white hairs shorter, and the Norwegians who don't?) And, of course, there's always the problem of trimming off those stray hairs that pop up a day or so later. Don't get too fussy about the kind of arch you cut while you're first learning. Concentrate at first on how
Selenium deficient soil
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mary Thurman wrote: ... We don't have selenium in our soils, so we feed it as a supplement So do we (soils in northeastern Iowa, USA, are selenium deficient). When I got my first horse (Frosty, the non-Fjord), my vet told me to -always- feed a trace mineral and salt supplement that had selenium in it. So I did, but didn't think much of it, except for grouching that the selenium mineral blocks cost more than the non-selenium mineral blocks. Recently, however, local fellow who raises quarter horses told me that his family had lost 2 week-old foals -- they seemed healthy and active, but died suddenly. After sending the second body to the Veterinary Hospital at Iowa State University for testing, they found that the foals had died of selenium deficiency. They then started to feed their pregnant and lactating mares a selenium supplement in addition to their regular diet -- they have lost no more foals since then. As he finished his story, I thought of Finn, my yearling colt, who was born on our place, and I was thankful that I have never tried to cut costs with the mineral blocks! DeeAnna PS: Has anyone ever had trouble with their yearling horses still trying to suckle their dams (or even convenient geldings!) long after after weaning? Sissel, the mare, is definitely dried up. She tries to keep Finn away from her, but he is so quietly persistent that she finally gives in and lets him nurse. He even approaches the geldings (Tuopen and Frosty) for a nip -- you should see their heads swing around and their tails swish when they feel a nuzzle on their private parts! We had to dry Sissel up by keeping her for some weeks in a small paddock, but I didn't want to confine her to that small space any longer than was necessary. I realize now that we probably didn't separate Sissel and Finn long enough for him to break the habit. One suggestion we were given was to separate the two again for several months, but we don't really have the land and fences to do that. Will Finn eventually stop -- or should I see if I can board Sissel elsewhere -- or ? (I'm a little embarassed to admit this -- please don't make fun of me!)
cart
This message is from: Jmggray [EMAIL PROTECTED] If anyone in New England area (we live in Gray ME) knows of a sturdy, well balanced, 2 wheel cart for sale, we would appreciate having information. We have a 13.2 drafty Haflinger and a 14.1 Fjord and drive on some rough woodland trails. Right now using a 20 yr old training cart and don't know what will fall apart first - our backs or the wire wheels. Joanne and Mel Goble
Re: bored Fjord
This message is from: saskia [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi Alison, I know that Fj could not stand to be in a stall all day, as he strongly objects to more than an hour in one. yes, which is normal! It really hurts me to think about Flor in that box... another subject, how does everyone keep their Fjords occupied? Fj undoes gates (including one spring loaded one that I have to wiggle and lean my weight on to get open), unties himself, and jumps fences. We already discussed Fencing, but how does everyone relieve their boredom? Company is one good thing (that doesn't have to be another Fjord, my Janosch (the Shetland) has a lot of fun with our dog (well, he's of his size, of course!), and I heard of horses playing with goats and sheep... I also bought a skippy ball and occasionally they have fun with it too - not so often as I'd hoped, but maybe that's because they have eachother to play with... I heard good things about skippy balls for lonely horses. Sybren amuses himself with anything, when I'm working in the meadow and I hang my coat on the branch of a tree, he jumps up until he has it and then runs through the meadow with it, and so with anything he thinks I need so that he's sure I'll run after him... And of course... eating is what he loves best in the world! Saskia
Re: adultry/bored Fjord
This message is from: BKFJORDS [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi Allison, Regarding Fjord boredom. 1.-Feed 2.-Ride/Drive 3.-Feed 4. Plenty of company-horse or human 5.-Feed Repeat all the above!! Bernadine Karns
