OT - blessings
This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sorry for an off topic post, but I loved this and want to share it. Something to consider: If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep... you are richer than 75% of this world If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment,the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest,torture, or death... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If your parents are still alive and still married... you are very rare, even in the United States. If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful... you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not. If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder...you are blessed because you can offer healing touch. If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all. Have a good day and a blessed New Year. Count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed they are. Candy Sloma, counting her blessings in cold and snowy upstate NY
ages
This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Another mostly lurker, surfacing to participate in the age and profile thing. I'm 38, hubby is 42 and two girls, 11 and 9. I subscribe to the digest from work, and forward relevant advice, stories, etc to the family at home. I almost never go near the computer at home - too much to do! I've learned so much from the list, really enjoy the jokes, stories etc. I got inspired to take riding lessons by hearing from others on this list. I thought I was too old to start such a thing - silly me. We have two 11 year old Fjord geldings, a saddle horse of undetermined breed (transplanted southwestern ranch horse - mustang, perhaps), one teeny black pony, sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, cats, dogs, guinea pig and angora bunny. The Fjords are finally, after a very long break, being handled and worked fairly consistently, preparing for being used on the farm. My oldest daughter is riding Thor a little, bareback until we get a saddle that fits. Thor sometimes paws the ground, waiting for the hay to arrive. The other day he was standing with his one foot stretched forward - he put his other foot forward and did a cat-style stretch. Never saw a horse do that before. Thanks to all for a great list - gotta get back to work. Candy, Ed, Erica and Samantha Sloma, Thor, Max, Taco, Billy, et al Laughing Crow Farm, upstate NY
Re: Buying/Selling Fjordhorses -
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks Carol. This was a terrific post, and mirrored much of the advice I received this past weekend. I attended the New York State Draft Horse Club's Draft Horse Short Course at Cornell U. this past weekend. Lynn Miller of Small Farmer's Journal was there leading much of the demonstration.Along with workshops on nutrition, colic, lameness, etc were harnessing demonstrations, shoeing, chances to drive a Suffolk, Belgians, Percherons... unfortunately no Fjords. One of the club members arranged for Lynn to do a round pen training demonstration on Monday morning.It was excellent. Many of the points made in this post were made by Lynn. He said that he used to recommed that beginners get an older well broke team to start, but now he often recommends buying yearlings and raising them up yourself, for many of the same reasons mentioned. You grow together, you know everything that's happened to that horse.You and the horse have bonded by the time you need to work together. I feel that's one of the reasons why our two Fjords are so patient and calm. The previo! ! us owner had bought them as yearlings and raised them himself, with excellent results. During Lynn's training session, he talked about the very real significance of 'baby steps'. For example, Lynn was able to pick up the 'trainee' horse's foot for just a second or so, and put it down. The significance of this is not that he was unsuccessful at picking up the foot and holding it as long as he wanted, (the final goal, as it were) but that he decided when to put the foot down, not the horse. Lynn made the claim that horses are telepathic, they know what you are thinking. For this reason, you need to approach the training and handling of the horse with confidence, in a very matter of fact way. Lynn said that he prefers not to know anything about a horse he works with in the pen, and suggested pretending that you don't know the horse. That way you're not thinking thoughts like 'he always kicks when I do this', that the horse picks up on, and of course... Lynn took a 65 foot long rope with a ring braided into the end, looped some of the rope through the rin! ! g, and put it over the horse's neck, He then proceeded to wiggle it back and forth, swing it up over the horse's back, let it fall over the other side and put pressure on various parts of the horse's body. The purpose of the ring at the end is that the rope won't ever cinch tight, the horse will feel the rope but is not restrained. He kept enough tension on the rope to keep it from falling or dragging, but went with the horse's movements to avoid pulling or restraint. The idea was to continue this until the horse stops reacting, and says 'OK, this is not that bad'. He described this as teaching the horse courage. One goal here was to have the rope touch all the areas that a harness would touch, where a loose tug or rein might fall, etc.Lynn was able to put a collar and harness on a young mare that was only halter trained after 30 - 45 minutes or so. She stood quietly for it. In his talk on Friday evening, Lynn talked about the tremendous growth potential he sees in the work horse industry. Along with this he stressed the responsibility experienced horse people have to help those starting out, both to help prevent accidents and injury due to mistakes, and to help fuel the growth that Lynn sees is possible. Every beginner that successfully realizes his dream of working with horses is testimony to others who have the same dream. Carol, you mention some good books. What would you recommend? What would others on the list recomment, and why? Sorry to go on so long, but it was just so exciting to read this post after hearing so many of the same things this weekend. Someday I will buy a pair of Fjord yearlings. Candy Sloma Laughing Crow Farm Maine, NY
blinders
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Great story about Renata Anybody on the list use their Fjords for farm work? We have been trying to work with our Fjords regularly, still just pulling the wagon they are used to. The last couple of times we hitched them up, Thor has take to rubbing his head on Max, and getting the bridle off over his ears. We got around this the last time by fastening the bridle to the halter underneath so it couldn't be rubbed off. Any suggestions? I don't think they like the blinders on the bridle, we are considering getting bridles without blinders and working them that way. This would be only on the farm. Perhaps the topic of blinders has been covered before I subscribed, but if anyone has opinions on this I'd like to hear them. Thanks I heard from someone on the list a while back, Pat Curdy (??) in Cato NY, near us. If you're still on the list, please e-mail me. I lost my old messages, and I'd like to take you up on your invite to come for a visit. Candy & Ed Sloma Laughing Crow Farm Maine, NY
our first look at Fjords
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I've been enjoying the stories, and the various discussions. I don't post much since we are such newbies and don't have much advice to contribute, just trying to learn, learn, learn. Anyway, our story about our first look at Fjords, and one about their temperament. Our two geldings Max and Thor were our first look at Fjords. We have been planning to add horse power to our farm, with no particular timetable, and a general preference for Suffolks. We heard about a team of horses for sale, complete with a set of farm equipment. Found out the they were what, Norwegian Fjords? We called some friends who farm with exclusively horse power (first Percherons, and now Halflingers) and asked 'What do you think of Fjords?" They said, 'We don't like their looks, they look funny.' With that ringing endorsement, we ventured out to look at them anyway. We thought they were gorgeous, so curious and interested. We tried to look at the situation objectively, but we were both swept off our feet. At this point Max and Thor have only been used to pull a wagon and bobsled. They did little or no work for about three years before we bought them, as the previous owner was partially disabled by strokes. We had help from our horse farmer friends our first time hitching them up. They were pulling the wagon along nicely and both sides of both singletrees broke all at the same time, suddenly unhooking both horses. They just stopped in their tracks, and waited. We fixed the wagon up with backup equipment, then continued on. Our friends were quite favorably impressed with their temperament. We are so glad these guys came our way. Hoping to ride them too someday... It's been inspriational to hear about new riders about my age (37). I felt intimidated, like if I didn't grow up on a horse's back it must be too late for me. My husband sent this along from home for me to post to the list (I lurk from work): We are looking at buying a new horse drawn cultivator and will probably be buying one soon. In talking with the owner I mentioned we had Fjords and he said he was interested in buying a team of mares. Gap PA is in Southeast PA but I think he would be willing to travel for a good team. He can be contacted at: I & J Manf. 5302 Amish Road Gap PA 17527 717-442-9451 (8:30-9:00AM) Candy and Ed Sloma in upstate NY, where the first snow is forecast for tonight
Fjords at NYS Fair?
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Does anyone know when Fjords will be shown at the New York State Fair? I would watch any event just to see some other Fjords.
Re: A mystery
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Not to get totally off the 'horse track' here, but I felt compelled to respond. All that was said is correct, with one exception. There is one type of puffball, called the poison pigskin puffball, that IS poisonous. It is quite harder to the touch than other puffballs, and has a very distinctive texture on the outside. Hard to describe in words, but has sort of raised bumps all over it with a dark dot at the center of each bump. Also, if you cut it open, you will see a thin ring of white around the outside, and some discoloration ranging from very pale yellow to quite dark throughout the rest of the puffball. It really is quite distinct from the edible puffballs. Any field identification guide will provide plenty of description and a picture to help distinguish this one inedible puffball. I eat puffballs when I can find them while they're still white and fleshy, not the 'smoke bomb' that I usually come across. So enjoy! Candy at Laughing Crow Farm in Binghamton, NY, where rain is a distant memory [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 07/27/99 12:07:29 PM Please respond to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] cc:(bcc: Candace L Sloma/AMER/UIC) Subject: Re: A mystery This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Denise Delgado" wrote dear meredith, those sound like "puffballs." they show up here in the moister weather of fall and spring. they are a sort of fungus, like mushrooms and poisonous. It might interest some of the more adventuresome on the list to know that puffballs are not only not poisonous, they are actually quite good to eat. Not, of course when they have gotten to the point of being all full of brown "gooey stuff". Unless we're talking about different fungi, puffballs spores, while they are brown to black, and fill the skin of the puffball, are actually dry. Old timers in Vermont told me that when they are at this spore bearing stage they can be used to staunch bleeding in an emergency (if you're out in a field and need a compress) for man or beast. Basically, the flesh of any puffball, when it is pure white, can be thickly sliced (1/2 inch thick) and sauteed lightly in a little garlic olive oil until brown. Quite good. One needs just to be sure it is a puffball, rather than a white mushroom in a "button" stage, since the latter ARE POISONOUS. Unlike puffballs which are solid, mushrooms have gills on the underside of the cap.
Saddles
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] As a new list member here, I have posted to the list a couple of times, and I keep forgetting to use my name! I'm Candy, my husband Ed and I have owned a pair of Fjord geldings, Max and Thor, for about 6 weeks now. Thanks to the people who responded to my first post about pasturing them with our little ponies. They are pastured together now, with no problems combining them. We fenced them up next to each other for a while, until it seemed that they were all used to the idea, then opened a space between them and watched. There was some excited trotting about, and there is still a little nipping and such, but they generally get along fine. We are getting used to the horses by hitching them up to the wagon and going for rides to the creek. Ed tried using Thor on the cultivator, but they are not used to driving single, and he just wanted to be back by the barn with his brother. We're enjoying having them and learning to work with them. Our oldest daughter Erica drove th! ! em with Ed on the wagon on her 10th birthday - very exciting for her. My two girls are taking riding lessons, Erica participated in her first equitation show on Sunday, riding the instructor's Arabian / QH cross. No ribbons, but she learned a lot and really enjoyed it.One of Erica's birthday presents was a book on horses. In this book, the paragraph on Fjords says " due to their straight shoulders, they are difficult to fit with a saddle." Is this true? What should I look for? We were given two 17" english saddles, we would like to use these on the Fjords but have not put onto the ponies' backs yet. Erica brought the saddle pads out to the Fjords, to let them inspect. Thor sniffed, and went back to grazing. Erica laid it on his back, and he couldn't care less. Max came over for a look, sniffed the pad, then turned away with a look that said, "Yuck!", then he walked away. Candy at Laughing Crow Farm, where we scan the skies for rain daily
Re: horsey haha + chat links
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] How many horses does it take to change a light bulb? Fjords: Haven't you noticed? It's done already. Now feed me. "Jackie Kennedy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 07/24/99 09:51:58 PM Please respond to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "fjords" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> cc:(bcc: Candace L Sloma/AMER/UIC) Subject: horsey haha + chat links This message is from: "Jackie Kennedy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> How many horses does it take to change a light bulb? Thoroughbred: Who me? Do WHAT? I'm scared of light bulbs! I'm outta here! Arabian:Someone else do it. I might get my silky mane dirty and besides, who's gonna read me the instructions? Quarter Horse: Put all the light bulbs in a pen and tell me which one you want. Standardbred: Oh for Christ Sakes, give me the damn bulb and let's be done with it. Shetland: Give it to me. I'll kill it and we won't have to worry about it anymore. Freisian: I would, but I can't see where I'm going from behind all this mane. Belgian:Put the Shetland on my back, maybe he can reach it then. Warmblood: Is the 2nd Level instruction Packet in English? Doesn't anyone realize that I was sold for $75K as a yearling, but only because my hocks are bad, otherwise I would be worth $100K? I am not changing lightbulbs. Make the TB get back here and do it. Morgan: Me! Me! Me! Please let me! I wanna do it! I'm gonna do it? I know how, really I do!! Just watch! My parole officer said it's okay, really! And when we're done we can go over to the neighbors and chase their cats! Appaloosa: Ya'll are a bunch of losers. We don't need to change the light bulb, I ain't scared of the dark. And someone make that dang Morgan stop jumping up and down before I double barrel him. I WONDER what a fjord would do Join me (PAVAussie) for fjord chat this Sunday. The link is below, just click on it. Hope to see you there. Jackie Kennedy [EMAIL PROTECTED] Click the link below to enter the chat room http://volano1.suresite.com/petsvets/vcclient/horsechat.html ">HORSE ROOM 1 http://volano1.suresite.com/petsvets/vcclient/horsechat.html ~~
new horses
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi. I've been enjoying being on the list for several weeks now, after looking up Fjord horses on the web. My husband and I are slowly and steadily building an organic farm (Laughing Crow Farm) in Broome County in the state of New York. The plan has always been to use live horse power for some / all of the farm work, A friend of ours called us about an ad in her local paper: A team of horses, harnesses, forecart, wagon, bobsled, and mower for sale. We have alot on our plates already, but we decided to have a look. We looked, we liked, we bought. The team is a pair of 10 year old registered Fjord geldings, and they are beautiful! They are fully trained to drive but not to ride. My husband picked them up yesterday and brought them home. Their names are Maxwell and Thorly (Max and Thor). My husband has had some training and practice with draft horses, and we have friends who will be helping us as we begin to work with our new farm partners. A couple of questions: We have two little (approx 11+ hands) ponies already, which we have fenced in with the sheep and the goat. How long should we wait before we try to pasture the two pairs of horses together, or should we plan to always keep them separated? We have two daughters 7 and 10 who are taking riding lessons now. We want to train Max and Thor to ride. We will learn all we can, and will be asking for help and advice before actively undertaking this, but if anyone has any pearls of wisdom I'd love to hear them.
