I have had horses since third grade- I was one who begged and whined for one. :cool: I have ridden all my life.
I had horses of my own when my son and daughter were born- they grew up with big horses. My daughter (younger) begged to ride and wanted lessons. The person who did kid's lessons at...
The wool in rope form is called roving.
Since I am not mechanically inclined, I am finding the drop spindle is great- nothing to break, wear out, or get loose. I think I would actually dread getting my wheel back out after 6 years of not using it. If you know the model of your wheel, you could...
Scratching their withers is a calming thing for them, too. Ever watched a herd of horses grooming each other with blissful expressions on their faces? And, besides, what could go wrong when you're being scritched?
Really sounds like you are on the right track! Singing is great- it not only calms the horse down, but it calms YOU down from anticipating a problem, forces you to breathe, and you relax, the horse relaxes more. You are telling him that there is nothing that eats horses on the other side of that...
I grew up with straw stalls and I will never willingly do them (except for a minimal amount of time in a foaling stall). I have used shavings mostly since moving to New England. You can get bagged shavings (expensive), Woody Pet type pelleted shavings (more expensive) or a bulk load of shavings...
Yes, Mocha is registered with American Warmblood Society. Most of my foals have been registered with Oldenburg NA, but Mocha's sire wasn't an approved stallion for them. Her mom is Trakehner, and dad is a Saddlebred cross.
When I fed square (small) bales I counted on about 50# of hay per horse per day (about 1 bale). More in the winter.
I have fed round bales to my guys for the last 6 years and have tried absolutely EVERYTHING I could afford to minimize waste. The ring was awful (plus we had a yearling climb into...
I keep telling myself that the slubs are a good thing- makes the yarn more interesting ;)
But, it seems funny that when you're learning you want to have "perfect" yarn, and when you get to using it you want the beginner yarn.
I love the pictures of the "long ears":D Mules and donkeys are so cute!
OK, here are some of mine:
Isis at her foal inspection with her OTTB mom
An OTTB mare- Polly- who I got because she was on her way to an auction and I thought she was too nice a horse to end up as dogfood:
Here's Polly...
I have a wheel that I learned to spin on (that got packed away 6 years ago when we moved and I haven't the space to get it back out). I never tried a drop spindle- I didnt' think I was that coordinated- before last month. I bit the bullet and bought one with some (absolutely GORGEOUS)...
Well, we have a small front end loader to turn the pile- it goes so much faster to good dirt if you can do it.
I put old pallets up on end tied to trees for anchors and tied to each other (so I can take them apart if I want to). That gives me not only air, but a backstop to push the loader...