Northernhorse.com Blog

The new image at the top of Northernhorse.com is from our 2009 Spring Photo Contest Winning photo by Anne Switzer. Anne received a Tim Hortons gift certificate for $50.00 for submitting this photo.

It was difficult to find an image to balance the other side of the photo to use it as the Northernhorse.com header. I ended up just using the same photo flipped horizontally and transformed larger. The face is so interesting that it deserves enlarging.

Thanks Anne for entering our contest and also for sharing a photo of the foal born later to the mare in the photo.  The photo was called “Awaiting Motherhood”

I’m always surprised at how often I will run into folks who haven’t heard about some event that I thought everyone knew about. I ran into a neighbour who hadn’t heard of the Wild Pink Yonder Ride that is coming up in just over a week.  Starts July 4th, Cochrane, Alberta.

Maybe because my sister-in-law and a friend are both newly diagnosed with breast cancer and I am getting to hear of it first hand, I would really like to help find a cure. I think that the Wild Pink Yonder Breast Cancer Ride is a really good way to help. I know it is not inexpensive but how do we get any decent amounts of money to the cause if we want to be entertained and we want it to be cheap? It looks like this is an opportunity to make a serious contribution and have some fun. Ride with friends and/or new friends, all your meals provided, an evening’s entertainment and donate to the breast cancer cause. Continue Reading… »

Wikipedia says:

The bite from a larger specimen is extremely painful, especially considering the light, agile, and airborne nature of the fly. Unlike insects which surreptitiously puncture the skin with needle-like organs, horse flies have mandibles like tiny serrated scimitars, which they use to rip and/or slice flesh apart. This causes the blood to seep out as the horsefly licks it up. They may even carve a chunk completely out of the victim, to be digested at leisure.

My broodmares are being terrorized by the little beasts and I am not sure that fly sheets would even help because they seldom attack the top or sides of the horses but in underneath near the udder seems to be their favorite target along with the belly and upper legs. I sprayed them with bug spray this morning but I really don’t like to do that all the time. I worry about how much the foal may be ingesting among other things.

Any ideas?

Well this looks like a lot of fun. A whole day of  living the Life of a Cowboy in a beautiful mountain setting. You can even extend your visit for an extra day or two if you would like. 200 cow-calf pairs on 63,000 acres. An incredible experience from which you will take home memories that will last a lifetime.

The Wild Deuce Retreats & Outfitting folks are your hosts for this amazing experience so it can’t help but be fun.The prize is one free day on the “Mountain Cattle Call” ride to be held on July 14 – 16. It can be used alone or as part of the 3 day ride. Continue Reading… »

I hardly know a Ford from a Chev and couldn’t tell you what kind of truck any of my neighbours drive – I might know the color. And now I am faced with having to get a different truck to pull my horse trailer. I need some advice from some of you with trailer hauling experience

Really it wasn’t me who needed the new  bigger, heavier trailer. It was Dave and Keeper. Keeper wasn’t really impressed with the lack of roominess in her stall and Dave kind of had the same problem. Then he saw this trailer on the Northernhorse Classifieds and soon we were off looking at it and he was telling me how our little 3/4 truck (with souped-up something or others that made it tougher) was going to be just loving to pull this thing. And it is only 3 feet longer. And we could get “air bags”. Continue Reading… »

We have had a request for information about the longevity of a stallion to provide stud services. The person making this query would really like to know if anyone knows of a professional or scientific source of this kind of information. She would like a source with some sort of documentation. She would like US statistics. Report should tell how long the stallion stands at stud, how many foals are produced and if available the number of mares and the frequency if known of their pregnancies. Does anyone know of any sources of this information?

I would also personally be interested in our readers’ experiences with stallion longevity. Please feel free to click on the “comments” button below and let us know of any stallions you have known and their longevity in the breeding pen.

The winner is Debbie with her suggestion of using mineral oil.

Does everybody know about mineral oil already? Plain old mineral oil you get at the drugstore, for keeping wounds moist and keeping flies out. As long as the wound is not infected a coating of mineral oil twice a day will keep the flies away and the edges of the wound soft enough to heal with very little scaring. I used this on a barb wire cut last summer on a little quarterhorse mare(above and below her eye)added bonus it doesn’t sting.

Thanks to all who entered. Be sure to check out the Rights of Passage Event on June 20 & 21 in Olds, Alberta at the Agriplex. We will be starting a new draw in the next couple of days.

The winner of our 2009 Spring Photo Contest is #499 – Anne Switzer is the photographer. Thanks to all of you for your entries. There are some really creative photographers in our midst.

I am thinking we are all really ready for summer. I am going to call the next photo contest SUMMERTIME. Other than it has to be horse related, it is up to you what it is about. I am hoping for some lovely photos of some of the places where you enjoy your horses in the summertime.

It seems that a Tim Horton card or Starbucks card makes a popular prize that most everyone can use so $50 card of your choice is the prize.  Even if you don’t drink coffee they both have other choices. We will give you some time to get these summer pictures although you can certainly use ones from other summers. Contest end date will be end of July.

My brain is getting full. We have been given a nice selection of new resources to use when working with our horses.

When you draw that circle in the sand and decide to teach your horse to do various things while she stays out of your circle but you stay in it, you have to broaden your ability to communicate. It really was easier to just walk along with her backing up and moving to either side and asking her to get over. I had to develop a whole new language that included a stick and string to get it done from my circle. Continue Reading… »

Today we started with a bit of theory and some safety tips, then Jonathan talked a bit about saddles and tack. We practiced saddling the fence until we got pretty good at setting the saddles gently. Then on to saddling our horses and once again practicing the groundwork exercises to see if they respond the same with their saddles on. Continue Reading… »