Your Horses Dictionary
A Horse’s View of the World
Do you ever wonder what your horse is actually thinking? Sometimes I am sure that I do not want to know what mine are thinking!
How often have you ever wondered if you are on the same page or even talking the same language? Take a look at some of the definitions from the horse’s dictionary and compare them to yours.
Arena: Place where humans can take the fun out of forward motion.
Bit: Means by which a rider’s every motion is transmitted to the sensitive tissues of the mouth.
Bucking: counter-irritant.
Crossties: Gymnastic apparatus.
Dressage: Process by which some riders can eventually be taught to respect the bit.
Fence: Barrier that protects good grazing, as the grass is almost always greener on the other site. (Continued…)
A Six Pound Stallion?
If I’m the Big Red Horse (and I am), this is the little black and white stallion. Did you see this guy? Einstein the new born pinto stallion only weighed 6 pounds when born. I think the baby goats in the barn were that big! Spring time is a lot of fun. Not only are their usually new babies on the farm, but there is LOTS of grass. Best of all, I have acres of clover to eat. Gotta get back to it!
St. Patty’s Day is for Kids
Patrick
Goat kids, that is. Thistledown welcomed two Alpine dairy goat bucklings on Saint Patrick’s Day. Mama and babies are all healthy; however, mama goat chose to nurse just one of them leaving the humans at Thistledown to nurse one of the brothers. Named Patrick and O’Malley in honor of the holiday they were born on, the two brothers are available for sale.
Alpine Dairy Goats
The Alpine dairy goat is a medium to large sized goat. Our female mother Thistle is probably around 75 lbs and our male Briar around 175 lbs. This is the only breed of goats with upright ears. Both the males and females have horns and they come in a variety of colors and color combinations.
These are hardy, adaptable animals that thrive in any climate while maintaining good health and excellent milk production. Find out more about Alpine dairy goats at the Dairy Goat Journal.
Baby Alpine Dairy Goats for Sale
O'Malley
The brothers are for sale and available with papers. They are $250 each and we will offer a discount to a good home that is interested in both.
Alpine goats make excellent companions, lawn mowers and pack goats. They are typically larger, stronger, and healthier than other goat breeds. They are easy to train, bond with their keepers and are rather affectionate.
How DO you pronounce Trakehner
The Big Red Horse received this query in his email:
Having a discussion on how to pronounce ‘Trakehner’. Would someone be kind enough to assist? Is it ‘track - uhn - er’, or ‘truh - keyn(cane) - er’? Or do you have a better way of sharing with me? Sorry to bug. It’s me against the wife & daughter! (I’m thinking ‘cane’)
Thanks in advance for your response…
Not being one to fuel family feuds, we collected answers:
From Helen Gibble who served as the ATA registrar for many years and speaks fluent German, “My version would be “tru (like in truck) cane er” with the emphasis on “cane.”
Pam Norton who plans all of the annual conventions responds, “Tra cane er.”
Eileen Krause responds, “truh - keyn (cane) - er with the accent on the second syllable.”
Favian, the Big Red Horse comments, “Call me whatever you want, just let me eat grass!”
I Met a Horse Whisperer
Have you ever thought how cool it would be to talk to animals like Dr. Doolittle? I had the opportunity to meet the horse whisperer Bill Northern last night and it was quite fascinating. He specializes in race horses and spends time helping to solve both their mental and physical problems. For those who have pets and are in tune with them, it is fairly easy to hear what they are saying, but Bill Northern can dig a little deeper through his dowsing techniques. Check out his web site for more specifics on what he does, I’m more interested in sharing some of the highlights from his stories.
A colorful story teller who often had tears in his eyes while telling his tales, you can tell Bill Northern loves what he does. When he isn’t working in Kentucky, he can often be found jetting around the globe to California or New Zealand. In fact, I believe he left for New Zealand today - he finds it a bit more comfortable in the winter (mostly because it is summer there). In addition to treating horses, he has treated almost any other kind of animal that you can imagine.
The story highlights:
- Cats Lie - most animals will tell him the truth about their behavioral issues, but cats want to bargain and will often lie. He says that they will tell the truth if they are in physical pain. Take the cat he consulted about its nasty habit of scratching on and tearing up its owners furniture. Bill worked a compromise where the owners would feed the cat that pink fish (salmon) everyday and the cat would no longer tear up the couch. . . Well you can guess what happened the one day they ran out of salmon!
- Maybe horses do see color? I’ve often heard that they see in black and white, but perhaps not so! One race horse Bill treated because it was finishing dead last. The horse had recently changed stables and it told him that it (Continued…)
Bookmark this post:The Perfect Man is Waiting!
So maybe he is a stallion, not a man. EVEN better, when he is bad it is ok to leave him out in the pasture. The American Trakehner Association (ATA) just announced that bidding for the 2010 ATA Stallion Service Auction (SSA) will open next week on January 1, 2010. Over 40 of the countries top stallions are participating in the event, including Olympic medalist, Abdullah *Pg*E*. Of course Favian *Ps* aka The Big Red Horse is participating too. What a great way to start the New Year by getting discounted breeding to a versatile Trakehner horse.Best of all, if you have registered to bid in a previous SSA Auction you don’t need to re-register for the 2010 event. Online bidding ends on February 14 (Continued…)
Bookmark this post:The Pastor’s Donkey
AKA - The Pastor’s AssThe Pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.
The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again and it won again.
The local paper read:
PASTOR’S ASS OUT FRONT
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.
The next day the local paper headline read: (Continued…)
Bookmark this post:Urgent Notice on Dangers of Horse Hair
In a press release today, the National Institute of Health has announced the discovery of a potentially dangerous substance in the hair of horses.
This substance, called “amobacter equuii” has been linked with the following symptoms in females:
- Reluctance to cook, clean or do housework
- Reluctance to dress up, wear make-up, nice clothes or heels
- Reluctance to spend money on home or car repairs until after “baby has new shoes, pad, blanket, tack, grain, hay & supplements”
“Amobacter equuii” usually results in long hours away from home and exhaustion which may lead to a loss of physical contact with other humans (especially husbands).
“Amobacter equuii” is thought to be addictive, driving the need for additional sources - this may lead to a “herd mentality” or like the potato chip commercial, “you can’t have just one.” (Especially potent if infected from miniature equines)
Beware! If you come in contact with a female human infected by this substance, be prepared to talk about horses for hours.
Surgeon General’s Warning: Horses are expensive, addictive, and may impair the ability to use common sense.
Bookmark this post:Horse Talk
So what do all of those horse terms, phrases and expressions really mean? Brad Krebs, president of the American Trakehner Association shed some light on them in the spring Trakehner Times. Here are a few of my favorites.Horsing Around - comes from the idiom “horse play” describing young horses in various forms of rough or rambunctious play.
Horse of a Different Color - derived from people comparing registration certificates listing color and noticing that the certificate description did not match the color of the horse being observed. And I thought this referred to a gray horse or an odd color.
Straight from the Horse’s Mouth - a racetrack tipster known for picking winners once told his clients that he got his information from the horse itself.
One Horse Town - used first in the 1850s when there were many more horses than people in some American towns. if a town only had one horse, it was a very small town with little happening.
Chomping at the Bit - all horse people have seen this behavior when a bridled horse is anxious to get started with (Continued…)
Bookmark this post:Is it too HOT for your Horse?
Lately I think it has been WAY to hot in Hotlanta to ride. Here is an interesting formula for determining if it is really to hot to ride your horse!
The Formula:
air temperature + relative humidity - wind speed = answerEvaluating your answer:
180 or above don’t ride,
130-170 use caution
130 or below ride!Determine: Temperature (F) + relative humidity (%) - wind speed For example: Temperature (F) 79 (Continued…)
Bookmark this post:
