[jen judkins]

Still working on the pictures…sorry, it was a busy day.

In regard to the sharing of space. I have had all sorts of combinations of horses…up to 8, sharing the 3 stalls. Some horses will share space willingly (I have found 3 horses in a 12 x 12 stall) and some will not share an inch (such as my alpha gelding)… but they all sort it out in rather quick order. Which is why I like the porch, as overflow, of sorts…provides shelter without the confines of a stall.

I can see why folk have straight stalls though…easy to put horses where you think they will be safe and easy to manage.

[jen judkins]

Hey George. Since you asked….:D

I thought long and hard about my barn layout. It is a simple structure…36 x 36 with 3 12 x 12 stalls that turn out to my upper pasture, a 12 x 36 cement aisle and on the far side a 12 x 12 feed room, tack room and spare stall (I use for rescues, sick horses or extra hay). The barn is on the highest point of my property and boy am I glad I decided on that spot….drainage is key. My stalls open out onto the south side of the barn, not on the gable end. I agree this is not optimal, as previously mentioned, so I built a 12 foot farmers porch, which I love and this cuts down on the muck right outside the barn and allows more protected loafing area for the horses (I sometimes have more horses than stalls).

The stalls are built so the dividers come out easily and the whole area can be opened up like a run in shed. The stalls could easily be subdivided into straight stalls as well.

As an afterthought, I built a manure shed with 3 10 x 10 ‘stalls’. I dump manure and shavings into one stall at a time and stir with the tractor regularly. This is really a great way to speed up the composting process. The floor and back wall are cement, the rest is modular, so the walls can come down or up depending on what I am doing. The pigs spend a month or two in this area in early spring….they stay warm and compost the winters manure for me.

I’ll take a photo tomorrow…should make more sense. Jennifer.

[jen judkins]

@Jim Garvin 23083 wrote:

He’s in a 12X14 run-in shed, which I can close up during real inclement weather. He tends to spend a lot of time in there if it’s windy, but will stay out in the snow and rain. I use pine shavings for bedding, which I spread out in the stall at night and then push them to one corner during the day.

Jim, You might be making an erroneous assumption about your gelding’s preference in regard to when he wants to lay down:rolleyes:. Why sweep the shavings into a corner? He will pee in whatever spot he is used to….whether there are shavings or not. He may also prefer to lay down during the day. I would leave the shavings out (I sweep them back abit from the door, so they don’t walk away), so he can lay down in a dry spot whenever he wants. I’d rather spend alittle more in shavings or sawdust than deal with a urine soaked horse…but that’s just me. Merry Christmas!

[jen judkins]

@Carl Russell 22884 wrote:

So now we begin the adventure to find out how much more work she has in her. Over all the nasty terrain I have driven her, even within the last 6 weeks, she has never stubbed, stumbled, or even missed a step.

Carl, I like the way you used the word ‘adventure’. She has shown tremendous adaptability in her work with you and her teammate. I would encourage you to avoid thinking primarily of her handicap, but focus on all the positive effort she is making for you and with you. She will let you know when she can’t anymore.

[jen judkins]

Sorry, Scott, I skipped the thesis and went right to the video:rolleyes:. I loved this vid. The quiet partnership between horse and logger is a thing of beauty! I know you guys log ‘for a living’, but I envy the trade for its harmony more than anything else.

[jen judkins]

Yes…dimensions please. Looks like something, even I could build:D. Also, How do you hook it to the single tree…using those eyes at the apex?

[jen judkins]

@Jean 22530 wrote:

Carl and Jen, do your horses blink a lot?

When there is a flare up yes….but otherwise no. He hasn’t had a serious flare up since we moved to NH. I’m sure its the good country air 😀

[jen judkins]

@near horse 22576 wrote:

Erika, around here I think it might be hard to find a grown beef cow that’s tractable enough to hand milk and for sale. Obviously, you could raise one.

and she has….

[jen judkins]

@Carl Russell 22512 wrote:

Thanks for the feed-back. I am becoming inspired to rise to this new challenge…. logging with a blind horse….. now there’s a dance.

Carl, I was going to send this comment to you privately….then I though WTF, I’ve embarrassed myself in front of this group enough, it shouldn’t matter…:eek:

When I first realized Manny was losing his vision, I was all up in my head about how I was going to end up with a blind horse. In a panic, I called doctors, read the literature, took him to Tufts…and they basically tortured him with tests. I struggled with ointments and eyedrops and all sorts of meds. Manny hated every bit of that and I finally had to stop….he was starting to regard me as a lunatic, unworthy of any trust.

I’m not sure I remember how it happened…it was awhile ago. But I was riding Manny and he spooked at something on his difficult side. At the time, I think I was unaware it was his blind side….distracted or talking with a trailmate or something. He did a very mild spook and then simply continued on when I didn’t react. A few minutes later I realized what had happened and it dawned on me that his unconfidence was directly related to my concern about his sight.

After that I consciously tried to stop thinking of him as sight impaired. And to be honest, we have never had a moment of uncertainty since. After awhile, the thought was unconscious…in fact I had not thought of Manny’s disability in years until your post this morning.

So I believe you can make what you want of a disabilty. It’s all about focus…in so many different ways….

[jen judkins]

@Carl Russell 22496 wrote:

It is truly amazing to think of the kind of work I perform with her, and till now, I had very little indication that she wasn’t seeing well.

Horses are truly amazing creatures and so adaptable…..very humbling.

Have you had the vet out yet to have a look? One of my saddle horses has recurrent uveitis (moon blindness). He has some vision loss in the left eye, but I have been able to halt (or slow)the progression of his blindness using some dietary changes and other modalities. Since it is an auto immune disease, I am really careful about vaccines and any other stressors. We used alot of anti-inflammatories in the early years for flare-ups. I have not seen any further deterioration in his vision over several years, so I am hopeful he will not go blind…though most horses with uveitis do. He is not limited in any way that I can tell by his visual impairment. He is slightly more ‘perceptive to danger’ than my other horses, but that may represent his natural tendency more than any trouble seeing things. I ride him very regularly in the woods and on trails and we have no trouble at all.

There are generally other symptoms with Uveitis, like tearing and photosensitivity, so this may not be what is affecting Kate. I do know, from my visits to tufts and discussions with equine othalmologists, that some eye problems in horses can go bad very quickly, so its important to get an idea of what you are dealing with.

I knew a man who competed in cross country and show jumping at a quite high level with a horse that was totally blind in one eye. They could run a course and jump 5 foot oxers just like all the normal seeing eyes and in most cases went home with a ribbon. It was truly awe inspiring to watch their partnership, as they approached an obstacle from the blind side. The horse totally relied on the man’s focus and guidance to get over the jump.

Keep us posted, please.

[jen judkins]

@Donn Hewes 22452 wrote:

Hi Everyone, Just thought I would add a couple thoughts even though the ground has been pretty well covered already. Like Carl, I don’t usually respond to a horse that seems a little off, by radically changing my plan. I don’t really think the trained horses and mules really have those “good days ” and “bad days” like we do. I more often suspect there is something about me that is different.

While, I agree with the bulk of your post, Donn and since this thread is in the ‘member diaries’ and we are supposed to refrain from debate…I will try hard not start one.

First, I was under the impression that Larry was describing a surprising event, working with a young horse, that perhaps is not worked daily or even regularly. His questions about the event are reasonable…was he being complacent? Was the horse being disobedient? Did he respond appropriately? etc….

Second, irregardless of who brings the anxiety or lack of relaxation to the working situation, it needs to be a.)recognized and b.)dealt with in some way before hooking an agitated animal to a log. I know you agree with that having watched you work with draft horses over the past few years in a training setting. I think it is absurd to assert that you simply ignore this type of feedback and go about your business.

[jen judkins]

I agree that a goat is a great option. We love our nigerian dwarves and their milk is very sweet….and higher in fat content than most other dairy animals. We get about 2 quarts a day from each. Not being big milk drinkers, we make cheese:D….yummy!

[jen judkins]

I’ve wanted to do a horse facialitated ice harvest here in town at the local lake for a couple of years. I know there are oldtimers around here that have all the equipment and know how to do it. Would be alot of fun! Maybe this winter. Thanks for reminding me.

[jen judkins]

Gosh, Larry, I’m sorry you had a bad day….and glad no one got hurt or lost.

Your story reminded me of some basic horsemanship, I was recently able to share with some new teamsters at the low impact forestry course a couple weeks ago. We started each morning harnessing horses together. I made a point to students that this time spent harnessing may be their only time to pick up on ‘problems’ they might face working a horse on any particular day. If my horse is particularly fidgety, or high strung or in anyway not calm and cooperative during the harnessing process, I need to think about what might be going on and plan to sort that out before undertaking any serious (reads dangerous) work. I, probably like you, have a routine I stick to when harnessing and any deviation the horse offers tells be a great deal about how easy or challenging they might be to work with that day.

I would try not to look at his behavior as ‘bad’ or ‘disobedient’….just feedback about how he was feeling that day. We all have days when things don’t feel good for whatever reason and horses are not that different in that regard. In these cases I try to make our experience as positive as possible. That might mean changing my plan for the day or not. I think you did the right thing by taking him back out to the woods after his run off and worked him in that environment until he was feeling good (or at least better) about it. But it sounds like you had some feedback way before his escape, that perhaps you could have used to your advantage by altering your agenda slightly until he was in a working frame of mind. Its a good reminder and I’ve been there many times. Horses are like that…like to make you feel silly and off balance whenever they can:rolleyes:.

Glad everyone is in one piece tonight. Better luck tomorrow.

[jen judkins]

getting smaller everyday….with you westerners coming east:D

[Author]

Posts