Sunday, December 28, 2008

It's Melting!


The snow is melting... melting... and the world is turning green and grey once more. I missed our green fields! I missed our easy temperatures in the 40's and 50's, and now they're back! The ice is melting in our stock tanks, and getting water to us is much easier for the people. Next year they'll have an insulated water spigot right by the paddocks and field, but this year they don't, so it's been a week of carrying water with the little electric golf car. I think Nils, Britta and I enjoyed the snow most of all. We Fjord horses have no problem warding off ice and snow! We had snow and ice on our backs and manes, and little balls of ice on our leg feathers and beards. It's good to be so shaggy when the weather is so wintery! What kind of weather are you having?

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Merry Christmas


There is about 15" of snow on the ground. Our street is plowed and smooth going, but many of our Island neighbors are stuck at home. Power is on. Phones are on. Even cable is still flowing. Water is flowing, but hoses are mostly frozes, so the humans carry water to us a few times a day. It is lovely. It is not cold. It is time for the snow to go away! Emily heard from a smart Fjord horse owner in Bothell (thanks Corinne!) that plasticky feed sacks make great sleds. She's going to try it today. Maybe Alex or Annie will take a photo and I'll put it on my blog! We horses will be very pleased when Santa Claus and his reindeer bring us Christmas carrots on Thursday morning! Merry Christmas to you and your family, and especially to all your animals.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Snow!



We have about 6-8" of snow and more is falling right now. It's been really cold (19ºF), but is warming up a bit now. That's Nils looking through his pasture gate. Do you like his furry coat?!
Isn't the blue light at sunrise beautiful?
Have a great snow day like we are!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Beware the Scottish Highland Cattle at the Dressage Clinic


My horse friend, Echo, and her rider Emily went to Port Orchard for a dressage clinic. They had a blast, but on the first of the two days they had a little walk to get to the outdoor arena for a short longe session. On the walk they saw some handsome horses, some fencing, some trees, a house and.... what are those???!!! The red Scottish Highland cow raced across his corral and charged the fence. Echo took a few gigantic strides to leap away, stopped, turned and snorted. She grew to seem like she was 19 hands tall, and was simply alarmed by the strange look and sudden appearance of this creature! She settled down and walked to the arena, was very good on the longe line, then walked back past the cattle with no excitement but some more snorting (just in case?).

The riding sessions during the clinic were terrific. After 2-1/2 years off from work (yikes!), she is coming back better than ever. Echo is just 8 years old, and while Emily has been wishing the two of them worked together more consistently, it looks like they're on their way! The clnician was Dora Dean, a very positive trainer based in Redmond. Dora urges her riders to pat and praise the horses often, which makes for happy horses and riders. All riders should praise their mounts! Dora is very precise and careful to ask the riders for correct work, always improving their way of going.

Echo traveled to the clinic with her old friend Sir. They were well behaved, which is a good thing, as they traveled down the road and onto the Rhododendron ferry to Tacoma, then about 25 miles to Port Orchard. Both horses enjoyed excellent hospitality in the barn and the big turn outs while staying at Big Steel Ranch. It was cool both days and rainy on Tuesday, but with a covered arena to ride in, the horses and people had nothing to complain about! Echo told the horses all about it when she got home on Tuesday night. We do enjoy hearing stories from off the farm. Good job in the arena, Echo, and especially good job keeping Emily safe from those long horned steers!

Patrick will be Greatly Missed


From Emily...
It is with sadness that I let you know of Prince Patrick pony's death on November 21st. He suffered little and was helped to comfort and peace by Dr. Thorn, surrounded by three who loved him so much: Alex, Asia, and me. Patrick was 26, foaled March 17, 1982. He was 13.3 hands, a registered Pony of the Americas. Patrick loved many people, horses and things in life, among them his time teaching riders of all levels, eating grass, rolling with vigor and second guessing his handlers. He jumped his last jumps in June, walked his last trail and had his last arena ride on Saturday, November 8th. His life spanned many riding disciplines including dressage, jumping, eventing, trail riding, cow work, English and Western showing. He was the Shaggiest Pony at the 2006 Olympus Pony Club Shaggy Horse Show. Owned and dearly loved by Judi of Goldendale, and then Emma and her family until we were fortunate enough to be his people in May of 2006, Patrick has been surrounded by loving, happy humans his entire life.

Alex buried him in our big field, where he will overlook Fish Bowl Farm and his horse and human friends. I am so glad he passed quickly. Please give your kids a hug for me and help them to understand. This is the hardest part of loving these wonderful animals, but we can be so proud to have known one of the best. He will be greatly missed.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Horse Management Lessons - Saturdays for Everyone


Fish Bowl is offering weekly horse management lessons for students, families and friends. One recent Saturday the people talked about assessing overall health and body condition scoring. Looking at a horse when you first meet them, or first see them on any given day is important. How you feel each day is important to how well you do in school and at work, right? Same for the horses. If you find a swollen spot, a cut, or a lazy attitude, you'll have to deal with them, as the horses can't take care of things on their own. Body condition scoring is about proper, healthy weight: too fat, too thin, no muscle, good muscle, etc., are what are involved. Email me or leave me a comment if you want more info on body condition scoring. Other weeks the discussion has been about tack (care, cleaning, fitting, types of bits, bridles, saddles, etc.), vital signs (temperature, pulse, respiration) and first aid, colors and markings (there was a discussion that went on and on - it was such fun!). Dressage, the mechanics of the gaits (walk, trot, canter, gallop) and jumping, so many topics!! Join us Saturday for a post-Halloween time! Treats but not tricks! And a door prize!

This coming Saturday we'll do more horse management from 3:30-5:00. For more info about HM, please visit the News! page on our website. Thank you!

Emily can take it!!! Make a comment here to tell her what's wrong with her riding position in this photo. The best answer gets a prize. (Her feelings won't be hurt - she knows the camera caught her in a very awkward moment at this show a few years ago!)

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Horse Management Takes on a New Meaning

This is really interesting, and if you're like me, Biscuit, you'll want to listen to the NPR story, not just read it! (Emily can bring me her iPod more easily than she can bring me the entire computer to read the article!)

Horse Sense: New Breed of Executive Training

Monday, September 15, 2008

Dressage Camel, Duck Herding Dogs, Icelandics, and More!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Steering with Reins: Right, Left, Inside, Outside

My blog used to be at another address on the web, but that is no longer accessible to you (and sometimes not to me!), so I'm digging into the old blog posts to put some of the oldies and goodies here where you can read it.  Our first old-new one is about steering a horse with reins.

Steering a horse with reins sounds so easy... but it is not just a matter of tugging on my right rein to turn right, or the left to go left!  In this photo of Spaten and Alex galloping, you can see his good contact with Spaten's bit and mouth through the reins - he is keeping equal tension on the left and right reins since he is galloping in a straight line.  They have such fun together, and after some practice with me, Nils, Blossom, Patrick or Britta, you'll be steering and riding well too!

The first thing we have to understand is that the rein in the direction we are turning is the inside rein, and the rein on the outside of the turn (not the direction we are turning) is the outside rein.  Understanding the inside and outside rein and how they help horses and ponies know which way you want to go will make your riding easier and more fun!

Riders use two basic rein aids in turning:  the direct rein and the indirect rein.  The direct rein works directly from the front to the back, pulling gently towards the rider's body.  The indirect rein is used to move the pony's weight, or block the outside shoulder from going the wrong way.

When you want to turn me, or any horse or pony, to the left, your left rein is the direct rein.  Pull the left rein towards your body, straight back, never up or down, by just squeezing the rein with your fingers.  This left direct rein invites me to turn to the left (the inside).  Your right (outside) rein is used as an indirect rein when turning left:  put pressure on the outside rein and hold it to let me know you do not want me to go to the right at all.  I like to think of the outside rein as blocking my direction on that side, or as Emily says "make a wall on the outside so Biscuit won't go to the right while you are trying to turn left."

One thing I feel when riders are learning to turn is floppy reins!  If our reins get too long I can't tell what you want me to do or where we should go.  Keep a contact, or a feel, of my bit and my mouth and I can better feel (or "hear") what you are asking me to do.  Also, when the reins are too long your hands will go all over the place in order to make me feel your rein aids - behind your hip with your elbow up in the air to take up the extra rein, or even on the other side of my neck when your outside rein is too long in a turn.  If it helps to stop and shorten your reins when they get too long, that is ok!

Remember that the bit, while a very gentle snaffle, is still a piece of stainless steel in my mouth.  The old term "hard mouthed" refers to a horse who has become callous to the bit, and that happens with too much pulling on the reins.  Please keep in mind my soft, willing mouth, and we'll turn left and right with no trouble, and it will be fun!  

Important thing to keep in mind:  ask me to move forward at a walk or trot before you turn us, keep your reins a good snug length, and we'll go places - left and right - at the walk, trot, canter and gallop!  Here are the steps for turns:
• Legs on to go forward
• Ask with direct rein (left to go left, right to go right)
• Stay steady with the indirect rein (right when going left, left when going right)
• Keep your legs on my sides to tell me to keep moving forward. 

Emily sometimes says it's like steering a bicycle:  if you don't keep the bike moving the bike can't turn.... same with me - if you just pull on my reins I won't turn unless I'm moving!  :-)

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Popeye and Britta


It just occurred to me that there has been a change at Fish Bowl in the last two weeks that I forgot to mention! Oh dear! It was a big change too. Our nice friend Popeye, the handsome appaloosa gelding, has gone to a new home. We'll miss Popeye a lot (Inigo and Braeburn miss him the most - they were great friends), but he has a wonderful new home with Jenifer in Wilkeson. Popeye started at Fish Bowl as the first school horse! He was good at his job until the rider was ready to do more on her own, and then he didn't want to listen to his rider, he wanted to listen to the instructor! This doesn't make for very independent riders, so Popeye was given to Annie last summer. She rode him English and Western (doesn't he look great?), in the arena, the field and the woods. Take care, Pop!

Britta is a very sweet Norwegian Fjord horse who lives at Fish Bowl Farm. She's been here since June and also gives lessons. She is owned by a good friend of Fish Bowl's people. She is a cheerful, forward moving horse who loves to do dressage and jump! She likes to go out on the trails too, and lives next door to Braeburn and Annie (the horse, not the person). During the day each of the horses goes out into the pastures for wandering, running around, playing and grazing (my favorite part!!) in the fields. Britta goes out with me (Biscuit) and Annie, and mostly we are all very happy together. Yesterday Britta got in my way and wanted to play; I didn't want to play (why play when there is grass to eat?), so I kicked her. She's fine, but she did have a little hoof print on her hindquarters! Emily put some arnica linament on it, and I bet that felt great.

Community - Summer - Fall - Back to School

I just heard about a really interesting and fun community project, and I think you'll like it, as it's creative, slightly surprising and combines horses (toy ones) with people in Portland, Oregon. Check out The Horse Project I think you'll like it! I didn't know about tie rings on sidewalks of cities, did you? How interesting! Do you have interesting public projects like this in your town or city? Vashon has the Bicycle in the Tree. (It isn't something you can be involved with like the tiny horses in Portland, but it's really fun to see it!) I don't know much about communities, but I know about herds.

If a community can make the horse project, I think it must be as nice as my herd. (But don't ask Britta about power struggles in a herd; she got a hoof print on her hind end yesterday when she did something in MY herd that I didn't think was appropriate!!)

Summer vacation is over, but the summer weather is lovely! It is sweatshirt weather for the people in the evenings and mornings, but we horses are putting on our big coats as the days get shorter. The shorter daylight hours are what make us grow our heavy winter coats. If there was a contest for coat weight at Fish Bowl Farm, I would win. I also could run away and join the circus as the bearded lady! I am lovely and fuzzy at the moment.... but the warm afternoons find me in the shade, as my coat is pretty heavy for the sunshine!

Fall won't officially be here for another month, but as children go back to school we call it Fall, don't we? As the days shorten the skies are often colorful at sunset. It was purple and pink on Monday night - beautiful!

Nils, Blossom, Patrick and I are taking our vacation right now before riding lessons start up for the Fall season next week. We have had a really good summer with a lot of students riding us. One day I was standing around not doing anything and Annie, the teen who lives at Fish Bowl, came and got me, groomed me and took me for a bareback ride! It was a blast! She owns Inigo, and I don't get to play with her very often, so it was a special day for me. The August Adult Mini-Camp was a highlight of the summer too: five women with varying experiences with horses came to the farm for two days of intensive riding and horse care time. They looked like they had so much fun! I heard that they went out to dinner after the first full day of riding, and it sounds like they had fun away from the dust and horses too!

Happy end of summer, beginning of fall, back to school, or whatever you're up to!

Monday, August 4, 2008

The Olympic Equestrian Events


The Olympics begin this weekend!  I'm excited, and I hope Emily will bring a television or a computer out to my paddock so I can watch!  There will be Show Jumping, Dressage and Eventing.  Eventing is my favorite (even though I don't do it!!!) because the horses and riders compete in three different phases, all different:  dressage (obedience and grace), cross country jumping (speed, endurance and athleticism over solid, natural obstacles) and show jumping (obedience and suppleness over painted jumps that knock down).

Here are some links to see for yourself what takes place in Hong Kong at the '08 Summer Games!  (Equestrian sports are held in Hong Kong rather than in Beijing because of very difficult quarantine regulations in mainland China.)  

http://equestrian.teamusa.org/  The official equestrian team site at US Equestrian Federation.

http://equisearch.com/equiwire%5Fnews/olympics2008/  The best press site for equestrian.

http://special.equisearch.com/blog/maxcorcoran/  A great blog by Max Corcoran, groom to Karen O'Connor, who is riding at her fourth Olympics!

http://special.equisearch.com/blog/brianoconnor/  Brian O'Connor's Olympic blog; Brian is an equestrian announcer at the Olympics in Hong Kong.  He is a professional announcer in the U.S., brother to David O'Connor, who is the president of the USEF, and brother-in-law to Karen O'Connor, riding Mandiba in Eventing in Hong Kong.

http://special.equisearch.com/blog/debbiemcdonald/  Debbie McDonald is riding Brentina on the US Dressage Olympic team.  Debbie is not only a marvelous rider, she writes well.  One of our favorite books is "Riding Through" by Ms. McDonald.  (This book is available for check out in the Fish Bowl Farm library.)

The horses must be having such an adventure after flying to Hong Kong, getting acclimated to really humid hot weather, and living at a gorgeous venue.  There is a race track, dozens of arenas, a stadium (they'll compete under the lights there - imagine the noise!!), and of course the cross country course and all the barns.  And vets.  And grooms.  And riders.  And coaches.  Transporting horses by air is one thing.  Think of all that has to go with them to keep them in top form for world class competition:  hay, grain, tack, grooming equipment, therapeutic equipment, etc.  WOW!!

Go Team USA!! 


Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Sunshine


Sunshine brings great things - lush grass for horses to eat, sweet red tomatoes (not for me, for the people!), and blackberries.  We all love blackberries!  You probably like the actual berries, but the other horses and I like the leaves as much as the berries.  The blackberry bushes are blooming right now.  Imagine that every one of those blossoms will be a berry in just a month or two - YUM!  

The warm weather continues here on Vashon Island.  It's warm, but not unbearably hot - around 82º today.  In the warm weather the horses do sweat, but that's good, as it keeps us cool.  Here's an interesting thing about cooling out horses....

A horse sweats to keep his body cool, but sometimes sweating isn't enough to cool a hard working equine.  If a horse is sweaty and hot after a ride, or even from running around in the pasture, hose him off, and then immediately use a sweat scraper to remove the water.  Why?  The water seems like it would continue to cool the horse, but a hot horse's body temperature will heat up the water you just put on him, and he'll actually get hotter.  So scrape off the water right away, and keep him walking to cool his muscles and make a small breeze to evaporate the rest of the water on his coat.  Sometimes we sweat a little bit around our ears under the bridle, and under the girth and the saddle pad.  If that's all the sweat that's there and our breathing is normal, we probably just need a little brushing or sponging off to remove the sweat.  If a horse sweats more or seems to be breathing hard, take his temperature and cool him with water (continue scraping and hosing) until his body temperature is normal.

What's a horse's normal body temperature?  Good question.... we'll talk about that next time I'm sitting down at the computer!  We'll talk about T, P & R:  temperature, pulse and respiration, all of these vital signs tell a lot about a horse's health.  Talk to you soon!
--Biscuit

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Fireworks and a Peacock!!


It's been a busy week!  Some fireworks were really, really loud and too close for comfort on the Fourth of July!  We have a new neighbor and he thinks loud, bright and way up in the sky are all important parts of fireworks and celebrating the Fourth.  We horses didn't like it much, but maybe that's one of the freedoms our founding fathers didn't think about, but many are glad to exercise!  Happy belated Fourth of July!

Today we have a very large male peacock wandering around the farm!  He is very handsome, and we all think he is from outerspace!  He doesn't really look like anything I'm familiar with - he's so long with his beautiful tail!  He has a neat little crown of feathers on his head, his neck is gorgeous blue, and his tail feathers are beautifully colored and long!  What's been wandering through your yard lately?  Let me know in the comments below!  

Nils, Patrick, Blossom, Molly and I have recently welcomed a new friend to Fish Bowl Farm:  Britta!  She's a 14 year old Norwegian Fjord mare!  She is very nice.  We all like her, and she seems happy to be at Fish Bowl Farm this summer.  She is visiting and being enjoyed for riding lessons.  She loves to be ridden in the arena and out on the trails, and she jumps really nicely!  

See you soon - hopefully not so long between posts in the future!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

First Birthday


Jynx had her first birthday on May 27th!  It seems the last year has gone by very quickly, and she has certainly grown a lot!  She had a quiet birthday and napped in the sun several times.  Emily set a big muck bucket on her back and her hind quarters after putting out her hay at breakfast, and Jynx just stood still, not minding the big thing on her, just curious about it.  She is a curious, calm young horse, and it is such fun to see her grow up!  She needs her mane trimmed and some brushing, but her winter coat is gone, and she is a very pretty light chestnut with a sun bleached mane.  Happy Birthday, Jynx!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Beautiful Sun and Syttende Mai


Over the weekend we had the prettiest sunny skies!  It was a bit hot on Friday and Saturday (in the high 80º's), but then some clouds scuttled around the blue sky and it was cooler Sunday.  We had a breeze which made it all quite nice!  The people all smell like sunscreen these days, and we'll be smelling like herbal fly spray pretty soon!  Here is a photo of Echo, Jynx and me, hanging out in the sunshine.  Jynx is taller than I am!  She will have her first birthday on May 27th!  

Jynx is half Swedish, so she didn't celebrate Syttende Mai (Norwegian Constitution Day), but Nils and Finn and I did, as we're all Norwegian Fjords!  We didn't walk in any parades, but some Fjords did in Ballard (Seattle).  Aren't they handsome and well behaved? 

Friday, May 16, 2008

Fish Bowl Farm in Print!


Extra, extra, read all about it!  Fish Bowl Farm's Emily is profiled in Hunter & Sporthorse magazine's May-June '08 issue!  The article is entitled "Essential Cross Country Jumps."  Emily was interviewed about cross country course design, with an emphasis on designing for schooling courses and lower level jumps for horses and riders learning about cross country jumping.  It's wonderful to see the article in a national magazine, and the info is really interesting and helpful, with great photos of jumps.  There is a condensed version of the article on the magazine's website.  (Scroll down a bit.)  If you are nearby and want to see it in person, give us a shout via email or phone and you can drop by to borrow a copy of the magazine.  It's so exciting!  A photo of one of our jumps at the farm is in the article -- with Allie and Hannah jumping it!  We're all excited!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Rain, hail, snow, wind; shedding; new horse friend!


Is it Spring yet?  Today we had rain and wind and a rainbow.  Saturday we had snow.  Monday we had snow in the morning and enough hail in the afternoon to cover the ground for a few minutes.  Hmmm.  I like the rainbows the best.  There were three today, which isn't surprising given the speed that the dark grey clouds came and went.  The sun was playing hide and seek in the clouds.  Click on the photo at the left and it will open enlarged and you'll be able to see the rainbow! (It's just to the left of the biggest trees.)  This photo shows part of our riding field.  If the sky was clear it would show Mount Rainier, too!

The horses are all still shedding.  It seems that the pony breeds have the wooliest coats.  Then the cross bred horses, then the sport horses that are purebreds.  I have the thickest, longest coat, with my half brother Nils in second place for that shaggy honor.  The thinnest coat of our horses belongs to Braeburn.  He is a New Zealand thoroughbred, and he appreciated his medium weight waterproof blanket this winter!

We have a new friend at the farm!  Her name is Raven, and she is very pretty!  She is black with a couple of short sox, and a big blaze.  She is one of the four horses owned by others and boarded at Fish Bowl.  I live across the driveway from her.  Maybe one day she'll share a fence line with me and we can talk to each other.  Welcome, Raven!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Hair Cut Accomplished!

Emily cut my mane!  It looks and feels much better.  It's officially called "roached" when all my mane hair is clipped off.  It will grow for a month or so, and when there is enough hair, she'll cut it with an arched shape like most Fjord's manes.  For now it just feels good to have all that hair gone!  I'll post photos of all of me soon so you can see the results, not just the process.  

Do you get a Spring hair cut?

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Hosting, Shmosting, what's all this nonsense?!


The blog moved.  Then it didn't look good.  Then it wasn't fixable.  Then it was.  Oh!  To be the farm woman at the computer doing this technical stuff for me, a pasture munching Norwegian Fjord horse!  She's trying really hard, but she's having trouble.  I think we'll just start over.  Ok? Ok.  Here we are, easily linked from http://www.fishbowlfarm.com!

Thank you for understanding!

Love,
Biscuit

P.S.  Do you think I should cut my mane?  Should it be fancy and short and curved on top like a proper Fjord horse, or long and wild like a prehistoric horse?  I like it both ways, but what do you think?  Do comment and let me know, or email ewigley at mindspring dot com  Thanks!