bringers of light

It's the first day of spring, and it's also the fifth birthday of our wonderful Quarter Horse gelding, Cody. He joined our family when he was only 2 years old, and since he's been with us, has taught so many wonderful lessons about love, patience, and willingness to please.

His grandsire, Zippo Pine Bar, has a Breyer horse modeled after him. If he was anything like Cody, I can see why.




In one week, we will celebrate the 25th birthday of our lovely German Hannoverian mare, Salina. She is a beloved member of our herd and adoptive mama to little Rafer Johnson, who does pretty much everything she does, even walk up to the paddock to get a drink.



Happy birthday to Cody and Salina, and happy springtime to everyone. The lengthening days and the love and lessons of our horses bring so much light into our lives. I hope it's true for all of you as well.

formicaries and other things

I'm completely intrigued with today's word of the day. A formicary is apparently an ant hill! What an elegant term.

Interesting too because I was thinking this morning about all the insects we deal with here on the farm and starting to sort out my plan for the big insect season approaching.

Fire ants outside and regular old ants that come in through the kitchen window - we use DE, aka diatomaceous earth, which we order from Dirtworks. It is nontoxic and incredibly effective. The fire ant hills usually need 3 applications of DE to get the entire mound. The website has very specific instructions and recommendations for dealing with fire ants, but I developed my own method which works well.

We also used it for fleas until we discovered last summer that our female Corgi has a flea allergy. The DE can't kill the fleas fast enough to relieve her, so I pulled out the big gun: Advantage, which works best for fleas. We tend to use less than recommended on the package - usually half the dose and every 6 weeks instead of 4.

Ticks. Frontline does a decent job. DE dusted onto the animals is also good but does require daily dusting, religiously. Horses too! I've heard good things about Advantix, but it is incredibly toxic to cats, so we won't be using that here.

Stable and biting flies. Fly predators from Spalding Labs are incredible. I'm increasing our shipment this year to 10k predators every 3 weeks, from early April through October.

Horse flies. Those big ones that look like they flew right out of a horror movie. Apparently dragon flies are their natural predators. My plan this year is to get a special trap called a Horse Pal that comes highly recommended by two horse owners and our donkey breeder. It lures the horse flies and traps them, and they die naturally. No poisons involved.

Mosquitoes. We mostly use a natural fly spray to deal with those. I haven't decided on my plan yet for this season. I have a recipe for making my own, and I've heard great things about Flicks. Both use essential oils and smell wonderful.

Other ideas? Products you've used with great success? Share the wealth in the comment section!

back to the escritoire

Okay, it's one of those times when I'm letting the word of the day guide my intentions. Back to the writing today, and my plan is to dig back into the second novel after a week focusing on nonfiction.

I've discovered that if I get my writing/riding routine flowing well on Monday, it carries through the week.

So second novel. And it's a Cody ride day. The local tack shop didn't have the loose ring French link snaffle in Keil Bay's size, but they did in Cody's, so I'm going to try him in the milder bit and pick one up for Keil tomorrow when I'm at the office and in the vicinity of the other tack shop.

Looks like a great day - the sky is pale blue, the sun is illuminating the tops of the pine trees outside the garret window, and a crow sits atop the tallest of them, cawing at me, which is one more indication that it's time to get back to the book.

the dream team

Yesterday my daughter and I went to the barn at noon to get ready for lessons, and we didn't make it back inside the house until 8 p.m.

She and the pony are making such good progress. He's relaxing more and more into each ride, and getting very comfortable again. It's good seeing him move so well, and it's good watching my daughter ride. She has such a quiet, balanced seat, and she is totally focused and pretty much unflappable.

When I took Keil Bay into the arena, he was distracted by the other horses getting hay in the back field, and I was frustrated that we had to start with that. We power-struggled a little bit and I expressed my frustration to our trainer, Marlis Amato, who talked me through the power and wisdom of taking small steps and watching for the small improvements. Which of course I know, but it's good to be reminded while actually sitting in the saddle, and held to the course I've chosen.

Keil Bay responded immediately to my quieting everything - seat, legs, hands. His walk became rhythmic and relaxed, and he began to lick and chew. We worked our way up to sitting and rising trot, with the focus being the same quietness. Doing less of everything so that he could really hear/feel the lightest requests. As promised, by the end of the ride, we had made tremendous progress, and I was reminded again why I am so happy with Marlis' work. By taking each step slowly and with care, we end up so much further along, and with a happy, engaged horse.

What I especially admire about Marlis is that she is always looking for a way to get lighter. We discussed getting an even milder bit for Keil Bay, and I'm eager to head to the tack shop later and make that purchase.

A like-minded friend came by to lesson on Cody, and I sat at the picnic table by the arena and talked with another horsewoman, Kate, while my daughter sketched. The afternoon sun was golden and perfect, and the occasional snort of the horses in the back field was the soundtrack to this very lovely afternoon.

At the end of the day, standing in a circle by the barn doors, talking horses and behaviors and communication, I realized again how very fortunate I am to have found this group of horsefolk, which extends to include our chiropractor, massage therapist, veterinarian, and hoof trimmer. It felt yesterday like a sacred circle, and it made me happy that my daughter was part of it, absorbing the wisdom and energy of strong women with passion for horses and for their work.

more of what I'm reading

I finished Leif Enger's wonderful novel, Peace Like A River, and passed it on to my daughter, who is always looking for something else to read. The first sentence:

FROM MY FIRST BREATH IN THIS WORLD, ALL I WANTED WAS A GOOD SET OF lungs and the air to fill them with - given circumstances, you might presume, for an American baby of the twentieth century.

Enger has a new novel coming out in April, So Brave, Young and Handsome. The blurb:

In 1915 Minnesota, novelist Monte Becket has lost his sense of purpose. His only success long behind him, Monte lives simply with his wife and son. But when he befriends outlaw Glendon Hale, a new world of opportunity and experience presents itself. Glendon has spent years in obscurity, but the guilt he harbors for abandoning his wife, Blue, over two decades ago, has lured him from hiding. As the modern age marches swiftly forward, Glendon aims to travel back to his past--heading to California to seek Blue’s forgiveness. Beguiled and inspired, Monte soon finds himself leaving behind his own family to embark for the unruly West with his fugitive guide. As they desperately flee from the relentless Charles Siringo, an ex-Pinkerton who’s been hunting Glendon for years, Monte falls ever further from his family and the law, to be tempered by a fiery adventure from which he may never get home.

A new Leif Enger in April, a new Ellen Gilchrist in May! Life is good.

Right now I'm reading Aryn Kyle's The God of Animals. Very nice so far. The blurb:

Aryn Kyle's haunting coming-of-age novel is the kind of book that you want to share with everyone you know. Twelve-year-old Alice Winston is growing up fast on her father's run-down horse ranch--coping with the death of a classmate and the absence of her older sister (who ran off with a rodeo cowboy), trying to understand her depressed and bedridden mother, and attempting to earn the love and admiration of her reticent, weary father. Lyrical, powerful, and unforgettable.


Sitting on top of my reading pile is Angela Davis-Gardner's Forms of Shelter. Angela is another North Carolina writer and I've had the pleasure of being on a writing retreat with her. Her novel-in-progress has to do with a horse, so I'm looking forward to seeing it when it's published. The blurb for Forms of Shelter:

In this moving, often heartbreaking story, Beryl Fonteyn chronicles her years growing up in Virginia and North Carolina. She is five years old when her adored saxophone-playing father leaves the family in Virginia for a jazz career in Chicago. A few years later, her mother marries Dr. Jack Fonteyn, who introduces his wife, stepdaughter and Beryl's younger brother Stevie to tennis, Greek classics and his passion: beekeeping. On the surface the new arrangement is idyllic, yet the hoped-for love and warmth of family life never materialize as Davis-Gardener's ( Felice ) carefully drawn characters instead connect in a painful, psychologically damaging dynamic spun of loyalty and desperation. Beryl's convincing voice, particularly as a child, lends authenticity to her honest and hard-hitting tale. Readers will identify with her loss and alienation and cheer her eventual courage as she confronts the harsh facts of her childhood.