Yesterday evening I rode with my husband to pick up a load of hay, our first of the season from the favored local growers we love. I had never been to the hay farm before. We went first by the house, where his wife showed me around, offered to give me a seedling of a lovely umbrella tree I admired come fall, and then led us down the country road to the field where the hay was being baled and stacked.
On the way out a great blue heron sailed in and landed on a dead tree in the pond.
The part of the county where we were is simply stunning. It looks like something out of an old movie, and it almost seemed like time slowed down as we drove, slowed down and then rolled backward.
The hay grower's wife helped my husband load bales and I counted. When we were done, and had written a check, she asked if we'd be okay to wait a few minutes because the hay stacker was on its way with another load and she didn't want us to meet on the narrow dirt driveway on our way out. A young man helping out brought a glass of cold water to my sweating husband. We stood and watched until suddenly the tractor, hay stacker, and a cloud of dust came barreling down the lane.
He backed it up expertly and deposited 517 more bales with the already huge number under the gigantic shelter. I don't think I've ever seen that much hay.
To someone who has horses and has stressed over finding good hay, lived through a year of drought, and paid top dollar all winter, this was akin to standing by a bank vault holding millions of dollars stacked in piles. Wealth, indeed.
Even more charming though was the chance to see the hay come in from the field, listen as the men talked about a broken belt that would delay the baling, the thousands of dollars it would cost to replace it, and laugh because what else could they do? Curse, I suppose, but they went with the flow of the moment, which was selling good hay to happy horse folk, who felt the price was more than fair and were somewhat pie-eyed at the sheer amount of the green stuff under that shelter. Not to mention mightily impressed with how much care and knowledge and risk goes into making hay.
There was something quite magical about the evening, hot as it was, with the slight edge of crisis cutting the sweet scene.
My husband asked on the way home if I might one day write a story about him. This is as close as it comes, right now. He careened down the road while I fussed about the speed. We both remarked on how wonderful it would be to live on several hundred acres with all that rolling grass and the big century old trees guarding the farm houses. Dealing with the heat and the rain and broken belts.
We stopped by the grocery store on the way home to pick up sherbet and popsicles. He was covered in hay dust and wore rubber muck boots, and didn't want to go in. But he did, and the timeless quality of the evening extended a bit further. The way the light was in the grocery and the bits of hay being left along the way reminded me of the open air market my father ran for a brief time when I was little.
So the story wasn't one I'd written, but it was one we lived for a couple of hours, that started years before and made a circle back to itself. Little girl in the open air market eating the rare white twinsicle, who wanted nothing more than a horse. Woman in a small town grocery store, walking out into the hot dusk to a horse trailer filled with hay, carrying lime and orange sherbet and lime bars and hoping they wouldn't melt before she got home.
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Saturday, June 07, 2008
extreme heat
We've had unusually high temps the past few days, and today's forecast is 100, tomorrow's is 101, and Monday's is 99. With the humidity factored in, the heat index is even higher.
Thankfully it looks like we'll be back to a high of 90 on Tuesday, with the chance for rain 4-5 days in a row next week. We'll need it by then - the blazing sun and high temps with no rain is doing a number on the pasture.
We struggled with several weeks of extremely high temps each summer for the past few years, and I have a routine for dealing with it. This hot spell caught me off guard though - it's usually August when this happens!
We do night-time turn-out once the daytime temps consistently hit 90, so that the horses can enjoy their grazing during the cooler part of the 24-hour day. I don't lock them in stalls, but I do close up the barn from the sun, turn the big fans on, and give them hay in their mangers so they can munch and rest. Yesterday, in spite of the high temps, there was a breeze, so I also put some hay in the shady parts of paddocks, and they self-regulated most of the day, moving between the stalls and the shaded areas, finding their own comfort.
When it's this hot I also offer cool hosing at least twice during the day. Keil Bay and Salina will nearly always opt to be hosed, and I focus on chest and neck, then groin. Cooling these areas seems to offer the quickest and most effective relief.
On really hot days, when the heat index is over 100, I also offer cold water sponging in between the two hosings. Yesterday even Rafer Johnson, who thus far has not wanted water put on him at all, acquiesced and allowed his chest and neck to be sponged down.
I'm even more meticulous with the water in their drinking tubs than normal when the temps go up. I keep the levels in the big tanks low so I can dump and scrub and refill daily or twice daily, and I make sure their stall buckets stay clean and cool as well. Normally for temps this hot I'd put out big buckets of water with an equine electrolyte mixed in. I've found this is very useful in keeping them hydrated, and they will drink these tubs dry when the weather is this hot.
Today I don't have the electrolyte we normally use - Quench, made by Horsetech, and it's not sold locally so I can't get it. I'm debating whether to go get some Apple A Day from the feed store right now. I love the Quench because it has NO sugar or artificial flavoring or sweeteners. They drink both fine. In a pinch, you can use Gatorade mixed with water.
We muck many times a day during the summer, so the stalls stay clean and comfy.
Fortunately these very hot spells don't last too long, and what feels like incredibly oppressive heat shifts back to just the usual heat of summer.
Thankfully it looks like we'll be back to a high of 90 on Tuesday, with the chance for rain 4-5 days in a row next week. We'll need it by then - the blazing sun and high temps with no rain is doing a number on the pasture.
We struggled with several weeks of extremely high temps each summer for the past few years, and I have a routine for dealing with it. This hot spell caught me off guard though - it's usually August when this happens!
We do night-time turn-out once the daytime temps consistently hit 90, so that the horses can enjoy their grazing during the cooler part of the 24-hour day. I don't lock them in stalls, but I do close up the barn from the sun, turn the big fans on, and give them hay in their mangers so they can munch and rest. Yesterday, in spite of the high temps, there was a breeze, so I also put some hay in the shady parts of paddocks, and they self-regulated most of the day, moving between the stalls and the shaded areas, finding their own comfort.
When it's this hot I also offer cool hosing at least twice during the day. Keil Bay and Salina will nearly always opt to be hosed, and I focus on chest and neck, then groin. Cooling these areas seems to offer the quickest and most effective relief.
On really hot days, when the heat index is over 100, I also offer cold water sponging in between the two hosings. Yesterday even Rafer Johnson, who thus far has not wanted water put on him at all, acquiesced and allowed his chest and neck to be sponged down.
I'm even more meticulous with the water in their drinking tubs than normal when the temps go up. I keep the levels in the big tanks low so I can dump and scrub and refill daily or twice daily, and I make sure their stall buckets stay clean and cool as well. Normally for temps this hot I'd put out big buckets of water with an equine electrolyte mixed in. I've found this is very useful in keeping them hydrated, and they will drink these tubs dry when the weather is this hot.
Today I don't have the electrolyte we normally use - Quench, made by Horsetech, and it's not sold locally so I can't get it. I'm debating whether to go get some Apple A Day from the feed store right now. I love the Quench because it has NO sugar or artificial flavoring or sweeteners. They drink both fine. In a pinch, you can use Gatorade mixed with water.
We muck many times a day during the summer, so the stalls stay clean and comfy.
Fortunately these very hot spells don't last too long, and what feels like incredibly oppressive heat shifts back to just the usual heat of summer.
Friday, June 06, 2008
sounds of summer
This morning when I went out to the barn I realized we've gone full-blown into summer routine and its unique chorus of sounds. First out the gate is Rafer Johnson's bray, which is a combination of "good morning" and "I'm ready for my breakfast!"
In the barn, the new nest of swallow babies chirp madly because they too want breakfast. Fortunately someone else is in charge of that, and her flapping wings are, for now, the next note in the unfolding barn song.
On these warm summer mornings I turn on the fans, and once I flip the switch, the barn fills with the low rush of air blowing. We have three big industrial fans, which are hung up high so they create air flow without blowing directly into horses' faces. The effect is nice, and it keeps the barn comfortable. The sound ends up being much like that of ocean surf - it takes on a constant, background quality that can be quite soothing and hypnotic.
Once I get into the feed room, Keil Bay's melodic voice is the next bit of music to my ears. He has a very special whinny that conveys his eagerness for breakfast and love of all things "food."
Like Keil Bay, I love the little sounds of black oil sunflower seeds being scooped, the shhhh sound as I pour in the supplements, and the snap snap of carrots being divided up between feed tubs. The apples make a satisfying thump.
Depending on how slowly I'm moving, there may be a loud BANG when Keil Bay uses his knee on the stall door to hurry me along.
Even with the fans going, the crunching sounds of four horses and a miniature donkey eating their breakfasts are clearly heard, often in sync. Salina does a brief trumpet call if she finishes before I close everything up in the feed room, signaling that she's ready for Rafer Johnson to return to her side.
After breakfast there is munching of hay and mucking of stalls. The mucking is a relaxing WHUMP sound that becomes more and more muted as the wheelbarrow piles up. By the end it becomes silent. Walking the wheelbarrow down the hill, birds sing and insects buzz, although in the growing heat of midday, things can get very quiet out in the open.
It always amazes me as I walk back up the hill when the blowing of one or more of the horses carries so that it seems they're right beside me.
In no particular order, the morning chorale continues with water from the hose falling into buckets and tanks, the brushing of coats and velcro'ing of fly masks, and the soft whoosh of herbal fly spray being applied. The barn doors on the sunny side of the barn rumble closed, and the metallic clank of the backyard gate latch signals the end of our morning song.
In the barn, the new nest of swallow babies chirp madly because they too want breakfast. Fortunately someone else is in charge of that, and her flapping wings are, for now, the next note in the unfolding barn song.
On these warm summer mornings I turn on the fans, and once I flip the switch, the barn fills with the low rush of air blowing. We have three big industrial fans, which are hung up high so they create air flow without blowing directly into horses' faces. The effect is nice, and it keeps the barn comfortable. The sound ends up being much like that of ocean surf - it takes on a constant, background quality that can be quite soothing and hypnotic.
Once I get into the feed room, Keil Bay's melodic voice is the next bit of music to my ears. He has a very special whinny that conveys his eagerness for breakfast and love of all things "food."
Like Keil Bay, I love the little sounds of black oil sunflower seeds being scooped, the shhhh sound as I pour in the supplements, and the snap snap of carrots being divided up between feed tubs. The apples make a satisfying thump.
Depending on how slowly I'm moving, there may be a loud BANG when Keil Bay uses his knee on the stall door to hurry me along.
Even with the fans going, the crunching sounds of four horses and a miniature donkey eating their breakfasts are clearly heard, often in sync. Salina does a brief trumpet call if she finishes before I close everything up in the feed room, signaling that she's ready for Rafer Johnson to return to her side.
After breakfast there is munching of hay and mucking of stalls. The mucking is a relaxing WHUMP sound that becomes more and more muted as the wheelbarrow piles up. By the end it becomes silent. Walking the wheelbarrow down the hill, birds sing and insects buzz, although in the growing heat of midday, things can get very quiet out in the open.
It always amazes me as I walk back up the hill when the blowing of one or more of the horses carries so that it seems they're right beside me.
In no particular order, the morning chorale continues with water from the hose falling into buckets and tanks, the brushing of coats and velcro'ing of fly masks, and the soft whoosh of herbal fly spray being applied. The barn doors on the sunny side of the barn rumble closed, and the metallic clank of the backyard gate latch signals the end of our morning song.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
labyrinthine possibilities
This morning I needed some motivation to walk the wheelbarrow down the hill. By the time the wheelbarrow needs dumping, I'm hot and tired and that long walk down the hill is often hard to take.
Up top at the gate, I envisioned a little wooden sign.
to the labyrinth
I had the idea a while back to make an equine labyrinth down at the far edge of our property, and that's what I've been doing with the muck dumping. Making the beginning of the path. Today I realized I can see the pattern forming, and suddenly, the long walk to dump became a much less dreaded part of the day.
It's funny how having a plan, something to look forward to, a way to make progress elevates the mundane to the sacred. Suddenly I'm not dumping the muck, I'm building a labyrinth!
Just that much excitement set my mind racing. There is room for the labyrinth, and also the possibility of extending the woodland trail so that one could walk down the hill through the woods, emerge into the "open" space of the labyrinth, and then come up a different path through the woods.
The ascending path will pass right by the site of the writing studio I want to build:
While standing in the hot sun pondering all this, I realized the labyrinth is the perfect site for the herbal equine garden I've been wanting for many years now. In between the circuits of the labyrinth, I could plant the herbs that horses can graze for healing and wellness.
On the way up the path I noticed a branch forming the rune Algiz:
Algiz illustrates both the antlers of the elk, and the shape of the sedge-grass herb. To some it suggests the spread fingers of a hand raised in a protective gesture. It is a powerful rune of protection and, spiritually, it symbolizes reaching up to the divine.
Algiz also represents success through endeavour in a search, quest, or other enterprise. Like the fast-growing pine tree, schemes will develop quickly. Like sharp sedge, you are protected from attack. Alertness and awareness will be your guide. Wisdom, vision and clarity of mind will aid your cause.
I pranced back up the hill with the empty wheelbarrow, noting two places along the way where benches would enhance the labyrinthine journey. Places to sit and ponder on the way down, on the way back up.
This evening, I did a test run with daughter and Dickens E. Wickens. We walked the proposed path through the enchanted forest and then made the ascent back to the real world.
Up top at the gate, I envisioned a little wooden sign.
to the labyrinth
I had the idea a while back to make an equine labyrinth down at the far edge of our property, and that's what I've been doing with the muck dumping. Making the beginning of the path. Today I realized I can see the pattern forming, and suddenly, the long walk to dump became a much less dreaded part of the day.
It's funny how having a plan, something to look forward to, a way to make progress elevates the mundane to the sacred. Suddenly I'm not dumping the muck, I'm building a labyrinth!
Just that much excitement set my mind racing. There is room for the labyrinth, and also the possibility of extending the woodland trail so that one could walk down the hill through the woods, emerge into the "open" space of the labyrinth, and then come up a different path through the woods.
The ascending path will pass right by the site of the writing studio I want to build:
While standing in the hot sun pondering all this, I realized the labyrinth is the perfect site for the herbal equine garden I've been wanting for many years now. In between the circuits of the labyrinth, I could plant the herbs that horses can graze for healing and wellness.
On the way up the path I noticed a branch forming the rune Algiz:
Algiz illustrates both the antlers of the elk, and the shape of the sedge-grass herb. To some it suggests the spread fingers of a hand raised in a protective gesture. It is a powerful rune of protection and, spiritually, it symbolizes reaching up to the divine.
Algiz also represents success through endeavour in a search, quest, or other enterprise. Like the fast-growing pine tree, schemes will develop quickly. Like sharp sedge, you are protected from attack. Alertness and awareness will be your guide. Wisdom, vision and clarity of mind will aid your cause.
I pranced back up the hill with the empty wheelbarrow, noting two places along the way where benches would enhance the labyrinthine journey. Places to sit and ponder on the way down, on the way back up.
This evening, I did a test run with daughter and Dickens E. Wickens. We walked the proposed path through the enchanted forest and then made the ascent back to the real world.
great minds think alike
Actually this is yet another example of synchronicity and the collective unconscious, but I got a nice boost from the "great mind" line.
For my birthday, my husband gave me Jane Savoie's Happy Horse training program, which includes audio CDs, a book, and DVDs. She does a wonderful job taking the rider through the dressage levels and I am very slowly working my way through the program.
I've corresponded with Jane a bit about wanting to study dressage without being punitive or harsh or "loud" with the horses, and she created this program for just that purpose. She's written numerous articles about being an advocate for your horse (with punitive trainers, riding instructors, etc.) and I just read that she rode from SC to Vermont IN THE TRAILER with her wonderful horse Moshi, who developed some serious medical issues after they set out to travel from Florida to her Vermont home. The story of how they completed the trip (with conference calls to vets and stops every 1-2 hours to keep Moshi comfortable) reinforced for me how much Jane loves her horses.
Imagine my surprise this morning when my husband forwarded me two emails from Jane. (the mass emails go to him b/c he ordered the program from his email)
The first email was her June newsletter, in which one item has to do with using EFT for conquering a rider's fear of cantering! Apparently Jane has been using EFT with her students for years to help them overcome fears and anxiety. It's possible I "knew" this but since I have only recently learned how to use EFT with my own clients, I did not make the connection earlier on when reading about Jane's work.
The second email was a postscript from Jane answering a newsletter reader's question about using EFT with horses!
She suggests that placing one hand on the horse, but tapping oneself while saying the affirmations, is one way to go.
I still plan to discuss this with my massage therapist, because I have a feeling tapping the horse in the right spots will be very effective. In the meantime, however, if you're interested in checking out EFT practices with Jane Savoie and all her years of experience, go to her website and read the June newsletter. If I'm not mistaken, she covers EFT for riders in at least one of her earlier books.
I'll report back on my own application of EFT to horses next week, but I wanted to share this lovely bit of synchronicity today.
And healing thoughts to Jane's Moshi, who I hope is back to good health and great riding.
For my birthday, my husband gave me Jane Savoie's Happy Horse training program, which includes audio CDs, a book, and DVDs. She does a wonderful job taking the rider through the dressage levels and I am very slowly working my way through the program.
I've corresponded with Jane a bit about wanting to study dressage without being punitive or harsh or "loud" with the horses, and she created this program for just that purpose. She's written numerous articles about being an advocate for your horse (with punitive trainers, riding instructors, etc.) and I just read that she rode from SC to Vermont IN THE TRAILER with her wonderful horse Moshi, who developed some serious medical issues after they set out to travel from Florida to her Vermont home. The story of how they completed the trip (with conference calls to vets and stops every 1-2 hours to keep Moshi comfortable) reinforced for me how much Jane loves her horses.
Imagine my surprise this morning when my husband forwarded me two emails from Jane. (the mass emails go to him b/c he ordered the program from his email)
The first email was her June newsletter, in which one item has to do with using EFT for conquering a rider's fear of cantering! Apparently Jane has been using EFT with her students for years to help them overcome fears and anxiety. It's possible I "knew" this but since I have only recently learned how to use EFT with my own clients, I did not make the connection earlier on when reading about Jane's work.
The second email was a postscript from Jane answering a newsletter reader's question about using EFT with horses!
She suggests that placing one hand on the horse, but tapping oneself while saying the affirmations, is one way to go.
I still plan to discuss this with my massage therapist, because I have a feeling tapping the horse in the right spots will be very effective. In the meantime, however, if you're interested in checking out EFT practices with Jane Savoie and all her years of experience, go to her website and read the June newsletter. If I'm not mistaken, she covers EFT for riders in at least one of her earlier books.
I'll report back on my own application of EFT to horses next week, but I wanted to share this lovely bit of synchronicity today.
And healing thoughts to Jane's Moshi, who I hope is back to good health and great riding.
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