No baby yet

First of all, to answer the question that is on everyone's mind- Has Lake Hazel Suezee Que had her baby yet?  The answer is no.  Josh and I have to laugh about it because she has all the signs indicating she should  foal soon.  She was even diagnosed by the vet.  It sounds a lot like how we humans are- all the signs indicate it should be soon but then nothing!  Hah!  Well, we are just going with it and making sure she's comfortable.  Maybe that foal isn't ready to make their entrance yet.  

On another note, we are in the middle of totally revamping and updating our website.   Since we are doing our 2012 Training Series we realized that the current website we have wasn't going to do what we had envisioned.  It's kind of like realizing that the car you had was an old beater and you need to update it.  We will be putting downloadable horse training products on the website and needed a different format.  Soon  this blog will be apart of the new website as well- you won't be redirected to blogger.  I'll let you know when that happens.  Also, when the new website launches you'll be able to see all the new videos we've been doing.  I'm really excited about it all!

So here is a picture taken March 23.  You'll see that there is plenty of snow.....

Now, here are pictures taken today... it is all melting!!!

 We've had a lot of flooding here.  But, it's exciting to know that spring and summer and solid ground are coming!

Declaring independence from the weather

Sometimes the weather is less than ideal.

Everything takes longer, requires more effort, more preparation and certainly more planning.

In order to get anything done around here, you have to just get up, dress accordingly and declare independence from the weather.

But when you have views like this, it makes it all worth it.

Almost There! No, Really. They Are Bred

Nearly a week and a half ago we posted that we had two mares that were "making up" and could foal anytime.  At the time both showed significant swelling of the mammary glands just in front of the utter.  Well both mares pretty much stalled out at that point and remained the same for the last 8 days.  Finally, yesterday one of the mares, Lake Hazel Suezee Que, started showing some further signs that the end, or the beginning depending on the point of view, is near.  Here is a short little video I shot of her this morning.

Horse Training Tip: Groundwork - Head Position

Here is a training tips video that is part of the General Horsemanship series.  This video clip deals specifically with working with a horses head position when haltering and bridling.  We apologize for the video and sound quality but felt that the information in the video would be well worth viewing!  We have other videos coming this week using our cool updated video equipment.  Yippee!

Pinterest

Most of us know what pinterest is.  It's a wonderful online pin board where you can store pictures or posts from the websites you visit so that it's not just stored in your head but on your computer.

We all probably have boards where we pin food ideas, craft ideas, ideas for our home, photography or whatever that suits our fancy.

If you are a horse lover, why not have a board that is dedicated to horse stuff?

For that reason, we are posting pin it buttons on our training posts and pictures.  That way, if you see a post you like, you can pin it.  Then, you can remember where you saw that wonderful idea that you want to try.

The same goes with horse pictures.  If you like horse pictures, go ahead and pin those.  Personally, I can't get enough of wonderful outdoor photos with horses. (We'll have more of those here on our site when spring comes and the snow is gone).

All of our training series posts will have pin it buttons.  That way you can easily organize them on your "Horse" board.

So go ahead and start a "Horse" board on Pinterest.  That way you'll have a place where you can store all those wonderful ideas related to horses.

This is why we ride horses

We had a little car trouble the other day.  If anything, it made a great video! Don't you wish you could go back to the day of just riding a horse to wherever you needed to go?

Create a digital slideshow

Stork is on its way

Meet our mares that are ready any time to foal....

This is Captains Dry Tang.  Isn't she a beautiful?  She has the most golden, buttery color.  She is due anytime now with foal #1.

This is another mare that we have that is due anytime as well.  Her name is Lake Hazel Suezee Que and she is due with foal # 3.  She is also our daughters horse that is for sale.  She is a gorgeous chocolate color.

There are some telltale signs when a mare is getting close to foaling.  Several days before the mare will "bag up". In other words, they begin lactating and the utter will fill up, the teats will wax over and may even start dripping milk.  Her behavior will often change as she becomes more uncomfortable.  She may become more irritable, pace, break out in a sweat frequently, breathing may change, and they may raise their tail on and off.

Several hours before foaling a mare may exhibit the following signs:
Nervousness
Pacing
Frequently getting up and laying down
Sweating
Tail swishing
Pawing
Lose of appetite
Frequent urination
Leaves the herd
Kicks at belly
Acts irritable and looks generally uncomfortable.

When you see these signs, stay close by.  You should plan on spending the night at the barn.  Baby is on its way.

The two mares I mentioned above are both starting to bag up.  They should foal within a week.

Don't forget to go back and check out the other links in our 2012 Training Series here

Housekeeping....

As Josh and I started working on the several series that we will be doing this year we realized that our camera and recording equipment were severely out of date.  HAH!

We have needed to upgrade our camera and recording equipment and that's been the reason for the delay in posting much.  But, the new camera and recording equipment  we ordered should be here at the end of the week and we are so excited!!

One of the main reasons that we have been anxious about getting the new equipment here, is because we have two mares that are due within the week!  Exciting stuff!

So thanks for being patient.  I promise you that our posting won't be as splotchy moving forward.  Posting will be very regular.    There is so much to share!