Piper Goes to High School

This past weekend, the first 2010 New Hampshire High School Equestrian Teams North District competition took place at Wakewood Farm in Plymouth, NH.   There, several NH High School Equestrian Teams competed in a wide range of classes.

One of the Kearsarge Meadows horses, Piper Warrior, made his show debut over fences at this show, representing Kearsarge Regional High School.   He also showed in a couple flat classes.

This was Piper's first competition over fences, something for which he and his teenaged jockey, Eliza, have been training for the past few months.   It was also their first competition together.   So, the goal for the day was to simply go out, give it a try, and keep Piper happy.

Completely blowing that goal out of the water, Eliza and Piper overachieved on the day and placed very well, both over fences and on the flat.   And not only had a very good first outing, they helped the Kearsarge Regional High School Equestrian Team start the year in 2nd place!

Well done to Eliza, Piper, and the whole KRHS Equestrian Team!   We are very proud of you all!

Playing Ball

With nasty weather rolling through, today was a great day to stay indoors and enjoy some quiet time with the horses.   This included spending extra time doing pre-spring makeovers, grooming and shedding out some of the shaggy winter coats, removing any little knots in the tails, and tidying up manes.   Old and young all enjoyed the TLC, nearly falling asleep in the cross-ties.   It was all very chilled out, low key, and relaxing.

After a snack, Jeddien and I did a bit of ridden work in the arena.   To cool down afterwards, we played with the Parelli ball.



Playing with the huge inflated ball is a unique way to help the horses learn new skills and become calmer about new things.

Jeddien pushes the ball around with her nose and her legs.   And like a good ball player, she can kick the ball with both her left foot and her right.   Sure, it might seem a bit goofy, but it's a good laugh we enjoy together!     :-)

Refusing to Perpetuate Gloom & Doom

In broad financial terms, Holy Moly!, what a century it has been so far!   First the bubble burst, with a resounding Dot KaaaBoooom!   I personally lost A LOT of money on the stock market.   Ouch!   Then the USA was attacked and the US started (or continued?) spending bilions of dollars on yet another war.   More recently, the big financial institutions broke all their piggy banks.   And the auto makers cried that they weren't making profits.   Of course, as usual, the government is blamed and now Tea Parties are coming back into fashion.

Closer to home, we feel the financial down turn as well.   My former employer, Sun Microsystems, was bought out after way too many unprofitable quarters.   Several rounds of layoffs impacted tens of thousands of employees across the globe.   After 20 years of service, most recently as a Director, I was laid off as well.

Thank you for your contributions.   Good luck finding a new job.

And Kearsarge Meadows feels the pinch as well.   The price of good quality shavings, used for bedding for the horses, has continued to raise in price over the past 5 years.   Thankfully, the price of good quality local hay has not increased at the same rate.   Horse owners who can still afford to own horses are tightening their belts, budgeting less dollars for lessons, shows, and board.

But even with the income slowing down, we are still paying our employees, matching Medicare & FICA contributions, paying taxes, and buying insurance.   And, as promised when we hire them, our employees still get their well deserved pay raises in thanks for their continued good work.

Thanks go to our wonderful clients who continue to give us their custom, allowing us to stay in business, and continue staffing excellent horse loving employees.   Together, we continue to see through and beyond the gloom and doom.

Spring Vaccinations

A true sign that Spring is on the way is Spring Vaccination Day at Kearsarge Meadows.   Each year, before show season swings into gear, we get all of our residents vaccinated against several equine ailments.   This is part of our preventative medicine program.


(Photo from TNT Equine showing Dr. Deme Erickson, DMV) giving a shot

Friday, March 5th, Dr. Jen Sula, DMV, from Blackwater Veterinary Services in Salisbury NH will visit.  Working her way down the barn, she will check each horse one by one.   Heart sounds, gut sounds, respiration, eyes, and a visual check of their overall condition.

Next, each will receive vaccinations against:

• Equine Influenza (Horse flu)
  
• Equine Rhinopneumonitis (Rhino)
  
• West Nile Virus
  
• Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis (EEE)
  
• Western Equine Encephalomyelitis (WEE)
  
• Tetanus
  
• Rabies
  

Fortunately, instead of jabbing each horse 7 times, some of the vaccinations are provided in combo shots.

Finally, blood will be drawn from those who will be out and about competing this year.   It's sent to the University of New Hampshire's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory where they test for Equine Infectious Anemia in what is known as the "Coggin's Test".   Proof of a negative result is required to compete.

Some may question the expense of this spring ritual.   However, we have enjoyed an excellent record of horsey health.   And therefore, no vet bills for nasty equine illnesses.   We really like Preventative Medicine!

2009 IRS W-2 Forms

Today, 2009 IRS W-2 form, also known as the the "Wages and Tax Statement", were prepared and mailed out to the employees who worked for Kearsarge Meadows during the 2009 fiscal year (January to December).

If you were an employee at Kearsarge Meadows in 2009 and you had a change of address that you forgot to let us know about, please telephone or drop us an email and we will immediately send you a duplicate set of W-2 forms.

Thank you!

To Clip or Not To Clip ?

So far this season, while the amount of snow we have received has been less than 3 feet, the temperatures seem to have been much colder than last year.   This week, however, we are enjoying a bit of a January Thaw and it feels wonderful.

Our competition horses start competing again in three months!   Accordingly, Jeddien and Piper have recently came back into work after a couple months of vacation time.   Both still have full winter coats and therefore are not being worked too heavily yet.   To work them to the point of sweating requires extra care in cooling them down, insuring their coats are fully dried after work, and preventing them from getting chilled.   This is where clipping the coat comes in handy.



Clipping a horse is not the easiest of tasks and can be quite a messy job as well as hair transfers from the horse to the floor and onto the person doing the clipping!   The horse needs to be calm and sensible as the loud vibrating clipper glides across their body.   The handler needs to be ready deal with ticklishness, grumpiness, anxiousness, and anything else the horse throws their way.

And then after the fact, the newly clipped "undressed" horse must be appropriately blanketed and rugged up according to the weather, hour by hour, until the end of winter.   So clipping is not a task one jumps into without careful consideration.

To help make the longterm effects of clipping more sensible and manageable, there are several different "clips" (think haircuts) that can be used.   This fabulous website from Peasridge Ltd in the UK shows many styles of clips from which to choose.



Right now, five of our horses are sporting the "Bib Clip"...   Just the hair under the neck is clipped short.   This is an easy and quick clip to do and a super clip for introducing clippers to youngsters and horses who have never been clipped before.   The resulting haircut also made giving IV injections really easy for our Equine Dentist.   :-)

The clip we will use next is the "Low Trace Clip".   This is just enough of a clip to let the areas of the horse's body that tend sweat first cool and dry off quickly.

Now back to the question. &bnsp To clip or not to clip?   There is no easy perfect answer.   It is something that is completely dependent upon the horse, his coat, the work he is doing, the weather, and the level of committment the owner wants to invest in blanketing, both in terms of time and money, throughout the rest of the winter season.

Today, I will clip one.   My nose is already itchy in anticipation of the horse hair that will soon fly!

Winter Wonderland Continues

We are now well into 2010 and winter continues.   Snow, cold, and wind are this winter's main themes.   We are also enjoying a lot of winter sunshine.

The horses don't seem to mind the weather at all.   Those who need it get blanketed before turnout.   Heated water troughs are in each pasture.   And hay is delivered to the fields throughout the day.   So, with their basic needs taken care of, the horses are all content.



Admittedly, less training and riding is going on in the cold weather.   But on the milder less windy days, since the snow in the woods is not very deep, trailriding is still enjoyed.   And when work with any of the horses needs to be done, we simply retreat to the indoor arena.

Spring, when it finally arrives, will be greatly appreciated.   Until then, Winter Wonderland continues.

Winter Crashes Into New Hampshire !

After a wonderful extended Fall Season, we have been hit by back to back snowstorms.

The first was kind of a practice run.   We got 5 inches, which thinned down to 1 or 2 very quickly.   No plowing was required.   It was a good reminder of what WHITE precipitation is all about...   Mother Nature's way of giving everyone a couple days to prepare the snowplows and snowblowers, stock up on non-perishables, change to winter tires, buy a couple extra show shovels, and bring in more firewood.

That was a few days ago.

Today, we got hit much harder!   We had our first plowing event.   12 inches of the white stuff.   And wind that brings the phrase "windchill factor" out of storage and back onto the table again

Yup.   Winter is here again.

Before & After - The Kitchen Door Yard

The kitchen was another section of the house which received attention.



First, we put on new roofs, including copper flashing on the chimney.



Then painting began.



The kitchen door yard itself was tidied up, which meant transplanting all of the flowers and herbs away from the house.   With it, the butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees moved as well.   Now, grass and rhubarb are now the only greenery within the stone walled door yard.

Before & After - The Main House

Today, we sat down and went through the photo albums, looking at the progress we have made on the property.   The first and most noticable difference is in the main house itself.



The roof was given first priority after we moved in.   WIthin a few months, it was completely redone in a nice dark charcoal colour.   Painting was the next major improvement in the house...   a task which took several weeks time spread over two years.   There was no rush.

Big Ben & Piper Warrior at Play

The video says it all.....

Trailblazing Project

For the past week, we have been enjoying unseasonably warm November weather.   Temperatures have been in the 50's and 60's during the day.   Wonderful.   But even better, there are no bugs!   They disappeared after several frosts.

Taking full advantage of the weather, we've been giving our woodlands some long overdue attention.   We are finally restoring the overgrown riding trails and we're even blazing new trails!

The work is very manual and truly backbreaking.   Staying motivated is challenging, especially when the progress is slow.   But the long term vision of enjoying quiet hacks in the woods keeps things moving along.   And, after many hours of hard work, short test rides on the trails provide welcome rewards.

Hunter Jumper Barn?

Another winter is fast approaching...   A time when most of our riding will be done indoors.

As done in past winters, we will enjoy doing a lot of ground work with our horses, some light dressage work, jumping under saddle, and free jumping.   We'll also be getting the youngsters well started under saddle.   However, unlike our previous winters, this winter we'll enjoy a happy explosion of bright colors in our indoor arena with our brand new show jump poles!



Maybe we should designate Kearsarge Meadows as a Summer Dressage Training Center and a Winter Hunter Jumper Farm!     :-)

Pumpkins & Horses

The Courser Farm in Warner has tons of pumpkins for sale at their farm stand.   Prices are low and the pumpkins are lovely.   We've been purchasing lots of them, taking them home to split open for our turkeys and chickens to pick at.   They really enjoy the seeds and the flesh.

Today, just as a goof, we placed a pumpkin into one of the pastures.   It quickly turned into a toy for the horses.



Piper, our black 12 year old gelding, went after it first, quickly finding the stem and using it to lift the pumpkin off the ground.   Dropping it, it rolled away.   He and 3 year old Big Ben worked together to investigate, following it, and pushing it around a bit.

Soon, Piper returned to nibbling on grass.   But Ben, a youngster who loves to play, kept himself thoroughly amused for quite some time, moving the pumpkin around with his nose and his feet.

Tomorrow, more pumpkins will be purchased.   But instead of thinking just in terms of tasty food for the birds, we'll be looking for pumpkins that roll really well and have strong stems.

Sharing the Roads With Horses

October has arrived, bringing beautiful fall colors, crisp weather, and the end of the bug season.   And for us horseback riders, it also means great riding weather!   Now is when lots of riders hit the trails and roads.

This month's issue of the local "Warner's New Paper" contains an article entitled "Sharing the Roads of Warner".     The aim of the article, written by Kimberley, is to offer some advice to both equestrians and vehicle operators on how to safely share the road.

WNP owner, manager, and editor Richard Senor visited the farm to take a photo of Jeddien and Kimberley riding on the road.   Unplanned, a neighbor drove by, passing slow and wide.   It was a wonderful example of courtesy and safe road sharing on Kearsarge Mountain Road.   The photo can be found in the paper.

The original article, as submitted to WNP, can be found on the Kearsarge Meadows website here, in PDF format.   Feel free to share it with others.

Enjoy the great Autumn weather!   And stay safe!