Our Horses Enjoying The Winter Months

I took a walk outside with my camera a few days ago. The sun was shining and the horses were napping in it. They like winter better summer. In summer they stay in the barn during the day and only come out at night. In winter they like to sleep in the sun, roll in the snow and when they were younger, they'd buck, run and carry on.

I admit, I haven't been that active myself. In winter, I stay inside most of the time. I used to help my husband feed the horses in winter, but now I don't go out there at all. I am so afraid of falling and breaking a bone or spraining something. So when I get out on a day like this and can get some good winter photos of my girls I take advantage of  it. They gave me some good shots!

People ask how can they survive out there in the cold. Horses are livestock. They are equipped to survive in the wild, and that includes the cold. I mean I would not take a horse from FL or Texas and put it in a cold winter without conditioning it. But these girls have always lived in this area so they are used to this climate. In all the years we've had these girls, they have only shivered a handful of times. In that case, feed them hay. In fact, our horses will skip the grain and go right for the hay as they know it will warm their bodies up fast.

We have blankets for them, but have rarely used them. For one thing, if you put blankets on horses, it keeps their coats from growing. And in winter, they really do need that winter coat. Even if you think its ugly. We worked at a thoroughbred racing farm, and that is what they did for the race horses, who were working races. But the others could grow their coats freely. We only put a blanket on if it was needed. Another thought is that blankets block the sun from hitting them. They need the sunlight and it warms them up too.

Usually one of the horses will stand guard over the other two while they are laying down. Then they switch positions so the other one can lay down too. Though out here, these girls get so relaxed that we will find all three stretched out sleeping without any worry about danger. No noises really bother them much. They are used to hearing coyotes, snowmobiles and four-wheelers, day or night. Pretty calm compared to how they were in 2000 when Georgie Girl and Dark Shadow came here. Then when Tawny came in 2002, of course, she was never the spirited girl the other two were.

Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole

My Horses

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Horses on the Homestead

Old Life New Life

Getting ready to ride!

When we first moved here we were into the cowboy type of life. We had plans to make our buildings look like an old western town. The horses were the most important part of our day. I couldn't wait to get out of bed in the morning to feed them. I always held Georgie Girl's feed bucket while she ate. She tends to go after the other horses' food if you don't watch her. So I would stay with her, petting her often while I held her bucket. She loved having me pamper her. I loved pampering her. I still love her so very much, but it has been a long time since I held her bucket or even brushed or petted her. I have been spending more time in the house because my legs are so bad that I have to walk with a cane or even times a walker. It makes me so sad.

The structure in the background is now our barn!

Things were so different for us back then. For one thing it was only the two of us here. Now my son has been here for about two years, I guess. He is hoping to move out this month or next, at the most. I hope it really happens. We have had many different things happen to us along the way. But back in the time of this photo, you can see my husband had a true relationship with our horses. He really did love and care about them. Now things have become so hard here, that he is not "into" them anymore. I am torn.

 Georgie Girl all tacked up to go.

As you get older, some jobs are just really hard. I always thought things would get easier. But money has been hard to come by. That meant those things I thought would get done, never did. It makes me not like it here anymore. I want life to be easier. The horses are not the hard job. The hard jobs are the wood work, the shoveling snow, the pumping water outside and carrying it inside, filling the bath tub with buckets of hand carried water, outhouse work, etc. These are all jobs my husband has to do and he hates it. It is just plain hard when you get to be over 60 years old!

Notice our wood buck fence!

The conveniences I crave (I know, makes me sound weak and spoiled!) are running water out of a faucet, lights.........lots of lights at night or on gray days, a washing machine and a dishwasher. I admit it, I hate to wash dishes by hand!!! I HATE IT! And to be able to use my computer at night, or my crock pot, whenever I please. Living off-the-grid means you cannot do any of those things unless you generate enough power to do so. Easy, if you live in New Mexico or Arizona, but not in New York state! We are the dreary state. If you have enough solar panels and batteries, you can generate enough power for all of that in NY, but it takes money, and quite a bit for a solar array that big. So.......we suffer without and buy one panel at a time.

Notice how thick our trees in the forest were back then! I miss that.

It is not my husband's fault anymore than my own. I had a job and I quit it when I had trouble with my legs. If I hadn't done that, maybe I could have earned enough money to buy those extra solar panels or at least to purchase the wiring to put up the wind turbine (which is sitting in the barn waiting to be set up). I'd like to see my homesteading life take on different challenges and expand beyond what it is now. I am in a dead end, so to speak. Now I feel like my life is going to go in a different direction. I am not sure what will happen, but I think changes will take place in 2013 and I hope they are for the best for both of us.

Copyright © 2013 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

A Spring Morning In The Forest

Tawny and Georgie Girl

Such a quiet, pretty day we are having here today. The sun is shining, but it is not very warm. Cold. In fact our wood stove is going to keep the house warm. I went outside to take pictures of the horses and it was cold. The horses love to lay in the sun. Perfect time for a picture. They usually start by standing, but end up laying down in a little bit. Georgie Girl stretched right out next to Tawny and laid like that for hours.

Dark Shadow is always on the look-out for trouble!

Dark Shadow finally laid down after the other girls were down for awhile. Usually one horse will stand up nearby to protect the others. Then they switch places. Our girls here though, have become very laid back and don't see many dangers in their day to day lives. So they lay down quite often, all at the same time. Dark Shadow is like the watch dog around here. She is always watching for intruders or something that is not normal.

Our three girls

Dark Shadow and Georgie Girl are registered Thoroughbreds and have the same father. Tawny is their niece, her father, Bobby, also had the same father as Dark Shadow and Georgie Girl. Georgie was a race horse and raced at the Fingerlakes Track. She was banned from the track when she refused to race. In the breezes (test to race) she was always the fastest. In the actual race, she would not go. Even went over backwards in the starting gate with the jockey on her. She does not like being forced to do something. She likes working with you as a partner.

Quiet Morning At Peaceful Forest

Dark Shadow never raced or left the farm they were born on until we brought her here. Tawny came here two years after Georgie and Dark Shadow had been here. She is half Thoroughbred and Shetland pony. Tawny is very affectionate and gives horse hugs to everyone. She is not that nice to small animals, so I warn people who come here with little dogs not to let them run into the paddock or bark at the horses. I have to admit it is funny when dogs who have never seen a horse see one for the first time. I can imagine them thinking, "Wow, they are big!"

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

A Year Ago On Wordless Wednesday

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

Horses In The Forest

Georgie Girl

Georgie Girl is the "boss mare" of our little horse herd. She had become the "boss mare" of the farm we bought her from, as soon as I let her go out with the other horses. She took over that herd on her own. She also bonded with Dark Shadow who is her half sister. Since Georgie Girl was a racehorse there, she was kept separate from the group of horses that were allowed to go out on the pasture. My buying her changed that.

Dark Shadow, Georgie & Tawny

In our tiny herd, Tawny is the low horse on the totem pole. She gets even with that position by attacking smaller animals than her. Like our dog, Nikita, our cat, Callie, who she attacked twice............and when we had my pet hen, Lil' Red, she almost killed her. So as sweet and cuddly she is when she is hugging on us, she has that "pony" attitude and shows how tough she really is. Now, the only cats that dare to go past her in the paddock is Hobo, who for some reason she leaves alone. Hobo spends a lot of time out in the paddock hunting, and that seems to be okay with Tawny. The stray tomcat who appears to live here too, though I can't get near him, walks through the paddock often, and none of the horses even look up.

Dark Shadow getting up

Dark Shadow is very spirited. Georgie and Tawny have calmed down with age. Not Dark Shadow. She seems to be not aging at all. If something or someone is in the woods or walking up the road, she either walks very quickly, or trots to the fence to get a closer look. She has always walked very fast. At the farm we bought her from, she would gallop right up to my husband standing out in the arena, and stop right in front of him. I think she liked doing that. He had no problem with it at that time. I think now, he'd be more careful, since he has aged since then himself.

Napping!

Living out here is very quiet for these girls. They don't pay attention to the vehicles driving by. Even four wheelers or snowmobiles. They are used to them. Hunters go by and sometimes fire off guns when in the woods. Doesn't seem to bother these girls at all. Now the only thing that actually gets their attention is stray dogs or cats, and of course, other horses riding by. When the state forest workers walk along the fence line marking the trees for logging, they pay attention to them. I think they are just very curious. Much like we are.

Jeff handing out apples!

My son has been taking care of them since he came to stay with us. He is feeding the girls and spending a lot of time with them. They are very trusting to lay down while he walks right up to them, petting them, giving them apples and talking to them. Horses don't usually stay down when someone is nearby. But our horses have been doing that for years with my husband and me. And now with my son. Must be this life out in the forest agrees with them.

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

Our Horses Live A Pretty Peaceful Life

 They come out to eat their hay!

Most of the summer our horses have stayed in the barn. They have the option of going in and out on their own. Summer has never been their favorite season. I can go in and sit on the bench next to them and watch them sleep. That seems to be what animals do most of the summer.

 Georgie Girl Was Banned From The Fingerlakes Track!

The funny thing about these girls is that they really would rather stay in their barn all day and only come out at night. They come out and eat hay, grazing from pile to pile. My husband puts it out, and spreads it around in various piles, so that no one horse can hog it all. And they will! They lay down a lot out in the paddock during the night and early morning hours. That is what they do.

Dark Shadow, my husband's horse

Their life is pretty peaceful as far as a most horses'  lives go. They get to do pretty much what they want. In the winter, they really love the snow. After a snow fall, we will get up in the morning and they will be up and out in the fresh snow. They like to eat it and lay on it. So winter for them is no big hardship. At least not for them!

 Tawny hoping for hay!

Summer means bugs, and that is why they stay inside. Even though the bugs are in the barn too. Not as bad I guess. Our paddock has grown larger over the years, as we cleared it. The only thing is, that as our girls are getting older, so they are not quite as spirited as they once were. I can remember Dark Shadow running all around the paddock in a circle pretty often. Or the way she'd try to get Georgie to play with her by rearing up. Not as much anymore. I guess we are all aging around here! Even our mares!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

A Beautiful Start To My Day Today!

This morning I did something I hadn't done in a very long time. Something I have been missing and wanted to do, but just didn't do it for some reason or other. I went out to feed my horses! I used to do it every day since we brought them home. But when my son came to stay with us, he'd do it before we were even up and around. Just to get them fed. With me, feeding was more than just giving them food. It is that special relationship I share with my "little girls."

Georgie Girl had missed me. She is the boss mare but shows her soft side to me. She loves babies (human), apples, carrots, dandelions, having her hooves trimmed, being brushed and pampered. Pampering is what she does best. Her being pampered.....not her doing the pampering! I talk to her and tell her how pretty she is. She really likes being told that. Who wouldn't? She minds me real good. I can yell to her from the house and she will do what I tell her to do. Not many horses will do that. But she hates to get in trouble and she is VERY intelligent.

Dark Shadow is not the boss. But she bosses Tawny. And for the life of me, I cannot get Tawny to stand up to her. Tawny will stand up to Georgie but not to Dark Shadow. I don't understand that at all. She knows that Georgie Girl is the boss mare. Dark Shadow is VERY spirited and acts like a filly. She never does anything slow. Walks fast. Eats fast. She is the look out horse. Georgie sends her out to see what is going on.

 Yesterday, Georgie would not eat at supper time. My husband got very mad at her. Said she was a stupid horse. He dumps their food in snow if there is any because that is how they like it. It is dusty horse pellets and they like the moisture on it. Anyway, Georgie would not touch it. So I went out to see why. She usually loves her food and everybody else's. The electric line behind the lean-to had fallen, and was embedded in the ice and snow on the ground.

My husband had dumped her food right on top of it (not on purpose). Even though the fence is not hot since the snow covers the bottom line. She would not take the chance and eat her food on top of that wire. I don't blame her. She don't understand the way the electric fence works. So I had to pick up handfuls of her feed and hand feed her. She loved that (Didn't I tell you that she LOVES to be pampered?)!

 

This morning was a beautiful start for my day. I hadn't realized how much I had missed that time. In the morning it is so quiet, except for hearing the birds sing. I looked up in the maple tree out front, way up in the very top, was that robin with the big red breast. He was singing his morning song in the sunlight. He sounded so happy. That is how I felt out there myself.

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

Wordless Wednesday Featuring Our Little Girls

Dark Shadow

Tawny.......... had a tough night, needed some sleep!

Georgie Girl, the boss mare

Posing for pictures!