Caring for Your Horse In Extreme Heat

My friend Amalita Facchiano of Lone Star Park fame just sent me an article from TheHorse.com. It has some great advice how to take care of us horses during the extreme heat of 2011.

In it, the author mentions how to keep us cool and the importance of insect control in keeping us comfortable.

If you have not already done so, this is a great time try our All-Natural Healthy Stables Insect Control products which include delicious Ingestible Treats and an all new Herbal Shampoo Bar.  Mom and dad have been working hard to create a line of products that are effective AND healthy. These are a great alternative to the chemical-based products you may be currently using.

Read the entire article on caring for horses in extreme heat at: TheHorse.com

Hope you are having a great summer!

Mack

Grief Is The Price Of Love

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted – but dad’s been out of town of late and he has access to the hoof-enabled keyboard.

Alas, it’s with great sadness though that I have horrible news today. My sister, my dear sweet Briley K has passed. It happened last Friday night but I didn’t learn about it until Saturday.

Miss You Girl

Dad took the dogs out to the ranch while mom was in Nebraska for her 25th high school reunion. There was a terrible accident as Briley inexplicably jumped in front of dad’s truck. He never had the chance to stop.

Fortunately, she was gone before she suffered and she was doing what she loved – running at the ranch.

Dad buried her that evening but waited until mom got home on Saturday to tell her. She then she rushed out to the stables to tell me and Lightning. God we loved her so.

And so did mom and dad and the rest of us here at Healthy Stables. Our hearts ache. She was only four. Even in dog years that is much too soon.

Oh, she was such a joy to be around – even though she was frequently right behind Lightning and me. She even had the nerve to walk underneath us. It takes trusting soul for a 40 lb. dog to walk underneath a 1,200 lb. horse. But that’s who she was. She loved us all.

Dad said it best though, “Grief is the price of love.”

And God we loved her so.

If you are interested in more, Dad put together this tribute video for her.

May we always remember our Briley K for the love, smiles and spirit she ALWAYS had.

A Great Story for the Derby

Hard to describe how cool this is: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=6492174

Good luck in the Kentucky Derby Kathy and Lazerus!!!

The Fires of Possum Kingdom

The fires in West Texas have ravaged our beloved Cross Timbers countryside. Homes, and lives were lost – human, equine and others.

And while the grief and toil are going to be hard, times like these bring out the best in good people.

One of those is my Uncle Todd. He’s just released a new campaign to help those in need.

Details can be found on a new site created specifically for the cause at HelpPK.com or on his highly acclaimed TwistedEpicurean.com.

Please visit these sites and consider contributing, tweeting, retweeting and sharing as much as you can.

AJ, Katy-Lou and Hillary

This gallery contains 6 photos.

They say all little girls love horses and these girls are no exception. Here are some great pics of a day we got to share with the family.

No Foolin’

Dad just got word that good friend John Annas’ son-in-law just got home safely from his service in Iraq. If that doesn’t brighten your day, I don’t know what will.

That said, why not take a moment today to reflect on the men and women in our armed forces who continue to fight for our freedom and liberty?

Their incredible sacrifice is worth remembering – always. And that’s no foolin’.

 

1st Cavalry - Ft. Hood, Texas

Following the casing of the brigade, battalion and division colors, soldiers assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division Horse Detachment perform a cavalry charge accompanied by a helicopter flyover performed by the 1st Cavalry Division Air Cavalry Brigade on Fort Hood’s Cooper Field, Texas, Dec. 12, 2008.    U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Phillip Turner.

I Guess I’ve Seen It All

Here I was musing about Lightning doing a summersault and then I come across the World’s Smallest Horse: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1369859/Einstein-worlds-smallest-horse-gets-set-birthday.html

Damndest thing I’ve ever seen…

Einstein - World's Smallest Horse

Ever Seen a Horse Do a Summersault?

Count me among the few who have. It happened just the other day – and man was it a trip.

See, mom and dad came out to the stables for a late afternoon ride around White Rock Lake. As usual, mom was saddling me and dad was saddling up Lightning.

And it must be the change of seasons, but Lightning has been a little on edge lately. Mares are known to be a little loco anyway and the onset of spring only adds to the excitement.

Yep - It Really Happened

But for the last few weeks, she’s been flighty when dad starts to cinch up her girth. He’s not doing anything different than in the past. Tighten it up lightly to start – about 25-30%, begin putting away brushes and hoof pics and then another 25-30%. You know the drill.

Well for some reason, she’s decided this is a really frighting thing. She snorts and stammers and her eyes get all crazy. And it’s not like she’s hurt. She still eats and drinks normally, doesn’t have any swelling or unusual sweating and I’ve seen mom and dad poke around on her without the saddle to see if she is injured.

The last few weeks though, she’s started to pull back as dad is cinching her girth. Until now it has gone on without incident. But this time, she really went nutso.

She lowered that stout quarter horse butt, started pulling away with her back legs. Nostrils flared. She began snorting and really pulling away from the trailer.

Fortunately, mom and dad use an Aussie Tie Ring and it did its job. As Lightning pulled back, it gradually released tension but it didn’t slow her down. She kept on backing.

With mom and dad and I safely clear, all we could do was sit back and watch as she did her thing.

And as the rope finally gave way, she reared up on her back haunches. Front legs flailing and nose sticking straight up in the air.

Next thing you know, here she goes. Right over onto her back (and mom’s saddle) and then on over her front shoulder and back onto her feet. Damndest thing I’ve ever seen.

After that she stood there as she was supposed to – although I’m not so sure she was proud of herself. Nevertheless, she stood still as dad walked over to check on her – and mom’s saddle.

Fortunately, all was fine except for her bruised ego. Mom and dad then did some work with her. Saddle off. Saddle on. Saddle off. Saddle on.

God that was boring.

But she finally settled down and out we went to ride White Rock Lake and Flagpole Hill.

It was scary for a minute but all ended up OK.

In the end all I can say is, “Mares can be a handful this time of year. Sometimes they get so crazy they even do summersaults.”

Springtime in North Texas

Spring is a great time to be in North Texas. Here is a picture of me and my ‘sister’ Briley out at our ranch last April. Briley is a four year old Brittany Spaniel that obviously isn’t scared of how big I am.

Briley and Mack - North Texas Spring 2010

Howls of Derision

The scream pierced the night enough to make your hair stand on end. I snorted and looked over at Lightning. She still has her winter coat and it was sticking strait out. Looked like a 1,200 lb. Chia Pet.

Not two seconds later, there was a bang on the sliding glass door and it shot wide open.  Then out comes mom holding the cat by the scruff of the neck. Oh if looks could kill.

Have you ever seen a cat get thrown into a freezing cold swimming pool? It’s not for the faint of heart.

But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

You see, at Healthy Stables, we have all kinds of characters. One of which is Jack The Cat.

Jack is a 12 year old gray tabbie who is known to be the ruler of the roost. He takes no schit. Not from anyone.

But even though Jack can rule with an iron paw, he can also be very affectionate. At least to some.

On this occasion, dad was out of town and mom and us had the place to ourselves. While Lightning and I spent the evening lazily grazing on the little green shoots that are starting to poke their heads out of the Texas dirt, it seems that Jack had crawled up on mom’s lap and was rubbing his face on hers as cats are wont to do.

But as I said, Jack ain’t no ordinary cat. In fact, he’s down right ornery.

One of his favorite tricks is to lull you into a sense of security and then without even a hint of mischief, he’ll reach up and bite you right on the nose. Or the chin.

Usually, it’s just a little nibble. Just to let you know he’s in charge. But in this case though, he must have clamped down on mom’s nostril like a lion on the hock of a wildebeest.

Well that was enough to do it. After flinging the poor little guy across the living room and into said sliding glass door, mom grabbed Jack by the scruff of the neck and hurled the little bastard right into the swimming pool.

And if you thought mom’s bitten scream I described above was blood curdling,  you should have heard Jack as he sailed through the air and into the swimming pool.

I learned my lesson years ago that it’s not OK to bite. Somehow, I don’t think Jack The Cat will ever learn.