I can’t believe I’m still going on this fall cleaning project! The stuff I have accumulated over the years amazes me. Having two compulsive collectors (okay, I admit, the term “pack rat” comes to mind) living in one house can definitely add to an already existent lack of space problem!

One of the things working in our favour was the addition two years ago of the upper mobile, or the upstairs as I like to call it. By effectively doubling our floor space, it allowed us to start unpacking some boxes and organizing things that had previously been scattered or simply for all intents and purposes, lost in boxes.

Now that I am on this big sorting kick, many things are coming to surface that are no longer needed, worn out, or useless. Many of those items are mine, and I am giving myself complete permission to throw them away. At first I thought it would be difficult, but actually, I am finding it quite liberating to get rid of stuff. In all my years, I have never been very good at that!

I have found things I thought I had lost, found things I didn’t know I had, and found things that I certainly don’t need any more. If you ever have nothing better to do on a rainy or snowy afternoon off of work, by all means go through some of those boxes of “stuff” you have stored away somewhere. You might be surprised what you no longer need!

To give this editorial an equine note, I also went through my tack trailer and organized some of it. I have several boxes of new and used items of tack that I simply won’t use. I have looked at a few options for these items and have decided on letting some of my friends have first dibs on the items.

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

After that, I think I’ll take them into Shars, the second hand store here in Burns Lake. They expressed an interest in the items, and after all - I can always use the extra cash!

I’ve done the research on lights that I had promised and you’ll read about it in the column this week. I haven’t actually decided what to do about Tori’s lights yet, although I have them ready to install. However, the stallion is still boarded here in the pen that has the barn I planned to use - it will take some creative rearranging to make it all work! The owner has decided to sell the horse but is not being very active in advertising him. I need the horse gone and the board bill paid as soon as possible though - anyone out there want to buy a horse and solve a couple of problems for me? (I can always hope...)

Anyway, that’s enough rambling this week. I’ve got a few columns on the go right now and hope to have some more series coming up. And for those of you who didn’t know it, Northern BC Horse is now celebrating its third complete year of bringing you the local take on horses and equestrian activities!

We’ll run another reader survey next week to see how our readership has evolved over the past three years - we hope that you will partake in the survey and be entered in a draw for a special hiway16.com mug!

I hope you are still finding some time with your equine pals - I know for me it’s mornings with the earlier darkness brought on by the time change!

Till next week,
~ Kristi :)

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This is where the curiosity and hunger can work in your favour. If you sit still for long enough, eventually the filly will be tempted to come up and eat near you. And most horses will exhibit enough curiosity to come up and sniff you to see just what you are. Beware during these moments though - if you are sitting still with the foal above you, you are in a vulnerable position if they decide to kick or strike. While you may be able to scare them away if they do something threatening, it may undo what trust you have already gained.

A friend of mine uses the food idea for gentling her cows. After they have a taste for grain, when she feeds them she just sits in the other end of the manger. Or if she is feeding hay, she’ll just plunk herself down in the hay pile. Eventually the cows get over their fear of her and will come right up and eat. This does seem to work well - you can get close to and pet nearly every one of their cows!

Once you have finally gained your horse’s trust enough to get near her, you can try to start working on touching her. If your foal will allow you to approach to a certain point before she moves away, keep pushing that distance. This could take one session or it could take days - I can’t stress enough how much patience you’ll need!

By pushing the foal’s comfort zone every time you are out in the pen with her, you are gaining ground - even if it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere! Learn to read your foal’s body language and pay attention to her signs of being uncomfortable. If you see that she is about to step away from you, step away first. Wait a few moments and then step towards her again until she is ready to run, then again back off. It becomes kind of a dance - you advance until she is ready to flee, and then you retreat to allow her time to think about it.

The same system applies to touching your youngster for the first time. Move closer until you can touch her, and if she moves away just stand your ground for a minute before trying again. If she allows you to touch her and doesn’t move away, then it is up to you to break contact and step back. While it is very tempting to keep going and trying to scratch or pet them more at this point, you will gain ground faster by touching and backing up repeatedly. This teaches your filly that you are not going to restrain her from flight and she’ll quickly realize that she doesn’t need to.

As you keep gaining ground, you’ll most likely find that you can proceed farther and faster in each session. Your filly will start accepting more and more as you push her to the edge of her understanding and then allow her time to process each advance. Next week, we’ll introduce the lead rope!

Continued next week....

If you have comments or suggestions along the way, please share with me at kristi@hiway16.com

If you are in the breeding business, chances are you have heard of using lights. You can also use lights to help your horses slick out sooner for the show season. When you live up as far north as we do, that can be handy!

There are some standard rules of thumb when it comes to putting your horse on lights. For starters, you must be consistent! You must stick to the same schedule, every day. Any changes can signal to the horse’s body that perhaps winter really is here after all.

It is recommended that you use lights for 16 continuous hours. This means 16 hours of lighting in the barn, or combining a lighted barn with daylight. The key there is continuous!

For instance, if you get home from work at 5:30 pm and it is already dark outside, and you put your horse in the barn on lights, the horse will count those as two separate days instead of one long day. Keeping in mind how short those days would seem to the horse, you can imagine how hairy he will get! In that case, it might be better to turn your lights on around midnight and then let your horse out at 8:30 am once the full daylight has arrived.

The lights must be bright enough that you can read a newspaper in every place in the stall - even in those corners! Many people recommend using a 200 watt bulb, and you can center this above the stall. Caution: if your ceilings are too low, you will risk the horse injuring herself on the light, so use a safe cover. However, if your ceiling is too high, you will lose the effectiveness of the light and you may want to consider lighting from side to side rather than just one bulb in the center of the stall (especially in a larger barn or darker walled space that seems to absorb the light).

Use a timer on your lights to keep the consistency (nothing worse than forgetting to turn them on or off when you were supposed to!). This also helps to cut down on electricity bills in case someone forgets to turn the off during daylight hours (if your horse is turned out - if they stay in, the lights should stay on as barns tend to be gloomier than outside).

Another suggestion I was told is to keep your mare on lights for 90 days post-breeding to ensure that she doesn’t reabsorb the pregnancy. I only heard that from one person, so you may wish to discuss that with your veterinarian or reproductive specialist.

Just one reminder - even if you are just using the lights to get your mare cycling earlier, you will still be shedding her out earlier. Make sure you keep your equine pal warm and cozy with hoods and blankets according to the weather and whether she is in or out of the barn during the day.

Northern BC Horse is sponsored by local businesses who support equine sports in our area including:

• Baerental Ranch
• Burns Lake Building Supplies
• Griffin Crick Ranch
• Hoskins Ford
• Northern Horse Supply
• Ridennoure Paint Horses
• The Tack Store

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