Daily Carrot

 Filly born at the farm summer of 2014, now she is a year old.  I will post updated photos of her.  Naughty by Night is her mom.  The filly's name is Naughty.  Actually she is for sale :-(  I don't want to see her go.. she's very sweet.  

Two horses that love one another and get along so well.  Knightly is retired OTTB and Mock is a 10 year old TB off the track as well.  They are turned out 24/7/365.  

Here is my beautiful boy in the snow this past winter.  2015_ February. 

Posted by Anna Blake on April 3, 2015 at 9:27am View Blog At some distant moment in the past, probably after seeing The Miracle of the White Stallions when I was a kid, I found out that Spanish horses were started at 4 years old. Back then, I thought it was a terrible waste. Then a few years ago, I was at a nutritional seminar where the conversation turned to options to prepare long yearlings to start under saddle. And I thought the same thing–what a terrible waste. Then this week I read an article that said the optimal time to start a horse was 7 years old, the age a horse has fully grown. So it goes, the horse world is not short on opinion. I don’t want to start a debate about who’s right, what I notice is that horse lovers disagree from the start. We disagree on everything from age to training style to the right tack to use. Then we probably get defensive about it. We compare the worst Dressage rider to the best Reiner, or the best Eventer with the worst Endura...

Boston has set records during this stretch include: - Record 30-day snowfall: 94.4 inches from Jan. 24- Feb. 22, 2015.. we beat the record of the Blizzard of '78 when I first moved to Boston of 58.8 inches.   Incredibly, this 30-day total would be the third snowiest season! Photo by: J. Towner     Temperatures were below normal for weeks, not days. Now that it's warming up, meaning staying in the 30's and not dropping below 16 you start to notice all the trash that people threw all over the place.  Somehow people seem to think that the snow will cover everything from cans, to papers, and crap everywhere...  forgetting about snow eventually melts only to expose all the trash.     But, hey.. let's enjoy the beauty of the white stuff in the above photo.  Ahhhh.

Why we decided to go to the Icelandic Farm http://www.icelandichorses.com/  in October one will never know, but hey that's what people do when they live three hours away and don't realize the weather could change on a dime. In spite of the rain and 20 degree mornings, we had the time of our lives and can't wait to go back. This year we will do the Trek early September in the peak of foliage and hopefully dryer warmer weather. Both my friends, Gail & Rachel independent of one another wanted to take this trip. Not knowing one another I put the deal together and once away in our own "vacation land" we were all separated at birth. Many a laughs and drinks later... We stayed at Landau Bed and Breakfast which I cannot rave enough about. The food, the owner... outside fire pit.. rooms, cat and friendly guest this is a must go back again type of place. Here is where we stayed.  http://www.lareaufarminn.com/

At last most of the snow is gone... but the wind chills are enough to make you think of where one wants to move next winter. These photos were taken back in February 2014.

  Besides taking great photos of horse's, save your horse's winter shoes and make this cool jewelry rack!   

My Missouri Fox Trotter felt 100% better after his adjustment.

The dreadful colic surgery ... symptoms had come and no one did anything.. just let the horse lie down quietly all morning. He even passed on his breakfast. May 2010 the 27the Beau underwent a cecal bypass and large colon impaction which was removed by two incredible doctors at Tufts in Grafton. Beau finally made it back to his stall by 8:00 AM after having been taken into surgery around 11:30 PM, and I was there to see him in his stall by 10:30 AM after have driven home at 5:30 AM in the morning. He was not looking all that wel,l and my heart melted. Ice packs on each hoof, IV drip from the ceiling, muzzle so he could not eat anyting and it also kept the tube that was taped to his nose in place. Reeking from anaesthesia after the long surgery that was not all. He would not be out of the woods for 72 hours. Rocking back and forth with fever, pain and discomfort, his frightened eye was softened when I would arrive for my visit with him. Our connection is very strong, and he knew he h...

Every horse owners nightmare when your horse needs surgery due to colic. April 26th Beau stopped eating and was lying down in his paddock during turnout. When I arrived at the barn is when I noticed that his breakfast was still in his bucket and while I was cleaning his stall he was out back lying down. This is not right. His breathing was heavy and he never chooses to lie down if the option is to eat something. I called the vet right way and explained that he just started doxycycline, gave up eating and after walking him he finally passed some manure. We all thought it was looking good as he picked at his hay around 5:00 PM. That same night I was headed back to see him around 8:00 PM when I got the call from Rita, that her and Tayna were trying to get a hold of me. "I don't want to see Beau die, you better get here I already called the vet and he was on his way". Paniced stricken we were on on way to the barn. Beau was already wearing Poffie's halte...

Time to blog about polo. Yes, I have taken my first Polo lesson with James Gadea on a 19 yr. old mare name White Sox. She had just finished a game of polo and there I was feeling badly that I had to ride her in a beginner lesson. These horses are well trained, and not as sore as I was going to be for the next 4 days. The Polo Series takes place on the polo grounds of Glen Farm, 715 East Main Road (Route 138) in Portsmouth, RI, six miles north of downtown Newport.. I will have to post some photos of the "beginner" polo lesson. Here is a photo I grabbed from the web site. James is in this photo. For more information visit the Newport Polo Club web site. http://www.glenfarm.com/

... Was there ever a time in which you had to ask someone a favor, being so nervous the first thing out of your mouth was "you look really good today"? HA I think we are all guilty of that.. This is a great photo I found at http://despair.com/flattery.html And hey don't forget I take awesome HORSE PHOTOS so hire me to come to your farm and shoot you and your horse, with my Nikon 5000. src="../images/ani_polo_player.gif" alt="Animation of a polo player riding a polo pony to score a goal" width="312" height="19">

I n this cartoon that I found in the NYTimes, farmers look with interest and concern. This 2- seat automobile at the turn of the twentieth century would replace the horse as the predominate means of transport. Harper's Weekly has a humorous side of the differences between horse, and horseless carriage. This cartoon brings a potential "invader" image that automobiles might bring to the countryside.

Well my trainer said it " I don't know what the fanacation of horses is if the child just tosses the horse back in the stall after she rides" and it hit me. When someone pays north of $600.00 a month to board a horse, not including the cost of lessons, apparel, treats and the cost of gas perhaps in just driving to the barn. Then tosse the horse inside the stall after riding for an hour, has to make you wonder. What are the parents thinking? The parents are usually the ones paying for this. In the world of fast and furious why empower the child for that one hour, what are they REALLY learning? The horse is also wondering why am I being asked to work when I'd rather just sit here posing for animal crackers or running in a field with other horses to be tossed aside wet, sweaty with stains of salt on my body, and left to catch a chill.

10/31/2009 : Old North Bridge Halloween Hunter Pace 984 Lowell Rd, Carlisle, Massachusetts Hunter Pace Riders may participate individually or in small groups of up to four riders, over the marked course in Great Brook Farm State Park. Costumes are encouraged, but optional. Contact: Barbara Bjornson tel: 978-369-6469 btbjorn@comcast.net This years Halloween Hunt Pace Event is on the 31st of October.. Hopefully we can duplicate our 1st place ribbon, as we plan on entering this again. I just have to find another black horse to enter with as Beauty is no longer with us. This was a great idea (mine) and a surprise to me that we won!

Oldest Mounted Police Unit In U.S. To Take Their Last RidesBy Steve Brown The sign at the Boston Police Department's mounted horse unit. Their motto: To ride with pride.BOSTON - March 05, 2009 - The Boston Police Department will lay off 40 police cadets and 20 civilian workers in July to help close a $20 million department budget gap.The department says the cuts would be worse, if it weren't for state and federal grant money.As WBUR's Steve Brown reports, the cuts include disbanding the Boston Police Mounted Unit, the oldest police mounted unit in the nation.The mounted officers and their horses have been a familiar sight at Downtown Crossing, and anywhere large crowds are gathered. At one point in the 1970s, during the busing crisis, there were a hundred horses in the unit. Now it's much smaller. Thirteen specially-trained police horses, with names such as Chopper, Captain and Magnus, are boarded in the police stable in Jamaica Plain. Workers at the stable, who spoke ...

Two horses were found lying on the ground in their paddock's where they had been out all night long. What are people thinking leaving a 43 yr. old and a 29 yr old during one of the worst winters I can remember? The 43 yr old had to be put down due falling on ice and had shattered an elbow. The other was so cold they had to warm it with heating blankets.