Well, the Classical and Western Dressage clinic was this past weekend and we had a fantastic turnout! The clinic spots filled quickly and we even had auditors, despite the frigid and disagreeable weather. Everyone's horses were in top form, and it was a real treat to get to watch them go.
Our next clinic will be with Jessie Myers, on November 22nd. We are so lucky to have such skilled and knowledgable riders nearby!
BUT before that, we are preparing for our final dressage show of the season here at Meadowlark, and are happy to welcome Sue Hughes as our judge. The ribbons have arrived, the adding machine tapes have been replenished, the observation room floor is swept and we are beginning toget entries into the computer so we can sort out ride times.
Closing date is Wednesday, so be sure to sign up soon! Click the image below for show forms.
We are participating in a fundraiser to raise the money to help Branson get the surgery he needs to drastically improve his quality of life!
Meet Branson...
Branson is a 22 year old Hanoverian gelding that we have recently taken in here at Meadowlark. He came to us on trial as a rehabilitation project, after a combination of long-term equine scoliosis and the aftermath of Potomac horse fever, and was unfortunately he was both unsound and underweight.
Flash forward three weeks and Branson has made some serious strides toward recovery. After some really stellar chiropractic work, as well as a barefoot trim (from a very talented local equine podiatrist), as well as a variety of high-calorie feeds, mashes, supplements and ration balancers, he is now lunging on both leads with very little sign of unsoundness and showing slight signs of weight gain.
(Here is a video of Branson's recent progress - looking much more comfortable!)
Unfortunately, Branson has recently been diagnosed with EOTRH, or Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis. Basically this disease causes the roots at the bases of the horse's incisors to essentially disintegrate, while simultaneously laying down excessive calcification at the root.
Eventually the horse's teeth become loose and very sore as the nerves become agitated from the instability of the roots. It's an incredibly painful degenerative disease and unfortunately the only way to treat it is to extract the affected teeth and calcification. Horses with this disease have a hard time gaining weight due to pain while eating, and in advanced cases the teeth can actually disintegrate to the point where they begin to sink into the flesh, causing other complications and infection.
In the photo to the right you can see that he has broken blood vessels and the teeth look especially long. The concerning part is the lumpy top area of his gums, since this is actually hypercalcification of the tooth roots.
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In light of the massive looming vet bills for this poor chap, we have decided to help run fundraisers to help cover his surgery, including the release of three exclusive t-shirts! Below are the different designs for the t-shirts. The first run of shirts will all be on dark grey heathered t-shirt, each with a different color of ink. We aren't sure if Branson will ever gain soundness and condition enough to be a ridden regularly again, but we are happy to help raise funds so that this sweet old boy can be comfortable as he lives out his days. Branson's previous owner cannot provide the surgery for him, herself, and since it is a question of quality of life we have decided to do what we can to get him what he needs.
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Shirts will be available in early October, but you can place your order now by clicking the button below! Be sure to fill out your Shirt design and Shirt size with your paypal order, or we cannot guarantee that you'll get what you want.
Here is one of the tack box units being assembled in the barn.
Due to the wonderful efforts of Suzanne (not to mention Kevin, Carol, and loads of others!) we now have eleven beautiful tack lockers in the back barn! Each locker is fit with an english saddle rack, western saddle rack, bridle rack and hooks, as well as two shelves at strategic heights to accommodate standardized storage bins. I cannot believe how well this has turned out, and how much more tidy and sharp the back barn tack rooms look! We'll finally have enough room to accommodate each and every stall boarder!
Here are the final units in the south tack room. Doors will be added this weekend!
Yesterday's fencing party was a huge success, and we also welcomed seven - yes SEVEN - new horses to our property! It seems like word has gotten out that we're expanding and improving, and we are so excited to share our wonderful barn and to welcome these new boarders.
Ronnie and Comanche, two of Shari's super-sweet horses (Not pictured is BellaNoel, Shari's other Paint)
Rijker and Nikko, Kay's new half-Friesian sibling project ponies
Apache, Denise's adorable and athletic pinto (sorry for the terrible photo!)
Branson, Emily's new dressage/physical rehab project
This past week was our second annual "Adult Camp" and it was even better than last year! We had a massive turn out (some nights we had as many as 15 riders!) and everyone got along like old friends. We spent the week learning all sorts of things including equine body language, massage, biomechanics and, yes, even yoga on horseback!
The yoga on horseback was the highlight of the week for a lot of our campers, and it really helped riders become more aware of their connection with their horses. I can't wait to do another yoga night at the barn!
Our riders learned the basics of jumping, and everyone had a great time running gymkhana at the end of the week! This was a great opportunity for the moms of the high school equestrian team teenagers to become more familiar with horses and how to handle them. We had a number of ladies graduate to official "Show Mom" status by the end of the week!
One of the more useful demonstrations that we did for the horse owners at camp was the equine massage demonstration. We went over Ozzy from head-to-tail and helped him relax the tension in his muscles bit by bit. He was a very happy boy afterward, and campers were eager to try some of the techniques on their own horses!
Overall, I'd say this year's adult camp was a huge success! We received nothing but good feedback from our campers, and we've had several requests to run additional adult camps in fall and spring! If that's something you think you'd like to try, let us know! If we have enough interest, we'll be happy to run multiple adult camps each year.
Thanks for joining us, ladies, and thanks for being such spectacular campers!
Welcome to our farm blog! We have such a closely knit community, much of which is social-media-savvy, that we figured we'd try posting recaps and farm updates so we have a sort of chronology of our adventures at Meadowlark!
If any of our boarders are interested in sharing anything on the blog, simply contact Emily and let her know!
