Elle is doing so much better.  The supplements that we are giving her is putting some weight on her and her coat is looking wonderful.

Captain is still struggling at times.  His breathing problems get better and then he gets bad again.  The weather and hay that is even slightly dusty can set him off.  At least the herbs are helping.  I put too much oil in his mixture today.  Poor guy was hacking all over the place.  I always feel so guilty when I do something like that.  At least it is really good for his coat and hooves.

Cody has balance problems.  She never wants to go into a canter.  It was funny that when I did get her into a canter she was all over the place.  I decided to lounge her and see what she looked like from the ground.  Sure enough, even her trot is off balance.  I had to start right from the walk.  I encouraged her to stretch her neck out by pulling out on the line.  As she stretched I praised her.  Then I took her into a trot; it was better.  There is definately more work to be done.

It is funny when you think about it.  Here is a horse that is almost seven years old and has had hundreds of hours (maybe thousands) of riding yet, she still has balance problems.  It is funny that when even a person does not get the proper start in life it affects everything they do.  Going back to the basics is so important when this happens.  Cody's balance problems are a good example of how we use Equine Therapy to teach the students about life.  They can see concretely that this horse really needs to strart from the basics.  They can see that how the proper training results in a more balanced horse.  They can then accept that they need to go back and get some basics down.  They see how there is no shame in going back and fixing things.  It is just a fact of life and needs to be done.  They can see that no matter how much riding, this horse would not have fixed its own balance issues.  This horse was set into a pattern and did not know how to get out of it.  She needed help.  They see how there is no shame in getting help; only healing. 

I am constantly amazed at how the Lord teaches us at Shalom Ranch through these Equine friends.  I hope to share more of these stories with you. 

Shalom,

Marie

We have a new horse arriving tomorrow.  This mare is 11 years old, which is a great age for a Equine Therapy horse.  She is 15.1 hh and has a very sweet temperament. 

The really great thing is that we are buying her for $300.  The lady we are getting her from says Piper can not be used heavily, but we only use our horses lightly.  Many horses in this area are cattle horses.  These horses need to be hardy and able to go for hours.  Our riding is mostly done in our round pen. 

My husband left this morning to go and pick her up.  He also has business in the city where Piper is, so he will be home tomorrow. 

This will be a good horse for a more timid person. 

A friend of mine bought a horse for her daughter.  Since neither her nor her daughter have any experience with horses, I suggested that the horse stay here until they felt more comfortable.

Cody is a coyote dun.  This means her coat is the color of a coyote, with a black stripe down her back and black on the tips of her ears.  She also has light zebra striping on her sides.  She is very pretty, but quite emotional.

She is the type of horse that will go with the crowd.  My horse Misty was giving me a hard time last week.  Cody thought that might be a good idea for her.  We have been working with her almost everyday to convince her of different.  My friend will be coming tomorrow to ride, so I thought it would be a good idea to put Cody in the round pen so that we did not have to chase her for over half an hour tomorrow.

All our other horses come to us when we call, but Cody has been quite standoffish.  She misses her filly (now 1.5 years old, but still her friend). 

This evening I got a sense that maybe I should go a check on Cody.  I went and she was fine.  I got the feeling again, but thought that I was just over reacting.  At about 10pm we get a knock on our door.  Our neighbor tells us that one of our horses is trotting down the road.  This is the same neighbor that told us Chouette had gotten out.  If only I could listen in on some of the phone calls that will occur tomorrow.  :)

I called Cody and she came.  I was very surprised, but relieved that I did not have to chase a horse in the dark.  She went close to the gate.  My husband, Peter, opened the gate and Cody trotted in.

Mental Note: Don't leave any more horses in the round pen overnight!!!

Captain is doing much better.  His breathing is improving every day.  The herbs we are using are working.  We are also supplementing his diet.  He is getting stronger, but I think he might have worms.  He is scratching his sides quite a bit. 

Elle is looking much better also.  Her coat is not as dull as it was.  She looks much more alert also.  It is very cute to see her come when I call her. 

Just like kids who have been damaged by past experienced these horses are making it through with the proper care.  I know they will make great therapy horses becasue of their past. 

Captain is one of our free leased horses.  When we went out to feed him today, he was heaving heavily.  We had this problem when he fist arrived in October, but he was doing so much better after we put him on some herbs.

When my husband had feed the horses yesterday, he didn't notice one bale was a little moldy.  I separated it out of the feed area and threw it to the ground.  The horses usually don't touch that hay because of the smell.  It was all gone today.  I guess Captain got hungray last night.

We gave him some more herb mixture and I prayed for him right there in the pasture.  I guess I probably gave the neighbors something to talk about.  They are pretty curious about us. 

It doesn't make sense that people would move from the city to a very rural area and buy a bunch of horses in order to help a bunch of kids they had never met before.  God has His plan and as long as we know we are on His path, that's what matters. 

Elle was looking a little better today.  She waited until I had put the hay out and then looked over at me to see if I was going to bring her the feed pan with her mixture.  Smart girl! 

Blaze is our orphaned horse.  He lost his mom when he was only a couple months old.  They think it was lightening.  He is quite timid.  He was following me around in the pasture today.  A very encouraging sign.  He has such a kind temperment.  I look forward to seeing which child the Lord will match him up with. 

It is interesting that each of the horses on the ranch have a purpose here.  They are each so different, but will reach kids with different troubles. 

Elle is our rescued throughbred mare. When we got her in October she was horribly skinny (see October blog).  We really turned her around.  We came out of a cold snap and she lost quite a bit of weight during the cold weather.  We are adding some supplements to her diet, but at 17 it takes time for her to put weight on.

She is jet black.  If I can get my pictures to fit in the parameters of this website, I will get some pictures up.  She is a retired race horse.  She actually won some money for her previous owners, not million dollar purses, but enough to pay the bills.  When she is healthy her coat shines a beautiful black gloss.   

We don't ride her in the winter time because it is easy for her to pull a muscle with all the ice around. 

She has a wonderful personality and won't hurt a fly.  She has been ridden by a couple of kids that had no experience and she was very gentle.  It is funny how certain horses are more careful with novice riders.  She will make a great therapy horse this spring.

Please pray that she gains weight quickly.  Thanks.  Merci.  Gracias.

This might seem like a strange title, but there really is a walk that horses do as they approach you that can be classified as the "I Love You" walk. 

One of the horses that is at our ranch is being free leased.  She came from a kids camp that allowed the kids to really haul on her.  She is a dominant horse and this type of treatment does not work on dominant horses.  They tend to sour after a couple of years of such treatment.

Dolly used to try to kick you when you went to catch her.  Not the ideal horse for a kids camp.  I would never have picked her because of her aggression toward humans, but God had another idea.  She is a beautiful horse.  She is a golden dun.  This means most of her body is a lovely golden color, with a black dorsal stripe, black tipped ears and zebra striping on her legs.  Definately a most amazing looking creature.  Standing at 16 hands high, she is also a force to be reckoned with. 

Four days after she arrived, I was due to attend a Parelli clinic.  These clinics teach Natural Horsemanship.  This is similar to the Horse Whispering that many people have heard about.  I decided to take Dolly.  It must have been divine intervention, because it changed the way Dolly viewed humans and especially me. 

She no longer tried to kick or even put her ears back after this clinic.  That was 2 months ago.  We left for a 5 day Christmas break.  When I returned Dolly was so happy to see me.

She did what I call the "I Love You" walk.  If you are ever blessed to have a horse do this for you, it looks like they are swaying back and forth as they walk.  Their ears are forward and their eyes are directed toward you.  This shows no fear or disrespect, only love.  Now some may say that horses are not able to love, but I disagree.  Some horses have defended their owners from danger and many horses take care of their riders.  I think this shows a great deal of emotion and yes, even love.

I am so glad that Dolly has made the leap from an emotionally closed horse to one that is excited when her master approaches.  I am praying that we can buy her and not have her return to the camp in the spring.  I guess God knew what both Dolly and I needed; only He could have made this match. 

I think she would make an amazing Equine Therapy horse because of the difficulties she has been through.  These horses seem to learn from their experiences and can recognize when a child has had a similar experience.  This is why Equine Therapy is so powerful with at risk kids.