Life on the great North Eastern Iowa horse ranch!!!

Well guys we have had horses now for about two weeks after not having any for over thirty years. Several issues have come about. Not the ones I had concerns about. The girls are having a blast. Plus my Wife is in heaven with the girls being around so much more. So that is the one real bright spot as her health has not allowed much joy the last years.

1) I have not gotten to sleep in past 5:15 AM any morning since they came here. Reason??? My grand daughters come by the house at that time on their souped up gulf cart. Blowing the horn to let Gran Pa know they are here.

2) Said gulf cart got traded in for my John Deere XUV 4x4 Gator when it snowed. They got stuck coming across the field from their house. They swiped my Gator to pull the gulf cart out. Gulf cart was parked where my Gator usually sets when I got home. They commandeered my Gator!!!! The youngest one says the cab and heater are Soooo much better. LMAO NO JOKE!!!

3) Spent all day Sat remembering how to shoe and trim horse's feet. My maternal Grand father and maternal Great Grand father where both black smiths. They both taught me how to shoe horses and trim their feet. I started when I was thirteen and did it most Saturdays until I went into the service. They only charged $25 for a trim and all new shoes(mid 1960 dollars). So they had a lot of people bring them their horses on Friday and Saturday. It did bring them in some extra income. The last horse I did any work on was in 1969 when I was home on leave from the ARMY. It took longer to dig out the forge and tools than it did to do the work.

4) Sister-in-law did not know I could do farrier work. I Really DID NOT want her to know either. DARN. So now she wants me to shoe her four horses. HECK NO!!!! I told her I would show my brother how to do it. He was enough younger that Great Grand Dad had passed on and Grand Father had quit farrier work due to his age.

I just could not let the one horse keep walking off balance like he was. I could tell someone had trimmed his feet wrong. His right rear foot was twisting as he walked. Sure enough some fool had it trimmed at an angle. Plus they had done a real poor job of fitting the shoes. The shoes where too little and they had stretched them wide but then the shoe was too short front to back. It made the horse kind of tippy toe around. I may hate horses but I am not going to let one go lame just because some fool did not know what he was doing.

It took me several tries to get the right shape on the shoes. I had to make them from scratch since I did not have any blanks. I ended up using 1/2 bar stock and flatting it after I formed the curve. Holes are easy. My Grand Dads used to make them out of bar stock when they wanted a harder shoe for winter snow/ice. The kept high carbon bar stock just for that. They both claimed that it made a higher quality shoe after you heated it and hammered it flat.

So the one needed a complete new set of shoes and its hooves trimmed. The other two I was able to reuse the shoes but they both needed trimmed and re-shod. The only good thing is that all three have a better gate now, seem to be riding smoother.

These horses are going to be the death of me yet. LOL

Isn't it something how little girls can take a hardened man, and turn his heart into mush just with a sparkle in their eye ?? Happens to me all the time. Bet your brother couldn't swipe the Gator as easily as they did ....LOL

You ain't foolin noone............. I saw all this in my crystal ball when you first mentioned it....
I'd disconnect the horn on a golfcart real quick.... I can see it when I polish a little more... "grandpa's always up when we get there in the morning... maybe he'll just feed for us and save us a trip so we can be more rested for school, we can always catch up in the evening"

Just out of curiosity.... what are a couple of kids horses (or your sister's horses) doing that they need shoes?

Old guy down the road had a horse that he had stopped riding long ago that stood in a stall and he'dlet it out in the door yard (30x30ft) while he cleaned the stall. And he led her once a week maybe 300 yds up the street to a little pasture. She was shod every 8 weeks... First thing I did when we got our first horse was pull the shoes... I trim if they get away from me, but usually just use a rasp every couple weeks....

Good to see you're enjoying it... Let us know when you take over morning chores... The countdown begins...

Dave I will disagree with you on the feeding issue. If they quit then I will just turn the horses out with the beef cows and let them eat round bales like the cattle.

The blowing the horn is to let me and the wife know they are here. We then watch the barn to make sure they don't have any issues. Plus the girls get on the school bus here so the wife starts their breakfast while they are doing the chores. They also get off the bus here now too. This way they have some one to keep an eye on them until their mother gets home from work.

As for the horses having shoes. We always did even back when there where many work horses here on the farm. Part of the reason is we have limestone bluff rock in many of the pastures around here. That is why the ground is not crop farmed. That means that there are a lot of sharp rocks near the surface of the ground. It seems that if the horses are not shod then you have more foot problems here. I have friends that don't have rock pastures and they don't shoe the horses either.

OK tuff guy...... :roll:

what I wouldn't give for enough pasture to leave our horses out all winter without them being belly deep in mud and you have the pasture and keep em in a stall.... are they riding them yet??

have fun...

JD Seller,

I"ll summarize your post...

You love having your granddaughters around. And by them getting horses you get to see them even more. Maybe you were hoping at first they would want to restore a tractor with you, but since they are girls, horses not tractors.

I think you are trying to tell us how much fun you are having, without actually typing it. I don"t have grandkids yet, but by the way my friends talk about their g-kids, they would love to see theirs as much as you do.

You are trully lucky. Even though it does come with a little work!

Rick

JD, congratulations. There is nothing that
develops the inside of young people like taking care of the outside of a horse.

Keep in mind, the setup and situation with your granddaughters that you describe will eventually result in a few young female friends of theirs and probably several young male friends that you need to be prepared for. Unfortunately, both genders of these guests are usually not too well prepared or experienced offering manual labor
help in exchange for the college of equine knowledge that you have created. It will take both your GD's leadership and your coaching for them to experience and learn everything involved in (small squares stacked, posts set and tamped, or building maintenance and renovation) being able to take a horse for an enjoyable trail ride or be competitive in an equine event.

Take the time now to plan and organize all this
young enthusiasm and energy so that its easier
not harder for you. I have had sort of mixed
results with this perspective, but I hope it works out
better for you.

Hmm.... Just as you can take the boy off the farm you can't take the farm from the boy it seems you can't take the forge from the boy!!! Your Grandfathers would be proud of you!! Now that you have knocked the dust from your forge and tools I figure you are only a month or two from joining Iforgeiron. LOL The combination of forgeing, horses, and grandkids will keep you relaxed for many years. Enjoy!! Armand

LOL JD, thats what you get for having kids/grand kids and horses.....

Rick

Mr. Jdseller:

If you have the ability to watch a horses gait and shape and weight a shoe to correct the gait, pass that along to someone in the younger generation.

I don’t have horses anymore but it has been a long time since I have heard of a farrier in this area with that ability.

teach those girls how to trim and shoe...being a farrier is a dying art, and the good ones are dying off!
The happiest guy I know is a farrier- he spends his every day around his true loves: women and horses! He's 67 years old, can put his palms on the ground without bending his knees, and has arms like Popeye.

AW come on. you're loving it, keeps you off the sofa, active, and that has to be good.

Look at it this way:
1. You are re-establishing your long forgotten skills.
2. Once you get those skills to a high level you can teach someone else.
This is all important so that the skills you have live on beyond you. We all have a responsibility to teach everything we know to the next generation. Now, I know a lot about pitching manure with a 5 tine fork, but I am not going to re-establish my former skill level or teach anyone else.
Just my thoughts,
Paul