Blog
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May 31, 2014 – Life Forms on an Island
Living in the Shadow of a very famous Man and His Horse! 
Thru the magic of PhotoShop I revealed a little hiding red squirrel “Why am I hiding? Because you pint that little black box at me, and you are big and ugly – You are tall, have grey hair (under a big hat) – you have no tail, you smell like a horse barn — You scare me – so, go away – I do not want to hide anymore” Love my new orthopedic boots! – I am the horse that ate too much rich grass — my feet are dangerously harmed – I look pretty good now that I well dressed in my boots and have had my medicine laced with molasses – I love the man that dreamed up that way to take medicine – Sort of like using using brown sugar to cover -up the bad taste of oatmeal – and I am sure that the medicine is a lot better for me then the oatmeal is for humans of the Island. This is your leader speaking – “wing man # 8 (Right most goose) why are you falling behind? do you have trouble? are you just goosing off?” 
I like looking for “LIFE FORMS” OF AN ISLAND” Bye for now! -
May 30, 2014 — Some random photos from this week on Drummond – Spring has arrived – Are we what we eat? – Poor horse eats food that is too rich.
So I wanted to see if I could take a shadow selfie with my head shadow at the deer’s nose – Why? – just to see if I could do it. Not quite – this time! 
Why are they all watching my truck? – or – are they watching me? They are fun to see anyway. 
Hay in – a lot of manure out – clean it up 2 or 3 times per day and stack it in these piles – my friend does it every day of the year – I only help clean up once a day for 4 to 6 months! 
Spring flowers are great to see, but the grass is a little to rich in some chemical for some horses. The effected horse will say “I am tired and my feet hurt”. Laminitis is a painful inflammatory condition of the tissues that bond the hoof wall to the bone in the horses hoof. It can be caused by eating rich green grass of spring -
May 28, 2014 – If I told you my brother eats like a horse, what would you think? Would you think that he ate horse food, that he had a big appetite or that he was a horse? Eats like a horse is an idiom. When someone eats like a horse, they always eat a lot of food. “Although he eats like a horse, he never gets fat.”
Forage is one of the most important components of your horse’s diet. Hay provides most of a domesticated horse’s forage intake. The amount of hay your horse needs every day will depend on the size of your horse and how active he is. The amount of nutrition that is in the hay also has a crucial role in how much is needed to sustain a healthy animal.
How Much Hay Does Your Horse Need
Louisiana State University and the Humane Society of the United States agree that a horse needs to eat 1 to 2 percent of his body weight in roughage every day. If your horse has free access to plenty of grass, then grass can serve as his forage. If your horse has limited grass then you must make sure his diet is supplemented with hay. The average 1000 pound horse should eat at least 20 pounds of hay every day according to LSU
In Iceland – grass is often in limited supply – So, the Icelandic learns early in life to munch every blade of grass. One blade at a time – hour after hour! I have watch Perla do just that!!! 
But ,then we put out hey for them – We scatter the piles all around – Sometimes, I think the Icelandics do not share well – “Get out of here this is my plile” – re-enforced with laid back ears, a threat made with the turning of the head and a look with the eyes, or a bite, or a kick. I mean business – “Get out of here” 
Hay in – Poop out!!! —– According to the internet questions.com The average horse produces 9 tonsof manure every year.
A 1,000 pound horse will deposit approximately 35 pounds of manure daily plus 6-10 gallons of urine.A horse produces about 9 tons of manure per year and 3.5 tons of urine.
How often does a horse poop? It’s actually a relevant question, so responses such as ‘as often as it needs to’ is a tad silly!
As a general rule of thumb a healthy, relaxed horse on a balanced diet will defecate every two hours. Responsible horse owners will need to know this so they can understand how their horses are (health wise). A stressed horse will defecate so they’re ready to run away, it’s a natural instinct! If you’re feeding poor quality feeds / forage again they’ll do a significant amount more / less.
Urination is important but difficult to detect, this isn’t something they do when stressed, but either when they need to or if they are sick, generally they urinate 4/5 times in a 24hr period, the liquid will be pale and wont smell too strong of ammonia.
Good question, try looking at some horsey websites such as Horse & Hound, they have a vets corner 🙂
Source:
Yard Manager, experienced owner and instructor
Share – No way! My friend in Iceland sent me a digital envelope of hay – It is all mine!!! -
May 26, 2014 Hunting and Shadow Selfies! – I find a lot of fun when I am not horsing around!
While hunting in the evening – I looked up and found this shot – Oh, when I hunt these days I do it with my camera only. 
You thought the previous shot was of the sun-set – Nope, it was of this duck in the foreground!!! 
Here on Drummond one can find things like Sea-Horses – made of wood. 
Here on Drummond one can find things like scary faces – made of wood. 
Another shot of the summer poop pile – Oh, it is really a shadow selfie. 
Just to prove to you that I do have a heart – – In fact a pudding stone heart – OOPS, did I just say that I have a heart of stone? – Not good – I will go hunting later to try to fix that problem – maybe tomorrow i will show you! I been hunting my Mink – I love to see him/her – often do but not with my camera. It lives under my dock – I sit and wait with my camera – but no photo yet – This Animation is really a weasel – but kind of looks like a mink — Bye! -
May 25, 2014 – Love this weather – We think it is summer!!! Was 38 this morning but heading for 70 – Great trail riding weather for our Sunday Ride!
Breakfast with the horses – – a selfie via an early morning shadow 
I really love this shot – so I will show it to you again – just for fun! 
The winter poop pile – steam on the early morning sun – But while removing the pile yesterday there was still large areas for snow and ice in the center of the pile – good insulator – that is why manure is often used, even today yet, as an insulator. 
If you are a gardner – it is good to have a friend with horses – see the trucks lined up waiting for their load? 
The operator with an arm sling – still operates the front-end loader – see the men keeping the area clean so that when the last tractor load is in the trucks the ground is clean and waiting for the new grass to appear where the winter manure pile was! 
Biking is what I do in Florida – These photos show what I do on Dummond instead. Even though I been kicked and my friend was thrown this week, I know of more bike accidents then I do horse accidents! So be careful, what ever you do but enjoy it! -
May 22, almost a week – been busy – some horse stuff, lawn stuff, getting winter out of house and barn, little golf in of 45 degree weather with rain??? why would i do that??? – anyway here a few photos I took just for you guys.
The big yawn – this warm weather – 50 degrees makes me sleepy 
Cold dreary morning as seen from my dock – note the lake foam being washed up by the constant 20 mph north wind at 38 degrees! 
See the big winter poop pile. Allen tried to load some load some into a truck — found the center filed with ice and snow – had to wait a week or so for the thaw. 
Last year’s poop make for fine lawn over-seeding base! 
Deer in garden waiting for me to plant it! 
Bye – lots of birds came north for summer and found it to be about a month late!!! -
May 16, 2014 The most important “gait” is halt. Any time you need to ask your horse to stand (lay) still and wait for the next instruction, he/she should do so.
Allen has taught me so much about horsemanship – Perla in the background is not dead – she is just relaxed even with us humans around and the other Icelandic lays still while Allen sits on her – Allwn’s quiet consistent style of always communicating with the horses creates some very polite animals to be around! 
He showed me how to approach Perla and sit upon her – I did 
Then i asked her to stand up – and stand by me – She did as I ask – but of course she had to yawn several time – got me to yawning – so we stood side by side yawning!!! 
Today ,again, we had snow showers – but not enough to make a snow man! -
May 13, 2014 – Sometimes things in life are real, sometimes they are only in our minds – God gave us the ability to choose. – Choose carefully, and enjoy the gift of choice!
“ENJOYING THE LAST SNOW OF THE SEASON” They tell me photography is a science – But, say I, we must LOVE IT as an art form! In Iceland, some snow stays all summer, but on Drummond I better enjoy it while I can! -
May 3, 2014 – Go outside, Look up, See the art gallery God hung in the sky today!
Here in Florida the seasons change — not quite as drastic as you Northern folks experience. You change from true cold, snow, wind, ice to the beginning of lush plant life – I showed some skunk cabbage I found in NJ, a month ago on my last blog. The cabbage came fourth just after the snow melted. I am looking forward to my move North – to Drummond – in a few days – During my first few weeks there I bet I find the lush growth of spring poking up. I want to look down on the ground and find the sights of spring — I will search my property and surrounding woods for photo opportunities of new growth. Maybe a morel mushroom or two?–I will sit quiet – practice relaxing my body and my thoughts.
It is good to practice relaxing because up North I will work( play) every day with horses — all of the books I have read by the famous horse trainers tell us that a horse know when a person is not relaxed – you can not hide your inner state of mind from a horse — the horse trusts those that are not stressed — The horse’s mind says “If the human in my life is stressed there must be something wrong – I better watch out for myself – that thing that is stressing my human is obviously greater then he/she can handle – therefore, I am not going to follow him/her. I have to take the lead role here and protect me and my human”
I do not believe that I must copy any one horse training method — I think they all work, and the common sense methods that fit my mold that are in-between those written in books, will also work – Work if I include the foundations of horse training practiced and researched by professionals. One of those foundations is Relax — no stress — you can’t hide it from a horse — probably can’t hide it from your loved ones either – but that is another subject.
All of that to say – RELAX — Go outside, Look up, See the art gallery God hung in the sky today! Enjoy a period of sitting on a bench, laying on the ground, leaning against a tree, — take out your cell phone and capture the clouds in your sky to show your family. You will not be a nut for doing that – well, if you are you will have lots of company – over 34,000 of them.
The Cloud Appreciation Society is a society founded by Gavin Pretor-Pinney from the United Kingdom in January 2005. The society aims to foster understanding and appreciation of clouds, and has over 34,101 members worldwide from 165 different countries, as of November 2013.
The anvil shape foretells of a storm approaching our home. iPhone 5S auto focus, HDR auto, flash off, f2.2 
Getting closer – building in intensity. iPhone 5S auto focus, HDR auto, flash off, f2.2 
An evening view to the west . Always study the sky for a shape – A face, a bird, a pig. iPhone 5S- autofocus, auto HDR 
A morning view to the south . Always study the sky for a shape – A face, a bird, a pig — Did you say a Pig!!! iPhone 5S auto focus, auto HDR, flash off 
Do you think the low clouds ad interest to this photo snapped while I was grilling dinner Notice the shadows on the wall cast by the setting sun. iPhone 5S, auto focus, auto HDR, flash off 
RELAX -
April 19, 2014 – Now you know where I have been. I have so many photo stories to tell – because the trip was fun! So you get a few more photo stories here – and bear with me ’cause more are to come after these!
Hear are 2 signs of spring – in New Jersey, the skunk cabbage – In Florida the lonely flower – they are both beautiful. 
Oops! in New Jersey we still have the last sign of winter – Dyna by the last bits of dirty snow – pushed there weeks ago by the snowplow. 
On a spring walk with my Granddaughter and Daughter – I love the focus each person shows at the moment the shutter was pushed. Heather explaining the beauty of the woods in the spring – Caroline urging Teddy to look into the woods. The dog is Teddy – Dyna walks to slow to go on this rather fast walk – we went on a slower walk with Dyna later in the day. 
The old barn – I spent every day of my youth and teen years doing at least two sets of farm chores in this barn! Before school in the morning and as soon as the bus dropped us off after school. Then of course, every day of the summer “Vacation” – AND I LOVED IT ALL ! – I really did! — I am sure that is why I had a ranch in Texas and still have a horse, tractor, stock trailer, and etc in Michigan! 
Talking over those years with my brother and sister-in-law. The question by looking at our coats is “Has spring arrived in the mountains of the Pennsylvaina snow belt?” 
This was the barn where my Grandfather lived and where the miking was done – only a couple hundred yards down the road from the Old Barn where we lived. The old barn built in the early 1800’s by my great great granddad with my great granddad, housed the cattle that were dry, the bull, and the 4H baby beeves raised by us kids In my growing up my Grandfather and dad farmed together – Then my Dad did the farming when granddad retired. Then Dad and my Brother farmed here together and then my brother with his family carried on the tradition after Dad retired – You see the tradition of passing the farm from generation to generation started in the early 1800’s with my Great Great Granddad Abraham Brubaker – It is sad to think that a Brubaker may not carry on the tradition after my brother – Maybe an offspring of an offspring or a niece or nephew will come forward? I ran off to the big city so my kids and grandkids tend to look to the city for their life style – well most of them any way but who knows? I still tie my “being” to the country life of my growing up. Maybe some of that rubbed off somewhere in the family tree below me (or is it above me) – I am not sure I know how to draw a family tree.. 
Dinner with my sister in Somerset Pa – Somerset is between the steel mills and coal mines of Pittsburgh and Johnstown and near the hundreds of company owned coal mining towns of the appalachian mountains – actually the company towns were in the valleys of the region -(The Brubaker home farm was not in the valley it was on the on the ridge road – we Brubaker kids were known as ridge runners)- The industrialist had their resorts and hunting lodges in the mountains around Somerset and Johnstown too (Read about the Johnstown Flood of 1889, the South Fork Dam, and who’s fault it was) – Here Gloria and my Sister are having a conversation with the developer who is restoring the old mansion to the hey days of the industrial revolution – when the wealthy dined here. 
Too many photos to show – Tomorrow I will show you photos of our next stop – Columbus, Ohio to meet friends and to attend the annual Equine Affair.
