Keeping the Flies Away...Naturally!

 Sometimes using chemicals is a necessity, but whenever possible we like to use natural products. About a year ago we began researching something to use as fly spray.

We came upon this homemade recipe and after trying it we definitely recommend it. The ingredients are simple and can be purchased at a local store. We have chosen to buy a larger bottle of the essential oil online and have it shipped.

Recipe:
2.0 cups white vinegar
2.0 oz water
0.5 oz essential oil (either eucalyptus or citronella)

NOTE: We recommend that you hold the different types of essential oil out to your horse and see which they like the best. Our two horses liked the eucalyptus oil so when we brought our new young horse home we used what we already had made up. She likes it fine.

We'd love to hear what natural products you use with your horses. Please leave a comment!

Thinking Ahead

 When you are completing your chores, working with your horses, or just notice something with, on, or about your property, WRITE IT DOWN.

Note changes you would like to see even if they are not feasible right now. Maybe there will be a time to make the upgrade later and then you can refer to your notes.

For instance right now one of our horses likes to push on one side of his stall to get closer to his neighboring horse. We have thought about moving him further away, or placing concrete footings to keep his stall in place, but neither is something we can do at this time.

We have created a computer document that we continue to add thoughts to whenever they come up. If and when we think of another thing we can do to fix the situation, we add it to our list. And of course a great thing about a computer document is that we can list several things and then go back and add to the first one and do things "out of order".

In addition to being a good way to think about things before you do them, it can be fun to look back over things you have listed before. Did you end up doing everything you thought about? Did you later think of better ideas? It ends up becoming a bit like a journal of your slice-of-ranch life. :-)

Dust, Dust and more Dust!

 This week we completed the big job of cleaning out and dusting our tack room. We were just putting away some clean towels and found rat and mouse droppings on a high shelf prompting the self-appointed assignment. Our goal is to sweep out and clean the tack room on a regular basis, but when the rats and mice move in we realize we have waiting a bit too long.

We have found it most efficient and effective to take everything out so we can clean the walls and shelves of the tack room. This allows us to see everything and remove as much dust as possible. If you have room, move all the items clear of the door so you can sweep without getting all your items dusty again. Or you can use a vacuum if that's possible for your set up.

Once everything is out and the walls and shelves have been cleaned, we begin the process of putting everything back in its place. As we touch each item we decide if its something we want to keep then we decide where it should be stored and why. 

Do we use it all the time? Or is is seasonal? We don't give our horses baths in the winter because its too cold, so the shampoo can be put away in a less easy to reach place during the late fall and winter months. However, we keep the soap close to the front so its easy to reach when we need to clean our hands or wash a piece of equipment. 

Medical stuff, especially the items for humans, should always be easy to find and clearly labeled. Think about sending a non-horse person to get the medical kit...could they find it? Bandages and wraps for horse injuries should be stored, but they can be put away and clearly labeled for the eventuality of a horse injury.

In total it took somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours to take everything out, clean it all, and put everything back that we decided to keep. 

Now that its all clean and reorganized we know right where everything is and what we have. We even added a few things to our list to buy. The items we use all the time are easy to see and access...it makes us more efficient and effective with our time.

Enjoy What You Have!

 There are so many "versions" of ranches or ranching that it can be easy to wish for what you don't have instead of thoroughly appreciating what you have right now.

If you have one horse, you may wish you could have a second one or you may want to add a goat or a mini. You may have an acre but wish you had just a little more room for a larger arena. Maybe you don't actually have a horse yet and would love to find just the right one for you. Well, these are all great, but if you can't make the change right now you might think about learning a bit more about it. You can do research online and find an article like this one from Horse & Hound entitled "6 things you discover when you get two (or more) horses". You might read some blogs by ranchers or people with larger properties to see what challenges they face. This can give you some insight ahead of time. Especially if you think you want a different animal all together, its always a good idea to read up on it. After reading that book about how to take care of goats, you may decide that another type of animal would work better for your situation, or be more exactly what you wanted to begin with. Learn as much as you can and this will set you up for even greater success when you go to make a change.

Then when you aren't reading or researching, remember to spend lots of time with your horse (or if you don't yet have a horse, enjoy being able to spend all day with friends or at the mall and not needing to be home to feed your animal). Meet up with a friend and go on a trail ride...or a hike, or take some extra time and give your horse a long brushing or complete bath (if weather permits).

Remind yourself that when you end up adding another animal your time will be split between them. :-)