RicelandMeadows

July 28, 2023

There is a lot going on in this photo. The weather is very hot and humid. We were forced to work inside today. We spent time with the new filly Joy. We groomed her, petted her and did a few things to desensitize her. Then we moved on to working with Grace. In the photo above, Grace wears her bridle and bit. We put it on and off a few times. We made her stand quiet wearing it for a half an hour. We introduced the fly nets too. The nylon strings phased her not in the least, but they did keep a few biting flies at bay.

What this photo doesn’t show, is that Grace is standing quiet behind our 4 year old stallion Hank. The expectation is that both Hank and Grace behave. Hank can look and even nicker once, but no bad stallion behavior is tolerated. He knows the rules and behaves himself very well.

This is after about fifteen minutes into Grace’s lesson. She stands quiet and Hank too, pays her no mind as I put her through her paces. I do 99% of my harnessing, grooming, haircuts and general fussing with the horses from the lead tied to my hay mow ladder. This means Hank must tolerate the mares, fillies and foals every time and all the time. He is to be a gentleman no matter what. Once in a while I will have to scold him with my “dad” voice, but that is usually enough. If I need to get rougher with him to know that I am the herd leader not him, I spank him with a plastic whiffle bat. The bat makes a little noise, but the quick smack with the plastic bat and my voice is all the correction he needs. Hank is 4 years old. I have used the bat only 3 times since he was a weanling. As soon as I speak up to him in my commanding loud voice, he becomes remorseful and yields immediately. He is a good boy and a wonderful stallion.

He is a breeding animal, but also a work horse. I have to work in close proximately to him. He in turn works with his mares. To keep everybody safe, including me, good behavior is a must. I have worked daily with Hank since he was a baby. We are pals. He respects me and I like to think he even loves me. I know that all male animals can turn in a heartbeat. I try to keep that always in mind. He is a good guy, but I think every day, constant and consistent attention is what helps keep him in bounds. He has 3 handsome, wonderful babies on the ground. We are very proud of him and is progeny. He has 5 registered Suffolk mares in foal for 2024, with one more lady in waiting. We look expectantly to the future with him.

Safe to say, there is a lot going on!