We are in the middle of one of the worst droughts that Texas has seen in a long time. No rain, and VERY hot temps! The high yesterday was 105 F and the high today is 103 F.
The horses are pretty miserable. They spend most of the day standing in the sheds or huddled together under the trees. We try to get most of our chores, training and riding done in the early morning, before the temperatures get too hot. Still, with lows in the low 80s, even the early morning feels warm!!
What’s the weather like in your part of the country? Is it miserably hot and dry or are you getting some nicer weather, shade, or rain? What are you doing to stay cool and what are you doing to keep your horses happy during the hot weather?
Our boys in the front pasture were feeling pretty silly the other day and took off running and chasing each other mid-day, in the heat of the day! They didn’t run long, probably about 5 or 10 minutes, but they sure seemed to be having fun. Lately, none of them have had the energy to move very fast in this hot heat. I got a few good pictures, which are below. With the lack of rain, they were really kicking up the dust.
After running their laps and stirring up the dust, the three big geldings settled down near the water troughs to get a much needed drink! The two ponies and our yearling donkey found a nice shady spot at the front of the pasture to rest and catch their breath.
So, how are you and your horses holding up with all this hot summer weather?
Yep, very hot and dry here too. We’ve had weeks of temps over 100F and the heat index has been in the 115F to 117F range. It’s awful! I love summer, but this is a little excessive.
That buckskin is cute!
Sounds like you have the same lovely weather we do!!
Buckwheat (the buckskin) is a cutie. We think we’ve found a home for him, which would be awesome. I’ll post about it later if everything works out.
~Mary
Glad you’re catching up on my blogs too. I can’t believe how far behind I got lol. I love reading your blog.
The horse I was riding the other day was in a mechanical hackamore and yes it is very harsh and yes he runs through it. I’ve tried to explain to her why it doesn’t work and she absolutely will not let me put a snaffle on him because her husband wants him like that. The whole thing is really dumb. I feel bad for Rocky to tell you the truth. I’ve tried to kindly teach them better ways of caring for and training their horses without being condescending, but they are determined to stay as redneck (no offense to any rednecks out there lol) as they can. It makes me sad, but I’ve done what I can and I’m about ready to wash my hands of it all. I’ve even tried to show by example with my horses, but they think I’m spoiling them and coddle them too much and I sit there thinking really, mine are way better behaved than yours! Anyway sorry for the rant lol. I didn’t want to write about it all in my post in case they read my blog.
I am sorry to hear that your friends are not interested in learning better ways to interact with their horses. 🙁
Sometimes, I think it is really hard for people to see / understand that there might be a different or better way. And it’s sad when the horses have to suffer because of it.
Keep doing what you’re doing and keep up the good work with your horses and donkey. Eventually, I bet they will start to notice that your horses are well behaved, mind their manners, and listen to what you ask. Then, hopefully, they’ll start getting curious about your training methods.
Mary
Hi Mary!
I just found your blog the other day while looking for clicker training resources! I just bought my first clicker last week. I’ve always said that I can teach Grayson to do anything with a treat…I wish I would’ve considered clicker training when I first got him. I haven’t done a whole lot yet but he’s picked up on everything that we have gone over.
Thanks for your awesome blog and your positivity. Both you and achieve1dream are both good examples of real life clicker trainers.
My only hesitation with clicker training is other’s people’s opinions…like achieve1dream mentioned below. But I’m sure I’ll get over that quickly once we make some progress. 🙂
Hi Julianne,
Thanks for the comment! I am glad you like my blog.
I agree with you, it can be a bit intimidating to go out on a limb and try something different, especially something like training with treats, which the rest of the horse world is so much against. But, I am glad you are giving clicker training a try and having success with it so far! Keep it up, I’d love to hear about some of your progress.
cheers,
Mary