Just when we were ready to take Sparky off the special feed he had been eating to bring his weight up a bit (which worked well), it happened.

Sam had gone out with Nicole to take care of all the animals. They fed Sparky and Scooter their special grain, filled up the hay feeders in both paddocks, and fed the cats in the hay shed. After releasing Sparky and Scooter from their stalls when they had finished their grain, Nicole and Sam lingered for a bit, playing with the dogs and enjoying the beautiful spring evening with a nearly full moon rising.

Then Sam noticed that Sparky had returned to a stall, where he was rolling on the ground. Watching him, Nicole quickly noticed that Sparky appeared to be choking.

Sparky’s symptoms included: gulping, coughing, copious discharge from nose, head shaking, outstretched neck, turning up lip

This video shows Sparky exhibiting some of those symptoms:

Nicole put a halter on him immediately and called the vet while Sam came to get me and Rodney. We rushed out and consulted, pulling out our iPhones to search for info online. Some of the resources we found included:

• Learn more about choke in horses, what causes it, the first aid response for treatment, and how to prevent future episodes.
• A discussion of horse choke on an online forum.

Our quick searches provided a measure of relief as we learned that choking in a horse isn’t exactly the same as it is for a human; they are generally still able to breath. The biggest risk is not asphyxiation but aspiration. Still, it was clear that calling the vet had been the right decision.

It took a little while to reach the vet on call, who was on his way to another emergency, but he advised us to remove all food and water and keep Sparky still and calm. Fortunately, Sparky did remain quite admirably calm throughout his ordeal as the four of us, his three pasture pals, and a few cats waited with him. In addition, I followed some advice we read to massage his throat gently but firmly from front to back. I’m not sure whether this helped at all but it made me feel a bit better.

Sparky continued trying to clear the blockage with frequent attempts to swallow, which made a distinctive gulping sound, and what you see in that video is what we observed for nearly two hours. Also, periodically a great deal of green mucus emerged from his nose either in a substantial drip, a gush, a shake of the head, or a sneeze. (Sam got the worst of these and went in to change his shirt.)

We’re not sure why this happened to Sparky: he doesn’t generally eat his grain quickly, he has constant access to water, grass and/or hay, and at 16, he is not old. But we’ve had him less than a month and we do not know if he could possibly have scarring from previous injuries or even a tumor in his throat. At least we did  not observe or feel any bulges or lumps along his throat. We will have his teeth examined later this week; dental problems can prevent horses from properly chewing their food.

The vet never came out that night after all because before he could head our way, Sparky gave a great cough that apparently dislodged the clog. He then swallowed normally a couple of times and the discharge from his nose discontinued. He quickly lost interest in standing still and began wanting to eat and move around the paddock. During a phone consultation, the vet then directed Nicole to inject a syringe of banamine (which we had on hand), keep him off food but give him plenty of water for 24 hours. The next day we started him on antibiotics to prevent infection from aspiration of the discharge.

Now, four days later, he’s his normal pleasant self, or perhaps even sweeter. Sparky, we’re so thankful you’re okay!

The herd gathered, eager to meet their new friend, as we unloaded “the new guy” from the trailer.

We adopted Sparky, 16 years old and approximately 15.2 hands, from New Vocations, an organization that finds homes and new lives for retired Standardbred race horses. It was a pleasure to meet Founder and Executive Director, Dot Morgan, her husband, their adorable Corgi and a few of the horses currently dwelling in their lovely setting near Marysville, Ohio.

Dot told us that Sparky is an awesome horse, wonderful with kids, and a favorite of those who have cared for him since his racing days. In fact, his recent owner loved him very much but was sadly unable to continue adequately caring for him. So he arrived slightly underweight, which we’re adressing.

We’re enjoying getting to know Sparky. It’s fascinating to learn each horse’s personality (or horsenality), how they respond to us and each other, their particular strengths, idiosyncrasies, and fears. Although Sparky is similar to Patrick in breeding, color, and readiness for interaction with children, his horsenality is proving to be quite different. Whereas Patrick is quite responsive and eager to please, Sparky takes a bit more convincing to move when he doesn’t feel inclined and his main fear is of being separated from the herd. Both horses are very sweet, handsome guys and we’re really looking forward to bringing kids here to play with them very soon!

Welcome home, Sparky! You’re a great addition to Achaius Ranch!

In other news: Be sure to take a good look around the new website. Thanks, Sam Wilson, for the awesome new design! (And check back for more changes as we fill in the info on some of the pages.)

Also: very soon we will begin scheduling kids to come to the ranch starting in June! Watch for a blog post with details.

Then as we were cleaning the paddock, the horses decided it was groomin’ time. This involved each horse pairing up with another horse and proceeding to “chew” on one another to help remove their winter coats. It was too perfect having all six horses grooming each other at the same time not to record it!

Good thing we have an even number!

Every morning after walking the dogs and feeding, we worked on trimming back the brush and trees that were trying to take over the trails in the woods. We walk and ride these trails, but they were becoming so overgrown that riding was becoming impossible.

We still have a few trails to trim, but we managed to get the main trail done!

After a morning of trimming trails, we’d come in, eat lunch, and head back out to work on something else. Our main focus after the trails was a section of the ranch that needed some major help. Before we bought the property, this area of the ranch had old junk cars on it, and the weeds and bushes were so tall and out of control, you couldn’t walk through them or even see over them!

Over the past two years, we were able to get the old cars removed, and a lot of the bushes, weeds, and thorn trees cut down. Unfortunately, when they removed the cars, they broke the windows and left glass all over. And, after cutting down the thorn trees, a lot of large and nasty thorns remained everywhere. And last but not least, when mowing down the weeds, we discovered an old burn pile with, can you guess? Even more glass, metal, and trash of various sizes and shapes.

Our goal was to rake the entire area in order to remove the thorns, branches, and dead weeds, and so we could locate the trash spots. Once we accomplished that, we went to work on cleaning up the glass, metal, etc. (Please ignore the fact that my right leg looks abnormally long! Haha, must be a stump there that looks identical to my leg!)

There were also a few more thorn trees that needed to be cut down, but hadn’t yet because the old barbed wire fence had grown into them. So we removed that section of old fencing so that Sam (my husband) could come out and cut the thorn trees down.

Now that we had all the trees cut down, fencing removed, trash picked up, and thorns and weeds raked up, we were ready to remove stumps. Due to the large amount of thorn trees and large bushes that had grown up in this area, there were over 40 stumps remaining that needed to be removed so that we could mow the area and not trip with every step we took.

We have a wonderful neighbor who lives just down the road who said he could remove them all for us for free! What a blessing!!

So we said goodbye to our now beautiful and sparkling clean work area . . .

And said hello to a stump graveyard . . .

But boy was it worth it! After cutting away some remaining roots and filling in holes here and there, we can now mow the area.

And last but not least, in the late afternoon/evening, we were able to take time to ride. I was able to ride Patrick for the first time on the Ranch that week, and he did wonderfully! We went on several rides in the woods and around the property with mom and her horse Keva. I am so proud of Patrick! He went beyond our expectations and truly surprised both of us with his confidence and his calm attitude towards everything!

We got so much accomplished that week, and it sure was a beautiful time of the year to be outside everyday! The grass was growing like crazy and getting so green! Flowers were blooming on the trees . . .

And the horses were looking beautiful in the early morning sunrise as usual . . .

The only downside about the beautiful week, was that it got so warm so fast, that the horses were bent on getting their winter coats off ASAP! As you can see by this poor little cedar tree . . . it never even had a chance . . .

It was a wonderful Spring Break, and a great start to Spring on the Ranch!

Firstly, a word of explanation about this concept of patron Saints. The traditional practice of choosing a patron Saint, as observed by the early Christian Church and continued to this day in some Christian confessions (including the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and to some degree, Anglican/Episcopalian Churches) is done primarily as a way to connect to the rich legacy of men and women of the past who were great examples of the Christian life. A patron Saint’s life story and writings can serve as an inspiration and encouragement in ministry.

But why did the board of Achaius Ranch choose St. Patrick? For several reasons. Primarily because of his love of life and creation, his compassionate heart, especially to those most in need, and his own personal conversion story, which reflects the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. (Please read more about his life, and read his famous prayer, below).

St. Patrick is a fitting choice for two additional reasons. We the founders of the ranch, being McCullohs and Wilsons, are rather fond of things Celtic. Indeed, Achaius is a Celtic word that means “friend of horses.” The final reason is that the ranch was approved for 501(c)(3) status on St. Patrick’s Day, 2011. Really, there’s just no other choice!

The Life of St. Patrick

Patrick was born around 390 A.D. at Kilpatrick in Scotland. His parents were Christians. His father was a deacon in the Church, and the son of a priest. From Patrick’s writings, we know that, as a teenager, he abandoned the faith of his parents, choosing to live for worldly pleasures. At the age of 16, Patrick was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland, where he was sold as a slave. Patrick was given the job of tending and herding sheep. During this time of slavery, Patrick experienced the presence of Jesus Christ. Repenting of his sins, he was determined to live his life in service to His Lord. At age 22, Patrick miraculously escaped Ireland and was able to sail back to Scotland. Patrick was never the same, though. His heart remained with the people of Ireland who had never heard about Jesus Christ. He was granted a vision by God. In the vision he saw and heard the voices of the men, women, and children of Ireland calling out to him to return. Patrick returned to Ireland shortly thereafter, and began tirelessly serving the people and preaching the gospel of Christ. Among Patrick’s great gifts was his ability to use symbols and images found in the natural world to speak to the pagan people about Jesus. Most famously was the shamrock, which tradition tells us Patrick used to help explain the Holy Trinity. Patrick spent his entire adult life doing the work of an evangelist and apostle to Ireland. He faced much opposition, and many great temptations to remember the sins of his youth and doubt his worth and calling in Christ. But Patrick persevered, always returning to his identity in Christ’s forgiveness and promise of new life. Patrick died in Ireland on March 17, 461. His memory is celebrated all over the world on March 17^th

St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today through the strength of Christ with His Baptism, through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial, through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension, through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom.

I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim, in obedience of Angels, in the service of the Archangels, in hope of resurrection to meet with reward, in prayers of Patriarchs, in predictions of Prophets, in preachings of Apostles, in faiths of Confessors, in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men.

I arise today through the strength of Heaven: light of Sun, brilliance of Moon, splendour of Fire, speed of Lightning,  swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea, stability of Earth, firmness of Rock.

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me: God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to secure me: against snares of devils, against temptations of vices, against inclinations of nature, against everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.

I summon today all these powers between me (and these evils): against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and my soul, against incantations of false prophets, against black laws of heathenry, against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry, against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, against every knowledge that endangers man’s body and soul.

Christ to protect me today against poison, against burning, against drowning, against wounding, so that there may come abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of Christ. May Thy Salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

Please remember Achaius Ranch in your prayers.

Standardbreds are trained for harness racing, as shown in this picture:

But when their racing career is over, their owners often don’t want them anymore. Fortunately there are places (like the Standardbred Retirement Foundation) that take in these unwanted ex-racers to give them a new life.

When his racing days were over, Patrick was taken in by Chasing the Sun in Wallingford, Kentucky, where owner Joe Harvey had him trained for trail riding. He was then adopted out and used for Civil War reenactments (pulling cannons, etc.). Unfortunately, his health declined and he lost a lot of weight. So last fall he returned to Chasing the Sun, where he has been gaining weight and returning to good health under Joe’s excellent care. He still has maybe 200 more pounds to go before he’s at his ideal weight, but he is well on his way!

It was great to meet Joe and spend the day at Chasing the Sun, learning about Patrick and some of the other Standardbreds there, awaiting adoption. Joe shared a lot of information about how he runs his beautiful facility and was very generous in his offers to help Achaius Ranch in any ways possible. We really enjoyed our time there and hope we can return soon.

When it was time to leave, Patrick let Joe lead him right into our trailer with no hesitation, like he’d been in it every day of his life. He did great on the five hour ride home, and he checked out his new home with no apparent anxiety. We have yet to see anything fluster him!

He’s getting along great with our two other geldings, Storm and Scooter. We were able to put the three of them together the very next day after he got here, which is a record! Normally it takes about a week to introduce a new horse to our herd, but Patrick is so laid back that the geldings had no problem with him. It will take some more time for the mares to get used to him, but for now the guys get to hang out.

We are so excited to have Patrick. He’s an awesome horse! Very sweet, calm, level-headed, curious and confident. His many life experiences seem to have made him rather “bomb proof.” He’s perfect for our Youth Program! We’re eager to work with him more over the next few months to get prepared for kids to start coming to the ranch in June. We think he’s just what we need to get this program started on the right foot, or hoof!

By the way, Patrick is not his original name. He was a race horse and had a very race-horse sounding name. Since he’s begun a new life, we felt it appropriate to give him a new name as well. We chose the name Patrick both because we like it and in honor of the patron saint we’ve chosen for the ranch: St. Patrick. Great timing with St. Patrick’s day coming up so soon! (Watch for a blog post about this on the 17th.)

February Mud and Fog

Thankfully, spring is just around the corner and there will be much to do as we prepare to officially open our gates to kids and their families. As soon as the weather permits, we will begin work on (among other things):

• removal of remaining old fences
• grounds cleanup
• building and staining new fences
• building another paddock with a run-in shed
• building an arena
• building a welcome center
• building a tack room
• making a horseplay area
• landscaping

That all sounds rather daunting, and it’s only a partial list of what will keep us busy in the coming months! Thankfully, God is good and many of you have let us know you’d really like to be part of the work of this ministry.

We need you!

Now is the time to let us know just how you’d like to help. We are ready to receive and process applications for part-time volunteer help at the ranch.

If you’re willing and able to help, no matter how much or little time you have available, we invite you to submit an application. Below are links to a description of the volunteer positions we need to fill and an application. Your completed application will help us to know more about your interests and abilities so that we may determine the best fit for all. (Please note that in no way does submitting an application obligate you to do anything!)

list of volunteer positions

volunteer application

If you are unable to volunteer at this time and/or would like to help in other ways, please don’t forget that we always need prayers and donations.

Thank you so much for all you do for Achaius Ranch!

The problem we were experiencing, was that if you just throw a bale or two of hay out to 5 hungry horses, it will be gone within 2-3 hours. Which leaves them standing there in the cold for up to 12 hours with no food in their bellies. This just didn’t seem right to us, so we decided to do a bit of research, and here’s what we found out.

Without hay to chew on and digest, they can’t keep themselves warm in cold temperatures very easily. Not only that, but horses were designed to eat almost continuously. They were not designed to go more than 4 hours without food in their bellies. Going hungry longer than that can cause gastrointestinal issues. No wonder our horses were always standing at the gate whinnying for us to feed them! They were starving! This caused them to be more aggressive towards each other during feeding time and much more stressed.

After much research, we found some great websites explaining this “new” way of feeding horses hay, known as slow feeding. Throwing hay out to horses loose allows them to take huge mouthfuls and basically gulp it down as fast as possible, as Sadie can demonstrate for you:

It has been discovered that using a “slow feeder” hay net, will cause your horses to have to take smaller bites, and more of them, which doubles and possibly even triples the amount of time it takes a horse to eat the same amount of hay. The netting has holes in it that have an opening of about 1 1/2″. This makes each bite more like grazing out in the pasture. The grass isn’t just laying out there loose, free for the horses to gulp up. The grass is held to the ground by its roots, causing the horses to take small bites over and over again.

After researching where we could find the best netting, we tried ordering some pre-made hay bags from a lady in Australia. Unfortunately, soon after it arrived, we saw that it just wasn’t strong enough to hold up to the horses’ teeth. They quickly tore the netting and made the holes too big. So after more research, we finally settled on some hockey goal netting from Arizona Hockey Supply. They sell bulk netting, so we had to decide how we were going to use this netting. We decided the best idea would be to use it as a complement to our hay baskets we already had. Our hay baskets are 5′ in diameter, round, and about 3-4 ft. tall. They can hold a full bale of hay easily, they keep the hay off the ground which keeps it dry and clean, and they allow the horses to still eat with their heads down in a natural eating position, which keeps dust and hay particles from falling into their noses and eyes and causing problems. Here’s a picture of the hay basket keeping the hay off of the muddy ground:

So we decided we’d cut and shape the netting to sit over the hay in the hay basket. Not only will this keep them from eating through the hay too quickly, but it will also keep the hay in the basket, which was a challenge in the past because the horses enjoyed knocking it out of the basket so they could get to the small pieces at the bottom.

But instead of just tying the netting around the hay basket and bunjee chording it in, we came up with the idea of creating a circular hoop, very much like a hula hoop, that we could tie the netting onto, which would then allow us to clip the hoop itself to the hay basket, making it much easier to put the hay in. Here’s a picture of our first attempt:

This hoop worked well for about 2 days, but then we quickly realized it just wasn’t sturdy enough to hold up against the horses. It bent from the weight of the netting, and the horses figured out that they could bend it up with their noses, and get to the hay underneath without having to eat through the net. So we went back to Lowe’s and found a thicker, stronger piece of tubing to build our hoop out of. We took the netting off the old hoop and put it on the new one we made, and it is working great. It hold’s its circular shape without a problem!

The goal with this type of “slow feeding” is to make sure the horses’ hay supply never runs out, which teaches them they don’t need to eat as much as they can immediately. They learn that there’s always hay in the basket, so there’s no need to try to gulp it down. It took our horses a few days to figure out and get comfortable eating through the netting, but now they love it. Especially Scooter, our 30 year old horse. His teeth aren’t the best due to his age, and before, when the hay was loose, he couldn’t eat it. He’d try to take a bite, but he’d get so much in his mouth that he’d have to spit it all back out. Now, it’s impossible for him to get a huge mouthful, so he can graze away as though he’s taking little bites of grass. It’s made such a difference!!

Now our horses are never without hay, and we haven’t had to increase how much we give them to make it that way. They no longer stand for hours on end through the cold waiting for hay. It’s so obvious how much happier they are. There’s no aggressive fighting between them during feeding time, and they don’t rush to eat as much as possible when we add more hay. It’s so nice to go out and see happy, full horses!

Below is Nicole’s certificate, along with the green “savvy string” the Parelli program sends as a sort of reward and designation of the accomplishment. The charm on the left is something that was made for Nicole when her beloved horse, Cowboy, passed away in November of 2010. It was made with hair from his tail. The blog post mentioned above explains Cowboy’s important role in this accomplishment. If you read that post, you’ll understand why I’ve included the charm in this picture.

We’re very proud of Nicole and all the hard work and time she has, and continues to put into learning to better understand, relate to, and care for horses. I’m sure she would agree that horsemanship is a learning process that never will be fully completed, and one which she enjoys and values above anything she’s ever learned in a classroom or from a text book.

In all we had six groups perform . . . I must say that best dressed goes to the Common Celts:

We had a good crowd of people and our goal is to double that number for next year!

Scooter was a huge hit with the kids, and gave dozens of rides to them through the woods.

Also, unbeknownst to us, there was a corner dedicated to story telling run by wonderful Emilia. It was a huge hit!

All of us at the ranch would like to sincerely thank St. Stephens church, all the event sponsors, musicians and volunteers for making this event so much fun! And some much-needed funds were raised in the process.

Thanks so much everyone!