As the tulips FINALLY peek their heads above ground, the highly anticipated first foals here at Northern Gaits have arrived!

The first one born to Dawn is a beautiful red, long legged filly!  We have named her Sienna because of her coloring and boy is she gaiting!  All around her enclosure she spends most her day gaiting around for minutes at a time and then, sleeping for hours!

Three weeks later, we had Diamond's foal on the ground!  She is a fabulous frosted color with hints of chocolate in her tail!  She is almost as big as Sienna even though she was just born!!  We haven't settled on a name for her yet but we are leaning towards Frosty Morning!!

As all mare owners know, each of these mares waited for the nasty, cold, wet days to give birth!  They couldn't have done it on the few days that it was above 40, no, they both waited until the weather turned cold again.

Dawn had Sienna about 1AM on a foggy, cold, rainy night.  We were out checking every few hours and thank God we did.  She was shivering and cold but once we had her and Dawn in the stall with some fresh hay, things were good again!!

Diamond had a week and a half of warm weather to give birth, but decided the morning that it snowed again was her day!  She had it about 7:30 in the morning and we were able to get the filly warmed right away!  Both these mothers kept us on our toes, that's for sure!  Our new horse barn paid for itself in these two foalings if you ask me!!!

It's finally getting warmer here on a regular basis so hopefully, no more freezing cold nights!!  We have two more mares due but hopefully, they will have a better time of it!!

As time allows, I will be posting pictures in the Horse section as well as the For Sale section.  All these foals are for sale so check them out!!

Who can resist a Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse?!!

Ron's Old Time Red Raspberry Pudding
Make 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 - Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3 - cup raspberries (reserve a few berries for garnish)
• 2 - Tablespoon sugar
• 2 - Tablespoon butter
• 1 - cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 - teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 - teaspoon salt
• 5 - Tablespoon butter
• 2 - cup sugar
• 1 - egg
• 1/3 - cup milk
• Whipped cream

Directions:

1. With the 2 tablespoons flour, dredge the raspberries and place in baking pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the raspberries. 
2. Cut up the 2 tablespoons of butter and dot the raspberries.
3. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In an electric mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add in the egg. 
4. Then add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture. Slowly stir in the milk. Beat well. Using a spoon, add the batter – do not pour in.
5. Place baking pan in oven and bake 30 minutes. 
6. Serve warm with whipped cream and a few raspberries as garnish.

HANDS CONVERSION

By: A. Tadlock

Here is a handy table that will convert your horse's height in hands to show you how many inches, feet, or meters tall your horse is.

Traditionally, a horse's height is calculated in hands, one hand being equal to four inches. The measurment is taken from the ground level to the highest point on the horse's withers.


The red line is where the measurement would be taken, about in the middle of the withers, at their highest point.

Since a hand is equal to four inches, you can calculate your horse's height in inches by this formula:

4 x WH + FH = Inches high

Where WH stands for the horse's whole hands, and FH stands for any fraction of the horse's height left over.

For example, a 15.2HH horse's height could be calculated as follows :

4 X WH + FH = Inches high =
4 X 15 + 2 = 62 Inches high

Below is a table that converts the average height of horses to inches, feet, and meters.

HANDS	INCHES	FEET	METERS
12.0	48	4ft	1.2192
12.1	49	4ft 1	1.2446
12.2	50	4ft 2	1.27
12.3	51	4ft 3	1.2954
13.0	52	4ft 4	1.3208
13.1	53	4ft 5	1.3462
13.2	54	4ft 6	1.397
13.3	55	4ft 7	1.397
14.0	56	4ft 8	1.4224
14.1	57	4ft 9	1.4478
14.2	58	4ft 10	1.4732
14.3	59	4ft 11	1.4986
15.0	60	5ft	1.524
15.1	61	5ft 1	1.5494
15.2	62	5ft 2	1.5748
15.3	63	5ft 3	1.6002
16.0	64	5ft 4	1.6256
16.1	65	5ft 5	1.651
16.2	66	5ft 6	1.6764
16.3	67	5ft 7	1.7018
17.0	68	5ft 8	1.7272
17.1	69	5ft 9	1.7526
17.2	70	5ft 10	1.778
17.3	71	5ft 11	1.803
18.0	72	6ft	1.8288

Gunfighter Cherry Cobbler
Make 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 - cup sugar
• 2 - Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 - cans (16-ounces) sour cherries (water packed)
• Topping
  • 1 - cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 - Tablespoon sugar
  • 1-1/2 - teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 - teaspoon salt
  • 3 - Tablespoons butter or margarine
  • 1/2 - cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. In a medium saucepan, add sugar and flour.  

2. Mix.

3. Next, stir in the juice from the cherries.

4. Cook over medium heat.

5. Stir until bubbling.

6. Add cherries and bring to a boil.  Pour into your shallow 2-quart casserole dish.

Topping

1. Into a medium bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

2. Cut in the butter or margarine.  You want the mixture to become crumbs.

3. Now, stir in enough milk so that the mixture looks like a batter.

4. Finally, with a tablespoon, drop batter onto cherries.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until top in browned.

Even as winter still holds us in its icy grip here in the north, we are preparing for the very busy foaling season at Northern Gaits.  Our first KMSHA foal is due any day now and already we are getting excited for spring. 

With a new barn built for the purpose of foaling, we are still finding working in the freezing temperatures daunting!  Hopefully, by the time the first new foal is due, the temps will have risen at least 10 degrees or so.

As the days continue to count down, the anticipation is hard to take!!  We can't wait to see what color and what sex we get.  As these will be our first Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses, we can't wait to share our pictures.

Check back often, as we will keep this updated with all the latest pictures and highlights!

Wish us luck!

Winterize Your Horse

© Carla Huston BES

As the cold months of winter close around us concern for our horse's health and condition becomes more pressing. Aspects of management that are most important are temperature maintenance, nutrition and hoof care. By monitoring these, keeping your horse in top health can be easy and fairly trouble-free.

First let us look at keeping your horse's body temperature maintained at the proper level. Evaluate his living qualities; is he strictly pasture-bound, or does he split his time between a box stall and turnout. For horses that spend much time outdoors a wind block or shelter is necessary, whether it is natural or manmade. If your horse is both an indoor and outdoor kind be sure to watch your barn temperature and your animal's hair growth. During the mild early months of winter allow your horse to develop his thick coat and acclimatize to the dropping temps. Avoid blanketing during this time; you really are not helping your horse by preventing him from experiencing the changing weather conditions. As the season progresses, again watch how you use blankets. If your horse has been properly acclimated, they will be unnecessary; your horse should stay comfortable as the temperature falls provided he has an area in which to escape the wind and wet. The danger with blanketing outdoor-bound horses is they tend to slip causing rubbing and sores, and may become damp themselves, serving to chill the horse, not warm him. When you do blanket be sure someone is available to monitor the horse - adjusting if necessary, and removing if they become damp or the temperature rises.

Next check your feeding system and ration. This will depend a great deal on the amount of work your horse gets and his stage of maturity. Let us assume that the animal is mature and under light work. This type needs about 1 percent of his body weight per day in good quality roughage. A well-cured grass hay will be sufficient. You may add a grain concentrate to this if your horse requires one. If your horse starts losing condition increase the energy content of his ration - not the protein. Energy is calories, and that is where the horse will draw the fuel to maintain body heat. A horse will drink six to ten gallons of water per day; it is crucial that he has a fresh and clean source at all times. Through the colder months this will mean chipping the ice out at each feeding, a tedious but essential task. Salt and trace mineral blocks are necessary year round, so make certain your's is accessible, out of the snow and slop.

Finally, don't forget your hoof care. Growth of the hoof wall is determined by nutrition, and during the cold months this goes toward maintaining body condition, not excessive hoof growth. Consequently, many owners believe they can forget the farrier until spring arrives. This is not in the best interests of your horse. The hoof will probably grow at least a small amount and need balancing to keep its proper shape and avoid any unnatural wear. Even more importantly, the farrier will check the sole for bruising that may occur on the hard ground and ice. Many of the abscesses that develop in early spring can be attributed to undiagnosed bruises that started in winter. It is well-worth the cost of his visit to keep those four feet in superior condition. If you do heavy winter riding and like to keep your horse shod consider having your farrier apply a snowball pad. This is a plastic pad with a ball in the center that prevents snow and ice from building around the shoe. Regardless if your horse is shod or not, clean his feet daily. When snow lumps develop, walking on them could cause some tendon and joint strain. If your horse is shod during the riding season and you like to keep the shoes on during winter too, consider pulling them for four to eight weeks. This allows the heels to rest (constant shoe wear contributes to contracted heels) and the hoof wall to thicken slightly.

Winter does not have to be a time of little riding and much work. Instead allow nature to progress and continue a top management program. Then saddle up and have a good ride.

Cowboy Chili Stew recipe

Serves 4.

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 (14 ounce) can creamed corn
1 (14 ounce) can hot chili with beans
1 (14 ounce) can pork and beans
1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 small can diced green chiles
Shredded mild Cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef and onion until done; drain.

Combine remaining ingredients except cheese. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

Serve garnished with cheese.

Winter has set in for us here at Northern Gaits.  We have four mares going to foal in the spring and they are all snuggled into their respective rooms.  The new six-stall barn is almost done, with just a few finishing touches left. 

Dawn and DeeDee, the two mares due first, are all settled into their breeding stalls just waiting for their new arrival!  They are getting grain everyday and a little extra handling to make sure everything goes smoothly, starting in March, when the first foal is due.  Only two months to go and we will have our first foal on the ground!!

Slingshot, our stallion, did a great job, this summer with all the mares.  He was learning the ropes as he is new to this, but all the girls kept him from misbehaving.  We couldn't have asked for a better breeding season.

All the paperwork has been sent to the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Association and Slingshot has gone back to the Bar S for the winter.  All that is left to do is sit back and wait to see what type of color we get out of these mares.

As soon as we have the new foals, we will be posting pictures in the "horses" area of the website.

Here's to an exciting 2008!!