Five horses live on CG Heartbeats Farm. In the past I continued to challenge myself with horses I found tougher to connect with, lead and train. Now I don’t mean the actual act of leading a horse with a rope, but rather the act of leadership in the process of teaching a horse to respond in a safe, trusting manner. After my traumatic brain injury in 2011, I found a had a strong desire to branch out my activities and knowledge to include other topics besides horses. Somewhere along the way I began to wonder who did God create me to be? Who was I beyond who I was as an equestrian? The idea of having horses was my sister’s idea when she was 6 and I was 7. I loved my sister that was 13 months younger. I wanted to help her in her desire to have a horse or pony. I jumped on board. Now here I was over 30 years later, realizing for the first time this passion of horses did not originate with me. I had to wonder who I would have become if I had found my own direction, what would I have developed into if I had not been concerned with those closest to me as a child. I do not recall exploring what I liked in any depth. Most of my thoughts concentrated on those around me. Well enough of all that, for now. These ponderings led me to begin looking around.
Horses still put a smile on my face even if all I do is feed and care for them right now. I am not in any way, shape or form ready to no longer own horses. Thus I have found one way for now they can contribute to my homesteading journey. Meet the horses of CH Heartbeats Farm.
Roses Casino
Out of an appendix Quarter Horse mare named Mismatched and a Quarter Horse stallion with Sugar Bar breeding. I purchased Mismatched pregnant, so I have owned ‘Rosie’ her entire life. I spent many hours riding her first training her to be ridden, trail riding, training and conditioning her to run barrels, of course, competing on her at more shows and rodeos than I can remember, team roping practices and simple rides down the road. I would have to stop and count, if I can even remember, the number of little girls we have provided rides for. The longest was one of my nieces when she was only 3 years old, we rode 3 and a half miles before she was tired.
Brave Diamond Dust
‘Dusty’ is the only horse I bred myself, meaning I picked out the stallion to cross with her dam, Melanie Lynn. This mare is another I have raised from a foal. The story about her that stands out to me the most was the injury she sustained as a 4 or 5-year old. A puncture wound that required surgery to flush out the hock joint to give her a high quality of life. It was a long 4 plus months of rehabilitation. She has a cute, knows what she likes, personality.
Dry Doc Drifter
‘Drifter’, who was purchased as a 2-year-old was foaled in South Dakota. He was the horse I was riding when I came off and sustained a TBI. He has wonderful stamina and I have yet to truly tire him. He has the breeding to do a job all day long. When he doesn’t have a job to do, he seems to spend his energy behaving badly.
Zips Country Bar Maid
‘Cider’ was bred by one of my sisters and I purchased her as a yearling. She is an intelligent horse who learns quickly, but I have not spent much time riding her. She needs more training, only because I have not made time for her.
Navajo Bo
‘Bo’ was bred to be a racehorse and fulfilled her job at Indiana Grand. A timid mare, on the track, she would back off trying to win if she was bumped. She has a personality all her own. Expressing her displeasure, when not happy with her circumstances, she has proven her willingness to learn. She looks for a leader, but likes to challenge the leader. She is a bit nosey always wanting to know where all the other horses are at and unhappy when they are out of site. My favorite story with Bo is the year we competed or rather participated in the Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park. I was not riding at my best level that year, but I enjoyed the entire process. The experience of showing at the Kentucky Horse Park proved to be my favorite venue to complete at. I was sponsored by an amazing grooming product Espana Silk and others helped to make my trip to Kentucky possible. As a part of the competition I was given a blog to share my journey. I wrote 140 posts and, in the process, realized that I liked to write. As a result, the desire to blog about my homesteading journey was beginning to form.
How Horses Contribute to the Homestead
Horses collectively contribute to the soil I use for container gardens. The manure they have produced several years ago now provides a rich fluffy (from the shavings) place that I dig up dirt any time I need to plant in any containers. Basically, this is where I dumped manure, located under trees. I have 2 other piles composting now for future use. These newer piles have more chicken manure compared to the first so time will tell which produces the best.
This is another example of how I have been able to use what I have. I wonder how much money I have saved using my own composted soil instead of buying bags of potting soil? Like everything else one produces themselves, this is the way to know what is in what you are using, or eating. How are you using what you have on your homestead?